The Geriatric New Year's Eve Party

Tonight there will be 20 people at our house for New Year's Eve and this will continue a tradition that we have carried on for the past 12 years. We will be entertaining friends who would otherwise not go out for New Year's. We called it the Geriatric New Year's Eve Party in the past when the youngest person there was 55 and the ages went up to 90!

12 years ago we started out by asking one couple to come and spend a quiet New Years Eve with us in our new home. We then realized that their mother and father would be home that night and we asked them to join us. Then we heard of an elderly couple who had some health problems and knowing that they would also be home alone on New Year's Eve, we asked them to come to spend the evening with us. The idea spread and in our first celebration we had 12 guests who would have spent New Year's Eve at home by themselves. There was good food, good conversation, a nice generational interchange, a toast at midnight and then, pretty quickly, the party broke up and everyone headed for home.

But the following year when we were asked by a couple who had been at the first soiree what we were going to do for New Year's Eve, it became clear to us that this was really a much more important event than we had ever imagined. Our little "party" gave people who spend a great deal of time at home, a chance to get dressed up and get out. And, thus the annual New Year's Eve Party was born. Over the years, some members of the original gathering have passed on, but the widows and widowers who are left remain an important part of our guest list and they relish a chance to do something social again.

This year the age range will spread from 6 months to 87 years. We have a new widower among the guests. We have a young couple with a little baby who now have a different perspective on "partying". The guest list varies from year to year, but the constant thread that runs through the evening is the desire to bring people, who would otherwise have just another lonely night, together for fun and friendship.

So I am busily preparing food for our buffet table, but I wanted to take the time to wish all of you a Happy New Year!!

Merry Christmas!!!

I wish you a Blessed Christmas wherever you are and want to share one of the world's most powerful pieces of music that has come to be associated with Christmas (and one of my favorite pieces of music that I play all year long).

Christmas Eve Message

As the preparations for Christmas wind down and the serenity of Christmas Eve sets in, I hope that you enjoy this message of the Season.

We All Need a Silent Night

With only a few days left until Christmas, I am sure that more than a few of you are frazzled, flustered and jacked up on too little sleep and too much sugar and caffeine. The cold and snow may have made you stay inside when you REALLY had things to do and get done and the time is running out and I AM NOT READY FOR CHRISTMAS!!!!! Whoa, there, pull back and take a look around you. It is cold and crisp outside and the snow is beautiful.

Perhaps what we should do is use the cold and snow as an excuse for taking back the real meaning of Christmas with some family time (yes, your family can actually spend time together and probably won't kill each other). Radio stations, satellite TV and cable TV stations have 24 hour Christmas music, Hallmark and ABC Family channels have lots of fun Christmas movies that the whole family can watch together (so what if the plots are all remarkably similar and the endings are all the same, if you never saw the movie you will never know how it ends!!)..some are even poignant and require some personal introspection. If you don't know where to find some quality Christmas music, stream it online here or here or even here. Find a family project that everyone can participate in--working a jigsaw puzzle together, playing a board game, baking and decorating cookies, making something handmade to give as a gift in the event that you never get back out of your house to finish your shopping.

Here is a nice simple Cappucino drink mix that can be made and given with a mug and some marshmallows (or just by itself) as a gift made with love. Perfect for a teacher, pastor, neighbor gift...(P.S. You can also drink this as a family when you are watching your movies or playing games.).

CAPPUCINO MIX

1 cup instant coffee creamer
1 cup hot cocoa mix (any flavor you would like)
2/3 cup instant coffee
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg

Mix all ingredients well and store in an airtight container.
To serve: Mix 3 Tablespoons to 6 oz hot water or 4 Tablespoons to 8 oz of hot water.

Now that you have a better perspective, enjoy this lovely song by Amy Grant nicely choreographed by cmtrump.




PEACE AND JOY AT CHRISTMAS!

Separated at Birth

Sometimes you just have to wonder........




Christine Gregoire the Governor that stole Christmas and Mr Grinch







"Mr. Bailout" Secretary of the Treasury, Henry Paulson and
Daddy Warbucks

A Perfect Example of Why You Should Home School Your Children

This is so wrong on so many levels.
If this was my child I would NOT post it for all the world to see.
If this was at my child's school, I would be homeschooling her at the start of the next semester.
This is a perfect example of the indoctrination by the public school system (Thank you NEA) of our young children who innocently believe that adults are honorable and that what they say is right. You know that they are serving the PC Koolaid in the school lunch program!
So bring on the SCHOOL HOLIDAY PAGEANT so that we can all enjoy this WINTER FESTIVAL!!

We Say Merry Christmas!

