My Take on Hallmark Christmas Movies

I can't believe I have sort of gotten hooked on these.

I've laughed a lot at them--and myself!

And--I have made some observations that I haven't 

noticed anyone mentioning yet.

#1: There must be a trip to a Christmas tree lot to

select and cut a fresh tree in every one.

Methinks the lot looks suspiciously identical, too,

in every one.

I guess fake trees would make the movies seem...

fake. HaHaHa!

We wouldn't want that!

#2: The snowball fight has become a staple.

(Maybe it always has been. I'm a newbie at this!)

And I'm not sure all would be as jovial in real life

being hit by some of those fast (snow) balls!

#3: Perhaps a little more subtle, but it is...

the near miss kiss!

In the first three I watched, when our 

hero and heroine finally got to looking into each 

other's eyes and moving closer...closer...oops!

One or the other either chickened out or

someone comes up, interrupting the big moment!

Think it's happening here?

Well it's not! Our hero backs out this time!

#4: Again in those first three I watched I couldn't

miss that they must have only one hairdresser

who did only one style. The twirly curl.

I love long curly curls, but I drew the line when 

Leanne Rimes and her mother in the show 

had matching hair!
Sorry I didn't get a picture of that.

I have a couple of general observations too.

First, I love it that old favorite Christmas carols

are sung in almost every movie.
Carols that tell the story of the birth of Jesus.

I also wish our problems and misunderstandings

in life were worked out as smoothly and

quickly and perfectly as they are in these stories.

That families could be quickly and gloriously mended.

And that true love would always prevail! 

Two Perspectives on Christmas Eve

Since our family was scattered for Thanksgiving,

we missed our turkey and dressing.

We are, therefore, having a full Christmas dinner

tomorrow evening.

I'm telling you this to set up Perspective #1.

I'm making my famous dressing but had no interest

in cooking a turkey. I let Spring Creek do that.

So I went to pick it up a little after noon today.

Since I have become devoutly lazy, I decided 

to buy Chick Fil A's tea also.

The CFA in Mansfield is adjacent to a Wal Mart.

The parking lot of said Wal Mart was packed.

I wondered how many (or how few) 

of that mob of last minute

  shoppers had any thought of what this celebration

is really about.

I'll have to admit. I was pessimistic--and sad.

And then I went to the Christmas Eve service

at my beloved Fielder Church.

There I received a whole new Perspective #2. 

And there I was surrounded by a mob of believers

in the "Infinite Infant" Jesus!

We sang, we inhaled the gospel, and we 

worshiped together.

We also celebrated the coming of the Light to this

world by lighting candles, beginning with

one flicker of flame.

I wish I could show you a picture.

It was beautiful as we held our candles high and 

sang "Silent Night."

Better yet, I wish you had been there.

The perspective I left with is life changing.

Exhaling the Gospel

Every Sunday we sit in our climate controlled, 

comfortable church buildings and inhale the 

marvelous gospel of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Except this Sunday and one other a year.

We forego our comfort to serve our city.

We gathered on the large parking lot east of

the Metro Center (Central Campus) and

at the South Oaks and Grand Prairie Campuses

of Fielder Church

and packed boxes of food for people who are hungry.

Seven thousand of them!


Now I hate to be wimpy, but it was pretty cold.
How cold was it?
One of our Pastor Jason's daughters told him that
she could no longer feel her legs--
and this was before we had even begun to pack boxes!

Now I wish this were not so, but I had managed to 

come up with an impressive list of excuses why I

should not go this morning. I'm too old, too slow,

too tired, not really needed, etc. etc. etc.

Thank you, Holy Spirit, for getting me there.

We all had on these shirts, but they were hidden
by coats this year!

The whole thing was organized to the nth degree!
(Does anyone but me say that any more?)

There were a jillion of us there, divided into 4 groups.
There were box assemblers and passer outers, box
fillers (me), food passer outers, and box closers.
Our boxes were perfectly sized to hold:
2 cans of green beans, 1 can corn, 1 can peaches, 
2 cans ravioli, 2 cans tuna, peanut butter, 
large package spaghetti, 2 large packs pinto beans,
and large corn flake bag.

My friend Debra Permenter's job was to add the
large bag of corn flakes to the top of each box.
Now I would never ever called Debra a flake,
but Jerry Morris did. HaHaHaHa
Oh, sorry, Debra. Didn't mean to laugh.

The finished boxes were perfectly stacked on pallets,
and wrapped.

 then transferred to one of these trailers.

Here are all of our small group members I could
round up at one time:

There were more of us scattered around.


