Tag Archives: christmas

by | December 22, 2025 · 6:24 am

Twenty-Third Day of Advent

DAILY PRAYER: O Emmanuel, our King and Lawgiver, the One whom the nations long for and their Savior: come and save us, O Lord our God.

AMFEST: [11:34] – Turley gives some clarity to the infighting.

CANADA: I have a Canadian cousin. She complains regularly about the postal system.

EVERYDAY HEROES: Posted by Sarah Hull – “I was diagnosed with an aggressive cancer that was cutting off my airway at 20 weeks of pregnancy. I will never forget when the first doctor, an oncologist, mentioned abortion. We had gone thru years of infertility to get pregnant. I knew I would rather die and give birth.

“Then I met with another doctor who listed all of the problems the baby would have if I did not terminate. I stood my ground and refused. He said, ‘That is ok. The baby will probably spontaneously abort anyway.’

“I searched and found good doctors that supported me, and I gave birth to a healthy baby at 34 weeks.

I will be celebrating 10 years cancer free in May. I have a healthy, beautiful, bright, precious 10 year old daughter who is a living reminder that doctors do not know everything”

GREAT MINDS: Mama Buzz included this in a set of photos from their trip to D.C. When I asked what it was about, she replied, “Lol! That was my parking spot. I forgot to delete the picture. I’ve gotten in the habit of doing that in parking garages or other unfamiliar parking places.” What a great idea!!

MUSIC HISTORY: [6:52] – The Wanamaker Organ is the largest functioning musical instrument in the world.

PRAYER for OUR NATION: Heavenly Father, We come before You with humbled hearts, seeking Your face for our nation. Turning hearts towards righteousness and restore unity among all our people. In Jesus’ Name, we pray. Amen.

SCIENCE: A study entitled “High- and Low-Fat Dairy Consumption and Long-Term Risk of Dementia Evidence From a 25-Year Prospective Cohort Study” has been published in this month’s edition of Neurology. It reports that those of the 27,670 participants who regularly consumed 50 grams per day or more of high-fat cheese daily – roughly a third of a cup – or cream per day had a lower risk of developing dementia.

However, there is no one-size-fits-all approach to Alzheimer’s prevention. The study also showed that the 15-20% of people who carry at least one copy of a genetic variant known as APOE ε4 genetic variant, got no benefit from high fat dairy intake.

GRAMMY NOTES: On Saturday, the Mascots met up in D.C. with dear friends to visit the zoo and see the Christmas trees.

SHORTS:

CLICK https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1823736214931472 to see what happens when you give a turtle a skateboard.

CLICK https://www.youtube.com/shorts/gfSwLwLueSQ to follow Christine to the dentist.

CLICK https://www.youtube.com/shorts/3u1Yuzin8nQ to watch a couple nurture their marriage in a way I’ve never seen before.

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by | December 3, 2025 · 6:49 am

Fourth Day of Advent

DAILY PRAYER: Dear Lord, Grant us each the graces we need to perform the unique tasks You assign us. In Jesus’ Name, we pray. Amen.

BIDEN: Just a little (cringe) flashback to what Jill did when she was the FLOTUS in charge of Christmas at the White House.

EVERYDAY HEROES: “Your body might break at times, but as long as your spirit doesn’t break, you’ll get through it, and get creative and find a way.” [25:12] – Amy Purdy lost both her lower legs when she was 19 years old. She went on to become a champion snowboarder and, in 2014, competed on Dancing with the Stars. Five years later, she suffered a massive blood clot in one leg that made it impossible for her to use a prosthetic.

“She lived for 20 years with her biological legs, another 20 years with prosthetic legs, and now she’s staring down the next two decades knowing new challenges lie ahead. ‘How do I want to live the next 20 years of my life?’ she asks. “I want to make sure that I’m fully taking care of myself and I’m thinking more of sustainability and longevity and health and wellness versus just accomplishing everything I can.’”

HOLIDAY SHOPPING: CLICK https://x.com/llandoniffirg/status/1994420487808549098 to see a giant inflatable Grinch. I am very sorry that I was not able to source this for your shopping pleasure.

HYPOCRISY: CLICK https://x.com/Kevin__McMahon/status/1995649546479960538 [2:13] to hear a reminder of a drone strike Democrats had no problem with … when Biden ordered it.

