Last message of the year 2011.

          This will be my last post of the year as I start my holiday season with my family.  This has been a great year for me in many ways and a difficult one in others.  In all though, I have enjoyed it.  Since this is my last post of the year, I think I will leave you with a few brief thoughts.
           I imagine many of you wondering what you will do for the next year.  Will the new year bring joy or heartache?  Perhaps a bit of both.  Will it bring comfort or will it be overly difficult?  The funny thing is it really doesn't matter.  I look forward to the new year.  I look forward to finding out what is in store for me.  Every day is a gift I get to open one minute at a time.  Sometimes that gift contains coal, other times it contains something shiny.  The funny thing is, the coal will keep you warm for hours while the shiny thing may only hold your interest for a few minutes.  Granted if the shiny thing is a new furnace, it might keep you warm for quite a bit longer, but I digress.  I guess what I am trying to say is, open each day with an expectation of joy and the little bit of wonderment at what it will contain and you will find that most days you won't be disappointed and the days you are will be a little less painful. 
          With that in mind, have a merry Christmas and a happy New Year.  Thank you for reading, and as always, and for the last time this year, have a great day.

The evolution of my Christmas.

           Things are weird right now.  I have the nagging suspicion that I am missing something.  I either forgot something or am not seeing something I should.  I can't help but think that it has something to do with something important, I just don't know what it is or what it is for.  The worst part is, this vague description isn't helping either.  Oh well, must not have been that important (how many times have I said that only to be proven wrong). 
           You know the holidays are near when everything you do is based on one day a week or more away.  Yes I am talking about Christmas.  When I was single, I really didn't think about it to much.  It was just a day that the stores were closed, there wasn't much on TV and I didn't have to work.  It came and went and I had nothing to worry about.  Oh, I might buy a gift for a friend, but that was one day and not much else.  Then I got married.  Christmas got a little more complicated.  I now had to decorate the house a little bit and get a tree.  Then we exchanged gifts and had friends over for Christmas dinner.  It was still a pretty easy thing.  Not a lot of effort or time was spent on planning or set up.  We didn't spend a lot of time discussing the Christmas budget, we just spent what ever was left after bills and groceries on gifts. 
           Fast forward about 10 years.  We now have four wonderful kids and we have spent the last month trying to figure out what our budget is.  We have tried to determine what we are going to spend, not only on the kids, but on us as well.  We spent nearly a week discussing our families out of state and what to do for them.  Then we procrastinated and didn't do much.  We have scheduled Christmas and planned meals.  We are running in circles trying to figure out what to do while the kids are off from school.  It just never stops.  The sad thing is, I haven't found any other way to make sure our boys enjoy Christmas.  The kicker?  We actually enjoy it a bit. 
           Yup, Christmas is upon us and is rapidly catching up to us.  Pretty soon, we will have to start planning and shopping in October (we already should have started in November, we just procrastinated a bit to much).
           Thank you for reading and have a great day.

Christmas foods: Or how to gain 10 pounds and enjoy every minute of it.

           It's a new week and time for the weekend update.  To begin, I guess I have to start with the final days of the show.  They went great.  My sons and wife enjoyed it and in all it was a great time.  The final cast party is tonight and I am looking forward to it.  In all, it was a great time and I thoroughly enjoyed it. 
           That actually covered the weekend.  Between the show, sleep and church I really didn't have time for much else.  I did get to make my first batch of divinity today and it turned out awesome.  I look forward to enjoying more of it at the wrap party tonight. 
           Now for the fun stuff.  Since I didn't get any comments or suggestions for themes for this week, I think I will go themeless.  Themes get in the way of free thinking and free flowing thoughts anyway.  Today i think I want to talk about Christmas foods.  When I think of Christmas foods, the first thing that comes to mind is the vast array of candies.  Divinity is the first that comes to mind.  I love it, but I only make it at Christmas time.  Same thing with fudge.  Why?  Why do I limit myself to these treats once a year?  I guess mainly because I tend to gain so much weight when I eat them.  Then there is the question of Christmas dinner.  The variety of what is acceptable for Christmas dinner is as varied as, well, the candies available.  Some believe ham is the only way to go, while others tend toward a repeat of Thanksgiving with turkey.  Still others end up with a Hodge podge of meals that would blow your mind.  I lean toward the whatever is in the stocking and around the house, but I follow my wife's wishes and make a meal for supper.  We've been sticking with ham the past few years, so that is probably where we'll go this year.
            So what is your favorite Christmas food?  What about dinner, do you go ham, turkey, or the more traditional goose?  Or is there something else that you just can't do without on Christmas?  Either way you look at it, Christmas is yet another holiday, that is, at least partially, defined by its food.
            Have a great day and thanks for reading.

A little of this and a little of that.

