46 thoughts on “Our Daily Thread 12-24-12”

  1. Sorry folks,

    I had thought I’d done things correctly, but apparently not. These posts were supposed to be set to post at 6 AM, everything looked correct and done properly, but no. I don’t know what I did wrong. Oh well. Again, sorry.

    😦

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  3. First? Can’t be.

    All my offspring and posterity will be together tonight. We’ll celebrate the birthday of granddaughter 1, then tomorrow morning celebrate the birth of Jesus. After that drive 2½ hours North to Marion, Iowa, to celebrate with Mrs L’s family.

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  5. We had a very nice family gathering here yesterday with my side of the family. There were potentially some things that could have gone wrong (I won’t elaborate) that didn’t, thankfully. We had a great time, with lots of humor and a deep sense of relief that Dad could be here. He had been hospitalized from Friday evening through Saturday morning, but is doing fine now. He still had his hospital ID bands on yet when he was here yesterday, so of course the joke was that he had sneaked out of the hospital. 🙂

    My brother was full of jokes, as usual. (You can see the prayer thread from the 21st, I think, for one example of his sense of humor.) He doesn’t miss any opportunity to zing someone! His older daughter had posted on her Facebook on Friday something like “Please pray for my grandpa. He is in the hospital.” Then my brother told her on Saturday, when Dad was released, to post, “Grandpa’s out of the hospital now. Please pray for the rest of us.” 😀

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  8. I think I’ll just go ahead and dominate this thread today. 🙂

    JK!. I’ve got plenty to do today. Just one more thing here, then I’m on my way.

    What a blessing Skype is! Yesterday when we were having the family Christmas party here, we opened presents while Skyping with my sister and her family who just moved to Maryland a couple months ago. Her four children, my youngest four, and two others of the nieces and nephews exchanged gifts, and the children opened their gifts on Skype. Almost like physically having them all in the room together. The shipped packages all arrived on time, and all the children were delighted with the gifts, and so pleased to see each other again.

    Truly one of the neatest blessings of the day yesterday.

    You all have a good Christmas Eve today! 🙂

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  10. I survived Wal-Mart AND Winn-Dixie. Of course I am a hundred or so dollars poorer and I still have to go out and pick up two more things.

    Breakfast in the morning for ex-mother-in-law and ex-husband to see what Santa left BG. Dinner tomorrow night with aunt and uncle and cousin with Mr. P and BG.

    Tonights meal is grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup with It’s a Wonderful Life. It will also include church.

    Now I have to get in the kitchen and start the Beef Daube—it’s better if it sits in the refrigerator overnight and “marries” as my father used to say.

    Next Cinderella will be ironing the linens. 😦

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  11. Anyone know why all You Tube videos posted start the ‘3 reasons to kill the dept of Homeland Security’? Now as I opened in a separate tab I get Andy Williams but if I click in the tab opened to https://wanderersviews.wordpress.com/ I almost always get Janet Napalitano. How Depressing.

    Also ever since you put the snowflakes (I guess that is what it is, remember I’m from southern Arizona) that fall towards where the mouse is, if I am big enough that I don’t need the scroll bar on the bottom it flashes on and off.

    Does anyone know why? Is is because the site is not really Firefox compatible?

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  13. I see the snowflakes don’t follow the mouse here, maybe just on the main page.
    By the way, I really do know what snow is. Actually saw some a week ago in Prescott while picking up my mother-in-law from Prescott. Very Pretty. We usually see some snow on the San Francisco Peaks this time of year from her kitchen window, but there were clouds in the way. There wasn’t any left at her house, but we could see it on Mingus Mountain (think Jerome) and as we were going west out of Prescott there was snow on the road side, pine trees and mountain slopes. We always have my mother-in-law and wife’s aunt for about one month for Christmas and New Year. My wife being an only child and her aunt never married or had any kids, so we are it for them.

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  14. It’s been raining all night here (and still is). I have an interview onboard one of those tall-masted pirate ships in about 2 hours (don’t worry, the ship is docked, no sailing today for me — or ever, if I can help it).

    The plan is to write a relatively quick & easy story on that today (it’s one of 4 tall ships that will be docked here through mid-January for tours and special mock “battle” sails). The plan is to see if I can scoot out of work a little early. I would love to be able to pick up my older friend for Christmas Eve service, but it starts at 5 p.m. so I need to get out of work by 4 at the latest to logistically manage all of that.

    I also have something to return (a gift I changed my mind about) at Crate & Barrel which is next door to the office, although I suppose I could just take care of that after the holiday. But it would be nice to get that out of the way.

    Oh, and I still have something to wrap this morning for a co-worker.

    6 Arrows, I’m so glad your dad is out of the hospital. And what a fun way to use Skype, to share opening christmas gifts with family in other parts of the country. I’d never thought of that before.

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  18. Kim – Did you know I live in the south, too? Connecticut is referred to as “Southern New England”. 😉

    Doesn’t count, does it?

    We live in northern Conn., right next to the Mass. border, so we live in the Northern Southern New England.

    (Being sick is making me silly. 🙂 )

    Due to temps a little higher than usual for this time of year, we’ve been getting lots of rain. That’s okay, though, because if all that precipitation were snow, it would be feet of snow rather than inches of rain.

    But! we are expecting about an inch of snow late tonight into Christmas morning. As I said to Chrissy, that’s enough to be pretty & Christmasy without having to be shoveled (or at least not much).

    Forrest got his own child-sized snow shovel for Christmas (from someone in R’s family), so I know what he’s going to be doing tomorrow for a while. (Since he’s lived here & started walking, he has loved playing with our snow shovels.

    And he loves sweeping with brooms. Someone in R’s family got him a child-sized broom, & he put it away in our closet with our other broom. 🙂

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  20. Waiting for R to come & pick up Forrest while Emily works (she’s working till 6:30 tonight). (As I type this, it’s been 3 hours since she left for work.) I asked her to tell him that she would be dropping off Forrest on her way to work, but she asked him, giving him the option of picking him up. So we wait, & hope he actually shows up.

    Because Emily is in retail, she has worked a lot more than usual this past month, both in number of days in a row & in more hours per day.

    That was already becoming a bit wearing on all of us – Forrest, too – & then there were the 6 working days in row, followed by 1 day off & then 3 days in a row of taking care of him 10+ hours each day. Each of those 3 days, R said he would pick Forrest up for a couple hours, but he didn’t.

    Don’t get me wrong – I love my grandson, & consider it a God-given privilege to have him & his mommy (& his auntie) here in our home, & to take care of him when needed. He is sweet & delightful, but quite active (of course – he’s a boy & he’s 2), & can be a challenge at times. Sometimes it would be nice if R could take him for a bit. (The few times he has taken him without Emily being present, he has him back within a couple hours.)

    So today, I am sick, & feeling worn out. Chrissy – God bless her! – has been such a big help, but she’s tired, too, because she’s been quite busy & still has stuff to do.

    I’ll let you know if R shows up.

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  22. Speaking of “For unto us a Child is born” — were we, you say? 😉 — on today’s News thread, I thought I’d put up a performance of it here. (Music videos seem more suited to this thread, IMHO.) I can’t get the song out of my head since Peter quoted the verse on which it is based, but that’s okay because I love the piece. 🙂

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  23. Merry Eve of Christmas! It is almost time to start the church service events which are earlier than they use to be since they are better timed for families with young children. This works well so I can get some cooking done this evening after the services.

    May Ye All Have a Splendid Christmas!

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  24. Nothing like family to really hurt your feelings. Ex mother in law “forgot” that I have done Christmas breakfast every Christmas morning since 1997 and that she has come to my house for it.

    Now I have breakfast for a lot of people and it will just be the three of us. Oh well. I am off to church.

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  25. R finally showed up at nearly 3:30, 6 hours after Emily left for work.

    Talk about mixed feelings. We’re relieved that we have a break, but also we realize that Little Guy is in better hands with us. (His mommy thinks so, too.) Not that R would do anything to hurt him (he is, in fact, over-protective), but R just doesn’t know what to do with him. Little ones need a lot of supervision/attention.

    And now, of course, I miss my Little Guy. But I’m glad of the break, too. :-/

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  26. Kim – Could it be she feels uncomfortable being a part of it because you are remarried?

    I know what you mean about family & hurt feelings. The only “extended” family we get together with are my brother, SIL, & niece. But they made plans with friends instead of doing our usual Christmas Eve gathering (that we have done for many, many years), before they knew that Emily would be working, & can’t seem to fit us in any other time.

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  27. No. She has met New Husband and was very friendly towards him. It has a snobbish sort of feel to it. This woman has been more than a mother in law to me. I lost my own mother to alchohol at a young age so I have substituted various women. It just hurts to be cast aside doesn’t it.
    I am sorry about your brother and his family. They are blood and that hurts even worse.

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  29. It rained all the way to Greensboro.
    We went to the candlelight service and then out to dinner.
    Santa comes tonight if you’ve been good.
    Have a blessed Christmas.
    Were having dinner at Jennifer’s tomorrow (youngest GD).

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  30. Kim – I forgot to mention that we’re the only family they have, too. My brother & I each married an “only child”, all 3 sets of parents are dead, & none of us are close to cousins.