My cute choir friend Christy Prellwitz
 was a box assembler:

And here is my best shot of the whole group.

(hard to capture from ground level.)


This was the scripture of the morning:

"Suppose a brother or sister does not have any clothes
or daily food and one of you tells them,
'Go in peace! Stay warm and eat heartily.'
If you do not provide for their bodily needs, 
what good does it do? In the same way, faith by
itself, if it does not prove itself with actions, is dead.
James 2:15-17


We do not believe we have to earn our salvation with
good works.
We do believe in exhaling the gospel we hold dear and
being the earthly hands and feet of Jesus.
I consider it a privilege to be able to put action
to my faith in Jesus Christ.
"Thank you, Heavenly Father, for allowing me to be
part of this blessed morning."

I'm Relinquishing My Packing Credentials

My packing skills sank to a new low this trip to NY.

To have traveled as much as I (we) have (had) I have

maintained a very good track record so far as not

leaving essentials at home.

Jack always said he furnished the muscle and the money.

I--the planning and packing (for him, too.)

I distinctly remember the necessities which

I have left at home through the years.

The first vital item was one of these:

Now I can just hear some of you snickering or even 
guffawing about this being a necessity, but don't forget:

and one of those combs is essential.

As it turned out a very minor miracle occurred.

We were sailing from a port in Europe, but one of the

hair stylists was onboard for her first cruise.

She hailed from South Africa,

and, guess what? She had brought several of

those combs with her and sold me one!

Disaster averted! The trip was saved!

The next essential I left home without was:

This time we were spending a night in Barcelona

before we cruised, so I knew I could buy some. 

If I could get over to the salesperson what I needed.

No speaka da language. No matter how hard I tried.

We went two places. It took forever, but

I finally stuck my finger in my ear and acted like

I was cleaning it.

Voila! Mission accomplie!

(I guess the Spainards haven't gotten word that one

is not supposed to stick anything smaller than one's

elbow in one's ear.)

That little box is the actual one I bought years ago.

I still carry it every trip.

This is the item I have most often wished I had brought.

A small purse because I don't want to lug my big

travel purse around.

The straw one standing up came from Hawaii.

The striped one I have nearly worn out is from one

of the Caribbean islands.

The black is a $10 sale item from one of the ships.

An item left at home on my last 2 trips:

Can you tell that's an umbrella?

It was bought onboard the Independence of the Seas

on my very last cruise. 

It was pouring, and quite a way back to the ship.

Good job, me, buying it and bringing it!

So I had just bought that umbrella, but did I take it

on our New York trip? No.

Got drenched at the airport in Albany.

But the umbrella is by far not the most important

thing I left home on my recent trip.

My omission was truly earth shaking.

This makeup bag has been around the world with me...

but not to Albany, NY.

No, it was fully packed and left in my bathroom.

Say it isn't so, but it is.

Every item I use to look like this when I get up every

morning (?) was in that bag. At home.

So what did I do?

The other half of the Traveling Grannies rescued me.

My almost sister Shirley generously loaned me

everything I needed.

She even fixed my wilted hair for me so I could

maintain my image!

So you'd better quit sending me all those cards and

letters asking for packing advice.

(Not really--I haven't received a one.)

But if I start handing any out, kindly remind me 

of my track record.

Actually, a serious question arises here.

Shouldn't I be getting better at this, not worse?

****

Post dedicated to:

 Shirley Anne Logan Metzger Branham

My Heroine

Travel--Oft Times A Beating but Worth It!

Travel is not always, maybe not even usually, glamorous.

Sometimes (this time) it is kind of a beating.

But...always worth it!

My older grandgirl, Madeline, is performing in 

Million Dollar Quartet

at the Cohoes Music Hall near Albany, New York.

Shirley (other grandmother) and I, aka

the traveling grannies, were determined to see her!

We were blessed to have younger grandgirl, Susannah,

available to go with us (shepherd us!)

For some reason of which we're now not quite sure,

we made reservations to take off at 5:15 A.M.

Oh well, we thought, at least we should get through

security fast at that unearthly hour of the morning.

So WRONG.

The line was ridiculous. 

When the TSA Pre Check line finally opened I very

guiltily left Shirley and Susannah and jumped 

over in it. It's a good thing I did.

My new titanium knee has not set off the metal

detector the last two times I've flown.

But it did this time.  I had to have the most extensive

and lengthy of pat downs ever.

Then our departure gate was 10 gates away.

By the time I got to there they were loading group 8!

Again guiltily, I got onboard.