           Amazing how time flies sometimes.  I managed to finish a few things I was doing and suddenly it was 3am.  That's when I realized I hadn't done anything with my blog.  Oops.  So here goes.  First off, we did another show tonight and it went really well.  Once again, we had a sold out house and a great audience.  The entire cast was energized and lifted by them.  We are getting this down and there are getting to be fewer mistakes and we are getting things together.  In all it went well.  Looking forward to tomorrow night's (I guess it is actually tonight).
          I have been having an interesting week at work.  not a lot going on, but what is going on is, critical and keeping us here.  Unfortunately, this means there will probably be overtime, which means I may end up working again this weekend.  I certainly hope not, but you never know.  We are getting closer to the stand down which is good and I am looking forward to it.
         Since next week will be my last week before I take a couple weeks off for Christmas and New Years, I plan on doing a theme next week.  I would like it to me something related to Christmas and the Christmas season, I just don't know what.  Thus, I give it to you.  If you have an idea, please, post it in the comments.  I redid my permissions so you aren't required to have an account to post (I just moderate the comments to prevent stuff I don't want my kids to read from getting on here).  Or you could give it to me in person if you happen to run into me.  Thanks in advance for any suggestions. 
           I really don't have much else to say.  I just want to thank you as always for reading.  Have a great day.

Tired, unwired, and whatever, It doesn't have to rhyme.

           Today, I found out the show is sold out.  Not just a couple shows, every single one.  Not a seat left.  Absolutely amazing.  I am really looking forward to it.  5 shows left.  I couldn't be more thrilled.
           Now that I have covered the news, I will continue with my regular post (not that there is anything regular about my posts).  I am yawning and tired for some reason.  I got a decent amount of sleep today, so I have no idea why I just want to curl up and go to sleep.  The problem is, I have to stick around and go to duty section muster then quarters.  At least I have a lot of stuff to keep me busy.  I just wish I could figure out a better way to stay awake. 
           I just looked at the calendar and realized that I have 17 days until Christmas and I haven't bought a single present.  What is wrong with me.  I used to have my Christmas presents bought, wrapped, and hidden by this time.  I guess, over the years, I have just gone shopping later and later.  Next thing you know I will be shopping December 26 and celebrating Christmas on New Years.  At least I finished the Christmas letter.  Now I just need to figure out how many people to send it to.
           Since it looks like I am starting to cover a dozen random topics to no good end, I think I will just call it a night on this post.  Have a great day and thank you for reading.

The Christmas Letter (or How to torture yourself once a year)

           Who knew that writing a Christmas letter could be so....you fill in the blank because I am sure it is all of that and more.  As you may have guessed, it falls on me to write the families annual Christmas letter while my wife gets to "edit" it.  I put the edit on quotes, not because she does nothing, but because she doesn't read it so much to find grammatical and spelling errors (that's what word is for) as she does to weed out the portions and phrases she either doesn't agree with or she considers to much information.  Granted, she is usually right.  If you follow my blog at all, you have probably noticed I tend to be long winded and repetitive.  I tried fixing it once, but it just wasn't me. 
          The point here is that I write the letter, she cuts it up, I rewrite it, she approves it and we send it out.  The problem is, she can't wait until I am done to edit it.  As I am typing a sentence (by the way, I tend to think as I type and may end up writing a single sentence 6 or 7 times before I consider it acceptable), I will suddenly hear her voice come from behind me telling me that the sentence I just wrote doesn't make a lot of sense.  I love her dearly and am thankful for her input, I just wish sometimes she would wait until after I am actually ready for her to read it. 
            She has gotten better about it.  She actually asks me if I am ready for her to read it most of the time.  She just forgets every once in a while and then I hear her dancing in the background with a comment she wants to make.  She just bounces from one foot to the other sighing until I ask her what is wrong then mumble the standard nothing.  We eventually sort it out and the letter is better for it.
            Maybe I am ranting a bit much here.  I most definitely will be in the doghouse when I get home, but the truth is, without her input, the annual Christmas letter would be a short book detailing not only the events of the last year, but the emotions, and backgrounds for each event.  Oh, and I would probably forget to mention how the family is doing, so there is that. 
            The Christmas letter is always better for her input, but writing it is a day or two of torture that we endure together (and sometimes because of each other) to keep our families informed.  Currently, this years letter is at one and a half pages and I have yet to mention any event specific to a single family member, let alone how they are doing.  That is just one of the tasks I have before me this night.  Actually, it is pretty much the only set task I have before me tonight and I still have 5 hours to do it in.  I have a feeling I will be cutting a lot out of this years letter.  Better to cut things out than to have to add more.  If you want one of our Christmas letters this year (and you didn't get one last year) or you have changed your address since the last card, leave your email in the comments so I can contact you to get your address.
           Well, that is the post for tonight.  Thank you all for reading and have a nice day.