For Real This Time

I'm finally done with my Christmas shopping, and for real this time.  

I've been having a heck of a time finding my nephew a Steam gift card, which is what he asked for.  I'd already checked Walmart, when one of my friends suggested I look at Game Stop.  I checked there, and they only had $100 cards.  Yeah, that's not going to happen.  

I tried to send him one through the Steam website, but apparently I have to spend money on my own account to be able to even add him as a friend -- if my sister in law had even sent me his user name, which she didn't.  She's busy, she says.  

Amazon had plenty of gift cards, only the sellers there were wanting way more than face value, and by that, I mean, they were charging $40 for a $25 card.  Yeah, that's not going to happen, either.  

After much searching and hair-pulling-out, I finally found some on Best Buy that I could ship directly to his house.  Unfortunately, they didn't offer an option to include a message with the card.  I'll just have to message him that it's from me.  

Now for your Holiday Homestead Share #18 -- Winter boots

This one was tricky, as I don't actually have any winter boots.  There isn't really any need for them down here in the South, as it only snows maybe once a year.  The only boots I have are some rubber boots that need to be replaced, and my work boots, which aren't all that wintery.  So, what you're getting are these, my boot style house shoes. 

And yes, they are as soft and squishy and warm as they look.  

In other news, the cat says, "I'm ready to sing Christmas carols!  Get over here and play this thing!"

Speaking of playing, it doesn't look like you're going to get a Christmas concert this year.  I'd planned on recording some songs for you, but I've gotten so stressed over getting them right, I'm not enjoying playing.  I might just record the ones I've been practicing, even though there might be an oops or two in there. 

I kind of feel like my progress on learning to play has ground to a halt.  A lot of that has to do with the fact that in a way, I completely started over when I went back to do the two Schaum books, but I'm finished with those now.  After Christmas, I'll be moving forward again in my Michael Aaron course books and my Alfred's All In One Adult piano course.  I hope to be providing you with regular updates soon.  Especially now that I've bought that vlogging stand.  

And finally, tonight is the first night of Hanukkah, so Happy Hanukkah to all my Jewish friends -- which I'm not, but I still get ridiculously excited about it.  

By the way, I'm never really sure.  Apologies I've spelled it wrong!

Y'all Thought I Was Joking

 Y'all thought I was joking about those squashed bows, didn't you?  

I got them all out this afternoon with the intentions of putting them onto some presents, but in the end, I decided they'd been smashed too flat to be of use.  I even tried to fluff them up a bit, but gave that up pretty quickly and tossed them all.   Maybe next year, I'll buy some fresh bows and use them. 

In other news, this morning, I received a surprise parcel delivered by FedEx.  At first, I thought it was another Christmas gift, because I hadn't ordered anything.  At least, not that I remembered.  I started to wrap the whole box and put it under the tree unopened, but suddenly, I remembered what is was and knew I could open it.   

It's the long awaited replacement support posts for my Rubbermaid cabinet. Heh, imagine opening that on Christmas morning!  What a disappointment that would be.   It would have been nice if I'd gotten them before I finished putting the thing together.  As it is, I'll have to pull it all apart.  Well, not ALL of it, just the top section.  Even so, it's still going to be quite a job.  

Speaking of jobs, here's a good one for you.  Pre-poop toilet spray in Christmassy scents. And yes, I went there. 

All the way. I've only used the Spritzmas Spice so far, but it smells pretty good.  It definitely smells better than the alternative.  He he he...

Oh, and I have to show you these cards.  Aren't they gorgeous?  My ex mother in law made these.  

The one on the right is from her, and the one on the left is from her sister Denise.  Aren't they beautiful?

And finally, for your Holiday Homestead Share Day #17 -- Christmas Movie

One of my favorites, the musical version of Scrooge with Albert Finney.

Really, there are so many good Christmas movies, I couldn't pick just one, but this is on up there with the best of them. 

All Done

 And just like that, I am all done with my Christmas shopping....well, almost.   My nephew Joshua wants some money for his Steam account, so I was going to pick him up a gift card at Walmart, only they didn't have any.   I briefly considered driving up to Batesville to see if they had any, but by the time I got home and got the groceries unloaded, I remembered something.  

