December 11 3-D printing

Thursday afternoon:  I drive over to say "HI" to Jesse and Kaity almost every Thursday afternoon ... because I miss them terribly! I don't stay very long--maybe an hour or so--but it's enough time to just feel connected to their lives, even just a little bit. And a little bit is much better than not at all!

A few weeks ago, a friend of Jesse's (Rob) gifted him with a (used) 3-D printer. Jesse tells me it is just a basic model--but being the highly technical individual that he is, he is already using it to print stuff like brackets for shelving units, and other odds and ends. He can simply design a part he wants to create, program the printer, and then ... voila'! I'll have to take better pictures next week when I am there.

Kaity is getting in on the fun too! This week, Jesse "printed" two little foxes and Kaity painted them. Look!

The smaller fox (which isn't very well photographed) has moving parts! It's little legs move and its head wobbles around--it's super cute. Kaity placed the small one on top of the large one--they are separate toys, but this is how Kaity positioned them for the pictures. I should have had Kaity hold them sideways so that their whole bodies would have shown.

Perhaps when I am over to Jesse's again--I plan to watch the Lions/Ram game Sunday late afternoon--maybe I will get better pictures then.

December 9 with the kids

Tuesday:  It's just a little over two weeks now until Christmas Day. It has been a nice wintery few weeks, and it certainly LOOKS like Christmas everywhere. I feel pretty "ready" for it--but then I always wish that Christmas would last many more days than it does. Mostly because people seem nicer during this time of year. Perhaps they are more conscious of Christ's coming to earth--how entirely awesome it was for Him to come! I long for more of Him in my heart, and evidence of His Spirit in my life, surrendering my heart to His. I play Christmas music a lot when I am at home. There are so many beautiful Carols and hymns that tell His story. Ah ... my faith is so small--please grow me, Lord.

I had fun playing with my kiddos this afternoon. Brendan came home from school first, as always. He told me he has a Christmas concert Monday evening--YAY! I love to go and hear Brendan sing. It's one of the highest forms of pleasure in my life. I invited him over to spend the night this Friday. He said he will come! I'm always shocked by his acceptance. We plan to go to the Christmas play over at Calvary, with cookies and hot chocolate to follow. Brendan likes plays and music--so this should be a nice time.

Dylan and Kelly were home early--Dylan teaches a class Tuesday evenings, and Kelly had a meeting to attend over at their church--but she brought us a pizza to have for dinner. I'm to stay until their neighbor, Piper, comes over to carry on childcare at about 6:30.

I did remember (rather last-minute) to snap a few pictures today--but I only took TWO:

We played a game of UNO, the dinosaur edition with special rules. 

I missed taking a picture of Cal today. He was in "wild" form. I'm never quite sure where on earth he gets half of the things in his head--he's a very funny little kid, though; always surprising me with his boldness, his energy and fun. 

These Tuesdays come and go too quickly!  

December 8 MNBS party at Margaret's

MONDAY:  My small-group Bible study leader, Margaret, always invites all of us in her group to her house for a Christmas dinner. She does not allow us to bring a single item of food! Her husband, Mike, is also a small-group leader (for men) and they are also invited to this party to just eat a good meal and fellowship with each other. It's always a good time, mostly because Mike and Margaret are such hospitable people.

Margaret served their family's traditional Christmas Eve meal for all of us to enjoy. They home-make meat pies, served with cooked apple sauce, and green peas on the side. Trust me--there were NO green peas on the side of my plate. To this day, I cannot eat a pea without gagging. I was able to very politely decline the peas as they were being served. Margaret also baked plenty of tasty desserts. She is an amazing person.

Our small group is not very small this year! There are 18 ladies in it. Usually, we have topped out at 12! I'm not sure how many are in Mike's group--but everyone who had a spouse were welcomed to bring them so we ended up with about 65 people over at Margaret's house Monday night. They have a big house--good thing!

