Your Weekly Antics, Let Your Fruitcake Fly Edition 1-5-2023

Well kids, we are well on our way in to the first week of our new year. I hope you’ve all de Christmas’d your houses, trees taken out or wrapped up and stored for next season, interior decorations gently wrapped up and put away for safe keeping, and you’ve gotten a fresh start to your new year with a sparkling clean house. For those of you with kids home from college, or just shipped those at home back off to school this past Tuesday, I’m sure this isn’t the case, but it’s okay to dream isn’t it? If you were smart, you may have decided to forgo decluttering and maybe sat back and relaxed a bit. Whatever you chose to do, I hope you’ve gotten a great start to your new year. Here’s what I’ve got…

1. Sue Miller wasn't messing around and had her house de Christmas'd and back in order so fast it was like Christmas never happened or she'd been robbed. Please take note that a photo of Deb is now front and center on the mantle while the Grandkids have been cast to the side. Sorry kids, secret's out. Now we all know who Grammy's favorite really is. Exhibit 1, mantle reorganized according to favorites.

2. Some Christmas cards are better late than never. Especially those that come in a different language, and the recipient of said holiday sentiment is expected to translate the message and then report that translation back to the sender. Exhibit 2, the Christmas card that keeps on giving...

3. According to the Chinese Calendar, 2023 is the Year of the Water Rabbit. What does this mean exactly? The Chinese calendar rotates in 60-year cycles based on 12 earthly branches, each represented by an animal year, and five heavenly stems — wood, fire, earth, metal and water. The year of the

Rabbit is predicted to be a year of hope, largely because the rabbit is associated with peace, prosperity and longevity in Asia. The rabbit is said to be a symbol of prosperity and peace. If you were born in one of the rabbit years, you are considered vigilant, witty, quick-minded, and ingenious. The most compatible zodiac signs for Rabbits are Goats, Dogs, and Pigs. If you’d like to tempt fate, find out if who you’ve hitched your wagon to for all eternity is really the person for you according to Chinese Zodiac signs, find that out here...but don’t blame me if you don’t like what it comes up with…

https://www.chinahighlights.com/travelguide/chinese-zodiac/rabbit.htm

4. Just when you think the holiday season is over, rest assured, there is another holiday many of us were not aware of until this year. January 3, 2023 was National Fruitcake Toss Day. Would we lie to you here at The Antics? Send you astray? Of course not...according to the internet, this is, in fact, a real day. A celebration of sorts when you are encouraged to take that uneaten baked item with a shelf like of about 1000 years, and, I quote, take that fruitcake you never got around to eating and send it spiraling hundreds or thousands of feet into the air, depending on the power of your throwing arm... If you missed this under appreciated and obscure holiday, don't worry - from what we've read, the date of fruitcake tossing can vary and be celebrated any day during the month of January, only specifications being that when you partake in chucking that loaf of cake that couldn't taste any less like fruit, you do so as far and as violently as you can. You do that, and you've celebrated correctly. Should you decide to get a little crazy next year, you can even attend The Great Fruitcake Toss at National Fruitcake Toss Days place of origin, Manitou Springs Colorado. Diane, Sharon, Colleen and Michelle...next years girls weekend destination? Don't believe me? Check this out...

https://manitousprings.org/events/fruitcake-toss/

5. The hits just keep on coming for the middle Kap kid. First, her head gets cut off on the family Christmas card – which by the way, I had re printed so that would be one less thing for her to hold against me at a later date. Then, I have Sue Millers 2023 calendar made and do I need to say it? I put the wrong day down for Reaghan’s Birthday, of course I did. Exhibit 3, Grammy’s new 2023 calendar – please note, not only is Reaghans birthday on the wrong date, but the date I chose for

this error is my all time favorite dog Dolce’s Birthday. RIP Big Dog.

6. Just because it was New Years day, didn’t mean that the fun and celebration should stop there. Picture this…the middle kid traveling along on New Years day, minding her own business with the youngest Kap kid in tow, when she feels and hears a part of her car fall off. Lucky for all of us, the youngest Kap kid, a.k.a. all time best sister ever, was available to document this travelling digression in both photo and video form. While she was documenting, a homeowner came outside to assist the kid in retrieving the part to her car, later identified as the muffler. When your parents can't be reached, everyone should be able to depend upon the sound advice of your older brother. Exhibits 4, 5 & 6, how it all went down...

7. There may be more to the increase in price of groceries, such as eggs, than meets the eye. There's been speculation that the escalating costs has been due to rising operating costs of food production facilities, fuel, transportation, supplies, labor, to name a few. Is this the real reason for the escalating price of eggs? Not only is society embracing cleaner healthier lifestyles by eating gluten free and going vegetarian, but apparently chickens are now eating vegetarian too. I call foul on this one. Exhibits 7 & 8, we give you cage free vegetarian fed eggs. I'm pretty sure the free range hood chickens of The Woo aren't eating vegetarian.

8. With the new year comes changes - move over Al and Chris...looks like you're not the only ones with Dad jokes...Exhibit 9

8 a. Have no fear loyal readers...the Soob has been put back together again by George, Lou and their crew at Bravo Auto...508-363-2500. Give them a call - they can put anything back together again.

9. When doing the work of the people, often we learn the hard way why we shouldn't a.) use our own phones to make calls, b.) if you use your own phone, block your number so the person you're calling can't save your number to get a hold of you until the end of time, and c.) should you neglect to do either, at least have the good sense to put something in your phone to identify the caller so you have fair warning next time he calls you on a Sunday morning. Years ago, and I mean years ago, I didn't follow any of the above advice I'm sharing with all of you. I followed up on an after hours on call call using my own phone, failing to block the number prior to dialing. I get this guy who decides I'm his new best friend, he saved my number to his phone, and to this day, I get a call from him every few months, normally looking for a cab. I assumed until this New Years day that he had me saved in his phone as Yellow Cab, an easy mistake, particularly for someone who has presented in the past as having difficulty navigating things like calling our local cab company and arranging his own transportation. Well, I assumed wrong my friends and am here to admit that the flim flammer has been flim flammed. This occurred to me as I was hanging up on Sunday realizing that he only called me to wish me a Happy New Year. This was right about the time when he said, Lisa, I don't always just call you looking for a cab. I could get worse calls, right? Look at me...making new friends and I didn't even know it...

10. New friends, old friends, childhood friends...What happens when we all watch the children of friends we haven't seen since we were kids, grow up on Facebook and other social media platforms? I'll tell you what happens. We can now pick each others children, whom we've never met in person, out of a crowd. Sam took his first business trip to Dallas Texas this week, flying alone out of Logan Airport. Sure, he's a mature intelligent grown man who can manage this trip entirely on his own without his Mother, but as a Mom I don't care how old your kid gets, you worry. Yes, he lives alone and has managed to keep himself alive and well without me, but again, as a Mom, you worry about them getting to the airport, checking in, getting on the plane, finding their gate when they land, all of it. Come to find out, I didn't have to worry. There Sam is sitting at Logan waiting to board his plane and my childhood best friend picked him out of a crowd, introduced herself, then Sam to her sons, and then made sure he got to where he was going without incident. Might not have been a big deal to her, but was a huge deal to me. There's no such thing as coincidence. Thanks Jen for keeping an eye on my kid. Exhibit 10, you never know who you're going to meet....it takes a village.

And last but not least, I hope you all embrace your inner rabbit in honor of the New Year. Pay it forward a little and be kind. Don't be afraid to pick up a phone call from an unfamiliar number or pick a familiar face out of a crowd and introduce yourself. It may just be the start of a new generation of friendships.

Have a great weekend!