At that time the Roman emperor, Augustus, decreed that a census should be taken throughout the Roman Empire. (This was the first census taken when Quirinius was governor of Syria.) All returned to their own ancestral towns to register for this census.
And because Joseph was a descendant of King David, he had to go to Bethlehem in Judea, David’s ancient home. He traveled there from the village of Nazareth in Galilee. He took with him Mary, to whom he was engaged, who was now expecting a child.
And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born. She gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them.
That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.”
Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying, “Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.”
When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
They hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the manger.
After seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child. All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished, but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often.
The shepherds went back to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. It was just as the angel had told them.
For a child has been born for us, a son given to us, authority rests upon his shoulders, and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Might God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6
and Cody and Brennan are on their way. I got up this morning and made those snickerdoodles after all, figuring that if I didn't make the kids do it, they'd have more time to do their gingerbread houses if they wanted to.
As for me, I have no idea what day it is. Seriously, I checked the mail twice today before I remembered it's Sunday. Oh well, the only day I'll need to remember is January 2, because that's when I have to go back to work.
This is going to be a bit short, because I want to get this published before the kids get here, but I'm about to upend everything we've ever thought about Christmas. Why? Because today's advent poster addition is the manger.
And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. Luke 2:7
Now, in this day and age, most of us have come to accept that Jesus wasn't born in a little wooden shed, like the ones we always put up every year in our nativity sets. The reason we've always imagined the shed-like structure is because when Christianity began spreading into Western Europe -- England, France, and the like -- and the people there first heard about Jesus' birth, they pictured in their minds what they knew. They imagined the wooden feed box and stable structure they were familiar with, and that's how it became part of popular culture.
Back in the late 70s to early 80s, we began to accept that the stable was more likely to be a cave, because that's what they were most likely to use as a stable in first century Judea. But what if I told you Jesus wasn't born in a cave, either?
It says in the Bible, "While they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered" (Luke 2: 6), but it doesn't say how long they had been there. It's highly unlikely they would have just gotten there, because, it's only 70 miles from Nazareth to Bethlehem, and even if they only made five miles per day, it would have been a two week journey.
I think if Mary had been that close to delivering, she wouldn't have gone. The image of Joseph rushing around desperately looking for a room in an inn while Mary is already in labor then delivering the baby himself makes for good theater, but it isn't realistic.
It's more likely that they would have stayed in the home of some of Joseph's relatives, which probably would have been crowded with other kin-folks coming for the census. The word translated to "inn" was more likely the word for guest room. The Complete Jewish Bible translation on my Bible app translates it as living quarters.
From everything I've read and researched, the ground floor of the house was where the animals were kept, and the family slept on the upper floor.
And so, because the family rooms were crowded with relatives, some of them would have had to stay on the ground floor where the animals were kept. And that, friends, is probably where Jesus was born. And where Mary laid him in a manger.
Now I've got to finish up, as the kids will be almost here.
We got some much needed rain today. In fact, it rained most of the day, which made for a great day of Christmas show watching. I watched Veggie Tales The Toy That Saved Christmas, and The Star Of Christmas. Then I watched Adventures In Odyssey Electric Christmas. Yes, they're cartoons. Yes, I still watch them.
After that, I watched a little known film called Seasons Of The Heart -- the one put out by Feature Films For Families, not the TV movie with Carol Burnett. It's not available anywhere any more, unless you find it on Ebay or a used book seller. Or you could subscribe to Feature Films For Families online and stream it. If you have kids, or are just fed up with the garbage Hollywood puts out these days, that might be an option, because they put out some really good movies back in the day. But anyway...
Back when it first came out, the church library got the movie, and I checked it out so many times, one day I told the librarian, "I might as well just buy this because I keep checking it out so much!" And that's exactly what I did.
Anyway, it's a story about Jed and Martha Richards, who moved to Oregon Territory back in the 1800s. Along the way their two little daughters caught cholera and died. Then one day, the local circuit riding preacher brought them an orphaned boy and asked them if they could take him in. They did, but Martha just couldn't warm up to him. Then something happened....
That's all I'm going to tell you. Other than there are a few copies on Ebay...I just checked.
I took a quick break from movie watching to bake up the gumdrop cookies that I'd said I wasn't going to make, but knew I would in the end.
Then I watched the old classic A Christmas Carol, the one with Alistair Sim.
After which I got the sausage balls mixed rolled up, all ready to be baked tomorrow.
