Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Some left over whittling...

There's a great scene in The Music Man that captures a day like today for me. The older gent is sitting around, & his wife begins fussing at him for not doing anything (note: that getting fussed at part does not apply to me...*smile*). He looks up & says something like "You're wrong, woman...I'm a busy man! I've got some whittlin' left over from this morning..."

So, here's some left over whittling...in no particular order. Enjoy! (or something...)

1. Among the many utterly cool things about teaching as a career, days off @ Christmas is right up toward the top. That plus the huge paycheck...

2. James & I are heading out to Dallas for the Cotton Bowl next week! He was offered some tix by a buddy, only to discover that the "offer" meant "I'll sell you some tix"...oh well...We're going to enjoy this immensely!

3. Regrettably, #2 means that we won't be able to watch the Sugar Bowl. Let there be no doubt that I hope my Tide delivers a beatdown on the Utes. And that I expect that this will be a pretty tough game.

4. I am very excited about the Christmas Eve service @ church tonight, although I'm not thrilled to not be with my family during it. (I'll be doing my tech duties). Y'all should come, if you're in the H'burg area: 6:00 p.m., & it won't last very long.

5. Last night's bowl game was--as expected--a great game between two very good teams (TCU v. Boise St.). I enjoyed it immensely, although James' dog Beau cuddled up on me & made me go to sleep for a good part of the 3rd qtr & the early part of the 4th. (enjoyed that immensely too!)

6. Just a small amount of Christmas shopping left today--stocking stuffers, & not many of them. I'm rather impressed with myself, though I did most of my shopping by proxy. Note carefully: I did decide on the gifts to be purchased!

7. There's not a good football game on today/tonight. Notre Dame v. Hawaii = 2 mules fighting over a turnip, to quote the late great Lewis Grizzard. My only connection to this game is the hope that Notre Dame keeps their bowl streak alive. That's a losing streak, dating back years & years. Favorite stat: 85 teams have won a bowl game since Notre Dame has! Is this a great country, or what? ; )

8. I'm going to spend considerable time staring at my Christmas tree today. And remembering. I won't reach for a forced, strained religious imagery here; to me the decorated Christmas tree emphasizes the family part of the holiday.

9. I'm not offended when someone wishes me "Happy Holidays." I trust they're not offended when I wish them "Merry Christmas."

10. I thinking of continuing my home-office throwaway-fest. Badly needed. Of course, staring at the Christmas tree & napping with the dogs is pretty badly needed as well...

11. Yikes! Just noticed a couple of Christmas decs that are not yet put up! I'll fix that after another cup of coffee.

12. I'm not very happy with Lisa's presents. (to be precise: with the presents we have for her) She never wants much at all, which, ironically, makes it more difficult to buy for her.

13. Was just pondering the long, long journey we've been on since this time last year. Jerry Garcia said it best: "what a long, strange trip it's been..." Here's hoping for a boring year next year!

I have a full-on Christmas entry percolating, but just in case I don't get to that in time, MERRY CHRISTMAS! He was, He came, He lived, He taught, He died, He was raised, He left, and He's coming back! Maranatha!

Because of Christmas...and Easter,
bb

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Mike-I agree with you on the bowl games. If any team is in a worse position than Auburn, I would say it is Notre Dame. I realize they managed a 'winning' season, but they are Notre Dame after all. I know you were out of town, but did you see the Southern Miss game??? Ouch! My best friend and I were watching it in a restaurant, and grown men were balled up when DeAndre's leg broke.

We are having family Christmas tonight so the twins can stay at their house in the morning for 'Santa'.
Merry Christmas to your family!
Christy

oldfatslow said...

Sounds like you've got
Christmas in perspective.
Oh, and hating Notre
Dame is a good thing.

We have been having a
great time. I'm off for
two weeks, SheWhoMustBeObeyed
has been single-handedly
trying to revitalize the
economy, and my kids are
(finally) all home.

ofs

Janice Gundy said...

This is a comment on whittling #4. Thank you for being in your tech location in the balcony during the Christmas Eve Service! I don't know if you played the video or did the words on the screen, but I am totally appreciative of the words on the screen! The video was great too. Thanks for what you do behind or above the scene!