HAPPY BLOG BIRTHDAY!!!!

Pour yourself a cup of coffee and get comfy, this is longer than normal peeps! (Xavier, make it "Gevalia" blend for yourself, dear man) ;)

One year ago today, while on holidays at home, I made my very first post on this blog. It's been a groovy ride, too. I started out with a total of 4 blogging buddies, Lors, Debs (My Debbers), Janna (my NooYawk Sista) and Danni....all huge Def Leppard fans like myself, that I met and became friends with on Lors' website Savage Attitude, the BEST Lepp site that there is. If I remember correctly, Lors got herself a blog, then Debs, and Danni and Janna followed. I then decided what the heck, it looked like fun.....and voila!

Very quickly I started checking out some of the links on their blogs, mostly other Lepp fans, and started getting to know some of those people; and then other links to non-Lepp fans but terrific people none-the-less, LOL. It has certainly grown, and sometimes I find it difficult to get to everyone's blogs daily. I check my friend's blogs daily, sometimes more than once a day depending on time. I have my family, and my group of close friends here where I live. And a couple of years ago (2?...3?) I found a new Lepp family online as well.

In the last year of blogging, I have gathered around me a new family of friends, all of YOU. And I can honestly say that I treasure these friendships and would hate to lose them. You guys all rock, and I am honoured to know you.

So, what has happened in the past year on this blog, and it's links?

~~I've spent countless nights at the computer as hubby keeps me awake with his snoring, blogging about it.
~~I've shared a few revealing "body part" posts. (Oh pipe down, you know you love those)
~~I hit the 10 year milestone of dealing with Menopause. Enough already.
~~Karen has conquered her breast cancer, just having had reconstructive surgery.
~~I have endured 2 root canals. OY!
~~Debs and her Greg watched their son Andy be deployed with his fellow troops overseas and are seriously wanting him back home --- to stay!
~~Janna has moved from her Manhattan apartment to a new home on Long Island, and left long-time employment to go on to better things. Talk about life changes, Sista!
~~I have gone through a terrifying job position change. All turned out well.
~~Lors has been extremely ill, and is just now starting the long road to recovery. Scared the bejeezis out of all of us.
~~Tracey has moved. Twice. Double OY!
~~Danni girl finally got pregnant, and is due next month!
~~Patty and Rhonda tried in vain to find me at the recent Lepp concert here, and I missed a chance to meet these two great ladies. Bummed me right out, man.
~~Peach (Nancy) and her hubby are slowly climbing the list for becoming adoptive parents. Soon she'll be a Mom!
~~Got through the first anniversary of my Mom's death.
~~Rich and Justin went on a long-anticipated trip to Paris, and sent me my first European postcard.
~~Michael's career as an artist is becoming a reality. (he's good, too!)
~~I got scammed with an online friendship by "Kurt". Several others did too. That one hurt.
~~Charlie took me on my first online tours of Australia, in his neighbourhood. They drive on the wrong side of the road, dammit! LOL
~~The Mystical Madame Gyspy Judles was born....and then went on a loooong holiday.
~~Xavier's white-winged angel became Pope.... for one post, anyway.
~~Kate's beloved dog Elliott got lost, but found again. Whew!
~~I shared with my readers some of the spiritual side of my life with some stories.
~~Kim took at least a gazillion Leppy concert pictures and entertained all of us who were still waiting for our turn to go. Thanks Kim!
~~I finally went to my first symphony....I love classical music, the Masters.
~~The Complimenting Commenter came into our lives, and enriched us.
~~The dreaded renovations began at my........well, what is left of my house. Argh.
~~Lex got HER windows replaced too! Damn brave woman, is all I can say. AND... the "RatBastard" was born!!!
~~Lisa has been coping with the terrible illness of her father-in-law.
~~Vince, a musician and funny guy, introduced us to his wacky and loving relationship with The Wife.
~~I got my first ever buttroid. And hopefully my LAST. Youch!
~~Jay, another fellow Canadian, explained to the world why pantyhose suck. You go, girl!
~~Victoria became a wonderful friend (thanks to our mutual friend and dear man Xavier)
~~Orion became a regular visitor and has taught us a whole new way to write the story Little Red Riding Hood.
~~A horrible, devastating tsumami killed so many.
~~Canada changed her laws to include same-sex marriage. About damn time!
~~Katrina happended, and the world is still working hard to help.....

There are many other events, too many to mention, and other bloggers who I have met and enjoyed online bantering with....Lisa, Debbie, Kim, Mona, Terri, Van....if I've forgotten anyone it's only because I am truly, truly mentalpausal, please forgive me!

Also, I've shared many, many things with you all, but there's a couple of things that I loved so damn much that I'm going to share them again:

First, for those of you who have no clue what a hot flash feels like, this is it!
Just watch this, and wait a sec....

Hey, that's ME on that damn wire, people!!!!!


And this song just cracked me up!!! I just listened to it again and it still brings forth a good ol' belly laugh ~~ enjoy!
THE MAN SONG!

Oh yes, it's been quite the blogging year, and after over 9,000 hits on here (holy crap) I can say I've had a real hoot. I didn't know when I began this if it would be something I'd be doing this long, and as far as I can tell, you're gonna be stuck with me for awhile yet.



And OMG can you believe it......even the Mystical Madame Gypsy Judles has come back for the one-year celebration and given us something to ponder on!
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......Another Horrorscope by Madame Gypsy Judles....

"For the next 48 hours, the stars favour Virgos and Cancers; the latter because they are suck-ups most of the time. After the Mars cusp moves into Venus tomorrow, Leos and Capricorns will be feeling restless. This is because nobody will like you for the next week or so. But once Mars moves on you'll be the life of the party again. That, and when you finally do something about that bad breath you are all so famous for.

For Aquarians, now is the perfect time to take that long-anticipated road trip. If you are an Aries, this is the time that accidents will find you, so in particular be wary on the road of Aquarian drivers. Everyone knows they are reckless drivers and are too vain to wear their glasses. Because of Mars moving into Venus, those horny Scorpios will be strutting their stuff, so all other signs should be wary of them; watch out for the drooling, maniac-eyed perverts or we could be in for another damn baby-boom.

All people with a birthday today love sushi and are peeping toms".

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Thanks for all your guesses as to what today is....... it was fun to read them. It doesn't surprise me in the least that my Sista Janna guessed it correctly. Congrats to you darling friend! (you know me so well, LOL)

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So this marks the end of this, my last post before the Blog Birthday is a reality... which is in about 20 minutes. Thank you, all of you, for coming here to visit and enjoy the friendship. I've enjoyed getting to know each one of you ~ you've all made my life a lot richer. And certainly a lot more FUN. I love you guys!

Have a wonderful weekend, take good care of each other, we're all we've got. PEACE to you and yours!

Love Jude