WIXY's Gone Bananas

I was given notice this morning that I have been laid off from my job. Kathy, understandably, isn't taking this well at all. We need your prayers. This puts a very big exclamation point on two very lousy years.

I am taking a very quick break from awarding Top Bananas at this point to pass on a message from Jerry White, father of Suzanne Horne, aka Liquid. Amias asked me to post this, as it was from an email she had received. "One year has passed and I really don't know where to start. We have all had a hard time. I guess Campbell has been the biggest man of all. He accepted his mother's death very well. Isabella on the other hand has had a rough year. To this day she is still somewhat withdrawn from our love and compassion. I think she is afraid of losing us. She is however, very close to Betty. Betty has also had a very hard time and it showed up again as we were putting up the Christmas Tree. Suzanne had always helped." "We went and spent Christmas with Greg, Ronna and Madelyn. Please pass along to all of the bloggers how much we appreciate their kind words about Suzanne. She was all they said to those that knew her personally." As we end 2009 and go into 2010 re...

When you last left me, I was in North Carolina awarding the last Top Banana. I decided, against my better judgment, to head up I-95 and pass out awards to those deserving in the Eastern United States. Cliff Note: In case you didn't figure it out, I-95 is not my favorite highway, especially between Baltimore and NYC. Speaking of Baltimore, the "If I give you some steel wool, will you knit me a BMW?" Top Banana goes to Margaret, of Bellathena's Blog fame. Margaret is also an honorary Buckeye Baby Boomer Blogging Buddy(tm) , having attended college at the College of Wooster, which is located about 20 minutes away from me. Margaret's blog is about life in suburban Baltimore, Md., her family, dogs and her knitting. She evens manages to make mention of the football team that Baltimore stole from Cleveland on occasion. All in fun, of course. We manage to have some off blog dialogue, as she likes to keep up on things around Wooster, Ohio. Leaving Baltimore and heading u...

The response over my European awards is one important reason I just give the Top Banana once a year. I like keeping the award unique and fresh. I also like keeping my posts somewhat brief and that's the reason I do several during "award season." I am now back in the United States and this post will be about the winners down south. Y'all in Kentucky are not included in this batch since you both are honorary Buckeyes. And even though the graphic on this post is smaller, you are no less winners than your European counterparts. I'm going to start today in sunny Florida. The first award is the "Ho Ho Ho Green Blogger " Top Banana, which is a take off on the Green Giant commercials and not a commentary on her personal life. This goes to Busy Bee Suz , of Day by Day With Suz fame. Suz is a guardian of the environment and is very active in blogging about it. Suz also writes about her family and pets, using her loving sarcastic style in her daily musing. The com...

For the next several days, I want to end 2009 and begin 2010 with a little fun and put smiles on faces. Yes, it's time for the 2009 Top Banana awards. This is the 4th year that I've handed out end of year awards. The first year, I called them the Golden Banana and my friends on the message boards were the recipients. The following year, as I was looking for a graphic, I found the first Google reference to "Golden Banana" was a strip club. I then renamed the award the "Top Banana." The origin of the term is headliner in a Vaudeville act. All who participate here are headliners in my book. You have all been invaluable friends to me in 2009, helping me through a difficult year and these awards are a way to show my appreciation. Your comments here, reaction to comments I've made on your blog, emails, and notes through the USPS, have given me more encouragement than you could imagine. As I have noted earlier in this post, these awards are given out in fun and...

It seems that I got away from some of my passions in writing this blog. Like some of you, I've been in Facebook more than I really should be and some of my best thoughts have stayed inside of me, going stale. I take a look at my sidebar and it reveals that I'm at 311(as of this writing) posts for the year. Last year I wrote 427 posts. Yeah, in some cases, life has happened. Some of it has choked off my creative juices. I noticed in the past couple of weeks that my life is somewhat a mess and I have nobody to blame but the one currently at the keyboard. One of my goals for the coming year is to get more organized. Maybe with that, my other goals might fall in place. Maybe the book will finally break out of me. If my laptop was waterproof, I would probably have written a chapter in the shower this morning. I don't know if I want to surpass my 2008 total of posts in 2010, but I do want to have some good quality reading for all of you who stop by.

