ORLD IDE EB IRCLE OF RIENDS

elcome to our New Year's Eve Online Newsletter Hello everyone! I would like to start this week's issue off with A Christmas Story from The Land Down Under sent in by Jeanette. Hi to everyone - well Christmas Day is coming to a close here in the "Land down under", children have all of their presents from Santa and it has been a wonderful day here for us in Melbourne with sunshine, and sharing the day with our children and their husbands. I wanted to share with you all my daughter as some of you know lives in Perth which is four hours from Melbourne by plane and they are 3 hours behind us in time. Well Jenni has two little boys Christopher (5) and Thomas (3), Christopher who woke this morning at 5.15 hurried into Jenni and Malcolm's bedroom to let them know that Santa had been and eaten his biscuits and drank his milk - he was then very distressed that the reindeers had only eaten one carrot and did not complete it, they had left the other one. How beatiful this is for Christmas is for little ones - little Thomas was still asleep as he was told last night when he went to bed that he had to sleep all night in his bed or Santa would not be able to find him, Thomas woke at 7a.m. - slept the whole night in his bed and was the last to get up - Jenni has decided that this is so wonderful as he rises early each morning and gets up every night into her bed - that she needs to think of a way to keep him there now everynight. We have had a delightful day - plenty of traffic on the road when we went to Greensborough this morning and it took us 2 half hours to get there - May all of you in the other side of the world have a wonderful day and sharing it with all of your families. May 2005 bring you all good health and happiness - love to everyone, may peace come to the world - love from Jeanette - Land down Under - Aussie Land - Australia. This is Christopher and Thomas taken December 25/04: 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 & Games Swaps Recipes Crafts Fun Featured Sites Mystery Member Member of the Month Department of Vital Statistics Messages from Members Happy New Year from Linda in China Hello I just wanted to take this opportunity to hope that 2005 will be a great year for WWWCOF. Take care. Bye for now, Lois in North Carolina, USA WOW!!!! What a wonderful example of teamwork the Christmas edition of the newsletter is!! Tomorrow afternoon (December 27th, 2004) I have been volunteered to help out for a group of pre-teens end of year camp by organizing games. I dug out one that I had, that needs some organization called Planet Kryzys (Crisis) where the kids have to go to seven different disaster areas and sort out different problems, like rescue with minimum elements, a bag of survival food that fell into an antigravity hole. I remember the one time we did it years ago, it was great fun. I've got a few sketches lined up too. Happy Christmas & Happy New Year everyone! Daphne from Argentina. December 28 footnote: The game itself, has in fact a lot in it to do with survival, and was a great success with the kids, in fact, one of the dads has already asked me for a copy of it. I shared their campfire and spent the night with them (the kids, that is), and gave them more shorter games this morning, but I had to leave before they struck camp, as I had to go to the exam center and pick up my students exam results ( they all got 8s or 9s giving me an average of 8.3 as their teacher) look forward to seeing the end of year newsletter! Congratulations Daphne, you are a G R E A T teacher! WE WISH YOU A MERRY CHRISTMAS AND THE BEST OF HEALTH AND HAPPINESS IN 2005. HAVE A SAFE AND HAPPY HOLIDAY. Bill & Mary from Ontario, Canada. Hi one and all Garnet and Marie aka Peachy would like to wish each and everyone of you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Luv all. Peachy Marie & Garnet from Florida & Canada. I will not be here from December 24/04 to January 3/05 as my family and I are going to Cuba. The trip to Cuba is from December 27/04 to January 3/05, but the other days are busy with Christmas. I will reply to my e-mails when I return. Thank you and have a safe and happy holiday The best in the new year. Belinda from Ontario, Canada. Christmas this year was a Happy one and full of fun. Family gatherings are a joy. Present sharing is just wonderful. Children were happy and with what Santa had brought them. The tables were filled with the traditional foods that were all made from scratch. No opening of a can and or packages. Even candy was home made. There is a pickle hidden in the tree. This is a symbol of good luck from the German tradition. This is the last ornament placed on the tree. On Christmas morning the first child to find the gherkin was rewarded with an extra gift by St. Nicholas. This tradition is encouraged the children to appreciate all the ornaments on the tree, rather than hurrying to see what St. Nick had left for them. My family of course is gone from the nest but when the kids come for the holiday they all crowd around the tree looking for the pickle. This year I placed one at the top of the tree for the big guys and one at the bottom for the little ones. All these years and the big guys are still searching