Christmas Day and the Blizzard

We had a lovely snowbound Christmas. It was really nice to get up and open our presents while snow swirled around outside. We kept watching the drifts pile higher and higher. By late afternoon Den went out to try to get a headstart but came in after a couple of hours feeling like he'd hardly made a dent! We went out Saturday morning when things calmed down and shoveled and ran the snowblower for 2 and a half hours. Andrew's car was completely buried! It just so happened to be in a drift place, and it's not very high off the ground! I think the side next to the fence is still up to the top of the car. The battery is dead, so we can't move it to get at the snow. Will got his car shoveled out yesterday so he and Linnea could go to a movie. Incentive, you know.

Our celebration begins Christmas Eve usually by going out for Chinese and then to a service, but this year the blizzard was roaring and we weren't THAT in to Chinese. So I made an Italian dinner, nothing extravagant. Then later we have panettone and champagne and open a present. It was Will's Settlers of Catan. So we (Den and me) learned how to play that before we went to bed.

We usually have a very lazy Christmas Day. We nibble on this and that all day and have dinner about 3 or 4. They watched Series 3 of BlackAdder that they got for Christmas. More crazy, twisted British humor...The family was very cooperative with my attempts to get a decent family picture. And no one missed not having the flaming pudding this year! I used to get it at World Market, but they all closed. So I never got one. I love it, but the rest of the family really only likes it for the fire! I had bought the crackers last year. We watched the new Harry Potter movie and then played another game of Settlers of Catan, or maybe the other way around.

Linnea and I are crocheting squares of all different patterns to eventually put together into an afghan. Crocheting is a good movie-watching activity. As is drinking GALLONS of tea!! :)

Today, praise God, the SUN IS SHINING! Hopefully, the nearly bare place will clear of snow.

Snowflakes

Linnea and I are learning how to crochet snowflakes. This is our first attempt. We found this pattern online and modified it. We're on to some new ones now. I even found some sparkly thread!

Today is a dark cloudy day. Charlie Brown's Christmas music is playing on the CD player, Linnea is reading a book and I'm finishing up some blogging. Then I'm going to try my hand at this snowflake business.

This rain we're getting is supposed to change to snow tonight and become another major storm. Six to 12 inches they're telling us. We have no plans to go anywhere so let it snow, let it snow, let it snow-again! Lord willing, we'll have clear roads for our trip to Chicago next Tuesday!

Andrew called again last night. Denny was home, so they got to talk Navy!

Our 30th Wedding Anniversary

Yesterday December 22nd was our 30th wedding anniversary. We got married then because I was teaching school and it was Christmas break. While the children were growing up, we used that day to do our Christmas shopping and then went out for a quick meal alone. But now Linnea lives away from home, so we don't want to go out while she's home.
We decided to have a nice meal at home .
Den likes Prime rib, so we got one and then added all the delicious bits that go with it like mashed potatoes and gravy, Yorkshire pudding (Linnea makes the best!), steamed carrots and green beans, mushrooms, and fresh cranberry sauce. For dessert we had a trifle.
We ate at 8 and finally finished about 9:30. It was a really delicious and fun meal. We even have leftovers. Nice not to get the check, but still had to clean up!

Den brought home the most beautiful bouquet I have ever seen. Another nice thing about getting married at Christmas time is that things you get have a Christmas theme. This bouquet has red balls and pine branches in it as well as the gold ribbon. Sooo lovely!

Mental block

I should be writing a lesson for my Wednesday evening class, but I'm writing this hoping to prime the pump.

Last lesson was on "LIGHT". Jesus being the Light. Christmas and Light. I had just finished reading Not Without My Daughter and was so struck by the darkness of Islam. The lesson was forced upon me practically. So obvious is the light we have in Christ. So dark was the world before the coming of Christ. So dark is the world to those living outside the light of the Lord Jesus Christ.

But now I need one more Christmas lesson. Most of the children have grown up in church and are either homeschooled or go to a Christian school, so the regular story of Jesus' birth is very familiar. I'm thinking about JOY and PEACE for this week. Hence my stalling. I need to think how to develop it into a lesson for 9-12 yo's. AND come up with some kind of activity.

I went to Bible Gateway and read verses with "joy" in them. Now THAT will lift your spirit!

