Blessed Christmas

 

We had hoped to attend a Christmas Eve service, but that is not going to happen. Both my husband and I still tire easily after having the flu the past 5-6 days, plus coughs. We are on the mend, but not back to normal. We will save our energy for a Christmas brunch tomorrow with family. I did make eggnog pie this morning and have choucroute in the oven for tonight’s supper.

It has been a gray rainy day, though the temperatures are fairly mild. There is a possibility of snow tonight when the temps drop, but there won’t be much accumulation. I read a book on my ipad, my husband is working on a jigsaw puzzle (which I am having trouble getting into—very challenging), and this evening I will go back to knitting a scarf I started last night. I had expected a relaxed unhurried week for the most part, and now with sickness it has been even more slow-paced. That isn’t bad.

We wish you all a blessed Christmas, hopefully with family and friends.

Unbroken

Have you noticed the promos for the movie Unbroken which comes out this week? I have been focused on Louis Zamperini for the past few months. My husband and I heard him speak at Grace College a few years ago. He was there for the students, but community residents were also welcome. It is a wonderful tale of God’s grace and transforming forgiveness. I did not read the book nor will I see the movie because it would plant long-lasting impressions of the torture Zamperini underwent as a Japanese prisoner of war. I think my husband may see it with a friend or his brother-in-law.

Around September, Carol to whom I report as a volunteer managing the library called me into her office. The Grace Village library had a copy of the 1956 Devil at My Heels memoir written by Mr. Zamperini. It had been missing from the shelf for at least 2 years. I know this because a resident who wanted to read it reported to me that she had been looking for it for months. She finally bought a newer edition and donated it to the library. I would watch for the missing copy, checking the shelf every few weeks. This had gone on for at least 2 years. I had pretty much written it off as lost. We operate on an honor system so have no way of knowing who might have taken the book and tracking it down. It would not be the first book to disappear from the library.

The administrator knew the book was missing, too. To her surprise, the son of a resident came by her office with the book. He was moving his mother out of an assisted-living apartment and found the book under her sofa. The reason he personally delivered it to Carol was that the book had been signed by Louis Zamperini. He didn’t want it to get lost again because he felt it had value. After discussing the situation, Carol suggested that rather than return the book to the library which is unmonitored that we should sell it and use the money to buy more books for the library. I readily agreed since we had a replacement. As I found out later, the replacement though titled the same is a total rewrite, but at that time I did not know that.

I asked if Carol wanted me to find a bookseller or try to sell it on ebay. I had previous experience selling items on ebay. We decided to go that route. However, knowing that the movie Unbroken would be coming out in December, I suggested that we wait until the end of November when the promotionals would generate interest in Louis Zamperini.

The book was in pretty poor condition. Any value would be in the signature and possibly interest in the story as published in 1956 as this version of the book is fairly hard to find. Since it was a library copy, it had a spine label and ownership stamp. The previous owner had written his name in ink. Someone had made a crude repair of the slightly loose cover with cellophane tape strips down the spine though the cover was not detached.

My husband had doubts it would sell. I was hoping to get $100. An earlier auction of a much better condition book but unsigned had sold for $90. Praise God it sold. After expenses (shipping, insurance, ebay commission, Paypal commission) we should end up with about $122.

Today I was looking over a blog I peruse fairly often. It had a link to a story about Laura Hillenbrand, the author of Unbroken. When I read her Seabiscuit, I had learned of Hillenbrand’s chronic fatigue syndrome and how she had to work around her limitations to research and write her books. I felt some kinship to her as fibromyalgia also is poorly understood and often regarded as all in one’s head. I know how she must have felt while searching for medical answers and being unsupported by the medical profession and in her case by her family. This article states that she has an idea for another book. If her health permits, we may see something new from her in the future. She is not yet ready to disclose the topic.

The earlier articles I read about the upcoming movie, had said that director Angelina Jolie downplayed Zamperini’s conversion at a Billy Graham crusade. Devil at My Heels has a photo of Zamperini and Graham together. Louis certainly credited Billy’s part in his salvation.

Even if the movie does not display this part of the Zamperini story, it can’t ignore it completely. He went from a bitter alcoholic to a lover of God who reached out to his Japanese torturers with love and forgiveness. If you can tolerate torture descriptions, it would be a good book or movie of God’s transforming power.

