It is Saturday night and I've already enjoyed the magic and solitude of church. Darla is off to a Craft show at Cal Expo that spans the weekend and, in fact, she won't be home until eight-thirty tonight and back at her booth by nine tomorrow morning. I decided to go to church tonight and enjoy sleeping in tomorrow morning. It is getting harder and harder to get up as the temperature dips and that goose down comforter is just so warm and comfortable. I suppose it's name is appropriate.

Anyhoo, Pastor Wayne Bigelow, our seventy-something servant leader of the Senior community at church was the speaker. He announced himself in honor of our new governor, as the Sermonator. He told a story of the last time that he preached, he showed up with two bandages on his jaw. Pastor Rick asked him why he was bandaged up and Wayne said that he was so involved in preparing his sermon that he cut himself. Rick said that all of the sermons have been too long lately and that Wayne should concentrate on shaving and cut his sermon, not his face.

Wayne is a genuinely funny speaker and just an old farm boy. He spoke of the two seniors in his group that both having been widowed, met and fell in love and decided to marry. They went to the local drug store and enquired about several items. They wanted to know if the store stocked plenty of Ace Bandages and linaments. The store manager answered, Yes, that they had those available. They then wanted to know if he had plenty of Aspirin and various antisceptics and cold medications. Again, the druggist said Yes. They then enquired about laxatives, bran cereals and prunes. Again, the druggist said that he had all of those items and could he help them round them up and ring them up. The old couple said, no, that they were merely getting ready to register for their wedding gifts.

Finally, Wayne told the story of the blonde woman who went to her doctor complaining of pain all over her body. The doctor asked her to be more specific. She pointed at her wrist and said it hurt when she touched there. She pointed at her head, her knee, her shoulder and her stomach and said that it hurt everywhere she touched. The doctor did a quick examination and told her that she had a dislocated finger.

Wayne's sermon was on gratefulness and that God wants us to be thankful of the blessings that he has bestowed on us. Wayne said that prayer is nothing more than us thanking God for his goodness and his grace. It was a great sermon and left me with a lump in my throat and a bounce in my step. There is something about sitting in your home church not surrounded by people that you know. We don't attend Saturday nights and it is a different group of people. It allowed me to concentrate on worship and to develop a sense of intimacy with the Lord that is often missing. I thoroughly enjoyed myself tonight.

David and Daniel both tried out for their respective basketball teams. It was no surprise that David not only made his team, but will be starting at Small Forward. The surprise was that Daniel did not make the team. The coach was looking more for speed and ball handling. Daniel at 6'1" and 205 pounds is more of a bruiser and certainly more football player than basketball player. Daniel almost didn't try out for the team and was conflicted about even going through the motions. He doesn't care for several of the guys on the team and felt like he needed a break after football. The coach ended up making his decision for him and Daniel is now deciding whether to go out for the wrestling team. The wrestling coach wants him, but Daniel is thinking it over. I'll keep you informed.

David already had his first game and he played all four quarters with just short breaks on the bench for a breather. David is a tenacious defender with a hand always in your face. He is developing a nice shot, especially when facing the basket, but he is a pass first, shoot seciond kind of player (his teammates love him for that). I sit in the stand and have Darla yelling, "Shoot the ball!" in my ear all season. It is a rite of Winter.

Jennifer was the chef at her Thanksgiving dinner with friends this week. All of the group is single and decided to get together. Jennifer offered to cook the turkey and stuffing. She called Darla and got her recipe and made a 14 pound turkey. She said it turned out great and she is enjoying all of the leftovers. They now have a microwave as I shipped hers to her a couple of months ago, so leftovers are a big deal to Jennifer and her roomate. She enjoyed cooking and was justifiably proud of herself. She is off on to the field this week, where she will be sleeping in tents and sleeping bags the whole week. Think of her out freezing when you tuck yourself into your warm beds this week. I certainly will.

I picked Alicia up at the Dodge dealer this morning where she was in for her 36,000 mile rip off of single women checkup with a price tag of $400. They did a tuneup and changed the oil and did a complete checkup which Firestone would do for $79. Oh well. We went from there over to Cal Expo to lend our support to Darla and her jewelry booth. She had a slow start yesterday with sales, but we were all hoping that it picks up today and tomorrow. We wandered the long lines of exhibitors and counted 29 jewelry booths out of the 300 plus exhibitors. It is pretty competitive in there with prices really low. Darla has quality handmade jewelry and was finding it hard to compete with the sheer number of shops.

I dropped Alicia off this afternoon and took a drive past David's Dad's house to see how the Mustang was coming. They were to be installing a new tranny this weekend. The Mustang was sitting forlornly at the front of the house with no sign of activity. David will be pretty sore if the work isn't done this weekend. He had done the research on rebuilt transmissions and was waiting for his Dad to decide which one to buy. Hopefully it gets done.

Darla and I are busy for the next few weekends with holiday parties. This coming weekend will be the Roseville Golf Club dinner banquet, followed by Darla's work's dinner the following weekend and my work's dinner the same weekend. So far, we haven't had a conflict on nights. We still have the tree to put up. I think we'll have a live tree this year as my fake tree left over from my bachelor days is a bit shop worn and old. Hopefully after the holidays we will replace the fake tree and be ready for the next few years. I am NOT a fan of live trees in the house. My pest control guy told me that the largest cause of winter pest infestations is the live Christmas tree. I will likely put up the lights on the house next weekend when I have those two six footers available to help me.

Well, that is it for this installment. Remember during the upcoming holiday season to keep the Lord in the middle of our festivities, after all, Christmas is named after our Savior. God Bless.