Month: December 2006

This just in via email from Hugh, a regular reader. (Yes, Hugh, it is a classic, but I’ve not seen it for a while, so thanks! :-)) Thinking on it, I just have to wonder: is the little angel’s name, “Carol”?

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“Little Angel”
{A Classic}

One particular Christmas season a long time ago, Santa was getting ready for his annual trip, but there were problems everywhere.

Four of his elves got sick, and the trainee elves did not produce the toys as fast as the regular ones, so Santa was beginning to feel the pressure of being behind schedule.

Then Mrs. Claus told Santa that her Mom was coming to visit. This stressed Santa even more. When he went to harness the reindeer, he found that three of them were about to give birth and two had jumped the fence and were out, heaven knows where. More stress.

Then when he began to load the sleigh one of the boards cracked and the toy bag fell to the ground and scattered the toys. So, frustrated, Santa went into the house for a cup of coffee and a shot of whiskey.

When he went to the cupboard, he discovered that the elves had hid the liquor and there was nothing to drink. In his frustration, he accidentally dropped the coffee pot and it broke into hundreds of little pieces all over the kitchen floor. He went to get the broom and found that mice had eaten the straw from which it was made.

Just then the doorbell rang and Santa cussed on his way to the door. He opened the door and there was a Little Angel with a great big Christmas tree.

The angel said, very cheerfully, “Merry Christmas Santa. Isn’t it just a lovely day? I have a beautiful tree for you. Isn’t it just a lovely tree? Where would you like me to stick it?”

Thus began the tradition of the Little Angel on top of the Christmas tree.

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Merry Christmas!

Trackposted to Blue Star Chronicles, The Pink Flamingo, and Woman Honor Thyself, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

Christmas=Evangelism

On another blog a couple of years ago I wrote a very (VERY) brief comment about the kerfuffle surrounding “Merry Christmas” year , repeated last year and then slightly reworked this year, here. It’s become a tussle phrase for “traditionalists” of all stripes vs. the Loony Left Moonbat Brigade.

But that’s not the issue in this post. Here’s a thought/shade of memory that’s almost always present whenever I say “Merry Christmas.” I can recall vividly the many times that I witnessed my maternal grandfather openly, extravagantly displaying the Christmas spirit—at all times of the year, in all kinds of places. Here’s a typical memory that surfaces or floats in the background whenever I say “Merry Christmas” to someone… and why it does.

Whenever I visited my maternal grandparents as a child or youth and the visit encompassed a Sunday, we went out to eat for Sunday “dinner” (lunch to much of the country :-). Invariably, Dad-Dad would be the last to our table and the last out the door because he had to stop and chat briefly with every person he saw. The conversation, if it were with a stranger, would always at some point allow Dad-Dad (allow, nothing—he made it so! 🙂 to bring up Jesus Christ, his Savior and Lord. Many of those conversations resulted in brief prayers and an exchange of contact information.

You see, Dad-Dad knew that the meaning and message of Christmas wasn’t some warm, fuzzy , nebulous “goodwill to men” that we share at a holiday time, or a time of sharing love with family and friends. No, the meaning of Christmas is the Incarnation and all that implies: sinful man, doomed to an eternity in hell; a loving God who became man in the form of a baby boy in order to redeem this sinful world by His life and propitiary death and provide victory and hope through His resurrection.

When I asked him one time why he always stopped to talk to so many people, many of whom he did not—before!—know, on the way to his table (or out the door), he told me that he didn’t want to be the one—missed!—opportunity that perhaps one person may have had to hear the gospel.

“Merry Christmas” is a prayer that God will bless the hearer with a saving knowledge of the life and work, the death, burial and resurrection, the daily presence of One who

” …being in the form of God, did not think being equal with God something to cling to, but made Himself of no reputation, became a servant, coming as a man, And as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross…”

That’s the message “Merry Christmas” holds for those who know Him: We celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, Savior. The Light of the World, the Hope of the Nations.

Peace, goodwill toward men.

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So, Merry, Merry Christmas,
May the blessings of this season all be yours:
Friends and loved ones present, if only in your heart;
Peace in your small corner of the Earth;
Joy and laughter, children’s mirth;
Cooking, baking, eating; who needs a calorie chart?

But when you gather Christmas Eve beneath the Natal Star,
Make sure the greatest blessing is held within your heart.
For the birth we celebrate with tinsel, lights and joy
Was more than just the birth of one small Jewish boy.

So gather parties, make merry; give gifts, bake pies and sing.
Christmas is thanksgiving for the birth of the Servant King.

Merry Christmas to you and yours.

Linked late to Adam’s Carnival of Christmas II and to The Christmas Alliance HQ.

Trackposted to Blue Star Chronicles, The Pink Flamingo, Woman Honor Thyself, Don Surber, and Madman Returns, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

Seen at Our Story. Thank you, Janeen!

If you like “family” blogs (I do), give Janeen’s blog a visit.

It’s a festive event at Morning Coffee and Afternoon Tea, where Christine has spread a feast to bring joy all taste buds for our delectatious* delight.

Drop on by. It’s not too late to add a delightful recipe to your holiday fare!

Continue reading “Christmas Carnival of the Recipes”

Well, Kat (Cathouse Chat) knows how to ladle the Christmas sauce on. Here it is, Festivus (as my son was quick to remind me today)–the day before Christmas Eve, and she’s tagged me for a blogosphere meme pool tag game: Three things I want for Christmas and three things I do NOT want for Christmas. Well, I have about all the things I really want (not that I couldn’t do with a new this or that or t’other–I’m human, after all–in spite of what some might think :-)), so my list is typically third world county.