    At Niece’s college graduation a couple years ago, a good friend of theirs expressed surprise at meeting me. She had no idea Brother had a sister – she thought he was an only child.

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  31. However, Lee & I have our 2 beautiful daughters & our adorably sweet grandson to celebrate with. And the 2 dogs. And the 3 cats.

    But no partridge in a pear tree.

    “…4 grown adults, 3 kitty cats, 2 puppy dogs,
    & a delightful little grandson.”

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  32. Merry Christmas Eve everyone! I’ll bet I can talk to myself ’til my heart’s content here tonight. 🙂

    I turned my story in and was able to leave at around 3 p.m. so that gave me time to pick up my older friend for the 5 p.m. church service which was wonderful as usual.

    I walked the dogs after dropping her off afterward and am now “in” for the night, somewhat earlier than usual for me on a Christmas Eve.

    Tomorrow I’m having lunch at a Mexican restaurant on the waterfront with friends & then it’s off to the cousin’s house in Long Beach for an early dinner. I’ll be stuffed. But I can handle it. 😉

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  33. The big worry out here is it looks like we *may* get rain on New Year’s Day.

    Not unheard of, but still somewhat unusual. Typically, for some reason, the sun is shining bright on that day for the Rose Parade.

    No rain expected tomorrow on Christmas Day (it’ll be cloudy with some sun breaking through). But we’ll maybe get more rain throughout the rest of the week after that, here and there.

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  34. Still have to wrap gifts for the pets. 🙂 I don’t usually get them anything, but others typically will give me something for them. Not this year, so I decided to pick up a couple treat bags & toys to wrap myself. How goofy is that?

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  35. So I got to go aboard the Lady Washington this morning (in the rain), a wooden replica of a vessel that sailed the seas in the 1870s. It’s in town for a few weeks, offering mock canon “battle” sails and other tours.

    Fun talking to some of the crew and the captain. And I was amazed just looking up at the 180 lines that raise the square sails. The crew has to memorize what each one does.

    http://www.historicalseaport.org/lady-washington

    (The vessel is based in Washington state — the original was named for Martha Washington — and it also appeared as the Interceptor in the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie.)

    OK. What else can I talk about? Maybe I should sing a little bit.

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  40. And it’s still almost 4 hours until Christmas out here on the West/Left Coast. It’s only 8:20 p.m.

    I’m watching the tail end of “Miracle on 34th Street.” Next up: “Prancer.”

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  41. I also use Chrome, and I also get the flashing scroll bar at the bottom since the snowflakes started. Rather annoying, but I figure the snow will go away before long. Before the snow outside does, probably. My family is very happy to have a white Christmas. It was flurrying again on our way home from the Christmas Eve service, I hope it doesn’t cause trouble driving for my husband and older son – they’re off to another Christmas Eve service, where our son was hired to play piano for tonight’s service.

    We went to see the Hobbit yesterday. In 3D. Big mistake, at least for me. If you have any tendency toward motion sickness, do not go see it in 3D. I started closing my eyes during the action sequences less than halfway through, and before long I kept my eyes closed most of the time and just opened them occasionally so see what was going on, or if it sounded like there wouldn’t be much movement in the scene. And I concentrated on not getting nauseous enough to throw up, and wondered just how much longer this had to go on. I was so glad when the eagles showed up, because I knew that was nearly the end.

    I think it was a good movie, but I was too miserable to enjoy it. The acid reflux, which had not completely gone away but was much better, got worse again. After a good night’s sleep the nausea was gone today, but the (worse) acid reflux is not. I am not a happy camper right now.

    I have all the wrapping done, though, and the stockings are filled. The sausage strata for breakfast is in the fridge, and the cheesy potatoes are in the crockpot. Now I can relax and try to enjoy the holiday.

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  44. It is still Christmas Eve here…and the snow is falling softly upon the land…it’s so beautiful! We had our gathering with daughter #2’s family….the house is straightened and cleaned up once again…and I’m off to bed with visions of sugar plums dancing in my head…huh?
    It’s PJ’s kind of day for me tomorrow…watching sappy Christmas movies and eating…and perhaps a walk in the snow…Have a most blessed Christmas Day everyone….

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  46. Joy to the World!

    No more let sins and sorrows grow,
    Nor thorns infest the ground;
    He comes to make His blessings flow
    Far as the curse is found,
    Far as the curse is found,
    Far as, far as, the curse is found.

    He rules the world with truth and grace,
    And makes the nations prove
    The glories of His righteousness,
    And wonders of His love,
    And wonders of His love,
    And wonders, wonders, of His love.

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