for the gherkin. Isn't it something how to this day they still want to find that green pickle. I have other ornaments that have traditions attached to them, but the pickle is the favorite. For the coming year we have a dinner for anyone who would like to stop by. This is only a few salads and sandwiches. Cookies and breads. Don't want all the sweet stuff hanging around for those of us that try to diet when the NEW YEAR gets here. Happy New Year Everyone. May your year be blessed with good health and happiness. Carol in NY, USA. I love the pickle tradition and would love to hear about the others. Do you have a favourite tradition (Christmas or otherwise) 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 FEATURED SITES You Are Not Alone Charla from Florida, USA's new web site will be opening up January 5,2005. This is a humanitarian site. Many people have things they need to read about or just vent about. This is a site dealing with addictions of all kinds. Drug addiction is top of the list, as well as alcohol use and any other things hindering our lives. Please be assured this will be a site not shared with others -- your chats and emails will be held in absolute confidence. Charla has had many years dealing with these issues and she would like to help others or maybe you could even help her ... so please take a look at her You Are Not Alone site and let her know if it can help. Thank you Charla - WWWCOF This admirable new site comes with its very own mascott -- a little red Zebra stuffed animal who was alone but was found by Charla only days ago -- he needs a name so watch for a contest in the next newsletter to name Charla's little orphan. The Mother's site is updated in the Dedications to Mothers in General section, with something Vicki from Vancouver Island sent in. Daphne from Argentina reminds us that she needs fresh material for this site. 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 Just for Fun Susan from Ontario, Canada sends us these smiles! 1. How Do You Catch a Unique Rabbit? Unique Up On It. 2. How Do You Catch a Tame Rabbit? Tame Way, Unique Up On It. 3. How Do Crazy People Go Through The Forest? They Take The Psycho Path 4. How Do You Get Holy Water? You Boil The Hell Out Of It. 5. What Do Fish Say When They Hit a Concrete Wall? Dam! 6. What Do Eskimos Get From Sitting On The Ice too Long? Polaroid's 7. What Do You Call a Boomerang That Doesn't work? A Stick 8. What Do You Call Cheese That Isn't Yours? Nacho Cheese. 9. What Do You Call Santa's Helpers? Subordinate Clauses. 10. What Do You Call Four Bullfighters In Quicksand? Quattro Sinko. 11. What Do You Get From a Pampered Cow? Spoiled Milk. 12. What Do You Get When You Cross a Snowman With a Vampire? Frostbite. 13. What Lies At The Bottom Of The Ocean And Twitches? A Nervous Wreck. 14. What's The Difference Between Roast Beef And Pea Soup? Anyone Can Roast Beef. 15. Where Do You Find a Man With No Legs? Right Where You Left Him. 16. Why Do Gorillas Have Big Nostrils? Because They Have Big Fingers. 17. Why Don't Blind People Like To Sky Dive? Because It Scares The Dog. 18. What Kind Of Coffee Was Served On The Titanic? Sanka. 19. What Is The Difference Between a Harley And a Hoover? The Location Of The Dirt Bag. 20. Why Did Pilgrims' Pants Always Fall Down? Because They Wore Their Belt Buckle On Their Hat. 21. What's The Difference Between a Bad Golfer And a Bad Skydiver? A Bad Golfer Goes, Whack, Dang! A Bad Skydiver Goes Dang! Whack. Be sure to visit our Computer Humour site! Email Daphne from Argentina with any computer jokes you have and she will happily add them to this collection. To the Top

Crafts The 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 The Argentinean Chapter I finally got the recipe and its legend translated. This is similar, though not identical to the way Leo makes them. And though I always help, ( chop up the meat, the onions, etc and help make them up) I have never made them completely from scratch myself even though I know exactely how much of everything he uses, they are his speciality and I think they would not turn out the same if I did make them. Recipe for “Empanadas Salteñas” (Pasties from Salta) Something that is best cooked in a clay oven. The pastry: Form a ring on the table with a kilo of all purpose flour,, in the center, 300 grams of liquid lard still warm after melting, a cup of warm water with half a spoon of salt dissolved in it. Work the ingredients together forming a dough, then leave to rest a few minutes. Then you can either roll out the dough quite thinly and cut out circles about 4” across ( tea saucer size), or, as my husband does so as not to re-knead the dough, divide it all up into equal sized balls and then flatten each one individually with the rolling pin. The filling: I kilo beef 200grs potato in small cubes I large or two medium white onions finely chopped A good handful of the green part of spring onion Hardboiled eggs (we use six per kilo of meat) Seasoning: salt, pepper, oregano, ground chili, red pepper powder, chicken cubes. Cut up one kilo of best beef – my husband uses best rump steak- no nerves or sinews in it – with a sharp knife very finely. Legend has it that it must be done with a knife and not a