I have a Steam account.  

I'd opened it several years ago when a friend recommended I play Skyrim.  I found it on sale one day and bought it, only I never could get the stupid thing to work right.  Even with Cody talking me through it, I couldn't control the characters.  

The guy was supposed to jump out of a window or something, and Cody was over there telling me which keys on my computer to push, and I was pushing them, but the character wouldn't jump.  I tried several times, and eventually gave up in frustration.  

Sometime later, the friend who'd recommended the game said, "I know you didn't like it, but..."  No, it's not that I didn't like it.  I didn't know if I would like it or not, because I never even got to play it.  The stupid thing never worked right.  

Anyway, all that to say, I remembered I have a Steam account, so now I'm just waiting on my sister in law to tell me my nephew's user name, and I'll be able to send the money straight to his account.  

Other than that, I'm done.  Cody's last gift is supposed to arrive tomorrow, and my brother and sister in law's gift is supposed to arrive at their house Monday, and everything else has already been delivered.  

I might go up to Batesville tomorrow anyway, to see if the Walmart up there has any gingerbread house kits.  I mean, the kind I wanted to get.  The local WM had some left, but they were either a whole village, or pre-built houses, or a little dog house.  I started to get that one, but changed my mind and didn't.    I decided I'd get some cookie icing and try my hand at decorated cookies instead.  

I've got tons of cookie cutters.  I ought to make use of them from time to time.   

And now for today's Holiday Homestead Share topic #16:  Christmas sweater.

I only have one, and here it is.

Cody gave it to me for Christmas in 2016, when I mentioned all my Christmas t-shirts were getting worn out.  I might actually be able to wear it this year, since look at our forecast!

And finally, in honor of Beethoven's 252nd birthday:

Holiday Homestead Share -- Catching Up

Yeah, I missed posting one of these yesterday -- not because I forgot, but because it just didn't seem to fit in with the rest of the post.  So, here you go:  

Day 14:  Home made

What can be cuter than a home made ornament?  How about home made ornaments from your baby's first Christmas, when he was just two months old?

The original plan was to make one every year, but that didn't last long at all.  It only took a very short time for me to realize that before too long, the ornaments would be prohibitively large.  However, I did get a hand print done for 1994, 

but I'd already given up on doing his feet.  The top two are made from home made salt dough, because I was still in Italy at the time.  The blue one is some sort of playdoh concoction that is lightweight and fast drying.   These, by the way, don't get put onto the tree any more.  They are safely packed away with a few other sentimental things.  

Day 15:  Joy

This brings me joy.

No, not the little Christmas village, thought I do love it, too.  The Christmas cards lined up behind it.  Each one brought me a smile when I received it, because it means someone thought about me.  But even more, sending cards brings me joy, because if I can make someone else smile, then my day is complete. 

You know what else brings me joy?  This:

What?  There's nothing there!
 

Exactly my point!  There's nothing there.  No clouds.  No storms.  No tornadoes. 

That massive storm system has finally moved through, and there are clear skies throughout the south.  It left plenty of destruction in its wake, so if you are the giving kind, please consider making a donation to your particular denomination's disaster relief fund.  

Or whatever disaster relief organization you support. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go put my money where my mouth is, and give a little extra to Texas Baptist Men.  

Laters. 

Pray The Scripture

First of all, let me start this off here by telling you I am a Southern Baptist.  

I was born into a Southern Baptist family, and raised in the Southern Baptist church.  One thing about Baptists -- and some other Christian denominations as well -- is that we don't typically follow a liturgy in our worship services.  In fact, I recently heard an Evangelical Bible scholar jokingly say that we on the Evangelical side have become so anti-liturgy that we've literally made a liturgy out of non-liturgy.  

I don't know if I'd take it that far, but I do know that each Southern Baptist church sets its own order of worship, and conducts services how the ministers decide.  Every church I've been to has done things its own unique way.  I can kind of understand the reasoning behind not having a liturgy -- which is making sure we put our faith in the blood of Jesus and his sacrifice rather than the rituals of the church. But on the other hand, some of us find great comfort in routine. 