Last night my daughter was at church with her kids, attending Christmas Eve services. As they were leaving, her youngest child, age 2, handed her a blue feather and said that "This is for Pa-paw". Martha didn't know where it come from. The following is a poem written almost two years ago by Suzanne Horne. This will be the third time I have posted it here: Sleeping Under Her Wing At night when all is quiet I notice my toes are warm despite the snow on the ground beneath me. I curl into a ball at the foot of my bed hiding the hurt and the tears from little patters of feet. I wail so hard silently my head wants to explode. She with her wing wipes my tears. She with her words sings to me and twiddles my hair. I rub a single feather I plucked from her wing and stroke my cheek with it. It soothes me. I am warm. I am safe. I pull it together. I send her that same feather. Although she has tons. ~Liquid

To your house from the WIXYranch, I wish you a very merry Christmas. Enjoy Mark Lowry's version of "Mary Did You Know?"

Most Dave Ramsey listeners are familiar with that phrase. Dave tells that to those who call him and tell him about being deep in debt. Or specifically: "Beans and rice, rice and beans. Christmas is a craft , anniversary is a card. You don't see the inside of a restaurant unless you are working there." Anyway, since things have been very tight at my home this year, I decided to take this somewhat to heart. A friend at work always gives me something for special occasions, not expecting anything in return. I had told Charlie I was going to do this for others, and I decided also to do it for him. Thanks to the digital age, it's easy for someone like me to craft a gift for someone else. And since it's podcasts from iTunes which I get for free, I am not doing anything illegal. And I did make two CD's of the Dave Ramsey show. Another thing I got for Charlie, who happens to be an avid NASCAR fan, was a Dale Earnhardt hat, which I found on clearance at Kmart. Charlie i...

Last year about 1:30 Christmas afternoon, I was checking my email when I got a message that had numbed me. Chelle wrote to tell me that Liquid had passed away the day before. I then posted the news here, then went to my in laws as my grand kids had more gifts to open. When I returned home that day, I called Chelle to get the details, she told me what had happened. Over time, I had heard from other friends and family. I found that some of her family had been reading my tribute posts, even before Amias took charge of having people link their posts on Suzanne's blog . The past week or so, I've been in contact with other bloggers and former bloggers who have been thinking a lot of her lately. Leesa left a message in the online guest book last week. Amias just left one today. Suzanne is still missed. Michelle had asked me to send out a prayer request for Suzanne's family and I'm using this post for that. Suzanne left behind her parents, Jerry and Betty White, her son Camp...

For many years, the Kobilarcik's have transformed their house in Wooster, Ohio to a Christmas wonderland. Their home, located on Milltown Road, between Melrose Rd. and Cleveland Rd, state route 3, is a fantastic display of their Christmas spirit. We took out kids there when they were young and have returned many times. Last night I took my grandson, Ben, there for the first time. There is space for plenty of parking, as the public is welcome free of charge. The sign pictured above, is behind the soldier on the left. This is the walkway to the house. As we walked towards the house, we were welcomed by an array of Disney characters, all in their Christmas finest. As you get closer to the house, you will see displays of dolls and stuffed toys, all in the spirit of the season. The front and side of the house fully contain displays that took years to come together. Some of these brings to mind department store windows from years past. And yes, there are displays that show the reason fo...

The year has gone so quick I say It's just one week till Christmas Day I hope you all have love to share And wrap it all with so much care This whole weekend will be so hazy Christmas shoppers all going crazy To me it really seems so funny I won't be there, I have no money

I haven't been doing much serious writing in the past several days and my last two posts were from YouTube. This means I have also not seen my dashboard lately. I missed a comment made 6 days ago until this morning during my coffee break. This comment was made on the classic post about my brother that I had reposted last week. It was from one of my high school friends. Gary had reminisced about the days when we attended Highland High and brought back some good memories and reintroduced me to some of his humor. He also made mention of some old classmates he has seen over the years. One of the good things about writing on the Internet and not being anonymous is that you can catch the attention of folks you haven't seen in over 30 years. However, I sometimes wish that they would click on my profile and drop me a line. I will have to tell Beth about this. Maybe she will start reading my blog.

Genesis is one of the next induction class in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. They go in with ABBA, Jimmy Cliff, the Stooges and the Hollies. Enjoy my favorite Genesis hit, Invisible Touch.

Here is Larry the Cable Guy reading a politically correct version of "The Night Before Christmas."

Yes, you can probably tell by the title, this is a post about my latest adventure at the Evil Big Box Store(tm). I had to go there after work to pick up some things for my lunch for the rest of the week. I also got some Reeses bells and Crunch and Munch for Kathy. I finally got everything I went in for and headed for the register. I decided to use the self check out. I went towards one and noticed the lady about to use it either couldn't read or was unable to count above 20. The signs say 20 items or less. I went another register where I had to wait almost the same amount of time that I would have had I been behind Miss 20 items or whatever. The lady two spaces in front of me was taking forever ringing up her few items, seemingly in a trance as she was scanning her items. I finally got my turn and took it and left. I did hope as I was exiting the parking lot that the customer who was mesmerized by the self checkout wasn't going my way. Actually, I was hoping that the BMV didn...

