Ringing in the New Year

There will be no bells -- dinner and a movie with friends will do it. I've enjoyed blogs and Christmas letters from friends whose homes were full of children and grandchildren over the holiday. We had our share of family too, but we broke with tradition this year. No Christmas Eve party. Instead Tom and I had a very enjoyably quiet Christmas eve day, a simple dinner followed by a car ride to look at Christmas lights, meandering into town to get a movie out of the Red Box at the local gas station. After the movie we warmed our toes by the fire.

Did I say we were alone? Silly me. We had our furry friends for company that night.

Cleo

Phoebe

It was a lovely evening. More about the New Year to come...

Christmas iPad

There are four iPads in this house, but mine is the newest. This is the coolest Christmas present ever...well I think so... That chainsaw I back in 1996 was a pretty cool gift. And I got so much work done with it. Not that I ever started it up, but I let Tom use it anytime he wanted, or anytime I wanted him to. He was surprised how much work a little chainsaw could do.

I'm actually just checking to see if I can blog from my iPad. My kids are here to give me pointers -- better than any tutorial. So that's the point of this post, learning and practicing. I'd really like to add a picture, but I have to go read up on how to do that. If all else fails, as I understand it, there's an app for that.

For now there are some other gifts waiting to be opened. I think I'm holding up the action.

Moving on...

Christmas Eve Morning

The house is quiet, except for the hum of the furnace and purr of the cat beside me. I don't often see this hour of the morning...but I'm thinking, what's to see anyway? It's very dark. Electric candles glow warm and soft in the windows. Each one has a double reflecting back. Cup of coffee in hand I've walked through the house plugging in lights, enjoying the ambiance, watching for the sky to lighten up.

All is peaceful, calm, dark...in spite of the dusting of snow. The presents are wrapped. House clean enough, ready for company tomorrow. (I know. I can't believe it either.) The mood is just right, a perfect time to blog...I thought. But then again... the glow of the computer screen kind of ruins the magic. So I'll close this out, close the lid. Looking toward the eastern sky, there's the first light of dawn. How marvelous, the start of a new day. Christmas eve day.

Merry Christmas friends. May you find Love, make peace, and bask in joy.

Happy Holidays!

There are a lot things to pick on in the world, but how you wish someone a happy holiday shouldn't be one of them. I applaud whoever wrote this...

Christmas is a very special time for me. I like the glitz and the holiday music. I like the presents, gathering together with family, the holiday foods, chestnuts roasting and stockings hung by the fire, and the cookies, I really like the cookies.  But I'm very aware that the trappings can distort and sully the meaning of the season. Sometimes I wish for a simpler Christmas celebration -- one where we don't exchange presents or prepare pageants. Then I remember that I love exchanging presents and those pageants...well they always help me see the reality of divine intervention. Kids who didn't know their parts, wouldn't speak up, pouted, fussed, carried on, suddenly become angelic presenters of the gospel. That's a miraculous happening in churches all over the world. It recurs every single year in the weeks and days before Christmas, children remembering their lines.

The best part about those pageants is that people who wouldn't otherwise grace the indoors of a church will watch, and laugh, and applaud the efforts of children. And who knows they might hear from God.

Isaiah 11:6 The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them.

December 4th

Well technically it's the 5th -- well past midnight of the 4th. We had nice visit with dear friends, coffee (!) and dessert, a lovely fire in the fireplace. After company left, I walked through the livingroom turning out lights, the fire was still glowing and the embers offered a pleasant hint of wood smoke, which mingled with the scent of our freshly cut fir tree. Ah yes, it's beginning to smell a lot like Christmas!

Candles in the windows and lights on the B-I-G tree on the back porch, thank you Nathan. Icicle lights on the overhang of the front porch, thank you Adam and Alicia. Decorating the dining room entrance was my contribution. Oh, and this delightful addition to my M.A. Hadley collection, thank you Barb and Gus.

The cute little Merry Christmas coaster is new, but each of these pieces were gifts from the Atlanta contingent.

Tomorrow I'll hang the stockings by the fireplace and decorate the tree that presently stands unadorned. And then it will really and truly look a lot like Christmas. Shop, bake, write the Christmas letter, address cards, wrap gifts, all that to do during this month of advent. It makes the waiting go faster while we anticipate something marvelous. The birthday of a King, the Messiah, our Savior, Emmanuel, God with us. Advent is the time to prepare for what is to come!