Want for Christmas:

*Less bullshit from Washington (and all the little bugs who take their cue from congresscritters, bureaucraps and all their pestilent ilk). “Less” instead of more, because, well, we are talking about politicians *spit*, bureaucraps and their ilk, after all…
*A close approximation of peace on earth, or at least as many jihadis as an unleashed American military might send to join their prophet in hell.
*A big dopeslap upside the head for global warmists who can’t remember that the temps were much higher (and growing seasons longer because of it) during the Medieval Warm Period when Greenland was a net exporter of farm goods.

Do NOT want for Christmas:

*President Bush to remain Vicente Fox’s lapdog on border control.
*The American military to be pulled out of Iraq any time short of a HUGE ass-whuppin’ of any and all available terrorist scum (a big enough whuppin’ to give the locals a substantial advantage in keeping the violence the region is naturally prone to controlled, at least). Yeh, I stole it from Kat, but she won’t mind, cos she’s in substantive agreement, even though she’s ladylike in her expression of similar sentiments.
*Another Christmas program filled with people who should have been told years ago that they are TONE DEAF. Or, as my Wonder Woman put it, should have been told, “Honey, don’t do that. You can’t sing.” (Kill dogs by making their ears bleed with horrible sounds emitted from their maws, but sing? *sigh*)

Kinda late to tag others, I’ll think on it and (hopefully) get back with you.

The Carnival of Christmas #2 is now up at Adam’s Blog. Go, read.

Well, I had a little wiggle room in my schedule today, so I thought I’d at least mention a blog that’s new to me. Earlier this week, Jon Pananas of Laconic Blog emailed me and offered a “link swap.” Now, frankly, I don’t “do” straight up “link swaps” just to get links and probably never will. And I know some folks frown on sending emails asking for “Attention! Attention!” *heh*

But I don’t really feel that way. Sure, if someone’s asking me to read their blog and I check it out and discover that it’s crap (or just some splog, as most such emails are), I feel like I’ve been gulled into wasting my time, cos, well, I have. 🙂

But Jon’s blog’s not like that.

A post exhorting folks to visit one of my fav websites (Orson Scott Card’s site—Card’s a guy I’ve sent readers of twc to visit before; a post offering “An Alternative to Capitulation”, and more, all within the first few posts on the front page. BTW, the essay on Card’s site that Jon points to is powerful.

If Jon keeps this up, I’ll have to work harder polishing up my speedreading skills in order to fit another fine blog into the time I have…

Anywho, Laconic Blog‘s going in my right sidebar somewhere, and maybe you’ll find a place among your blogrolls for it once you’ve had a read, too.

Thanks for the heads up, Jon.

Well, it’s not typical “Christmas fare” but it’s good eats. And it’s not a posole recipe, really, although it’s based on one. And it’s back to my normal “It’s not a recipe; it’s a process” method. But it does have red and green and it is delish, so here’s

Hominy Stew

About a pound of cooked cubed, lean ham or pork OR about a pound of your fav sausage (crumbled, cooked and drained of fat).
A medium cabbage, chopped.
A medium onion, chopped.
One (or more) cloves of garlic, minced.
One large (24 oz or more, or several smaller cans to equal) can of hominy.
About a cup of “red” sauce. See this post for the recipe for that, or use your fav canned “enchilada” sauce.
About 2 cups of chopped tomatoes, or canned chopped tomatoes.
One small (4 oz) can of chopped green chiles.

Dump the stuff in a crock pot, add water to suit your eye (and your crock pot) and just let it cook away. Make some corn tortilla chips to serve with it. (Corn tortillas, convection oven, work it out, cos they beat the socks off bag chips.)

Trackposted to Blue Star Chronicles, The Right Nation, Rightwing Guy, The Pink Flamingo, Is It Just Me?, The Random Yak, and Pursuing Holiness, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

Merry Christmas! THIS is the Christmas Weekend Open Trackback Post at third world county, open Friday, December 22 through Monday, December 25. Just link to this post and track back.

NOTE: Do NOT think your trackback wasn’t recieved if it doesn’t register right away. Sometimes, trackbacks and comments get caught for a bit in my moderation queue. This weekend, I will not be able to check my blog as often as usual, so please just be patient. I’ll bring comments/trackbacks out of moderation as soon as I see them.

If you have a linkfest/open trackback post to promote OR if you simply want to promote a post via the linkfests/open trackback posts others are offering, GO TO LINFEST HAVEN DELUXE! Just CLICK the link above or the graphic immediately below.

All-new, thanks to The Conservative Cat.

If you want to host your own linkfests but have not yet done so, check out the Open Trackbacks Alliance. The FAQ there is very helpful in understanding linkfests/open trackbacks.

I hope to have my Christmas Eve post finished and posted by early Sunday, but meanwhile, Merry Christmas!

As in past years, I’m once again “sharing” with (inflicting on) folks the following… sounds. WARNING: unless you have a very strong stomach or ears ruined by listening to contemporary popular crap, you may feel that the sounds (I refuse to call it singing or music) linked to below are cruel and unusual punishment torture.

What they are, really, is the kind of thing inflicted on Christmas program attendees around this country who are often either too polite to comment to the “singer” or too numb-eared from (see above) to even know what they’ve had dumped on them.

REPEAT: Drowning cats would be more musical. And though such an act would be barbarous and cruel, I doubt it could be as cruel as inflicting the following on you. But that’s me: mean to the bone.

Here ’tis: No Holy Night. Don’t say you weren’t warned.

(BTW, this last Sunday, I heard someone “sing” one of my fav Christmas songs with not quite the same degree of musicality. *sigh* Earplugs.)

Noted at the Christmas Alliance HQ and trackposted to Wake Up America, Renaissance Blogger, The Uncooperative Blogger ®, Conservative Cat, Jo’s Cafe, basil’s blog, and bRight & Early, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.