Bummed

To find out why I was bummed this morning, first you need a bit of back story.  

If you read my blog regularly, you'll remember that I've developed a bit of insulin resistance -- not uncommon as we age, especially if you're like me and consider sugar to be a food group unto itself.  So, I decided that in order to keep my glucose levels reasonable over Christmas break, I was not going to just sit in the chair all day. 

No, I'd get up and go walking out at the lake every day that weather permitted, so this morning, that's exactly what I did.  Once the sun had come up, I got dressed and drove down there.  I was going to walk the fitness trail by the tennis courts -- for you local folks-- because it's a Pokémon Go route and I need a few more circuits of it to earn my badge.  I got there only to discover that the entire area was closed.  I don't know why.  The gate was locked, and you couldn't even get to the parking lot.  

That's why I was bummed.  

Not one to accept defeat, I drove down to the lake circle route and walked it.  It's kind of short, so I'd intended to walk it a few times, but halfway through, I changed my mind and decided to go walk the Rover Loop at Lee Tartt Nature preserve.  

Which is exactly what I did.  Twice. 

Once I'd finished, I drove into town to Grocery Basket to see if they had egg nog.  They did, but it was a store brand, not Southern Comfort.  I stood there a long time debating whether to buy it or run down to Walmart on the chance that they had gotten some more in since yesterday.  In the end, I went ahead and bought it.  

When I got home, I opened it up and tasted it, and it tasted pretty good, so we're OK there. At least I'll have nog for Christmas. 

While we're on the subject of Christmas, I took the plunge and bought this faithful reproduction of the original first edition of Dickens' A Christmas Carol.  I know it's a faithful reproduction because it says so right on the plastic cover -- which for some reason I'm finding myself extremely reluctant to remove. 

It's supposed to have reproductions of the original illustrations and all, but since I can't seem to take the plastic off, I don't actually know if it does or not.  Maybe some day, I'll find the strength to open it up and see for myself. 

The only other thing I did today was to call the Ford place and see what was up with the recall on my car.  She said that the recall had actually expired already, but they'd submitted a request for an extension and they're waiting for the Ford place to approve it so I won't have to pay out of pocket.  I don't know how long that's going to take, but at least they haven't ghosted me like I'd thought.  

I still need to find someone to come out to the house and replace the rotten wood that the guy who'd painted was supposed to do but didn't, but I can only handle one phone call per day, so that hasn't happened yet. 

And finally, today's advent figure is a camel. 

And they set out; and there, ahead of them went the star that they had seen at its rising..  Matthew 2:9 

Do You See What I See?

Do you see this?  

Do you know what that is?  It's my alarms on my phone.  Do you see what they are?  They are all turned off!  For the next two weeks, at least.  You have no idea how good that is unless you also habitually get up at 3:30 AM for work.  Then you do know.  And you know why I'm so stoked about this.  For a little while, I can actually keep normal human being hours!   

So, I got off work at 10:00 this morning, wished all of my coworkers a Merry Christmas and a See you next year, and walked out of the door.  On a whim, I decided to drive through the lake, and made a brief stop at the visitor's center, which was all decorated up for Christmas. 

Then I drove on in to Walmart and picked up the things Cody will need to make our Christmas gumbo.  I was thinking it wouldn't be too crowded -- relatively speaking, of course -- it being a Thursday morning and all, but I thought wrong.  It was a madhouse, but I got everything and eventually made it back out the door.  

I'm going to have to venture back out sometime soon, because they were out of egg nog, but I was thinking about running up to Batesville tomorrow anyway.  Oh, speaking of Batesville, they're breaking ground on a new shopping center that it scheduled to open next October.  It's going to be right there beside Lowe's, so that's convenient, and guess what it's going to have!  Go on, guess!  

A Hobby Lobby!

Finally, I won't have to drive 100 miles to go to a craft store!!  It's also going to have a Wataburger and a Chik-Fil-A, so I won't have to drive 100 miles to go to either of those, either!  Boy, I said either a lot.  No matter... The point is, Hobby Lobby!!

