New Year’s Eve

Today is New Year’s Eve. 2008 is mostly in the rearview mirror at this point. I hope you were able to make good use of the year because we will not be able to get it back. Who would want to anyway? The opportunity to accomplish that all important, life changing task or objective is almost past.

It seems like just yesterday that the world was abuzz with Y2K. I’m sure you remember that. Can you believe that was nine years ago? This television conversion process from analog to digital sort of stirs my memories of the Y2K uproar. I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of being reminded that all my cable attached televisions will not have a problem on the “the day”. If the television stations are paid for all this air time to annoy the public, they are probably raking in a tidy sum. With that said, there will probably be someone with an antenna connected television that will not have any idea what is going on when their TV quits working. “The stupid thing was working fine yesterday.” Face it, some people don’t pay attention. Jeff, my son that used to work at Walmart, said that some people complained about those converters they bought. “I hooked it up to my new flat screen, HD TV and it doesn’t work.” He can tell stories you wouldn’t believe. I hope I can get him to write some of them down.

I just ran across my Christmas List from a few days ago. I didn’t get everything on my list. Now that was a surprise. I’m not sure anyone even saw it, but it doesn’t matter. It was all just stuff. You know that most, if not all of the stuff that we hold dear will eventually end up in a landfill somewhere. The truly important things in life are the memories. This Christmas has been unique. It won’t be remembered like we had thought, but it has been unique, none the less. We had great plans. We planned to spend the Christmas holiday in Northwest Arkansas visiting with relatives. We did that. We stayed at mom and dad’s house while they are vacationing. We painted their living room and dining room, like we planned. By the way, it looks great. Unfortunately, the flu bug arrived two days after Christmas as we were putting things back in place in the living room on Saturday night, and we are still here.

We had planned to be in Florida today, but those plans have been put on hold. Fran is getting better, but has no desire to travel that far after just emerging from the flu. New Year’s Day on the beach will have to wait for another time. I’m hoping she will feel better today so that we can still enjoy the New Year’s Day holiday.

After a long absence, it appears that perhaps Arkansas Razorback Basketball has returned to Bud Walton Arena. Last night’s game sold out before three o’clock yesterday, and judging from last night’s performance, Razorback Basketball tickets just got more valuable and hard to come by. Jeff and John got to see the Razorbacks defeat the fourth ranked Sooners last night as a part of that sell out crowd. I’m sure they will have exciting accounts of the game to tell, more of those memories.

Today is my mom’s birthday. I won’t disclose her age, but as the song says, “She is old enough to know better, but still too young to care.” She is enjoying one of my favorite places, the Gulf Coast of Florida. Our plans for a New Year’s Day on the beach started when I told her I was going to take off from work on her birthday and come to see her. She said she would be in Florida, but I was welcome to come. We still look forward to it, but it will have to be another time.

Happy Birthday Mom! I love you!

A look back at Christmas

Christmas 2008 was a wonderful day. It is remarkable how the world slows down on Christmas Eve. Traffic was almost non-existent. It is a shame that we stay so busy most of the time that we can't slow down to enjoy life and enjoy our families. All through the day on the 25th, most businesses were closed so there was little need to be out and about. By tomorrow morning, the business world will come back to life and by noon, the machine of life will be back up to speed.

Christmas is over now and we have a week to get anything done that we intended to accomplish during 2008. Many will start to consider and make "New Year's Resolutions" during the coming week. Not me. A few years ago I made a resolution to not make any more New Year's Resolutions. I have been fully successful in my efforts.

We are having an unusual Christmas weekend this year. After a great Christmas Lunch at Fran's Mom's house, where I ate way too much, Fran and I returned to my Parent's house where we are staying over the Holidays. We then began to paint their living room. You see, Mom and Dad are spending Christmas with my sister and her family in Georgia. They left us a paint chip. We got the paint and at this point we have the first coat on at least two thirds of the living room.