When I was growing up, our church did this thing where we sang the Doxology after passing the offering plate.  When the ushers were done, one of them would signal to the organist, and she would begin playing the intro.  We'd all stand up and sing while the ushers brought the offering plates to the front of the church.  No one stood up front and said, "We're all going to sing the Doxology".  We just did it.  We all knew the routine, because we did it every Sunday.  

I've never been in another church which has done that, and I kind of miss it.  OK, I really miss it.

One thing other Christian denominations do that I'm kind of...well, envious isn't exactly the right word.  I'll just say I wish we would recite more pre-written prayers.  You know, like the Catholics have their Hail Mary, among others, but Baptists don't have anything like that.   I wish we did, but I was told we don't, because repeating a prayer someone else wrote isn't really praying.  It's just repeating someone else's words.  

Even the Lord's Prayer.  The one Jesus gave us when the disciples asked him to teach them how to pray.  You know how it goes...

Our Father who art in Heaven

Hallowed be thy name

Thy kingdom come

Thy will be done on Earth

As it is in Heaven

Give us this day our daily bread

And forgive us our trespasses

As we forgive those who trespass against us

And lead us not into temptation, 

But deliver us from evil

Some churches went so far as to even stop calling it The Lord's Prayer.  It's the Model Prayer, because we're supposed to model our own prayers on it, but not actually pray it as a prayer. Personally, I don't agree with this whole idea that you can't repeat a pre-written prayer.  After all, we sing hymns as an act of worship, and what is a hymn but a pre-written prayer set to music?  If singing a hymn is an act of worship, why can't reciting a prayer also be an act of worship?  

So now, the thing they're telling us is when you don't know what to pray -- when your heart is full but the words simply won't come -- is to find a scripture and pray the scripture.  Pick a Bible verse that speaks to you, and read it as if it were a prayer.  

Just not the Lord's Prayer.  Any other scripture but that one...

Not that there's anything wrong with that.  Praying a Bible verse, I mean.  I've done it a few times myself. 

There I was last night, in bed, actually sleeping for once, when along about 12:15 AM, my NOAA radio went off.  My emergency alert app on my phone went off, along with all 47 of my weather apps.  

OK, I'm exaggerating about that last part. Not about having 47 weather apps. That is absolutely true. About them all going off.  That’s the exaggeration.

I picked up my phone to see what was going on, thinking at first it was just a severe thunderstorm warning, but no.  We were under a full blown tornado warning. 

I opened my WTVA app to try to get more details about what was going on, and saw the animated weather map, with the little icons indicating rotation.  Heading right towards Grenada County.  

Immediately, I chose Mark 4:39, and breathed it as a prayer:  "And Jesus arose and rebuked the wind, and said unto the tornado, 'Peace, be still'..."  Adapted to my current situation, of course. 

I quickly turned on the TV, to hear the meteorologist telling us that the radar indicates strong rotation in the clouds, but so far there were no reports of an actual funnel cloud.  Still, we needed to be in our safe space, or just a few steps away from it...but within moments, things began to change.  The rotation was expanding and weakening...beginning to dissipate. The threat was over.  

"I wouldn't be surprised if the National Weather Service cancelled this tornado warning for Grenada County."  

Sure enough, a few moments later, the warning was allowed to expire, and I went back to sleep, knowing I was safe within God's plan for my life.  

And believe me, there is no safer place to be.  

Well, Well, Well

Guess who finally got back to me, after only 2 1/2 months?  If you said the Rubbermaid customer service people, give yourself a Christmas cookie.  They apologized and said responses have been delayed to to an unusually high volume of e-mails.  

They asked if I still needed the part, and blah blah blah...I responded and told them yes, I do still need the part and sent them a photo of the part I need.   They said if it isn't available, they'd send me a whole new cabinet.  We shall see....I only hope that if they send me a replacement cabinet, they don't require me to send the defective one back.  I do not want to have to try to cram all that stuff back into the box and lug it down to the UPS store.  