Julie, Jen, Karen, Migena, Alicia, and Cindy

Julie and Jen and I meet for lunch every Tuesday before I go over to Dylan and Kelly's house to do a little cleaning. Jen owns the flower shop right across from John Ball Zoo. She is a really interesting person. She is in her early 40's, has never married, and is quite content. Julie is married to Victor. They are a combination of Italian and Greek (!!), are amazing chefs, and really great to fellowship with. Karen and I share the exact same birthdate, only a year apart. Migena is a hair dresser--she is Slovakian, and a super interesting person. Alicia is Christy's sister-in-law, and new to our group this year. Cindy is Jewish by birth, but came to know Christ during her high-school years when she lived in Chicago.

Arlene, Ed, Pam, and Lynda (at the table)

Arlene is new to our small group this year. She and Tamela share a grandchild. Arlene's son was married to Tamela's daughter, you see. Ed is married to our co-leader, Christy. Both of them are KIND beyond words--and interesting as well--and super grounded--and happy together for over 43 years. Pam is married to Paul (who couldn't join her tonight), and Lynda (with a "y") is married to Norm (who is standing behind Ed)--they have three sons (I think), all of whom worked for our government in various places in Africa, and all of whom lost their jobs due to our change in presidents (no comment).

Mike and Margaret are always welcoming guests home to their house. Mike is a very good photographer. His portraits are framed all over their house--from locations all over the world. Mike is a retired dentist. I try not to hold that against him, being that I have quite an aversion to dentists in general.

We had quite an enjoyable few hours with everybody celebrating Jesus. It certainly is nice to be a part of a group of seriously genuine Christians.

December 6/7 My Christmas Tree

Saturday/Sunday:  For some reason this year, I was less than enthused about trudging out to the shed, digging through the boxes, and finding everything I needed to put up my Christmas tree. We are experiencing extreme COLD, so being outside in it is very unpleasant (at least to me). We also have quite a bit of snow--perhaps 8" or so out here in my neck of the woods. It's very pretty to look at! I have always loved the beauty of the winter months--well, as long as there is fresh snow. Once the snow melts, everything is just so GRAY or BROWN or BLACK that it just doesn't appeal to my artistic sensibilities at all!

It took me two days--well, actually THREE, to finish putting up the tree. I assembled it on Saturday and strung the lights. Sunday, I started decorating it--but didn't finish up until Monday. Here are a few pictures:

I've never been one that favored colored lights--I'm not sure why exactly, but I just prefer the white ones. They just feel so much more peaceful to me. I have two strands on the tree--one strand has a bigger bulb (about 150 of them), and the other strand has 350 lights that you can program to do a variety of different things. I prefer the setting that has them slowly blinking.

I have an angel tree topper, and got it out to look at it; but I remembered that I never really liked it in years past! It's just too big and wobbly. It leans weirdly, and no matter what I do, I have to constantly keep fussing with it for the weeks that the tree is up. It has lights, too, but I always felt the lights clashed with the rest of the tree. SO ... I went to Menard's and Meijer's looking for a smaller replacement, but I didn't find anything that I liked (that I was willing to pay for). 

I finally decided to just use an ornament for my topper. She is a pretty little angel--she doesn't show up very well on the tree, but I like her far better than the other huge angel--so I am happy to have her!

December 5 The GIR Christmas party

Friday night:  I attended my first ever GIR (Growing in Relationships) Christmas party tonight. It was a catered dinner (very delicious), with entertainment afterwards by the Roedema's son (who is a pastor, but also sings beautifully). 

I am not particularly comfortable (!!) at social events. I'm not actually certain why that is. Perhaps it's because I am single, status post two rather failed marriages. It's not that there aren't any other divorced people in the class--in fact, there are quite a few; however, most have successfully remarried for a lengthy duration. There are a few widows and widowers in the class too. Some of these folk I have been somewhat acquainted with going all the way back to 1992, when I first began attending Calvary Church. Some of the people who are class members are also in my Monday Night Bible study group, and some I knew back when I was a choir member.

I drove a dear lady, Beverly, over to the party. She lives a few miles down the road off from Jupiter. She is 90 and no longer drives. We had a pleasant drive there and back. I met Beverly way back in 1992, but we have never really been a part of the same small group, so we got a little bit better acquainted on our drive. 

I only snapped just a few pictures of the party, all of them were taken before the party actually began:

Several class members decorated this space--which is usually used for the youth at Calvary on Sunday and throughout the week.

