elcome to our December 10th, 2004 Issue (Bigsis Original Design) Online Newsletter <bgsound src="jinglebellrock.mid"> Hello everyone! My apologies for the delay in getting this newsletter into you email boxes but I have been so busy getting my Christmas Cards into the post that time just got away on me. The good news for everyone taking part in the Christmas Card Exchange is that my cards have been posted. I have already received a few and what a nice feeling it gives to receive them. Just in time too Bea from Florida, USA sent along these fun and unique ways to display the Christmas or other holiday cards you receive. Thought I would start this newsletter off with this email that I received from Claudia from Chester IL, USA (the land of Popeye!) The Year is 1904 Maybe this will boggle your mind, I know it did mine! The year is 1904 .. one hundred years ago. What a difference a century makes! Here are some of the US statistics for 1904: The average life expectancy in the US was 47 years. Only 14% of the homes in the US had a bathtub. Only 8% of the homes had a telephone. A three-minute call from Denver to New York City cost $11.00. There were only 8,000 cars in the US, and only 144 miles of paved roads. The maximum speed limit in most cities was 10 mph. Alabama, Mississippi, Iowa, and Tennessee were each more heavily populated than California. With a mere 1.4 million residents, California was only the 21st most populous state in the Union. The tallest structure in the world was the Eiffel Tower. The average wage in the US was 22 cents an hour. The average US worker made between $200 and $400 per year. A competent accountant could expect to earn $2000 per year, a dentist $2,500 per year. A veterinarian between $1,500 and $4,000 per year. A mechanical engineer about $1,200 per year. More than 95 percent of all births in the US took place at home. Ninety percent of all US physicians had no college education. Instead, they attended medical schools, many of which were condemned in the press and by the government as "sub-standard." Sugar cost four cents a pound. Eggs were fourteen cents a dozen. Coffee was fifteen cents a pound. Most women only washed their hair once a month, and used borax or egg yolks for shampoo. Canada passed a law prohibiting poor people from entering the country for any reason. The five leading causes of death in the US were: 1. Pneumonia and influenza 2. Tuberculosis 3. Diarrhea 4. Heart disease 5. Stroke The American flag had 45 stars. Arizona, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Hawaii, and Alaska hadn't been admitted to the Union yet. The population of Las Vegas, Nevada, was 30! Crossword puzzles, canned beer, and iced tea hadn't been invented. There was no Mother's Day or Father's Day. Two of 10 US adults couldn't read or write. Only 6% of all Americans had graduated high school. Marijuana, heroin, and morphine were all available over the counter at corner drugstores. According to one pharmacist, "Heroin clears the complexion, gives buoyancy to the mind, regulates the stomach and bowels, and is, in fact, a perfect guardian of health." Eighteen percent of households in the US had at least one full-time servant or domestic. There were only about 230 reported murders in the entire US And I forwarded this from someone else without typing it myself, and sent it to you in a matter of seconds! Try to imagine what it may be like in another 100 years ... THAT staggers the mind. Learn a lesson in life each day that you live! Today is the tomorrow you were worried about yesterday! Was it worth it? Messages from Members Hi Everyone, Hope all is well...I am back on line after 1 week and over $300 as my comp crashed...I hope your Thanksgiving was a great one...be careful out there my comp crashed due to a virus (s) that I received in an attachment.so, did anyone actualy miss me on line?...LOL..take care Arlene from Arizona, USA Dec 4/04 - I receive so many tips on quilting, sewing and crafts everyday it fills my e mail box, yes, well, we are off today to shop for Christmas, as well as JB is taking me to dinner tonight as it is my birthday 65! today it is a miracle I made it this far !!!!! don't laugh see I have out lived all my family they all died in their 40's & 50's my dad died at age 60, Monday I see heart doctor again, to get results on my test .. Bea from Florida, USA To the Top In this issue... Messages from members News and Announcements Lets Do Lunch The Argentinean Chapter Ruby's Journal Tips & Recommendations Fun Tests & Quizzes Swaps Recipes Crafts Members Questions & Answers Fun Featured Sites Mystery Member Member of the Month Department of Vital Statistics Department of Vital Statistics Hello everyone, I made some changes to the photo album site, and hopefully simplified things. The username has bee altered (all