Everybody is talking about it.  Batesville is half the size of my town, but they have such a forward looking vision for their future.   Grenada is stuck in the past, with no meaningful development whatsoever.  Sure they just got the new Milwaukee Tools plant, but that's the first new major business that's opened here since ...well since ADP opened in 1996.  There have been small business opened, but mostly new companies come in and buy out an existing business.  

But there has been no new economic development like there is going on up in Batesville.  No new shopping centers, or entertainment venues, or anything.  Oh wait, they're supposedly building an amphitheater in a pretty seedy part of town, next to a filthy polluted river, but that's Grenada for you...

In a bit of better news, I finally got a second Christmas card, only it's from the Ford place. 

I guess postage costs have gotten everyone down this year.  Usually, I have a whole shelf full by now, but so far, only the two.  The first one was from my brother, by the way. 

And that brings us to today's Advent poster addition:  a wise man

We have come to pay him homage.  Matthew 2:2 

One More Day

 Of work, that is.  Really, it's only a half day, because I had a half day left on the books, and if we don't use our PTO, we lose our PTO.  Then I'll be off until January 2nd.  Whee!

I don't know what was wrong with me last night, but I was so tired, I went to bed at 7:00.  Maybe it was because the storms woke me up the night before, or maybe it was because the cat yowled so piteously outside my bedroom I finally gave in and let her go outside -- where she got caught out in the aforementioned storms. 

Not to worry, though, she has places she can go and find shelter.  It's not like she's sitting out in the yard in the pouring rain.  I'd still rather her be inside, but she's a cat and as most cats do, she has a mind of her own.  So, yowling cat and thunderstorms do not make for a peaceful night's rest. 

After all that, I still had to get up and go to work, and that was interesting.  The fog was so thick, there were times I didn't even know where I was because I couldn't see any landmarks.  No buildings, no houses...nothing.  I was driving down the road saying, "I don't know where I am."  It was strange, surreal, and a bit unsettling...

I figured out where I was when I saw the over pass at the corner of 51 and Riverdale Road, by the Old Corner Store -- for you local folks.  Then I turned down Riverdale Road and spent that bit of the drive dodging branches and limbs and other debris knocked down by the storm, including lots and lots of leaves.  So many leaves, there were times I couldn't see the road.

"I sure hope I'm on the road," I said as I was blindly driving.  And I was, and made it safely to work-- where the day passed largely uneventfully. 

Then I came home and the man came and did the recall on my car, and that was that.  I still need to call and find out what's going on with the other recall.  It's been 6 weeks and I still haven't heard from them about that one. 

The drive to work today was not much better, because it was so humid my windshield kept misting up and I had to keep doing the windshield wipers until the defroster heated up enough to keep the glass clear.  By that time, I was already almost at work, so fat lot of good it did. 

I finally heard from Cody and Brennan.  They are going to Memphis for Christmas Eve, then are going to drive down and spend Christmas Day with me.  Knowing them, they won't get here until about 3:00 in the afternoon, but hey, I take what I can get.  I told Cody I'd get the ingredients for him to make gumbo for Christmas dinner, and he sent me a shopping list.  

Most of what is on that list I already have, but I did discover that I really need to do a better job of keeping up with what is in my cabinet...Yeah...

Not only that, I have parsley, basil, and oregano from my own herb gardens.  I've got a lot of herbs, and I don't even cook that much.  

Since I didn't blog yesterday, today you get to see two new figures have been added to the advent poster:  the kneeling shepherd and the camel. 

Wise men from the east came to Jerusalem asking, "Where is the child who has been born King of the Jews?"  Matthew 2: 1-2

By the way, the Gilmore Girls is back up on Hulu, and I've tried twice, but still haven't been able to finish an episode.  I keep getting interrupted.  Maybe tomorrow afternoon I can make it through it. 

