Remember…

…get a designated driver lined up if you are going to be drinking at Christmas Parties!

On a lighter note…I’m 3 posts away from 2000! I’ll reach that before the end of 2009. Thanks for putting up with all my posting people!!

Friday’s Fave Five ~ 2009 Finale…

My final Fave Five in 2009 will be unconventional because this was a weird week. Visit Susanne at Living to Tell the Story to join in.

Here are 5 things I saw that made me smile when I was in New Mexico.

Three of these signs were taken at the Chaos Cafe in Artesia, New Mexico. If you are ever driving through town we recommend breakfast here.

On the window of a coffee/espresso shop in downtown Artesia

On our way North out of Artesia we drove through Roswell and these were the street lamps that lined the main thoroughfare!

The Roswell UFO Incident was the alleged recovery of extra-terrestrial debris, including alien corpses, from an object which crashed near Roswell, New Mexico, USA, on or about July 8, 1947. Since the late 1970s the incident has been the subject of intense controversy and the subject of conspiracy theories as to the true nature of the object which crashed. The United States military maintains that what was actually recovered was debris from an experimental high-altitude surveillance balloon belonging to a classified program named “Mogul”; however, many UFO proponents maintain that in fact a crashed alien craft and bodies were recovered, and that the military then engaged in a cover-up.

The incident has turned into a widely known pop culture phenomenon, making the name Roswell synonymous with UFOs. It ranks as one of the most publicized and controversial UFO incidents ever.

***On a more personal note Dear flies into Seattle Friday night and we’ll have 2 weeks together in Washington before we fly back to Southern California on January 3rd…

ht: Wikipedia

She Always Takes You By Surprise…

and makes you wish you were somewhere you could stop and take a photo.

Usually I’m on the road driving when she teases me but on this day I was in the passenger seat and was able to click a few shots from the 520 Floating Bridge driving West from Seattle.

Today is a more relaxed day then yesterday. I won’t be having to chauffeur my daughter around because my son let her borrow his car till we can get her car repaired. Her last final is later this morning and then she gets to enter the full-time work force. Dear arrives tomorrow night and I’m looking forward to that. Maybe I’ll pull out the recipe cards and cookbooks and sit by the fire and plan some menus for next week and for Christmas Eve Dinner.

Blessings on your day!

Outdoor Wednesday ~ Narnia?

When I was at Snoqualmie Falls last week I was reminded of Narnia in The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe.

The children stared at each other.”

“I don’t know that I’m going to like this place after all,” said Susan.

“Who is the Queen, Lu?” said Peter. “Do you know anything about her?”

“She isn’t a real queen at all,” answered Lucy; “she’s a horrible witch, the White Witch. Everyone – all the wood people- hate her. She has made an enchantment over the whole country so that it is always winter here and never Christmas.”

No worries though the White Witch hasn’t enchanted all of Western Washington yet and we will have Christmas!

To see more Outdoors visit Susan at A Southern DayDreamer.

 

Slip Sliding Away!

Plans can be made and plans can be changed. I woke up this morning planning to bake a batch of cookies to send away to our son. My daughter was up and headed to work. I had the first batch of cookies in the oven when the phone rang. Katie had hit a patch of black ice, spun around on the road, and landed backwards in a nice ladies front yard taking out a good section of her wooden fence. The lady was very sweet and invited Katie in while she waited for me to arrive and figure out what to do next. While watching from the window Katie saw another car spin out of control and hit the front of her car even though it was well off the road. YIKES! A total of 3 cars had to be towed from this location.

I was so happy that Katie was fine just shook up from the wild ride. The only damage she caused was to her own car and that poor fence. She missed 2 cars in the driveway.

The Brier Police that came to the scene were very kind and helpful beyond their obligation. They even waited behind my parked car with their lights flashing until the tow truck arrived.

The tow truck driver that came in response to our AAA call was also very concerned and kind.

The police stayed until the car was completely on the bed of the tow truck! When we got home Katie called our insurance company and I finished baking the cookies, packed up a box to mail to our son and packed up a gift box of cookies to deliver to the Brier Police Station for the officers that took such good care of my daughter! Thank you officers Willey and Murphy!

We delivered the cookies to the police station, stopped at the post office to send off the cookies and then we decided we deserved a nice lunch and boy did we find a great one at Gratzi Italian Restaurant in Bothell. As you can see Katie is fine. Even after this great lunch we weren’t done yet salving our wounds…

Cookies and a nice cup of English Tea continued the healing from our ordeal…

I’m thanking God for watching over Katie, keeping her from being hurt, and sending kind people to care for her.

Hug your loved ones today!

Mosaic Monday ~ Christmas Past

Last year was a rare Christmas with most of my side of the family together for our Christmas Eve Celebration in California. This year our little part of the family will be in Seattle. There are a few more of my parents’ grandsons and granddaughters and great grandchildren missing in these photos.

For more of Mosaic Monday please click over to Mary’s Little Red House.

As With Gladness, Men of Old ~ Hymn

As With Gladness, Men of Old

As with gladness, men of old
Did the guiding star behold
As with joy they hailed its light
Leading onward, beaming bright
So, most glorious Lord, may we
Evermore be led to Thee.

As with joyful steps they sped
To that lowly manger bed
There to bend the knee before
Him Whom Heaven and earth adore;
So may we with willing feet
Ever seek Thy mercy seat.

As they offered gifts most rare
At that manger rude and bare;
So may we with holy joy,
Pure and free from sin’s alloy,
All our costliest treasures bring,
Christ, to Thee, our heavenly King.

Holy Jesus, every day
Keep us in the narrow way;
And, when earthly things are past,
Bring our ransomed souls at last
Where they need no star to guide,
Where no clouds Thy glory hide.

In the heavenly country bright,
Need they no created light;
Thou its Light, its Joy, its Crown,
Thou its Sun which goes not down;
There forever may we sing
Alleluias to our King!

Words: William C. Dix, 1860

He wrote this hymn on the day of the Epi­pha­ny, while sick in bed; it was first pub­lished in his Hymns of Love and Joy.