We have now quit painting for the night and are watching old Bogart movies. We will finish up tomorrow before returning home. When we get home, we will have to get ready to join Mom and Dad for the New Year Holiday on the beach in Panama City, Florida. I can't wait to walk on the beach on New Year's Day!

It is my hope that you and yours had a Merry Christmas.

What do you want for Christmas?

What a question. When I was younger, there was no limit to the number of items that would appear on such a list, but when I think seriously about it, I don’t ever remember putting pen or pencil or crayon to paper to create such a list. I was a good little kid. I wanted most everything. Throughout the years, I received several things that are rotting or have rotted in landfills from Arkansas to Alaska. On Christmas mornings, and sometimes an occasionally Christmas eve, I have carefully pulled the wrapping from toy trucks, trains, games, toys of every imaginable type and so many toy guns. As a kid, I have received the usual clothes and other things I needed from Mom and Dad. In the early years, a package containing clothes was sometimes met with a smile to hide my disappointment, but I’m really not sure why, because I never remember a Christmas without more toys than I now know I needed or deserved. As time has gone by, I’ve occasionally had to put the silent, head nodding smile back to work, providing cover while silently trying to figure out where I could ever wear a particular item in public. Then, there have been the times when I have been overcome with absolute joy as I unwrapped something I really wanted or needed.

Christmas is easy, but Christmas can be hard. Christmas should be when we take time to ponder, consider and celebrate the most extravagant, loving gift ever given. It is understandable that Christmas has become the mega commercialized event that it has become, even though, sadly, many have not figured it out. God gave us the ultimate gift of Jesus because he loves us. God was the example. Jesus gave his life for us, because he loves us. Is it any wonder that we want to give to those we love? Notice, I didn’t say give things. The love you have for someone is your best gift. Your time, your smile, your visit, your kind word and your listening ear are some of your best, most appreciated gifts.

In the very beginning in Bethlehem, the Wise Men came with gifts for the child. Modern society has taken the ball, so to speak, and run with it. Countless millions and even perhaps billions are spent to convince us that the gifts each of us should expect on Christmas should be purchased from them. Following the hints provided on TV, everyone should expect cars, jewelry, vacations, cell phones, huge flat screen televisions with satellite or cable HD service in your home theater (that won’t need those digital converter boxes constantly hawked by televisions stations a hundred times a day), and a million other “things” at every conceivable price point. NO ONE, in my circle of friends, can actually afford this kind of Christmas. If we start to believe all these helpful commercials on TV, we can become quite depressed. SURPRISE!

Be very careful. There is a danger of spending more on Christmas than you can afford. The song says, “I’m dreaming of a white Christmas.” BEWARE of the plastic Christmas. That one day of extravagance has the potential to cause long lasting financial hardship. Society exerts great pressure to overbuy at this time of year. RESIST. It is hard, but RESIST. By all means, give gifts, but try not to over do it.

Alas, I digress. My Christmas list:

• A brimmed, cloth hat (to keep my head warm this winter),
• A small, two blade pocket knife (to open boxes and clean my fingernails),
• A gray hoodie (because my old one is ratty),
• A Bluetooth headset.
• I always like books, so a gift card from a bookstore would be nice.
• I would like to have software to edit video and a camera to provide the video (that one is just pie in the sky).
  

These are all nice things, but what I would most enjoy would be for Jeff to find a satisfying job in the new year, John and Allison to be honeymooners forever and for my beautiful Fran to feel great.

We can all have a very Merry Christmas and a joyous holiday season if we remember what is important. If you can, spend time with your family. Let them know you are there for them and you love them. If you have a friend that isn’t fortunate enough to have family they can visit, reach out to them. Do something nice for someone, just because.

Most importantly of all, take time to thank God for the Greatest Christmas Gift ever.