Now for a bit of good news. I finally heard from Cody. They're coming up here in the morning and are going to spend the night. Then they'll go up to Memphis and spend Christmas Day with Brennan's family. It's going to be a whirlwind trip, because they both have to go back to work Tuesday. Once I get this published, I'm going to mix up the snickerdoodle dough, and let them make those tomorrow when they get here. I'm also going to make a cream cheese ball, and Cody has requested the cream cheese pie I make. I have everything but the crust, so I'm just going to put the filling in a bowl and serve it as a custard.
I also bought gingerbread house kits for them to do if they have time. They may want to take those home and do them at their leisure. We'll just have to see how the day goes.
We are about to get finished with our Nativity poster, and the third Wise Man is the figure I added today.
Then opening their treasure chests, thy offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Matthew 2:11
I said I wasn't going to do it, but already I feel my resolve weakening.
I said I wasn't going to make more than two kinds of cookies and one kind of candy, but now that I've started, I'm thinking, "Maybe I'll just make some peanut butter fudge, too." And some gumdrop cookies...and some snowballs....
I got the chocolate chip cookies done this afternoon. I was good, I only ate 5, but they were sub-standard and had to be culled anyway.
Then I took an artsy fartsy photo on my phone. I had been scrolling through old posts, and saw all the fancy photos I used to take back when I had a DSLR. I really miss that camera, but just can't seem to justify the expense of buying a new one. Back when I got that one, I was so deep in debt, I figured $500 more wouldn't matter. Now that I'm out of debt, I'm finding it hard to spend that much money on a frivolity. But I digress...
I also got the chocolate fudge made -- though it still needs to be cut up, which I will do tomorrow. I said I wasn't going to make any more candy...but I did buy that extra block of cream cheese. I could make mints. And I need to perfect the peanut butter fudge, which I can never get quite right, and I do have the stuff to make Turkish Delight...and there are those gumdrops I vacuum sealed and put into the deep freeze last year...
Tomorrow, I'm going to do the snickerdoodles, and we'll just see what happens after that.
In other news, I had me a little visitor this morning.
I'd stepped outside to do...I can't remember what, and heard her meowing. She was up on the windowsill of the house next door. As soon as she saw me, she came running, and followed me home. I gave her some lunch, then about 1/2 hour later, I heard a truck pull into the drive. I ran outside and called, "Excuse me! Did you lose a kitten?"
He came over and got her, telling me she'd dashed out the door this morning, and thanked me profusely. She's a sweet little thing, and I'm glad she's back home with her daddy. So is my cat, who I had to chase away from the kitten more than once.
Now for an abrupt change of subject. My friend Marcy has been trying to make a sourdough starter. She mentioned over on her blog that it's not doing right, and she thinks it might be too cold to get it started properly.
Naturally, me with my goofy brain had to blurt out that I was having the same trouble with my tumbling composter. It's composting, but going a lot slower than I expected, and I think it's because it's been cold lately. I think it will go faster in the summer when it's hot.
Only I could somehow connect sourdough starter with compost...but anyway, in the course of the conversation, she said that she had several big piles of compost, so I mentioned that I also had a big compost pile in an old dog kennel that the previous owners had built.
Ever since I moved in, I've been tossing leaves, weeds, grass clippings, and all sorts of stuff into it. Even those roses I cut down last summer got thrown into the same pile. It looks like this on top,
but underneath it has turned into nice, rich soil.
I really need to get out there and dig some of that good soil out and use it. I guess I could fill in some of the low spots in my yard with it for now. Maybe someday, I'll plant a small garden, but I'm not really a gardener. Maybe I would be if I didn't have to work, or at least had a sit down job in an air conditioned space, but after 8-10 hours on my feet at my 99' work station, I just don't feel like getting outside and working in the yard.
I guess that's about it for today, so let me just show you the advent addition, which is the third camel.
So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. Luke 2:16
In the interest of full disclosure, this isn't actually my favorite rendition of this song, but it was my Dad's favorite Christmas song, and he loved both of these singers, so this is a hat tip to him.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I think I'll go get those gumdrops out of the freezer...just in case.
I did a thing yesterday. I did a thing the day before yesterday. After two days in a row of thing doing, I decided today was a day to do no things. Thus, no thing doing was done today.
Well, except for this thing:
Yep, I finally finished that Irish Hiking Scarf variation that I've been working on for right at two years now. For reals. I looked back through the blog and found I'd cast it on December 19, 2021. Funny thing, that....
But it's done now, and I won a serious game of yarn chicken at that.