All Done

I am all done with my Christmas shopping!  I ordered my younger brother and sister in law's gifts over the weekend, then went to the post office after work today and mailed their ornament, along with my older brother and sister in law's gifts, so that's it for me. 

I might pick up some stocking stuffer type things for Cody and Brennan, but for the most part, I'm done. 

I've been meaning to tell you, but keep forgetting, that they've finally started playing Christmas music at work.  Guess what they're playing? 

All the great classics... Bing Crosby's White Christmas, Burl Ives' Holly Jolly Christmas, Nat King Cole's The Christmas Song...even Gene Autry's Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer...and what do they choose to play?

I'll give you a hint:  It starts with an M and ends with ariah Carey.  Yep, you guessed it.  I don't even need to tell you what it is, do I?  All the classics, and that's what they go with.  Well, I guess we can be grateful it's not Christmas Shoes. 

They've also put up a Christmas Tree by the employee entrance, and this morning, I finally got there early enough to stop and take a photo before my shift started. 

In other news, I called the Ford place to try to figure out what had happened Friday when the guy didn't show up.  The rep told me they'd tried to call me around 11:00 that morning to reschedule, but that I hadn't answered the phone.  

"Huh,"  I said.  "There aren't any missed calls showing on my phone, and I was home all day, so I don't know what happened there."  I can only guess that she dialed the wrong number or something.  Anyway, they have me rescheduled for tomorrow after 3:30, so hopefully that will work out and we can get that bit behind us. 

In knitting news, I caked up the next skein of yarn, but haven't cast on yet.  

I'll do that here in a minute, but first, I need to show you today's advent figure:  the other angel. 

Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on Earth peace.  Luke 2:14
 

Dreary Day

Today has been yet another dreary, dismal, downright depressing day in which it has rained all day long.  I didn't even bother with a fire this morning, even though it was chilly and damp enough that a fire would have been nice.  I just didn't feel like fooling with it.  

The cat has been going absolutely stir crazy -- staring longingly out the windows for most of the day -- and I'm almost about to join her.  

Going stir crazy, I mean.  Not staring longingly out the windows.  

At least I had Christmas movies to watch and knitting to do. Yes, I finally finished my Foliage hat, and you will all be pleased to know that the repaired needle held up just fine. 

The next one I cast on will be with this yarn from Sweet Georgia Yarns. 

This yarn came from my dear friend Suzie's stash, and it's made by a company out of Canada.  The colorway is Coal Harbour, and yes, it's spelled the Canadian way on the tag. I'm not sure why it's called that, but there it is. 

But before I go cake it up, here is today's advent poster addition:  The Gloria Angel.  

Do not be afraid; for see -- I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord.  Luke 2:10-11

Navy Sings Second!

It's been a quiet day here at the Fine Martial household, with the highlight being Navy's thorough thrashing of Army in America's Game.   The final score was 31-13, and it would have been higher if a Navy touchdown hadn't been called back due to a holding penalty.   I thoroughly enjoyed watching that. 

The game, I mean.  Not the holding penalty.  

BTW, this photo got snapped during a montage of past games, so though that's one of my favorite helmets, it isn't this year's.

Other than that, not much has been going on, unless you want to hear about the mysterious packages that have begun arriving, which is not unusual for this time of year.  Most of them are easily identifiable as Christmas gifts, but there was this one...an envelope that somehow didn't seem to fit in with the rest of them.  

On a whim, I decided to go ahead and open it, and it's a good thing I did because it was my new circular needles.

That would have been funny if I'd wrapped it and put it under the tree, like I almost did to my vitamins one year.  

Shortly after noon-ish, it started raining, and hasn't stopped since.  It would seem the cat has the right idea -- napping in my lap. 

I think this is good napping weather for me, too, so that's what I'm going to do, just as soon as I show you the latest addition to my Advent poster:  the shepherd boy. 