This is Tamela (L) and Cindy (R)--both of whom are in the small group I am in on Monday nights (Bible study). I have known both ladies now for over five years. Both are single women, divorced, with children and grandchildren. They are a blessing to me.

I hope I become more comfortable attending some of these social events. I have become quite a homebody in these years--happier in my little cozy space than anywhere else. It would probably be good for me if I grew some courage and socialized every now and then. I am far more comfortable with ladies' groups than I am in mixed company, especially if there are single men around. I'll pray about it!

December 2 with NO photos

Tuesday:  I honestly did not realize, until I was driving away from the house today, that I never even one time pointed my phone at anyone in order to take a picture. Rats. Sigh.

I ate lunch today with my friends, Julie and Jen, and then halfway through Julie's husband (Victor) joined us. What a wonderful 90 minutes of fellowship. I felt completely refreshed. 

I arrived over at Dylan and Kelly's at 1:00 and did the usual, very surface, cleaning until about 3:30 and then cut up some fruit for the kids to have for their after-school snack. When they got off the school bus this afternoon, they were pretty tuckered out--but enthused to work on their "Wish lists" for my Christmas shopping benefit. We made great progress! I feel so encouraged.

It WAS a process, however, with at least two kiddos talking to me at the same exact time trying to show me exactly what they wanted. BUT ... this little session was so successful, that I actually ordered almost everything from Amazon this morning. YAY!!

November 30 First significant snow

Sunday:  We had a little "dusting" of snow one day last week, or perhaps it was the week before, but TODAY was quite a different matter. We got slammed with it! Weather reports record 11" in Belmont! Other areas got similar amounts, and it snowed on and off throughout the day today. 

Most of the churches cancelled their services due to the icy roads and the need to keep people safe. It's always sad to me when church is cancelled. I did tune in to the "recorded" songs and message that Calvary put together on the internet, though. AND I listened to a wonderful sermon by my favorite pastor/teacher (recently retired), Alistair Begg. I love him. I love his clear teaching of God's Word. I love his Scottish accent. I how he quotes beautiful old hymns as well as popular songs I used to love as a teenager--you see, he and I are contemporaries. He was born in '52 and I was born in '53--perhaps that's why I find him so relatable; but more than that, I love his clear teaching of the Bible. It's so refreshing and challenging and convicting--oftentimes it brings me to tears (the good kind).

I snapped a few quick pictures of the beautiful snow while I was outside shoveling my walkway and small driveway. This was super heavy snow! About halfway through shoveling my driveway, the kind neighbor who has a very interesting snow blower/tractor kind of vehicle, drove by on his way to clear driveways of people who have hired him to do this. The snow was so heavy for me, that I actually broke down and hired him to finish my driveway! I've never done that in all of the years I have lived here. I hope that isn't an indication of a downward trend in my life! Yikes.

My front deck did not look very welcoming!

Directly across the street from my house:

My poor little bird feeders! After I was finished shoveling, I walked around to my feeders and cleared the snow away and filled the feeders to the max. I got lots of pretty little birds all afternoon who came and enjoyed the food!

Looking down the street, to the left of my house:

Underneath my across-the-street neighbor's pine tree.

Sure was beautiful to look at the snow today. If today was anything like prior years, we will NOT have a white Christmas! So many times, we get tons of snow in November and early December, but none for Christmas. I am hearing predictions, though, that this year is going to be a particularly snowy and cold winter.

November 29 Chris's Card

Saturday:  This is the card that I made for Chris's 22nd birthday.

FRONT:

On the inside of his card:

This is the back of the card (the top part of the card is a collage of Chris at Roselle Park (the exact place where he proposed to Ella--only these pictures are from TEN years ago); the bottom pictures are copies of some of his drawings as a little kid.

November 29 Chris is 22

H a P p Y   B I R T h d A Y ,   C h R I S ! !

Saturday:  The plan WAS to serve dinner at 4:00 late this afternoon; however, we are presently under a Winter Storm Advisory (pretty close to a "warning"), so Chris messaged everyone late in the evening yesterday and asked if we could push the time up to 2:00 (a few hours earlier than the storm is actually supposed to hit). Good suggestion, Chris.

