It's the holiday season (no exclamation point)

I think that I have been putting too many exclamation points in the titles of my posts, so I refrained from using one for this post. In case you were wondering.



I am beginning to get into the holiday spirit. I have not started Christmas shopping yet, but the house is decorated (or as decorated as it is going to get) and there is snow on the ground and it is the third Sunday (or Saturday night) of Advent and we are working on our Christmas cards and only one more week of work and...well, you get the idea.


I think it does help that the weather has been wintry. We had a few days of snow and really cold, as in 20 below wind chill. Lucky Jack was in Houston and Austin for most of it. My next door neighbor (the one who moved here from Arizona) has been asking questions about winter preparedness ever since she and her husband and kids moved in in August. It only took two days of snow (less than 3 inches altogether) for them to buy a snowblower. The picture above is Maddie doing her first run with her snowblower. She is adorable. I did have to chastise her for not wearing a hat or at least covering her ears. I am an expert on keeping warm.



Jack and I went to mass tonight. Our parish is doing something neat for Advent. They made paper ornaments with a family's name on each one. We were all asked to take an ornament and put it on our tree at home and pray for that family throughout the Christmas season. I like that. How interesting that the one we chose was the Kraft family.



Good news! Sally passed her content test!!! This is a test administered by the state board of education that one must pass in order to be certified. And it has to be passed before student teaching, so we were thankful that Sally passed on the first try. Especially since it was a five hour test that she had to take on Saturday of Dad's weekend. Way to go, Sallygirl!



In other news, please keep Jack's brother Mike in your thoughts and prayers. He had surgery on Thursday and has a tough recovery ahead.



Please also pray for my friend Sheila whose sister Linda died very suddenly last week at the age of 58. Also please pray for one of my very favorite ECE (early childhood education) teachers, Brigid, who was just diagnosed with breast cancer and had surgery last week. Brigid was my next door neighbor for a year at the LLC and she is an awesome person and teacher. Love her.



Good night. Heading to bed....