Then I put that scrap of yarn on my cat's head, only when I tried to take it off, she hissed at me, so she spent a good deal of time walking around the back yard with a piece of yarn on her head.
I got the scarf and matching hat
washed and dried, then I wrapped them up for Brennan's birthday -- which was the 12th, but I already told Cody her gift would be late. At this point, I might as well save it for when they come get their Christmas gifts. I'm still not sure exactly when that will be. Cody will probably let me know when they're about 10 minutes from getting here. He does that, you know.
While all that knitting was going on, I watched A Christmas Story Christmas -- the one about Ralphie all grown up. I found it lacked the charm and originality of the first one, but it was still a good movie, and well worth watching. Then I watched Elf. That's one of those movies everyone seems to love, but I think it's kind of meh. I'll watch it every few years, but it's not one of my must-watch movies.
Here's a fun thing. I found on Tubi (free streaming app) an old 1910 silent movie version of A Christmas Carol. Yes, you read that right. 1910. All I could think about was how my dad would have loved to see it. That was his favorite Christmas story -- besides the real Christmas story, I mean -- and made it his mission to collect every movie version ever made. In this modern age, when so many versions have been re-discovered and made available via streaming, he'd have been in hog heaven.
Now I'm watching the George C. Scott version of A Christmas Carol, also on Tubi, which has ads, but is better than dealing with my temperamental DVD player. Oh, it plays the discs just fine, but the drawer doesn't want to slide in and out, so you have to fiddle with it a bit. It's annoying, and I probably ought to replace it, but I don't really watch DVDs enough justify spending the money on a new one. Really, old Christmas shows are about all I use it for as it is.
Speaking of Christmas, I got two cards in the mail today!
They made my day! Really, I was starting to feel a bit like Charlie Brown, constantly checking the mail for cards that never came. I do so enjoy sending cards, and I like getting them, too. That's something I wish would make a comeback, but with the price of stamps spiraling out of control, a lot of people can't really afford it any more. Someone in one of my FB groups suggested making Christmas stamps half price, which would encourage people to send more cards, but I don't think that would work, because people would really stock up and use the stamps all year round. Maybe they could sell pre-paid Christmas cards at the post office, with postage included. That might work. But the government would never go for it. They're going to wring every penny out of us that they can.
OK, now for the moment you've all been waiting for. Today's advent update is a wise man.
And the scripture is: When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. Matthew 2:10
But wait, there's more! Since today is the winter solstice, also known in some areas as Midwinter, here is a bonus song for you.
That's it for today. I'm off to watch Scrooge get saved.
Yep, you read that right. I used to -- years and years ago -- have a bot called Networked Blogs that would automatically publish my blog links to Facebook and Twitter. They shut down ages ago, but for some reason, those links have suddenly been showing up in my Facebook memories. I can't follow the links to the posts, which is a bit of a bummer, but seeing them just reminds me how convenient that bot was, rather than having to manually share blog links to every other site I'm on.
For a while, I was sharing to Instagram, too, but they don't let you share links, per se. I'd have to take a screenshot, publish that, then beg people to go find the link in my bio. I wasn't getting a whole lot of traffic from there anyway, so I stopped doing it. Every so often, I'll post something about having a blog. Maybe if I posted more knitting photos over there, people would be more interested. I don't know.
By the way, my post complaining about the USPS got over 100 hits, but usually I only run about 30-40. I'm thankful for everyone who reads, but I can't really imagine the mundane details of my day to day life would be all that interesting.
You know what else I'm thankful for? I was going to mention this in my Thanksvember series, but I think I forgot. Or I just had a hard time narrowing down what I'm thankful for, because there is so much. OK, OK, I'll get to the point.
I'm thankful for Dwight David Eisenhower, and think he's probably one of the most underappreciated presidents we've ever had. This became abundantly clear to me when I drove from Grenada, Mississippi to Sedalia, Missouri -- all 460 miles -- on state highways and back roads.
But what does that have to do with Eisenhower? Because unlike most presidents, Eisenhower signed a bill authorizing a system that most Americans use nearly every day, and is actually a benefit instead of a burden -- which most government programs are --and I know about halfway through Arkansas, I was thinking I'd never take it for granted again.
In case you haven't figured out what I'm talking about....the interstate! I'd mentioned it back when I first got back from Missouri, but there is one thing about the interstate that I neglected to mention in that post. And that one thing is...rest stops! I'd never realized how much I'd come to appreciate having a good rest stop until I took a trip that didn't have any. For a single woman traveling alone, having a safe place to stop and wee is a Godsend.