machine or mincer, as a machine “chews “ the meat thus giving it a different flavour. Peel and wash the potato and cut up into small cubes boil until tender ( my husband doesn’t add potato as it changes the flavour slightly). Fry the onions in a little fat or cooking oil and add to the pan with the meat -cooked in very little of the potato water - and potato, Add flavouring to taste. Dissolve a spoonful of red pepper in a little hot fat and drain the now red fat into the meat mixture, taking care not to add the powder. Leave mixture to cool (we leave overnight in the ice compartment of the fridge.) Add the chopped spring onion and chopped hard boiled eggs. Fill the pastry disks and close firmly with neat twists around the edges to keep all the juices in. Brush with beaten egg and bake in a hot oven for about ten minutes or until golden brown. Best eaten hot and recently cooked. makes aprox. 48 This recipe is similar to the way my husband makes them and was taken from: EMPANADAS SALTEÑAS Which continues by saying: Typical meals from Salta are many. Each area has its own dishes according to regional production, and also they add their own touch to dishes from elsewhere in the province. Because of this it is necessary to dedicate a a special space to the “empanada” – pasty, a delicious mouth full whose authorship is reclaimed in several Argentine provinces, although in Salta it wins more and more eager diners every day from all over the world. No peas, no olives, sometimes with currants, but mostly without, the Saltenian Empanadas are simple and at the same time they need a series of steps to be able to eat them juicy and that all the ingredients cant be tasted inside the pastry. Techniques get perfected all the time. Every year in Salta there is the Saltenian Pasty competition, that has been on for the last 34 years where experimented pasty makers take part to show their style and share their delicious secrets. Pasties are best cooked in a clay oven, or fried, and are always eaten using the hands. So, you can forget about plates and knives or forks, just grab a paper serviette to hold it with and enjoy A newspaper once told the following store about the name of “EMPANADAS SALTEÑAS” A nickname baptized the popular dish Spicy or not, always juicy Saltenian pasties are a delight for hundreds in all the cities of the country. Nevertheless there are very few who know the origin of the name of the famous pasty. The story goes that at the beginning of the last century, Juana Manuala Gorriti, who later became the wife of president Belzu, was born in the Argentine city of Salta, but was exiled together with her family by the tyrant Rosas. For years the family had to suffer a life of extreme poverty. Desperation made them start to make Cornish Pasties that were common amongst the European communities. Manuela was the one in charge of selling them who was nicknamed “La Salteña” because of her place of origin. As time went by, people forgot her name, and just told each other to go buy some pasties from “La Salteña”, so the product adopted her name and still sticks today. You can read more about Argentina, the country I adopted here Love from Daphne To the Top News & Announcements O.K. I'm getting ready to get the postcard swap ready. If anyone has not signed up yet You need to do it now. I will be getting the swap ready right after the 1st for January. Love Becky from Maryland, USA Daisy Pat from Staffordshire, England opened her shop in October, 2004 so be sure to check out PD Craft & Hobby Supplies next time you are in Cannock. How do I know this? .... well ask my good friend Maxine from Ontario, Canada -- she was chatting with Daisy Pat and myself when I received a phone call from Pat!! Talk about exciting. To the Top Mystery Member Jayne from Goodland, Kansas, USA has correctly guessed our Mystery Member as Pami from New York, USA. Do be sure to email these girls. Make 2005 the year to get to know each other better! Next week a new mystery member! Just waiting for Jayne to send me in her suggestion as to who it will be! hint... hint... Jayne. 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 Do you have any tips or recommendations that you would like to pass along to the other members. Email me and I will get it published. DISCLAIMER: Tips reflect member suggestions and are not verified by the WWWCOF. 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 To the Top Recipes HOLIDAY EATING TIPS 1. Avoid carrot sticks. Anyone who puts carrots on a holiday buffet table knows nothing of the Christmas spirit. In fact, if you see carrots, leave immediately. Go next door, where they're serving rum balls. 2. Drink as much eggnog as you can. And quickly. Like fine single-malt scotch, it's rare. In fact, it's even rarer than single-malt scotch. You can't find it any other time of year but now. So drink up! Who cares that has 10,000 calories in every sip? It's not as if you're going to turn into an eggnog-aholic or something. It's a treat. Enjoy it. Have one for me. Have two. It's later than you think. It's Christmas and New Year! 3. If something comes with gravy, use it. That's the whole point of gravy. Gravy does not stand alone. Pour it on. Make a volcano out of your mashed potatoes. Fill it with gravy. Eat the volcano. Repeat. 