Christmas Carol Countdown: 3 Days to Go!

Goodness, it's actually Christmas-like weather here. It's been cloudy and raining for a week. It's supposed to last through Friday and then be sunny on Christmas Day. Meanwhile I'm enjoying quilting and looking out my window at the rain.

I'm hoping you have all your Christmas shopping and mailing done and can sit back and enjoy the season. And if you have children at home, lucky you!

I'm making it another two-fer day!

The first is from the last Bing Crosby Christmas TV Special. It was done in the 1970's. One of Bing's guests was David Bowie. I remember it was really odd to have someone like David Bowie appear with Bing. Apparently Bowie accepted because he knew his mother liked Bing Crosby. He didn't, however, like the song choice: Little Drummer Boy. He asked if there was something else they could do and someone wrote a counterpoint to Little Drummer Boy. This song has become a classic of Christmas songs. Bing Crosby died a month after taping this show.

I heard the second carol when I bought a CD of The King's College Choir. About a decade ago, Wherehouse (video/CD store) also sold used CD's. They contributed greatly to my large CD collection. At Christmas, I would make sure to hit Wherehouse looking for used Christmas CDs, especially the ones that were two bucks. This is how I discovered the King's College Choir, a choir of men and young boys. They make beautiful music! Gabriel's Message is a song that I first on their CD. Later I also heard the version done by Sting. I like them both equally. I couldn't find a version of Sting performing it, so I chose to post the King's College Choir. If you haven't heard Sting's version, go to youtube and look it up.

Wishing you the best this Christmas season. God Bless.

Christmas Carol Countdown: 5 Days to Go!

Lots of things are happening very quickly. So quickly that I haven't even sat down to write here. First, I am now officially on holiday! I managed to ease into it last week by being out of work for two days: one day with a migraine and one day to nurse my back which I hurt on the weekend. It certainly made the last week before vacation go quickly!

As of Saturday all the packages are sent out east. Amazingly, also, they received them today, Monday! I'm impressed. I sent off my daughter's birthday presents today, she'll definitely get them before the 26th, her birthday.

Speaking of that particular daughter's birthday, it brings up the Carol for today. My daughter was not supposed to come around Christmas. She was supposed to come around Thanksgiving! If any of you've ever carried a baby past due date, you'll know what a stressful and disheartening time it is. As soon as my daughter could understand my sentiments, I told her, "Don't you ever whine to me about your birthday being the day after Christmas! I was ready to have you three-and-a-half weeks before then. You shouldn't have even been born in December!" Actually, she likes her birthday being the day after Christmas, which is good, very good.

Today's carol is sung by John Denver. He is my all-time favorite singer/songwriter. Just as I grew up listening to Johnny Mathis on my Mom's stereo, my kids grew up hearing John Denver. I played guitar and his songs were the backbone of my repetoire. His songs and music are woven through our family life. We had a canary named JD, short for John Denver. We had a password so that the children would know if I sent someone to pick them up, that the person was safe. The password was John Denver and Annie. (Annie was his wife). My husband says that whenever I got mad at him, I'd play John Denver on the stereo. Many of his songs have helped me through difficult times in my life. My sister and I sang his song, Perhaps Love, at our mother's funeral. My grandfather's favorite song for me to play on the guitar was Calypso, a song John Denver wrote about Jacques Cousteau.

A little side note...each of my children have a song. I didn't start out intending it to be that way, it just happened. My oldest daughter's song is a lullaby I sang to her hundreds of times. It is from a musical written by Carol Lynne Pearson called "My Turn On Earth." The lullaby, "Angel Song," became her song because it reminded me of the time when she was a newborn. After that, there was a song for each child that just came about that reminded me of them as a newborn.

John Denver wrote a song called, "A Baby Just Like You", about his son Zachary. It is a Christmas themed song and very sweet. Because of my daughter's birthday, "A Baby Just Like You," became her song; many of the sentiments in the song express how I felt about her. One line in the song has the words: "Merry Christmas, little Zachary," which I changed when I sang it to: "Merry Christmas, little Andrea." It is another song from the first John Denver Christmas special with the Muppets.

It's two-fer Monday. (I just made that up!) I want to do two carols today, because I've missed some days and if I don't double up, I won't get in all the songs I have chosen!

