The Calendar Turns

I am glad that I have gotten to the point in my life when I can be blissfully happy staying home on New Year's Eve!

 Early in my life, I always felt left out, because I was not out partying it up with the crowds.  Now I am totally fine with that!

With the wind chill factor in Central New York, it would not surprise me if it were not below zero tonight!  Brrrrr!

I am as snug as a bug in a home I love!

Tonight I will probably 'watch the ball drop' on television.  I may well be awake for that.  But honestly, there have been times when I could not stay awake for that "big event".

I do like to have things orderly for the New Year.  Tomorrow, I will take down the Christmas decorations and put them away.  The new calendar is now on the refrigerator.  There are a lot of things already filled in.  It's good to have things on the calendar, just not too much of it.

I don't do New Year's Resolutions,  but I always do look forward to the surprises, the accomplishments,  the growth, the opportunities that a New Year always brings.  And I often do have a couple of goals.

Goals and plans and hopes for 2014 include:

+A trip south to see uncles and lots of cousins!   (some of whom I have not seen in 50 years)
+Write a sequel to my book In Its Time
+Go on a cruise to Alaska

All three of those are well under way!

Also, I desire to see my children and grandchildren and friends often!

As this year draws to a close,  I am very grateful for a wonderful family, a great marriage, good health,  and a faith to sustain me!

Family Photo

This is the one thing I wanted for Christmas:  a family photo.  Whenever I received one in a Christmas card or letter,  I was always so jealous!  Now I have my own.  This one even includes Gerry and me, thanks to Viki's camera with delayed capacity.

Of course, I also got a new stove on Christmas Eve, though that was by necessity, and not by choice.  Unbelievably,  those who deliver do not install!  My husband is definitely my hero.  And he can do anything!

The best part of Christmas is the gathering of family members.
In this picture are four of our children, and their respective spouses, along with three granddaughters.  Lots of laughter and noise;  lots of food and fun;  lots of interaction and games.

It gets increasingly more challenging to get everyone together for holidays, because there are always in-law invitations and obligations.  V & M always go to his family's Christmas Eve gathering first, and then come here, arriving very very late.  We are grateful they are willing to do that.  I suspect that when children come along, all that may change.

I'm so glad I have this picture to remember this occasion.  I don't know why it took me so long to think of doing it.  Thanks everyone, for participating!

Tis the Season

Rehearsing before the Service

Another fabulous musical event at UPC.   No one does it as well, nor collects so much awesome talent!

An 18 member orchestra with everything from the tambourine to the trumpet to the tuba to the flute!

13 Altos
11 Sopranos
8 Basses
4 Tenors
3 Narrators
3 Soloists

4 lovely banners; 35 poinsettias
One bright star
and one incredible director indeed!

So much effort,  so much commitment, so much dedication   And one amazing production from the IHS Choir.

Gerry was one of the narrators, and of course, did a great job.  He loved being able to do that.   As a non-singing person, that was a way he could participate.

The pastor's father has been quite ill and in the hospital.  I'm glad for him that he was able to be there today.   It was just too uplifting to miss.   While I was ready to step in as needed,  I am glad that I was not needed. To miss this Christmas Cantata would have been a huge disappointment.  In light of all he has been through lately, he needed to receive this "Heart of Christmas" gift.

Stove Woes

We figure that our stove must be 18 years old, as that is how old the house is.  I suppose that one might not expect many more years than that out of an appliance.   This one has been troublesome for a while, at least the oven has been.  We had an oven issue that came from a short in the back of the stove, which Gerry fixed.  We had another oven issue when one of the elements had to be replaced.

Over the Thanksgiving weekend in particular, with 13 people to feed, the oven kept cutting in and out.   But after that weekend, it worked just fine.

Gerry had already determined that the part we needed to replace, the motherboard, is no longer manufactured, and no longer available to order.  That being the case, we decided that we would just use the oven until it died completely.   I was cooking for guests in early December, and once again, the oven was finicky.

On Saturday evening,  out of the front section, where all the electronic parts are, the motherboard, came fizzling noises, which is the best way I can describe the sound.  That was followed by black smoke, and the smell of electrical burning.   We shut the stove off completely in the fuse box.   With Christmas less than ten days away, we needed an immediate replacement.  Meanwhile, we could still cook on the stove top.  That brought on two other of the same kind of fizzles and mini-black-smoke-explosions.

My daughter Brenda has the same kind of stove, and she and I have both observed that if you are boiling something on the top, and it overflows,  getting water into the electronic parts can cause the strange stove behavior.

Sunday, we went to Lowe's. Gerry noted that we need the slide-in kind of stove so that there are no cracks on both sides between the stove and the counter.  They had none in stock, so it had to be ordered.  The one we need could be delivered by December 29th, which was completely unacceptable to me.  I need to produce a Christmas meal!

We then went to Sears and there also,  the kind we need was only available by ordering it.  The date of delivery is scheduled for December 24th!   I am just hoping and praying for the best!  Good weather, early in the day delivery.  So stressful,  but we determined that that was the best we could do by Christmas!

As I have been cooking on the top, I have discovered that the oven is once again working just fine.  Of course, it is completely unreliable, potentially dangerous,  and has to be replaced, but as it soon goes to the stove burial place for its final rest, in its eulogy,  I would say that it should be honored for its perseverance and recovery!

Thank you stove for the service you have rendered.  Rest in peace!

And may your replacement arrive on time!