Huh!

OK so another volcano is erupting, that means I'll be writing a new post or adding pictures right?! Well, almost right. I'll get to the earth burping in a future post perhaps but not this one. I'll let the major news networks do the heavy stuff today.
Right now i am going to go on about one thing. And only one thing. One thing that is near and dear to my little ticking heart ~ Christmas lights. It's that time of year again (don't give me that "It's only November 5th" schtuff!!) Let's face it nowadays Christmas season begins when the munchkins go back to school. This year I was watching to see who would advertise first, who would end Fall early and rush us into Winter before we were ready? Kmart did. Not Wallyworld suprisingly enough. Hello, blue light special on patience already... Ooops sorry, all out!! Maybe next year.

But getting back to my Christmas lights, I have decided to do something a little different and quite radical for me. Every year I try to coat every available wall with those wonderful, brilliant little lights but not this year. By now I must have thousands of lights on heaven knows how many strings... Steady on lights, chaser lights, blinky lights, fade in/out lights and whatever else it have. (Holiday Intereior Illumination is my thing). This year they won't be going on the walls or even the windows, they are all going on my not quite 6 foot scrawny plastic Christmas tree (Ahem! That's a Walmart Aspen Fir with realistic bendable branches if you please). I thought about it and figured "Why should I be the only one having hot flashes here?!" This year my little fake tree victim is going to be covered - no, slathered in billions and billions of hot mini Christmas lights in a festival of color and action. My aim is to have the first tree in Christmas history to be seziure inducing.
Needless to say the prospect is very exciting but not so excited about having to take it all apart after the New Year.. But that's a bridge to be crossed at another time so we won't be thinking about it right now. Just imagine, sitting on my couch with a nice mug of hot cocoa, with sunglasses on and getting a tan from my tree. Come on Thanksgiving arrive,I can't wait all month now can I?!?!

Mount Sinabung

A volcano has erupted on Indonesia's island of Sumatra, forcing thousands of people to flee their homes as black smoke and ash shot up 1,500 meters into the air.

Mount Sinabung in the north of Sumatra began erupting around Saturday midnight after rumbling for several days.

A red alert was issued for the region after the Sinabung volcano thundered back to life for the first time in 400 years.

According to Surono, head of Indonesia's Volcanology center, lava was overflowing the volcano's crater.

"This is the first time in history since 1600 that Sinabung erupted and we have little knowledge about it," Reuters quoted Surono as saying.

Authorities evacuated at least 12,000 people from high risk areas on the slopes of the 2,460-meter volcano to temporary shelters. The area around the volcano is largely agricultural.

Local people have been urged to wear face masks to avoid health problems from the volcanic ash. And those living along rivers have been told to be on alert for lava-induced floods.

There are at least 120 active volcanoes in Indonesia, which is part of the Asia-Pacific "Ring of Fire", a series of volcanoes and fault lines stretching from the Western Hemisphere through Japan and South East Asia.

Reflections on turning 40

For some reason I think 29 was the most stressful for me. Letting go of my youth I suppose. In my family by 29 you should have been married with 2 or 3 kids, have a mortgage and car payments. Ooops... I so missed that boat with glee. At 33 I ran off to Europe, eloped with the man of my dreams and never looked back. Since tonight is my last night of my 30s decade I'll bore you with my non-mid-life crisis.

Oddly enough I'm looking forward to my forties. Mortality is a fact of life and we are all bound for heaven so to speak. A few women friends have told me that I will like being 40, because at this point in my life I won't give a darn anymore. One said that there is a confidence that comes along with age and experience. And I blamed all that apathy on my recent major surgery, that kind of gives you a sense that you're bulletproof. I didn't feel like drinking beer much either after that bit of work... Thank goodness this evening I've gotten past that too!

3 minutes left and it's still cool. Tomorrow will be another day and then the one after. Thank God for letting me get this far. I have a great husband, great family, great friends, my health and a job. In my eyes that means I have a very rich life, I am very blessed and I look forward to being a 40 year old or a whatever year old! :)