Today we got the trees, a big one and a little one

Isaiah 55:12 

You will go out in joy 


and be led forth in peace; 
      

the mountains and hills 

 will burst into song before you, 


and all the trees of the field 
 

will clap their hands.

We all went to church, and afterwards we had coffee and pastries at the Fleur de Lis, next door to church. While in having coffee it began to snow just the tiniest bit. The temperature was 32-33 degrees and the sky was cloudy, which often means it could snow. But unfortunately that was it for the day. I tried to get a picture of the snow coming down, but it was too tiny to register.

The restaurant refused to give me a bread roll, saying they needed them for sandwiches. That's the second time they did that. I think that it is high time they make more on Sunday morning. I absolutely LOVE their rolls with butter and jam. But I had a raisin roll and Riley got a cinnamon roll and sugar donut, which Emily loved.

After coffee Riley and I headed out all by ourselves to get the trees. This was our first time to cut down trees all by ourselves. I felt certain that this would be a successful adventure. But we did have the usual bit of wondering about. Riley was just a bit confused as to how to get to Swede's tree farm. We always go to Swede's because he does not trim his trees. This is a very rare farmer indeed. I have absolutely no idea why the majority of people want trees that look like gum drops. I want a tree that looks like a tree. We used to go to Jack's. He had the most beautiful untrimmed trees in the world, and he was always grinning from ear to ear with pleasure at seeing happy people going home with his trees, which he sold for only $10. Most unfortunately he became very ill and was forced to sell his farm to a housing developer. :( But eventually we found Swede. His trees are not as consistent as Jack's, but we're so thankful for untrimmed trees, so there's no problem. He only charges $15 for a Douglas fir so we're happy with that.

Swede's wife had a stroke this year and is somewhat paralyzed on her left side, which is most unfortunate. She is only 71 years old. But Swede seems determined to stay right where he is and he said he'd be there next year. I met his wife last year and I liked her a lot. This year I met his grandson, a boy of about 13, and he was very pleasant to chat with. The tree farm is not big, so it didn't take long to look at all of the trees. Of course we settled on the first one we had liked, right back in the beginning. Riley had it cut down in no time and we hauled it off to the car. By the time he had it on the car I realized we probably need a small tree also. Swede said that small ones cost the same as big ones. That seemed fair to me, because a small tree has the potential to be a big tree. So when the tree was tied on (and the carpet of the car was all muddy) we headed back to get a small one. That took more negotiating, as Riley's idea of small was smaller than mine. Eventually I won, and I have to say that the tree is perfect. Riley hauled it back by himself, as it was in fact small, and stuffed it into the back of the car. We then headed back to town, planning on stopping at Costco, though I can't remember why. As I hadn't eaten lunch, I filled up on samples, which pretty much did the trick. It was dark by the time we got home, so we just unloaded the trees and put them on the front porch. It had been a very calm Sunday in the country, with little bits of snow and quite a bit of fog, and really no traffic to speak of.



Later in the week:


So I sort of hit a rough spot this week. I went to the dentist to get a broken tooth repaired, and the dentist did something while giving me the shot to numb my teeth that caused a "hematoma". In other words, he nicked a blood vessel. When the pain killer wore off I was in absolute agony. If I wasn't just a grandmother baby-sitting her grandchildren, but a person at a paid job, I would have called in sick. Fortunately Christian was an absolute dear. He seemed to really understand that I was in great pain, and he helped out. I took three aspirin, and later, when everyone was gone but Riley and I, Riley gave me a stiff drink. This did calm me down quite a bit. But all week long I have had intermittent pain of various degrees. And it is soooooo embarrassing to have a big bruise on your chin! But to make a long story short, it is Saturday now, and I still have a terrible bruise on the left part of my chin, and last night I didn't take any pain pill so again I had trouble sleeping. Sometime very early this morning my dear dear husband went down stairs and made me two pieces of toast and a cup of coffee and brought me three aspirin, and that made me feel much much better. So now I'm feeling pretty good, but a little slow, due to lack of sleep. But life doesn't stop just because you don't feel well - wouldn't it be nice if you could put life on pause from time to time. Even if let's say you could have 6 time-outs a year, lasting 5 days.



Have you ever noticed that when you think things can't get any worse, they do!!! Yesterday (Saturday) afternoon Riley and I went to County Cork Pub for a late lunch of mushroom soup and fish and chips. Instead of giving us tartar sauce with the fish they gave us blue cheese dressing. That might be the last time I ever eat that. Part way through eating I didn't not feel so good, but I didn't say anything. When we got home I immediately laid down on the couch and Riley very nicely covered me with a blanket. But I still didn't feel very good. To avoid the details I will just say that I came down with a severe case of something terrible, lost 5 pounds in four hours, and it is now 8 o'clock Sunday morning and I am barely functional. But I can't actually lay in bed for more that 12 hours straight, so I am sitting in a chair on the third floor really wishing that Riley would come up. His computer is up here, so I can't e-mail him. Wishing doesn't seem to work. Have I hit bottom yet?

Well now my daughter Heidi has this. So who is going to watch Emily tomorrow. Luckily my dear sweet husband is stay home from work tomorrow. It is now 6 o'clock Sunday evening and I still feel crummy crummy crummy. Looking at food is not good. I just really hope that Emily does not come down with this. Actually I really hope Riley doesn't get it. We have that really big partly on Thursday, so having Riley sick like this would be really really bad. "Dear Lord, please keep both Emily and Riley well."



Riley has gotten the lights up on all of the trees. They look beautiful just that way. I think that I won't try and do any further decorating unless I actually feel well. It's all about the stars in the sky anyway.

The Shepherds and the Angels

Luke 2:8-20

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ[a] the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."
Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
"Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."


When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about."

So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.