Here Comes Santa Claus, here comes Santa........

I can now settle in and enjoy the rest of the season having finished shopping yesterday. I have a ton of baking supplies, some Christmas music, and ribbons and bows to keep me busy. We brought the tree in and decorated it earlier this week, and the gifts to be sent have been mailed and received!!

Depending on what Craig and Cassie decide to do for Christmas Day, we will probably go to Bellevue and spend it with Curt, Cinda, Jerry, Lois, and family. Linea and Josh just moved 'home' from Chicago last week, so there is lots of merriment at the Johnson household. To stay home and just have it be Colleen, Ken, and I seems not quite like it should be.

Craig and Cassie are apt to spend the day insulating and hanging sheetrock. They feel like everything is getting pretty well dried out to where they can begin the repair/replace project. They are hoping they will get by with just having the hardwood floor sanded and refinished rather than having it replaced. I think they are going to run some new water lines while everything is opened up, and they will need new base cabinets in the kitchen.

Elisabeth and I went to Seattle on Wednesday just because and to do some shopping, and we were wishing we hadn't. The rain let up early on, but the wind was brutal. The highlight of the day was lunch with Linea and Cinda at a very nice Italian restaurant in Pacific Place. I had squash-filled ravioli with fried sage leaves and it was to die for.

Speaking of shopping, I have made it a point this season to wish all I encounter a merry Christmas. I am tired of the ACLU and the atheists and their tirades - I'll be tolerant of their believes (or non-beliefs) as long as they are tolerant of mine!! Here is a piece written by Ben Stein that I love:

The following was written by Ben Stein and recited by him on CBS Sunday Morning Commentary.

> My confession:
> I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not
> bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejeweled
> trees Christmas trees. I don't feel threatened. I don't feel discriminated
> against. That's what they are: Christmas trees.
> It doesn't bother me a bit when people say, "Merry Christmas" to me. I don't
> think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I
> kind of like it. It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this
> happy time of year. It doesn't bother me at all that there is a manger scene on
> display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu . If people want a
> creche, it's just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away.
> I don't like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don't think
> Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people who
> believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period. I have no
> idea where the concept came from that America is an explicitly atheist country.
> I can't find it in the Constitution and I don't like it being shoved down my
> throat.
> Or maybe I can put it another way: where did the idea come from that we should
> worship Nick and Jessica and we aren't allowed to worship God as we understand
> Him? I guess that's a sign that I'm getting old, too. But there are a lot of us
> who are wondering where Nick and Jessica came from and where the America we knew
> went to.
> In light of the many jokes we send to one another for a laugh, this is a
> little different: This is not intended to be a joke; it's not funny, it's
> intended to get you thinking.
> Billy Graham's daughter was interviewed on the Early Show and Jane Clayson
> asked her "How could God let something like this happen?" (regarding Katrina)
> Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response. She said, "I
> believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we've been
> telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get
> out of our lives. And being the gentleman He is, I believe He has calmly backed
> out. How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we
> demand He leave us alone?"
> In light of recent events...terrorists attack, school shootings, etc. I think
> it started when Madeleine Murray O'Hare (she was murdered, her body found
> recently) complained she didn't want prayer in our schools, and we said OK. Then
> someone said you better not read the Bible in school. The Bible says thou shalt
> not kill, thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbor as yourself. And we said
> OK.
> Then Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't spank our children when they
> misbehave because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage
> their self-esteem (Dr. Spock's son committed suicide). We said an expert should
> know what he's talking about. And we said OK.
> Now we're asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don't
> know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill strangers, their
> classmates, and themselves.
> Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out. I
> think it has a great deal to do with "WE REAP WHAT WE SOW."
> Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world's
> going to hell. Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what
> the Bible says. Funny how you can send 'jokes' through e-mail and they spread
> like wildfire but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people
> think twice about sharing. Funny how lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene articles
> pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion of God is suppressed in
> the school and workplace.
> Are you laughing?
> Funny how when you forward this message, you will not send it to many on your
> address list because you're not sure what they believe, or what they will think
> of you for sending it.
> Funny how we can be more worried about what other people think of us than
> what God thinks of us.
> Pass it on if you think it has merit. If not then just discard it... No one
> will know you did. But, if you discard this thought process, don't sit back and
> complain about what bad shape the world is in. My Best Regards.
> Honestly and respectfully,
> Ben Stein

Brian's friend, Jim who lost his wife last spring, and his two daughters are going to go to McCall and meet up with Brian and the boys for a few days of skiing after Christmas. I hope they have a good time. Brian and Sheila's condo is so comfy and inviting that it is impossible not to love being there. I'm not a skier, but I know it is fun for everybody who does. Just slogging around McCall in the snow is fun.

I am doing some baking today with the goal of having something to send to McCall with Jim and his girls when they drive down on Christmas Day. Colleen and I are going to Jordan Swain's baby shower tomorrow in Bellevue, so it will be a good opportunity to take the goodies to Jim in Seattle.

We are still planning to leave on the 27th..........knowing us it might be four in the afternoon on the 27th, but it will be the 27th. It is only three hours to Stayton for the first night's stay, so we don't have to be out of here all that early.

Have a joyuous Christmas and may you enjoy the many blessings of our Lord in the coming year. Ciao