CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN... 9 Days

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The cold weather has arrived, but winter and Christmas are not here yet.

There is still time to write a letter to Santa and place it under the tree for him to see. Make sure to leave a little something for Santa to enjoy while he divers a toy for every deserving girl and boy.

RIP Peter O'Toole

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He was not only a terrific actor, but a movie star as well. Peter O'Toole passed away at age 81 after a long illness on yesterday at the Wellington Hospital in London, according to his agent and spokes,man Steve Kenis.

O'Toole was one of the most well known performers of his generation, rising to fame almost with his starring role in "Lawrence of Arabia".

One fan responded by saying that Peter O'Toole was drama combined with wit and humor personified.

This Week in Her and History

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This Week in History, Dec 15 - Dec 21

Dec 15, 2001
Leaning Tower of Pisa reopens. On this day in 2001, Italy's Leaning Tower of Pisa reopens after a team of experts spent 11 years and $27 million to fortify the tower without eliminating its famous lean. In the 12th century, construction began on the bell tower for the cathedral of Pisa, a busy trade center on the Arno River in western Italy, some 50 miles from Florence. While construction was still in progress, the tower's foundation began to sink into the soft, marshy ground, causing it to lean to one side. Its builders tried to compensate for the lean by making the top stories slightly taller on one side, but the extra masonry required only made the tower sink further. By the time it was completed in 1360, modern-day engineers say it was a miracle it didn't fall down completely.

Dec 16, 1773
The Boston Tea Party. n Boston Harbor, a group of Massachusetts colonists disguised as Mohawk Indians board three British tea ships and dump 342 chests of tea into the harbor. The midnight raid, popularly known as the "Boston Tea Party," was in protest of the British Parliament's Tea Act of 1773, a bill designed to save the faltering East India Company by greatly lowering its tea tax and granting it a virtual monopoly on the American tea trade. The low tax allowed the East India Company to undercut even tea smuggled into America by Dutch traders, and many colonists viewed the act as another example of taxation tyranny.

Dec 17, 1903
First airplane flies. Near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, Orville and Wilbur Wright make the first successful flight in history of a self-propelled, heavier-than-air aircraft. Orville piloted the gasoline-powered, propeller-driven biplane, which stayed aloft for 12 seconds and covered 120 feet on its inaugural flight. Orville and Wilbur Wright grew up in Dayton, Ohio, and developed an interest in aviation after learning of the glider flights of the German engineer Otto Lilienthal in the 1890s. Unlike their older brothers, Orville and Wilbur did not attend college, but they possessed extraordinary technical ability and a sophisticated approach to solving problems in mechanical design. They built printing presses and in 1892 opened a bicycle sales and repair shop. Soon, they were building their own bicycles, and this experience, combined with profits from their various businesses, allowed them to pursue actively their dream of building the world's first airplane.

Dec 18, 1620
Mayflower docks at Plymouth Harbor. On December 18, 1620, the British ship Mayflower docked at modern-day Plymouth, Massachusetts, and its passengers prepared to begin their new settlement, Plymouth Colony. The famous Mayflower story began in 1606, when a group of reform-minded Puritans in Nottinghamshire, England, founded their own church, separate from the state-sanctioned Church of England. Accused of treason, they were forced to leave the country and settle in the more tolerant Netherlands. After 12 years of struggling to adapt and make a decent living, the group sought financial backing from some London merchants to set up a colony in America. On September 6, 1620, 102 passengers–dubbed Pilgrims by William Bradford, a passenger who would become the first governor of Plymouth Colony–crowded on the Mayflower to begin the long, hard journey to a new life in the New World.

Dec 19, 1998
President Clinton impeached. After nearly 14 hours of debate, the House of Representatives approves two articles of impeachment against President Bill Clinton, charging him with lying under oath to a federal grand jury and obstructing justice. Clinton, the second president in American history to be impeached, vowed to finish his term. In November 1995, Clinton began an affair with Monica Lewinsky, a 21-year-old unpaid intern. Over the course of a year and a half, the president and Lewinsky had nearly a dozen sexual encounters in the White House. In April 1996, Lewinsky was transferred to the Pentagon. That summer, she first confided in Pentagon co-worker Linda Tripp about her sexual relationship with the president. In 1997, with the relationship over, Tripp began secretly to record conversations with Lewinsky, in which Lewinsky gave Tripp details about the affair.

