Hey!  I am trying to dig back out at the office after being gone to visit family in St. Louis for Christmas.  I’ve had a number of phone calls to make, piles of mail, and about 100 emails (most of which are inconsequential) to go through.  Most people that I talk to want to know how Christmas went, so I’ve been thinking about it.  A couple of things that I’ve sorted through on my desk this morning have nudged my thinking. 
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Lately, I’ve caught myself singing: “Oh the weather outside is frightful; but the fire is so delightful, And since we've no place to go, Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!” 
 
With the cold and the snow it certainly feels like Christmas! Although I would have preferred not to shovel it, I’m glad we have a foot or two of snow on the ground.  There is nothing more beautiful to me than a snow-covered woodland scene.  The fresh white snow is striking as it blankets the landscape.  I especially love to view snow-draped pine trees on a star-lit night.   I cannot find the words to adequately describe how beautiful I find it; nor how it soothes my soul with its peaceful and serene tranquility.
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I’ve been trying to create a new Google calendar on the computer that lists all of my personal appointments that will also link with the church calendar and display those events on my calendar too.   However, I don’t want my personal appointments to show up on the church calendar.  So far I’ve been unable to make it happen.  I’ve been reading in the Help Section how to create all sorts of calendars—but I haven’t found the right information yet—or I haven’t recognized that I found what I am looking for anyway.  It is all so exasperating because I am certain that it can be done and probably fairly easily--IF you know what you’re doing.  Right now, my frustration level is pretty high while my personal estimation of successfully getting this done is pretty low.   Aaarghh!
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As a kid, I remember the excitement I had anticipating Christmas.  My brother and I would get up on Christmas morning and run to the tree.  For the next few minutes the room looked like a buzz saw slicing through a log.  There was lots of noise and pieces of wrapping paper flying as we tore open the gifts and moved onto the next package.  Looking back, I think my parents went a bit overboard on the Christmas gifts; although as a kid I never complained (except for getting socks and underwear as gifts too).  And since I’ve grown up, it seems to only have gotten worse; now everybody seems to overdo Christmas…
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Once again the Christmas season is upon us and we must fight against getting into the “Christmas spirit.”

What?  Not get into the Christmas spirit?  Think about what that means to the normal red-blooded American: shop ‘til you drop, parties, gifts, presents, concerts, decorations, feasts, and dressing up in fine clothes.  Of course, there are also beautiful lights, additional activities, further shopping and wrapping gifts. Oh!  I almost forgot about more food, baking cookies, setting up the tree, and listening to Christmas carols.  Something is still missing…oh yeah!  Time spent with family.  Add a family get-together and getting the kids picture taken with Santa and you’ve got “Christmas spirit.”

Have I overlooked anything important? 
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