SHAWNA was here!!!!!

Stargazer, I'm pretty sure the moon in your avatar has a belly button.

LOL, Cymru.

(Psst, that's the sun showing its bellybutton there ).

No white Christmas here this year. Here's to a merry Christmas to all our town square denizens far and wide!

*waves* I'm waiting for Meadow to pick me up from the lab so I thought I'd pop in quickly and say hi in between keeping half an eye on the code that's running and finishing a scarf for Summer (I think there're a few more rows left of yarn and then I'm done! ).

I hope you all had a merry Christmas! Ours was pretty quiet but good. No white Christmas for us (no surprise there), but we did get a bit of snow a few days later, which was quite the surprise!

Happy New Year, Square Onions!

* wanders in, opens the curtains and dusts the mantel *

Wow, it's quiet in here. Of course, I haven't been here myself in ages, which I suppose doesn't help much. For those of you who haven't met me previously, I'm the other Lady A, though I go by Wren, too.

Let's see, where to start...since I was last here, I've moved to Ireland, worked in a bone lab with over 3k archaeological specimens, handled 12th century texts of Irish books (the text of which, incidentally, is where I'd be willing to bet Tolkien got his inspiration for some of his middle earth languages--the text reads like Elvish and it almost seems as if he borrowed the writing style for lettering, too), had my computer hard drive die and eat my life, traveled around Europe, visiting a few old Nweb friends while I was around, enjoyed lunch with an old high school pal at the Eagle and Child, and then moved back to the States. I guess I haven't been on in a while.

I got back stateside just before Christmas, so I was able to enjoy that with my family, and now I'm just trying to sort out my life and normalize things in a new place with a new schedule. I'm hoping I might be able to get a few articles published over the next year, but we'll see. I've found it interesting that since I've gotten back, I've been having spurts of what my dad has started calling nesting--I even popped in to my old room at my parents' and started cleaning it out. It's a bit scary, realizing how much stuff from my childhood is still hanging around in there.

How are all of you recovering from Christmas? What's new with you all?

Good luck on getting published, Wren! That would be awesome.

Glad you were able to enjoy Christmas with your family. My family just observed Christmas last week, as we were delayed by illness in December and then cold weather earlier this month (my mother preferred we not drive a few hours on icy roads in below-zero F weather). It was still fun, all about time together even if delayed.

I can't believe January is almost over. Time flies even in winter (though this winter is on again/off again. Now it's unseasonably warm with little snow). We've enjoyed some views of a fuzzball called Comet Lovejoy.

Now I'm looking forward to a Super Bowl party this upcoming Sunday with friends, though it's more about getting together than the game. (Though the commercials are fun to watch and I know which team my brother in Seattle will be cheering for. ).

I don't follow football, but I, too am attending a Super Bowl party and it is indeed about getting together with friends. And watching the commercials. . And my friends just bought a smoker so they are smoking pork butt and wings for the party! We are going to eat well!

I'm glad you were finally able to have Christmas together, Gazer. It sounds like this winter has, so far, been a long one for you all.

BBQ sounds really good, ram. That's one thing that Europe doesn't excel at--weirdly enough, the best BBQ sauce comes from the dominoes-esque pizza place (which also has the best sweet-and-sour sauce). I quit following football quite a while ago, except for Gaelic Football, which I had been mildly interested in, until I learned how to play it, and became quickly convinced that it was the sport I always wanted to play as a child, but was never able to. I usually wait for the Superbowl ads to filter on to Facebook, and then watch from there. I also just realized that my birthday falls on Superbowl Sunday again this year. Bother. Then again, I'd kind of forgotten about my birthday until I just looked up the date for the Superbowl.

There is a conference at my church this week, as well as rush for my fraternity. I'm hoping I can pick up a little during rush (rush is when prospective new members get to check out the fraternity, and current members can decide if they want to vouch for/take under their wing a prospective new member. New members have to have a current member vouching for them), but I also usually use this time to redecorate my Sunday school classroom, since the building is unlocked and people are around, but no one is actually using my classroom. I haven't decided how much I want to change it, yet, but I think I would like to buy some new toy sets--or, at least, "new" in the sense that they're new to the classroom. I only wish I could buy completely new toys for my room. I haven't decided on a theme for my classroom yet, but I'm thinking about sticking with the same sort of idea as I put up last year, since the kids seem to like the pom-poms hanging from the ceiling. I dunno. I guess I get bored of the room more than the kids do, since they get a new room every year and I'm always teaching in the same one.

