Miscellaneous Updates on Life
Right now I'm sitting on the loveseat with a little dog snuggled up on each side of me sleeping. DH Bob fed them some turkey and that seemed to put them in a sleepy daze. What sweet little fluffy sweethearts they are when they're sleeping.

Kimmy reported that Mr. Hershey (See November 16) was a hit at school. She wrote a report to go along with him and read it aloud to the rest of the class. Mr. Hershey is now on display in the Arbor Academy cafeteria.

My first vest for CIC is almost done. The shoulders need to be sewn together and I'm going to experiment with knitting on a pocket. Ordered enough yarn for two more vests today and I may be able to squeeze a fourth vest out of the leftovers from the first three. A child size 2 vest out of bulky weight yarn goes even quicker than I thought it would. I may get some more vest yarn for Christmas. (Hint hint.) If I do, there won't be any problem finishing one or two more vests before they need to be mailed off the end of January.

When I stepped on the scale yesterday I was down a pound for the week. I was able to eat everything I love at the Thanksgiving holiday feast, but once it was over I went right back to counting points. (Well, actually I had a couple of pieces of Pumpkin Torte in the middle of the night Thursday and then I went back to counting points.) My theory is that you need to periodically let your body know it's not starving or it won't shed pounds. The score is: 31 pounds lost, 5 more pounds to go. My goal is to finish on or before the one year anniversary of the start of my weight loss which will be January 22, 2004.

How the Greatest Trumpet Maker in the World Got His Name
Monette -The Greatest Trumpet Maker in the World is my little brother Dave. Back in the 50s when Mom was pregnant for Dave, Davy Crockett was very popular on the Sunday evening Walt Disney show. Mom, mother of three girls and sure she was going to have another, said that if she had a boy she'd name him Davy Crockett.

Dave was born a few months early and weighted in at three pounds three ounces. His eldest sister remembered what Mom had promised and knew Mom would keep her word and name him Davy Crockett. Mom fudged a little and named him David. She told all the relatives that he was named after the David in the Bible because he was so little and had so much to overcome. Made a great story. But now the truth has been published on the internet. The Greatest Trumpet Maker in the World was named after Davy Crockett. I was there. Trust me, it's true.

Sock Knitting Groups Where I Participate
Socknitters - Everything About Knitting Socks is just what it says it is. If you don't know a thing about knitting socks and want to get started, Socknitters is an excellent reference. If you're an expert sock knitter and want to enhance your skills, Socknitters is the place to look. There are patterns, cyber classes, and much more. Plus the opportunity to join other sock knitters, male and female, novice and experienced, hobby and professional, on the Socknitters Yahoo list.

I also recommend OpalChatters, a Yahoo list for knitters who use Opal sock yarn. It's a very positive, friendly, fun list and the Opal yarn is colorful, patterned, well designed, and fun to knit.

Proof That Intelligence and Christ Aren't Mutually Exclusive
Back in September I asked the question "Any good Christian blogs out there?" I had started looking through a Christian webring and was dismayed at what I saw. I hoped that I was just looking in the wrong place but I didn't know the right place to look.

Dana left a comment saying I might want to try Real Live Preacher. She wrote, "Not in-your-face evangelism or long and boring apologetics but interesting stories that have real insights on life... Well, take it or leave it, I'd start there." So I started there. It was wonderful.

RLP writes so well that I can recommend his stories to anyone of any faith or no faith. And for the frosting on the cake, RLP has links to many other interesting blogs that I am slowly but surely investigating to see which ones I want to keep reading.

It is such a blessing for me to find other Christians who don't claim to know all the rules, who aren't anal, who intelligently question what that Bible is saying, who struggle with what their faith means for their everyday living, and who want, above all else, to know and do the Lord's will.

Thank you Dana. You were an answer to prayer.

Back to Work on Monday
What a wonderful relaxing weekend this has been. Hardly seems right to rejoin the real world and go back to work tomorrow, but it needs to be done. I only have 19 more working days until I get Pfired.

Last week I wrote an email to my Pfizer HR person and asked her to verify that I'm getting Pfired on January 9, and she did. I have it in writing now.

December 12 is the day the list of people getting Pfired on January 9 becomes "frozen". If nothing changes between now and December 12 my termination is a sure thing. I have no reason to think anything is going to change. Bring on the good-by lunches!

How was your long weekend?