I am going to get a little Christmassy here

I enjoyed so much writing an entry about my daughter Ronda's graduation, that I hate to move on. But here I am in my most Christmassy blouse with a very lit up Westward Ho just like it was decorated for Xmas. This is a photo taken years ago, but isn't it beautiful? I think it was still the hotel at that time I have tons to do before Christmas day, as I am inviting my immediate family to a Christmas Eve supper. We will exchange our gifts then, and then all meet out to my nephew Tano's who is Linda's oldest son at 1pm the Christmas day. He and his wife Debbie and his sister Carissa are doing the Italian dinner. We have so much fun out there. Debbie and Tano are wonderful hosts. Debbie has been ailing from two operations this year but I am glad she feels well enough to tackle a family get together. She didn't last year.
I just talked to my son Raymond in L.A. who says he will try to make it, and I got a hold of my son Gary a little while ago who said he was to the company Christmas party. He talked like he would attend both family events. His two daughters, Kelly and Laura, live in Flagstaff so if he goes there it will be later in the weekend. His adopted daughter Laura lives here. She is the daughter of my xDIL's twin sister who was killed in a gun incident to a party when her kids were 5 and 3. Later on when Gary was ready, Candy went and got them where they were living with a cousin and she and Gary adopted them. They were grateful because this had turned into a bad situation for them. Cindy, their mother, was a pretty fun loving girl. Think how hard it would be to be separated that soon from two small children due to a guy mishandling his Saturday night special at a party that went off and hit her in the aorta, killing her within minutes. People who were close to her did not get over this tragedy for years. Her little son Bobby never did who took his own life when he was barely 30 after his real father had taken his. But Laura is a strong girl and got through all this.
I just went to Connie's blog, Windswept Whispers, where she has posted some beautiful new holiday snags. She is just getting started with graphics comparatively speaking but says few are visiting her graphic blog, so she doesn't know if she should continue. I have taken to Connie because of her sense of humor. It speaks to me.
I am just horrified with what our most popular graphic artist and blogger, Donna, is going through (Hockey Mom) with her health. Sometimes you just have to cut back on what you are doing to attend to health needs. Jeannette who was our Lady of the Blogs on AOL with her Jeannette's Jottings has been given a warning by her doctor that she must cut back her time on the computer to rest and get her exercise, lose weight, etc. He was quite stern with her. The doctors don't seem to get stern with any of us in the states anymore. Maybe they have just given up. They don't turn a hair at any addiction. But I wonder if getting stern is really the answer, although it is good to warn people of what they are faced with if they don't try to change their life style. I have not had a doctor get stern with me in years. My nurse sister does at times, but that has never worked for me from her, as I feel that weight issues are very complex and need a lot of analyses to figure out each individual person's possible causes for their inability to lose. Look at Oprah. She is apologizing and 'embarrassed' for expanding back up to 200 lbs. That is as fat as I am because my bones are bigger, at 216 or thereabouts. I gained from 210, but I have long since quit beating up on myself. I think Oprah just goes to show you that throwing money at the problem sometimes does not solve it. I think there are other things missing in Oprah's life that keep her struggling with weight even if she is a billionaire.
I feel bad for Jeannette. She looks so festive in her pink blouse when I just visited, almost like a lovely ornament herself, but she has had breast cancer, so she worries!
Doc and I made a series of videos this morning about an hour long dealing with our addictions this morning. I discussed my double chins that appear at this weight. But Doc does not berate me, he just analyzes and makes jokes that cause me to laugh, so I like this 'Doc'. He does more for me than anybody with his approach. He is willing to analyze the causes for hours, on camera yet. He is very patient. As he drinks away and I eat away. He says he has still not got to the point he can deny himself anything. What a hedonist he is! I close with another Xmas card to you from him and me, thanks to Connie.