Since I'm still "priming"...in other news... We had more snow today. But it's stopped now. We had a super letter from Andrew on Friday. He said things are going really great for him. He sees God at work in him and for him and he's so grateful for that. He sees answers to his prayers, and sometimes even before he asks, he says. Thank you so much to you who have been praying for him. He really sees the result in his life. He is doing well physically as well and sounds very happy. He goes to Pensacola, FL January 6th. We're looking forward to boot camp graduation December 30th.

In preparation for that trip and because of our getting stuck experience last week, Den bought four very good tires for our car on Saturday!

OK, maybe I'd better get back to work....

SNOW DAY!

Yeah, something I could blog about

Yesterday afternoon was the annual free performance of Handel's Messiah downtown Omaha. I should have taken my camera because the lights on the trees at the park were beautiful! And the snow falling made everything look so Christmasy.

The snow falling. I'm an NOT of fan of driving in snow. I contemplated not even going to the performance when I heard there was a chance of snow. But I checked the forecast before I left and it said, "snow-showers" which I interpret to mean snow blowing around in the air from time to time but not really sticking and accumulating.

Well, as we walked out the people there were telling us to be careful because it was slippery. It was still blowing fine snow quite heavily. A friend dropped me at the church where I had left my car and I gingerly got on the interstate and off on to the streets near us. Everything was just fine, no problem, until I was about a mile from home. There's a stop light at the top of a hill. I figured if I drove slow enough to catch the green light I wouldn't have to stop at all. However, there were about five other cars in all manner of directions on that hill, and the light was NOT changing to green!! I've never seen it so long! I managed to get to one side of one car when my car just started spinning tires. I backed up and tried again. Same thing. And so were the several other cars on that hill. No grit/sand had been put down, no snow plows had been on ANY roads that I could see. So I and a couple other cars backed up and tried a side street. Good for a block until I had to turn up the hill. And then it was worse. I tried several times, and finally gave up.

What was I going to do? I don't know anyone who lives nearby. Dennis was on a plane somewhere between Omaha and Atlanta. So I got out, locked the car and walked home. I'm thankful I was wearing wool pants (sorry, trousers for you Brits!) and my long wool coat with a wool scarf. And also, thankfully, the wind was behind me.

It took me about 35 minutes, and because I walked very fast I stayed warm. It was about 21 degrees and windy. I only fell once.

When I got in the house there was a phone message from Denny that he had arrived at the airport. So he was driving home in it, too. I phoned him and told him to take the flattest route home! Wish I had thought of it earlier!! He arrived about a half an hour later. While still bundled up and his car warm he said, "Let's go get your car." And I thought, "You're crazy. I just came from there. There's no way you're going to get it up the hill." But I said, "You drive down there and park at the top and walk down and see if you get it up. When you do, come home and we'll drive both cars home." About an hour later he arrived home. Without the car. It's just a little farther down the hill...

It's about 12 degrees right now. The sun is shining, but they're predicting a heavier snow for tomorrow. Hopefully, after work tonight, they will have sanded that hill and we can get the car home!

Christmas in Italy

I've been missing Christmas in Italy, so I thought I'd see if YouTube had any zampognari. Sure enough! These shepherds come down from the Abruzzi mountains and play in the streets of our town. One time they even came right in to the foyer of our apartment building. The reverberations off the marble floor, stairs and plaster walls was deafening! As in Scotland, they are better heard in the open air.

This video is taken Christmas Day it looks like. It's pretty dark, but very realistic. Our kids will identify. It looks like Maranola, although it isn't. Maranola had a live presepe that we visited several times, the whole town was transformed in to the 18th century with Mary and Joseph and their animals and baby Jesus at the center and top of the village (It was on a mountain.)

The song they're playing is Tu Scendi dalla Stelle. Ah, Gaeta friends, it brings back such great memories!

One afternoon in November

I know I didn't blog much in November. There really wasn't a whole lot to say. I have lots of things that go on in my head, but thankfully, not much gets written! I did spend much of my writing time writing letters to Andrew. He's thankful that he gets letters most every day. And he's doing great, I might add. Found friends and is happy.
One thing Den and I did do on a sunny day in November was walk around downtown Omaha. It was a gorgeous warm day.
The cat stayed home and read a book!