It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

When Dodger and I took a walk last night there was a beautiful, light snow falling.

This morning on my way to work I saw a lot of this,

and this, 

and this.

By tonight there were beautiful Christmas trees decorated by nature,

and it was a little tougher to make our way around as we walked. 

About 12 inches of new snow made it a pretty harsh day but there is no doubt that-

It is beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

Someone Is Not Very Merry This Christmas

Image from Google Images

My daughter, Joanna, and her family moved to a new house last summer. Someone from out of town inadvertently sent some Christmas gifts for the kids to the old address. Joanna e-mailed the property manager of their old house and asked her to give the current resident her phone number and to ask if she would please call if packages came for them and she would come pick them up. This is the e-mailed response of the current resident at their old address.

 I have an issue with this. They can process a change of address with the U.S. Postal service. I have better things to do than coordinate their mail. All first class mail has been returned to sender. This is how we managed our former address.

Joanna was a little, um, surprised by this response but she responded gracefully to the woman who refused to make a phone call.

I understand your frustration. We registered our change of address with the USPS effective when we moved, and while most things have been forwarded, some things (especially packages) slip through the cracks and end up being delivered to the old address. I was hoping that any packages that may have been sent to the wrong address would be able to get to my kids by Christmas. I respect your decision and we will hope that the postal service is able to get everything forwarded.

I hope you and your family have a blessed holiday season!

 I also hope the woman can find a little Merry in her Christmas. Somehow her response made me want to to out and do something nice for someone.

Friday Fragments/Freewheeling Friday

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I don't have a lot of news (well, not any really) to catch up on, unless going to work, going to kid's school programs and plays and trying to get ready for Christmas is news. They are all good things and it has been a good and busy week. Here is a little of what has been bouncing around in my head during the week's activities.

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It seems like I send fewer Christmas cards every year, which means that I will probably start getting fewer every year. I can remember my parents sending hundreds of Christmas cards each year. I do like getting cards from friends and family and I even like the Christmas letters that people send, though I have never written one myself. I especially like the cards with family pictures that so many people send these days. If  I failed to get a card to you this year, oops and Merry Christmas.

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I borrowed this conversation between my daughter, Joanna, and her 3 year old daughter, EJ, from Joanna's Facebook page. 

EJ : Mom, everyone is a grandkid to God, but I don't know who could be his wife. (Pause, deep thinking)

Mary, I guess.

Joanna: I thought Mary was Joseph's wife.

EJ:  Oh yeah, if Mary was God's wife, that would be a bummer for Joseph. 

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I think I have posted this before, maybe just last year, but I really like the "sentiment" that a friend sent to me in a Christmas card. I couldn't agree more about now.

Christmas comes but once a year

And when it comes it brings good cheer

The reason that it brings good cheer

Is that it comes but once a year.

Suppose it happened once a week.

I'd be too tired to write or speak.

But struggling with it one time yearly

I've still got strength to say sincerely

Merry Christmas

Football, Football and Finally the Christmas Tree

All my kids and grandkids came over Sunday to decorate my Christmas tree, but first on everyone's minds was the Broncos game.

They weren't a very happy crowd near the end of the 4th quarter when the Broncos were down 10-0.

Another unbelievable overtime win by the Broncos, 13-10, certainly raised the "cheer" level in the room.

The little girls kept their distance from the football chaos with their own game in another room.

The tree finally got decorated. Some of the kids have gotten tall enough that a few ornaments now make it to the top half of the tree.

The group picture......never perfect but always fun.

The tree decorating is one of my favorite family events of the season, even though now that the tree is up I am reminded of everything else I need to get done before Christmas.

Do You Believe In Santa Claus?

Image from Google Images

My 9 year old granddaughter, Hope, has probably had questions for a couple of years but she finally asked her mom the question this year...."Is Santa Claus really you?"

This is how my daughter, Joanna, answered. Much of it came from a letter she found on the internet, origin unknown, and some she added herself. I have edited it some for length. I like the spirit of this response to Hope's question.

I bet you have wanted to know for a long if I am really Santa. The answer is no. I am not Santa. There is no one Santa. I am the one who fills your stocking and leaves presents under the tree. I do it for you the same way my mom did for me, and the same way her mom did for her. (Daddys help, too). I imagine you will do it for your own children some day, and I know you will love seeing them run down the stairs on Christmas morning. You will love seeing them sitting by the tree with their small faces lit with Christmas lights.

This won't make you Santa, though. Santa is bigger than any person, and his work has gone on longer than any of us has lived. What he does is simple, but it is powerful. He teaches children how to believe in something they can't see or touch. It's a big job, and it's an important one. Throughout your life you will need this capacity to believe:  in yourself, in your friends, in your talents, in your family and, most importantly, in God. You'll also need to believe in things you can't measure or even hold in your hand.  

Santa is a teacher, and I have been his student and now you know the secret of how he gets down all those chimneys on Christmas Eve.: he has help from all the people whose hearts he has filled with joy.

With hearts full of love, people like Daddy and me take our turns helping Santa do a job that would otherwise be impossible.

So, no, I am not Santa. Santa is love and magic and hope and happiness. I am on his team, and now you are too.

Men.....Sheesh!

The other day Doc asked me if we could turn the heat up a little because it was really cold in his office. One thing Doc never does is say anything about the temperature in the house. Another thing he never does, according to his own set of rules, is touch the thermostat in a house where a woman lives.

I, who am always willing to adjust the thermostat according to my own comfort level, said sure and turned it up a couple of degrees. Before long the rest of the house was getting very hot, but Doc said his office was feeling fine now.

Hmm? A wee bit of investigation on my part revealed that the window in Doc's office was open an inch or two and the heating vent in the room was closed. This is from a man who, as I have said before, is something of a home maintenance freak. I guess it is easier to decide the house needs a coat of paint or all the windows need to be replaced than it is to check for an open window in a cold room.

Men! Sheesh.

Window closed, vent open, problem solved.

It is 7 degrees right now with lows tonight below zero. I will be exercising my thermostat skills.

Friday Fragments/Freewheeling Friday

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It has been a good week in many ways and a not so good one in others. Almost every night I have started (or at least thought about starting) a blog post, but never quite followed through with it, so I am (again) combining all my little thoughts in a Friday Fragments/Freewheeling Friday post.

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One of the things that has kept me from posting has been reading lots of other people's posts showing all the beautiful Christmas decorating they are doing in their homes. So far, I have done no decorating so as much as I like seeing what beautiful things other people have done it makes me feel a little deficient. I will probably do some decorating this weekend and my grandkids will come to decorate my tree on the 11th. The kids decorating my tree is one of my favorite family activities of the season.

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I recently showed a picture of my grandkids drawing names for Christmas gift giving this year. I think it is going to turn out to be a really good plan. They all seem very invested in getting just the right thing for the cousin who's name they drew. Eight year old Justin has already selected and wrapped the gift he chose for 1 year old Beck and placed it in the spot where their Christmas tree will be. I would love to hear the conversation between 3 year old EJ who is going to call her 7 year old cousin, Wil, to find out what would be the perfect gift for him.

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My good friend Carolyn found out this week that she has thyroid cancer and lung cancer. They were both discovered during a routine doctor visit for something else entirely. I am in awe of the courage and strength she is showing in the face of this diagnosis. I can only pray for her full recovery and that I can be of help to her in some way.

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Wouldn't it be interesting if Herman Cain's wife had a blog?

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Two women were having afternoon tea in a fancy restaurant. One of them looked across the room and said  look at those two old women over there....that will be us in 10 years. You *&a;*#@, her friend responded, that's a mirror.