A Week FULL of Pictures...

We continued our efforts to fill this December with Christmas experiences. Having all my Christmas shopping done, cards and packages in the mail, home decorated by Monday, December 5th, allowed me time to focus on all those little things that pop up unexpectedly during the month of December without the panic of "when will I get all this done". It feels good to be at this point in my life. I am also starting to pare down the things I will do. Our move to Georgetown was to simplify our lives. I will continue to do that with all things in the future. This is a good thing and I highly recommend it to others.

Monday, December 5th, we started our day with a donut run. We learned that Frank's Donuts in Georgetown was selling snowflake shaped donuts during the month of December. Frank is member of our church and such a nice man. And, snowflake donuts must be tried...right? There was a little communication problem. I remembered them as being snowflake shaped but glazed. We ordered four snowflake donuts at the drive-thru. When we got to the pay window there was a question about the topping. We said 'glazed' and she didn't get that. Turns out they have different colored toppings on them, not just glaze. Okay, we asked for four chocolate covered snowflakes. I opened the box as we drove away and we both paused to laugh at our collection of four donuts! They were yummy. We each had one for breakfast and saved the other for our after-dinner treat. 

This day we did a run to Walmart as I needed a small thumb drive. We decided to roam the store a bit. Claude cleared the grocery list and looked for more tie-backs. I browsed ladies clothes and picked out a sweater and a long-sleeved hooded t-shirt. That thumb drive cost more than I figured this run to Walmart would cost!

When home, I finished the Christmas cards, finished the final packages being taped and labeled. I was ready for a post office run. I decided to wait until Tuesday to do this.

Tuesday, December 6th, we were invited to Yuko-En in Georgetown. Our current Mayor, Tom Prather, was being honored. He is retiring from public service after many, many years of all kinds of positions in government. He was Mayor while Claude was Mayor of Sadieville. Tom invited Claude and I to go on the 25th Anniversary trip to Japan with our sister city there, Tahara. Tom is a Democrat, we are Republican. I have often marveled that there is soooo much contention between parties and it only gets more divided. Many of the friends we would see this night are also Democrats. They have always been friends and we have worked and served together for the betterment of our cities and Scott County. Not all that contention. It is really good to have differing opinions so the best solution can be found to concerns and needs. Face it, no one has all the right answers when it comes to these kinds of matters. It was a pleasure to visit with these friends. 

We went to Fazoli's for dinner prior to the event. We were the only ones in the dining room, but that is not odd since we were there before 5pm. As we were finishing our dinner, the manager came out with two boxes, each containing a slice of pumpkin cheesecake. She explained it had not sold as well as last year and this particular one would have to be tossed the next day even though it was still very good. She gave us each a free slice of pumpkin cheesecake so it didn't go to waste. Yum!!

Then we were off to Yuko En to honor Tom and visit with friends. It was a lovely evening.

My funny Christmas meme found on Facebook this day. Do you get it?

Wednesday, December 7th, I cracked up at this meme on Facebook. Our family are Star Wars fans. They enjoyed this one as well.

We enjoyed another Christmas Date this night. This is a favorite of Claude and we have gone every year they have been in Lexington. Trans Siberian Orchestra (TSO) is an exhausting experience. You leave with sensory overload. None of this is a complaint. This is a rock band that hires 6-8 local musicians to accompany them and they have laser lights, fire, moving platforms, smoke, bubbles, etc., etc., etc., to keep you engaged with their magnificent performance. They are playing Christmas classics and classical music from the masters. All is done with a rock flair to it. This evening was superb. Here are pictures.

As we arrived at Rupp Arena, we had prepaid parking. In that line of cars, we saw two people on the other side of the street. I said to Claude, "That really looks like Barbara and WC Mason." He looked and confirmed it really looked like them. We got entry to the parking lot, went thru security and into the Rupp Arena. We enjoyed the show. Then tried to make our way through the masses of people to our car. As we got ready to cross the street to the parking lot, who should be standing at that intersection but Barbara and WC!! I got my hug from them. Such dear friends. Tiny world people, tiny world.