OK, now that that bit of nonsensical rambling is out of the way, I have to tell you the bad news.
We have a locally owned grocery store here in town called Spain's. I absolutely hate that store with a pink and purple passion, because it's small, cluttered, and always always always crowded. Frankly, I don't understand why people even go there. It's got the same stuff as Walmart -- just more expensive.
For some reason our HR department out at the plant is obsessed with giving us gift cards to Spain's every single year. And I hate that store so much, I still haven't even spent last year's card. But I needed a few more things for Christmas, so I was determined to go and spend my Spain's cards. Bound and determined.
It didn't happen. I got there and the place was so crowded, I couldn't even get in. I had to turn sideways and sidle between bodies just to get into the store. And the aisles are so narrow that if someone else is in front of you, you can't pass him. You have to stand there and wait until that person has gotten whatever he wants and moves on. I managed to fight and claw my way halfway through the store, and hadn't even seen any Christmas candy, so I said "Forget this! It's not even worth it."
So I sidled and squeezed my way back outside without even buying anything. Really, I want to throw those gift cards in the garbage, but can't bring myself to toss out money like that. Even though it wasn't my money. Next year, I don't think I'll even go pick up the stupid card. Yes, I hate that store that much.
Once back in the fresh air, I got into my car and drove to the other locally owned grocery store, Grocery Basket. It wasn't nearly as crowded, and as I walked in and was looking around, a young man who worked there noticed and asked me if I was looking for something.
"Christmas candy," I said, and he directed me to where it was. Alas, it was only a tiny little selection on an end cap -- and nothing that Walmart didn't have to boot. And Walmart was where I went next...after a quick stop at CVS pharmacy to see if they had any Christmas candy. They did, but again, only a very small selection, and not Hershey's cherry cordial kisses or Pearson's mint patties, which is what I was really wanting.
It was at this point I decided I didn't really need that particular candy anyway. I've got plenty of other candy -- that I don't really need either.
Walmart was also a madhouse, but at least there I know where everything is and could make my way through the store fairly quickly. I made my purchases, then stopped at Dollar General and bought some Palmer's mint patties -- not quite as good as Pearson's or York, but a whole lot cheaper. Then I came home and declared that if there is something I don't have, we'll just live without it this year.
When I got home, I discovered that one of my cans of crescent rolls had busted in the car, so I tossed the ones that were sticking out of the can, cooked the rest, and that was my lunch -- after which I settled in for some Christmas movies and knitting.
Honestly, I'm having a bit of trouble getting into the Christmas spirit. Wait...let me rephrase that. I'm having a bit of trouble getting into the Christmas baking spirit. I've already decided I'm not going to fix nearly as much sweet stuff as I did last year. I'm going to make chocolate chip cookies and snickerdoodles, and chocolate fudge and that's it. I even cheated and bought a frozen monkey bread. I was going to buy frozen sausage balls, too, but them suckers were expensive. I saw the price and decided to stick with home made.
I don't know what Cody and Brennan are going to be doing, and to tell the truth, they probably don't either. It will depend on Brennan's work schedule, and I figure they'll go to her parent's house for Christmas anyway. You know what they say, a son is a son until he takes a wife... I'll just do my usual Christmas thing, and if they show up, fine. If they don't, that'll be fine too.
Even if they do come, they don't take enough home with them, and I certainly don't need to be trying to scarf down 12 dozen cookies like I did last year. Heck, I've still got some cookies and candy vacuum sealed and in the deep freeze.
Well, I've gone on and on, but I do have to tell you one more thing about the saga of the gift my sister ordered for her daughter in law. I asked her about it today, because it still hasn't shown up. She said she'd contacted Amazon and they recommended she just get a refund, so that's what she's going to do. I told her to make sure to leave the seller a bad review, too.
So, all that said and done, today's advent figure is another camel;
And they set out; and there, ahead of them went the star that they had seen at its rising.. Matthew 2:9
All that last week of work before I got off for Christmas break, I was saying to myself, "I can't wait to be off so I can stay up as late as I want!" Apparently, as late as I want is 9:00.
Yeah, and sleeping in is 6:30. Oh well, at least it's better than having to get up at 4:30!
Even at 6;30, though, it was cold this morning, and that fire sure felt good. By the way, you'd all be proud of me because I think I've finally figured out how to start the fire without filling the house with smoke. I've managed to do it for five fires in a row. The secret seems to be to add a few twigs at a time, instead of stuffing a whole bunch into the stove at once.
