"Mine is the sunlight, mine is the morning
Born of the one light, Eden saw play
Praise with elation, praise every morning
God's recreation of the new day."
~ lyrics from "Morning Has Broken," written by Eleanor Farjeon

Hi all,

I've decided to make this a "Dyeland-produced" newsletter.  But before I let Andrew and Lady JenniAnn take over, I just wanted to say that I hope everyone had a great New Year's Eve and Day!  Also, as we've now entered January, Dye Day is just around the corner.  This year we'll be having two chats.  The times are as follows:



Friday, February 1st at 7 PM Central
and
Saturday, February 2nd at noon Central


You can use this site to help you translate that into your own timezone.  Let me know if you need help.  Please let me know if you plan to attend so I can send you the url for the chat since the location has not yet been decided.  When the chats begin, I will put their status on the index page (www.onthisside.net) in case we need to suddenly relocate. 

Hope to see ya there!

God bless and happy 2008!
Jenni

PS- Since Andrew and LJA spent an inordinate amount of time on a certain merchandising project, they did not include an easter egg in this newsletter.

Hello everyone,
Because this newsletter covers both New Year's and TOTGA Day, Lady JenniAnn and I have decided to split up writing duties.  I hope you enjoy my New Year's resolutions before moving onto whatever Laja's cooked up for TOTGA Day.  I'm sure it's great. 

Your friend,
Andrew
My New Year's Resolutions



1.  Continue to further my cooking skills.  I think I might try for creme brulee next.  That'll show the Colonel!

2.  Refrain from cutting my hair unless I want to hear wailing and gnashing of teeth and beating of breasts from certain concerned parties in Dyeland.

3.  Try hard not to get upset by the strange stories on fanfiction.net.  Instead I will focus on the good writing or...

4.  Work out my frustrations by creating witty protest shirts like these: Shirts by Andrew.

5.  I'll continue to be more open about my emotions.  I won't always go off by myself to cry.  Instead of empty barns, abandoned staircases, or hospice lobbies that seem to be empty... I'll vent my frustrations and grief in places like Monica's Cafe, Lady Beth's kitchen, or Town Hall. 

6.  I will try to wear green shirts more often.  And beige sweaters.  Apparently flannel shirts also.  (Laja is reading this over my shoulder and making suggestions.)

7.  I'll practice with the AOD Band more often.  I don't think Adam's had enough chance to break in his new keyboard.  Plus, it'll give us a chance to wear our band jackets!

8.  Dance in the rain.  I miss that.

9.  Continue to spread the message of God's love, of course. 

10.  Make a point of meeting up with Monica, Tess, and Gloria more often.

11.  Tell the Father how thankful I am to Him, every day, for all the friendships and other blessings in my life.

12.  Stop smoking, lose 20 pounds, and pay off my thousands of dollars in credit card debt.  Just kidding!  I only wanted to see if you were paying attention.  0;-)  I don't smoke or have a credit card.  As for the 20 pounds, I don't think that would be possible with the generosity and culinary talent of the Dyelanders. 

My prayers are with each of you that are embarking on important resolutions in 2008!

Now to Lady JenniAnn...



Thank you, Andrew, for that.  And I'll be looking forward to seeing you act on those resolutions (and wearing those T-shirts).  :-)  But now it's time to shift focus to another early January festivity: TOTGA Day!  For those of you new to our fold, TOTGA Day stands for "The One that Got Away" Day.  On January 6, 1996 the TBAA episode of that name premiered.  It was the first time Mr. Dye appeared on TV as our Andrew.  So every year we celebrate the occasion!  Here are my suggestions for throwing an awesome TOTGA Day party!

Fare thee well,
JenniAnn


1.  By now the gingerbread Andrew cookies have probly all been eaten.  Or for those of you who, like me, can't quite bring yourself to eat them... they've probly been put in the freezer or given to squirrels.  So how about making some train shaped sugar cookies?  Not only are the non-Andrew like shapes a lil bit easier to eat but they're also a festive remembrance of this all-important TBAA episode!

2.  Play a rousing game of "Pin the Earring on Andrew" with your friends!  And no, I don't mean you should go towards the real Andrew blindfolded and holding a sharp object!  Instead, print your favorite Andrew photo and give the players gold star stickers.  The person who gets the sticker nearest to the photo's ear wins!  Alternate idea: "Pin the Goofy Tassel on Andrew's Shoe"

3.  Snag a copy of Bette Midler's "The Rose."  Track Angel Boy down and dance with him to it.  He assures me that he will be in Dyeland on the 6th and perfectly willing to dance.  Yippee!

4.  Watch TOTGA with your friends (easy to do now thanks to the DVD sets!) and play a drinking game.  You might take two sips of your preferred beverage whenever Monica gives Andrew a less than pleasant look.  Or may be one sip for whenever there's a exterior shot of the wedding train.  As always, choose a beverage wisely! 

5.  Take time out of your partying to write Andrew a heartfelt letter expressing how you felt upon first meeting him and how glad you are to have him in your life.  It may take a bit of the sting outta things when he starts to remember Monica's less than enthusiastic welcome.

6.  Your friends just don't really care about Andrew?  What's wrong with them!?!?  If you seriously need to deal with just such an unseemly scenario, may be you could have a more general party.  Invite your non-Andrew-loving friends over and instead of discussing how he first met Monica, you could discuss how you first met each other.  It could be a good bonding experience.

Have a great TOTGA Day, everyone!


JABB TOC
JABB 237

(Photo Credits: The top left image is from Making the Grade and owned by Cannon Film Distributors and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.  The top right one is from Twice Upon and Christmas and owned by Viacom Productions Inc.  The rest are from TBAA and are owned by CBS Productions, Caroline Productions, Moon Water Productions.  They are not being used to seek profit.)