Thursday, December 8th, was a rainy day. I had a few Christmas treats to deliver but opted to put that off in favor of staying inside on a rainy day. I read another chapter in my History of the Maori's in preparation for our New Zealand trip next year. Claude cooked warm food. We enjoyed sitting in front of our Christmas tree in the evening and watching Scrooged, Claude's favorite Christmas movie. It was a nice day.

Friday, December 9th, I would deliver two of the things I had to deliver for Christmas.  

Our first stop was to Valorie Hanson. She is a friend from 18 years ago when we first moved to Kentucky. Every year I celebrate what I call Birthdaymas with Valorie. Her birthday is on the 8th and then there is Christmas. Through the year I collect quotes so that I have 365 by the end of the year. That gives Valorie a quote a day for the next year. I also get her lemon Girl Scout cookies, as that is her favorite flavor.

After visiting Valorie, we went to Blazin' BBQ for dinner. We have been there before. This time, we were not happy with our meal. I don't often say that. But my brisket sandwich was at least 75% fat. I expect some fat on my brisket. That is part of that particular dining experience. But NOT 75% fat with only little bits of meat. Claude said he felt the same way with his brisket plate. Don't think we will ever go back there. Our bodies did not like that dinner and we both had miserable night's sleep. 

Then off to Lexington to find a new person to deliver their Christmas treat. It was nice that I had asked Claude to drive. Turned out to be a foggy day all day long this day and the evening just brought in more fog. It took two of us to find road signs. Ugh!

On the way home, Claude suggested we go through Southern Lights at the Kentucky Horse Park. We did. Pictures are a bit sad as it was now a slight drizzle with all the fog. We were a might disappointed in this year's Southern Lights. I know they had all the lights from before but it seemed like less. It was more expensive and less satisfying. Again, I don't usually like to complain but $35 per car for a poor light display is not satisfying. Probably won't do this event again either. In fairness, your ticket also includes a visit to the Horse Park Museum, but we have been there many times and didn't go in with the drizzle and fog. 

When we got home, I finished folding my origami cranes. We are using them as Christmas gifts to our Primary Workers. 

I made them into ornaments and created a card to be given with each one. 

The Japanese crane symbolizes peace, luck and longevity.

In China it embodies immortality.

In Germany it is the emblem of the messenger of God.

In Greece, the crane represents purity.

It is said you must fold 1000 paper cranes

to have your wishes granted.

The Crane symbolizes beauty, harmony and grace.

With a New Year, it represents positive change.

Crane symbolism focuses on the need for 

balance and living in harmony with others.

We Love & Appreciate Each of You!

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!!

Elkhorn Creek Primary Presidency

Saturday, December 10th, we decided to have another date and visit Ward Hall. This is an historic mansion in Georgetown, Kentucky. They work diligently to restore and preserve this beautiful old home. The land that was originally part of the land around the mansion is where the subdivision we live in is located, Ward Hall Estates. We could have literally walked there...but we didn't! This building has four levels, a basement, main floor, second floor and an attic. We were free to walk through all of this. There were many people dressed in period costumes to answer any questions you might have. This year, they had many Christmas trees each representing a different part of the story of Christmas trees. It was very relaxing visit and done at our pace instead of keeping up with a group. Nice.

These are pictures of the Main Level of Ward Hall.

Then we went to the basement. These are pictures of the basement.

We then went up the staircase to the second floor. This is a beautiful spiral staircase in the middle of the home. The first picture was taken on the main level. The second picture was from the base of the staircase on the main level looking up to the attic level. The third picture I took as we ascended the staircase looking back at the main level going to the second floor.

These pictures were taken on the second floor.

Finally, we went up the staircase to the attic level. The first picture was from the attic looking down the spiral staircase. 

Okay, the staircase to the basement is not the spiral one. There is another that is fairly narrow. I am sure it was meant for servants to use to get to the main living part of the home. I say this because I cannot for the life of me imagine moving any of this furniture up and down either of those staircases and there is no other way to move furniture from one floor to another. Yet, the home is full of furniture. Claude and I asked if the family had that much furniture when they lived in the home. The man assured us they did not. Ward Hall has had lots of period furniture donated or loaned to them for display. This is not the family furniture. Amazing. 

