Accomplishment

I feel so accomplished!  This morning, I managed to start a fire in my little wood stove without filling the whole house with smoke.  Yay me!  

Seriously though, I think what I'm doing wrong is basically being impatient.  See, I pick up little twigs and stuff from my yard to get my fire started, and I tend to cram too many into the stove at once.  If I'm just a little more patient and add the twigs a few at a time, maybe it'll do better.  Also, I need to let the little fire starter blocks I buy at Walmart get going before adding the firewood and stuff.  You'd think after 8 years in this house, I'd have figured out how to start a fire, but apparently, I'm a slow learner.  

The other thing I got accomplished since I last blogged is that I've gotten most of my Christmas shopping done.  I still need to get something for my older brother -- who always says he doesn't want anything, but I want to get him something anyway, because he's my brother and I love him-- and my nephew, who usually wants money for his Steam account.  I'll try to find him a card here locally, but last year I had to order one from Best Buy.  Hey, Brennan works at Best Buy.  Maybe I can drive down there and get one from her store, and visit a bit in the process.  

Or maybe I'll be able to figure out how to send it to him digitally.  I tried last year to add it directly to his Steam account, but couldn't get it to work.  I'll likely just ask if he's got CashApp or Paypal and give him money that way.  

Oh, and one more thing.  I ran into town to pay a bill at the water office, and while I was there, I stopped by the square to take a few photos of the Christmas decorations they have up.

Plus they're have activities all month and random Santa visits and stuff.  They've got it all listed on their Facebook page.  They really are trying to turn this into a Hallmark town -- just without the snow.  Because that would be apocalyptic here in the South and would inevitably lead to a fight in Walmart over the last of the milk and bread.  

OK, but what I told you all that for was to say that after I'd paid my bill, I opened my glove box to put the receipt into it and found....the new sticker for my license plate that I'd gotten last month and had never put onto my license plate.  I'd been driving around with an expired sticker for a week.  As soon as I got home, I put the new one onto my license plate and I'm legal once again.  FWIW, I do that every year.  Getting the sticker, then forgetting to put it onto my plate, that is.  It's a wonder I haven't been stopped for it.  

What I did not get accomplished is digging the holes for the posts for my bird and squirrel feeders.  Even with the good rains we've gotten lately, most of the state is still in severe to exceptional drought conditions. 

I got the old shovel out and tried, but I couldn't even get the blade to cut the ground.  It's still hard as a rock.  

Now for a bit of good news.   I just went and checked my internet data usage, and discovered it started over this morning!  I'd thought it started over on the 10th, but no...I can stream again!  Who hoo!  Speaking of streaming, I watched a really good Hallmark movie this morning (on my phone) called Holiday Road.   It's about 9 people who are trying to get to Denver for Christmas, only their flight gets cancelled.  They team up and rent a mini-bus to make the drive all together, become friends along the way.  It's not your typical cheesiness, and I really enjoyed it.  

Then, thinking I still had to save my data for the Army-Navy game, I watched a few more Christmas movies on DVD, including and old favorite- the musical version of Scrooge with Albert Finney.  

By the way, even though I prefer my Roku, one advantage of using my Fire Stick is that I can control the TV volume from the Fire remote, instead of having to pick up a second remote because Roku doesn't have volume control.  I mean, maybe they do on some of the newer ones, but my dinosaur doesn't have it. 

And finally, what I know you've all been waiting for, today's advent figure is a lamb.  

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

I learned something new yesterday-- new to me, that is.  I'd always thought that Hanukkah started after Jesus' time, but thanks to Rabbi Jason Sobel, who posted the following verse, I found out that it is actually mentioned in the Bible.  

"Then came Hanukkah; it was winter in Jerusalem. Yeshua was walking in the Temple around Solomon’s Colonnade. Then the Judean leaders surrounded Him, saying, 'How long will You hold us in suspense? If You are the Messiah, tell us outright!'” (John 10:22-24 TLV)

I'd never made the connection because most Western translations, including KJV and NIV, call it the Feast of Dedication.   But it's Hanukkah.  And since the Lamb of God celebrated Hanukkah, and it's the second night, for your song tonight, I give you the Maccabeats new song for 2023: