Christmas Eve with the Gilmers in Lynchburg


Christmas Day
... Secret Santa presents


...Santa Chuck passes out presents, and 1st round of opening.


... Round 2


...Round 3


...Round Wendy?


...Want a good laugh? Join Pam in hers.


...What do we all say?

THANK YOU EVERYONE!!!

Change?

I've been doing quite a bit of driving around town lately. This kid here ... that kid there ... back to pick up the first one ... drop a third one off somewhere else ... etc, etc, etc.

Is it just me, or has anyone else noticed that the McCain / Palin signs disappeared during the night of the election ... but Obama / Biden signs are *still* on display. And it seems like I'm seeing fewer and fewer McCain bumper stickers ... and more and more Obama.

Okay already. We get it. He won. Can we move on?

I am giving serious consideration to writing our president elect. He says he wants to bring change to Washington. I will take him at his word until he proves me wrong. We tried to give the president the line item veto a while back. I think it was taken away by the Supremes as soon as it was used, however.

I wasn't a big supporter of the line item veto. Why you ask? It's the wrong approach. Quite a few years ago, a man much wiser than I let me in on a great idea. He called it the single item bill. The idea is to prevent the legislature from attaching unrelated stuff (good or bad) to an existing bill. It gives the President the ability to veto each item, but it also creates accountability in both houses of the legislature. They can no longer hide behind excuses like "I voted against it because of all the bad amendments." The voting record would clearly show where each representative and each senator stands.

And *that* is a change I would dearly love to see.

Happy Election Day

Yeah ... I voted. Yay. I hope you did too.

I started writing this post on Tuesday. No, really. But it was on a foreign computer, and I couldn't get the picture right, and Dude's keyboard is ... different.

May I share a pet peeve? "Inalienable." The root of the word is not "alien" - it's "lien". A lien is a claim against a possession, enabling someone to remove said possession. To place a lien is to alien it (pronounced "ah LEEN", not "AY lee en"). If it is possible to place a lien against something, it is said to be alienable ("ah LEEN able"). If it is not possible to place a lien, it is inalienable ("in ah LEEN able"). I recently heard two political PhD's talking on the radio about our "in AY lee en able" rights. It's like sand in my teeth.

It looks like we have formally adopted the brat. Chuck suggested a name, and it looks like it's sticking. Everyone likes it ... except Peanut. The name? "Moonshine." =)

A couple of bright spots have appeared on the job front. They are both too green to discuss quite yet. Huge "thank you's" to all who have been praying for us.

'Sup?

I realized that I neglected to introduce the furry inmates.

This is TopCat, snarling at the camera. I tried to capture her out on the sun deck.

And here is the brat ... erhm ... huntress. We're tosing around several names, but none have stuck yet. No word from Peanut's friend about a new home.

So ... I'm often asked ... what are all of us doing?

I am looking for work. As it turns out, both of my areas of expertise are directly related to the financial market. Oops. I was recently asked by my church to extract genealogical data from digital images. I've been working mainly on 1920 Illinois census records. It is fascinating work.

QueenBee is working about 30 hours a week at a local jewelers and (of course) going to school full time at Southern Virginia University (SVU). She's in her last undergraduate year. She will finish up her politics major this term, and her philosophy major next term. We don't see much of her lately. =)

Dude lives here in Lynchburg, is working part time at a sandwich shop, and attending SVU full time. "But ... didn't she already graduate?" you ask. Yes she did. She is the papered geek in the family, with degrees in computer science and software engineering. She is now completing a four-year degree in business. At last count, she was still wanting to attend grad school.

Goose and Merv are deliriously happy, living in Gilmer Texas. (How's that for irony?) Both are working and going to school. They had a furry member of their household for a while ... but she had issues, and had to go.

Chuck is attending SVU full time and working there as an RA in her dorm. She wants to teach elementary school, and she'll be a great teacher - one of those that all the kids remember as a favorite.

Fred graduated from TAMS last May, and now attends UNT as a junior (which really chaps some of the traditional students there). She is studying criminal justice, with an eye toward medical school. She wants to be a medical examiner ("cut up dead guys" is more how she explains it). She has a part time job now, and is progressing through the process of becoming an RA.

Noodle is a junior at E C Glass high school here in Lynchburg. She is quite active in the theater program. She is also a member of the color guard this year. She was a member of the chorus in Sweeny Todd a few weeks ago, and made the cast of the annual production of The Nutcracker.

Peanut is a sophomore at E C Glass high school. She is getting more involved in the art program, and loving it. She was a chorus member in Sweeny Todd, but doesn't take theatre as a class. (And she denies having acting talent ... ) She is taking photos, and submitting them to the yearbook staff for consideration. She hopes to be on staff next year.

The Boy is in the 7th grade at P L Dunbar middle school for innovation. He is very active in the theater program, and made the band this year. He plays percussion. He is also taking karate lessons, and -that- close to completing his First Class Scout rank. In case you don't already feel old, he passes the Sacrament every Sunday in church.

Well ... that about covers it.

'Til next time, hugs love and kisses.

The world is female

I live in a household of women. Like this is a news bulletin, right?

As if it wasn't bad enough, we have a new family member, at least for now. You see, Peanut bootlegged a kitten into the house ... a week ago. QueenBee and I had suspicions, and our BS radar kept going off. QueenBee finally made a surprise inspection of Peanut's living quarters and made the discovery.

And ... of course ... it's female.

TopCat is still in the hissing stage. She's been used to this being her house. She barely tolerates us humans, and that's only because we feed her.

Why "for now"? Peanut says she is in the process of finding a new home for her charge. But if not, we'll have a new furry inmate.

Beginnings are fragile things

Welcome to our madhouse.

We're the wardens. And the perpetrators, I suppose.

These are all the inmates, including our son-in-law. We're so glad he joined the family. They're all gathered around the 2007 Christmas tree.

I was inspired to create this blog by Aimee Robertson. I suppose I will improve over time.

So ... have a seat, kick off your shoes, make yourself at home.