lowercase now), and password changed. Here are the new instructions. Please note, I have upgraded security so members can vote on, or add comments to the photos. We are up to six albums now (including three of the Reunion photos!) and still have lots of room left. Click here to get to the Photo Albums. Use the following instructions to login: You'll see three grey tabs just below and to the left of the My Photo Album logo: ALBUM LIBRARY; LOGIN; and HELP Click on LOGIN Another screen will popup that says "Login to Gallery " Beside Username type: bigsispat(all in lowercase) Beside Password type: circle (all in lowercase) Then click on the Login button below. Once in the Gallery you will find the following six albums on two pages: Reunion Photos: Food Reunion Photos: Fun Christmas Reunion Photos: Meetings Members Families Members Feel free to add your comments or vote on the photos. ENJOY! Let me know what you think. luv & hugs BigSisPat from Ontario, Canada Do remember to visit the Vital Statistics Department December Celebrations Gallery. I acquired some neat photo imaging programs, so had a little fun creating the celebration cards for this month. Please take a moment and have a look. I think many of them are a hoot, and hope you will too. Birthdays and Anniversaries for December include: Peter Spanyi (Belinda’s hubby) 12th Rick Herring (our own Susie Q’s hubby) on the 14th Shadonna Ellis on the 15th Ivette Otero also on the 15th Justine Broatch (Brit Pat’s daughter) on the 25th Harve Skaines on Dec 28 Cosby Wilson on Dec 31 Kathy Newport also on Dec 31 Haley Mathena (Loretta’s granddaughter) also on Dec 31 Jayne & Darrell Melstrom will be celebrating their anniversary on the 16th Mary & Bill McWhinnie will be celebrating their anniversary on the 30th Please take a moment throughout this holiday month to send these folks your best wishes. To the Top Grab a coffee and enjoy the updated Trivia Page. From the Trivia Page you can link to the Countdown Page where I’ve included only Christmas Trivia And from there to the Holiday Recipe Page where you can find a few not so usual Holiday recipes I would like to take this opportunity to wish each and everyone one of you a Happy, Healthy and Joyous Holiday Season as well as a prosperous 2005. I hope you enjoy the December Trivia pages as much as I did putting them all together. Luv & hugs BigSisPat from Ontario, Canada Remember to take a moment to enjoy looking at some pictures Pat, aka Bigsis, from Ontario, Canada, is continually publishing online for us. You can link to it from the Vital Statistics home page More Photo Albums for your enjoyment! Member Albums To the Top Our Travelling Mascott Read all about our globe trotting mascot in her journal by clicking on the picture of her logo!

Email Ruby and don't be surprised when you see your message in her online journal! I know she would love to hear from you. Ruby is on her way to to Ocean City, Maryland to spend Christmas at Becky's home. If you want to get your name on the list for Ruby to visit you, just drop a line to Daphne from Argentina and she will add you. Who knows, yours just might be the name little Agos picks out.... as she is the one in charge of the draws. To the Top Recipes Goof Balls Ingredients, 3 bars Toffee 1/4 cup butter 1/4 cup Eaglebrand Milk 1 package Large Marshmallows 2 cups crushed Frosted Flakes 1/2 cup fine coconut Procedure Melt toffee, butter and milk in double boiler. Dip marshmallows in above mixture. Rollin frosted flakes and coconut. ENJOY! Do you have a recipe for us to enjoy? We would love for you to add it to all the wonderful recipes being collected in the WWWCOF Cookbook or email The Recipe Lady aka Claudia who will be happy to add them for you. To the Top Members Questions & Answers Send in your questions to be posted here! To the Top News & Announcements From the Australian Bureau of Statistics and submitted by our very own Jeanette from the Land Down Under. Christmas in Australia * 31 Australians have died since 1996 by watering their Christmas tree while the fairy lights were plugged in. * 19 Australians have died in the last 3 years by eating Christmas decorations that they thought were chocolate. * Hospitals reported 4 broken arms last year after cracker-pulling incidents. * 101 Australians since 1997 have had to have broken parts of plastic toys pulled out of the soles of their feet. * 18 Australians had serious burns in 1998 by trying on a new jumper with a lit cigarette in their mouth. * A massive 543 Australians were admitted to hospital with injuries from trying to open beer bottles with their eye socket or teeth. * 3 Australians die each year from testing a 9 volt battery on their tongue. * 142 Australians were injured in 1998 by not removing the all the pins from new shirts. *8 Australians cracked their skull in 1997 