Monday, December 29, 2008

Merry (Belated) Christmas! Ho, ho, ho!

We're in the middle of the holiday season, winding down the year and finishing off the holidays simultaneously. I had five glorious days off from work, and I have to admit that today I had a little trouble shifting my brain back into gear at work. (Don't worry, I did succeed in getting some work done today!) After being snowed in for two weeks, I finally got to take my vehicle out for a spin today. I felt like it was a late Christmas present, really. I think that I was beginning to take freedom for granted, but being snowed in really put it in perspective. There's something to be said for not having to rely on other people to do simple things like run to the store at any time, that's for sure. My driving was mostly uneventful today, although I do think that my car may have laughed at me when I tried to pull into a parking spot that had a little (I mean a little) patch of snow in it. Thus proving, once again, that my car has little tolerance for snow, to say the least.

Our "white Christmas" was nice, as the snow cleared up just enough for us to get together with family and to attend our favorite church service. Good times. Lennie and I also enjoyed some after Christmas shopping on the 26th. Now, normally, I'm not the type to be beating down the doors of the stores for sales, but for some reason, I agreed to dental appointments at 8 a.m. on Friday morning. A waste of a good sleep-in opportunity, but also a chance to enjoy some after Christmas sales. We had a good chuckle over being out and about in the nearly deserted stores on Friday morning, but we also enjoyed spending some of our gift cards and perusing the aisles for some good deals. (Just ask my mom about her new "lawn ornaments," they were on sale!)

Merry belated Christmas. I hope that all of you had the opportunity to enjoy time with friends and family, and that you also got to stop and ponder the true "reason for the season." I know that I feel truly blessed this year.

Monday, December 22, 2008

I Guess I'm Still a Kid at Heart!

Snow Angel: the Making of...
So, we still have snow. Lots. of. snow. So, I made the best of it. :-)

Snow Angel

Lennie and I went out for a walk last night (we didn't get far, can't get down our driveway safely on foot), and I couldn't resist making a snow angel. Too fun!

View more photos of the Seattle snow.

Saturday, December 20, 2008

Snow Days in Seattle

So, it's been snowing here on and off for the past three days or so, which is completely abnormal for the Seattle area. Usually, we get a quarter inch of snow and it's gone within 24 hours. Not this time. We've had a major arctic blast, which brought 3+ inches of snow to our house, and has left me homebound for the past three days. After working from home on Thursday and Friday, I did manage to get out of the house today to get my hair done. It was a simple pleasure to just get out and see other people, let alone be on the streets. Since my car is less-than-snow ready, my father came over and rescued me. (Lennie had to go to work at the crack of early this morning, so he couldn't get me out of the house...)


Thanks to my dad, I got to see the roads first hand, and it wasn't as bad as I expected (the news always makes it sound worse than it really is, doesn't it!?), but I was really glad I wasn't the one driving, to say the least.

Alas, we have another weather front coming in right now (the snow is already starting to fall), and I'm ready for another few days snowed in the condo... brace yourselves, Seattle... it's going to be a cold one out there!

Saturday, December 13, 2008

Christmas Question

I've been pondering this question over the past few holidays, and I'm going to go public with it, hoping that you can help me solve the puzzle. Here it is:
If Christmas is about the birth of Jesus, then why don't more churches put up displays of the nativity scene on their lawns and in the sanctuary buildings instead of putting up Christmas trees?


I'm not even sure that there is a nativity scene set at our church, but I know that there are multiple Christmas trees. This kind of bothers me, really, and I wish that there were more places that were willing to display a nativity scene during the Christmas season.

Don't get me wrong, I love Christmas trees, and I am sitting with our tree twinkling in the corner as I type this. But, our nativity scene is also just a few feet away. Because really, Jesus is what the Christmas holiday is all about.