And the glory of the Lord shown around them; and they were terrified.  Luke 2:9 

Aggravated

I didn't blog yesterday, as you've probably figured out by now.  It's been a long, tiring week at work and I just didn't feel like it.  I just watched some TV and went to bed early.  Oh, and I did my advent poster, but didn't even take a photo of it.  

By the way, Andre has a new cooking video up, but I'm not going to embed all of them here.  If you're interested in that sort of thing, you know how to find them by now.  

One thing I did do was go on into town and get my shopping done, and while I was at the store, I finally got around to getting a padded envelope to send my younger brother's ornament to him.  I'd bought a box to send my older brother's ornament, along with his and my sister-in-law's gifts, but alas, the one I got was too small.  Fortunately, one of the gifts I'd ordered for Cody arrived yesterday, and the box it came in was the perfect size.  

Now they are all wrapped up and ready to be mailed, which will have to wait until Monday, as it happens. 

I'd planned on taking them into town after the Ford place came and did the software update on my car--for that recall I'd told you about that you probably don't remember -- only they never showed up.  I'd even called and confirmed the appointment was for today, and that I was scheduled to get the mobile service where they come to your house, because I'd been getting e-mails saying I was scheduled to bring the car in to them.  

"I don't know why it's saying that," said the customer service rep who'd scheduled the appointment in the first place, "because we do have you scheduled for the mobile service."   I thanked her for confirming, explaining that I didn't want to miss my appointment if I really was supposed to bring my car in.  Turns out, they were the ones who missed the appointment.  They were supposed to come at 9:00 AM, but 9:00 AM came and went, then 10:00 AM....12:00 PM, then 1:00, 2:00...I sat around and waited all day long, and nobody ever came.  

Once it was clear they were going to be a no-show, I sent off a very Karen-ish message to the service department rep, then settled in and watched a few more Christmas shows -- which is what I'd been doing while waiting for them to come.  I tried to watch Frosty and Frosty's Winter Wonderland, but I was still so aggravated about being blown off by the Ford people that I didn't really pay attention.  Not that it matters much.  I've seen them enough times I could probably just watch the entire shows in my head. 

But, that new movie Red One is up on Prime, and it was pretty good.  I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would.  Not for small children, though.  There's nothing really bad in it.  It's just intense in spots.

The silver lining is that while I was doing all of that waiting, instead of going to the post office then up to Batesville like I had planned, I got quite a bit of knitting done on the latest hat.   

I'd say the only constructive thing I got done is to get my mini-chainsaw out and cut some of the fallen branches I've been collecting all year into fireplace lengths to use for kindling.  Other than that, I just piddled all day.  

So, as I said, I didn't take a photo of yesterday's advent addition, so there are two for you today:  the ram and the angel.  

 Then an angel of the Lord stood before them.  Luke 2:9

My Reputation Precedes Me

It would seem my reputation is preceding me.   

A couple of days ago, a coworker messaged me a photo of a knit hat she'd bought, and the pom pom had come off. 

"Can you fix it?"  she asked.

I told her to bring it by my stand and I'd look at it and see.  Basically, what I needed to know is if there was enough of the string left to thread it back through the hat and tie it off.   If you're a knitter, you know exactly what I'm talking about. 

When she brought the hat over and I was able to see what I'd be dealing with, I could tell it would be an easy fix for someone who has attached as many pom poms as I have.   

I brought the hat home, and after just a couple of minutes with a crochet hook, the pom pom was firmly re-attached.  When I took the hat back to her, she said, "You were the first person I thought of!"  Well...all right then.  I guess I'm getting quite the reputation. 

There was something else I was going to tell you about, but right now I can't remember what it was....Oh, well.

Heh, one of my other coworkers asked me if I ever grew tomatoes.  I said no.  "I'd tried once, but they didn't do so well....I think it was because my dog kept peeing on them."  I have thought about trying tomatoes again, now that I no longer have a dog to pee on them.  We'll see. 