4. As for mashed potatoes, always ask if they're made with skim milk or whole milk. If it's skim, pass. Why bother? It's like buying a sports car with an automatic transmission. 5. Do not have a snack before going to a party in an effort to control your eating. The whole point of going to a Christmas party is to eat other people's food for free. Lots of it. Hello? 6. Under no circumstances should you exercise between now and New Year's. You can do that in January when you have nothing else to do. This is the time for long naps, which you'll need after circling the buffet table while carrying a 10-pound plate of food and that vat of eggnog. 7. If you come across something really good at a buffet table, like frosted Christmas cookies in the shape and size of Santa, position yourself near them and don't budge. Have as many as you can before becoming the center of attention. They're like a beautiful pair of shoes. If you leave them behind, you're never going to see them again. 8. Same for pies. Apple. Pumpkin. Mincemeat. Have a slice of each. Or, if you don't like mincemeat, have two apples and one pumpkin. Always have three. When else do you get to have more than one dessert? Labor Day? 9. Did someone mention fruitcake? Granted, it's loaded with the mandatory celebratory calories, but avoid it at all cost. I mean, have some standards. 10. One final tip: If you don't feel terrible when you leave the party or get up from the table, you haven't been paying attention. Reread tips; start over, but hurry, January is just around the corner. Remember this motto to live by: "Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, martini in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming "WOO HOO what a ride!" Enjoy the holidays - Claudia from Chester, Il, USA! 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

Travelling Mascott RUBY HAS EXPERIENCED HER FIRST SNOW!!! at Becky's home in Ocean City, Maryland, USA. WOOHOO!!!. She received her first Christmas Stocking but the contents are a surprise and will not be revealed until she reaches her next destination. 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. 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 Member of the Month Nominations Three way tie for December, 2004 Member of the Month. Please join me in congratulations to: Bea from Florida, USA; Charla also from Florida, USA; and Christine from Delaware, USA; Time to start with the nominations for January, 2005 Member of the Month so be sure to cast your ballot here today! To the Top Do remember to visit the Vital Statistics Department December Celebrations Gallery. Birthdays and Anniversaries for December include: Cosby Wilson on Dec 31 and Kathy Newport on Dec 31 Haley Mathena (Loretta’s granddaughter) also on Dec 31 The Hernandez will be celebrating their 9th anniversary on the 30th and so will Mary & Bill McWhinnie be celebrating their anniversary on the 30th As the year 2004 draws to close I can’t help but reflect on all the new and exciting things that have happened to me personally, as well as the Circle of Friends. We had a lot of new babies this year, two of which were granddaughters for me. I know there were lots of grandbabies and great grandbabies that became part of member’s families. And to be fair I won’t try to name names, because I know I’ll forget someone. As well there were nieces and nephews and great nieces and great nephews that joined our ever-expanding Circle Family. I still think we should rename our wonderful group to the Circle of “Family” and Friends. Oh well… Certainly the highlight of my year, and I believe others as well was our exciting Circle Reunion held this past summer at the home of the Duquettes, as well as the extended reunion with Taz and Floyd and Lois Bruce in Indiana. Then the finally leg of the trip was the stop at Ruth and George’s. I think I can truthfully say, a good time was had by all. And just an addendum to that, I hope in the next few weeks to be able to provide photos of my grandson Drew’s visit with Claudia and granddaughter Chelsea. I know those two young people were really excited about this get-together. As well, with the demise of Photo Island, I’m really thrilled with our brand new, and yes improved Circle of Friends Photo Albums. I’ve had such a great creating each month’s Trivia Page and Celebration Gallery, and I hope you have enjoyed viewing it. As well, I get an enormous amount of pleasure adding new photos to the album each day. Working with the group’s pictures and celebration information has a lowed me the opportunity to get to know many of you very well, even though I may not communicate with you on a one-to-one basis. And, so as we embark on a brand New Year, 2005, I can only wonder what will happen to top 2004. With that said, I know this will be coming to you a few days early (The Trivia Page won’t be available for viewing until January 1st. But there are a couple of celebrations right at the start of the New Year that I wanted to make sure everyone knew about. So here we go: Jan 1: Starting off the year we have Miranda Biickert (Sharon's great-niece) tammy@ii.homeip.net who will be celebrating her very 1st birthday and