This will be a relatively quiet Christmas in the Demay House. My parents are down in Florida this year, conserving their strength from a pretty harsh year health-wise. My brother is visiting with them, and my other brother is spending the holiday with his wife’s family.

So it’s just our little nuclear family until late Christmas Day when my mother-in-law arrives. In the spirit of the season, I will refrain from any snarky MIL comments. Instead, I will share some interesting Christmas trivia that I talked about on the air this week:

Did You Know….

The “Twelve Days of Christmas” was originally written to help Catholic children in England remember different articles of faith during their persecution by Protestant Monarchs. It was a sort of code to preserve their faith. The “true love” represented God, and the gifts all represented different Catholic ideas: The “Partridge in a pear tree” was Christ.

• 2 Turtle Doves = The Old and New Testaments
• 3 French Hens = Faith, Hope and Charity
• 4 Calling Birds = the Four Gospels
• 5 Golden Rings = The first Five Books of the Old Testament
• 6 Geese A-laying = the six days of Creation
• 7 Swans A-swimming = the seven sacraments
• 8 Maids A-milking = the eight beatitudes
• 9 Ladies Dancing = the nine Fruits of the Holy Spirit
• 10 Lords A-leaping = the ten commandments
• 11 Pipers Piping = the eleven faithful apostles
• 12 Drummers Drumming = the twelve points of doctrine in the Apostle’s Creed

Christmas Traditions
- Through the ages a spider web found on Christmas morning is believed to bring good luck

- During World War II it was necessary for Americans to mail Christmas gifts early for the troops in Europe to receive them in time. Merchants joined in the effort to remind the public to shop and mail early, and lo – the extended shopping season has been with us ever since.

- An average household in America will mail out 28 Christmas cards each year and see 28 eight cards return in their place. How many did you send and receive?

- After “A Christmas Carol” Charles Dickens wrote one Christmas story each year for several years, but none were as successful as the original.

Merry Christmas from our house to yours!

–Brian

In honor of Cinco de Mayo on Monday (or as I like to refer to it, Cinco Demay-o), I found a new study which says: the type of Mexican food you like best indicates what personality you have. Taste and personality reside in the same part of the brain, according to the study’s author, so listen up:

If you love Tacos – you are conscientious and a perfectionist. You are most romantically compatible with quesadilla lovers.

If you love Quesadillas – you are dependable, a true friend, and more a follower than a leader.

If you can’t get enough Chips and Salsa (that’s me!) – you are competitive, ambitious, and a natural leader. Chips and salsa lovers are most romantically compatible with other chips and salsa lovers.

And if you love Burritos – you are dramatic, flirtatious, gregarious, and witty, and you get along with everyone.

So there you go! Find your appropriate partner, and have some fun Monday during Cinco Demay-o!

Wag The Dog:
New research indicates that a wagging tail doesn’t always mean your dog is happy. Researchers videotaped hundreds of dogs and were able to determine when they were actually happy and when they weren’t by measuring the angle of the wag on each animal. The study concluded if the tail wags more toward the dog’s left side, he’s not so pleased about what he sees. On the right side, he’s happy.

In honor of this useless study, a pic of my cute little dog Rocky, whose tail is often seen wagging vigorously.

–Brian

It’s a story of extremes: Christmas vs. New Year’s Eve.

I read about some fun events going on at the Falls, fireworks included, and I figured why not drive up there and avoid the downtown Buffalo crowds, since we live so close, right? It is one of the Natural Wonders of the World, after all!

To the left is what I had hoped to find New Year’s Eve, but this crazy Buffalo winter threw the first monkey wrench into my plans. It’s been so unseasonably warm here that a lot of other people had the same idea I did, and they took about 20 friends with them to Niagara Falls/Ontario, too. When we finally got into town, the main drag was bumper to bumper traffic, worse than I have ever seen it up there, and that’s including the peak Summer months.

But, ignoring this first red flag, I drove on with the entire Demay clan, kids and MIL included, and found a parking spot on an upper ridge overlooking the Falls. In the drizzle and fog we parked, (see right photo) waiting for the fireworks to begin. (By the way, to set the scene, MIL was doing some heavy-duty preaching, complaining about the fireworks not starting yet, wondering if we should drive on, etc. )

The fireworks began, and the requisite oohs and ahhs began, only to end less than 5 minutes later. It was literally the worst fireworks display I have ever seen, and that includes the July 4th fireworks in tiny Oscoda, Michigan.

