Tag: Christmas

Holiday wishes

Christianconservative found this posted as a comment on CNN.com

To all my Democrat friends: Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low-stress, non-addictive, gender-neutral celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasion and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all. I also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2008, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make America great. Not to imply that America is necessarily greater than any other country nor the only America in the Western Hemisphere. Also, this wish is made without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith or sexual preference of the wishee.

To all my Republican friends:

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Christmas ads

my two favorite candidates are running (or planning to run) Christmas ads in Iowa and other states.

Huckabee’s ad is stronger in showing his faith, which helps bring out the Christian conservatives Huckabee is hunting for, while Obama’s tends to give a more open feeling and doesn’t preclude or include any particular faith.

What do you think? Which appeals to you more?

Catchup

Wow! It’s mid-December?! Holy Cow!
It’s been a fast and crazy two weeks. Let’s see if I can play catch-up in one post.

1. I have a new job. I started a new position with the Dallas County Community College District on Dec. 5th. I’m not completely sold that this is the career for me, but I think it’s a lot closer in the right direction. My official title is: Curriculum Management Content Specialist. And guess what — that’s actually what I’m doing so far!

I enjoyed my time with the county but the further along I went, the further I realized it wasn’t quite for me. My boss was great, my co-workers were great, the hours and benefits were great, but in the end I felt like the money could be better spent on paving roads than on paying my salary. Also this opportunity came available when I wasn’t even seriously looking and I felt like it was where God was leading me next.

The job itself is working with the district’s catalogs and maintaining, posting and revising them online, as well as putting together a “print” version that will be stored as a PDF on CD for various groups. I’m also getting to do some graphic work along with the web and database work so it should be a great experience either way.

2. Well that’s about it. Just kidding.

3. Things around the house have been busy as well. We had our community group Christmas party on Dec. 7th, followed by a men’s gathering/challenge at 10 p.m. that night. It’s part of a 9 month series we’re doing on challenging men to be stronger men of God. I put together a website for the challenge and just now finished editing the video from our first gathering.

The basic idea behind the challenge is that once a month we’ll pass out GPS coordinates on Sunday morning and post them on the website. The following Friday night – at 10 p.m. – the men in the church will meet at that location for discussion and a challenge from Brian. He’s also following up with a challenge that is e-mailed/txt’d/ or printed out for those interested.

The idea is that there is a bit of a challenge in finding the location as well as coming at the scheduled time. You have to make some sacrifices to be a part of the event – just like we have to do to be men of God.

I’m looking forward to the other meetings. Our first meeting was on an island in the middle of Lake Waxahachie. The coordinates simply took us to a boat ramp where we gathered and 3 john boats carried us in pairs to the island where a bonfire and Brian were waiting. Very cool.

Brian mentioned yesterday that he’s amused at the difference between our church and others. He told another pastor about the idea and the man responded, “Yeah that sounds like a great way to get deacons and elders for your church. That’s when you find out who you want to lead your church in official capacities.” Too bad we don’t have deacons or elders. Ha.

4. We had four parties to go to last weekend. Our community group Christmas party, a birthday party for Gracelyn, a Christmas party at Daniel and Allison’s and the CWF Christmas party. Whew! What a weekend. And our friend Andrew was “bab-a-tized” Sunday morning (I’m working on that video too).

5. Monday, Dec 10 brought work again and then we went to Mesquite that night to enjoy an After Hours Improv show at our parent’s church. Always good entertainment.

6. Wednesday, Laurie stayed home from work to rest and catch up on her sleep. All the going, going and going along with her heart working overtime wiped her out.

I was somehow able to convince her to hold off with painting our bedroom during the day, but after I got home she went to work. She painted one wall a cool rich dark purple to match the comforter on our bed. I’m just surprised she hasn’t posted pictures of it yet. That took up most of the evening, while I worked on “tweaking” a (Unit 4) photoshop project.

Thursday evening she finished touch-ups in the room.

