Everywhere I turn;
In the corner of the room I see our beautiful Christmas tree
With ornaments and pretty lights all aglow...
THANKSGIVING
We enjoyed a nice, quiet Thanksgiving here, which is exactly what was needed before diving into the Christmas season. Vicki and Jenna did most of the cooking last Wednesday. They still had some prep work to do Thursday morning but could afford to sleep in. We took everything over to Mom’s for a late lunch. We ate, napped, ate dessert that evening, and then played Spades. It was a most enjoyable day. Such a simple day. It’s one of my favorites.
Another pleasant part of our Thanksgiving happened Saturday when we met Ann Beth and Daryle for brunch at Cracker Barrel on Saturday. They stopped on their way home from their own family Thanksgiving activities.
LEAVES
I’m glad to say that we got all the leaf chopping done before winter this year. Well, I should say that given oaks don’t drop all their leaves at once we got Mom’s yard in as good of shape as possible.
The boys finished up our yard Wednesday. I need to brag on them a bit. It was a pleasure to be able to give them a job like that before going to town with Jenna to run errands and find that they were almost done when I came home. What’s more, they were working together nicely and doing it to my standard. I grabbed a rake to help finish up when I got back. At that point Ben came over and told me what he was planning to do next with the mower as if to ask my approval. I started to give my opinion but quickly said, “Ben, you’ve got this. I’m just out here to run a rake.”
All three of us worked on Mom’s yard Thursday and Friday. We could have pushed to get it all done Thursday but we got tired of eating dust. Nate and I came home sneezing and with red eyes. At least the deep leaves are out of the way and what’s left to fall won’t carpet the yard too badly.
BASKETBALL
The JV basketball season has gotten off to a good start with a 3-1 record. They’ve looked really good on the court except for the game the lost where they looked like they had forgotten everything they knew.
Ben has gotten a decent amount of playing time in. He’s not one of the high scorers, but he does make his presence felt on the court.
A SAD ANNIVERSARY
My father passed away 48 years ago today. I bring this up because a few weeks ago Mom ran across a short paper she wrote on the 22nd anniversary this day in 1989. In that paper she recalls my father’s passing and then coming home to find the 15 month old me blissfully asleep in bed. Her paper concludes with the following statements.
This Christmas thank God that Jesus left his father in heaven and came as a baby sleeping in a manger. Came to help us all. Enjoy your Christmas! Enjoy your family and friends! Thank God for them, for your health, homes, good food, clothes, and your many, many blessings. Thank God especially that when our opportunities on earth are over we will be reunited in heaven.Given how the world has changed since then these words are a wonderful reminder to me of how to approach this Christmas season.
Joe