I was on YouTube again today. Watch out! This may be habit forming! I like to go through the "Mormon Messages," that are there. I also spent quite a while watching live performances of Neil Diamond. Eclectic, to say the least!

The Mormon Tabernacle Choir sings "What Shall We Give to the Babe in the Manger?" It's a beautiful and thought provoking song. We are reminded that the greatest gift we can give the Savior is to love him and serve others. This version of that carol reminds us of what Christmas is about.

God Bless.

Christmas Carol Countdown: 9 Days to Go!

Admittedly I'm not that well versed on what's popular nowadays. My kids are grown up and living far away. I have a sixth grade student who is quite talkative. She'll tell me about something and I have to plead ignorance. She is always quite amazed that I have know nothing about x, y or z. It used to be easier when the kids were teens, which is a little payback for having to live through three children's adolescence.

Today I took some time and used it in an unexpected way. Looking at YouTube. Someone sent me a link and for about a half hour I just cruised around looking. I gather that Flash Mob has been going on for a few years. I didn't know it was so popular, so many have done it and I didn't know what it was called.

For the uninformed, like I was this morning, a Flash Mob is done in a public place. It starts with one or a few people who dance or sing, usually to a very large boombox accompaniment. As the song progresses, more and more people from the crowd keep joining in the center with the group. Of course, it's all been well-rehearsed but it seems spontaneous. The cool part is seeing the crowd's reaction.

During my cruising I found one that was done in Belgium in a train station. The huge group of people danced to Do-Re-Mi from Sound of Music. It was utterly wonderful. Of course I'm also a big fan of musicals.

The original link someone sent me is tonight's "Carol." It happens in a fast food court in a mall and it is the Hallelujah Chorus.

Many, many years ago, I was asked to join the presentation our Church and community did of Handel's Messiah. I had never sung it before. Even though the kids were pretty young, I committed and went to rehearsals twice a week for a month. We performed it twice in December. After that experience, I was hooked. I truly believe that Handel's Messiah is meant to be sung over being listened to. Or maybe just that you have to be able to sing it (in your correct part, not just singing with whatever part has the main voice) to really appreciate it magnificence.

I'm an alto. Handel loved altos, their warm, cello voices that were full and glowing. After that first time, I started singing the Messiah wherever I could. When we moved, I found a new choir to sing in. I went to numerous Messiah Sing-Alongs. Each year I would sit down around Christmas, put on my CD of the Messiah and sing through the entire thing with it, to be sure I didn't forget my part.

My daughter, also an alto, grew up and started singing with me at my annual CD playing. Soon she knew the alto part. When she was around 14, we sang in our first Messiah choir. What a great experience!

And now, the flash mob of Handel's Messiah.

God Bless.

Christmas Carol Countdown: 10 Days to Go!

Can it be? Two more days to vacation? Ten days to Christmas? I told my hubby tonight that we have some gift wrapping to do. I've got to get the east coast packages out of here!

It's fun wrapping with my husband...his way of wrapping is definitely his own unique style and the kids love getting packages wrapped by him. During the early years of our marriage, he wrapped everything in newspaper. Now that we no longer get a newspaper delivered, he's ventured into foil! Imported straight from the kitchen, no less. I've also seen packages with a ripped-off corner of wrapping paper taped on the outside of the box. The more presents he wraps the more minimalist he gets!

He's also a pro at guessing what he's being given. I gave up after a couple of years of trying to just put a wrapped present under the tree. I became creative. I put the wrong names on all the packages so he wouldn't know which one was his. That was dreadful, because then I forgot who the packages really went to. Then I went to disguising the present; you know, wrapping it in different sized boxes, putting marbles and nails inside, putting in a huge brick, etc.

I think the best year was three years ago. I went to Big Lots and bought one of those humongous Christmas stockings. They must have stolen it from Big Foot. My big idea was to put all his wrapped presents inside so he couldn't see them. It ended up not being big enough, but that didn't stop me. I cut a slit down the back of the stocking and sewed in a "gusset," an extra piece of material so that the stocking was wider. I got all the presents inside, including a last-minute impulse buy: a Wii. We had played it for the first time at someone's house over Thanksgiving and had lots of fun.

He's so devious. On Christmas Eve, when we open presents, about the third gift he handed me was a package from him. I ripped off the foil and saw the box: it was a Wii. I about fainted. So I started blurbering the whole thing about how I had gotten him a Wii also. That was when he told me to open the box. Surprise! There wasn't a Wii inside, it was another gift for me. He proceed to tell me, with a wolfish grin, how he figured I would get a Wii. Someone at work had gotten a Wii the week before and he asked to borrow the box to play a joke on me. That man! His ability to guess presents is the bane of my life!

My youngest daughter was born the day after Christmas. I've always managed to get birthday gifts for her, but most often forget to buy birthday gift wrap. I discovered that most Christmas wrap is white on the opposite side. Poor kid, she gets her presents wrapped in white paper. Once she pulls it off, it is revealed: plain ol' Christmas wrap!

Tonight's carol is one by Alan Jackson. My son gave me his Christmas album quite a few years ago. This song was an instant favorite. I was driving down to Southern California during December and had just gotten the CD. As soon as I heard Track Five I wanted to memorize the song. For mile upon mile, as I rolled down I-5, I played and replayed that song trying to memorize it.

That brings up the question, how come I still know every word to Johnny Mathis songs my mom played on the record player when I was a little kid, but can't learn the words to songs now? At least I can play the song over and over and over and over!

God Bless.

This is Alan Jackson and "Let It Be Christmas."

Christmas Carol Countdown: 11 Days to Go

I've been nursing a sore back and a couple of migraines...it's kept me away from posting these past few days.

Only eleven more days and I haven't wrapped a single present, sent off packages to the east coast kids, the tree is undecorated, the Christmas lights haven't gotten up on the house. My poor hubby is down quite frequently and the rain is hampering us too.

What matters though is not all the wrappings, although I do want my kids to get their presents before Christmas, it is the Spirit of Christ. I've been listening to Christmas Carols for about a month now. I watched the original How The Grinch Stole Christmas last night. Christmas has many traditions, and I've been sharing many of them with you, it makes the season fun and joyful. But Christ means more to me than all the rest. Christ was born over 2000 years ago, yet I can feel him in my life when I pray. I feel his Spirit when I sing songs of his birth, when I read the scriptures. Christ has helped through so much in my life; I am so grateful for his birth, his life and his sacrifice.

About now, I don't think the Christmas lights aren't going to get up on the house. This wouldn't be the first time the Christmas tree only had lights on it. And it won't be the first time one of us has been sick on Christmas Day. All that matters is the Day, to celebrate and honor his birth. And, as Charles Dickens said in A Christmas Carol that we "will honor Christmas in [our] heart[s], and try to keep it all the year."

Christmas Carol Countdown: 15 Days to Go!

I was totally worn out yesterday. I actually went to bed at 8:30. Hence, no post. I had a nice deep sleep, but still felt tired all day. I came home and took a nap. I was ready for bed at 8:00 tonight. Just want to tell my stories before I head to bed.

Here's another item from our early family's Advent Activity Calendar. It starts with a young me. Wow were our Christmases spectacular! I always got lots and lots of presents. Even then I remember feeling a huge sense of letdown when the last present was opened. It wasn't a greedy feeling, but I felt that there should be more. Time passes and I'm a young mom. Christmas is more commercialized than when I was a child and it rates a two on the over-doing it scale compared to present day with its over-the-top money, money, money, and buy, buy, buy and more, more, more attitude.

We didn't have much money back then. My husband was just out of college working his first big job. I was a stay-at-home mom. We did a lot of scrimping and doing without. When Christmas rolled around, I worried that my children would feel they weren't getting enough presents. Actually, they weren't. I wanted them to understand the joy of giving and the spirit of Christmas.

In the first year of my marriage, I had read the entire set of the Laura Ingalls Wilder books. I had never read them when I was younger and I adored these books. I loved the ways they made do and did without.

One particular story and phrase has stuck with me from these books,it is in Little House on the Prairie. Pa is getting ready to go to town. He has borrowed some nails from Mr. Edwards and needs to buy some to pay him back. It took four to five days to get to town and back and he hasn't been in about a year. Finally Pa decides he'd better "go and get it over with." He equivocates that he could stay back. Ma reminds him that they don't like borrowing and that he has also borrowed tobacco. Ma is almost out of cornmeal. Finally Pa says, "We could get along all right, if I didn't. There's no need to running to town all the time, for every little thing."