So, today was a bit of a rough day at work, and let's just say I had to do a lot of repenting when I got home.  I won't go into all the gory details, but I got so frustrated when I was setting up on an order and discovered that in one set of adapter tubes, nearly half of them were smashed flat.  Nearly HALF.  

I couldn't use those, and she had to have known they were bad, so why did she toss them into the bin and send them on down the line?  In a word -- laziness.  They're all just so lazy over in tubing.  Ain't but one person in that entire department that's worth a flip.  

I showed the smashed tubes to Substitute Supervisor -- Uncle Supervisor wasn't there today-- and he just shrugged and walked off, which is exactly why we can't get anything done out there!  If we can't even get the support from management that we need to do our jobs, then it's no wonder we can't meet our production quotas.  

This isn't just an every so often thing either.  It's every single day.  Like Monday, I had an order that called for 8 different adapter tubes, and two of the 8 were bent wrong.  The whole order.  And I mean wayyyy wrong, and it was the same operator that messed up the ones today.  But nobody, and I mean nobody, will go to that operator and tell her, "Hey, you're messing too much stuff up.  You need to start checking your parts!"  

Why they don't make them do a first piece inspection just blows my mind.  But they don't.  They say they're not required to check their parts -- or count them either.  It should be a job requirement, not an "if you want to" thing.  

That place is starved for leadership, I'm telling you.  For example, the leader who is making us work 60 hour weeks and come in over Christmas, but refuses to open up a full second shift...

Starved for leadership...

After all that, the day finally ended and I came home and saw that Andre had made biscuits and gravy!  He did a great job, even if he did forget to flour his hands before working the dough...

And finally, today's advent addition is the shepherd. 

 In that region, there were shepherds living in the fields. Luke 2;8

I Have To Share

Y'all, I have to share this with you!  

About six or so months ago, I started watching a YouTube channel called European Reacts.  He's a guy named Andre from Portugal, and he reacts mostly to videos about life in the U.S. such as Lost In The Pond videos -- which is also one of my favorite channels, oh by the way.  A while back, he reacted to a video by Peter Santinello which was filmed right here in good old Grenada, Mississippi.  

I keep saying I'm going to do a rebuttal of the aforementioned video, because I don't feel it portrays the town accurately at all.  It's like he deliberately filmed and edited the piece in order to reinforce the stereotypes about the South -- that we're all poor, uneducated, and of course, racist.  But that's another post for another day.  Today is all about Andre.  

Well, here lately Andre has been watching a lot of Kent Rollins cooking videos and saying he wants to try to make some American dishes.  After much encouragement from his viewers, he finally started his cooking series.  First up, deviled eggs.  

What's really cool about this is that he said he doesn't even know how to cook, so he's figuring that out at the same time, and I think he's doing a great job.  After his successful attempt at making deviled eggs, today he made from scratch macaroni and cheese. 

And now, I'm hungry, so I'll just leave you with today's advent figure -- another lamb. 

He will feed his flock like a shepherd: he will gather the lambs in his arms, and carry them in his bosom, and gently lead the mother sheep.  Isaiah 40:11

Glad I Checked

After a weekend of bitter cold -- well, for Mississippi, that is-- it warmed up right nicely today.  It almost got up to 70°.  I'd thought when I got home from work that I'd get out and pull up my dead pepper plants, but then I said to myself, "Self, you might ought to check," so I whipped out my phone and looked them up. I'd been thinking all along that they were annuals, but it's a good thing I checked first.  Turns out pepper plants are perennials.  

Instead of pulling them up, I trimmed all of the dead bits off, and we'll just wait and see if they come back in the spring.  If they do, I might see if Cody wants to take the tabasco and jalapeno plants to put into his yard.  I'm not really that fond of either, and had been growing them for him anyway.  We'll have to see. 

In other news, remember those YesFit races I used to do all the time?  I've pretty much stopped, but every so often, I'll pick one up and do it.  Well, I just finished another one and my medal arrived today. 

Isn't it cute?  And the ribbon says Up To Snow Good.  Mostly, I pick races on how well I like the medal.  They're supposed to encourage me to walk more, but so far they haven't.  I mean, I typically walk between 2-3 miles just in the course of a normal work day, so I count it. 

Speaking of work, they posted Friday that they are indeed making people come and work between Christmas and New Year, unless you have vacation.  Even if you do have vacation, you can volunteer to work, and they'll pay you for your hours worked, plus your vacation time.  I told Uncle Supervisor I was thinking about coming in, but I probably won't, but I'm thinking about it.  But I probably won't.  ]

He just laughed and walked off shaking his head. 

Now, before I head off to bed, today's advent addition is the cow. 

 The cow and the bear shall graze, their young shall lay down together.  Isaiah 11:7

OK, good night.  

State Champions!

Congratulations to the Grenada Chargers for winning the 6 A state championship yesterday!  They've come a long way since Cody was a student there and they were winning one game per year.  

Also, the local private school, the Kirk Academy Raiders won state in ... whatever division they play in, so we're double champions here. 

In other, more mundane news, the light bulb in my living room lamp burned out, so I replaced it. No big deal, right? 

Wrong. 

I’d had a 40 watt bulb in that lamp— because I had one laying around for some reason and wanted to get some use out of it. Once it has burned out, I replaced it with a 60 watt, and now my living room feels unnaturally bright.   I keep thinking my overhead light is on, but it’s not.

It just feels weird.  But it does help me see my knitting better, which brings you to my hat update.  I'm sure you will all be pleased to know that the repaired needle is holding up just fine, which is good, because it's been raining all day and I've been able to make good progress while watching a whole bunch of Christmas shows -- including two versions of A Christmas Carol.    

Oh, while we're on the subject of Christmas, my sister sent me this photo of the ornament I'd sent to her. 

Now I just need to get the other two mailed off to my brothers and we'll all have one.  

And today's advent figure is the lamb. 

The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid.  Isaiah 11:6

1941

Advent will be posted below the remembrance. 

December 7, 1941

Tell it to your children, 

and let your children tell it to their children, 

and their children to the next generation.  --Joel 1:3

So that we may never forget.  

Today's advent figure is Mary, the mother of Jesus.

The angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.  And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus.  Luke 1:30-31

ACK!!!

There I was, just a knitting away, when all of the sudden, the cable pulled out of my needle tip.  ACK!  

Not only that, as it did so, it dropped several stitches.  Double ack!  

Not to worry.  The first thing I did was to jump onto the Knit Picks website and order two more needles of that size, since for some reason I only had one.  Then I transferred the hat to my DPNs, tinked a few rounds to correct the dropped stitches, and I was off again. 

I was going to keep on knitting with my DPNs until my new needles got here, but there it was...deep in the recesses of my junk drawer, I found a brand new bottle of Gorilla Superglue.  After a few moments drying time, I think the join is stronger now than it was before.  The hat is now back on the circular needle and I'm back in the knitting saddle again. 

I'm still a bit nervous about using it, though.  The needle, I mean.  Hopefully, it won't come apart again.  

Speaking of, a couple of days ago I'd put in my vacation request to go the the Oxford Fiber Arts Festival in January.  I'd gone a few years ago and had a great time, and intended to go back, but they don't advertise it very well.  I wouldn't know when it was until they started posting photos on their Facebook page as it was happening.  Then, last year it was cancelled due to the ice storm, so needless to say, I didn't get to to go that one, either.  I'm determined to go this coming January, and wanted to get my day in early.  

When I got to work yesterday and checked on it, I saw that Uncle Supervisor had refused my request.  That left me a bit confused, since he's always approved every request I've ever put in.  

So, as soon as Uncle Supervisor got there yesterday, I flagged him down and asked why he'd refused my vacation request.  He told me that he'd tried to approve it, but the system wouldn't allow him to.  I'd have to put it in again after the first of the year, and he'd approve it then.  I guess that new system they went to back in March...or May, I don't remember.  It was one of those M months.  But apparently the new system won't allow us to start putting requests in in December like the old system does.  

