So this is Christmas...

Hey everyone, As today is Christmas Eve, I have to say thank you to all who’ve managed to make it through my Crusade to Feed the World. It almost felt like The Spanish Inquisition… but since I suppose you’ve come to expect me to include it in some subtle and not-so-subtle ways in every post since it began, guess it didn’t quite turn out like the Spanish Inquisition. The day my dear friend Vince decided to bestow a Christmas Spirit award on yours truly I had started writing a post about Free Rice. His gracious gift brought about a different twist on the post. You’ve all been kind and supportive and I must say, Christmas came early for me when I saw how many friends joined in promoting such a simple and easy way to make a difference and how many of you were playing. We’re at 11,239,338,070 grains and you guys rock! When I lost Mom in January, I started thinking about the firsts I would be faced with. You’ve all made this first Christmas without her easier… you’ve helped give me focus and the knowledge that the world goes on and that it’s a good place filled with most excellent people. My best wishes, and those of The Chicklet go out to the awesome folks in the blogosphere… For the kiddies out there, don’t forget to track Santa’s progress with the folks at NORAD! Last I checked, he’d begun his trip and was in Russia, and he had eaten close to 1 000 000 000 cookies… I was told by a source in the know that Santa will gratefully accept donations made to Freerice on his behalf. My best bud Vince had all y’all play a little game last week, and we had fun listening to some of the versions of Christmas Classics he put up (although some of the choices made us want to toss the Christmas cookies) Here’s some tuneage from The Luggage… Rock on babies… Vince had folks pick a favourite version of this song… We would have loved to find this version, the definitive one, on The Couch jukebox. This one’s my Christmas present to Matt… enjoy buddy! Think they go well with RICE? For those of you traveling, be safe and be mindful of those who haven’t received the gift of common sense and are out driving impaired. Merry Christmas to all… Love you all more than my luggage! Hugs, smooches and gropes!