Christmas, 2014 Style
There's a new app to tell you which of your friends are racist: it's called Facebook—or so the joke goes.
I've been avoiding Facebook lately, partly because I've been too busy with home improvement projects but also because of how vitriolic and heavy it's become of late with all of the discussion centering around what many feel (including me) is the heavy-handed approach by some in law enforcement toward minorities and the pass they're being given by grand juries for those actions. I sometimes feel a strong need to push back on some of what I'm reading but more often than not I don't. I quietly sigh and move on.
Our home improvement projects are nearly done. All that's left for me to do is to hang a couple of doors in the laundry room. I've got them drying in the garage and intend to install them tomorrow.
We're very happy with how both the laundry room and Tammy's sewing room (Rachel's former bedroom) turned out. We hadn't planned to do anything to either of these rooms until we're retired but for whatever reason, we decided to move them up on our to-do list. It's nice to have them done, especially Tammy's sewing/craft room. I'll post some photos in my next update. It's been so gloomy here and I'd really like some sunshine before I bother trying to get some pics.
I've mentioned here before how pleased we've been with Charter Cable. When we've had them out to our house for any issues they've always taken their time and gotten us back up and running. I was having trouble getting the TV in Tammy's sewing room connected so they sent techs out on two successive days to resolve the problem which turned out to be a cut cable in the attic from our sun-porch addition project of 18 months ago. I hear lots of people complain about Charter but unless you've had them out to your home in the last few years you probably can't appreciate how much they've stepped up their game. They're all about making sure any connectivity issues you have are resolved so you remain a customer which makes total sense.
Christmas 2014 will not be white or even brown. We've got a Kansas City winter going on here and it's more green than anything.
Rachel came into town yesterday and will be with us until Saturday. We went to Mom's last night for a couple hours while Jackie and Jerry were there. It was a nice time. Mom got lots of gifts for her comfort while she's in her chair where she spends nearly all of her awake time: a back massager from Keith and Tracee, an electric blanket from Jerry and Jackie, and an OttLite with a magnifying glass from us. I enjoyed spending time talking with Jerry. It's been too long. The funniest line of the night goes to Rachel. Mom was mentioning how Dish Network dropped her favorite channel, Fox News. Rachel made the comment, "those angry Republicans with pitchforks demanding we want our Fox back!" Haha...I'm not sure if she knew she was among Republicans in the room but she said it in such a way that I had to laugh.
We came home and revived an old tradition we used to do when Rachel was younger, reading the story of the birth of Jesus before opening gifts. Yes, I know, it makes no sense, celebrating the birth of someone who asked us to give up our material possessions by lavishing material possessions upon each other.
Tammy got me a Panasonic Lumix to replace my 4-year-old Lumix. I'm liking it although I have a lot to learn about using it. I took this photo this morning using the zoom feature which is considerably better than my other Lumix.
Our 2014 Christmas card photo was one I spliced together with Photoshop from photos taken during this past year. I think it was Rachel's idea. In fact, I think most of our Christmas card photo ideas are hers!
I've been avoiding Facebook lately, partly because I've been too busy with home improvement projects but also because of how vitriolic and heavy it's become of late with all of the discussion centering around what many feel (including me) is the heavy-handed approach by some in law enforcement toward minorities and the pass they're being given by grand juries for those actions. I sometimes feel a strong need to push back on some of what I'm reading but more often than not I don't. I quietly sigh and move on.
Our home improvement projects are nearly done. All that's left for me to do is to hang a couple of doors in the laundry room. I've got them drying in the garage and intend to install them tomorrow.
We're very happy with how both the laundry room and Tammy's sewing room (Rachel's former bedroom) turned out. We hadn't planned to do anything to either of these rooms until we're retired but for whatever reason, we decided to move them up on our to-do list. It's nice to have them done, especially Tammy's sewing/craft room. I'll post some photos in my next update. It's been so gloomy here and I'd really like some sunshine before I bother trying to get some pics.
I've mentioned here before how pleased we've been with Charter Cable. When we've had them out to our house for any issues they've always taken their time and gotten us back up and running. I was having trouble getting the TV in Tammy's sewing room connected so they sent techs out on two successive days to resolve the problem which turned out to be a cut cable in the attic from our sun-porch addition project of 18 months ago. I hear lots of people complain about Charter but unless you've had them out to your home in the last few years you probably can't appreciate how much they've stepped up their game. They're all about making sure any connectivity issues you have are resolved so you remain a customer which makes total sense.
Christmas 2014 will not be white or even brown. We've got a Kansas City winter going on here and it's more green than anything.Rachel came into town yesterday and will be with us until Saturday. We went to Mom's last night for a couple hours while Jackie and Jerry were there. It was a nice time. Mom got lots of gifts for her comfort while she's in her chair where she spends nearly all of her awake time: a back massager from Keith and Tracee, an electric blanket from Jerry and Jackie, and an OttLite with a magnifying glass from us. I enjoyed spending time talking with Jerry. It's been too long. The funniest line of the night goes to Rachel. Mom was mentioning how Dish Network dropped her favorite channel, Fox News. Rachel made the comment, "those angry Republicans with pitchforks demanding we want our Fox back!" Haha...I'm not sure if she knew she was among Republicans in the room but she said it in such a way that I had to laugh.
We came home and revived an old tradition we used to do when Rachel was younger, reading the story of the birth of Jesus before opening gifts. Yes, I know, it makes no sense, celebrating the birth of someone who asked us to give up our material possessions by lavishing material possessions upon each other.Tammy got me a Panasonic Lumix to replace my 4-year-old Lumix. I'm liking it although I have a lot to learn about using it. I took this photo this morning using the zoom feature which is considerably better than my other Lumix.
Our 2014 Christmas card photo was one I spliced together with Photoshop from photos taken during this past year. I think it was Rachel's idea. In fact, I think most of our Christmas card photo ideas are hers!
Comments
Wishing you a happy New Year that includes continued good health and more time at the studio
We hope to be there in the next few weeks. It'll be good to see you all again!