I would love to tell you all that I will be visiting each and every one of the blogs listed in the sidebar this Christmas season, but it just ain’t gonna happen. I’m exhausted. At work we kind of celebrated my survival of my first retail Christmas season in a toy store. My crew worked hard, and I thank each and every one of them.

For those of you who have stuck with me, even though I haven’t been consistently posting, thank you. I try to get to the list as often as possible, but even checking in on my absolute favorites was taxing at times. Fair warning for next year at this time – The “O” Word is just going to go into hibernation from Black Friday until Christmas Eve.

That said, it is time to reacquaint myself with my wife, my daughter, and my pillow – in that order. TMBWitW said something about having to wrap all the gifts tonight. This, after wrapping everyone else’s gifts (complimentary with regular priced items) at work. We’ll see how long I last before falling into a coma.

Now, for the customary greetings:

First, to the liberals, enviro-nazi, politically correct whackos and lefties who troll along here occasionally – Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low-stress, non-addictive, gender-neutral celebration of the winter solstice, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of secular practice of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasion and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all. I also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2011, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make America great. Not to imply that America is necessarily greater than any other country nor the only America in the Western Hemisphere. Also, this wish is made without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith or sexual preference of the wishee.

Now, to my like-minded conservatively libertarian friends – Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! (with a tip of the stetson to Texas Fred)

Chat ya later…

Thank you for stopping by, In GOD We Trust, God bless you all, don’t buy or breed cats or dogs while homeless pets die (spay, neuter & adopt a pet, one by one, until there are none), Wear Red on Fridays, and support Warriors for Innocence!

Good News: I’m not dreaming of Sara anymore.

Bad News: I’m so tired that I fall asleep before everyone else, which kind of pinches the family time in the evening.

Ecstatic news: This is the last week before Christmas.

I’m pretty sure that if I had not already been worn to the nub from not sleeping well, I would be in much better shape now, for the final push. As it is, I feel like a sleepwalker.

In case I don’t post between now and then, Merry Christmas to you ALL.

Chat ya later…

Thank you for stopping by, In GOD We Trust, God bless you all, don’t buy or breed cats or dogs while homeless pets die (spay, neuter & adopt a pet, one by one, until there are none), Wear Red on Fridays, and support Warriors for Innocence!

Larry may be offensive at times, but he sure does get a point across.

Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year. May God bless you and your family this Christmas week.

Thank you for stopping by, God bless you all, Wear Red on Fridays, and support Warriors for Innocence!

Can you believe it’s only five days ’til Christmas?

I grew up in Colorado and Ohio. I live in the Phoenix, Arizona area now. Christmas just doesn’t feel “right” here sometimes.

There’s no snow. And, no snowshovels!

Most of the trees are fake. But well decorated! There’s even a tumbleweed “tree” in Chandler – they rustle up a bunch of tumbleweeds (Russian Thistle) and tie them together in the form of a Christmas Tree, and string lights on it and everything.

I used to ice skate, or play ice hockey, or go sledding the entire month of December, as soon as school was out. If I want to do that now, it’s a good two hour drive to the nearest white stuff. I’d rather spend my time on the back porch barbecuing the steaks, thanks.

In Ohio, the ground and nearly all the water freezes in mid-November and stays that way until March of so. In Arizona, mid-November means it’s time to plant your new trees. I’m still working on mine.

Santa wears fur lined clothing in the snow country. Once he hits this area, he swaps out his boots for flip-flops and sheds his coat. The old boy would have heat stroke if he tried to keep all that fur-lined stuff on.

There’s never a problem with the malls being closed because of a snow storm here – heck, if it did snow, we’d all e out looking at it before it melted. It’s snowed twice in downtown Phoenix that I know of. Once, on Christmas Eve, in 1999, and before that it was about the middle of January in 1987 or so. My memory is getting old, so forgive me if I’m off a bit.

But one thing about Christmas, no matter where you celebrate it – it’s still the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. Thank you, Lord, for sending your Son to us, to take all our sins upon Himself, to die for those sins so that we don’t have to, so that we may join You at the last trumpet’s call.

Thank you for stopping by, God bless you all, Wear Red on Fridays, and support Warriors for Innocence!

Well, no baby.

Yet.

We traveled to the hospital this morning; we are at home this afternoon. The RN on duty told TMBWitW that the contractions, while painful and frequent, were not enough to admit her – she was not in full labor yet.

This is a very emotional and trying time for TMBWitW, as it is the culmination of her dreams and to be so close and yet so very far away, and to be told by a nurse who has no bedside manner that she isn’t really feeling labor yet – well, it was all I could do to not coldcock the RN myself.

Talk about a lack of empathy.

I am re-opening the pool, until that time that we are so sure of the impending birth that we see what color hair the little girl has.

OK, maybe not that late, but you know what I mean.

This has been the most tense and terrifying and thrilling and depressing Christmas I have ever experienced.

Thank you all for your prayers. Please keep praying, as we need all the help we can get.