After a leisurely cup of coffee and a Great American Family movie, I got myself dressed and headed up to Batesville. The first stop I made was to the Goodwill donation center to drop off the three bags of clothes that have been riding around in my car for nearly a month. I was going to go to Walmart first, but I told myself, "You know you won't go after you get out of Walmart. You'll be tired and will just want to go home." So, Goodwill came first.
I know there are places in Grenada that take donations, but they're never open. There is one thrift shop that is supposed to take donations, then sells stuff to support the battered women's shelter. Honestly, I don't know if they're even still open, but it doesn't matter. In the 29 years I've lived in this town, I've never ever seen them open -- even when I went during the supposed hours of operation.
There are other places that supposedly take clothes, but you have to call and make arrangements for someone to meet you there. Why? It's so much easier just to carry things up to the Goodwill place, especially since I was going to Batesville anyway. I just pulled up to the place, asked the lady there if I could borrow her cart to bring in some donations, and she said, "Oh, I'll come get them", and she did.
Next, I drove up to the Mounds...well, let me just say, next I took a wrong turn and drove out into the middle of nowhere, then had to use my GPS to find the Mounds, but I made it there eventually. I walked around a bit and like to have froze, because like a typical Southerner who doesn't know how to dress for the cold, I didn't...um....dress for the cold.
Oh, it wasn't that bad. It had warmed up to 43° by the time I got there, but still, that heater in my car felt mighty good once I made it back inside.
Next, I drove through their town square to look at the Christmas decorations, but there weren't any places to park, so I didn't get to stop and take pictures. I mean, there are parking spots, but they were all full. The decorations were nice, though.
And finally, I made it to Walmart. Alas, their candy selection was even worse than ours. They did have the chewable CoQ-10 that I like, which our Walmart is always out of stock of, so I picked up a bottle of those, and some coffee pods in flavors our Walmart has been out of for ages. A few other little things, including a 4 pack of Red Bull that Brennan had put into her wish list, and that was my shopping for the day.
I briefly considered running by Kroger to see what they had, but by the time I got out of Walmart, I was tired and ready to come home. I'll just get up in the morning and run into a couple of the local Mom and Pop grocery stores here in town and see what they have.
I got home to find that the last gift I'd ordered for Brennan had come in, so I got it and the Red Bull wrapped, and that's that for Christmas presents. All I have left is to put all this mess away.
Unless I decided to buy that one last gift....
That's about how my day ended, but it began as always by adding today's figure to the advent poster, which is a wise man.
I'd said I was going to get up and go to Batesville today, but it turns out that didn't happen. And the reason it didn't happen is as follows.
Sometime yesterday, I must have either eaten something that didn't agree with me, or I picked up some sort of little stomach bug. It hit right about the time I went to bed, and I kept having to make mad dashes to the bathroom all night long. Not to be too graphic...let me just say if I'd had a colonoscopy scheduled for today, I'd have been prepped for it.
It was after 3:00 AM that things settled down enough I could grab a couple hours of sleep, but even after I got up for the day, I felt weak and shaky. I'm sure it was dehydration, so I drank two of my Lee Tartt cups
full of water before I even made myself a cup of coffee. I ate a bowl of oatmeal for breakfast and soon started feeling a bit better. Oh, I'm OK now, but still, I decided I'd just hang out at home and give myself a minute to recover from whatever it was, so I spent the day knitting and watching Christmas shows with the cat.
The one shown in the photo is the Holiday Wars finale. I really enjoy those baking competitions, even more so than the cooking shows like Chopped and Beat Bobby Flay and stuff. I guess because I've always loved to bake. I'm not so keen on the decorating part, but I think it looks so good when it's done right.
So, I guess all I really have to talk about today is the advent calendar. The next figure added to the poster is 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
And finally, it's supposed to get down into the upper 20s to low 30s tonight, and has already dropped down into the 40s, so I'm going to go start me a little fire in the grate.
Our wonderful United States Postal Service has struck again. The mail ran late yesterday, and even though I'd checked it twice already, apparently they delivered after I'd assumed I hadn't gotten anything and stopped checking.
Well, the gift my sister had ordered was supposed to have been delivered yesterday, so when I took the trash out this morning, on a whim I looked in my box again...and found a torn up envelope with no card inside.
It was from my cousin Judy, and I'm debating in whether I should even tell her or not. I mean, it wasn't her fault the USPS tore up the envelope and the card fell out, but I would have loved to see it. She always sends the ones with family photos on them, and I enjoy those.
There was also a card from my Australian pen pal, which was wet. Well, damp, and it's dried out right nicely. You can see it there on the far right.