Incredulous, we all got back in the car; then I had the bright idea to stick around for a while longer to “make the trip worth it,” since the fireworks sucked so bad. I was thinking let’s have a snack, then drive back home, put the kids to bed, and watch the ball drop on TV.

So we found the last spot in the “My Cousin Vinny’s” parking lot, and had a drink with some stuffed mushrooms, salad, and cheese sticks. Then we headed back down to the bridge to the US, only to find all access to the bridge blocked off. There was a street party going on.

If it wasn’t raining, and if I didn’t have two sleepy kids in tow, we may have decided to stick around and see what the hubbub was about – instead, we inched along with hundreds of other cars, trying to find the ONE ROAD that would lead us back across the border.

We ended up driving to the outskirts of Niagara Falls in search of the mysterious Whirlpool Bridge, which I have only heard about – never seen – but were thwarted. Pressing on, we ended up (a lot later) back in the crush of cars using the only road leading back to the U.S.

By now everyone was asleep in the car – except MIL – so I was guaranteed a very vocal return trip. Fabulous.

We hit the border at about 11:43, and I held out one desperate hope of making it home in time. Nobody wanted to be in the car at midnight, but in a car we were, going about 80 in a futile attempt to see Dick Clark one last time in 2006. Happy New Year!

It was probably the best Christmas I’ve had in 10 years. For the first time in my marriage, we didn’t drive anywhere this year for the Holidays. My parents were nice enough to delay their yearly pilgrimage down South until late December, and spent Christmas with us this year. It was a full house as my MIL came to stay for a few days also, and watched the kids while Heather started her new job at (drumroll please): Entercom Radio.

More about that later. In the meantime, here are some observations about Christmas in Buffalo:
Connor asked me after opening presents on Christmas morning, “where are we driving today, Daddy?” More than anything else, that reinforced that our decision to stay put and start creating real Christmas memories for our children here at home was the right decision. How wonderful for a child to go to bed wondering when Santa was coming down the chimney, instead of waking up in Grammy’s condo!

It was also Rocky’s first Christmas at home instead of in a kennel, or at a friend’s house. He especially enjoyed licking Connor and Darcy’s plates clean.

I also “worked” the Trans-Siberian Orchestra show the day before Christmas. It was my first experience at HSBC Arena, taking the mic in front of almost 15,000 people as we presented the Leukemia and Lymphoma society with a check for over $13k. That was very cool. As I mentioned earlier at Shea’s, being on stage looking out over a sea of people is a lot more intimate than it would seem. From the audience, the stage seems distant and removed; being on stage, you can make eye contact with people and everyone seems very close. There’s nothing like hearing the applause, though.

There’s been lots of change in 2006 – but from my vantage point, it has all been good.

Happy New Year!

–Brian

Before I dash home, some thoughts:

• Lecture-Fest 2006 is now over. On the drive back from a Holiday Lights Festival with the children this Thanksgiving weekend, I counted 9 mini-lectures and tidbits of advice from my MIL, and the trip was relatively short. I guess if you’re good at something, stick with it…
• As my daughter learns how to talk she’s developing some interesting sayings. Darcy calls planes “wheels” for instance. She said “Oooh Daddy, I hear a wheel” recently, and I wanted to write that one down before I forgot it.
• Alpacas are very interesting, cuddly creatures. We saw one at the Lights Fest, and I couldn’t believe how soft and gentle it was. Maybe someday I’ll become an Alpaca rancher.
• Reindeer, on the other hand, are kind of homely, unhappy creatures, who smell awfully bad. Nothing against Santa’s choice for transport, but I wasn’t all that impressed with the non-flying versions, and I daresay they didn’t care much for me either.
• Gone With The Wind is badly acted in most places, but very well-acted in others. I saw it again over the weekend, and was annoyed by much of it, but intrigued enough to enjoy the final act.

Final thought: there just isn’t enough time in the day. Hope you had a great Thanksgiving!

–Brian