Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas

I just took off my Nike shoes and put on my black velvet ballet slippers. That means I intend to stay inside for the rest of the day. Windows Live Writer didn't work last post and still will not allow me to publish a post written using it. I am using the composer associated with Blogger with which I am unfamiliar and awkward.

After spotty showers this morning, steady rain has set in since 1 p.m. There is a thunder storm warning alert, but so far other than drowning my flower bed (wonder if the crocus bulbs will rot) and a pickup of wind, nothing severe.

Tonight we will eat left-over southwest chicken. Tomorrow the choucroute will bake while we are at a Christmas Eve service. This afternoon I made egg nog pie for tomorrow evening's meal and for Christmas evening dinner. We are joining family for brunch on the 25th. In the evening we will have pork tenderloin with orange sauce.

We are ready to celebrate Christmas: the meals planned out, the decorations up, the packages wrapped. Yet my heart is heavy for so many people struggling emotionally and physically. Premature twin boys still in the hospital trying to gain weight, my friend who had cancer surgery and faces radiation and a very uncertain future, the families of those killed in San Bernardino and Charleston and Oregon, refugees seeking a safe place and not finding welcome. Our world seems very dark and ugly, much in need of the Light that shone out of Bethlehem. May we turn to our Redeemer with faith and hope.



Ready for Christmas

The house is finally decorated for Christmas. I bought a pink poinsettia this year. I have never had one that color, but I am enjoying the change. What colors have you purchased?

 I moved the floor lamp with its 3 platforms from the living room to the sun room so that I could put the Christmas tree where it is easily seen. This year I decided to decorate the lamp shelves.

These are ornaments that no longer fit on my tree since I down-sized to a table tree, but I still like to see these ornaments from years ago.

 

The middle shelf has a nativity scene made from wood and thorns from an African thorn tree which my sister who served as a missionary in Niger gave me.

 

The top shelf is a juvenile manger scene that I purchased from Family Bookstore in Mesquite, TX

I did some shopping this morning and unless I see something special to add to my husband’s gifts, I am done. Next week I will focus on wrapping and shipping those gifts that need to go to loved ones far away.

 

We are having a mild winter so far. I guess El Nino is actually making a difference. We have reservations for two nights on Captiva Island, Florida the end of January, followed by 2 weeks in New Smyrna, Florida in a rented condo. I just learned that there will be a rocket launch on February 3rd from Cape Canaveral. We will be very close to Cape Canaveral National Seashores and should be able to see the rocket as it goes heavenward. That should be fun.

 

Grace Village has its residents’ Christmas dinner December 8th. The choir puts on its concert on December 18th. I usually put out some Christmas books in the hall display, and folks seem to be taking them to read. The Fort Wayne Philharmonic puts on a Christmas pops concert in various communities. They will be in Warsaw December 13th, and we have tickets. We are all gearing up to celebrate the birth of Christ.