In other news, I woke up feeling much better today, after absolutely dragging all day yesterday.  I don't know what was wrong with me, but I just felt awful.  No fever or anything, I just didn't feel well.  I think I might have let myself get a little too dehydrated, because I woke up craving water.  Seriously.  I drank like 4 glasses of water even before I had my coffee.  That must have worked, because I perked up and now I'm at my normal level of exhaustion.  

Which is bad enough, but what can you do?  

Now for your Holiday Homestead Share #13:  Wrapping. 

I've always been a bit envious of those who have all kinds of elegantly wrapped stuff under their tree.  But not really.  I guess. 

We never had fancy wrapping when I was growing up.  We didn't even put bows on presents, because my mother said they'd just get squshed under the tree.  Hmmm, I do have some bows in my wrapping supplies.  And they're already pre-squshed.  Maybe I should put some on my gifts this year.  

Sounds like a weekend project to me. 

And finally, Happy Santa Lucia Day to all my fellow Scandinavians! 

Holiday Homestead Share #12

 Today's topic:  peppermint. 

Peppermint flavored mini marshmallows in my hot chocolate.

That's all I have for today, as I'm going to go watch episode 1 again.  

Laters.

P.S.  Fun fact:  Yesterday's post got more likes on Facebook than actual hits on the blog.  Not that I'm paying attention to such things....

Today!!!

 Today's the day!  In just over two hours, season three will drop!  Two hours from when I'm typing this, that is...

I did want to write a quick post before I get off ...everything... to watch it, to get my Holiday Homestead Share up, and to show you what I didn't show you yesterday.  My new mug!

I ordered this from The Chosen Gift shop, but forgot to take a photo in time for yesterday's post.  Yeah, I know I could have gone back and done it.  I just didn't feel like it.  So you get it today.  

I think this is my new favorite mug, right along with my Salty Dogs mug:

What I really love about it is how well made it is.  Look at how thick the sides are.  

My hand included for reference.  The only ding I would give it is that the handle is a bit on the small side.  I can barely fit two of my fingers into it.  Other than that, I love it. 

I really need to thin my mugs out, and give away those I no longer use -- which is most of them.  Ever since I got my aluminum insulated mugs, I hardly ever use ceramic mugs any more. It's just that people around here are so weird.  I've been giving my canna lily bulbs away this weekend -- you know, the ones I dug up from beside the shed.  I'd put the bulbs in a big box in my carport and advertised them in the local free bees group.  I'd even put some Walmart sacks in there, thinking people could get a dozen or so and leave the rest for the next person. 

The first person that came did just that, but the second guy took the whole freaking box.  I mean, there were probably close to 50-60 bulbs in that box.  What the heck is someone going to do with all those bulbs?  Dude even took the Walmart sacks I'd put in there.  

No problem.  I had plenty more bulbs and plenty more Walmart sacks.  I got another box out and filled it up....and someone else came along and took the whole freaking box.  Another 5-ish bulbs.  

Sigh...by that time, I was out of boxes, so I put the rest in a large garbage bag and put it into the carport, then took the ad down from the FB group so that the ones who'd already said they wanted some could get them.  If any are left by, say Wednesday or Thursday, I'll post them again and first come first served.  

At least I got rid of the silly things! 

Holiday Homestead Share #11 -- Decor

When I went downtown Friday morning to run an errand, I had to go by the town Square and saw these cute little gingerbread houses.

They were so cute, I had to stop and take a picture.  I mean, I walked from the water office down to the square in the rain to take this picture.  

They used to put out a Christmas village every year, but they don't any more.  I posted about them back in 2019, when I finally got around to taking pictures of them.  Anyway, I don't know why they stopped putting them out, but I guess these little gingerbread houses will have to do. 

Speaking of gingerbread houses, do you know, I am 58 years old and I have never made a gingerbread house in my life. Maybe this year, I will finally buy one of those kits and make one.  Heck, I might even use my new tripod and film myself doing it. 

Oh, and I'm getting the urge to make cookies, too.  The decorated kind, which I haven't done in ages...

