Stories and other stuff

To my readers: I'm taking a few days away from the blog.  I do this from time to time.  In the past, it's been because I needed the time to get my head together.  Not so this time.  I'm working on some things and thoughts are kind of rolling around in my head like a box of ping pong balls that have been dropped to the floor.  They're just kind of bouncing around everywhere and I'm just waiting for the balls to quit bouncing before I pick them up. I have a few stories to share, but they're not finished stories.  Life this week is kind of like watching a really good movie and having to pee.  We've all been there before.  Do you leave the movie and go or just hold it?  Well, the "movie" is really good this week, so I'm just going to hold it. If I don't make it back to the blog for a few days, treat this as your invitation to share your story, your New Year's Resolution, or whatever you feel like sharing. I will give you a clue abou...

Well, we made it through Christmas.  I changed the layout on the page.  I took my literary Christmas tree down before New Year's Day.  The real one gets deconstructed starting tomorrow.  My house looks nice at Christmas but it's time to place the decorations and dishes carefully away for next year. We now move into the season of "you're fat!"  TV commercials will start telling us about all the great deals on those new-fangled and expensive coat racks that can sometimes double as exercise equipment.  Will Dick Clark rock our New Year, or is he going to let Ryan Seacrest carry the torch this year alone?  And as we contemplate all these deep thoughts, it's time to start sharpening pencils to jot down those inevitable New Year's Resolutions. Yup, it's that time.  Feel free to share.... Oh, just a note to my readers... if you're noticing the time stamps on the blog, you'll see they're posting shortly after midnight in some cases.  I'm ...

You just never know what's going to happen at Christmas.  It's been a rough year for the Coops.  I wasn't really in the usual holiday mood, although I've had the Christmas Spirit more than I ever have before in my life.  I know that doesn't make sense.  I have joy in my heart but I didn't have any real happiness about Christmas.   That all changed this afternoon.  I was minding my own business when it happened.  Something just kind of caught my eye, and it was love again at first sight.  When I first saw her, my heart started racing.  My excitement level went way up, and I got butterflies in my stomach.  She's beautiful, smart, and makes a great cup of coffee.  We had our first "date" this evening and I can tell you, it's a match made in heaven! Before you either get angry (wife!) or think "here we go again", I'm in love with my new coffee maker!  My mom gave it to me for Christmas and my sister hooked me up the the little co...

I chose to share a Bible passage with all y'all today.  I picked the King James Version of the translation because I like the way it reads in the King's English. My dear friends,  this is Christmas: Luke 2 (KJV).  1And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed.  2(And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)  3And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.  4And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:)  5To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.  6And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.  7And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because the...

I got an early Christmas gift from my doctor yesterday.   They were calling me to inform me of the results of my physical.  The verdict?   Elevated cholesterol again.  It was up last year, too.  The doctor told me if it was up this time, she was going to put me on the cholesterol medication.  Apparently I don't get enough vitamin D either, so I get to take a prescription dose of that again for two months and then I get jabbed again to have that checked. Really?  That phone call couldn't wait until Monday?  I was getting ready to bake Gingerbread men.  After that, I was going to make two batches of divinity.  One for me and one for me and the immigrant to share.  I did make some cookies I managed not to burn using the cookie press.  The first ingredient in those cookies was a half a pound of butter.  They're soooo good! On Saturday, for Christmas dinner, there will be prime rib, garlic mashed potatoes, and veggies. ...

Gang, I came across this article on CNN.com, and it's a must read.  These folks, in my humble opinion, get it! The article can be read by clicking here Merry Christmas, readers!

I wrote a little blog about putting the "Christ" back in Christmas for today, but I took it down because I wanted to do a bit more research on the origins of the holiday.  I was in a bit of a hurry and I'd heard something on the radio yesterday that kind of countered a point I'd made about the history of the Christmas tree. I had some errands to run today.  Last minute grocery shopping etc... As I came home, I thought about my little blog post while listening to the news about an increase in holiday spending and holiday travel.  I thought about the impact Christmas makes on our society and wondered this: What would the world be like if we didn't have Christmas? First off, there would be no "Santa Claus", because St. Nicholas would not have led the life he did because there would be no Christianity.  There would be no "Good News" to share.  How different would the Bible be because there would be no prophesy of the Savior's coming?  Vat...