Today I have the unusual luxury of a day off!! I have an agenda that is probably more jam-packed than what I would do at work--I will bake cookies, wrap presents for our adopted family so that they can be distributed next week, finally do my Christmas cards, do an insurance denial appeal report that is due tomorrow, and now writing this has risen to the top of my "To Do" List when it never was on it in the first place! So while my butter softens for the first batch of cookies, I want to share something that happened this morning.

While I had the luxury of sleeping in, my husband had an 8AM doctor's appointment so he was up at 5:30 so that he could get his AM exercise in before the appointment. Thus, I was up when it was still dark, too. At about 8:45 AM the phone rang and I assumed that it would be my husband with his report on what the doctor had to say, so I dashed to the phone and answered it only to hear the dreaded "May I speak to ...." that heralds a call from someone soliciting for something. We get a lot of these calls and more and more at this time of the year and in particular, THIS year.

This particular call turned out to be from the American Bible Society asking for money for Bibles for a mission project to the people of China. I will freely offer up for the sake of full disclosure that I have contributed to the American Bible Society in the past. So as the nice lady on the other side of the phone explained their need and how my potential donation would be used, I had already decided that I would give again and had mentally found a figure that I felt I could afford right now...one week before Christmas.

I think that the solicitor was actually surprised that I took the chance to give and didn't quibble about the suggested amount. When she had verified my address and name so that she could send me a the requisite information to mail a check (I do not make credit card charitable contributions over the phone), she concluded the conversation with "HAVE A WONDERFUL HOLIDAY."

My response to this was swift, strong, from my gut and even surprised me, but she was totally taken aback when I said, "Wait just a minute...I hope that YOU have a MERRY CHRISTMAS! If you are going to solicit for an organization that supplies the Word of God to people all over the world, there is NO reason to say anything but MERRY CHRISTMAS to anyone that you contact at this time of year! Be bold and stand strong in your faith."

After a brief pause to recover from my rant, she laughed softly, and almost with what I perceived as relief in her voice, she said, "You're right and I wish you and your family a most blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year!. Thank you for correcting me."

I hope and pray that the American Bible Society is not asking their solicitors to be PC at Christmas, but frankly I cannot fathom that their donor list consists of people who do not espouse the Bible and its teachings, so why this would even be an issue is beyond me. And if you call someone who does not believe in the Christian teachings, you will have offended them long before you get to the Merry Christmas part at the end of the call and they will have likely hung up on you in the first place, so it isn't even an issue. So my most likely scenario is that this woman has been culturally lulled into drinking the PC Koolaid that makes you afraid to say Merry Christmas even to what should be a receptive audience. This is, indeed, sad. That Christians have become so spineless that we shrink from saying Merry Christmas during our own holiday even among like minded people says a lot about the strength and committment to our faith. Are we afraid to admit that we are Christians??? Are we bowing to the bullying of those who would try to erase every vestige of Christianity in our society??

II Timothy 1:12 For this reason I also suffer these things, but I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day.

So, I will continue to loudly proclaim "Merry Christmas!" when I put money in the Salvation Army kettles outside my local merchants. I only send out Christmas cards that actually use the word Christmas on the face and in the inside greeting. My return address labels on all of the bills and mail that I post during the month of December will be Christmas labels. My Christmas tree is decorated with ornaments of all kinds including several miniature Navitity scenes that all who visit can readily see. And I will continue to boldly and proudly celebrate my faith in his most wonderful time of the year. Now my butter should be softened so that I can start on my Christmas cookies, so....A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU AND YOURS! And may God bless you in the New Year!

The Objectivity of the Mainstream Media----NOT

Joe Scarborough takes the MSM to task about their "investigation" of Sarah Palin and their lopsided (and biased) coverage of Barack Obama during the run up to the election. He makes takes them on and leaves them speechless and squirming!! But his point is well made and oh, so true. The point is made that Obama got a pass and was not "investigated" like Sarah Palin. Had it happened, perhaps we would know more about his connections to the Chicage cesspool that spawned him. So now we may have bought a pig in a poke (with lipstick on but still a pig)thanks to the media who acted as kingmaker.

The Conservative Way to Spread the Wealth Around

The media is full of stories about increasing unemployment statistics, the failing stock market, range wars over financial bailouts for banks, industries, states and cities and all manner of terrifying news for the common man. It is no wonder that people are holding onto their wallets and being very conservative at this time of gift-giving. I talked to some friends earlier today who had been doing Christmas shopping at the several of the local malls. They commented that the malls were not very busy given the time of the year. If we don't spend, businesses aren't profitable and they can't afford to keep employees or expand services, so more people are placed under financial hardship and now there are more people who cannot spend and a vicious cycle is created. There are more people this year who might be looking at a less than happy Christmas season than in previous years.