after falling asleep (passed out) while throwing up into the toilet. days 'til To the Top Mystery Member Becky from Maryland, USA, correctly guessed Charito from Argentina as our mystery member! Be sure to email each of these gals and get to know them better. Watch this space for our next mystery member. Remember, at any time you think you know who the mystery member is please email me! The clues can be found throughout the Circle of Friends Members site and elsewhere on the many online sites. If you think it might be you..........you never know it could be!! Good Luck and......... Have Fun! If you have not completed your WWWCOF Survey yet please take a visit over to the Survey Page where you can easily complete and submit it online. To the Top Tips & Recommendations TerryLynn, from Paradise Island wonders if you would like to start a revolution with sharing these tips for telemarketers This is definitely worth reading if you have had it with junk mail and soliciting phone calls. Three Little Words That Work are "Hold On, Please..." Saying this, while putting down your phone and walking off (instead of hanging-up immediately) would make each telemarketing call so much more time-consuming that boiler room sales would grind to a halt. Then when you eventually hear the phone company's "beep-beep-beep" tone, you know it's time to go back and hang up your handset, which has efficiently completed its task. Do you ever get those annoying phone calls with no one on the other end? This is a telemarketing technique where a machine makes phone calls and records the time of day when a person answers the phone. This technique is used to determine the best time of day for a "real" sales person to call back and get someone at home. What you can do after answering, if you notice there is no one there, is to immediately start hitting your # button on the phone, 6 or 7 times, as quickly as possible. This confuses the machine that dialed the call and it kicks your number out of their system. Gosh, what a shame not to have your name in their system any longer !!! Junk Mail Help: When you get "ads" enclosed with your phone or utility bill, return these"ads" with your payment. Let the sending companies throw their own junk mail away. When you get those "pre-approved" letters in the mail for everything from credit cards to 2nd mortgages and similar type junk, do not throw away the return envelope. Most of these come with postage-paid return envelopes, right? It costs them more than the regular postage "IF" and when they receive them back. It costs them nothing if you throw them away! The postage was around 50 cents before! the last increase and it is according to the weight. In that case, why not get rid of some of your other junk mail and put it in these cool little, postage-paid return envelopes. Send an ad for your local chimney cleaner to American Express. Send a pizza coupon to Citibank. If you didn't get anything else that day, then just send them their blank application back! If you want to remain anonymous, just make sure your name isn't on anything you send them. You can even send the envelope back empty if you want to just to keep them guessing! It still costs them postage. The banks and credit card companies are currently getting a lot of their own junk back in the mail, but folks, we need to OVERWHELM them. Let's let them know what it's like to get lots of junk mail,and best of all they're paying for it...Twice! Let's help keep our postal service busy since they are saying that e-mail is cutting into their business profits, and that's why they need to increase postage costs again. You get the idea ! If enough people follow these tips, it will work---- I have been doing this for years, and I get very little junk mail anymore. DISCLAIMER: Tips reflect member suggestions and are not verified by the WWWCOF. To the Top Fun Tests & Quizzes Perhaps you'd like to take part in an old Scottish pastime at this time of year, the haggis hunt. David from Jolly Old England. Be sure to visit Kingsmere Crafts Other Christmas Games you might enjoy! Twas the Night Before Christmas This one will surely boggle your mind...If you figure it out, let me know! Do the puzzle – it is wonderful - Jeanette from the Land Down Under. To the Top Member of the Month Nominations Nominations are now being accepted for the December Member of the Month so be sure to cast your ballot here today! To the Top The Argentinean Chapter Coming one day soon, a basic Clay Oven Recipe! You can read more about Argentina, the country I adopted here Love from Daphne To the Top Swaps Keep your eye on section of the newsletter for our International Swap Information. Questions? Need additional information? Email our Swap Queen, Ruth. These exchanges are a lot of fun, they are inexpensive and are a great way to get to