I might just get into vlogging a bit after all. 

The Long Way Around

Modern technology is a marvelous thing.  There are a great many benefits to it, one of which being that when you order something online, you can track your package online, from the moment it leaves the .... wherever you ordered it from, all the way to your house. 

This does have its drawbacks as well.  For instance, take this package I've been tracking for the last couple of weeks.  It started out in Carrollton, then went to Ft Worth, then back to Carrolton, then to Jackson.  From Jackson to Smyrna -- which is a suburb of Nashville, back to Jackson, and finally to Memphis before it found it's way to me. 

Yep, this one definitely took the scenic route. The really sad part is, it went right past my house three, yes three, count 'em three times while it was wandering all over creation.  But it finally got here, albeit with a few extra stickers on its suitcase.  And what was in said package that went half way around the country before finding its way to me?  

My new hoodie.

The one with the new Chosen logo on it.  I was so hoping it would arrive before the season 3 premier in 23 hours (as I type this), and was really sweating it for a moment.  Now if only it were cold enough to actually wear it...

I also got a matching hat.

Because apparently I don't think I have enough.  I needed one to match the hoodie.  That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.   

Speaking of hats, I finished the one I was knitting, 

and picked back up the Irish Hiking Scarf I've been working on -- which I will eventually get an updated photo posted for you. 

Speaking of photos, today's Holiday Homestead Share #10 topic is Christmas tree, so here is a picture of mine.

Well, well, well, look who liked my comment once again... 

But do you see the difference?  Scroll back to yesterday's post and look carefully, and see if you can see it. 

I caught it right away, and after doing a little digging, discovered what I had suspected all along.  Neither this account, nor the one that liked my comment yesterday are his real account.  I mean, I didn't really think either one was real, but it was fun while it lasted...

I Finally Did It

I've been thinking about doing it for a long time, ever since I started threatening to live stream myself practicing the piano.  I just never really thought I'd use one.  I mean, really.   I don't even like photos of myself, I sure wouldn't like making videos of myself. 

But still, I was thinking about getting one. 

It all came to a head last night when I was trying to film a Christmas song for this year's concert.  I was trying to use that tablet pillow I'd bought last summer to prop up my phone, but it just wasn't working out.  So, today when I was in town doing my weekly shopping, I went over to the electronics department to see if they had a phone tripod or something.  

What I found was this:

It's the stand with the light -- which I wasn't looking for initially, but it was the same price as the tripods without the lights, so I got it. 

Once I'd gotten home and got my groceries put away, I drug it out of the box and put it all together. 

I haven't checked the light, yet (no it is not on in that photo), but the bluetooth shutter trigger definitely works.  Now, I can record music videos for you!  Aren't you excited?  The real trick will be to keep the cat off of the keyboard....  

Oh, and I can record surprise parcel unboxings, as soon as I get some surprise parcels.  

And yes, that is The Chosen I'm watching in the background there.  Speaking of, yesterday on their Facebook page, they posted this meme with the caption "Who are you going to tell?"  You can see my comment there on the right. 

But why is this significant, you ask?  Well, I’ll tell you. Do you see that little blue Like emoji on my comment? Yep, somebody likes it. 

And?  Somebody liked my comment.  Big deal....

Yes, it is a big deal, because check out who it was!!!!!

I keep trying to tell myself it wasn't really him.  It's a fake account.  A clone or a copycat, but part of me really, really wants it to be him.  

For those of you who don't know, Shahar Isaac is the actor who plays Simon Peter.  That's right.  The actor who plays Simon Peter liked MY comment!  I've really made the big time now.  

And finally, today's Holiday Homestead Share #9 -- A Thrifty Christmas Tip

No, it isn't to shop at Amazon.  

See, my sister and her family live in Alaska, and shipping gifts up there costs a small fortune.  I got tired of having to use so much of my Christmas budget on shipping, and having to spend less than I really wanted to on my nephews, that a few years ago, I just started shopping online and having their gifts shipped directly to them. 