A flight attendant assured me the plane would not

leave early without two checked in passengers, 

but I was not sure it would not leave on time

   if they hadn't made it.

They were the last two on the plane, but...

they made it!

Okay, don't breathe too easy yet.

There were no nonstops to Albany, so we were

making a connection in Charlotte, N. C.

So help me I checked the connection time and thought

it reasonable. Besides, how big could the Charlotte

airport be? Too big for a 51 minute connection!

I think we were last on the plane again, 

huffin' and puffin' all the way!

When we arrived in Albany it was pouring rain, and

none of us had an umbrella.

 The hotel had graciously agreed to send a shuttle for us,

 in spite of the fact that I missed their 24 hour in advance deadline. The driver missed us on his first pass as

we stood out in the rain waving.

But he came back and got soaked loading our bags!

Things really looked up when we got here:

The Century House Hotel

This is one of my favorite places to stay ever!

There was a wonderful chef prepared breakfast,

to which they welcomed Madeline and Susannah

who were not even staying there.

There was the best soup every afternoon.

They brought us warm cookies late one night.

And here I was sitting by the fireplace in the lobby.

We got there early enough (we should have!) to see

the show an extra time.

Here's a little view of the theatre, one of the oldest

in the country.

It is beautiful. 

The show was inspired by an actual event in which

Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, and

Carl Perkins got together to make music--a

Million Dollar Quartet!

Madeline was Elvis's girlfriend, Dyanne, the

only female in a cast of really great guys.

Their comaraderie and cohesion was very obvious.

We overheard several great comments about the cast.

I was not expecting this to be one of my favorite shows

ever, but it absolutely was.

It was about 2 hours of non stop fun.

And not just because of our girl, who was marvelous!  

We loved all 4 of the guys, too.

Here are some shots from the show:

And Elvis and Dyanne:

The traveling grannies and their girls:

How bout these sisters:

"In conclusion" let me tell you about our trip

to the airport.

We were leaving "late" this trip, but late 

happened to be 7:08 A.M.

Hotel shuttle hours don't start til 9:00, and getting an

Uber at 5:00 A.M. is not likely. So...

Sweet Madeline insisted she would take us!

She has her car there, a cute Mini Cooper which

 seats 4 but does not quite have room for 3 suitcases.

So Susannah and Shirley sat in the back seat with

Sus holding Shirley's bag on her lap!

We were a sight, but the girls wouldn't let me take a pic!

Just one concluding piece of info for you.

Did you know you can no longer park in the passenger

pick up zones at the airport and wait for your person?

Well, you can't.

Active loading and unloading only!

Even if your person or persons' bags take forever

to come off the carousel.

Aunt Linda just about got thrown in the pokey trying to

pick up this motley crew!

And Susannah was trying to get home in time to

teach 5 classes in Grapevine.

Yes, travel is sometimes a beating.

But, boy was it worth it!

The Slime Saga!

I know you are all waiting with bated breath!

The little girl I mentor wanted to make slime! What?

Well, it seems I was about the only one who hadn't

heard of slime!

I asked for help on Facebook, and I got many recipes!

My girl, however, had said she knew how to make it,

so I decided to take everything she needed and let

her take over! Here is what that was:

This was so much stuff that I carried it in this rolling 

tote which I had bought for travel.

It didn't work for travel, but was perfect 

for hauling slime making ingredients!

(Along with our breakfast sausage croissants 

and orange juice!)

(And my purse.)

I fretted all week about our slime not turning out.

After all, I was placing the process

solely in the hands of a fourth grader. 

No worry. This fourth grader knew her slime!

She chose blue, and this is the beautiful result.

I told her it looked like a beautiful ocean blue,

so here are her "waves."

And our hands.

Our slime was more the consistency of play dough.

My girl was really good with the amount 

of activator (the dye free Tide) to put in, and

she got the feel she wanted.

It was so much fun for both of us.

I've already got the bag packed to make slime

again next week!

Thanks so much to all of you who helped!

I Have Never Been This Way Before

Some of you may remember that my older

granddaughter, Madeline, performed at the

Post Playhouse in Nebraska this summer.
She was in five complete shows!

Her fan club made a trip up to see her (of course!)

Something happened on our way back home

that resonated and has stuck with me.

After her one performance on Sunday, we planned

to leave and head for Mount Rushmore.

As it turned out, Madeline and her castmates had

planned a cabaret show for Sunday evening.

We couldn't miss that, so we got a very late

start on our trip back to South Dakota.

Madeline had Monday off, so she was going with us.