7. Friday was another Christmas party at work. I think that was the 4th one I’ve been to since I started at DCCCD. Let me think back… We had a chili cook-off the 2nd day I was there, a pizza party the 3rd, the Chancellor’s Christmas brunch earlier in the week and then the lunch/party at a Mexican restaurant in Mesquite for another team I’ll be a part of. And there’s one last party on Wednesday of this week.

8. Once the party was over, I tried to do a little Christmas shopping but gave up after visiting three stores. Just couldn’t get myself in the mood to fight the afternoon crowds.

After Laurie made it home we went to Bob and Vickie’s for some dinner with the rest of Laurie’s family and then headed over to Jed’s house for a Christmas party there. Jed will be marrying Jen, Laurie’s maid-of-honor in June. I think Jen’s enjoying taking the “bachelor” out of Jed and his house. I’m not sure who’s worse – me or him. I guess we’ll have to quiz Laurie and Jen after the wedding.

9. Saturday we slept in finally and then got up and cleaned, ran errands and cooked dinner for friends to come over for dinner. Matt, Kathryn, Daniel, Allison, Richard, Amber and Gracelyn all came for dinner. We had a great time – and took no pictures :-(. We usually end up playing games after dinner but it was nice to just sit and talk around the table afterwards.

Laurie fixed her infamous potato casserole and I cooked up a green been casserole and a pot roast. We decided afterwards that we’d stick with the cheaper roast meat when doing pot roast – chuck roast doesn’t seem to be as tender and also seemed to be a lot fattier (there’s more on that story but I’ll save you the details for now).

10. Are you still reading? Geeze. Bored at work I presume.

11. Sunday we had church as usual and then Brad and Jen came over with their kids and Laurie took some family Christmas photos of them. Lots of pictures – hopefully some of them turned out good. Getting two kids to sit still for too long is pretty hard so luckily we had lots of room for pictures on our camera disk and lots of time ;-). It was great to spend some more time with Brad and Jen and the kids as well. Brooklyn even volunteered to help me clean the back door where Presley has left her muddy paw prints.

And sadly, in the midst of it all, the Cowboys lost… dang that Jessica Simpson.

Well that’s about all I have on December for now. I’m sure I’ve left something or someone out and hopefully Laurie will get a chance to stop and fill in any gaps. But of course if you’ve been following my Twitter feed you already knew a lot of this anyways ;-).

Hopefully I’ll give my tips for riding DART before too long. It’s been cooking in my head since the 5th.

re: 18 Hours of Christmas Music

If you just need a quick Christmas music fix, head over to NPR for the 18th annual A Jazz Piano Christmas. An hour of amazing live jazz Christmas music.

Which speaking of Christmas jazz, I forgot to mention the Charlie Brown Christmas Soundtrack as one of my favorites.

The 18th annual A Jazz Piano Christmas, recorded live at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., features three great pianists who have each been shaping the sound of jazz for more than half a century. Dr. Billy Taylor, Hank Jones and Barry Harris spin their original solo takes on the holiday songbook.

Here’s the lineup:

* “The Little Drummer Boy” — Andrew Hill (from A Jazz Piano Christmas XIII)
* “Merry Christmas” — Billy Taylor
* “The Christmas Song” — Billy Taylor
* “Winter Wonderland” — Joey DeFrancesco
* “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town” — Joey DeFrancesco
* “White Christmas” — Barry Harris
* “We Three Kings” — Hank Jones
* “Good King Wenceslas” – Hank Jones
* “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” — Hank Jones & Roberta Gambarini
* “Silent Night” — Hank Jones & Roberta Gambarini
* “Jingle Bells” — All Artists (Taylor, DeFrancesco, Harris, Jones, Gambarini)

Enjoy!

18 hours of Christmas music

What does an NPR music critic do when he’s flooded with Christmas music every year? He traps his family in the car and plays each of the 21 CDs – 18 hours worth.