With Prime, it's usually free, but even if I do have to pay for shipping, I don't have to pay twice -- once to have it shipped here, then to mail it there.  Now I can use the money I would have used for postage, and spend a little extra on gifts.  

But I'm sure all of you already knew that...

A Two-Fer

Since yesterday was a day of remembrance, it somehow didn't seem fitting to do my Holiday Homestead Share so today, you're getting two for one.  

Day 7:  Snow

We rarely get snow here where I live.  Even back during the Deep Freeze of 2021, when everyone everywhere was getting snow, all we got here is sleet.  Every once in a while, though, we do get snow.  Actual, real, fluffy....cold, wet snow.  Such was the case this past March, when we got a good snow.  Unfortunately, it didn't last long, but I managed to get a few good photos before it all melted away. 

Day 8:  Deck The Halls  -- Cody and Brennan decking my halls.  

Well, they did the tree at least.  I decked the rest of my halls myself.  

In other news, I got a couple of surprise parcels in the mail yesterday, but I didn't do an unboxing video because I'm pretty sure they're Christmas presents from my brother.  Cody wants us to go to Brennan's parents house for Christmas this year, but I just don't want to.  I mean, I went there for Thanksgiving, and they're really nice, but they're not my family.  I think I'd rather spend a quiet Christmas at home with just the cat than in a house full of strangers where I'm not really comfortable. 

And finally, just three more days until The Chosen season three kicks off!  I'm so ready!

I hear tell it will melt your face off.  

Don't Skip This One

So many do, you know. Skip these kinds of posts. 

The memorials.  The observances.  The remembrances.

The boring posts that are the same old thing as last year...

But it's important that we don't skip the posts.  

And thus forget.  

It's important that we remember.  And tell it to our children.  

Don't skip this one.  

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.  

Saint Nicholas Day

Happy Saint Nicholas Day! 

First of all, let me begin by saying I am a Southern Baptist.  I was born into a Southern Baptist family, raised in the Southern Baptist church, and made a personal commitment to Jesus and was baptized into the Body of Christ at the age of 8.  

Saints and sainthood aren't really big in the Baptist church -- not like they are in some other Christian denominations.  However, a few weeks ago, I felt a really calling to take a patron saint.  

Now, I knew there were patron saints of things....I mean, like Saint Jude being the patron saint of lost causes, and Saint Francis of Assisi being the patron saint of animals and such like, but I didn't know if an individual person could take a patron saint for himself.  Or herself, as would be my case. 

Naturally, I did what any red blooded American would do.  I got on Facebook and asked my Catholic friends if an individual could take a patron saint, and if so, how would one go about doing that, and would it be OK if I took one, even though I'm Baptist.  

My Catholic friends (and one Orthodox friend) explained the process to me, and reassured me that being a confirmed Catholic is not a requirement, and I could indeed choose a patron saint if I felt a particular affinity towards one in particular.  

As it happens, there was a Saint I was feeling especially drawn to, so I choose as my patron saint.....

Saint Nicholas of Myra. 

I chose him for the following reasons:

He is the patron saint of single people.  Yep, I qualify there.  I've been essentially single my whole life.  Even the brief time I was married, my husband and I never lived together due to our military commitments, so I really don't count myself as ever having been married.  I mean, legally I was, but not really.

He is the patron saint of sailors.  Five years in the world's finest Navy...yeah, I'm there, too.  Go Navy!  Beat Army!

He loved to give gifts -- and according to one version of his story, especially loved giving them in secret.  The reason cited was that he wanted the recipient to believe the gift -- and keep in mind, when I say gifts, they were practical things like the time he supposedly gave dowry money to three daughters of a poor man so they would be able to marry -- but he wanted the recipient to believe, to know, the gift came from Jesus.  

But probably the biggest reason I chose Saint Nicholas is that I, too, frequently feel the desire to slap people -- and not just heretics....That particular day at work, I was having a rough time of it.  I don't know if I was being especially irritable or my coworkers were being especially stupid, but I was having to stand on my hands to keep from slapping someone.  

St. Nicholas spoke rather strongly to me that day.  

