The Ordinary….

Do ordinary with your children because they will become extraordinary! I know this. I have two extraordinary children who focused on the present, the normal, the seemingly mundane… 

I found this on a friend’s FB page and needed to save it.

 

This!

I don’t know who needs to see this, but… 

Ready!

Write it down! I’m ready for Christmas! Well, I’m as ready as I’m going to be. 

The tree is up. The presents are wrapped. The stockings are stuffed. The menu is planned. I can’t wait to set the table, pour the champagne, and see my family open the gifts I’ve chosen for them. 

I am going to make some caramel coffee syrup and some biscotti next week. That’s fun and easy - and really, it’s for me. I like a caramel latte and biscotti for breakfast. (Wow! That sounds so bougie, but it’s really not. 🤣) 

Cards

Mr wanted to get the Christmas cards done today. Please note that we have been married for 32 years and this is the first year he helped me get them out. Now he does help me write the letter - if we send one with the cards, but we were too busy to do that this year! (He is working almost 24/7 at the moment.) He asked what goes into getting the cards out - umm… I start with updating the mailing labels and printing… he went to make sure we had enough gas for the chainsaw and propane for the grill… so, I did that. 

Next we find out if we have enough cards. He was still checking propane or email or something… Umm… I need to get more, but for this year, we had just enough - some people are getting the ASPCA free cards that come in the mail… Please note: If we see you on FB or in person - sorry, no card for you this year. We love you, but desperate times call for desperate measures! I’ll restock the cards after Christmas and if postage isn’t even higher than it is this year, you might get a card next year.

He returned from his chores and asked what he could do to help get the cards out - he signed each and every one of them. No hand cramps for me this year! Woo! I addressed them, stamped them, and sealed them. He will deposit them in the mailbox tomorrow morning. 

Well, 32 years and we can say we’ve finally done the cards together… I hope he decides to help next year, too! We had some laughs, some fun chatting, and neither of us got a paper cut. I’d call that a success. Spending time with each other is our favorite thing to do. Being productive while spending time is fun, too! Being productive while spending time that doesn’t involve hard labor - now that’s my kind of fun! As much as I love splitting wood, addressing cards is far less taxing.

The Green News

I subscribe to a newsletter written by a local gentleman, John Green. What he says makes sense! 

Read. Understand. 

ALL  I  SEE  IS  CONFUSION                      

THE  GREEN  NEWS                                        

DECEMBER 2021   ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Trying to understand this world and what’s going on in America is confusing to say the least. Where are we headed? All I can sayis we have reached the end of normal. Nothing appears normal anymore. Nothing makes sense any more. Take the word “family”. It once meant a man and a woman getting married and raising children together. They call it the nuclear family. It’s out of style today. Now anything goes. 

It makes no sense.​​​​​​

All nations have borders. America has borders too but refuses to control our border with Mexico. Our own government refuses to enforce our laws on immigration. Millions of people have crossed our Southern Border illegally. Our government pays no attention. 

This makes no sense.​​​​​​​​​

On his first day in office Pres. Biden started undoing EVERYTHING Pres. Trump had done. It was like watching a mad kid get back at his playmate. Pres. Trump made America energy independent. Pres. Biden made America energy dependent. We don’t control the price anymore. 

Does this make sense?​​​​​​​​

The Biden Administration offers their “Green New Deal” to save the world from Climate Change. We have 15 coal-fired power plants. They are all planned for shutdown. Europe has 468 coal-fired power plants and plans 27 more. India has 589 coal-fired power plants and plans to build 446 more. Japan has 90 and plans 45 more. China has 2363 coal-fired power plants and plans 1,171 more. 

Does the “Green New Deal” make sense without the rest of the world joining in? And science has not proven that climate change is caused by man.​​​​​​​

We are a socially confused country. The Wokeism movement seeks to cancel history. They literally want to erase all knowledge of history. Then we would never see the failures of communism and socialism. Also there is Critical Race Theory (CRT). It states all whites are racist. And everyone else is oppressed. We have Deep Equity Process. Here our schools work to have equal outcomes for everyone. I wonder if this applies to NBA, NFL and Major League Baseball players? 

It makes no sense.​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Another program in vogue is transgenderism. It eliminates sex, sort of. According to this we are not born male or female. The gear we carry doesn’t matter. What matters is how you feel. You decide if you are male or female or something else. And you can change that anytime you want. The boy in Northern Virginia was born a boy, decided he was a girl and was allowed to use the girl’s bathroom. Then he decided he was a boy when he sees a girl in the girl’s bathroom and raped her. 

This whole thing makes no sense.​​​​​​​​​​

How did we get to this state of confusion? Let me offer my thoughts: Our Founding Fathers believed in God and the Judeo-Christian value systems. They believed in a God who Created all things. And that we are responsible to God who gave us Commandments to live by. He also gave us Free Will to accept or reject Him. And we have a Conscience, a sense of right and wrong. We have been running away from God. We are replacing God with man’s imperfect government. ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

We have lost our values, the values that worked so well for us.Man’s wisdom cannot come close to God’s wisdom. By rejecting God we put ourselves into a constant state of confusion. This confusion will continue until we rediscover God. Christmas is a good time to rediscover God and His plan for us.  

John Green

Bells will be ringing

Today - two performances - at 3pm and 7pm! Trinity Lutheran - be there! 

BRAVA, the community group we ring with, is having our Christmas concerts today. The music is great! Mr and I are also singing (with others, of course). Yep, that’s a scary thought. It’s good that we have some really good singers, because Mr and I are far more parrot than Pavarotti… 

In between concerts, we are having a pot luck. It seems not everyone is staying. I’m a little sad about that, but they live close, so… That’s fine. They will miss my yummy Brunswick Stew. 

I made a blanket for one of the ringers who is getting married in a couple of weeks. I hope she likes it. It’s one of my best! 

Projects!

Christmas is my busiest season. Between bells and decorating and making special things for special people - time is fleeting! I’m currently playing yarn chicken with a scarf. Will I have to go upstairs and find a matching skein of yarn? Probably… ok, yes. I did have to get another skein. The recipient will love this gem. Heck, I love this gem and I might have to make a few more for friends if they see this. I think I have enough yarn to make 3 more… so, if you want one, message me. 

I finished this little lovely for a new friend who is getting married in a couple of weeks. I hope she likes it. 

I’ve made some hand lotion. I’ve got ingredients for my homemade biscotti. I need to make a couple pair of mittens, and I’ll be done… for Christmas… maybe… But before any of that can happen, I need to finish the project at the top so I can mail it today, get through a rehearsal tonight, survive 3 handbell performances this weekend, and enjoy brunch and a tree trimming with my LLB. 

I will get back to projects on Monday. That should leave me plenty of time to get it all done before Christmas… right??