Every day, in every way, they're working to make our jobs more unbearable.  

In other news,  the cold was not kind to my pepper plants, 

or my basil.  

They'd actually died back after that first freeze we had earlier this week.  I thought since I had some time, and was mostly caught up with what I needed to do today, I'd get out and pull them up, but alas, the bricks I'd put into the beds to protect them from whatever was digging were frozen to the dirt.  Instead of trying to pry them up, I decided to wait until it warmed up a bit. There isn't any rush...I can't plant anything until spring anyway.  

And what, you may ask, was it that I needed to do today?  Why, finish addressing my Christmas cards, of course!  I got the last batch finished up and ready to put into the mail.  If you don't get one here in the next week or so, it's because I don't have your address.  If you want to be added to my list, just let me know.  

In the midst of all of that other stuff, and catching up on a bunch of DVRed shows, I pulled the garland off of my mantle and took out the lights.   Then I fluffed said garland and put it back up. 

I don't know if it's my astigmatism or what, but when I put white lights on things, they wash the color out of all the ornaments around them.  Even on the Christmas tree, when I switch to white, it's like the whole thing turns into black and white.  So, I took the lights off of the garland, but I need to find a way to get more light into that corner.  

Or not, because I eventually want to get all of that taken out and re-done.  The brick, the mantle, and whatever that weird mirror thing on the wall is.  But that'll come later.  

And finally, today's advent figure is Joseph, Mary's husband and Jesus' earthly father.  

Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the City Of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. Luke 2:4 

Better Part

Well, I took the better part of valor and did my shopping today instead of waiting until tomorrow.  It's supposed to be so cold I doubt I'll even want to leave the house.  

That's pretty funny for someone who once thought she wanted to live in Alaska.  Too many Jack London novels...

The plan while not leaving the house is to get the last of my Christmas cards addressed and into the mail, and keep the fire going.  Turns out hauling firewood up to the house it pretty good exercise.  I'll probably watch a few Christmas movies and maybe do some more Christmas shopping.  Oh, and watch football, of course. 

So anyway, I went ahead and went into town, paid the bill I needed to pay, then went on to the store and got the rest of the stuff that was on my shopping list, including a new bag of birdseed.  I can't buy birdseed and deer corn in the same trip any more.  Seventy pounds of feed makes the buggy just too doggone heavy to push around the store. 

I hadn't planned on getting...this.  

I thought it was cute, but I don't really need it.  I had even put it back onto the shelf, then I went back and got it, saying, "I don't care.  I'm buying it!" as I put it into my buggy.  I don't know what I'm going to do with it.  I was thinking Jell-O jigglers or something.  Maybe even giant ice cubes...or trees....whatever.  

Today's advent figure is the donkey -- an ordinary means of transportation. 

 In those days, a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered.  All went to their towns to be registered.  Luke 2:13

And finally, they've lowered the predicted temperature to 23°, and I've got to try to get this cat of mine back into the house so she doesn't freeze her little patooty off. 

Wish me luck. 

Hadn’t Planned

I hadn't planned on going into town today, but when Group Leader Shark came around and said, "Y'all wear something Christmassy tomorrow!"  I kinda didn't have a choice.  

OK, I had a choice, but I wanted to wear something Chritmassy tomorrow, so I chose to go to the store, since all my Christmas t-shirts have gotten a bit bedraggled over the years.  

Anyway, I got there and browsed through the women's section, but didn't find anything I liked, so I went over to the men's and found this:  

Perfect!

While I was there, I picked up a new bag of corn for the deer and a few other items, but I'm saving the bulk of my shopping until Friday, because I have to go into town one more time to pay a bill.   That's the last bill I still pay by a check, but only because I'm too stubborn to pay the processing fee.  

