SO LONG, 2024

 It is the last day of the year here in Arizona.

For some of my readers it will be the first day of the new year long before it arrives here.

For those of you making resolutions for the future, here's a little help.

Good luck with yours.

But don't feel bad if they don't last.

Many millions of good intentions have gone into the waste barrel over the years.

To be a little serious, I'd like to thank all of the blog helpers who provide much of the material for Oddball.

I'd also like to thank all of you readers who have stuck with me through the year and years.

It is, as the saying goes, my pleasure.

So to all of you, readers, commenters and lurkers, may you have the very merriest of New Year's Eves and the best of times in the New Year.

CRAZY MONDAY

 Oh, my, so this is how the another year nears an end.

What a day!

It began with doing my normal Monday chores: filling my pill containers with the week's dosages; cleaning out the cat pan; clipping my fingernails.

Then after I had stepped out to dump some stuff in our dumpster and noticing how warm it felt in the sunshine I decided to go for a walk.

(All my doctors have been nagging me about that for years, to no avail.)

I told Judy I was going over to the nearby park because the sidewalks there are relatively level.

I walked all the way around the outside of the dog park (though I stopped several times to observe the many dogs also enjoying the weather).

At home, I dug into Henry David Thoreau's Walden book once again and read several pages.

For some unknown reason this prodded me to do some long-put-off dusting of my desk, a large art picture of my late uncle over it and a small-ish wall cabinet for my collection of mini-Buddhas and other  Asian figures.

Then I decided to hang a few paintings that have been waiting for weeks to occupy an empty wall space.

And now I'm listening to a Classic Country station on Amazon.

Judy asked me why I was listening to Hillbilly music but she nodded approvingly at the Hank Williams song that came on.

Later I tried to create a mocktail for Judy but I missed the food coloring that I needed to fix her my version of a "Shirley Temple".

So that's my December 30th.

We're only two days from a New Year and it seems I've already started on my non-existent List of Resolutions.

A PASSING

 

Jimmy Carter, the 39th President of the United States, died today in his home in Plains, Georgia.

He was 100 years old.

THE IN-BETWEEN DAYS

Call them the Days of Confusion.

When Christmas and New Year's both fall on Wednesday like this season, it muddles the mind into a gray mess.

I saw a thing on the Web the other day that said in part something like "No one really knows what day or time it is. Can we start drinking at 10 a.m.? Why not.  Who cares."

I haven't reached that stage yet though the thought has occurred to me.

I thought I'd show you our Christmas dinner.

Which we had on the 26th, I think.

I got up and made yeast waffles and Judy fixed breakfast sausage Christmas morning and we stuffed ourselves to the degree that the thought of making dinner that day was just too much.

So I doctored up a frozen pizza and that was our meal.

After all, it's just the two of us.

But the next day we finally roused up enough to fix our yuletide feast.

Which is a bit of deflection on my part because actually it was reheating the leftovers from our Thanksgiving meal.

Clockwise, starting on the left side, roasted sweet potatoes and pineapple, mashed potatoes, roast pork and dressing; the latter three draped in pork gravy; and an addition, some sliced red beets, which I liked but Judy didn't find to her favor.

At any rate, it was a tasty dinner, accompanied by a bottle of Prosecco.

Dessert may have been homemade cookies but I can't remember for sure.

Meantime, our little cat Sweetie-Pie, took over one of her favorite spots, cuddled on my bed for a lengthy nap.

I dozed off for a bit either in my recliner with a book open on my lap or in front of the television set in the living room as Judy stayed awake and watched a movie.

Pretty boring, huh?

I think it's the meaning of a good but quiet life in retirement.

THE FRIDAY FUNNIES

( . . . heard on the grapevine . . . )

"Gawd, at last we've got Christmas and that daily onslaught of cartoons about Santa Claus and reindeer and elves and lighted trees out of the way and we can finally achieve some normality!"

Yes, and you know what comes with normality, don't you?

But of course!

It's The Friday Funnies!

And that, Dear Friends and Gentle Readers, is all I've got for this week.

So now we look ahead, to Christmas leftovers, to New Year's makeovers, and in our dreams, 2024 do-overs.

Have a great weekend!

And always remember to keep laughing!

Here, kitty-kitty . . .

( . . . oooohhhh, some of you just can't get enough . . . )

CHRISTMAS DAY 2024

 

Seasons Greetings

Happy Holidays

Yuletide Greetings

Feliz Navidad

Joyeux Noël

Joyous Kwanzaa

Happy Hanukkah

and the very best to all!

Especially to my diligent, hard working Humor Elves who have provided the material that keeps this blog alive (barely).

And just to give them their very best props, here are some of their latest finds.

Ho-Ho-Ho!

And finally (to quote an old friend of mine), here's one of my favorites this year and one to perhaps puzzle you for awhile.

(I'll provide the answer if no one figures it out)

THE EVE IS UPON US

Can you hear that sigh of relief washing across the globe?

Christmas Eve is finally here.

A day of preparation in kitchens.

A day of last minute desperation shopping by men.

A last day, or maybe a half day, of schooling.

A day when Catalyst can turn away from his ghastly long Christmas Comedy Cavalcade.

But the work is not over for one man and a yoked crew of deer as a long night beckons.

So let's see how it's shaping up.

Ho-Ho-Ho!