Time to Reboot: New Year!

... a very good description, I thought, of beginning a new year.
Recently the Wall Street Journal posed the following three questions to a variety of well-known persons:
1. What professional project do you hope to accomplish this year?
2. What personal resolutions do you plan to keep?
3. What problems can you tackle more effectively?
The replies tell us that Mitt Romney plans to stop sleeping fully dressed in a suit, that Wolfgang Puck needs to spend more time with his family, and that Martha Stewart still can't give a straight answer...

What about you all? what do you hope to do or not do this year? Give it some thought.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ZACHARY

Hip hip hooray, seventeen today.

When your birthday is done, you're much richer and fatter,
and the Bird flies you home on a nice silver platter...
Today is your birthday! Today You are You.
So what if it costs me a thousand or two?

( Don't you wish.).

We are very glad you were born.

Christmas Reflections

First Coming by Madeleine L'Engle

He did not wait till the world was ready,
till men and nations were at peace.
He came when the Heavens were unsteady,
and prisoners cried out for release.

He did not wait for the perfect time.
He came when the need was deep and great.
He dined with sinners in all their grime,
turned water into wine. He did not wait

till hearts were pure. In joy He came
to a tarnished world of sin and doubt.
To a world like ours, of anguished shame
He came, and His Light would not go out.

He came to a world which did not mesh,
to heal its tangles, shield its scorn.
In the mystery of the Word made Flesh
the Maker of the stars was born.

We cannot wait till the world is sane
to raise our songs wih joyful voice,
for to share our grief, to touch our pain,
He came with Love: Rejoice! Rejoice!

Wherever you are this Advent season... South Korea... Latin America... France... Germany...various regions of the US.... I hope that you will celebrate the Maker of the stars and the Mystery of the Word made flesh. May the reality of living on a visited planet give you hope and joy.

In the beginning was the Word.. and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us...

Headline: Top of the Class

Come, Tribe Davis! Let us raise our classes to Mother Dearest, who finished her murderous online master's degree with a straight A, completing more credit hours in a semester than I do in a year of St. John's!

Congratulations, Mum, and may the academic accolades rain upon your head! I'll raise my glass (several) to you!

HEADLINE: TOP OF THE CLASS

News Flash: Homeschooled student Zachary Davis took the top grade in his class in Freshman Composition at Sauk Valley Community College for the fall semester, walking out with A's in both Composition and Creative Writing.

Congratulations for making the President's List, Zachary!

Way to go!!!! You homeschooled kids rock.

castles

We went castle hopping yesterday.

Hello from Germany

Abby and Oma send their greetings from Germany.

Yesterday we went to Rudesheim to go to the Christmas markets there. We took one of Nate’s work friends with us, and it was fun. He was nice and just enjoying being out of the barracks. We went around to a lot of the stands and I got some cheap gifts/decorations, which I may or may not keep for myself. :-p We also got some gluhwein–and kept the mugs. After walking around for a while we split up and the guys went to grab some food/drink while I took Caedmon to see the donkey, rabbits, and sheep that they have in the petting zoo there. The machines for the food weren’t working and it started raining so we went walking down to see if they had the pony rides like they did previous years. They did, and Caedmon thought seeing the ponies was great. So when we met up with Nate again we let Caedmon ride one. I thought it was really cheap–2,50euro for 4 rounds, you lead the pony. Caedmon was all excited about it until he got on and then he started yelling about wanting to ride a different one. But it was still cute. Afterwards he didn’t want to leave, so we walked him down a little further and let him ride the train. That was just scary because he wouldn’t sit down. After that we walked to a little cafe and had some coffee, then went home. It was a fun afternoon, can't wait to take you Germany-bound folks to some of the markets. :-)

Christmas Markets

They're open, cant wait to go to more of them. :-)