This morning there were random drug tests at my work. That always worries me. I'm afraid I won't pass one. You see, I know very little about drugs.

....And there are times I need reminded of that. Brenda left this comment on the prayer request post from this past Thursday: "Thanks for posting for me Cliff. We got news that yesterday (Sunday) she(Sonja) finally woke up, and so far seems to be clear headed. Thanks to all that visited the hub and said prayers for them!!" And yes, I needed this news today, as I was feeling sorry for myself. Brenda didn't know this, but once again she has provided me a big pick me up. I also want to thank everybody for their prayers. Let's all pray for each other.

Today's birthday shout out goes to fellow media geek and baby boomer. Tim Lones , of Cleveland Classic Media fame, is 52 today. Tim is one of my original internet friends, as we have interacted on the media boards since before we became bloggers. Although we live within a half hour ( Cliff Note: Always proofread before posting! ) of each other, we have never met. Hopefully someday that will change. Tim works hard at something he really loves and his blog is one that is both entertaining and informative. His latest post is about Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol . Check it out and while you're there wish him the best on his day.

Today's birthday girl is Shelley aka Shellmo, of Building a Log Cabin fame. Our cabin dweller and cabin seller told me via Facebook chat yesterday that she's already visualizing a multi layered cake. You can either head to Michigan or click on the link above to wish her all the best on her special day. I'll send this poem as your treat I hope your birthday's really sweet I hope your dog and cat and man Have a real special birthday plan I hope your cake tastes so grand No other like it in the land So sweet so light and so fluffy No calories to make you puffy To the state that's north if me I write this with a lot of glee A poem where I want to say I wish you a very blessed day.

And I have posted it over at the Prayer Hubs. Hey, My friend Deb's sister Sonja is really in a bad way. She went in hosp. last week, she had scar tissue blocking her colon, and now they have found blood clots in her brain, they fear she's had mini strokes and possible damage to her brain. Things aren't looking so good for her, she's not coming out of her drug induced coma, been off the meds for 3 days now. Please remember Sonja in your prayers and go over there and link up to it and show Brenda your support for her friend.

Cliff Note: My earlier post today got me to thinking about a series of posts I wrote in March, 2008 about my younger brother, Richard, who had passed away at the age of 49 on March 4, 2008. Ricky never had a fair shake at life in my opinion. In my own fashion, I had posted that I may not be posting in the days following the phone call I received at 3:07am from the nursing home where Ricky had been living for the 4-1/2 years prior to that. I ended posting about him for the next several days and the comments I received, along with what my friends told me after they read the posts were very touching. The following was posted March 7, 2008, which by the way, would have been our mother's 80th birthday. Most folks knew him as Richard, Rich, or Richie. We had a cousin named Ricky, so some of the relatives called him "Little Ricky" even though he was 4 months older than his cousin. But when my dad first called him "Dick," my mom put her foot down(in her words) so the on...

I was blogging about 10 months when I put the current site meter on this blog. Since then, I have had some fun with it, and I have also been able to see what some come here for. Unfortunately, my higest traffic days come when someone passes away. But when I've done tribute posts, I get some first time visitors. Thanks for the links on Liquid Illuzion, I am still getting people coming here to read the tribute posts I wrote for Suzanne 11 months ago. Although it's been months since I've heard from the family, I get the impression by the traffic I get here that my writing made some difference. I also get hits for people wanting to read about my brother Richard, who passed away March 4 of last year. On a lighter note, I get hits every day for those looking for Lawson's Chip Dip. It's only available at Ohio Circle K stores. I also think Circle K owes me some advertising money for as often as people come to this blog to read about one of their products. Then there are tho...

I thought I would weigh in on some issues of an entertainment nature. Some things that have gotten my morals wondering . First, Adam Lambert: I really don't care about his sexual orientation and I didn't see the awards show where he performed his acts lately. But I do understand that it was a very suggestive, sexual nature. If it was a man and a woman, a woman and a woman, or a man with a man, this display, or anything that suggests anything that should be performed in a private setting only, should not be performed on free TV. Next: Recently, I was flipping around the channels and a Miley Cirus video, "Party in the USA" caught my eye. Keep in mind that I am a grandfather of three, and my four year old granddaughter loves Hannah Montana. I also realize that Miley is only 16, which is ten years older than my oldest grandchild. I am shocked by the way she was dressed in this music video. I would like to kick Billy Ray Cirus in the butt for allowing his underage dau...