Oh, if I were young again....

.....I would go to the Winter Wonderland festival in St. Augustine! There is ice skating, snow fall on a scheduled basis, jump house (yes!), caroling, music, all sorts of fun, winter stuff. No shoveling or window scraping involved, no spray needed for defrosting the locks on the car....but perhaps sun screen in case the sun beats down too hard. Not really this weekend, though, as it remains gloomy and quite chilly through Sunday. Our temp at the moment is 42 above zero, quite a drop from the 80+ we had earlier this week.

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As was posted on Facebook this morning, my tummy was grumbling when I woke up. Thinking back, yes, I did have some supper before the movies last night, as Justin and I enjoyed a meal at TGIF. Normally my choice is the Sesame chicken strips with a berry/Jack Daniels dip but I could only eat about half the portion. Justin had some pasta dish and ate a few of my chicken nuggets. There was no line or any seating problem for the replay of the live show shown last week. Neither of us could make it last week so were glad to have a do-over. Justin made sure I had napkins for my tears because I surely needed them. Glenn Beck acts out the story of "The Christmas Sweater', about an ungrateful boy whose mom knits him a lovely red sweater when what he really wanted was a bike. Instead, because of their dire financial circumstances, this was the best she could do and he hurt her feelings so badly. Through a dream sequence, the 12 year old child, Eddie, is led through a stream of events that show him for the jerk he is, sort of a religious change of heart and mind. When he awakens, like Ebenezer Scrooge, he has an entirely revamped attitude about what matters in life and it is NOT a bike! Powerful, acted out as a one-man-show with no props, only a female singer who filled in some spots where needed, and screens with still-pictures as background. At the end of the play, Glenn comes out and introduces people and their stories of having "come through the storm", as Eddie had in the play, and how they thank the Lord for saving them. More about earthly saving than saving faith emphasized, but that does not mean this did not happen for these folks. Excellent time and money spent, with my boy!

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We got the lease information completed after Bible study, having to redo the entire lease after the property changed ownership since last year. Justin is signed up there until August of next year which means I am on the hook for his rent. Justin has registered for three classes, as I encouraged him to please show me he is dedicated student. Sadly, if he does get into the one class on which he is wait-listed, he will not be able to attend Bible study on Thursdays. Rats! He claims to have ended the semester this time with a B average which delights me greatly.

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He had to go to work after the lease was signed, but came back later on to put up the tree and drag out the ornaments and decorations for me. First thing, after this, I am going to the store for a few things needed for tomorrow's event at church plus lay in some soda supplies. Walgreens has a good deal this week to take advantage of. Later I hope to hear from Kerry about her work schedule as she found out yesterday that there was a change in plans. She evidently now must work on the 24th, the day she is supposed to fly down here. Of course, I am crushed but yet hopeful that she can come, but she sort of hopes I can exchange the ticket for a voucher for future travel or whatever. Not worth it to her for only just more than 48 hours to make the trip. Rats! Alayna already has her ticket purchased and the Schippers are traveling by car so no one else can use the ticket, especially since it was issued with her name on it. TSA frowns on that type of thing!

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Wednesday night at church, Suzanne gave me a 'thank you' letter written by her 7 year old daughter, thanking me for the Advent calendar card I sent to her brother and to her. They each get their own, something I like to do each year in an attempt to remind the little ones of the 'reason for the season'. It is a pleasure to do this, and I know the kids love getting mail with their names on it. And I love getting this letter from Hanna! Some of the other kids thanked me in person but her letter was extra special.

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So, it is time for me to get out of this bed and dressed for the day. Today it will be acceptable to wear layers! As Justin was putting up the tree last night, he kept teasing me by saying, "It looks perfect!!" even when it was half assembled. When I was married yet, my spouse would be under the tree, cranking the stand to make the tree look straight, asking me, "How does it look?" I always thought and said it looked perfect, although, a builder's eye would see it was dramatically listing one way or the other. We all have ideas of what perfection is and evidently my standards are lower than most!