Jan 1: Crystal Hernandez's (Jayne's daughter) dopeych@msn.com who will also be celebrating her birthday on Saturday January 1st. Jan 2: Jovan (pronounced yovan) Novakovic (Maxine's grandson, Michelle's son) crazy67@hotmail.com will be 8. Jan 4: Yvonne Greene (Sharon's daughter) jacobmerc@shaw.ca Jan 5: Wayne Stannard (Sharon's [much older] brother) nannypapa@hotmail.com Jan 7: Romina (Daphne's daughter) and Germán will be tying the knot rominalunda@hotmail.com Jan 9: Agostina Lunda (Daphne's granddaughter) daphne@speedy.com.ar who I believe will be 7. Jan 11: Sheri & Carie Huntley (Nancy Huntley's daughters) nancyhuntley@hotmail.com Jan 16: Taylor Duncan (Bea's granddaughter, Nancy Williams daughter) adtsdds4@aol.com will be 13. Jan 17: Jasmina Novakovic (Maxine's granddaughter, Michelle's daughter) crazy67@hotmail.com will be 10. Jan 18: Leo Lunda’s birthday as well as Leo & Daphne’s anniversary daphne@speedy.com.ar Jan 22: Our own Peachy Marie celebrates her birthday on this day marie682@webtv.net Jan 25: Ruben Lunda (Daphne's son) lundaruben@hotmail.com Jan 27: Sean Carr (Melinda's son) melinda_carr32@hotmail.com will be 5. Jan 31: Alan DeFraia (Pami's hubby) pdefraia@hvc.rr.com Jan 31: Woody Wood (Loretta's hubby) galowood@earthlink.net Looks like the Greene family and the Lunda family are dominating celebrations this month. Other exciting things happening this month are: · New Year's Day (of course) · Astrological Signs; Birthstones & Flowers (I discovered Peachy and I have the same sign, Aquarius). Some "unusual holidays" for January, which I thought were a hoot. · We have Benjamin Franklin's Birthday on the 17th; January 19th is Martin Luther King Day; Robert E. Lee, the Confederate Army general also celebrated his birthday on the 19th. · Chinese New Year: Year of the Rooster begins on January 22nd. I’ve included a recipe for Nian Gao, a traditional Chinese New Year treat. · Robbie Burns Day is celebrated every January 25th In Scotland (as well as other parts of the world). (I’ve been told that I am related to Robbie Burns) · And rounding out the month, many thanks to Jeanette for providing me with info for Australia Day which is celebrated January 26th. You can read all about these special days on the Trivia Page. Please take a moment to send your best wishes to these folks. And when you get a chance visit the Department of Vital Statistics where you find links for the Trivia Page, The Celebration Gallery, and the calendar Page (with a slightly new look). Also, you will find instructions there to view the Circle of Friends Photo Albums. So, in closing I would like to take this opportunity to wish each and everyone of you a very Happy, Healthy and Safe New Year from Darryl and me. Luv & hugs BigSisPat from Ontario, Canada To the Top More Photo Albums for your enjoyment! Member Albums To the Top I do hope you have enjoyed this week's issue and a very Happy New Year to all. On January 1st please be sure to visit Bigsis Pat's January Trivia Pages Fun Tests & Quizzes & Games A new year, a renewed chance to be the person you really want to be, to realize your potential, to evolve as a human -- will you seize this opportunity? Each Sun Sign has an inherent challenge to face and the pressure to set New Year's resolutions could be just the nudge you need to get you moving down that path toward personal evolution. After you've absorbed these ideas, read on to more fully understand your Sun Sign's unique Karmic challenge! Your sun sign's astrological New Years Resolutions To the Top Let's Do Lunch What for exciting news about the next member lunch! To the Top I would like to close with this email I received from Rosina from Nova Scotia, Canada. A clerk working in the dead letter section of the Post Office had the job to process all the mail that had illegible addresses. One day a letter came to his desk, addressed in a shaky handwriting to God. He thought, "Oh boy, better open this one and see what it's all about." So he opened it and read: "Dear God, I am an 83 year old widow living on a very small pension. Yesterday someone stole my purse. It had $100.00 in it, which was all the money I had until my next pension check. Next Sunday is Christmas, and I had invited two of my friends over for dinner. Without that money, I have nothing to buy food with. I have no family to turn to, and you are my only hope. Can you please help me?" The postal worker was touched, and went around showing the letter to all the others. Each of them dug into his wallet and came up with a few dollars. By the time he made the rounds, he had collected $96.00, which they put into an envelope and sent over to her. The rest of the day, all the workers felt the warm glow of the kind thing they had done. Christmas came and went. A few days later another letter came from the old lady to God. All the workers gathered around while the letter was opened. It read, "Dear God, How can I ever thank you enough for what you did for me? Because of your gift of love I was able to fix a glorious dinner for my friends. We had a very nice day and I told my friends of your wonderful gift. By the way, there was $4 missing. I think it must have been those thieving bastards at the Post Office." HAPPY NEW YEAR!