Beneath the Wraps

          The first December that I had my blog, I created this post which explains our letters to Jesus.   After a while, I added my thoughts to a journal I take out with the decorations each Christmas season.   The journal had been given to my mom.   I don't even know who it was from - I'm assuming it was left at Christmas time as I recently came across an unsigned Christmas Tag.   Someone had written: "use for personal journal, diaries, notes, recipe, addresses and more."   It was still blank when I retrieved it.      I started journaling in 2013.   As I was reading through some of it this year, I came across the letter I had written to Jesus.                                         ...

          I don’t know how it was that we ended up at Cracker Barrell in 2011.   They have nice gifts and marvelous food, not that we could afford it.   I think we were looking for something unique to send to Roland’s family – particularly his mother.   I ended up finding something for my mother instead.           Mom had a habit of falling asleep on the couch.   The entire time I had lived with her, she was always hot, but after her encounter with dementia, she would always seem to be cold.   I saw the cape as something she could use as a wrap.   It was a red check pattern.   Her favorite color has always been red.   I thought it would be perfect.   Kind of pricey, though.           Kayla said she had purchased a puzzle book for her but had been searching for something to go with it. ...

                "Some cultures believe the ladybug is a symbol of good luck.   Having a ladybug land on you can be a magical moment.   White other insects may pose as a threat to humans, animals and crops alike, ladybugs are harmless and even better: they're beneficial.   That is why so many cultures over the centuries have cherished ladybugs, believing them to bring good luck.   They are good luck to farmers" (Why Are Ladybugs Considered Good Luck?, 2016) "                 My mom and dad had purchased ornaments for their children for each year probably until dad's passing.   I still have many of the ornaments that had been given to me though there had been some that did not make it to my 18th birthday. Adding new ornaments to the tree was a tradition that I had wanted to start with my own family.   F...

            Ever since we have moved into this ward, the folding doors in back of the chapel have been open to allow an overflow - which I haven’t felt was necessary – nevertheless, it has always remained open until today.   The chapel still felt empty – more empty than usual.             The second counselor made the announcement that half of the ward was out sick.   I think it was more than half, and had actually never experienced such a thing before – or at least it had never been that obvious.   The primary was supposed to sing yesterday, but only four members of the primary were in the congregation at that time.   My student wasn’t one of them.             A lot of improv was made – particularly on the part of the primary.   It was announced that the young men and young women would...

                Gold, frankincense, and myrrh were left with the baby Jesus.   Three gifts.   We associate this to mean that there were three wise men, but we don’t actually know the exact number involved.   It’s highly possible that there could have been as many as twenty, possibly more.   There could have been several caravans arriving from many different directions.           In the song “We Three Kings,” we assume that they are from the Orient – which makes sense as it had taken at least two years from the time they began their travel until they reached their destination.   When they finally arrived, they weren’t actually a part of the nativity scene that is often displayed today with the wise men and shepherds attending the same event.   Oh, no.   By the time the Wiseman arrived, Jesus was no longer a newborn sleep...

      At the close of their broadcast, the anchors held up some paddles and asked the audience to play along on "Which holiday movies are fake, which are real?" and would give a title and brief description.   They gave three titles, two of which I'd seen.   I guessed the other was a fake       I think I have seen every holiday movie created by Hallmark, Lifetime and Family (before they changed their name;   I think they're called Forum now - although we discontinued cable before then - so I don't know if they actually went through with it or not) except for the last two years.       Roland gets tired of watching the same movies over and over.   And yet the stations show them over and over.   I've seen all the ones   on Netflix but have watched a few from beginning to end; we have started several but then remember - oh, this one was sappy, didn't care fo...

          We filmed the Coffenberry Middle School Band Concerts last year.   I had even posted them to facebook and shared with Coffenberry page.   We also filmed the spring concert.   But by then, Rolands phone would no longer communicate with my computer.   My brother-in-law sent him a chip so that we could download pictures that way, but thus far we haven't seemed capable of transferring the footage from the phone's hard drive to the chip.   Thus we didn't film any of it.           I was taking still pictures with my camera, though I guess I could have recorded some of it.   To start the program, the symphonic band played "The Star-Spangled Banner"   It was awesome!   They did a terrific job.   They only played four numbers and the beginners played six.   I think half of the "beginners" were students in both bands but wit...