Speaking of cards, my friend Peggy said she still hasn't gotten hers and I mailed it Thankgiving weekend. Now, to be completely honest, it's possible I may not have gotten her one put into the mail. Even though I was trying so hard not to overlook anyone, I did send out 48 cards this year. It's entirely possible that I skipped her. No matter. I have her replacement card already addressed and ready to mail in the morning.
The plan is to go up to Batesville -- because I didn't go Saturday -- just to see if they have anything different in their Walmart, and maybe go by Lowe's as well. I'm pretty much done with Christmas shopping, but want to pick up some more stocking stuffers for the kids. And candy, of course.
In knitting news, I finished the hat I was working on yesterday.
Instead of casting on another one, I dug out this old scarf that I've been working on for ages.
I thought if I could get it finished by Christmas, I could give it to Brennan. Not holding my breath on that one, though. We'll see...
On the other hand, we're expecting a cold front that will drop the temps into the upper 20s by Tuesday morning. I'll be so nice being able to stay home in front of the fire, knitting and watching Christmas movies instead of having to go to work in that cold. I might get a lot done, if I can stay off the electronics, that is.
And finally, the advent figure for today is a shepherd.
...the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place which the Lord has made known to us." Luke 2:15
I only thought I was on break today, yeah. Turns out it was pretty busy.
It all started when I said to myself, "Self, you really need to get those Christmas gifts wrapped." Several of the gifts I'd ordered for the kids had already arrived, plus some that my sibs had sent, and they were just piling up on the bed in the guest room. So I put on some Christmas music, dragged out the old card table, and got to work.
Two yes-I'm-still-listenings later, I got all but one of the gifts wrapped.
I even took the time to grind up the last of the rosemary and peppermint and got them into their respective jars. I'm going to give them to Cody, since he likes to cook, even though the jars aren't quite full. I briefly thought about waiting and filling the jars up next year, but I didn't. I don't want to give him old herbs. Not that it really matters, because they're dried anyway.
Next year, I'm going to start harvesting and drying earlier, so maybe I'll have full jars to give.
In the midst of all that, I decided to run the cleaning cycle on my oven, which takes 4 hours. I usually do it overnight because it heats the house up so much, but today, I did it ... um, during the day. And yes, it got hot in the house -- up into the low 80s. For a bit, it was so hot I had to open the window in the kitchen and the French doors just to try to cool it off a bit.
As if that weren't enough, I go to change my sheets -- which is one of my usual Saturday chores -- and realized I probably needed to wash all the blankets as well, so I did that. After the second load of blankets, the washer declared it was time to run a cleaning cycle-- which also takes 4 hours.
"I guess today is the day for cleaning cycles," I said as I hit start, then settled down to watch some Christmas movies and knit a bit.
I watched Santa Claus Is Coming To Town, Rudolph, Frosty, and caught up on my Great American Family movies. While I was doing all that movie watching, I got this hat down to the crown decreases.
Now I'm sitting here watching holiday baking shows, because I don't really need to pay that much attention to them -- and finishing up the laundry I'd had to put on hold to run the washer cleaning cycle.
I think after all that, it's time for a break.
And for your advent figure today, we have another angel.
Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace. Luke 2:14
In other news, I'm still reading Once Upon A Wardrobe, but took a quick side-step today to re-read The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, because I have it on good authority that it's being made into a movie that will be released in time for next Christmas. I know they made a TV movie based on the book, and I still watch that one every year, but I'm excited to see what a full length feature film will be able to do with the story.
And finally, the cat has claimed the wood pile as her throne.
Good thing I've got more wood stacked in other places, huh?
Thirty years I've lived in this town. Thirty years, and I never knew this. I guess I really do need to get out more.
OK, it's quite possible some of it has been built since the last time I was on the South side of the spillway because they're always making improvements at the lake. But it just so happened, I have a new friend in Pokemon Go so I went out looking for Pokestops to spin. Knowing she'd never gotten any postcards from any of the Pokestops out by the lake, I hopped into the car and motored on out that way.
I hit all the usual stops down by the tennis courts, then drove up to the North Abutment Campground to see if there were any up there. There weren't, so I drove down to the spillway -- stopping to scan the Hasserway sign on the way -- and spun the stops there.
I was headed up to the Visitor's Center, when on impulse, I headed to the South side day use area instead, where I discovered a lot more than Pokestops and Gyms -- such as this pier built out over the river that I had no idea was even there.
I walked out to the very end, and found a lovely view up and down the river. I'll need to remember to go back in the summer when the water levels are higher.
