Sunday December 24, 2017

Weekend Update:

Blog being written Christmas Day sitting in my office with the fireplace going full blast.  

Saturday December 23, 2017:  another gloomy day, cold but little wind.

Nancy and I walked to Panera for our usual Saturday morning fare.  Panera was not crowded.  We do know of two regulars who are now in Florida.

Once home Nancy started the laundry and I got out my winter bike and took an 11 mile ride.  All of the bike trails had been plowed and the sun had melted the remaining snow on those sections of the trails that were not surrounded by trees.  In the tree lined portions of the trail a thin layer of snow coated the trail.  The steel studded tires make riding easy but on the snow coated hilly sections, I learned that if I stand to pedal the back tire loses traction and starts spinning.  I have to remain seated which makes hill climbing difficult.

After lunch I head downstairs and started with several year end activities.  The most important is making our annual contributions to various charities.  It took some time to write checks and record the contributions.  Most organizations had provided an addressed envelope but in a few cases I had to provide the envelope, which took some time.  I completed the task right before Nancy called me to dinner.

For dinner we had beans and rice.  Love beans and rice.  Watched an episode of The Crown before turning in.

Sunday December 24, 2017, Christmas Eve.

Trinity Lutheran has six Christmas Eve services today.  Nancy and I decided on the 1700 service.

It was snowing with temps in the 20s when we headed out to the Y.  I was surprised but the Y was very crowded.  Nancy observed that today was Dad’s day to take care of the kids.  Was Mom home making cookies?

For breakfast we headed to Bob Evan’s.  Nancy had eggs, bacon and biscuits.  I had oatmeal, banana and toast.  Of course we also had coffee.  Bob Evan’s was crowded.  The food was good.  We gave it a A-.

After breakfast we headed to Meijer’s for supplies and gas.  Next we drove to Rose’s so Nancy could purchase a gift card and finally we stopped at FreshTyme for fruit.

I did take a short nap followed by a walk around the block.  We left for Trinity Lutheran at 1615 for the 1700 service.  Normally it is an easy 20 minute drive but with it still snowing we left early.  Good move!  The church was jammed.  They had to put up chairs in any open space.

Great service with all the traditional Christmas music.  The service ended with the congregation standing in a darkened Church holding candles and singing popular Christmas Carols.  Very inspirational.

As we left church, cars were streaming in for the 1900 service creating a traffic jam.  The drive home was difficult because the roads had not been cleared.

Light dinner and then we finished reading the GRP and watching news.  We ended the evening watching another episode of The Crown.  Great winter’s weekend!