Keeping in touch

As we head into 2009, I look back over the years at how far technology has come in terms of communication. 25 or so years ago when I was in high school we were one of the few households that had more than one phone line ... and that's only because I was spoiled and didn't want to share a line with my family so I bought my own. I didn't know anyone with an answering machine. Residential voice mail was unheard, and you couldn't tell who was calling unless you picked up the phone and recognized the voice on the other end. Now most people, even children, have mobile phones and sometimes two or three. Simply amazing. Everyone is accessible whether they like it or not.

I activated my Facebook account a few weeks ago and I'm finding old friends from high school. Some I never thought I'd hear from again, and some I'd forgot even existed. After only a few weeks, I have linked to 70 "friends" of which about half are relatives. What a great way to keep in touch! And also learn more about people.

I've adopted a pet dog on Facebook. Her name is Frances and I log in every day to feed her, play with her, make sure her needs are met, and take her to competitions. I also pet other's dogs to earn points so that I can train Frances. I think I'm getting addicted to my little virtual pet ... she is very cute. I'm sure one day soon I'll realize that I have other more important responsibilities in life, but for now I'm enjoying Frances.

White Christmas

The weatherman said we have snow on Christmas day about every 5 or 6 years in Missouri. I can only remember once in my life that we've had a white Christmas ... and this will be my 40th Christmas living in Missouri.

I'm the first to admit that with each passing year I become less and less interested in the Christmas season. I try not to be grinchie, but come on, we've commercialized it beyond belief. Did you know that Americans spend $450 billion during the season? Did you also know that it would take only $10 billion to make sure everyone in the world had a clean water supply ... and that lack of clean water kills more people everyday than anything else in the world? If we Americans would save $1 of every $45 we spend on Christmas we could make this world a better place to live. Consumerism does not equal happiness.

I received a Christmas letter today from a co-worker. I like getting Christmas letters especially from people I don't see often. This letter really touched me. Instead of reviewing everything her family did this year, she spoke of how she saw Jesus this year, where He touched her life, and how she responded to Him. The letter was humorous, yet inspiring. She said she saw Him several times on their 2,370 mile motorcycle journey through the Rocky Mountains ... in the beauty created, but also He was with her on the icey passes.

Thanks to Riley for bearing with me as I didn't want to pull all of the decorations out of the closet and fight with the 9-ft tree. We (really, just she) created a cute little corner in the living room to decorate. I actually really like it ... simple, yet seasonal. She also strung lights around our front window and set them up on a timer. I am very thankful for her, not only putting up with grouchy mom, but being independent while she made our house more of a home.

So with the snow on the ground and many houses all decorated in lights and 10-foot blow-up Santa's dancing in the wind, I am finally in the Christmas mood. It took until Christmas Eve, but I got here, just in time to head off to church service in about an hour to worship the Prince of Peace and celebrate the life and salvation He gave us.

Merry Christmas to all my family and friends. Peace to all throughout the world.

You know you're greek when ...

I found this list and couldn't refuse. I've italized the lines that are especially applicable to me, or someone in my family.