It was at this point that I realized Claude was counting all the dates we had this December and numbering them. I had a funny thought and told Claude he wasn't counting the 12 Days of Christmas, he was counting the 12 Dates of Christmas. 

Sunday, December 11th, was a very full Sunday. Claude spoke in Sacrament Meeting. I taught two Primary classes. We stayed for choir practice. Then hurried to Burger King for a quick lunch.

Claude learned of a free concert. It was from 4:00pm to 5:30pm at Alltech Arena at the Kentucky Horse Park. It was titled "Celebration of Song" and was performed by the University of Kentucky Opera Theater. It was excellent. We will watch for this one and go again next year. 

They had four numbers that the audience sang along with them. There were 21 numbers in total. I recorded seven of them. The men sang the 12 Days of Christmas/Africa. It was delightful and a really fun arrangement. The pianist, who has a doctorate and is a professor, played an arrangement he did of Joy to the World and clearly he was imitating the styles of classical musicians. An opera singer from New York City, who is also an alumni, sang The Christmas Song, and the list goes on. Excellent performance.

When it concluded, we had to hurry across town to the Lexington Kentucky North Stake Center. Our stake was having its Christmas Devotional. It too was lovely. No pictures. Not supposed to do that in the chapel. It was such a nice ending to our outing. 

Gasoline was below $3 per gallon. Claude pulled into Wendy's before getting gas for the Jeep. You see, I heard that Wendy's has a peppermint shake and I wanted to try one. Claude remembered this and pulled in to get me one before buying gas. It was delicious to me. Claude opted for a chocolate Frosty. I gave him a taste of my peppermint. He was happy he chose chocolate. He said my peppermint tasted like the stuff they give you before they do a scan on your body. I chuckle as I type this. We are such different people. 

This completes my entry for last week. We are enjoying our Christmas season adventures. Where will the next week take us???

Christmas Letter 2022...

 THE CHRISTENSEN FAMILY CHRONICLES

Circa 2022

 We’re told that these are the “good old days.”  Definition please?

Let’s recap… Read on ye fearless wonderers for a mostly factual report on our continuing quest to obtain a quiet, comfortable, drama-free retirement… Like sands through the hour glass so go the days of our lives… (too soapy? try this) like the charred White Oak barrels used to age and house that special Kentucky “punch” so popular around here, our Bluegrass based dynamic duo are “aging finely” and at about the same pace as the “punch.” Although I fear each year we more and more take on the shape of the aforementioned barrels. With the usual family visits and gatherings, band concerts and football games, trips to Florence to watch the Yall’s play baseball, filling in the blanks, the year was mostly an OK experience.  IF you ignore the fact that we are both orphans now with the remaining parental figures departing in January and May (but we were able to put the FUN back in Funeral), to continue, we paid thru the nose for the new tires for her car, the lawn mower put a rock thru the back window, none of the vine so carefully planted in the new backyard took root, had a lovely visit from the COVID family, and we STILL had to deal with Daylight Savings Time… yup, other than that not a bad year. 

Let’s Do It Again… Speaking of feathers in our cap, and we were… a shiney 52^nd nickel was added to our “If-I-Had-A-Nickel-For-Every-Good-Year-We’ve-Been-Married” jar at our pre-scheduled annual marital contract renewal conference held in February.  Hugs and Hershey bars were shared as was a REALLY good meal at Tony’s in Lexington.                                

Let’s Focus… just the facts this time… On Wildfire On! to the Highlights.

Winter… We’ve made a list and checked it twice and STILL can’t find any reportable activities in January and February other than binge-watching “Psych.” January and February is winter in these parts so that may explain it…see you in the Spring.

Spring has sprung… If you don’t count doing taxes and that pesky Daylight Savings Time thing, nothing fun happened in March either. On to April... two trips to Michigan about covers it, in what is fast becoming more of a commute than an out-of-town trip.  One of these featured a trip to the Blind Squirrel and peanut butter and jelly hamburgers (don’t knock em til you’ve tried em). May saw us on the a road trip to improve our cultural ranking at the EKU Center for The Arts in Richmond, KY, to see Alton “Good Eats” Brown in concert.  He played, he sang, he cooked, he made us laugh, nuff said.  Ironically, I can’t remember where we had dinner.