know the fantastic people who belong to this wonderful circle. Have a wonderful time doing these swaps!!! To the Top Newspaper Articles Tilbury Times - July/04 The Hastings Reminder FEATURED SITES Susan from Ontario, Canada has sent in these sites for our enjoyment! Have a Holly Jolly Christmas: The Spirit of Christmas and Sleighride Christmas Card Exchange Club The list of names and addresses of those 20 members participating in the Christmas Card Exchange has been emailed. If you have not received your list be sure to let us know. Do take a moment to visit the Christmas Card Exchange Club website. Do you have a favourite site that you would like to share with the members. Please let me know and I will be happy to put it in the newsletter. To the Top Crafts Homemade Projects for the Holiday Season Bea from Florida reminds us that with the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, it is sometimes difficult to spend quality time with your family. Start a new family tradition by creating handmade projects for this holiday season. To make greeting cards, decorations or even wrapping paper, all you need is a little inspiration, etc. Be sure to start your own Family Tradition today! Bea also would like to share this site about Cards And Gift Tags With Fabric Insetsand this delightful Tie Angel. The WWWCOF Craft of the Month is coming our way January, 2005. Crafty Jayne from Kansas, USA and Loretta from Texas, USA are hard at working putting this together for us and I can't wait to see it get started. What fun we will have! Keep your eye on this section for updates. Be sure to check out all the wonderful craft ideas in the WWWCOF Craft Site and add your own favourites or email Crafty Jayne who will be happy to add them to our ever growing collection. To the Top

Let's Do Lunch I understand that there may be a Let's Do Lunch soon taking place in Florida so be sure to watch this section for more information on that. To the Top Just for Fun A couple of festive season jokes from David from Jolly Old England: . Three Italian nuns die and go to heaven. At the Pearly Gates they are met by St. Peter. He says, "Sisters, you all led such wonderful lives that I'm granting you six months to go back to earth and be anyone you want to be." The first nun says, "I want to be Sophie Loren" and *poof* she's gone. The second nun says, "I want to be Madonna" and *poof* she's gone. The third says, "I want to be Sara Pipalini." St. Peter looks perplexed. "Who?" he says. "Sara Pipilini", replies the nun. St. Peter shakes his head and says, "I'm sorry, but that name just doesn't ring a bell." The nun then takes a newspaper out of her habit and hands it to St. Peter. He reads the paper and starts laughing. He hands it back to her and says, "No sister, the paper says it was the 'Sahara Pipeline' that was laid by 1,400 men in 6 months." For all you Christmas lovers out there!!!! FROM: Pauline Lewis, Human Resources Director TO: All Employees DATE: 4 November 2004 RE: Christmas Party I'm happy to inform you that the company Christmas Party will take place on December 23rd, starting at noon in the private function room at the Grill House. There will be a cash bar and plenty of drinks! We'll have a small band playing traditional carols .... please feel free to sing along. And don't be surprised if the MD shows up dressed as Santa Claus! A Christmas tree will be lit at 1:00pm. Exchange of gifts among employees can be done at that time; however, no gift should be over £10.00 to make the giving of gifts easy for everyone's pockets. This gathering is only for employees! The MD will make a special announcement at the Party. Merry Christmas to you and your Family. Pauline FROM: Pauline Lewis, Human Resources Director TO: All Employees DATE: 5 November 2004 RE: Holiday Party In no way was yesterday's memo intended to exclude our Jewish employees. We recognise that Chanukah is an important holiday, which often coincides with Christmas, though unfortunately not this year. However, from now on we're calling it our "Holiday Party". The same policy applies to any other employees who are not Christians. There will be no Christmas tree or Christmas carols sung. We will have other types of music for your enjoyment. Happy now? Happy Holidays to you and your family. Pauline FROM: Pauline Lewis, Human Resources Director TO: All Employees DATE: 6 November 2004 RE: Holiday Party Regarding the note I received from a member of Alcoholics Anonymous requesting a non-drinking table ... you didn't sign your name. I'm happy to accommodate this request, but if I put a sign on a table that reads, "AA Only"; you wouldn't be anonymous anymore!!!!! How am I supposed to handle this? Somebody? Forget about the gift exchange, no gift exchange allowed now since the Union Officials feel that £10.00 is too much