Baby It's Cold Outside... Time to Start Planning for Summer Vacation

Brrr.... winter officially just started about a week ago, and the Roxiticus Valley has already had our share of snow days, icy rain and cold cold weather. While Rex, London and I have been busy making our New Year's Resolutions and laying out plans for a successful 2009, I'll admit that it is hard to think about summer vacation rentals when there's snow on the ground... and on the deck... and covering up the swimming pool. However, for those who are looking for savings and bargains, there are plenty of benefits to be had by booking your vacation early in the New Year. Whether you're dreaming of an island in the South Pacific or checking out hilton head vacation rentals, you'll find a variety of affordable vacation packages online now. I can take Rex and the girls (and BEAR-iuca) overseas to visit Mariuca or book at trip to Lady Java's Lounge in Malaysia. I've always wanted to get back to Austin, Texas, and since Erik probably doesn't have room for us at his place, I should book early to get the best rental rate for a condo downtown. If you're coming to visit Roxy this summer, we don't have enough room for all of my blogosphere buddies at our beach house in Bay Head, so shop now to find the vacation spot that suits you best. Even if we're only dreaming, it's nice to plan a vacation someplace warm cuz baby, it's cold outside! Happy New Year to all of you.

Let's Keep Blogging Out Hunger: Stop and Shop Contributes $1.00 Per Comment at This Full House

As part of the Blogging Out Hunger campaign for the Community FoodBank of NJ, one of my fellow New Jersey Bloggers -- Liz, from This Full House -- has gotten Stop and Shop to pony up $1 for every comment left (up to $300) under the blog post linked below. It's a way all of you can help and it won't cost you anything. Please take a second to click the link below and comment. Let's see how quickly we can raise $300 more bucks for the FoodBank.

http://www.thisfullhouse.com/this_full_house/2008/12/blogging-out-hunger-we-cant-let-this-bank-fail-the-big-give.html

Just Another New Year's Eve

Even though there's a full week to go until next Music Monday, I'm starting to evaluate potential New Year's Eve themed songs. Here's a fave from Barry Manilow... I think I remember LadyJava posting a Barry Manilow tune a while back, I'll have to check the Music Monday archives.

Just Another New Year's Eve -- Barry Manilow

Don't look so sad, it's not so bad you know.
It's just another night, that's all it is,
It's not the first, it's not the worst you know,
We've come through all the rest, we'll get through this.

We've made mistakes, but we've made good friends too.
Remember all the nights we spent with them?
And all our plans, who says they can't come true?
Tonight's another chance to start again.

REFRAIN
It's just another New Year's Eve,
Another night like all the rest.
It's just another New Year's Eve,
Let's make it the best.
It's just another New Year's Eve,
It's just another Auld Lang Syne,
But when we're through this New Year
You'll see, we'll be just fine.

We're not alone, we've got the world you know.
And it won't let us down, just wait and see.
And we'll grow old, but think how wise we'll grow.
There's more you know, it's only New Year's Eve.

If you're out and about celebrating New Year's Eve, be smart, don't drink and drive. Take a cab home, pay for a designated driver to drink Diet Coke all night, but don't drink and drive. If you don't want to listen to Roxy and you get in trouble in Southern California, you're going to need the phone number for a good bunch of Los Angeles Criminal and DUI Defense Attorneys. Call Kestenbaum Eismer & Gorin LLP, a top 5% United States law firm specializing in criminal defense. (877) 781-1570. They're available 24/7, whenever you need them.

Music Monday: You Are My Shining Star

This week's Music Monday post is in recognition of a great honor bestowed upon me by Matt over at Meltwater. Torrents. Meanderings. Delta. Matt has given me the Pulsar Award: "A pulsar is a brilliant flashing star in the sky. The Pulsar Award honors those who add a bit of brightness to life. If bloggers everywhere can find pulsars, other beacons of hope and friendship and display them on their blogs, then we all can make this world a better place together."

Thanks, Matt... I will continue to do my best to live up to your great expectations! Please enjoy the video and lyrics of You Are My Shining Star... a classic by the Manhattans.