I remind myself of that when I start to think of buying something that I think I "need." How much can I get along without? What is necessary? Have you noticed that now in advertisements that "deserve" has replaced the word "need." Now you really "deserve" to buy a new car, or "deserve" the latest vacation. We are a long ways away from what our depression-era parents and grandparents learned and what the quote teaches: there really is very little we actually have to have to get along.

Now I'm rambling...back to the Advent Activity. In my effort to instill good values in my children, one night in the days before Christmas the slip would read, "Little House on the Prairie." In this same volume is a story titled, "Mr. Edwards Meets Santa Claus." On the prairie it is Christmas Eve. Laura and Mary are worried because there is no snow for Santa Claus to travel with his reindeer. The creek near their home is swollen and roaring. Mr. Edwards had been invited for Christmas dinner but now won't be able to make it because the creek is too high. It is a very disappointed Mary and Laura who go to bed and to sleep. Sometime during the night, Mr. Edwards makes it to their home. He has brought presents from Santa. Laura gets a tin cup of her very own; until then Mary and Laura have shared a cup. They have each gotten a long stick of candy and a very pretty heart-shaped cake with white sugar on top and made from pure white flour. In the very bottom of their stocking is a shiny penny. They marvel at their gifts and stare and stare. Laura writes: "They had never even though of such a thing as having a penny. Think of having a whole penny for your very own. Thing of having a cup and a cake and a stick of candy and a penny. There never had been such a Christmas."

My children loved this story and eagerly looked forward to it each year. Last year my middle daughter called from Massachusetts on Christmas Eve. She wanted to read the Little House on the Prairie Christmas story to her new seven-year-old step-daughter. I scanned the story and sent it across the United States that night so a tradition could be handed down to another generation.

Tonight's carol is from Brad Paisley. You'll hear in the introduction that he wrote it when he was 13 years old. It's called, "Born on Christmas Day."



An extra treat for you since I slept through yesterday's post!



God Bless.

Christmas Carol Countdown: 17 Days to Go!

The school kids are hyper all the time now. They're bouncing off the walls and can't wait for vacation. Whenever one of my students says to me, "I can't wait for Christmas!" I have to chuckle inwardly. You think the kids are anxious...the teachers are chomping at the bit!

School is like a massive sugar high these days! Lots of high spirits and squirrely-ness and exuberant behavior. If we can only survive eight more days!

One of the activities in our family's advent countdown was the Balloon Stomp. It would definitely fit the activity level I see at school. It easy peasy too! Every player gets a balloon and blows it up. I think there was a rule of not putting so much air in it that it pops when you look at it! Get some yarn and cut a 18-inch length. Tie one end loosely around your ankle and tie the other to your balloon. Each person can decide the length of yarn between ankle and balloon, the only rule being that the balloon has to touch the ground. Experience has taught that the closer the balloon is to your ankle, the easier it is to defend.

The goal of the Stomp is to break everyone's balloon by stepping on it with your foot. At the same time, you must protect your own balloon. The winner is the last person who has an unpopped balloon.

One person yells "Go!" and the madness begins. It's wild, it's crazy, it's a madhouse. Boy, is it fun! My kids have fond memories of this game and that's the idea. Memories and traditions. Glue that holds us together.

Amazingly enough, I just heard this song two years ago. The great Louis Armstrong originally did it. I actually heard it done by Garth Brooks, but when I went to find it on iTunes the only version I could find was Louis Armstrong. And what a version!

Searching for it on YouTube, I found this incredible video someone put together. It has fantastic editing. There are clips of Armstrong himself singing the song interspersed with period cartoons. It's a treat! Sit back and enjoy: "Zat You Santa Claus"

Christmas Carol Countdown: 18 Days to Go

Each time I type the title with the days left till Christmas, I have this inward shudder. Many of you probably share this dreaded countdown with me. How many days left until everything has to make it in the mail to get to the __________. These past few years the blank has been filled in with "East Coast." I have a son and a daughter living on the "opposite" coast. That includes a son-in-law and two granddaughters. The gifts have made it every year with some room to spare, but it's always a gnawing in my stomach until I leave the post office with their packages on the way!

My current situation is, admittedly, much better than four years ago when the same daughter as above was deployed and in Germany. But that was still fairly simple because of the military mail system. I only had to mail her things to San Francisco!

