Three degrees with a windchill of -17. This my friends is some very cold weather. It is the coldest temps I've ever experienced here. Everything is holding up pretty well, although the upstairs heater is working overtime to maintain. Don't think we see above freezing until Monday. Many in the area have reported very strong winds, but we are so thankful the wind hasn't been bad around here. Roy has gone outside a couple of times and returns back to the warmth rather quickly.
The above written around midnight. Going through the house making visual inspections making sure the taps are dripping, the dryer drying and making sure the dishwasher is scheduled for a middle of the night wash run. For a little while our upstairs unit lost the fight being two degrees lower inside than the setting but on the third inspection round a little later, it once again was breaking even.
For quite some time I have been dealing with a shorter attention span than normal but maybe I have found something that is helping me regain attention. Last week I discovered
https://www.facebook.com/Aymieandgracie/
Believe me, you will be quite entertained by the creativity and antics. Sometimes it seems the silly can bring us back to the serious. Watching these videos, they are doing a good work in and for me. Just a cat Penny, her fur siblings, hooman mom and daughter and sometimes dad can add a smile.
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
We were awakened by a noise this morning. Rhythmic thumping...don't think it was Santa Claus but probably a noise from the heater. Roy stayed up later than usual last night so he was a bit groggy to investigate. Roy wasn't waiting for Santa but to register some of The Feral Fam for holiday snipping at the area animal neuter and spay clinic. The policy used to be sign up at midnight but that recently changed to 10:00 am Mondays. Ho Ho Ho!
While reading some Houston Christmas memories on a FB site, one post brought back a memory for me that I had long forgotten about. While working at Pennzoil downtown, in one of the coolest office buildings ever, each Christmas a bank downtown served gingerbread men and wassail during lunch hours. Texas Commerce Bank had an employee Christmas choir that sang carols and Christmas songs the work week before Christmas, too. The person who shared about the banks at Christmas is Jewish and she said these experiences, taking the bus downtown with her grandmother, hearing the songs and the Christmas goodies is such a strong memory for her. Today, Three Brothers Bakery is open for several hours at the original location in Houston. Home of the very tasty and best gingerbread men, well that is outside my of my mom's cookies.
Last week in Sunday School, we did a little Christmas quiz and questions. One of the questions was, have you ever celebrated Christmas in July? Roy thought it wasn't a good question to include but if you grew up Southern Baptist and in GA's, you did celebrate Christmas in July. Back in the day, shipping toys and gifts for the missionaries to give out all over the world had to be shipped by the end of July. This year, I too celebrated Christmas in July, well, August really. When my brother was here he brought both birthday gifts and Christmas. The Christmas gift is so special in light of the happenings in December of last year. One of the special and sentimental things stolen when Roy was robbed, my great grandmother's medicine cabinet. I loved rooting through things on my Grandma B's back porch, So many interesting things to discover. One of those discoveries is an old wooden medicine chest and my grandmother told me I could have it if I wanted it. Oh yes, thank you. It sat in a closet for years as we lived in apartments and then when we moved into our townhouse. We had it hanging there but in the original, neglected state. It went back into a closet while living in the condo but when we moved into our CR home, I wanted it back out on display. Bill Bain stained and repaired it for us. Added a dowel rod and the rest is history. When we sold the house, Roy moved the medicine chest to the condo/apartment he rented before retiring. To keep it safe and in good condition, Roy loaded it in the Sequoia for his journey home. I'm ever so thankful that Roy made it home safely. This summer, with Doug's visit, he brought in a huge wrapped gift and said Merry Christmas! At first glance I thought he had found the original online, but it was a medicine chest that looked very much like the one we had. Even signed by the builder of it in 1929. I may have shed a few tears over the gift, the thoughtfulness and joy that went into finding it and then giving it. What a wonderful brother! He even had the hanger on the back! As of yet, we haven't put it up because we need to see if we find a furniture piece and then the chest will hang over it. Hey, no bathroom relegation for this piece. I thought I had taken a pic of it before moving it into the closet. It was getting way too much attention from The Boys.
Yesterday as we kept warm in these cold temps, I felt a little bit of sadness. Barbers Orchard closed on Christmas Eve at 3:00 pm. So sad...six months of waiting till August 1st. The most wonderful time of the year, produce stand season, officially has come to an end for 2022. We have strawberries and peaches frozen from summer for the winter, plenty of apples and caramel sauce, and Publix has strawberries on sale beginning tomorrow.
A different Christmas this year and as always a different Christmas is welcomed. You can never be disappointed. We didn't get over to the Biltmore, but we still have time to do that in warmer temps this week. We didn't look at Christmas lights except for what we could see from our front windows. Traditions with friends, yes, looking at you CourtneyS...MCD winner for 2022! We've laughed, had fun with The Boys, and eaten delicious snacks. We have read our Bibles and pondered the greatest gift ever. Rejoice that we have friends near and far. We are rejoicing that we can pay what will probably be one of the biggest electric bills ever. We have Joy, even in the midst of all we understand and don't understand. Joy, that I have an ever growing pile of TBR books. I have a loving and wonderful husband. We have a great and gracious God!
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
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