Christmas

My favorite story, non-fiction:

And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Cæsar Augustus, that all athe world should be btaxed.

(And this ataxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)

And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.

And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judæa, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:)

To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.

And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.

And she brought forth her afirstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the binn.

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you agood tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the cLord.

And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.

And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.

And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.

And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.

But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.

And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.

St. Luke 2:1-20

As for me, I am a believer!

Snowfall and winter dreaming, capturing Christmas Magic. Modern thinking pulls me from the fond fantasies of my youth and whispers, "It can't be true."
"Bah and humbug," I say to the wicked whispers of the technology age.
Twinkling lights and unexplainable phenomenons of kindness guide me to the other truths of a short man in a warm red coat who represents the desire to bring joy and unselfish gifts of love to all the world.
I am a believer in the magic of Christmas. Are you?

PS my 5 year old son says Rudolph had a green nose. Maybe he's right.

Going Home

 I've come home for Christmas.













My sweet husband has hidden for the last 11.5 years how much he misses his home state of Washington.

Now we are here and the weather is being very unfair.  She is showing her best side.  This morning we could see the ocean and the blue sky.  How am I going to convince my dear husband that the weather here is terrible when she plays me like the fool I am?  Look at this family walking through the forest in the middle of December.  You can't walk like that in our mountain home.

How am I going to convince him to face this?

This is what we faced getting "home".  Let's hope we have better weather getting to our real home at the end of the week. :)

Setting (as previously mentioned) makes a huge difference on a person.  I am who I am because of all the different places I've lived, esp. rainy, dark, dreary Seattle.

Setting

I always swore I'd never live in Utah, and here I am. My life today is much different than when I lived in L.A. In many ways, I am a different person. I'd like to think, a better person.

My current work-in-progress is set in L.A. It takes me back to my former world. It's also made me think about how much setting impacts character development. Take the same character and put them in New York, the French Riviera, a small village in Africa, or another planet and their fate may be quite different.

I often wonder how intrinsically different I would be as a person if I had been born in a different state or country. How much of who I am today would exist, regardless of my environment?

Success

How do we measure success? What does it say about us?

After spending more than half the night waiting for things to come together so that I can meet with one of my favorite agents of all time, success this morning is just getting my computer to work and getting everything arranged.

My oldest son is in a production of "A Christmas Carol" directed by our very own Rose (DJ) and I'm helping back stage. Yesterday was opening night. Success was getting all the way through the play without any major hiccups. The K-6 graders sang beautifully, the lead actor slowed down so you could actually understand his lines, and of course my son was fabulous as he belted his 3 lines as well. SUCCESS!
These are little successes but if I don't count them then I feel like I might always be waiting for success and never achieving it.

What successes have you had recently? Found that perfect gift? Overcome a challenge? Managed to fit in that work out? Tell us about it.

Luck

Today I am sending out a big wish of luck to fellow Inkers.  Some of us have big things happening in the next few days so I thought I would collectively tell you all:

Good Luck!

Happy thoughts and warm wishes to all.

Snow

Nobody have an aneurysm or anything, but at the end of this Tuesday I am FINALLY posting. All I really have to say is that it finally snowed here in Reno and I am delighted. I can only take so many gloomy days with nothing in return. At least, when it snows, I have an excuse to get warm and cozy with a book and some hot chocolate. When it's just gloomy, I feel obligated to still be productive, you know? Do some dishes, make my kids do homework, run errands, yada yada yada. Now I can sit back and watch those beautiful flakes fall and sip my hot chocolate with a complete and utter lack of caring about what I'm not getting done. :)