Saturday, December 25, 2004

The Pelikan 800 was my Christmas gift from Cristie. Medium nib, sapphire blue body. Sure wish you could have seen it when you were here, Nate. A true writer's pen!

Merry Christmas to all.

Friday, December 24, 2004

Well it's Christmas Eve, and I have about 1,496 things to do to get ready. So what do I do? I start fishing around the Blogger site, looking at what other people have to say...

Actually, I'm here becasue I just spent 45 minutes plunging my kitchen sink. It's maddening I tell you. Plunge one side, the other side fills up. Plunge the other side and my dishwasher fills up. Liquid Plummer foam everywhere. Finally I got Sam to come over and plunge one side while I plugged the other side (and just immediately after draining the dishwasher). It seems to have worked. For now, anyway. I'm sure the extensive damage will reveal itself sometime next week. So Lois, no Bratzeli's this year. I'm too pooped.

After that fiasco, I decided to make myself a snack. Cristie's raw diet has rubbed off on me a little and I've been trying to consume more fruits and veggies. I bought a persimmon at the store. They are YUMMY, but I harldy buy them because their about the size of a tomato and can cost 1-2 $ a piece. This was acutally my second time eating one. So I sliced it, put it on a plate and took a bite. The most amazing thing happened to me! As I was chewing, My mouth filled up with cotton! The more I chewed, the more cotton I had in my mouth! The sensation was so real to me, that I ran to the mirror to see what was happening. After receiving no occular validation, I ran downstairs to google in order to find out if I've just poisened myself. (Note, I continued to consume yet another piece as I searched. I really like this fruit! And the cotton feeling was very fascinating to me.)

Here's what I now know, in case any of you should want to buy persimmon fruit. They originated in Japan (that's not the problem), and then they "migrated" to Korea, and eventually came to the US in the 1800s. There are quite a number of varieties, but can be grouped into 2 groups; the astringent group and the non-astringent group. If the fruit is of the astringent class and is eaten before it is ripe, then your mouth becomes a cotton factory. The fruit tastes okay initially, but then becomes bitter. It's kind of a cool feeling though...

ANYWAY, once I knew I wasn't going to have to spend Christmas in the ER, I started snooping through The Blogger. I found this funny site you should all check out. This Michael Paulus guy took various cartoons and drew their skeletons. It's pretty funny! Here's the link: (hopefully it will work)
http://michaelpaulus.com/gallery/character-Skeletons/Hello_Kitty_closed_site

Well, enough sitting around for me! Happy Christmas everyone!
I'm so glad you blogged today Katie! MERRY CHRISTMAS to your darling little family. That picture of your boys is precious! We are all missing you, too. Lois, and I were talking about how it's just not the same without everyone there.

Mmmmm, your dinner sounds yummy! What wonderful memories you are creating.

Have a Happy Holiday, and give those boys some Christmas hugs from their cousins! We're doing memories tonight, and I'd love to read yours on the blog if you get the chance.

Tuesday, December 21, 2004

Thanks for the kind reviews regarding the new format. I thought the previous one was OK but Cristie hated it, which necessitated a hasty change. Actually, I wish I hadn't changed from the original. I can't find it in the available templates anymore!

We talked to Dave on the phone briefly on Sunday. He called to set up the time for the semi-annual call on Christmas Day. He sounds great. After we told him so, he said "well, I'm happy." It's a blessing to have a missionary serving and a huge blessing to hear he's happy.

My mother arrives for Christmas tomorrow. I t will be nice to have her; I'm sure she'll love being here for the family Christmas party Thursday night. She will have many, many stories to tell (re-tell).

It's cooled off here, but of course is nothing compared to what Katie, Danny, Nate, and Dave are experiencing. I like the cold weather. Increases my gratitude for shelter and a warm bed, not to mention the warmth a nice fire carries to my soul. A time to contemplate the experiences of the last year, a time to slow down a bit in Thanksgiving and in good will to all men. If it weren't for that confounded war.....