So what might we do this year to mitigate the hard times that are upon us?

Support the little mom and pop enterprises in your community..whether it is the hardware store or the local eatery, keep it local if you can.

If you have a bit of extra money, may I suggest that you use it for a charitable cause that will aid those in need. Making this a family project will teach children that it is more blessed to give than to receive and help us to focus on the true meaning of Christmas. Some suggestions that are easy to do are:

Give to the US Marines Toys for Tots drive.
Adopt a family or an individual through your local church or hospital and use your resources to give someone else a memorable Christmas. The whole family can get into the spirit by shopping for the adopted family together and planning on the best gifts to give.
Contribute to an orphanage or child welfare group so that children without family ties are not forgotten at this time of year.
Support the Salvation Army by putting any money, even your spare change in the bell ringer's kettles. Even the widow's mite can be put to use. Challenge your children to save money that can be contributed to help others.
Rather than giving gifts that will be returned on December 26 or never used, donate to a charity in the name of the recipient rather than giving a gift. Many charities are seeing their donations fall alarmingly this year and are in great need in order to continue to provide their services.

If you are strapped for finances you can still give the gift of time by volunteering or giving of yourself.
You can clean a house for someone who is physically unable to do some housekeeping tasks.
You can help at a food pantry, soup kitchen or homeless shelter.
You can help to wrap presents to be distributed by any number of agencies.
You can read to someone who is visually impaired.
You can volunteer to help elementary school children in literacy programs.
You can drive an invalid to treatments, doctor appointments or therapy.
You can make meals for an elderly neighbor who cannot get out easily.
You can take a shut-in to the grocery store.
You can offer to baby sit for someone who needs to look for a job.
You can invite someone who will be alone for the holidays to join your Christmas celebration.

Getting away from the mercenary message and back to the true meaning of Christmas is something that we need and these trying times can be the impetus to return to a simpler, purer Christmas. My husband and I have chosen not to exchange gifts this year and instead have participated in several activities with the money that we would have spent on each other. In so doing, we have been blessed. We have chosen our projects together. We have set aside Saturdays to shop together for our adopted families, and other projects. We have spent entire weekends together working on the projects we have chosen and have truly enjoyed each other's company. We have more Christmas spirit than we have had in several years.

Come join us and spread the wealth around!!

Watch Out Rudolph!!!

Seen in Illinois just outside of White Hall!! Needs no further words!

While We Are Sleeping.....

I am a fan of contemporary Christian music and Casting Crowns is one of my very favorite groups. I blogged about one of their songs in the past. Their music and words strike deep at the heart of our world today and the need for us to make some significant adjustments in our lives. The song speaks for itself.

What To Get For The Gal Who Has Everything?

It is the question raised every year when Christmas comes along. The usual lament is "I can't think of anything to give her! She has everything!!" Well, this year the Indiana Planned Parenthood has the answer.......drum roll....Planned Parenthood Gift Certificates in denominations of $25! And, are you ready for this.....they are redeemable for...... services or the recipient’s choice of birth control method!!! (Services include abortions and there are women who use abortion as their preferred method of birth control....trust me, I'm a gynecologist.) Oh, don't forget, shoppers, these great certificates can also be purchased ONLINE!

Can't you just see the scene on Christmas morning, opening the beautifully wrapped present that contains not diamonds, not Prada, not Gucci, not Chanel, not Tiffany, not Rolex, not even Timex......but Planned Parenthood! Is the sparkle in her eye a tear of joy or humiliation??? Can't you imagine the sigh of envy that goes through those gathered around when you open your gift and everyone yells, "Let's see." "What did you get?" "Hold it up so we can all see it!" This is like giving an adolescent her first bra, wrapped up for Christmas to be opened in public. Or giving Grandma a case of Depends....sure she needs it, but what were they thinking???

The male significant other proclaims proudly, "See honey, you don't have to be punished with a baby!" While his lucky lady gushes back, "Oh, Honey, you are just the best guy in the world and now I don't have to worry about replicating your blood line!"

Can't you imagine Planned Parenthood gift certificates stuffed into a stocking hung by the chimney with care? Won't that make him a knight in shining armor in your eyes?? Or if this is a gift from your in-laws, the chill cast on the rest of the festivities will make the heat generated from the hot mulled cider so much more appreciated.

Has our country really sunk to such a low point that we can actually say that in America, (or at least in Indiana), we celebrate the birth of the Babe of Bethlehem by giving the gift of Planned Parenthood services? God help us all.