She had a car there, so she and Susannah 
followed

Rob, Susan, Shirley, and me in his much bigger 

rental vehicle.

On top of being late, the weather was horrendous.

It was raining, and it was dark, save for the

most brilliant lightning display I have ever witnessed.

There were few "highway" lights.

In fact, there were few highways.

The roads in Nebraska do not compare to the

highways in Texas at all.

The navigation system would tell us to turn on

something that looked like a country road in Texas.

We came to one confusing intersection at which 

I would have had no idea which way to go.

I frequently glanced back to see the lights of

that little car with its precious cargo right behind us.

Right behind "their Daddy."
Following his path.

Safe because he was leading the way.

Oh that I trusted my Heavenly Father, my "Daddy,"
that much and followed His lead that closely.
He created me. The days of my life are ordained by him.
He is completely trustworthy.
Why do I branch off and think I know a better way?



A part of our Bible Study Fellowship lesson for
this week brought this story to my mind.
Joshua is preparing the Israelites to cross the
Jordan River and enter the land God had
promised to them.
He (Joshua) says, 

"When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord,
and the priests carrying it, you are to move out
from your positions and follow it.
Then you will know which way to go, since
you have never been this way before."
Joshua 3:3-4

My Shipboard Romance(s)

I asked to be placed at a table for 8 on my Norway cruise.

Having that many tablemates gives one a better

chance of finding someone with whom they are

compatible.

When I went down for dinner the first night,

I arrived at my table for 8 to find two gentlemen
 sitting on one side. I sat opposite them.

 That was it. Just the 3 of us.

They were strangers who had just met.

The guys were very British, Paul from Lincolnshire,

and Les from Liverpool. 

They were extremely difficult for me to understand

because their "British" and my "English" 

sound very different.

They were both widowers, and shared about

the deaths of their wives, 

 one 8 years previously and one 2 1/2. 

The second night it was just the 3 of us again.

I had shooed off the photographer the first night,

telling her we were total strangers!

Then the guys said something about the only

thing good about pictures is that you can send

them home to your family.

So I said, "Let's go for it" when the photog came.

Well, I had in mind going over and standing

behind them.

When I started to get up, Paul said,

"No, we'll come over so you don't have to move."

Very nice, I thought.

So they came around and sat on either side of me.

Then the photog asked Paul to move his chair

closer to mine, and he acted scared to death.

He said, "The next thing I know you'll be

asking me to put my arm around her."

So I said "Come here, you two, and threw my

arms around them!"

That's Paul on the right and Les on the left.

We were stopping at Bergen the next morning,
and I kinda hoped Paul would offer to walk me to
 the funicular. I had no memory of how to get there. 
It's a good thing he didn't. He logged 13,000 steps
that day, probably many of them before I dragged
my jet lagged self out of bed!

 The third night, I come down to dinner and only

Paul was sitting at our table.

Assuming that Les was not coming, I sat down 

beside him. I could not feature us sitting on

opposite sides of that big table!

Well, he stood right up and was going to move--

where I don't know.

I think it was because he knew Les would be there,

but he actually seemed afraid of me!

Les did come and sat casually across the table!

Dinner was extremely arduous, since I would

have to ask them to repeat everything.

By this night the tension in my shoulders was killing  

me after dinner.

The next day I was waiting for an elevator when a

couple approached me.

They said they were the only 2 at a table for 6 very

near my table, and they wanted to join us.

YES YES YES!

Their names were Bonnie and Mike.

So, would you believe, when I got down to dinner

they were already seated to one side of "my" chair,

and Paul was seated on the other!

I guess he felt they would be protection for him.

Although, mysteriously that night Paul began to

act a little less like he was in fear!

But it was good to have 5 instead of just 3.

Mike and Bonnie

 The next day I got off the elevator on my floor,

and there sat Paul on a sofa.
He didn't know my room number, and there
were 4 elevator lobbies on the 9th floor, so
I don't know how he found me.

I sat down and talked to him a minute, then told

him I was going to the art auction just out of curiosity.
(Both of us had kinda poo-pooed the auction.)

So...guess who shows up. First a floor above me,

calling my name, then sitting beside me!

By the way, Les had told a couple of people at dinner

that he had asked me to marry him. 

The first time he said I replied that 
"I would think about it!"

  The second that "He didn't have enough money!"

He met me in the hall one day and asked if he could 
give me a kiss.

 When I declined, he said "Just a little peck?"

Fast forward to the last dinner.

I asked Bonnie to take a picture of Paul and me.

Funny...he doesn't seem scared any more.

Now I'm scared!