Today being St. Nicholas day, I have to share with you this little gem, which I totally swiped from my friend Kristine, and which I also totally sang:  

So let's go gang!  Let's get out there and slap some heretics!

Before I go, here is today's Homestead Holiday Share for day 6– a holiday scent.   

To me, there is no scent more closely associated with Christmas than pine.  I know some of you might say it is cookies baking, or cinnamon, or oranges, or whatever, but for me, it's pine.  For your photos today, as soon as I got home from work, I headed straight out into the woods behind my house and found...

some pine trees.  Not Christmas tree pines, but pine trees nonetheless. 

I took the photos in color.  The black and white appearance is all the natural colors and the lighting.  The silhouette of the trees against the overcast, gray sky.  The tall, majestic trees, towering over the hardwoods, lifting their arms to God...

Is it any wonder, they've always been my favorite of all the trees? 

Random Thoughts Of A Monday Evening

1.  Man, I need a nap.  

2. The Cowboys had the SNF game again last night, so I'd already set my DVR, knowing that I wouldn't be able to stay up and watch it all. since 2:45 doesn't come any later just because there's a football game.  Sure enough, just before half, I turned it off and went to bed.  The score was 14-13 Dallas. 

Somewhere along about midnight, I woke up to answer nature's call.  "That game is over by now.  Let me just check the score to see if Dallas won. "  They hadn't been playing all that well during the first half, so I had my doubts.  

Grabbing my phone, I opened my ESPN app and saw....54-19.  

I immediately did a double take, thinking I'd opened my College Football app instead, but no, sure enough it was the Cowboys-Colts score.  They must have absolutely exploded in the second half.  The downside is I had to wait until after a 10 hour shift in the factory to come home and watch it.

3.  Todays homestead holiday share is wreaths, so here are the three wreaths I have inside my house.   

This is my favorite wreath.  It hangs in the living room right above my TV.  This is an old photo, and it looks a bit more bedraggled now.  I keep thinking I need to replace it, but I just can't bring myself to do so.

This wreath is one I put together myself, with just a plain wreath and a bow.  Well, the wreath used to be lighted, but the lights stopped working a long time ago.  The little star in the middle is an ornament I hung it there because it needed a little something there. 

And this wreath is one I got from the church's women's Christmas party several years ago.  We used to play Dirty Santa -- yes, at church -- and this is what I ended up with.  

One of the other ladies made this, and the funny thing is, the gift I took that year was a hand knit sweater.  I gave a hand made gift and received a hand made gift in exchange.  Pretty cool, huh?

4.  I cast on another hat. 

All the projects I have going on, and I cast on another hat.  It's like I can't quit them.  Is there a hat knitter's anonymous?  I need to find a charity to which I can donate the ones I've already completed, because I'm running out of room in my gift drawer. 

5.  As I mentioned, season 3 of The Chosen is going to be released starting Sunday, so I've been re-watching seasons one and two.  I found this channel on YouTube where this guy Leonardo is reacting to watching each episode for the first time.  The first videos are a couple of years old, but I'm watching them for the firs time.  It's almost as interesting watching his reactions to the episodes as the episodes are themselves.  

Yesterday, we -- Leonardo and I -- were watching season one, episode six.  It was a very intense scene.  I was very intent on Leonardo's reaction, and totally focused....when all of the sudden, weather warnings starting coming over my phone, and I like to have jumped over the chair.  

When I saw this cartoon posted on Facebook shortly after that, it just seemed appropriate -- especially the one on the lower right.

6.  Your vocabulary word for the day:  schadenfreude.

You know that feeling you get when the cat asks you to let her outside and you say no because it's supposed to rain all day, then she hisses at you and swipes your leg with her claws, so you say, "ALLRIGHT!" and let her out and then you go to work and she has to stay outside all day in the rain while you're at work, and you think, 'It serves her right"?  

That's schadenfreude.  

7.  By the way, she didn't actually have to stay out in the rain.  She can get inside the shed so at least she's dry. 

8.  They announced which teams will be playing in the college football playoff and guess who isn't in it?  That's right, neither Alabama nor Clemson is playing.  For the first time since it started, there isn't one of those two teams isn't in the playoff.  

