Happy New Year!

I've been lazy. This has been a wonderful Christmas break and I just haven't done much in the way of keeping with my normal routine. I went back to work today so I guess I need to get caught up before getting too much farther into the new year.

WE HAD A WHITE CHRISTMAS! Granted, it was a little less than an inch, but we sure did enjoy it. It was just enough to make the landscape pretty without messing up the roads for people getting out to see family on Christmas Day. One of our local weathermen wrote that the Nashville area has a seven percent chance of getting snow on any Christmas Day.

THE BEST PRESENT EVER! The last time I wrote was Tuesday, the 21st. That night Nate was talking to me and Vicki at bedtime and brought up the topic of becoming a Christian. This is something he's discussed with us off and on for well over a year. Well, that night he decided he wanted to Jesus to be his Savior so we talked about what that means and then prayed with him. It was the best Christmas present we could have gotten.

CHRISTMAS ACTIVITIES. Our schedule at Christmas has become a tradition. We go to Kenny and Lori's for their party on the evening of the 23rd. There's the Christmas Eve service the next evening. We have brunch at Mrs. Connie's on Christmas Morning and supper over at Aunt Mar's that night. This year was no different, except that Aunt Mar didn't feel like getting out.

Vicki and Kelly Raglin sang "Ring the Bells" as a duet at the Christmas Eve service and really made the song sound great. I was very proud of my wife who still battles stage fright.

Having the snow on Christmas morning was nice because it enticed the younger kids outside after eating to allow the adults time to talk and reminisce before opening presents. We had the best time listening to Kenny, Lori, Kelly, and Kathy telling about all the funny adventures gone wrong in their family. Vicki and I lead dull, drab lives compared to them. We laughed and laughed. They need to write a book. It was a very fun morning.

CHRISTMAS LOOT. Invariably when people talk about Christmas after the day has passed someone asks what you got for Christmas. We were very blessed this year. I was able to get some pictures framed for Vicki this year. David Head painted portraits of Jenna and Ben some time ago and we simply hadn't found an affordable picture framer until now. Vicki was pleasantly surprised. (David has promised to do a portrait of Nate to complete our set.) We also had a couple of large collage picture frames designed to hold 4x6 snapshots so I picked out some of our favorite pictures, printed them, and filled the frames.

I also had our ice maker repaired for Vicki. It has been on the fritz for several years now. We never bothered to fix it because we could get ice from Pauline and it was a good reason to go over and check on her. Now that we are renting the house that was not an option. The funny thing is that the appliance repair guy came and installed a new water valve since that's the problem the majority of the time. We fell in the minority so he came back and put a new ice maker in our freezer for free. We have to laugh because this "new" ice maker won't quit making ice after the bin is full. We've gone from one extreme to the other.

The kids got many of the things they wanted. I think their favorite is Uno Attack. This version of the game has a card launcher that sits in the middle of the table. Whenever you are in a situation where you need to draw cards you press the button on the launcher and it may or may not shoot cords at you. You should hear them playing!

We also got a game called The Settlers of Catan (http://www.catan.com -- rhymes with baton). The premise is that you've landed on an island and are working to be the first player to colonize it. So far we've played it twice and really enjoyed it.

YES, THE TOOTH FAIRY DOES VISIT ON CHRISTMAS. The week before Christmas one of Nate's top, front teeth was really loose. He had Vicki pull it on Christmas Eve because he wanted to know if the Tooth Fairy and Santa Claus would visit on the same night. They do.

TRIP TO GEORGIA. Tuesday morning we loaded the van and headed for Georgia. Our first stop was to eat lunch with the Yergler family. Daryle had to work, but all the girls were in so we had a nice visit with them.

You may recall seeing video on the news or YouTube of the camel brought into a church at West Palm Beach for a Christmas musical rehearsal which decided to kneel in the aisle and then stood back up and fell into the pews where people were sitting watching the rehearsal. Fortunately, no one was hurt by the camel, but it just so happened that Emily Yergler was sitting on that pew (a few seats from the end) and got a ring side seat for the accident. You can see the video at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFd3e3m4Eao

Moving on to bigger news from the Yergler family, we have learned this weekend that Sarah is now engaged. None of us have had the opportunity to meet her fiancé since they live so far away, but we are all very happy for her.

After leaving the Yergler's house we headed on to spend time with the Jones family. We stayed with them through Friday morning and had a good time playing games, watching movies, eating, and visiting. The kids were all so happy spending time together we just stayed around the house, however, when we left on Friday we all traveled to Knoxville for the UT-College of Charleston basketball game. We made good time up there and ate lunch in Knoxville. Between the game and lunch we walked around campus and reminisced. All the kids were impressed when Will showed them the spot where he was struck by lightning when he was a student.

We were really disappointed in the game. UT scored first and that was the only time we led the game (The Vols lost 91-78). I would say the biggest highlight for the family was that Pat Head Summit came to the game (her son plays on the men's team) and we got to meet her afterward (well, Ben and I didn't because he had an upset stomach). After parting company our two families drove to their respective homes.

JOGGING. I mentioned the last time I wrote that the boys and I had been jogging. I'm still at it as is Ben, though he has missed a few days.

I'm really surprised with myself because exercise is a pretty big demotivator for me, however, I've kept at it and I'm up to 0.8 miles now. I run across the farm and my goal for now it to be able to run to Bill Chatman's and back.

What's been interesting is the psychology of an exhausted runner. As I'm returning to the house I run up a slight hill beside a line of trees. At the end of the trees I turn right, pass a barn, and head for the house. I'm some 250-300 feet from the house when it comes into view and the funny thing is that the distance literally appears to stretch right before my eyes making the "finish line" look like it is moving further away. I really had a hard time with this until I decided to move my end point to the barn which gives me that short distance to walk and cool down a bit. Once I made that decision the running got a whole lot easier.

SELECTIVE LISTENING: A CASE STUDY. Ladies, how many of you have been totally frustrated by the male ability to listen selectively? I had something happen that illustrates this phenomenon in action.

I told the boys to shower. Ben went first. After a while I went in the bathroom and said, "Hurry up so that Nate will have enough hot water." Knowing I needed to verify this I asked, "Do you hear me?" … six times. Now Nate, who was in another room answered me six times, but Ben, who I was talking to finally said, "Are you talking to me?" after I had repeated myself so much.

You’d think I’d know I need to call the boy by name and make sure I have his attention before trying to talk to him.

Joe