It is a Problem

Has this ever happened to you? You are enjoying a meal at your favorite restaurant. The atmosphere is wonderful. The food is excellent. The service is top notch. Everything about the evening is perfect. You ask the server to bring some extra napkins. The server responds, “No problem,” she turns and disappears around the corner.

Suddenly all the atmosphere drains out of the moment. “What is this ‘no problem’ stuff?” You ask your companion. In mere moments, the server returns with the napkins, at which time you say “Thank You.” Then, for the second time of the evening, the server responds, “No problem”.

When I was but a wee little lad on my mother’s knee, she taught me to say “You’re Welcome.” when someone said, “Thank You.” I can’t image that at some point in the recent past, mothers began teaching their toddlers to say, “No problem.”

At times like this I start to feel like an old codger. For some reason, this phrase has climbed to the top of the heap of things that bother me. It seems that “no problem” has become an all purpose phrase for any occasion. I have heard it used as a response to “thank you” as noted above. It seems to be just the response to requests made between friends and acquaintances.

When I ask a service person for something that is clearly within their scope of responsibility, I would rather hear words to the effect that the person will be taking care of my request than a “no problem”. When I ask for more tea or more napkins, I really don’t care if it is a problem or not. I just want to be taken care of.

The thing that annoys me the most is that despite my aversion to this phrase, I have caught myself repeating it. Am I the only one that has a problem with “no problem”? If it bothers you too, join me in my effort to eradicate it from my corner of the world.

Stamp out “no problem”.

I love Arkansas weather. We get to experience all four seasons. I enjoy each season for a little while and then I’m ready for a change. Today, we have a little dose of winter. I plan to watch it mostly from the side lines. I won’t be a part of the morning commute. I’m sure bread and milk will be gone from grocery store shelves soon as Arkansans attempt to cope with this little shot of winter.

On Sunday we saw seventy degree temperatures. Today we are dealing with almost an inch of sleet. The great thing about a dose of winter weather in Arkansas is that in four or five days it is likely to be seventy degrees again.

I look at winter differently now than I once did. In the nineties, I lived in Anchorage, Alaska, for three years. While in the Last Frontier, I met people that said they wouldn’t want to live in Arkansas because of all the tornados. I told them I would rather deal with tornados, which can be accurately forecasted, than with Earthquakes which appear with no warning.

In those three years, I developed a deeper appreciation for all things Arkansas, including the weather. After three years in Anchorage, we chose to return to Arkansas in 1996, and I’m glad we did. I think I appreciate the state more, now that I’m here by choice.

The good thing about these little shots of inclement weather that appear in Arkansas each
Winter is that they don’t last very long. We will back to mild weather in a few days.

Christmas is only nine days away! I hope to have my shopping completed in the next three or four days.

Here comes Santa Claus!

I finally found my way back to my blog.

It has been too long since I took time to update my little spot on the net. Over a year has passed since my last entry. I must do better.

This past year we picked up two new residents at our house. Jeff moved back in with us and he brought his dog with him, of course. It was late winter and Fran determined that it was too cold for Maggie, the dog, to sleep outside in her house. By the way, Maggie’s house is a 5 x 7 monstrosity in the back yard. Now, several months later, Maggie has spent only a hand full of nights outside the house since coming to live with us. It was too cold at first, then too hot and now it is too cold again. Maggie is some kind of spoiled at this point. If we are at home, she believes that we should all be able to see each other at all times.

It is truly the most amazing relationship, Fran and the dog, her dog. Maggie was Jeff’s dog originally, but I think she is more loyal to Fran now than Jeff. Fran says, “She is not a dog. She is my little buddy.” This is from a woman that used to be deathly afraid of dogs.

Maggie is a seventy plus pound lap dog. She believes that Fran and I only exist to pet and play with her. If she didn’t shed, she would be just about perfect. She has learned to ring the bell on the back door when she wants to go outside. She doesn’t talk back. You don’t expect her to pick up after herself, so you aren’t disappointed. She is always glad to see you. What more could you ask for?