On second thought, I might ought to do that tomorrow because it's supposed to be bitterly cold Friday morning.  They're saying we could get down to 24°, and I know for those of you up north, that's just another Friday, but remember, most of us down here don't even own coats.  I don't.  Own a coat, I mean. 

I have a few jackets and some hoodies, but that's it, unless you count the insulated coveralls I got when my uncle died.  I suppose I could wear those to Walmart.  I've seen worse...

And finally, this morning's advent figure is the star, 

The verse accompanying today's entry is:   A star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel.  Numbers 24:17

But what really caught my attention was the subheading in the booklet, which said "an unusually bright star which appeared in the sky."  It got me thinking, and when you work in a no-brainer job like mine, you tend to have a lot of time to think.  But that's beside the point. 

It got me thinking.  That the star was unusually big or unusually bright is a commonly held cultural belief, but was it really?  You'd think an astronomical phenomenon like that, like an unusually big and bright star suddenly appearing, would command quite a bit of attention, yet none of the secular historians of the day mention it.  Luke doesn't even mention it in his gospel. 

He talks about an angel, and the heavenly host, but no star.  As detailed as Luke liked to be about things, you'd think he'd mention a big, bright star.  

Then there is King Herod.  Given the level of paranoia he suffered, to the point of having his own sons killed because he was afraid they'd try to take the throne, he'd be all over something like a giant star as an omen, or whatever, and would raise quite the ruckus.  

Yet, he didn't.  According to the Bible, Herod didn't raise a ruckus until the Magi arrived in Jerusalem claiming to have seen the new King's star.  (Matthew 2:3 -- When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.)  

So, what was the star of Bethlehem?  People have been trying to figure that out for the last two millennia, and there have been multiple theories.  The most commonly held beliefs are that it was a planetary conjunction or a comet.  We know that it couldn't have possibly been either of those, because the Maji had been following the star for two-ish years.  (Matthew 2:16 --   When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi.)

I've seen both planetary conjunctions and comets, and they don't hang around that long.  A conjunction usually only lasts a few days -- with peak conjunction coming in a single night when it usually too cloudy to see it.  Or is that just me?  And a comet is only visible for a few weeks.  So, that rules out both of those. 

Some folks want to say the star was a supernova, which I suppose is possible, but highly unlikely.  For one thing, they don't really move.  I mean, they expand and all, but they generally stay in the same place in the sky.  Matthew 2:9 says, After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was.   A supernova is a pretty amazing thing, but somehow I doubt it can lead men around like that.  

Which brings us back to the original question, what was the star of Bethlehem?  The answer I'm about to give you is my own personal thoughts and feelings.  I have no Biblical or theological evidence to support what I'm about to say, but it is what I firmly believe.  

I believe the star of Bethlehem was a miraculous phenomenon sent by God specifically to the Magi with the express purpose of leading them to the Christ child, and as such, only they could see it.  Furthermore, I believe that once it had shown them where Jesus was, it vanished, never to be seen again.  Say what you want.  That's what I believe.  

Which brings us to the next question:  why?

Why would God send a star to a bunch of Persian Zoroastrians to lead them to his only son?  By the way, we believe that they were from Persia because of the term Magi.  The conundrum there is in the translation of the word from the original text.  It's the commonly held that this is what Matthew meant when he was writing his gospel, but the oldest versions I can find simply say they were men who studied the stars.  Astronomer, if you will.  But, the standard belief is that they were Zoroastrians from Persia, because it is known that they studied the stars, so we'll roll with that.  That detail isn't really that important anyway. 

The point is, they weren't Jews.  The weren't men the Jews would consider faithful to God, so why did God even send for them?  

Folks, God sent for the Magi for us.  For you and me.  So that we would know that Jesus didn't come just for the pious.  He didn't just come for the righteous.  He didn't just come for the faithful.    He came for the unfaithful.  He came for everyone.  He came for us. 

So come, all you unfaithful.  Come. 

Christ was born for you. 

P.S.  No you are not going crazy.  This was last year's post, which I felt deserved a rerun.