Michael Londra's Celtic Christmas Show

My mom and I had tickets to see Michael Londra's Celtic Christmas show in Mahwah, NJ last night. But I've had a really rough week and didn't feel up to battling North Jersey traffic and wasn't sure if I could make it, though I had been looking forward to the show for months. I had a very serious family issue come up this week that I can't really get into at this time. I hope it will all turn out well eventually but it came as quite a shock. And I lost a beloved pet I'd had for 15 years quite suddenly Tuesday morning. She had been doing well and it was a terrible shock. I've always taken the death of my pets very hard. I can't say I've found much love in this world from people I've chosen to love and trust. The only true love I've ever really had were from my grandmother who is no longer with us, my mom, my daughter and my pets. So it was a very stressful week, full of tears and sleepless nights and I felt and looked just terrible. But I didn't want to miss this show so we decided to go.

I couldn't be happier that my mom and I made that decision. Michael's show was happy, lively and festive and it truly lifted my spirits. I've always known of the healing power of music and it was once again proven to me last night. Michael was lead singer of Riverdance on Broadway and has a hauntingly beautiful voice. His Irish wit and great sense of humor made the show a true delight. He interacts wonderfully with the audience, teaching them Gaelic and encouraging them to sing along. He said he judges states by their singing at his shows and said we did a great job. Well, of course, we did - New Jersey gave birth to Frank Sinatra, Frankie Vali & the Four Seasons and Bruce Springsteen, to name just a few - we rock! He tells tales of Christmas in Ireland and talks about his family. He travels with the fabulous band AnDochas. Their musical talent and sound is so glorious. Just try to keep your foot from taping while listening to them! And to top it all off, Michael has two amazing Irish step dancers traveling with him. Their feet just flew all around that stage. Michael said that he'd always wanted to be a dancer but unfortunately he's a dancer trapped in the body of a tree. Well, that may be so but I for one am not sorry about it because I much rather hear him sing.

And sing he did. He sang the beautiful song he wrote and which is the title song on his new album "Beyond the Star". He sang Silent Night (partly in Gaelic) and The Wexford Carol (he's a Wexford boy himself). And the beautiful Don Oiche Ud I MBeithil (please don't ask me to pronounce it!). He sang the beautiful Winter, Fire and Snow and he did such a wonderful job with Sting's Fields of Gold. And being a Riverdance boy, the show wouldn't have been complete without Lift the Wings. I wish YouTube had a video of him singing it so you could hear his version but I can't find one. But you can hear him sing Danny Boy on YouTube (which video has had almost 2,000,000 views!). As beautiful as that video is, I think he did an even more beautiful version last night - just brimming with emotion. Michael's website also has clips of his singing for you to enjoy.

Michael's A Celtic Yuletide Christmas tour still has quite a few shows coming up. So check out his schedule, buy some tickets and buy his albums Beyond the Star and Celt (both beautifully arranged and produced by the very talented Steve Skinner) and have him touch your soul and lift your spirits as he has mine and so many others.

Thank you, Michael and all those involved in last night's show, for a truly enjoyable evening.

Newest member of the family!

Now that I'm doing the paralegal work at home instead of the office, I thought it was time for me to get a dog. But my home is small and I do have two cats so I thought I would probably get a smaller dog. I saw a beautiful cocker spaniel at the Humane Society in Tinton Falls on their website and decided to go there on Saturday to meet "Sparky". Well, Sparky turned out to be one of the largest cocker spaniels I had ever seen and was very "sparky" and hyper. Really beautiful though. So I asked that she be taken into the cat room to see how she responded to cats. That didn't work out well at all. A cat hissed at her and she went berserk. So poor Sparky went back into her cage.

There were so many dogs and cats there and all desperately needing a home that I didn't know which way to turn first. There was a miniature collie who had caught my eye so I headed back to the main office to find out more about him. When I walked into the lobby, I saw a young couple holding a cat carrier and both were crying. The man saw me and asked if I had come there for a cat. They were bringing in an 11-year-old cat, Belle, because their 3-1/2-year-old daughter had allergies and asthma. The man took Belle out of her carrier and put her in my arms. Belle just buried her head under my arm. He told me all about her, what a good cat she was, how clean and healthy she was. They even had paperwork of all her shots and a certification from her doctor that she was in good health. He said that he knew that Belle wouldn't have a chance at the pound, being as old as she is. They were both obviously heartbroken about parting with Belle. I just couldn't let them put her in one of those cages after holding her so I decided to take her. I hadn't even seen her face, which was still buried under my arm. We exchanged names and telephone numbers so I could let them know how Belle makes out in her new home.



I got Belle home and set her up temporarily in just one room until she got used to the house and my other cats could accept her. What a sweetheart of a little cat she is. And what a beauty! She's so small - only 7-1/2 pounds. I'm used to my huge lion of a cat, Dickon, and Patches is a Maine Coon and larger than Belle. Belle has beautiful calico coloring and a square bib on her chest. Very gentle and very loving. And of course, very frightened and confused at first. But now she's eating and purring and exploring the house. She's very brave! I'm having quite a problem with Dickon. He is not happy about Belle at all. I may have to keep them apart for quite awhile but I'm hoping that, even if they never become friends, eventually he'll be able to tolerate having her around. I feel so sorry for her - losing her home and family like that. She's going to need a lot of love and care to make up for it.