Thanksgiving 2005

Did Friday seem like a Saturday to you? It did to me. Rachel and I went out and shoveled a few inches of snow off the driveway this morning then proceeded to see who could slide the furthest after a running start. She won. It's all in the shoes I think.

My truck never left...oops...I was about to say that my truck never left the garage today but that would be wrong. I did make a very early morning trip to Circuit City with Tammy before retreating to the safety of our home empty-handed. Internet shopping is still the way to go if you know what you need; heck, even if you don't know what you need. What could be better than having a delivery guy bring your item directly to your front door for a nominal fee? One problem with that though—we were trying to get on Circuit City's website tonight and it was overloaded to the point where they weren't accepting any online orders at the time. So much for the dismal news about the economy.

I spent some time down in the shop working on some stained glass crosses we're doing for a guy who works with Keith. He gives them to his nieces and nephews as baptism and confirmation gifts. He wanted 5 of them and we've got them and we got them all done. We did a few extras with the idea that we'd maybe put them up on eBay and see what sort of attention they get but I think we may not even bother. Tammy was looking at the stained glass market on eBay tonight and it is very pathetic. Why bother, was the feeling we had after looking at some of the offerings and what they were getting for bids—very disappointing.

I had to go out today and fix some of the Christmas lights on the front bushes which didn't light last night. They didn't light tonight either but that was just something stupid on my part. They're looking good now. I went out and got some of the newer LED lights this year from Target. They use a lot less electricity and they burn brighter and longer than standard bulbs...but they're more expensive. I hope that by getting more than one year's use out of them they'll be saving me money in the long run. It's gotten to the point with the regular bulbs that I've been throwing them away after one or two years because of their failure rate. I thought if one bulb burnt out that the rest of the string would still light?

We've got a guest coming to stay with us this week and although I'm looking forward to their arrival I know that I'll also be looking forward to when they leave. Who is our guest you may be wondering? Our Christmas decorations...tree and all. Don't you feel that after a few weeks it's time for the stuff to go? Yes, it looks nice and warm and festive but after a couple weeks I'll come down in the morning and it's almost as if I want to tell it to go...you've been here long enough...it's time to go back where you came from. I really shouldn't say that because we've made a lot of memories surrounded by our Christmas decorations. They're a part of us and a part of our tradition. Some of the ornaments we put on our tree have been purchased when we were on vacation and they hold a significant memory or meaning for us. There's the glass bell with the moose inside which Rachel accidentally broke some 4 years ago or so and every time we unwrap it we have to give Rachel a hard time for causing a crack in the ornament...we smile and move on to unwrapping the next ornament.

We're moving into the heart of winter now and if you're not careful the blues can take hold. Between the short daylight hours and the demands of the holidays, it can be a bit taxing on any sane person. I'm going to try and do my best to not get caught up in the material aspect of Christmas any more than I have to and just enjoy the season. The culmination of the focus of our Christmas celebration is about Christmas Eve service, celebrating the birth of Christ and being together with family.

When you greet your friends don't be afraid to tell them 'Merry Christmas' and eschew the 'Happy Holidays' greeting. Fly in the face of political correctness and put up a 'Christmas tree' and not a 'Holiday tree'. In case you hadn't noticed, the holiday period we're beginning to celebrate is about to be neutered and made virtually meaningless...if we let it.

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