Santa came to the circle...

...early last week. Here he presents a gift to Janine. John and Sarah got ones too.

Santa's visit to the circle dates back to when the houses were first built over 30 years ago. In fact some of the moms and dads were among the first to participate in this event when it first started. A family one street over started the event. Another family took it over a few years ago to keep the tradition running.

This year we had a new Santa. As you can see from the lower photo, Santa comes in a firetruck. The volunteer fireman who has been Santa for many years is now retired. I was told that he really wanted to be Santa again this year, but the cold has slowed him down. So now we have a younger and more robust Santa.

It was a good call because it was only 10 degrees when he arrived and thankfully no snow falling this year.

Christmas Meditation

The message of Good News...

And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. (Luke 2:9-14)

...Later

Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. He told them, "This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high." (Luke 24:45-49)

The purpose of Christmas doesn't end the next day. You can only understand Christmas in the context of Easter. Jesus' death for our sins and his resurrection on the third day is victory over sin and death. When we accept Him we share in that victory.

We have posted the above on Christmas Eve for the past three years. For an even longer view click here to go to a Wall Street Journal editorial that has run every Christmas Eve since 1949. Still none can compare to the longevity and significance of the story behind it.

Christmas Ballet

Here's Janine at last week's parent's observation day at the ballet studio. She was very proud to wear a real tutu. Being a head taller thant the rest of her class, she was not able to wear the same costume as the other girls. So I guess this was part of the source of her pride.

(My goodness! Pardon me for a moment. My youngest is growing up and I am so pleased and proud of her.)

O Tannenbaum? "That'll be 27 bucks pal."

On an appropriately snowy late afternoon this past Friday we bought our Christmas tree at our favorite stand. As you can see from the photo, you need not ask the price because they are all $27, even the brown ones without any needles.

But ours is better than that. In fact we bought the first one the guy showed us. He brought it over from the far end of the small lot, assured us that it was a prestigious Fraser Fir and that was that. In less than two minutes he bailed it in plastic netting and placed in the back of our van. It was a much better experience than last year when they were burning some scraps, got impatient and careless with the kerosene and nearly immolated the entire lot.

After a night in a bucket of water, I put up the tree on Saturday. We allowed it to settle overnight then decorated it yesterday. It is still a work in progress and probably will be until it is on the curb waiting for the township to grind it up for mulch.

Two years ago we bought our tree at a nearby garden center. It was probably the nicest tree we have ever had, but it also was $70. For that amount of money I expect them to not only deliver it, but to check in every night to make sure it has enough water! After that, we like our $27 trees very much thank you.

Light Up Night

This past Friday evening we went down to downtown Sewickley for light up night. The main intersection of Broad and Beaver Streets was closed to cars and all the stores were open late.

As you can see from the look on Sarah's face, it was cold. About 20 degrees to be exact. The Starbucks across the street from this photo was packed! I later realized that the kids have not yet learned how to deal with the cold. Sarah though she would be warm enough with a pea coat on top of a cotton scoop neck shirt. John had the right idea with a hoodie, but he also did not have enough underneath. Janine was in good shape except for the fact that she has out grown her favorite shirt which is now too short. Bobbie was wise with a heavy coat and scarf over a sweater.

I liked it a lot because it reminded me of Minnesota. Crisp, cold, full of the attitude that we won't let the cold keep us down. Heck, we used to walk to the Nordeast White Castle from the U of M campus in January! Of course there was the promise of sliders... On second thought, Sewickley this past Friday was perhaps a bit classier.

Wizard Rock!

Here's John with some new friends at a Wizard Rock concert last week.

For the uninitiated, Wizard Rock is a new music genre devoted to fans of Harry Potter. Some clever and creative musicians have written songs about the characters and stories in the Harry Potter book series. While most of the melodies are original, they are also familiar. Some remind me of Elvis Costello and others of Buddy Holly; not bad company to be in.

Most concerts are in libraries or bookstores. This one was an exception because it was at a coffee house. There was even a cover charge. John got his hand stamped for the first time! (See bottom photo.)

I took both John and Sarah to the concert, but sat with only John. I knew that Sarah wanted to network with the other fans and didn't need Dad to help her. But she was great to check in with me every so often, and be ready to go after the concert.

John sat with me at the beginning, but then got up to dance with the kids pictured above. They were the youngest in the crowd, so they stuck together. These kids were there with their mother, with whom I spoke for a few minutes. We both agreed that the great thing was to see them trying their independence but also to be there in the same room as an anchor.

Help in the kitchen

Here's Janine helping to make her favorite Thanksgiving dish, mashed potatoes. She prepared the table with a little help from me. I suggested the glass dish to catch the peelings. She did the rest.

I wonder if she will help herself to more at dinnertime.

In the meantime Bobbie is working on the rest of the meal.


Menu:
Turkey, fresh, brined overnight
Granny's cornbread dressing
Green beans
Mashed potatoes
Pumpkin pie

Tomorrow we will turn around and do it all again when we host two families from our church. I guarantee that we will not have turkey.

New Gadget

Click for the ringtone I want on my phone.

Then sit back and enjoy an old favorite. Flaco Jimenez. I first saw the guy at the live broadcast of A Prairie Home Companion in 1981. My cousin John and his wife Marti got tickets and were kind enough to invite me along. I enjoyed the show from its early days in 1974 when it originated from the Macalester College student union.

In the late '70s the show had moved to the World Theatre, a very tired place in downtown St. Paul. I had to sit on my coat on more than one night to cover the springs peaking through my seat. After PHC was done at 7 PM Saturday night, the theater showed a Vietnamese double feature. So it was a very different crowd waiting outside in the cold when you left.