By far the worst location and, unfortunately, the worst turn-out was the year my same son as above was stationed in Korea (Army) and same daughter was serving a mission for our church in Japan. (Is it just me or does it seem that the two of them are in "cohoots" to live far away?)

It was getting close to Christmas and time to mail packages. My son's were easy, he was in the military, but my daughter's had to go through the regular mail system, and that is very, very expensive. I decided to send my daughter's Christmas box via military mail to my son in Korea. From there he could mail it to Japan, just a hop, skip and a jump over the little bit of ocean!

The plan proceeded well until Christmas Day when my daughter got to call home. She reported that no Christmas box had arrived from me. That was truly dreadful. Here she was far, far away in Japan. First Christmas without family. And no Christmas presents from home. It was agonizing.

Then January came and went. No Christmas box. February, the same. Finally the Christmas box shows up...at my son's "doorstep" in Korea. I don't know where that package had been for almost three months; I hope it had a good time.

Now the best plan was for my son to mail the package through military mail back to me. I then sent it through U.S. mail to Korea. Into the next month...Easter arrives in Japan. My daughter finally receives her Christmas box...the same day the Easter box arrives from home!

I'd like to believe that it was "all for the best." But it's going to be a hard sell!

One story is enough for a day, so those of you waiting for the Balloon Stomp will have to be patient until tomorrow.

Here is a carol I discovered this year and it's already high on my favorites list. It's done by a group called MercyMe. This carol, written by a member of the group, reflects on Joseph's feelings towards his newborn son.

I searched through all the videos I could find for one that I liked to illustrate the song. None of them were perfect. Each one had something beautiful and right, each one had a part or two that didn't fit for me. Here is the one that I finally picked. The song is so tender and filled with the love of a father. Here is "Joseph's Lullaby."

Christmas Carol Countdown--20 Days to Go

In my home growing up, we only had three Christmas albums--and they were albums! Imagine... today I must have 30 or more CD's of Christmas music! We had the classic Frank Sinatra: Sinatra Christmas Album, Fred Waring and the Pennsylvanians: Now Is The Caroling Season, and Bing Crosby: Christmas Around the World. To me, Fred Waring and Frank Sinatra ARE Christmas music. Imagine my delight when I found the Frank Sinatra CD about 10 years ago. Then two Christmases ago, I found the Fred Waring album on iTunes.

Today the carol I picked is, first, my favorite Christmas carol: Silent Night. Second, it is from the beloved Frank Sinatra album.

Silent Night became my favorite Christmas carol when my children were very young. It was the first Christmas after my mother died. Christmas was only a couple of weeks away and that week my husband was away on a business trip. I was so lonely and sad. My kids, ages eight, six and four, were in bed. I was watching, for the first time, a movie my mom liked: "Camille."

At the same time, the Relief Society (our church's woman's organization) was having a house to house party that night. Women had donated unique Christmas decorations and three or four houses were chosen to display these items. One of the houses was down the street from me. I had really wanted to go that night, but couldn't afford a babysitter.

At the time, I was not attending church regularly. Trying to make sense of my mother's untimely and early death, I was mystified by God and his influences on earth.

It would have been odd for me to go to this Christmas event, but nonetheless I had wanted to go. I was standing at my kitchen sink when I noticed a string of cars driving down the street. I knew that it was all the women going to the house to see the decorations. I had even donated these very nice, homemade stockings I had made for our family.

I was sitting watching "Camille" when a knock came at my door. Opening the door, I was surprised to see the president of the Relief Society and some other women. The president said they wanted to come down and bring my stockings back and sing a carol for me. I asked for Silent Night.

As these women started singing, I started crying. Many of my bitter feelings were melting away. The Spirit was talking to me. These women didn't know me that well; I didn't come to church much. But here they were on my doorstep singing and I could feel their love.

That night I lay in bed, and sleep didn't come. I was thinking about these women showing up at a time when I needed it so much. I knew that Heavenly Father had sent them to me. I continued thinking about how I had felt about God and the church and I realized that I was very wrong. All that love was there, love from God, love from my "sisters" in the Church, and all I had to do was accept it.

I wish you all the Spirit of Christmas this season. I hope you can feel the love of God in your life, because I know that God loves each and everyone of us in a very personal and caring way.