1. You have at least one relative who wore a black dress every day for an entire year after a funeral... or their entire life!
2. You spent your entire childhood thinking what you ate for lunch was pronounced "sangwich."
3. You've experienced the phenomena of 150 people fitting into 50 square feet of yard during a family cookout.
4. You were surprised to discover the FDA recommends you eat three meals day, not seven.
5. You thought killing the lamb each year and having feta, tzatziki and olives on your dinner table was absolutely normal.
6. You grew up thinking no fruit or vegetable had a fixed price and that the price of everything was negotiable through haggling.
7. You were as tall as yiayia by the age of seven.
8. You thought nylons were supposed to be worn rolled to the ankles.
9. Mamas main hobby is cleaning.
10. You were surprised to find out that wine was actually sold in stores.
11. You never knew what to expect when you opened the margarine, after all you thought washing out and reusing margarine containers was normal.
12. You thought Orthodoxy was the only religion in the world.
13. You thought every meal had to be eaten with a hunk of bread in your left hand.
14. Yiayia never threw anything away, you thought seeing washed plastic bags hanging on the clothes line was normal.
15. You learned to play tavli before you went to school.
16. You have at least one relative who came over on the boat.
17. You have relatives who aren't really your relatives.
18. You drank wine before you were a teenager.
19. You grew up in a house with a yard that didn't have one patch of dirt that didn't have a flower or a vegetable growing out of it.
20. You thought that talking loud was normal.
21. You thought everyone got pinched on the cheeks and money stuffed in their pockets by their relatives.
22. There was an icon in every room of the house, including the bathroom.
23. You wear or at least own a gold chunky bracelet.
24. Olive oil is like a drug - you can't survive without it.
25. Your cheeks receive their weekly work out every time you visit an aunt.
26. Your last name ends with: opoulos, os, as, or is
27. When leaving a house, you stand at the front door for a half hour more and talk
28. No air conditioning is on at the house or you'll get sick... "regma"
29. You were forced to go to Greek school when you were little
30. You use plastic grocery bags as garbage bags
31. Your parents have never realized phone connections have gotten better in the last 20 years and still continue to scream on the phone when calling Greece
32. You expect at least 600 people at your wedding
33. Your 15 year old brother/sister can out drink ANY American guy
34. Your only vacation is back to the homeland
35. You tell your parents you're seeing someone and they start sending out wedding invitations.
36. You're home an hour late and you're already listed as a missing person.
37. You're Dad has those old Greek tapes in the car, and plays them on family drives. Especially in the vicinity of attractive members of the opposite sex.
38. You break a leg, and yiayia thinks your life is over.
39. You tell your parents you're having a party. They buy out the whole supermarket.
40. It doesn't matter if people can't hear what you're talking about - you talk so much with your hands that people know what you're going on about anyway.
41. You go to a wedding, and are introduced to cousins that you never knew existed.
42. You tell mama you're not hungry and she thinks you have an eating disorder.
43. You can distinguish between kefalotiri and kefalograviera
44. You're an adult and are forced to be with your family at 12 midnight on New Year's Eve
45. Your yiayia / mama / thia has a miracle cure for everything.
46. Your mother or father still feels the need to tell you, "katse kala" in public
47. You have been hit at some point with a pandofla
48. You can dance kalamatiano, tsamiko, zembekiko without music
49. You go to church picnics pretending you're there for reasons other than to check up / gossip about other Greeks
50. You or a family member has been photographed with a donkey
51. You are familiar with the phrase, "Sto leo yia to kalo sou"
52. You have one or more of those porcelain figurines in your house or you have broken one of those porcelain figurines and mama still hasn't forgiven you for it
53. Your parents make up the name of a street / store / TV show because they couldn't remember it or they couldn't pronounce it
54. You still get scared when you hear the name "Baboola"
55. Upon meeting another Greek you try to find out what village they're from
56. You or a family member wears their Sunday best to go grocery shopping
57. You go to a wedding or a baptism and complain about the food, but are the first one to ask for a "to go" plate
58. You know someone who always feels the need to point out how much something they bought costs
59. You have a bottle of OUZO in your house right now
60. You have been threatened to be eaten by the Kako/ baboola / yero / pontiki when you were little
61. Add aki to the end of any American word, and it becomes Greek
62. Someone in your family owns any type of restaurant
63. Your family inheritance includes olive trees and xorafyia
64. Your entire house is a needlepoint warehouse...

A new month

A lot is going on but I've been lazy about blogging, I guess because it all seems so trivial in the grand scheme of life. I am glad it is the last day of November as this has been an emotional month. I was surprised at how much my father's passing effected me ... not in a sad way, but I have thought about him and his widow every day, several times a day. Before this month I would go months on end without either of them crossing my mind.

It was also an emotional month because so many of my co-workers lost their job. The investment industry has especially been hit hard with this depressing economy, and in order to keep a positive balance sheet my employer laid off almost one-in-five workers, including many talented people. If the market sustains another 15% decline then we will probably loose some more. I am very thankful to keep my job and pray everyday for those effected not only at my company but the thousands of others out there laying off too.

I look forward to a fresh new December. I'll close this "thanksgiving month" with a list of things that I am thankful for:
-- good neighbors and friends who invite us to spend holidays with them
-- good health
-- God given talents that I can use many different ways especially sharing with others
-- a job that allows me to provide not only necessities to live but also fruitful things like Christmas presents and nice vacations
-- my daughter, sisters, and other family members who make me feel loved
-- my church and the freedom to worship how I please

On November 1st, my father passed away. My sister said it perfectly when she said he was our father, but not our "daddy." And even though we haven't lived in the same town since 1983, I feel a piece of me has been taken away.



George moved back to his homeland in 2005 with is wife of 20 years. They had lived in Greece off-and-on since 1983. I am very thankful that Riley and I were able to visit them last year (Summer 2007) for a few weeks.

Dad, I loved you a special way and I'll see you again someday.

Welcome to my new blog! I trust that my faithful readers of Yahoo360 will make it over here okay. It's been over a month since I blogged and I feel "unconnected!" A lot has happened in the past month and I feel like I've changed. Hopefully I will be more diciplined in my entries! TTYL!