Dec 20, 1957
Elvis Presley is drafted. On this day in 1957, while spending the Christmas holidays at Graceland, his newly purchased Tennessee mansion, rock-and-roll star Elvis Presley receives his draft notice for the United States Army. With a suggestive style--one writer called him "Elvis the Pelvis"--a hit movie, Love Me Tender, and a string of gold records including "Heartbreak Hotel," "Blue Suede Shoes," "Hound Dog" and "Don't Be Cruel," Presley had become a national icon, and the world's first bona fide rock-and-roll star, by the end of 1956. As the Beatles' John Lennon once famously remarked: "Before Elvis, there was nothing." The following year, at the peak of his career, Presley received his draft notice for a two-year stint in the army. Fans sent tens of thousands of letters to the army asking for him to be spared, but Elvis would have none of it. He received one deferment--during which he finished working on his movie King Creole--before being sworn in as an army private in Memphis on March 24, 1958.

CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN... 10 Days

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Christmas trees become the focus of many people's homes during this holiday period.

Christmas trees. Gingerbread houses. Advent calendars. Christmas as we know it is made up of traditions popularized in EUROPE, but WE find them all over America also.

In Michigan an act of kindness translated into giving away Christmas trees.
Man gives away 40 Christmas trees | WOOD TV8 http://www.woodtv.com

SECRET SANTA

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You could give away money, if you can afford it. If not, then just a random act of true kindness.

Being nice to others is a way of living that keeps giving long after the kind thoughts, words, and actions have taken place.

Kindness is a force without force, and it goes well beyond manners to the very heart of how people respect and treat one another. Being kind is a vital way of making our own lives, and the lives of others, meaningful.

PLEASE DRIVE SAFELY

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Driving in hazardous conditions centers on slowing down and keeping a safe distance between yourself and the drivers in front of you.

Think about what would happen if a deer were to jump out on a snowy highway, and the person in front of you slammed on the brakes. Consider whether or not you would be able to stop soon enough, or if there was an accident up ahead of you. Don't let other drivers riding too close behind you force you into tailgating also.

THE GREAT CHRISTMAS LIGHT FIGHT

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"The Great Christmas Light Fight" is a new competition series in which 20 families from across America decorate their homes to the extreme for Christmas - in ways that would certainly make even Clark Griswold envious - with a total of $250,000 in prizing.

"The Great Christmas Light Fight" airs on MONDAY, DECEMBER 16 (9:00-11:00 p.m., ET/PT) and DECEMBER 23 (9:00-11:00 p.m., ET/PT) with back-to-back episodes on those two nights.

Sabrina Soto and Michael Moloney both from HGTV "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition") will serve as judges for the series.

FREE CHRISTMAS CONCERT

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Sunday December 15 @ 1 & 3 p.m.

The Bronx Arts Ensemble presents a wonderful holiday concert with music for St. Nicholas.

Fun for the whole family, the singers and a Double Reed Band (oboe, oboe d'amore, English horn and bassoon) tell the story of the Dutch Sinterklass in song and narrative - a colonial celebration in Old Nieuw Amsterdam!

The concert is free but space is limited and tickets are required. The mansion will not be open for regular guided tours on Sunday.

MORE EFFORTING

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EFFORTING is a made up word used only by newscasters to show off that they're doing the job they're being paid to do.

An attempt to make the word ‘effort’ into a verb. To make it sound like something simple is tough to do, so they’re making extra effort. It has been often used as a stall when a report isn’t ready.

Work hard at what you enjoy, are good at and nice things happen. Efforting will lead you to your passions and success, however its defined.

ARE YOU FEELING SAD?

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The winter blues seems to get inside some people affecting their moods as well as their days. Known as seasonal affective disorder (SAD), this form of depression affects about 1% to 2% of the population. Although it strikes all genders and ages, women are more likely to develop SAD than men, and young people are more likely to develop it than older people.

SAD seems to be triggered by decreased exposure to daylight. Typically, it arrives during the fall or winter months and subsides in the spring. Symptoms are similar to general depression and include lethargy, loss of interest in once-pleasurable activities, interpersonal problems, irritability, inability to concentrate, and changes in sleeping patterns, appetite, or both.

Experts don’t fully understand the cause of SAD, but leading theories place the blame on an out-of-sync body clock or on improper levels of either the hormone melatonin or the neurotransmitter serotonin.

Depression is more than a passing bout of sadness or dejection, or feeling down in the dumps. It can leave you feeling continuously burdened and can sap the joy out of once-pleasurable activities. Effective treatment can lighten your mood, strengthen your connections with loved ones, allow you to find satisfaction in interests and hobbies, and make you feel more like yourself again.