9.  I reckon that's it for today.  Laters.

A New Thing

 But first, an old thing. 

My town had its annual Christmas parade Friday evening after a two year hiatus. I’d planned on going, and Cody and Brennan were going to drive down and watch it, but in the end, none of that happened.  I just didn't feel up to it.  Oh, I wasn't sick, per se, I just felt run down.  I think it's because they have us going in at 4:00 again.  The older I get, the longer it takes me getting accustomed to getting up in the middle of the night. 

Lucky for me, the local paper livestreamed the parade on their Facebook page, so I was able to see it.  Honestly, it's pretty much the same old parade year after year.  Mostly cars with "Eat At Joe's" signs taped to the side, a few floats, and of course, the highlights of the parade are the 7th & 8th grade band and High School band.  They were still playing the same songs they played when Cody was in Jr. High and High School.  It brought back so many memories. 

Oh, yeah, and Santa Clause.  

The tree lighting was a bit of a disappointment.  Last year, they had a few different people come and sing.  One of the local ministers led the crowd singing carols, and finally, they had a countdown and lit the tree.  This year, at the end of the parade, Santa just got off his sleigh, walked over and plugged the tree in.  Not even a countdown.  I liked last year's way better. 

Oh well, at least they're not having the parade at 3:30 on a Tuesday afternoon any more.  Every year, I'd have to take half a day of vacation just to be able to watch my son march in the parade.  He was in it every year from first grade (cub scouts) through his senior year (band).  The only time he missed was 6th grade, because he'd already quit scouts by then, and sixth graders don't march with the band.  

Despite my feeling puny, I finally managed to get the last of the decorations out and the boxes all back into the shed.

By the way, the wall isn't dirty right there on the right side.  It's where I tried to sand the texture off because I'd planned on re-painting it.  It didn't work so well, and I decided just to wait until I could get this whole area remodeled. 

A bit of good news, though.  I think I've solved the issue of my shed flooding.  And what did I do to solve it?  Why, I dug up all those canna lilies.  Since I got the last of them dug up, we've had a couple of very heavy rains, but no sign of flooding in my shed!  Nothing is wet, and no mud on the floor!  

Don't envy me my exciting life...

So anyway, my friend Marcy at Amnicon Studios clued me in to a new thing that the homesteading crowd is apparently doing on Instagram this year.  I'm not a homesteader, though I wish I could be.  If only I could find a Godly, French speaking man who knows how to live off the land and has woods and a pond....I don't ask for much, do I? 

Here is the list of prompts they've posted.  

I can't guarantee I will be able to do this every day, but I'm going to try.  I'm already behind, so let me catch up a bit. 

1.  Selfie.

I'm not big on selfies, but I did take one last month when I voted. 

2.  Morning Frost

This one is from last year.  We've had some frosts already this year, I just didn't get out and take pictures. 

3.  Cup Of Cheer

OK, this one is a really old photo, and I don't know why I took it at this angle, but it's very special to me.  See, this cup of hot chocolate is from my first and only white Christmas, way back in 2010.  

Now, I wonder what happened to that mug.  It was also one of my favorites. 

4.  Festive Furry Friends.

This is as festive as the old girl gets.  Sleeping on my snowflake blanket while we watch Cheesy Hallmark movies.  But at least she leaves the tree alone, so there is that. 

On a completely unrelated note, one of my bucks dropped by to see if there was any corn to be had.

I wish someone would come and cull these bucks from the herd, because every last one of them has the ugliest racks I've ever seen.  

Frankly, I've never understood why some states don't allow spikes to be hunted.  If you ask me, there should be an unlimited number of them taken, because of the inferior genetics.  All of my bucks are spikes, and I'd love to have them hunted.  

It would have to be during archery season, though, because of this being a residential area. 

Now, if you've made it this far, a bit of news for you.  They've announced the dates for the release of Season 3 of The Chosen.  Episode one will be released next Sunday, December 11 at 7:00 PM Eastern, 6:00 Central. 

I'm already counting down the days!