The Elf Caper!



This year, as I was dreaming of a white Christmas, my dreams came true!

I hope your holiday season has been beautiful and safe. As for me and my family, we've had a wonderful, snowy white Christmas.

 

Santa feeds candy canes to a small, innocent looking elf as he puts presents under the tree. Mozelle the dog does nothing, recognizing Santa as a regular guest.

Aside from the snow storm which had kept our family together this Christmas, the long awaited holiday had gone along as usual.

That is, until this morning, when we awoke at the crack of dawn to unfamiliar laughter coming from the living room. Alarmed, my husband and I lept from our bed to see what the disturbance was. I will allow the pictures and the accompanying captions to tell the story:




Drunk from too many candy canes, these two small elves were caught quite by surprise. They had been attempting to open the presents you see at their feet. Of course, they pled the fifth, as you would expect them to do.

 

Not realizing they'd been caught, a large elf (the obvious ringleader of the gang) entered boldly right through the front door. A sleigh was waiting outside, Rudolf ready and eager to lead the way home.





We managed to snap this photo as the big elf made a run for it, cowardly leaving his companions to face the Christmas music alone.




As you can imagine, these small fellows also tried to break out...







...because we'd been forced to lock up those slippery little elflings until the cops arrived.







As it was, the big elf wasn't cowardly after all. He returned to help the two little ones escape.

 




A very disappointed Santa was forced to return to pick up his wayward friends, posting bail with the local police. After talking further with Mr. Claus, we have decided not to press charges.



We took this picture of the X-culprits together before they left in Santa's sleigh with Rudolph at the rear this time. They almost seemed relieved to have been caught! The whole Elf Gang promises now to forever turn away from crime.







A Man's Home is His Castle, No Matter the Season



The earth is now covered with the colorful remains of Autumn's glory. And tiny birds, feathers ruffled by frigid, early winter winds, have packed their bags and headed for sunny islands beyond the coast of Florida.



Autumn leaves have fallen,
carpeting the grass with their glory.

Bill and I, along with our two little pups, are bundled up properly here in North Carolina. We're ready for the winter which has unofficially begun. The temperature at our house has been hovering under 35 degrees for three days now, and from the parking lot down the street, I can see snow on the mountain tops. Fortunately, we like the change of the seasons.

And meanwhile, like the changing seasons of the earth, the life my husband and I share is entering into a new season. A change that is overdue. We've found an apartment in Charlotte, just down the street from Bill's work; all bottom level, with a large kitchen, a nice master bedroom, a studio for moi, as well as a place for the doggies to lay in the sun. This will be our work-week abode, and we'll head home to Hickory for the weekends. Because Bill and I aren't yet ready to let go of our house of 22 years, with its memories, tradition, kid-friendly creek, and picket fenced garden of old roses and herbs. 

Castles are everwhere I look in Charlotte!
This one was across the street from the hotel we stayed in
when we went to a Panther's game a few weeks ago.



We've resisted any move to Charlotte for 20 years now, because of our large family. Housing for a family of ten is a costly persuit in Charlotte as compared to Hickory. As a result, Bill has driven back and forth for a total of 156 work weeks, 40 hours each. Yep, that's the equivalent of three years of driving with 40 hour weeks. (This is how Bill thinks!) Let's see on my little calculator here...that's 40 hours x 52 weeks x 3.  Have I figured that right? I can't look.

Now we're going to have two extra hours to spend together every single day. Let's see...that's 2 x 5 x 52 = 520 more hours in one year, or 13 work weeks more time togehter just in the first year alone! Something like that, anyway. Wow! 

Like life, the tides come and go,

one over another, never ceasing.



As they say, my friend, this is life; it's ebb and flow like waves in the ocean's surf. One wave recedes and another begins over the first. Then another and another and another.

We don't know how this new adventure is going to go, but we're looking forward to it. And we're taking it on together. As we promised we would do many years ago, in a little church in my home town.


It brings these three words to mind: God is good.