This past week was a flurry of activity.  There was always something happening.  It wasn’t my usual, “It’s been a very quiet day,” routine.

Christmas eve (Wednesday) church service while snow accumulated on my car. Christmas (Thursday) we were with family (Bryant, Barbara and Briana).  Friday evening featured the wedding of two friends–more on that coming up.  On Saturday, Sylvia’s family held their traditional Christmas dinner.

I get tired just thinking about that schedule.  (Things don’t move as fast out here on our secondary road.)  Saturday night it caught up with me.  Sleep fled while I pursued.  It was 4 AM before I caught sleep and wrestled it into submission.

I missed church on Sunday.  Now, this week will seem completely out of whack.

The Wedding

Frank and Missy have been dating for years.  Now they are man and wife.

Newly Weds

Aren’t they a beautiful couple?  They’ve been married before, so some of the traditions were dropped from the ceremony.

The crowd was assembled at tables in the hall.  Then the theme from Rocky began to come out of the speakers.  People began to stand.  What?  We stood.  There came Frank with Missy on his arm.  They walked briskly toward the altar.  Near the altar stood Missy’s father.  The couple stopped dad hugged daughter and spoke into her ear.  Then dad shook Frank’s hand and they walked up to the parson.  After the exchange of vows and rings, they were pronounced man and wife.  The reception began.  It all went perfectly!

I leaned over to Sylvia and said, “My feet are killing me” (arthritis).  She replied, “I have to bake three dozen rolls for tomorrow.”  I asked, “Do you want to go?”  “Let’s.”

It was nearly midnight when Sylvia came to bed.  The end of a beautiful day.  The beginning of a wonderful marriage.

May God bless this couple.

Shepherds visit the new-born Baby

At His birth, shepherds who had been informed by angels, came to visit the babe.  Later, Magi from the east came to visit the young child.  (See Luke and Matthew)

Magi pay homage

After breakfast on Christmas morning, I changed the reenactment scene.  This scene will remain until the evening of January 6, the twelfth day of Christmas (aka Epiphany).

If you are interested in the star and the timeline of Christ’s birth, visit bethlehemstar.net or search YouTube for “Frederick Larson Bethlehem.”

Yesterday, we celebrated Christmas with Briana and her parents, Barbara and Bryant.  We had a wonderful time with them.  Lots of talk about Briana’s upcoming move to Wisconsin.  We are all very happy for her and the way that details are falling into place to make everything go smoothly.

Tonight, Sylvia and I will attend the wedding of our friends, Frank and Missy.  We are very excited and happy for them.

Tomorrow, Sylvia’s family gathers for their traditional Christmas dinner and celebration.  We always look forward to that.

Last evening, Sylvia and I had a couple of visitors.  It was our neighbors, Curt and Meghan.  It has become a tradition to visit with them and swap some Christmas treats.  (FWIW, Meghan makes a supper yummy banana bread. :food: )

Neighbor Meghan, but where’s Curt?

In addition to their dogs, they also have cats. Then there’s the goats, sheep and the llama.

I’m sorry I don’t have a photo of Curt.  He’s a great guy–a computer genius, competitive sport car driver and hobby farmer among his many talents.

They also brought a gift for Nellie.  It was perfect–just the thing for our kitty.

Nellie stalks the mousie

Kitty went crazy over the little toy mouse.  She stalked.  She pounced.  She batted.  She held and clawed.  She chewed.  She swatted.  She stalked again, etc.

So we all say thanks Curt and Thanks Meghan. :tiphat:   Merry Christmas.

I’ve been thinking lately about how unaware we can be about so many things. It brings to mind a question.

 While we sleep,
Do angels weep,
As innocents bleed,
upon the idol’s altar?

I am particularly grateful for those who are awake at night so that we may sleep in peace and awaken to the same.

Shepherds visit the new-born Baby

This is the Christmas reenactment scene on our mantel.  It will stay there until mid morning on December 25.

After the shepherds have left, the scene will change.  The baby is replaced with a young child.  The angel is no longer in the sky above.  A large star is suspended above the scene.  Magi, bearing gifts, are now paying homage.

This scene will remain in place through January 6 (Epiphany aka Three-Kings Day).  After that we pack the figures and put them in storage for another year.

Posting in cooperation with:

Santa & Mrs Claus

Mrs Claus is seen more these days than in the days of my youth.  (aka the dark ages)  And since I’ve been seeing her image more often, I find myself left with “the big question.”

The question is not, “How did they meet?”  Nor is it, “When did they marry?”  It is not, “Do they have children?”  However, that last question is getting very close to the big question.

“What is it?” you ask.  Simply this, “If they do have children would they be considered, for income tax purposes, to be dependent Clauses?”

What do you think?

I recently read the following in the online edition of the Washington Examiner.

The Internet is revolutionizing news consumption, with more than seven in 10 telling Pew Research Center that they are better informed than they were five years ago because of the news websites they visit daily.

In Pew’s latest survey of Internet use, 75 percent said they are “better informed” about national news, and a near equal 74 percent on international news.

Just as importantly, 72 percent said that having so much information at their fingertips was a good thing and didn’t make them feel overloaded.

I’m with the majority on this one.  Most of my adult life I relied on radio or TV for news.  Newspapers and magazines also played a role, but served mostly as a source of paper to recycle.

A couple of years ago, I made the break.  I stopped listening to broadcast news, and I’m glad I did.  Now I use a few news sources and a couple of news aggregators to scan headlines and quick summaries of stories.  I click on links to stories that are of interest, and only the ones that are of interest.  No longer does an unnamed producer determine what news I’m informed of and to what level.

Long live the Web!  ¡Viva la telerana mundial!