 

 

A Bright Comfy Christmas

We have our chairs back from Columbia House Interiors. It is hard when holding a little swatch to envision how the whole chair will look. Bright! I don’t dislike it, but it will take a bit of time to get used to it. I knew the chairs would become the dominant elements in the living room area. They added some padding as well which gave the seats some firmness which is good. The chairs should last many more years.

We added some throw pillows for the loveseat to tie the furniture colors together. The ties on my dining room chairs also complement this berry red. The chairs have been gone 2 weeks; sure is nice to have them back.

 

 

Word for 2015

I’ve been thinking about where I want my focus to be in 2015.  I think for my year word I am going to choose “space” or “spacious”.There are going to be some bigger changes in my life next year. Some will build on this last quarter of 2014, but some will be new.

 

I will be on Medicare starting in January; my insurance premiums for basic Medicare, a medi-gap policy, and prescription drug plan will be less than half what I am paying this year. This will free up funds for other things. I think I will join our local YMCA (which just opened a new facility) in March. Space for organized exercising in my life. I have been watching what I eat, including smaller portions since September 25th. I have lost between 11 and 12 pounds and am now back to what I weighed in 2007 when we moved from Texas to Indiana. I think to lose more will require an increase in activity. Hopefully, roominess (space) in clothing will ensue.

 

With less health insurance expense, it will free up money for some special gifts to ministries or projects. We still keep up with two couples that worked for us in the library at the seminary. One couple is in India; the other in Jordan. We did not commit to monthly support for them, but in 2015 we will give a few hundred dollars to each couple as special offerings. We already give to Grace Village projects; we may try to give more there as well. Spaciousness and graciousness in giving in 2015.

 

Continuing to declutter and winnow down possessions should lead to a spacious home; an improved living space. We already are sprucing up our living space by reupholstering our 15-year-old recliners. They should be back within the next week. I will continue to look for a few decorative items. A new antique mall is opening up in February 2015 about 5 minutes from my house.

 

The adding of the Grace Village library books to LibraryThing data base should be done in 2-3 months. That will free up time for me. I will use some of that time to weed the library collection to make shelf space for newer books. However, I should not need to spend so much time in the library. That will create space for new activities. Haven’t decided what yet, but I am mulling a few ideas.

 

And lastly, I hope we explore other space, i.e., travel to more places, take more trips in 2015. I am toying with going with Elder Hostel to Williamsburg next December to see the Christmas decorations and activities. We may try to go to Springfield, Illinois and to see the covered bridges in Indiana.

 

Yes, space/spaciousness fits well with my intended focus. What year word will you select?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chicago Trip

Yesterday was a long day. We boarded a chartered bus at 7 a.m. to head for Chicago on an outing sponsored by Winona Lake based Grace College and Seminary Alumni Department. We pulled into the Manahan Orthopedic Capital Center parking lot at 11:23 p.m. The alumni department provided us with a goodies bag of bottled water, candy, brochures for Water Tower Place, a sheet of words to Christmas carols, among other things. We did sing some of the carols enroute to Chicago. We knew over half of the people on the bus so it was a fun outing for us.

There was a trivia contest as we drove along, too. My husband won a prize, a nice cooler.

Our first scheduled stop was Gino’s East for lunch. This was included in the trip package that we purchased. We were off-loaded on Superior Street, just a block from the Magnificent Mile. We were a bit early. Several of us visited the Neiman Marcus store on the corner, not to buy anything, but to use their restroom facilities. My husband and I also went into the Disney Store on Michigan Avenue. The song playing and the featured display was from Frozen. Two little girls sang along as they strolled thru the store. This movie has definitely captured the imagination of little girls.

Gino’s East began in 1966. This original location shut down for awhile, but is now open again. I had eaten at one on the West side of Chicago maybe 8 or 9 years ago. Besides the deep-dish Chicago style pizza, Gino’s is known for the graffiti scribbled on the walls, booths, chairs, etc. It was interesting that there were signs in the bathroom asking people to not write on those walls. We had family-style-served salad and pasta. The servers brought us individual slices of pizza once we had chosen from the four options. This pizza is very filling. I had the Meaty Legend, my husband had the sausage patty. Yes, they cook up sausage as a patty and put it on the pizza whole with the other toppings. We split a slice of crumbled sausage pizza. The wait staff did a good job considering we had over 40 people.