It's a good thing I had been making meal preparations all throughout Friday! I'm not what people would call a "good" cook. I'm just not! I don't really feel badly about it either. I CAN cook, given a proper recipe, as long as it's nothing terribly complicated. I have successfully cooked turkey on multiple occasions and have had it turn out okay, and since turkey was on sale at Meijer for 32 cents/pound last week, I purchased a 12# bird to roast for this occasion. I realized it would be quite redundant following Thanksgiving, but I don't have a large freezer (just a very standard apartment-sized one) and I wanted to take advantage of the low-price meat--so I served TURKEY.

I did go online and found some interesting recipes for turkey. I found something called "dry-brining" a turkey, which I had never heard of before. You take Kosher salt and combine it with other poultry seasoning, and then you rub that under the skin of the thawed turkey, leave it uncovered, and refrigerate it at least 24 hours (some recipes called for THREE days of brining) before you roast it. Just before roasting it, you rub softened butter, garlic, and other spices all over the skin of the turkey and then cook it. 

I dry-brined my bird for 24 hours and then roasted it Saturday morning, got it all carved and into a large crock-pot about an hour before everyone arrived for dinner. (Note to self: Dry-brining makes for a VERY salty turkey).  I also did the mashed potatoes ahead and placed them in a crock-pot, as well as the gravy and stuffing. That way, when everyone arrived, I didn't have eight million greasy pans everywhere in the kitchen--because those were already washed and put away, making for a much nicer-looking kitchen. I am very picky about clean kitchens (and bathrooms) ... I wonder where/who on earth I got that from?

I decided buy divided paper plates ($1.50/12 at Dollar Tree) because ... I know they look tacky, but they are just SO practical when it comes to a big meal like this. My dishwasher hasn't worked in the last six years or so (it leaks pretty badly). I just use it as a dish drainer, which works really well for me.

I had baked plenty of muffins and bread last week, so I served those along with my favorite orange jello with the fancy whipped topping (Emma likes it too).

I could sit SIX at my wooden table, and then Jesse and I sat together at the round table--which worked out nicely. I pulled the round table closer than it usually is to the other table so that we could all visit together. It's always amazing to me that absolute HOURS go into preparing a big meal like this and then it is over in a matter of 15 minutes! Everyone has eaten, they are full to the brim, and we move on! Hopefully when we get together again a few weeks from now, I will come up with an easier-to-prepare menu.

Since we were gathered to celebrate Chris's birthday, the next order of events was opening cards and presents. Here is Chris reading the card I made for him (see card next post) ...

And then he opened gifts (which I failed to photograph), and then we all told funny stories we could remember about Chris. It was fun to laugh together and remember things from years ago.

Here is Chris trying on the hoodie he requested ... looks very nice, Chris!

And THEN it was time to serve the Oreo Ice cream Cake that Chris likes best. Whew. At least I wasn't baking a cake along with all of the other cooking! 

Matthew appointed himself the cake "server" and dished it up for everyone (under protest from Chris). Matt is a natural at serving. I love this about him so much.

After we enjoyed our cake, Jesse went back to his place--he's been in an irregular sleep pattern for an entire month and it is not an easy thing to deal with. The rest of us (minus Kota) played two rounds of "Liar, Liar!" which is very fun to play with these kids. Kaity won the first round. Emma won the second.

Afterwards, Emma and Kota left, taking Kaity with them--it was beginning to snow now and was quickly getting dark. And then Chris suggested we play at least ONE MORE GAME of something ... I forget what our choices were, but Pachesi was one of them; so I enthusiastically got the board down off the wall where it hangs and we commenced playing. It's been a very long time since I played 4-person Pachesi. What a riot.

I can't even recount how many times each of us were sent home!!! I think this might have been the first time any of these three had played this game--but it was so much fun. My brother and I LOVE to play this game.

SO ... the first winner was ME -- which was very surprising! Ella came in second, and then I figured the boys would just quit; but NO--Chris HAD to keep going. He ended up being the losing loser--but I think he had fun anyway.

