Today the temps have been in the mid 70’s, in fact, most of the kids wore shorts to school. So snow is the fartherest thing from our minds! However, the jokes are funny, anyway!

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The final clean-up of the Creek house was taking place as I left there this afternoon. My new friend, Stacy, has finished up her painting expertise…she did an amazing job! I will show you some pics soon.

Tomorrow…we start with the boxes. IT”S HERE!

The day started off wrong. I think it is just a cruel joke by the’ powers that be ‘when all the electricity goes out in your house just as you step into the shower! I mean, you are partially wet, and can’t see to get a towel…so a shower in the dark seems the only way to go. Well, showering and praying, actually. Praying that you’ll have electricity by the time you get out so you can dry your hair! Prayer works! It came on just as the hot water was beginning to give out! P.S. I did not attempt to shave my legs…just so you know…

By the time I had gathered all the stuff I had to take with me today, I was waaaay behind schedule! And, to top it all off, the car was running on fumes because I was too tired to fill it up last night. So, gas station…back home to pick up food for luncheon that I forgot…out to Creek House to check on a few things…then on to work!

I have been able to kinda coast at school since the program. Gives me time to catch up on clean up and putting up the stuff I have been too busy to do for a while! Then we had our teacher luncheon after school. This is the one that was supposed to be at my house…IF I had moved in the first time I thought we were. But, that’s OK…I’m not bitter! 🙂 It’s coming soon enough!

Back to the house after the luncheon. Then to the fabric store to get burlap (I’ll explain that later)…to Office Max to buy an external hard drive. I did not even know what that was until today. I have 8 boxes of CD’s (each hold 60), and they need to be loaded onto a hard drive so that the electronic people at the house can program them into the music system. The music system that I will probably never understand how to work, but which they say is simple. Myself, I am just happy with an old boom box that has only 2 or 3 buttons. Too many things to learn for an old lady! A stop by Dairy Queen for a delicious, nutritious supper…complete with a blizzard of a dessert. Then home…and off the feet. I am not moving until 7:oo in the AM. I am not even drinking anything so I won’t have to get up to go potty!

Have a blessed tomorrow!

Had school, then on to Creek House. The pool is finished! Looks great. Problems with putting up the fencing…but Don is working it out. A few problems with the inside fireplace, but working on those, too. The landscapers continue to enhance the outside!

Left to take Mom to the Doctor. The builder called just as I was leaving, and said to” come back”…they were hanging mirrors and needed my input. So back over to give them my OK.
While locking up, Don had trouble with a door locking…the builder tries…and the lock came off in his hand! That is the second time that has happened. They already sent someone to ‘fix it’ one time…but obviously, not too well. Don and our builder were both furious! Some one got an irate call last night…I bet that door will be really fixed today!

Then a stop at Lowes for broom and hangers and such. They do not have simple wooden stools there! On to Wal Mart to pick one up…then a fast run to a BBQ place for food for the family.

Home and now it is time to get up and get ready for work. Teacher’s luncheon, then back to Creek House to check in. We have help line up to start the move on Friday! Ready or not…here we come!

Passing the Christmas section on my way out of a store Friday, I stopped for a second to look at the Willow Tree display. I have always liked this collection, and I have the Nativity Scene from several years ago that consisted of Mary and Joseph, the Baby, a shepherd, sheep, and donkey (as above). On one table, they were showing the newest additions to the scene. (Myself was saying to Me that I did not need to buy these because it would just be something else to move. And, I am happy to report that I listened to Me, and took My advice.)

But, while I was standing there, an older lady stopped beside me and said, “It’s a shame, I tell you…a crying shame.” I was trying to decide whether to engage her in conversation or not, when she saved me the trouble. “There’s not a baby in sight…and no Mama and Daddy either. It’s just not right”, she said. I looked at her and was trying to figure out what part of this dialogue I had missed, when she spoke again, “It’s been like that everywhere I go this year…everybody is leaving them out. You can’t have just the Men, that’s not what the story is…the story is the Mama and the Baby.” Then she looked at me and said, “Do you see the Baby?”

The lady was pointing at the Wise Men display…and suddenly, I got it! She was talking about Mary and Joseph and Baby Jesus not being with the Wise Men. I suppose that they only display the newer sets. They really wanted to get rid of them obviously, because they had 3 sets of them set up on this table. And, she was right…not a Mama, Daddy, or Baby in sight.

She wandered on off, mumbling to herself, “It just ain’t Christmas without the Baby.”

And, while I understood what the store had done, I thought her words were so prophetic. It isn’t Christmas without the Baby. The decorations,the ornaments and trees, the shopping lists and presents, the food and the parties and whatever else has become attached to this Holy-day, isn’t Christmas. Christmas is the BABY.
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Yes, I do know that in the REAL story, the Wise Men did not come to visit while Jesus was an infant. They arrived when He was around 2 years old. But, the makers of Nativity Scenes the world over have contributed to our belief that they visited while He was still a little baby. I don’t think that Willow Tree got it right, either…because their intent is for all the characters to be displayed together(as below). It is still a beautiful set, and I plan to complete it…later. Usually when I display my other sets, I move the Wise Men a short distance away from the Baby. It’s just one of those things that I like to get right. Matters not to most, but to me, it’s important. I have several scenes that I like to put up at Christmas…each a little different in style and design…but they all have the Baby!