Summer, and the grass is riz… Any guesses where we went in June... starts with a “Mich” and ends with “igon.”  This time to celebrate JRTR’s 1^st birthday and pronounce him a keeper.   On our way we got lost and ended up at Zia’s on the Hill in St. Louis for dinner, then north to Manitowac, WI. Where we boarded the SS Badger, a large lake Ferry, and sailed across Lake Michigan, once they had fished the body out of the harbor.  Then it was across the lake and south toward family visits and home. We also continued our search for culture by visiting the “Van Gogh” immersion experience in Cincinnati. A perfectly good July is up next and we barely used it. Well, to be completely transparent, a trendy thing to do I’m told, at least if you read the paper, there was a trip to see, hear, and feel the Louisville Symphony do their Star Wars Return of the Jedi in concert.  Took Hayden with us and had a noteworthy (pun intended) and high-calorie night out. Then, on the 30^th… came our infamous trip to Myrtle-You-Can-Catch-It-Here-Too-Beach. Well, August got interesting... Myrtle Beach was nice and we enjoyed the sights and being with brother Cordell and Sister-In-Law Kris.  It was the post trip COVID hangover that was a bit of a bummer.  Adding to that, it had been raining forever in 5 Eastern Kentucky Counties.  When the rain stopped they were all a mess and in some serious trouble.  Long-story short a non-stop line of utility repair trucks, food and commodities caravans, and thousands of clean-up Volunteers converged down there.  I went to help out the weekend of the 26^th working in Hazard as Communications Director at the Helping Hands Command Center.  What a sobering experience. I saw the best people in the worst situations they can be in.  Whatever else your year was like, it was better than the summer these folks had…

Fall, and I wonder where the flowers is… September started with a visit to the Festival of the Horse, parade, midway, street vendors, kettle corn, a ribeye sandwich, but no parking. Then we were off to the Alan Jackson concert in Lexington. Next up was our 2^nd trip of the year to the Beehive State, this time for my 123^rd class reunion – they held it at the cemetery to keep the attendance numbers up.  We rented a Mustang, had Subway food, and tried to identify all the old people standing around trying to identify all the old people standing around.  Returning to the Bluegrass State I was off to Owensboro and a 4-day conference with my old KLC political cronies.  I got free food and a speeding ticket while Sandi, spent 2 days at a TOFW chick-fest in Covington. No report on her food or driving habits.   October… time for our annual Fall Colors Get-Away.  This year we traveled north along the west Michigan coast, slowing down long enough to see family.  Then it was up thru the Great North Woods, and on to the Upper Peninsula for a couple of days, then back down Michigan’s eastern coast of MI and home.  Our timing was good and we saw some great color. Take a breath, November… will take a minute. We left for Manaus, Brazil, and the Amazon Valley on the 3^rd.  Our first overseas trip since before the pandemic, it was an adventure to be sure.  We had a 1-day visit in Panama City on the way down, took a couple of days to look at the greater Manaus area, and then four days on a cruise ship on the Rio Negro, where it meets the mighty Amazon.  Each day saw us embark on sweaty but adventurous off-ship excursions to native villages, rain forests, river tours, and cultural sights and food experiences.  Upon our return and recovery we binge-watched Harry Potter with Bailey our granddaughter.  And suddenly, its December… which is just getting started so you know as much about our December as we do.  Feel free to make up stuff that sounds interesting to you.  We know there will be drives to see the lights, sights, and sounds on multiple Christmas dates.  There will be lots of good food, family time, and TV.  We’ll also take care to celebrate the reason for the season.  You should too.

Let’s talk about the Kids? … Oh Yeah – The Kids -- They’re fine, well mostly fine. On the whole, better than last year, so we’ve got that going for us…

Well boys and girls, we’ve pushed you thru our annual family time warp, and summarily reporting our doings and undoings. Congrats on having accomplished this your most important holiday task. We wish most of you the hap-hap-happiest Christmas on the block.  Remember we’re all going to go through 2023 together so let’s play nice. Spoiler alert – next year all there is to know about our back yard!

Best to all, The Christensen’s !!!