For the rest of my time in the Twin Cities, PHC was a favorite date idea. The show ran from 5:00 to 7:00 PM allowing for leisurely dinner afterwards.

Live broadcasting is always lots of fun, especially radio because you are watching what the "folks at home" can't see. Flaco lived up to his name. He was skinny.

Click on the comments button and tell me what you think.

Brownie Food Drive

This past week Janine and her Brownie troop had a food drive at a local grocery store. They passed out flyers to shoppers coming in and then collected their contributions as they left.

They picked grocery prime time, Sunday afternoon a few hours before a 4 PM Steelers game. The store was packed with the black and gold faithful. (I saw one cart filled with hoagie loaves on one side and deli meats and cheeses on the other.)

If the girls look a little stiff, they were cold. They stood in an entrance with doors on either side and a cold wind blowing across. They did very well for two hours work. The food bank got three large boxes of canned and dry food including our box of Cheerios.

Milestones Passed

I found this card along with stroller instructions when I was checking our product information file the other day. The car seat and stroller are long gone, but we still had the literature in the file.

It made me stop to think about how we put Sarah in it glad that she was no longer in the "bucket" carrier.

This weekend Sarah and John both go to a church youth group retreat. Legally, Janine has not been in a car seat or booster for over a year and had been big enough not to need one for even longer.

How things change! While I am somewhat wistful, nonetheless I am happy to see them grow and encouraged by their progress.

Peak Color

Last week was the perfect time for late season leaf peeping in our neck of the woods. The weather was sunny and warm. Here are three brilliant trees at their peak. Note the tree in the background is getting close to bare. This magnificent view is from our backyard across one neighbor's to another.

This week is another story. It's cloudy and cold. Saturday was the end of the outdoor season as indicated by the fact that I put away the deck furniture until next spring. Now on to raking the leaves!

Trick or Treat

Would you give candy to these three?

Well, a bunch of other people did this past Friday. For the first time the kids did not trick or treat in our neighborhood. But boy did they have nice weather for it. Clear and about 65 at sundown, it dipped to a comfortable 55 by the time it all was over at 8:00 PM.

Sarah (the flapper) went over to her friend Caroline's house. (It's nearby, but far enough to be interesting.) They hit just about the entire sub-division, up and down the hills and back into all of the cul-de-sacs. Because Halloween was on a Friday this year, many houses were empty, their families at the game.

Janine (Luna Lovegood from the Harry Potter series) went to a Halloween party at a friend's house. They made crafts, ate dessert and exhausted the parents.

John (Edward Cullen of the soon-to-be-famous Twilight series) and I went to other direction and trekked to his friend Andrew's house. There, we met up with a bunch of other guys. We started in a very high-end neighborhood full of doctors. At the orthodontist's house, they all got toothbrushes. Then we cut through a yard to another neighborhood that really had the Halloween spirit. Entire families were sitting out in the driveway with tables full of candy! Other houses had some unusual decorations including the jack-o-latern featuring the number of Evegeny Malkin from the Penguins. I wonder if they trick or treat in Russia?

Janine's B-day!

Sunday was Janine's ninth birthday. Last one in single digits!

Here she is blowing out the candle on the her birthday pie. That's right, a birthday pie. Bobbie offers to make the kids the dessert of their choice and over the years we all have chosen pies. Janine chose a peach and blueberry pie. It was great. So great in fact that it didn't last past Monday lunch.

Janine got some nice gifts including an MP3 player, some new clothes and as always Grammie and Gramps came through with some neat stuff. As you can see Sarah was having fun with the chameleon toys.


Sunday morning, Janine received a bible at the morning worship service. Our church gives each third grader a new bible. Janine got the Faith Girlz Bible. While I am not exactly sure what the title means, Janine has been reading it in the mornings and evenings, so I am not complaining in the least.

Last Day - Sunday

Because we had to take care of a few things, such as returning the rented bikes, we didn't get out of town until 10 AM Sunday. The car had half a tank of gas so I calculated that we would fill up on the peninsula on the way back into Virginia.

We stopped at a truck stop that saddles the NC/VA line. Gas was $3.10 a gallon, significantly lower than the $3.89 on the Outer Banks. What's more, gas was plentiful. There were shortages in western NC the previous week.

Even though it was only 11:15, Bobbie said it was time to stop for lunch. From experience we both knew that we had almost an hour ahead of us driving on causeways, through tunnels and shipyards without anyplace to stop for food, gas, or use the bathroom. When we got inside we found a smoke shop to beat them all. We ate pulled pork barbeque in NC vinegar sauce next to this sign. There were people leaving with grocery bags full of 10 to 12 cartons of cigarettes.

There is virtually no tax on tobacco products in North Carolina and it shows.

About 10 hours later we pulled into our driveway tired, but happy we set the time aside to spend it together at the beach.

Seventh Day - Saturday

On Saturday night we drove down to Nag's Head to have dinner at one of our favorite spots, The Red Drum. (It's named for a fish, not a musical instrument.) Here's Sarah trying to take a self portrait of the table. I like the new snap brim cap.

Sarah, Bobbie and I had a good old fashioned seafood dinner of a dozen oysters (for $6.95!), a dozen steamers, then fried oysters and clams. Nana had fried shrimp while John and Janine had chicken strips.

The place is pretty basic but a lot of fun. As we have written previously, most of the restaurants are on the main highway. The Red Drum is on the old beach road where most of the vacation homes can best be described as cottages (that's cabin back in the midwest.) Everything is cheek to jowl. People staying in the house next to The Red Drum actually walk out the front door onto the parking lot.

In the back pool room, there is an item not commonly found these days. Remember North Carolina's largest crop and you will understand why...