Honey you are my shining star
Don't you go away
Oh baby, wanna be
Right here where you are
Till my dying day, oh yeah
So many have tried
Tried to find a love like yours and mine
Hmmmm mmmmm mmmmmm
Girl don't you realize
How you hynotize
Make me love you each time, yeah baby
Honey I know I leave you lonely
Give my love to you only
To you only, to you only
Honey you are my shining star
Don't you go away
Oh baby, wanna be
Right here where you are
Till my dying day, yeah baby
Feel so good when we're lying here
Next to each other lost in love, yeah baby
Baby when we touch, I love you so much
You're all I have with me now, yeah baby
Honey I know I leave you lonely
Give my love to you only
To you only, to you only
Honey you are my shining star
Don't you go away
Oh baby, wanna be
Right here where you are
Till my dying day, yeah baby
You are my shining star
Don't you go away, oh-o-o baby
Honey you are my shining star
Don't you go away, oh-o-o baby
Honey, right here where you are
Till my dying day, ahhhh yeah
Honey you are my shining star
My shining star
Honey you are my star
Don't you go away, yeah baby
Honey you are my shining star
Don't you go away, oh-o-o baby

Come join Music Monday and share your songs with us. One simple rule, leave ONLY the actual post link here. You can grab this code at LJL Please note these links are STRICTLY for Music Monday participants only. All others will be deleted.

Looking Ahead to Springtime Projects in the Roxiticus Valley

Whew! Things sure are busy here at Roxy's place as Rex, London, Maddie and I get ready for the holidays. On Friday, we've got a holiday singalong with the girls at Mendham Township Elementary School in the morning, then we'll have a couple of business phone calls from the home office, and head back to the school in the afternoon for Maddie's class publishing party. All of the kids in Maddie's first grade class have been hard at work over the last month or so, writing their autobiographies to proudly present to all of the parents. The big day is almost here, and it should be a lot of fun.

Meanwhile, Rex and I have been in the process of applying for a home equity line of credit to make a few improvements around the house in the springtime. We really haven't done much since we bought our house five years ago, and now it feels like we should let London and Maddie choose a new color of paint for each of their bedrooms from a selection of paint chip samples. We'll probably add a new carpet in the family room after we take this year's Christmas tree out in January. I've been waiting for the girls to get a bit older to minimize the spills on a new carpet, and we've also decided we can't get a dog due to London's allergies. The biggest change would be to put in a new patio door to walk outside from the gym in our basement. It would be nice to let a little more light in by the elliptical trainer and weights to inspire my back-to-school turned New Year's resolution workout plan. As the new year gets closer, I'll be sure to post my weight loss progress and goals in true Bridget Jones style.

My New Women's Blog at Today.com

I posted about a week ago that I was signing up for yet another new blog over at Today.com, and I'm now up and running over there, complete with daily posts and an EntreCard widget. The URL for my new blog is http://desperatehousewives.today.com, and I hope you will all drop in and check it out. Today.com is actually a paid blogging service, but instead of paying bloggers to write about particular advertisers, at least for the first month of posting and getting your audience to follow you, Today.com pays bloggers $1.00 per day to write at least 100 words about the topic of your choice. I picked "Women" and I've decided to try my hand at a little bit different style of writing... another side of Roxy that you haven't seen before. I'll leave it to my loyal Roxiticus Desperate Housewives readers to determine whether I know anything about the subject of WOMEN.

Since I joined Today.com, I've started to notice the number of other bloggers I know via BlogExplosion or Entrecard who also post there...sports blogs, celebrity blogs, you name it and you'll find it there. If you're feeling Blogalific, you can click the Today.com icon below to get your very own new blog and start earning a little money on the side:

Ah, Looking Back on Roxy's Good Old College Days

I just got an e-mail about my upcoming 25th high school reunion, which got me thinking about my high school and college days. It feels like things were easier for college students back then. Even though we didn't have the Internet, so there was no such thing as blogging, it seemed easier to get into the college of one's choice, and easier to deal with things like finding a place to live...although I have more than a few college roommate stories that would make your skin crawl. Just the other day, I read on another blog about a criminal using Craig's List here in the U.S. to rip off college students seeking apartments. I won't go into the details, but I will say that if you're seeking student flats in leeds, you're lucky to have access to Pickard Properties, recently voted the number one student landlord in Leeds in the United Kingdom.