A Year of Tomorrows

One of my favorite things to do as we straddle the old year and the new is to fill in my new 2019 planner ... 365 empty squares lined up like stepping stones into a year of tomorrows.

And of course my first entry was about a certain girls' trip next fall ;-)

Christmas I Spy

'Tis 5 days after Christmas and around the house I spy ...

1- a naughty stocking stuffer

2- something French

3- something oily

4- A dot Ham

5- Where Eagles Dare

6- a bug

7- Japanese characters

8- a crazy driver

9- PaRappa on a horse

10- a summer concert

2018 ... 12 months, 12 photos

Amazon here, Amazon there (and my book on both!)

On Christmas Day my Italian cousin, Chiara, sent me a screenshot of my book on the Italian Amazon site.

Whoa.

Of course, it's also available on Amazon here, in the U.S.

Just saying ;-)

Christmas Hope

Tomorrow our family will be together again, and more than anything this makes me happy. There is nothing like going home (or having everyone come home) for the holidays, so bring on the figgy pudding!

Before I sign off for a few days I’d like to say this: While we are looking forward to next week, I understand that many of you are not. There is a lot of heartbreak out there. Not everyone can look forward to that Hallmark Christmas. But if there is one thing this season offers is hope, which can be found in the unlikeliest of places … even in a stable. 

God bless, everyone.

The Novajosky Family

Alternate Bia

When your son takes your phone

to very secretly

download the Pokémon Go app

and create your Avatar ...

Meet ItaliaBia 

The King of the Art of Chill

A few years ago when Nicholas was an engineering major at Clemson University, he asked if I knew who Bob Ross was. Well, of course I did, but I was surprised that my son knew of him.

"When I'm studying for a big test or a final exam, I like to have one of his PBS shows playing in the background," he explained. "It's very soothing."

And I totally understood. I could see how the soft-spoken voice, the references to fluffy clouds and happy trees, and the low-key commentary provided a calming backdrop to engineering textbooks, group projects, and all those math disciplines.

A few months later, Nicholas asked for some Bob Ross instructional books, paints, and drawing pencils for Christmas. He always had an artistic talent for drawing but wanted to teach himself how to paint.

Fast forward to today and Bob Ross is experiencing a resurgence. He's everywhere! Over Thanksgiving we played the board game, Bob Ross the Art of Chill, this past Sunday a character on the show, God Friended Me, was wearing a Bob Ross t-shirt, and yesterday I purchased a box of Bob Ross band-aids for stocking stuffers. Then, a fellow blogger listed that very same board game as a gift idea for office coworkers, and a quick Amazon search revealed Bob Ross bobble-heads, lunch boxes, puzzles, Pez dispensers, and even a Bob Ross Halloween costume.

Bob Ross the Art of Chill

The King of the Art of Chill is, evidently, very cool right now. And in this busy week leading up to Christmas, I will leave you with some of his quotes. Go ahead and smile. Just let it come.

Bob Ross, In His Own Words ...

As my son Steve says, just 'smoosh' it in there. It's not a real word, but people seem to know what it means.

Maybe in our world there lives a happy little tree over there.

That's a crooked tree. We'll send him to Washington.

We don't make mistakes, we just have happy accidents.

You need the dark in order to show the light.

Every make mistakes in life? Let's make them birds. Yeah, they're birds now.

This would be a good place for my little squirrel to live.

I can't go over 30 minutes, because we have a mean ol' director with no sense of humor.

Well, the little clock on the wall says we're just about out of time. God bless you my friend.