I’ve always enjoyed hearing new Christmas music, but there’s just so much of it. Every fall, I receive dozens of new holiday CDs — countless hours of music to sift through in the long, agonizing buildup to Christmas.
This year, shortly before Thanksgiving, I decided to save them all for one epic binge during a 1,000-mile road trip to see family — to be captivated by the holiday spirit while held literally captive.
Pulling out of the driveway, I started — as one does — with A Swingin’ Christmas, by Michael Bolton. And thus began 18 of the longest hours of my life. Bolton’s “swingin’ Christmas” was my “ploddin’ Christmas,” a tensely endured soundtrack for a holiday hellride through D.C. traffic.

Stephen Thompson reviews all 21 albums for your enjoyment online.

Or if you’re interested here are some of my Christmas favs…

  1. Kenny G: Miracles: The Holiday Album – I might get punched in the face for this one, but nothing says Christmas like Kenny G! The first Christmas wishes/bumpers I ever recorded for radio used this album for my music bed. “Merry Christmas KEOM listeners. I’m Jonathan Blundell, taking this moment to wish you and your’s a very Merry Christmas. One of my favorite memories of Christmas….”
  2. Arbuckle Indians: It’s an Arbuckle Indian Christmas – not a well known group or album, although they did have a run up the Christmas charts at Mp3.com a few years back. You might be able to track down a CD copy of the album if you know the right folks.
  3. Various: Happy Christmas – Tooth and Nail artists share their own rendition of new and old Christmas songs. The entire collection is great and only one step behind A Very Special Christmas
  4. Various: A Very Special Christmas – it’s Christmas time in Hollis Queens. Doesn’t get much better than that other than U2 singing a cover of Christmas (Baby Please Come Home).
  5. Bebo Norman, Allen Levi, Ed Cash: Joy – I can’t tell you where my original copy of this CD is, but the tracks I still have as Mp3 are worth a listen year round.
  6. Trans Siberian Orchestra: Christmas Eve and Other Stories – one of my favorites since it’s release in 1996. It doesn’t get much better than Christmas Eve Sarajevo. And who would have thought Laurie would have already started an annual tradition of seeing the band live every Christmas when they come to Dallas. Awesome.

What’s on your top list?

Christmas S*N*A*C

Thomas helps lead S*N*A*C (aka Sunday Night After Church) at his Church in Glasgow. They held a Christmas service this week and he shared the order on his blog. Sounds like a great time of reflection and celebration.

From Thomas:

The key to a “7 from 8” gathering is simplicity > its about taking time out > relaxing in the busy milieu of Advent. 7 readings. 7 songs. No commentary. Participation. Contribution. Darkness interspersed with candles.

I introduced the gathering and set the scene… then let things flow (all readings from The Message except 7 which is from New King James version)>

1. Liz kicked off the readings with The Birth of Jesus [Matthew 1: 18-25] > BLOC then played “Silent Night”
2. Diane then read The Birth of Jesus [Luke 2: 1-7] > Janey played “Away in a Manger” on the piano
3. Bobby read A Virgin will bear a son [Isaiah 7: 10-14] > we moved into a period reflection and contemplation > I played “Emmanuel” by Blackmore’s Night on the ol’ iPod.
4. Kirsty brought us An event for everyone [Luke 2: 8-20] > we then listened to BLOC who brought us an awesome version of “O Holy Night”
5. Janey read A Virgin conceives [Luke 1: 26-35] > we then completed the contemplative time with another track from the ol’ iPod > “I am, You are” by the Martins
6. I then read Scholars from the East [Matthew 2] > BLOC played “A First Noel”
7. Lawrie brought the readings to a close with Isaiah’s prophesy For unto us a Child is born [Isaiah 9: 2-7] > BLOC then finished with “Love came down at Christmas”

Alec closed the gathering with a prayer and we enjoyed some fellowship over Starbucks espresso blend coffee and mince pies. Simple yet effective evening.

Sounds like a great time. Wish I could participate in it somehow.