Our lake is a reservoir maintained by the Army Corps of Engineers, and they always lower the water levels during the winter time.
Moving on from there, I went down another road and found....a walking trail!
Naturally, I couldn't resist, and it was a very nice trail.
I took a lot more pictures, but I won't bore you with them. Maybe I'll post them a few at a time over the next day or two.
I'd intended to also stop at the old civil war forts, but by the time I'd done with this trail, I'd changed my mind. I just headed on into Walmart and did a bit of shopping, where I splurged and bought a pizza. I haven't had pizza in ages, so that was a real treat. Oh, and they had Little Debbie Cherry Cordial ice cream marked down 20%, so I bought two.
Unfortunately, our Walmart has been pretty slacking in the Christmas candy department this year, but today they had mint truffle kisses -- finally. They didn't have any cherry cordial kisses, though, which are my favorite. Even so, I was able to pick up some candy and another gift for Brennan. Still, I'm thinking of heading up to Batesville tomorrow or maybe Monday to see what they have up there. And I can go spin the Pokestops at the mounds while I'm there, and see what their town Square looks like.
For now, I'm about to get off of here and watch The Man Who Invented Christmas, but before I go, here is today's advent figure, 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
Well, until January 2, that is. And naturally, my last day at work was not without its drama. And the way said drama occurred is as follows.
There I was at work, just a working away, when I got an order that had one of the adapter tubes cut wrong. I know that they were cut wrong because the part didn't fit into the brazing jig. I confirmed that the part was wrong by running a print, digging out the ol' tape measure, and measuring said part.
Sure enough, it was nearly 1/4" too long. I put the incorrect parts into a box and carried them to Supervisor and Group Leader Control Freak. I told them the parts were wrong, showed them the print, they re-measured the part...blah, blah, blah. But, instead of just putting in a re-work order, GLCF told me to go ask Parts Stager if she had any extras of that particular part laying around anywhere.
Now, I knew she wouldn't have any, because we don't keep bins of parts around any more. I wish we did. It would make our lives as brazers so much easier. But nevertheless, I had to do what GLCF told me to.
I walked over to Parts Stager and said, "Now, don't get mad at me, but GLCF told me to come ask..." And I was right. She said the same thing I had thought, that we don't keep parts. I mean, maybe she'd have one or two, but I needed 72 of them. So, I went back to GLCF and said, "She doesn't have any. I'm going to need these re-cut."
And did GLCF re-cut my parts? Ha ha...no. She sent me back to Parts Stager telling me to have her pull some of the parts off a different order. Alas, we didn't have any open orders needing that particular part, and even if we had, we'd still need to cut some to replace those. Parts Stager sent me back to GLCF....and on and on it went.
It took some doing, but I finally convinced GLCF I really did need the parts for the order I was working on, and about five minutes later, one of the machine operators brought me the parts I needed. At this point, I went and told Parts Stager that we spent longer arguing with GLCF than it took to actually make the parts. It was also at this point that I began thinking, "I'm so glad this is my last day of work for the year!"
And yes, I'm off for the rest of the year! What, you may ask, do I plan on doing with my time off? Well, I've got hats to knit,
movies to watch, books to read...and I may even go somewhere. I don't know where yet, but it will involve leaving the house.
I know, try to contain your horror.
In the meantime, I'm at the point in this nativity poster that I'm having to rearrange just a bit to make all of the figures fit. I did this every time, despite trying to be so careful to put them exactly where the photos shows. Honestly, I think they had slightly smaller figures. Be that as it may, today's figure is the shepherd boy.
and the scripture is: and the glory of the of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. Luke 2:9
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That's all I have for today. If you'll excuse me, I'm going to go get something to eat, then I'm going to go to bed and sleep as late as I want to tomorrow.
Then I'll go to Walmart where my good humor will likely be lost.
But first, let me back up a minute. I'm not trying to make excuses, but the fact is, I felt awful all day. I seriously thought I was coming down with either flu or COVID, since both are going around the plant. However, I woke up this morning feeling much better, so I'm glad of that.
What had happened is that I got an order and noticed I was four headers short. I put in to have them re-cut, then brazed up the ones I had on hand. It wasn't until this morning that I got the four headers I'd put in for, and I saw they were different from the ones I'd brazed yesterday.
