We just aren't into time around here!

Joanne told me last night that our temperatures were going to soar to near high 70's later this week, which will be most excellent for when Lynn is here. Wednesday might reach 80 but I won't be holding my breath for that, or getting my hopes up, more accurately. Last year, my friend, Janet, told me that she wept while doing her decorating for the holidays because it was "just wrong" to be perspiring when putting up her tree!!! They have only been in Florida a few years, moving here from MI, and she has trouble with there not being snow for CHRISTmas. I don't believe she wept this year!

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Lynn and I are invited to her house on Friday night which means I have to "stand up" the scrap bookers at church in order to attend. I hope one of the other croppers will be able to run the show in my stead, but the ladies' thought they'd check with me before heading over to church just to make sure someone is there to let them in! Sometimes we have 5 people at the most but I've done some recent recruiting and got the numbers up. Now, I am abandoning them for a party! The other option is to take the whole bunch with me to the party, get them set up in another room, and run forth and back between the two events!

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My friend, Judy in Winona, told me something recently which I found quite interesting---when still teaching, Judy would read a certain chapter book to her students before CHRISTmas, where the characters would practice or do something different each day leading up to the holiday. Like an Advent calendar, looking forward to the Savior's birth, this one did, I believe, more secular things before the BIG DAY. The book is called "The 24 Days Before Christmas" by Madeline L'Engle. Judy is a rich resource when it comes to children's literature, as she recently sent me an entire list of suitable titles and authors from which I can pick book purchases for my great-nephews. I love to give them words for CHRISTmas! Judy told me, I hope she doesn't mind my sharing this, she is also doing one new thing each day leading up to CHRISTmas, such as getting out a special coffee mug for her morning coffee, dressing her kitchen table with a festive cloth as a soft place to rest her elbows while enjoying that coffee, and so on. Talk about consciously getting yourself to do something----hmmm, might be a good way to address the mess on my desk!

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The news this weekend and again today is talking about a boy in Phoenix, a "hero", who donated his CHRISTmas presents to children in the hospital. He is either 8 or 9 years old, and the footage shows him distributing the presents under a tree in the lobby. The strange thing is, the types of toys he's putting under the tree are not all appropriate for a kid his age! Come on, what boy his age is still playing Candyland?!? Most likely his parents and he went to Toys R Us and bought toys for all aged kids, but then they shouldn't tell the story like he gave the kids his own presents. His idea is most excellent but I hate to see this donating becoming national news, which sort of diminishes the impact. This is my opinion. A good deed loses something when everyone knows about it, again, my opinion. Call me Grinch if you wish, but I look askance at things like this, the "giving back" mentality one hears so much about this time of year.

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Just to prove I am not a party pooper, I had the privilege of spending time at my Pastor's home last night for a Youth Group CHRISTmas party. It was a Battle of the Bands-type event as the attendees played in a sort of Guitar Hero tournament. The top three players got a prize package including soda, microwave pop corn and a Blockbuster gift card, perfect for chilling out during the upcoming school break. We had young people from age 52 to 8 years old old, but the rather bashful 52 year old wouldn't try her hand at playing the game (ahem, ahem). Instead, however, if she knew the lyrics, she did not hesitate to sing along. The sad part was not many of songs on the game system were from her era of music, except for "Paint It Black" and "Paranoid"!!! Who among us ever heard of a group called The Dead Kennedys???? Some of the kids there at the party were not those who usually attend this type of thing so we rejoice that they were able to come and show their skills at socializing and playing virtual guitar!

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The parent of one young man was working at church on some finish work in order for other work to proceed on the building. We arrived at the party at the same time and I told him I could have picked up the young man on my way through. He said he's been working there several Sundays now, and I thanked him for this service. He told me how someone blamed him, by name, for holding up the job by not having this work done. I felt just terrible for him and apologized on behalf of the human race for this being said. I was so glad I thanked before he told me this because then my thanks did not seem gratuitous. Ugh, people! I had to attend a brief committee meeting in the new building yesterday to go over the cabinet layout with Cliff and saw the tile is nearly all in place, waiting to be grouted. Of course, the first thing I told Cliff when I walked in was, "Oh, I don't like this tile at all, it has to come out!" He said they'd start chiseling it out starting in the far corner. Those who didn't get the banter immediately were momentarily a bit startled! Tear it out????? We've gotten this far and now she wants it torn out??? I told the story of how I used to give the electricians a heart attack when I'd come into a house and say, "These outlets were all supposed to be brown, not ivory!" or the opposite if they were already brown. Always good for a laugh, having a heart attack!

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Speaking of which, Joanne was just running around here like a headless chicken because she lost track of time and was late for picking up her father for a doctor appointment. Her dainties were in the dryer and not quite ready to go (she'll love me for sharing this information!) so I offered one of my mine. She said hers was dry enough to wear and off she went. Good thing I have that chime clock to tell us we are running behind! It seems we are having some time problems around here, first Joanne's alarm clock not having the remote control, causing her to use my cell phone alarm instead; then Justin oversleeping because his alarm clock doesn't keep time, and now this. I have about a dozen clocks in my family room but we still run late. Obviously, we aren't into time!