Another week has gone by and tomorrow is Christmas eve.  We got here Thursday and were blown away by the work at the house.  Kathi had arranged for the painting and the 1980's wood laminate paneling had given way to beautiful pastel colors.  The painting had opened things up and made it seem much larger. It is a bit close to Christmas to be decorating so it looks like we don't celebrate the holiday.  We agreed that next year we would try to get here earlier so we would have time to make it look like Christmas. The girls went shopping and I spent an NFL Sunday watching football and checking the other scores on the computer. Unfortunately, currently the local heroes (Tampa Bay Buccaneers) are losing in San Francisco.  In addition, earlier today the excuse for a professional football team played spoilers and ruined Green Bay's possible chance for home field advantage which of course makes them folk heroes in Chicago.  Oh well, I can take solace in the fact that they will be home by the fire watching the playoffs on TV just as I will.  I guess there is something to the fact that no matter what happens if you beat Green Bay your season is a success.

   Monday morning Mary went next door to look after the neighbors cats.  After again taking our time getting going, we went to the 4PM Family Mass at the nearby parish.   CLICK HERE to visit All Saints Catholic Church.  The mass was wonderful.  In addition to a children's choir the various parts of the celebration were handled by the children including the readings and cantor duties. Father Nyambo's homily was wonderful as he repeatedly made reference to the fact that Christmas is for Children.  We have all heard that phrase before in the secular world with Santa Claus, presents etc.  Father emphasized that it is for children because the king himself came as a child.  He also lit a light bulb for me.  I  had not stopped to think about his comment that the first to die for Jesus were children  This of course makes reference to Herod's killing of all newborns in hopes that the newborn king would be among them.  At the conclusion of communion he reminded everyone not to run out early because something special awaited.  The something special turned out to be his practice of inviting all children in the congregation to join him around the altar.  Once in place, he led them in singing Happy Birthday to Jesus.  What a wonderful custom he has established.  He then offered the final blessing and dismissed the children to the hospitality room where he said cookies were waiting.  From church we went to Dave's mothers for the traditional Christmas Eve dinner followed by the reading of the Christmas story accompanied by appropriate music.  This was followed by the opening of gifts.  Arriving home about ten we watched Man of the Year with Robin Williams.  All of a sudden the clock struck 1AM and we decided we had better retire since there was a 5 year old who would be looking for Santa early.  We had forgotten he also was up quite late and we all were up when he emerged from Mom and Dad's bedroom rubbing sleep from his eyes.
He had slept there, having generously allowed Grandpa Baboo to sleep in his bed so I could avoid the stairs.  I was grateful because he does not give up his bed lightly.  As I lay in the soft glow of Dirk's nightlight I found myself thinking about the little guy who once slept in the crib on the other side of the room.  How fast they grow.  Dirk is 4 (will be 5 Jan 2) sometimes going on 15.

   I awoke Christmas morning to the sound of Dave's espresso machine and decided even though it was the middle of the night for me (7:15AM) I would go ahead and get up.  I am not your typical senior, going to bed early and rising in time to greet the sun.  With Dave and I up we watched the end of last nights movie once more and soon Kathi and Mary arrived on the scene.  Where was Dirk?  Oh there he is so we spent the next hour or so opening toys, both child and adult accompanied by the usual tossing of wrapping aside to be picked up later. The candles were burning with the familiar Christmas scents, the tree was lit and coffee and donuts were consumed followed by Mary's scrambled eggs with Kielbasa.  All in all it don't get no better than this. The afternoon was filled with the wonderful smells of roasting turkey.  Although traditionally we celebrate at Dave's mothers house on Christmas Eve, Christmas Dinner much like Thanksgiving is held at Dave and Kathi's and Dave typically does one or more turkeys depending on the expected crowd.  For Thanksgiving in the past he has done two one oven roasted and one deep fried.  Dave's brother Mark and his family arrived late afternoon and we all gathered around the wonderful feast of turkey with all the trimmings. After a brief time for cleanup and digestion gifts were exchanged and the Eskew-Lewis Christmas celebration came to a close. I have been having some gliches with Internet access so before we left I used a wireless connection to Dave's router and my laptop to put the St Julie Bulletin online.

  Wednesday was a day of hanging out at home and relaxing after a couple of days of late night early morning days.  Wednesday night we joined Dave's Dad for dinner at the golf course clubhouse.  Dave's Dad lives in a nearby gated golf course community.  Every Wednesday night the clubhouse had a prime rib special.  For $10.95 one was served the largest juciest 8oz prime rib (it looked bigger) with a choice of sides (mine were mashed potatoes and onion rings. while Mary's choice was baked potato and asparagus.  It is a wonderful place very comfortable with excellent service and an atmosphere conducive to quiet conversation.  We have already been invited for next week and it looks like it may be a regularly scheduled item.  I had better find a short term fitness center.

   Thursday morning Mary got back to her Curves visits and went to Target for some household items followed by a stop at the grocery store.  This afternoon she tackled a situation that was bothering her for a while.  The last of the many vertical blinds which she does not like came down, being replaced by some lovely drapes. A milestone has been reached in the development of the Southern Command Headquarters.  This evening after indulging through the holidays, we actually stayed in and had hotdogs and a bit of german potato salad from the supermarket deli counter.  I then put up the St Terrence bulletin which I got today and added some new events to the home page.  I also got the St Julie bulletin for January 6 which goes up next week.

   Friday am Mary again headed out for curves followed by a trip to Walmart for something for Headquarters. In mid afternoon, Kathi called and offered a shopping foray to Home Goods to see what might be found there for the new quarters.  Needless to say, given the choice between laundry and Home Goods you can guess what happened.  I also left about the same time, things go well when Kathi is driving and I have wheels available.  I stopped for a short time at the Park Fitness Center.  Next week I will try to find a local fitness facility I can join on a month to month basis.  From the center I went to the local Walmart Supercenter in search of a small wheeled cart for the Southern Command office.   Although I did not find the one I wanted (black was the color of choice and they had only white).  However, I did find a folding tray table for my living room laptop and some Cat 5 cable to extend it's range a bit further. Right now my wireless access is not working.  From Walmart I ventured a few miles to a SuperTarget where I found what I needed.  I arrived home and after extending the cable so that I might use the laptop at my recliner I read the weekly update of The World of Grandpa Don.  Don is a friend from church and a fellow member of the web team.  Of particular interest this week was Don's description of a gift from his newly discovered little sister.  The gift revealed previously unknown info about Don's natural father revealing his proficiency with word skills.  Any reader of The World of Grandpa Don now realizes where his gift with words comes from.  Unfortunately, this weeks update also revealed a new gift which will alert Don when the mailman puts mail in his box.  One of the most interesting parts of Don's weekly updates is his ability to make a mundane trip to the mailbox interesting whether the mail be bills or a new DVD from Netflix.  One can only hope the descriptions continue.  You should read abou a simple trip to Jewel.  This week I also received an email through the St Julie web site congratulating the choir and soloist at the 9AM mass on Christnas Day.  I forwraded it to Deanne the Director of Music and received a nice reply with Christmas wishes I responded that I had speculated the soloist was Kay Kempke.   Deanne responded that it was actually Kathy Bewley and I could hear her voice as I read the email.  I do miss my time with choir and perhaps might return She also asked if we would make Sunday's Christmas concert and I told her we were here until April.  Although we actually left Orland Park on Dec. 18th we started our second week at Southern Command Thursday night. It is still the holiday season and as yet we have not gotten past what would be our return date in years past.  After that date we will see if it seems like home.  We will comment as we go along.