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas!

My mom would always start singing that popular song, "It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas" around the beginning of December. It has stuck with me through all these years, and although I don't know most of the words, I always have to hum it when I start seeing Christmas lights on houses.

The weather here in California is cooperating for the beginning of December and the Christmas season. It's been cold, very cold, in fact. We've been getting frost! And now it's rainy. I just hope it's like this on Christmas Day.

I love the Christmas season. The joy, the giving, but mostly children. I had so much fun when my children were little. In the coming days, I'm going to share things that we did when my kids were little.

I really miss my children, and now grandchildren around now. My son and my daughter both live on the East Coast...I only get out there once a year. My newest grandbaby is also on the East Coast. Luckily one family member stayed close, my daughter and my grandson, who is ten.

The advent calendar and the Twelve Days of Christmas have always been heartily celebrated in our family. More details in the days to come! My countdown to Christmas for this blog is going to be sharing some of my favorite carols sung by the artist I think did it best! Music has such a wonderful way of bringing the Spirit of Christmas, the Spirit of Christ, into our lives. We feel the warmth of the spirit and it makes us vow to do more, help more, give more.

Advent Calendar Made by My Mom
for TGS

My first choice for Christmas Carol Countdown is by the Norwegian singer, Sissel. She has a truly incredible voice; it makes you think of angels! A few years back, she was the guest artist on the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas Concert. It was the first time I had heard her and I was entranced. The selection today is Angels from the Realms of Glory. And don't be too surprised if Sissel shows up later this month in the carol list.

My Quilty Friends

I belong to two quilt guilds. One is local and one is online. Each offers something different. The online guild, at quiltingboard.com, is slightly addictive. There are members from all over the world who mainly gather to talk about quilting and share their projects. If you are there checking posts everyday, you get to know these other quilters. I've never been on an online anything, so what I describe may sound familiar to you.

I love it because at any time you can ask a question, ask for help on a project, or just share something going on in your life. Then you can also answer questions or comment or help someone else.

There are also areas for selling quilty stuff, sharing topics other than quilting. There are loads of tutorials written by members which are amazing!

I have learned so much from them, for example: I learned a super way to do bindings that make them look like what you see in a quilt show. I learned to starch my fabric, use templates in quilting, etc. One woman has her own way of making familiar blocks called the cutaway method--it's fantastic, it taught me a whole new easy way to make HST (half square triangles).

These quilters, I call them my quilty friends, are supportive too. When my second daughter went into labor with her very first baby, she called me at 4 a.m. to give me the news. I was thrilled, but there was also no way I was going to go back to sleep! I sat down at my computer and posted that my daughter was in labor. As I sat there, replies starting coming in from all over the world. Other quilters congratulating me, reminiscing about their grandchildren, and just saying hi. It was a warm way to spend the four hours until I had to go to work.

Right now I'm involved in a couple of projects on the board and that's what I'm working on during the vacation. On Friday I'll tell you about a major project we're doing, my quilty friends and I.

One Day to Vacation!

It's one more day of teaching and then it's Thanksgiving Vacation! I am so excited, which is why I'm sitting up at the unheard of hour of 12:30 a.m. and starting a blog. I rarely go to bed on time the night before the day before the last day before vacation. (And if you followed all those befores, you're more alert than I am.

I watched a great movie tonight, all in the anticipatory/celebratory state of the day before... Have you seen Second Hand Lions? It came out in 2003 and I actually watched it for the first time about six months ago. I ended up buying the DVD and watched it again tonight. It stars Robert Duvall, Michael Caine and Haley Joel Osment (from Sixth Sense). This is a movie that is sweet, quirky, utterly adorable, and it made me cry a couple of times. But it was a good cry.

It's also a great movie for families. It's rated PG. There's no cussing, no sex or nudity, no vulgar or coarse language. It's refreshing to watch a movie that has good character development, an unusual plot line, engaging actors and story.
What a gem! You'll love Haley Joel Osment with his almost-puberty cracking voice. If you have kids, I'd say they should be 12 or older to watch to really get it. I'm basing this on my 10-year-old grandson...I think it would amuse him and he'd enjoy it, but wouldn't get the meaning.

I always love to watch movies with the family on Thanksgiving Break, so you might want to check this one out!

And so it goes....my day.....my thoughts.....