money and Management believe £10.00 is a little cheap. NO GIFT EXCHANGE WILL BE ALLOWED. Pauline FROM: Pauline Lewis, Human Resources Director TO: All Employees DATE: 7 November 2004 RE: Holiday Party What a diverse group we are! I had no idea that December 20th begins the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which forbids eating and drinking during daylight hours. There goes the party! Seriously, we can appreciate how a luncheon at this time of year does not accommodate our Muslin employees' beliefs, perhaps the Grill House can hold off on serving your meal until the end of the party - or else package everything up for you to take home in a little foil doggy bag. Will that work? Meanwhile, I've arranged for members of Weight Watchers to sit farthest from the dessert buffet and pregnant women will get the table closest to the toilets. Gays are allowed to sit with each other, Lesbians do not have to sit with gay men, each will have their own table. Yes, there will be flower arrangements for the gay men's table too. To the person asking permission to cross dress - no cross dressing allowed. We will have booster seats for short people. Low fat food will be available for those on a diet. We cannot control the salt used in the food we suggest those people with high blood pressure taste the food first. There will be fresh fruits as dessert for Diabetics, the restaurant cannot supply "No Sugar" desserts. Sorry! Did I miss anything ?!?!?!?! Pauline FROM: Pauline Lewis, Human Resources Director TO: All F****** Employees DATE: 8 November 2004 RE: The F****** Holiday Party Vegetarian *****s I've had it with you people!!! We're going to keep this party at the Grill House whether you like it or not, so you can sit quietly at the table furthest from the "grill of death," as you so quaintly put it, and you'll get your f****** salad bar, including organic tomatoes. But you know tomatoes have feelings too. They scream when you slice them. I've heard them scream. I'm hearing them scream right NOW !! I hope you all have a rotten holiday, drink drive and die. The Bitch from HELL !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! FROM: John Bishop, Acting Human Resources Director DATE: 9 November 2004 RE: Pauline Lewis and Holiday Party I'm sure I speak for all of us in wishing Pauline Lewis a speedy recovery and I'll continue to forward your cards to her. In the meantime, the Management has decided to cancel our Holiday Party and instead give everyone the afternoon of the 23rd December off with full pay. Happy Holidays ! Do be sure to visit David's website DISCLAIMER: Have you ever tried to do something supposedly as simple as arranging such a party? Sorry if anyone is offended but our world is getting just a bit crazy! Be sure to visit our Computer Humour site! Email Daphne with any computer jokes you have and she will happily add them to this collection. To the Top I do hope you have enjoyed this week's issue which I would like to close with the following which I received from Vicki from British Columbia, Canada: Smile and read this please every day!!!!!!!!! Moments in Life There are moments in life when you miss someone so much that you just want to pick them from your dreams and hug them for real! When the door of happiness closes, another opens; but often times we look so long at the closed door that we don't see the one, which has been opened for us. Don't go for looks; they can deceive. Don't go for wealth; even that fades away. Go for someone who makes you smile, because it takes only a smile to make a dark day seem bright. Find the one that makes your heart smile. Dream what you want to dream; go where you want to go; be what you want to be, because you have only one life and one chance to do all the things you want to do. May you have enough happiness to make you sweet, enough trials to make you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human and enough hope to make you happy. The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way. The brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past; you can't go forward in life until you let go of your past failures and heartaches. When you were born, you were crying and everyone around you was smiling. Live your life so at the end, you're the one who is smiling and everyone around you is crying. Please be sure that those who have touched your life in one way or another; to those who make you smile when you really need it; to those who make you see the brighter side of things when you are really down; to those whose friendship you appreciate; to those who are so meaningful in your life.... know how much they have brightened your life. Don't count the years-count the memories........... Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take; but by the moments that take our breath away!