Naturally, I went and pulled up a print and saw that all the ones I'd brazed already were wrong. Oh, boy. Fortunately, it was only 12 parts, so it wasn't that big of a deal. I got to looking even further, and realized that the header paper that had been with the ones I received was correct -- as in it went with the order I was brazing -- but it had been put with the wrong headers by someone over in tubing. This has been happening a lot lately, by the way. Of course, out there nothing is ever tubing's fault. It's the brazer's fault for not catching their mistakes. Always.
Knowing that it's better to confess than get caught, I went looking for Supervisor. As I was walking up the aisle to his desk, The Big Man Up Front was out on the floor doing something, and turned around saying, "How about that Army-Navy game?" He's Army, by the way.
"I DO NOT WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT!!!" I replied. Then I said, "Next year, Navy's going to start playing sometime before the last five minutes of the game!" He agreed that if they'd played like that the whole game, they probably would have won.
I found Supervisor, explained what had happened and we got it all straightened out. Our department dispatcher was also out today, along with Group Leader Shark, so he told me to go upstairs to the main dispatcher and ask her to put it in. I got all the way up there, and she told me to take it to the sheet metal dispatcher....so I walked all the way over to sheet metal, and that dispatcher said, "I can't put this in. Someone over tubing has to put it in."
I tromp back over to tubing, muttering all the while about definitely getting my steps in today, found Supervisor and told him what sheet metal dispatcher had said. "I don't even know what to do now," I said, and left it for him to figure out. He did and I eventually got my parts and brazed up the order -- correctly this time.
In other news, my sister is so frustrated. She'd ordered a personalized gift for her daughter in law, but the company doesn't ship to Alaska. She had them send it to me, and I'm going to mail it on up to her. So, here's the thing. She placed the order back in November, and they'd told her it would be delivered between Dec 6-11. No problem. That's still plenty of time for it to get to her.
The eleventh came and went, and no package. She messaged me and said the updated delivery would be the 12-13th. OK, not a problem. Last night, she messaged me again and they'd told her the new delivery date wouldn't be until December 16th. That is Saturday, which means the earliest I'll be able to get it into the mail will be Monday, 18th. It should still get to my sister in time, but that's starting to cut it a bit close.
Aaand she messaged me while I was typing all that out and said according to USPS, it's still in Georgia, so there's no telling when it'll get here.
OK, on to today's advent figure, the angel.
Then an angel of the Lord stood before them Luke 2:9
This is probably going to be a bit short, because I haven't gotten much sleep these last two nights, and frankly, all I want to do is sit and stare at the wall. Sunday night I stayed up to watch the Cowboys game -- and by "staying up" I mean I laid in bed with my eyes closed listening to the game on my Kindle. But I was awake the whole time.
I don't know what the deal was with me last night. I'd gone to bed kind of early, but kept waking up every 90 minutes or so. The upside to that is I was able to mostly finish my Christmas shopping during one of those times I was awake. I got my older brother's family's gifts --well, I added them to my shopping cart, but didn't actually place the order until after work today. I may pick up a few more things for Cody and Brennan, but for the most part, I'm done.
Speaking of work, it was interesting to say the least. Group Leader Shark is on vacation for the rest of the year -- which is basically this week. Yesterday before we left, she walked around telling us all Merry Christmas, and cautioned us not to let Backup Group Leader Control Freak see us...and I'm going to stop right here and exercise my 5th Amendment right to not incriminate myself.
Turns out it was all for naught, because Backup Group Leader Control Freak wasn't there today either. We basically didn't have a Group Leader, but we've all been out there so long that we know our jobs, and the department ran smoothly and without a hitch. Except that two of the machine operators over in tubing are out with COVID, so they had to scramble a bit to get enough work out for us. But we got there in the end.
Apropos of nothing, here is the Christmas tree they put up by the employee entrance.
Before I go lay down, here is today's advent figure, the sheep.
The scripture is: keeping watch over their flocks by night. Luke 2:8
Sharp eyed viewers may notice there's something just a little off about that sheep, and you would be right. Fact is, the original sheep that came with the set was lost years ago. I looked in every place I could think of where I might have put it, and practically tore up the house we lived in at the time looking, and looked again when we moved twice since then, but the sheep was never found.
I still have the -- probably futile -- hope that it might turn up some day, but until that happens, I had to make do. Thanks to modern technology, I was able to scan the photo of the completed poster from the front of the booklet, and print out a replacement sheep. It's a little small, but that was as big as I could enlarge it without it becoming too pixelated to be usable.
It's the thought that counts, right?
There was something else I was going to tell you before I go, but for the life of me, I can't remember what it is right now. Knowing me, I'll remember as soon as I hit Publish on this post.
