Well, it’s Christmas Day, the presents are unwrapped, the Ham is in the oven, making the house smell wonderfully like a smokehouse, Rebecca is napping on the couch and Rachel is making her internationally renowned Yams.  All is well.  At least for now.

We’ve kept things simple this year.  Rebecca wasn’t home until yesterday afternoon (after an eventful trip over the pass – but I’ll let HER tell that story).  Jenny is still in a sling (and will be for another month) after what seems to have been very successful shoulder surgery.  The weather has been incredibly nasty here this year, so Rachel wasn’t able to do a lot of running around for the last two weeks.  All-in-all, it’s been a pretty quiet holiday.

Our decorations this year are simply the front window and our stairway.  We’ve been putting the tree in the front window for years and saw no reason to change this year.  We have several houses on our street that go all out for decorations…we’re not one of them.

After all, Christmas is about CHRIST – not lights.

Well, time to check the ham.  I pray that our Lord blesses you as you honor and celebrate His day today.

Stay tuned – More to come…

In 1999 when I was talking with Rachel about moving to the Seattle area from Pittsburgh, one of the selling points about the move was that though it does rain here for the majority of the winter, it doesn’t snow.  Then when she came to visit (later in 1999) she was greeted with 3 inches of snow.  I should have taken that as an omen – but alas…

After we moved out here in 2000, we again made the statement that “it doesn’t snow here much”…Well, after this past week, I may have to revise that statement.

I know that to many of you eight inches of snow is not a major concern, but since we don’t have the equipment here to adequately remove it, we’ve had quite a time out here.  In the last week we’ve had snow and sub-freezing temperatures daily.  I believe that today is the first day that we’ve not had snow in at least a week.  It’s also forecast to go above freezing for the first time in about a week as well.

Though our family has fared well, many others in the area are not so fortunate.  There have been many, many accidents and injuries from the weather.  The boyfriend of a young woman that works for me had an accident yesterday (no injuries, thank God!) and damaged his truck.  I’ve seen a car underneath a tractor trailer (left, below), a bus in a ditch (right, below) and more fender benders than I care to count.

I’d made it in to work safely every day (though I’m on vacation until the 26th now) but many others were stranded at home.  The issue is not the volume of snow, but the lack of equipment, planning and resources to clear and treat the roadways.  Most of the primary roads are in good shape, but the secondary and surface street remain treacherous even now.  The roads melt out and get slushy, then re-freeze and make the roads worse off than they were to start with.

So – as the final (???) storm of 2008 passes, I reflect back to 1999 – and the bliss that came from ignorance…

Blessings to all – and I pray you each have a Wonderfully Blessed Christmas.  May God keep you all safe, warm, happy and well fed throughout the remainder of the year.

Stay tuned – more to come…