The week

The week surrounding Christmas brought us mild winter weather.  Which meant we never had a white Christmas.  We had an enjoyable week of food and fellowship anyway. 
The marathon is over now.  The usual number of books entered our house as gifts again this year, along with many other nice gifts, clothes, tools, and weapons.  My wife and I bought each other Belgian waffle makers.  Both were impulse buys.  Everyone had a good laugh.  In a couple of months we will be receiving a new puppy as a gift.  It is still too young to be weaned.  We've been dog less for a couple of years now, so it will be nice to have a dog again.  Although I'm not sure I'm up to training a puppy. 

Two days after Christmas we took daughter #2 up to O'Hare airport to fly to India.  She will be there for three weeks in a Study Abroad program.  The Mrs. and I shopped a while in Schaumburg as long as we were up North.

We again kept the nephews at our house for two nights during the holidays.  They are easy, low maintenance guests to keep, but they seem to have their days and nights mixed up.  It's usually entertaining (while we are still up), and the rousing games go late into the night.  One "night" the last light didn't go off until after 6 in the morning, after I was already up for the new day!
I forget what it was like to be young.

I dropped a plastic cap down the drain of our basement sink Saturday night.  This afternoon I took the drain apart to retrieve it.  As is typical, the pipes were rotten and they broke apart during dis- assembly.  Fortunately, this time I had all the parts I needed in my plumbing parts box, and all it cost me was an hour of time that I hadn't counted on.

Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord GOD: for the day of the LORD is at hand: for the LORD hath prepared a sacrifice, he hath bid his guests.
Zephaniah 1:7