The recommended post-lunch destination was Water Tower Place, two blocks north. My husband and I went south about 5 blocks to the Nordstrom complex. Besides the department store, there were specialty shops. We split up. He wanted to stop at Harry and David’s. Would that have something to do with his wife asking for Moose Munch for Christmas? I won’t know until Christmas day as he toted a plastic bag with his purchase inside of his Grace bag. We also stopped in a multi-level Crate and Barrel store. Lots of people out shopping the stores of the Magnificent Mile even though it was pretty nippy. We were glad that the forecasted rain never showed up. I had thought about catching a city bus to the Loop, but we instead went to Water Tower Place, an 8-story complex. I browsed Macy’s and a few of the 100 stores. Most of the stores were a bit pricey for me. I didn’t go into the American Doll store, but I did stop in the Lego Store.

Lego girl and puppy inside of play area where kids could put together Lego creations.

Since Water Tower Place wasn’t well-matched to our shopping criteria, we walked part of Michigan Avenue instead. At the foot of the Hancock Tower was a city Christmas tree adorned with lights. There appeared to be traffic gridlock as pedestrians often crossed against the light meaning vehicles wanting to turn left towards the lake were unable to do so and got left in the center of the intersection. That meant the northbound traffic could not move either. The bus in my photo sat in front of the tree thru at least 3 light cycles before inching thru the intersection.

I doubt the observation level of the Hancock Center got much business; it was very cloudy and hazy.

We went south again to the Water Tower that survived the Great Chicago Fire.

Across the street was a Hershey’s Chocolate Store with all kinds of Reeses and Hersheys products. They had a dessert counter which also served hot and cold drinks. We ordered some hot cocoa which we mostly drank in the store. We also browsed the store of the Museum of Contemporary Art which had some cute products. There was a pizza cutter designed as a bicycle, with the wheels of the bike incorporating the cutting edges. At $23, we passed on buying though.

At 5:30 CST a narrator from the Chicago Trolley Company boarded our bus, and we headed for Lincoln Park Zoo via Lake Shore Drive. This was promoted as a lightly-narrated tour. He did point out some things along the way and shared Chicago trivia. We had about 25 minutes to tour the lighted zoo. The only animals we saw were ones made of lights. In the middle was a fantastic display with lights laid out on the ground that lit up like a sweep hand of a clock to broadcasted music, constantly changing the pattern.

The white streaks were a special lighting effect. Clear plastic tubing hung from the tree and the white light moved along the tube. It looked like light raining down from the skies.

My point and shoot camera can only give you a poor idea of the lights. They were spectacular. There was no entrance fee, and lots of families walked through the grounds together. There is an ice skating pond where you can rent skates; we didn’t walk that far in the limited time we had.

Our narrated tour continued with a drive down Michigan Avenue, then a drive-by of Navy Pier, a short stretch down State Street where Macy’s (formerly Marshall Fields) had wonderful huge trumpet decorations extending from the building several levels above the street and decorated windows which unfortunately we really couldn’t see well. We then were dropped off along the edge of Daley Plaza where the Christkindlmarket was set up.

This was a mob scene with barely room to move. We did buy some schnitzel sandwiches which we ate as we walked by the booths. We also bought some hot candied pecans 

which came in a paper cone.

We munched on those back on the bus. I also wanted to buy a lebkuchen (decorated German gingerbread cookie). This treat dates back to the 13th century. You can read a short history on Wikipedia of lebkuchen. Mine was made in Germany re the label, though the motto and decoration obviously were made for a certain market. There were other mottos and even some skinny Santas.

The wares at the market were mostly international and included cuckoo clocks, carved ornaments and knick knacks, Polish dishware, woven scarves from Nepal, India brassware, beautifully decorated Christmas ornaments, wool knitted caps and gloves, felted slippers.

I would have liked to sleep on the way home, but they played White Christmas with Bing Crosby on the DVD screens which kept me awake.

One could adapt this trip by going to the Art Institute or if slightly warmer taking the local-led walking tours of Millennial Park or The Loop from the Chicago Cultural Center. These would require taking a city bus south of the Chicago River at $2.25 per ride. My husband went to the Art Institute with his sister about a month ago when her employer sponsored a shopping trip to Chicago via bus. However, some of our bus mates came back loaded down with packages, so if shopping is your thing, the original “intent” served well.