Frantic Holly-Jolliness


Me and my Niece Gray-Gray.

So it's been 3 months since I last blogged. What's a guy to do? I'm a little bit lazy, a little bit busy and my kids dominate the computer.

In this busy Christmas season, I wanted to get some of the thoughts from my head onto paper, albeit virtual paper.

Did I gripe about last winter on this blog? As I recall, I did...quite a bit.

Well, some things never change. Old man winter has struck hard with a vengance this December, and we're still two weeks from being into January. We just dug out from a 12" snowfall yesterday (for 29" in December thus far.) and are looking at another 5-7" tonight into tomorrow. Oh, and Tuesday some more. All I beg for is mercy.

Some observations from the storm yesterday. I saw a guy on Fountain Ave. using a shovel on the hood of his car to dig out. A shovel, not a broom. It makes me laugh to think that this may be the same guy that washes his car once a week in the summer. Or, maybe not. Winter seems to put a little better perspective on the unimportance of material things than summer does.

I was walking to work yesterday with my Ipod on in the eye of the storm and thought "This ain't so bad". Well, after near brushes with death from passing cars (I was walking in the road, because no one had shovelled.) and a few snowbank hurdles, about 1/2 way there I saw the bus that goes by my work's front door. I hailed it because my new thought was "Screw this noise, I'm ridin' the bus!" One can only take so much snow-white pristine beauty.

Today I'm off to deliver gifts to 3 different families who's Father is in prison. It's called Project Angeltree and it's being organized by our Church, www.elmbrook.org. Someone at Church told me it's quite a rewarding experience, and I'm looking to do something outside of my comfort zone to make someone else's Christmas more Merry. Every Year the focus of Christmas get's a little clearer to me, and while I like a gift as much as the next person, I realize it's so much more than getting.

Donna volunteered at Heart Fire's Gift Store this past week where low-income folks could buy new gifts for 10% of cost, with the proceeds going back into HeartFire ministries. She too said the experience was way more rewarding than the work that went into preparing for it. If everyone, or even 1/2 of everyone would help out at things and causes like this, imagine how much better a place the world would be.

It's off to MN for Christmas. We leave the snow of WI for the sub-zero happiness of "home". I saw the 7 day forecast calls for a HIGH temp of -1 Fahrenheit on Thursday. Wo I fled the cold-tundra called the Twin Cities 22 years ago to come to the slightly warmer and less snowy glory of WI. I guess I choked on that one. I should have kept driving...to Tennessee or so.

Am I griping about winter again? Sorry. I'm going to try and make it my New Years resolution to look at winter from a happier perspective. It will be a tough one.

I'll try and report back on how the AngelTree deliveries go. If I don't, Have a Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year!!!

Blogging off...

Jim

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