Hey ho, all ye Square Onions!

So, what's happened since I have been last in here? Goodness, that was last August. 15th to be exact. Far Too Long! Since then we have made our move an hour & 1/4 away from our old home and are loving it here in Oxford County. Mind you, who couldn't enjoy a place with the name "Oxford" in it?

It's such fun getting to know a brand new area. We are living rurally now, but close to a town (pop. of 38,000), which is surrounded by farmlands and pastoral countryside. The village/hamlet where we are is only 5 minutes away from the edge of town, but you'd never know it. It's so picturesque with farms and silos dotting the countryside, and the lowing of cows periodically.

We are getting to know our neighbours and are still searching for a church family <- that takes time! And we can have campfires in our backyard again, yayayayayayay!

This area gets more snow than our old area, so here is one happy hobbit. We don't miss the busy GTA (Greater Toronto Area) at all! (Although thankfully our old home was in a lovely, quiet, very treed part of town—quite a haven, it was.)

Anyway, I'm rambling, but what I think is needed in the Square now is some steaming mugs of hot apple cider. Ready?

*Pokes head in*

Mortereve y'all!!!! Been way to long since I've been here. Let us see........(Love how I just sounded like Gollum)......Three years actually. Looks like things have not changed to terribly much as far as peeps go. I still see some old familiar faces.

Big hugs to you Johobbit. It has been far to long. Very happy about your new residence. Sounds quite lovely if you ask me. As far as weather goes here in the good ol state of Texas...well, it's boring. Cold, hot, cold, sunny, raining, hot, cold, but never snow. It's central Texas so what can I say.

*Goes back to lurking*

Good mortereve, Tiana!

As said before. People come. People go. That is Ditto Town Square.

You are always welcome here. One of the old time residents of Ditto Town I have know ongoing quite a few years. Remember well your first visits.

Scenery does not change to darn much between Arizona and Texas, to be sure.

*sits with Gorse, who offers a cup of tea to Tiana*

Thank you for the tea Gorse. *Sips on tea* Tea is my drink of choice.

Well, thank you for making me welcome back. Hopefully I can keep coming back regularly, but as you already know schedule is CRAZY busy. Thinking back on some of the posts that went down here between me, Ata, you, ETJ, Johobbit, Stargazer, Kingskid, Lindir, and others. We had some wonderful times.

I would think that west Texas and Arizona are similar, but would think central Texas and AZ would be a little different. I am uneducated on the subject though.

*Gorse smiles, "You are most welcome, sweet lady."*

Indeed, Tiana. Crazy schedules and time consumed coming and going makes one weary. Town Square has never ceased being a place of calm for me. Met so many great friends here, some as you mentioned. Many I know how to find away from Ditto Town, but yet not quite the same as being here.

I need to find Master Oliver, speaking of old timers.

Perhaps in the future you shall get to travel a bit, Tiana.

TIANA!!! So good to see you!! How've you been doing?

cep, so good to see you too! How're things going?

I'm keeping quite busy; just started a new job full time this month and am trying to settle into a new apartment. The weather has been pretty nice here recently---warm, though it has cooled back down again. But it rained all today, which is good. As long as it doesn't get back into whole-days-in-a-row-with-subzero-temperatures, I'll be pretty happy for a while.

cep ... How're things going?

Staying busy, like yourself. Still working life as a medic. I am blessed.

Likewise, good to hear you are doing well.

Hello ValiantArcher!! It is good to be here. I've been doing well. Super busy. Going to college part time for an Avionic Mechanical Science degree, working full time as a pastry chef in a Belgium bakery, in the process of applying for a full time night position in a hospital, and just living life up. My life is so full of wonderful things going on at this moment. I also need to move here in the next few months. That is all dependent on if I get this job at the Hospital though.

When I'm rich and famous Uncle Ceppault I'll travel. Chief told me that plastic surgery is a lucrative business. I don't think I want to do that though if the economy takes a dump. And dealing with all those rich snobby peeps. Not my cup of tea. So I'll have to find another way to become rich.