It sure was nice to have everyone over. How can these guys all be this grown up? Where on earth did the time go? 

SIGH. 

Oh, Lord--Hear my prayer for them--please let them truly know You, surrender their lives to you while they are young, and LIVE as You intend them to. Give them clear eyes to see You, and open their hearts to receive You. Make Your Word come alive to them so that they will live in a way that pleases You. Nothing else will ever satisfy the deepest longings of their hearts.

November 27 Thanksgiving Day 2025

"I trust in Your unfailing love. I will rejoice because You have rescued me. I will sing to the LORD because He has been so good to me. " (Psalm 9.2)

Thursday:  HAPPY THANKSGIVING! Kelly is hosting the main meal of the day (she always does!) for their family, Shane, and guests (their new neighbors from Sri Lanka), as well as myself. I was asked to bring stuffing (dressing), and I also brought some homemade pumpkin muffins, chocolate chip muffins, and some banana bread. I arrived at 11 am--our goal was to eat this massive lunch at noon so that we would be all finished and ready for the big game at 1:00. 

Everything happened as scheduled, except the invited neighbors wrote down the wrong time for dinner and so they didn't arrive until about 1:00. Most of us were already downstairs in front of the monitor awaiting the game too begin when they arrived.

SO ... the Lions lost to the Packers (boo!), 31-24. Mr. Cal was cheering for Green Bay (because they have a "G" on their helmets, which naturally stands for "Gregory", which is his allotted birth name). It was a ... rather ... painful game to watch. Honestly! We have so many injured players right now, so we are playing rather handicapped (duh). Anyway, we LOST.

I barely took any pictures at all today. There was just too much going on. The little kids were playing their own game of football right under our noses and feet and bodies, all during the REAL game. And I, naturally, was yelling loudly all through the game. I was really quite worn out when it was over.

Aidan beckoned me downstairs a little earlier to see his huge panorama of some kind of ... toy party ... chess tournament ... dinosaur smashing party (it is pictured below).

Here is Aidan, explaining the entire concoction to me.

This is the very L O N G table set up to accommodate the 13 people who were supposed to enjoy the meal together. We had already finished eating when I snapped this picture--only Erin was left, enjoying some extra treats at the table. The kids and I spent some time on my phone on Amazon trying to figure out what to order for Christmas. I think I pretty much ordered what Erin wants, but I'm going to have to concentrate on Tuesday to get the other kids' understood and ordered.

Jesse was also "hosting" today. He and Matt cooked a turkey and all the trimmings. Family just dropped by when they could. Since I had already eaten enough to stuff a boat, I just nibbled here and there. Chris and Ella stopped by later in the day. When I showed this picture to Chris and Ella yesterday, they thought it was terrible of both of them--they DO look a little weary, don't they?

I forget which football game we were watching at this point. Jesse and the boys seem to keep up with what is happening with all of the professional teams. I actually don't watch football at all, unless the Lions are playing; and since I have no way to watch even the Lions play--Jesse is kind enough to let me watch them over at his house and his really really nice large-screen (not pictured). 

Two days from now is Chris's 22nd birthday. The plan right now is for me to cook a nice dinner and have everyone come over to celebrate. 

November 25 At Cal's school

Tuesday afternoon:  I was invited to visit Cal's class this afternoon! Well, actually, I went as a substitute for his mom and dad because they couldn't make it due to their work schedules. 

Cal is in a pre-K class! What a busy and interesting place it is! And such a nice teacher and helpers! And such unusual names for the students--I can't even remember all of them. Trust me, there were NO Tom's, or Mike's, or Carol's ... 

This is the "Dollie" Cal helped to build! He said his specific contribution was the HANDLE (which he is holding and showing to me). 

In his class, they have been studying tools, plants, cooking, and a bunch of other cool things. They have "centers" for various subjects, lots of hands-on projects, tons of good books ... wow.

The arrow is pointing to Cal's teacher--who, by the way, went to college with Kelly!

It was really nice to visit Cal's class today! I think I was there for about an hour. Cal and I read two books (about predators and preys--dinosaurs specifically). We also ate some banana muffins the kids had made. Delicious!