JUDICIAL ACTIVISM: [11:19] – More winning! Biden lost more than 50% of his SCOTUS cases; Trump has been winning more than 90%.

LIFE: Last year, New York Attorney General Letitia James sued 11 pro-life pregnancy centers for allegedly spreading false and misleading information in violation of state business fraud laws. The Alliance Defending Freedom represented the centers’ right to inform women about abortion pill reversal.

Yesterday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit ruled in favor of the pro-life centers, saying the First Amendment clearly protects their right to speak and their clients’ right to hear about this potentially life-saving option.

MIRACLE MINUTE: [7:40] – I was privileged to hear the testimony of an elderly lady in our parish who had kept her Lourdes miracle a secret for 13 years, lest the cancer return. It never did.

PRAYER for OUR NATION: Dear Lord, Keep our eyes on the Real Reason for the Season! In Jesus’ Name, we pray. Amen.

SCIENCE: FDA commissioner Dr. Marty Makary says that Pfizer’s experimental mRNA influenza vaccine will not receive approval because it showed “zero benefit” in trials.

“We’re not just going to rubber stamp new products that don’t work, that fail in a clinical trial. It makes a mockery of science.”

SECRET SANTA: [3:52] – Imagine the relief!

TRANSPORTATION: The Transportation Department has removed 3,000 commercial driver license training providers from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s Training Provider Registry government licensure requirements. An additional 4,500 training providers have been put on notice for possible noncompliance.

GRAMMY NOTES: [3:37] – Mama Buzz sent this video to me with the following, which I do not recall ever hearing about before! “Reminds me of the independent first grader I was on the first day… yup, an old veteran at the busses, got on the wrong bus because they had CHANGED THE ORDER from the year before! It wasn’t just me. One of the kids who also went to Bonnie’s and was a year ahead of me also got on that bus. Rather than being some of the first kids off like we normally would, we had to ride the entire bus route and then got dropped off .”

SHORTS:

CLICK https://www.youtube.com/shorts/-cWQ48YSa2k to see Norway’s bicycle elevator.

CLICK https://www.youtube.com/shorts/-cWQ48YSa2k to see how “sinking” wells are constructed.

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by | December 25, 2024 · 9:47 am

Merry Christmas!

DAILY PRAYER: Thank you, God for sending Your Son on one glorious night to be born of a virgin, to live a perfect life, and to die on the cross for our sins. Thank you that He rose from the dead three days later and that, on this and every Christmas, we can celebrate the gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ. Amen.

GRAMMY NOTES: Bootz served at the altar for the first time on Christmas Eve!

GRAMMY NOTES 2: Actually, it isn’t. My guess is they go with their husband’s and grandparent’s traditions. I have been homebound by disability since they were very small. If I had insisted, my husband and kids would’ve stayed home with me.

But his family always did/does the big gathering with a real tree, turkey and trimmings, aunts, uncles, and cousins, going to Mass as a family and taking up yards and yards of pews. They live 4 hours away, so holiday trips are always at least one and usually more than one overnight.

I wanted my girls to soak in that culture and sense of belonging while they were young, so I spent 13 Christmases alone. It sucked. I cried, watched a lot of movies, and waited for them to come home so we could open my presents together.

His family also did/does the huge Thanksgiving thing and they always went to that as well until, one year, I just had had enough and said I wanted Thanksgiving to be MY holiday. My best holiday memories are from the days when the five of us turned off the phone on Wednesday and focused on doing delicious, fun, relaxing, and sometimes silly things together until school resumed on Monday.

The girls still talk about the year we put together a ginormous jigsaw puzzle and got grease on some of the pieces from all the nachos we ate while doing it. Another year, we got out all the board games they had outgrown and didn’t want to save for their own kids. We played them each one more time before giving them away and I had prizes for everyone at the end.

We also didn’t do turkey. Instead, we had food adventures. One year, the girls had gotten an American Girl colonial era cook book, so we each picked a dish to make. We had an elaborate kitchen schedule for who began when and got which pans, burners, and oven time. The food was wonderful. Another year, I got each of us a Cornish game hen so we could have “individual turkeys.” But I think the most memorable seems to be the year we had shark. Mama Buzz still talks about that. LOL

::sniff:: I need a tissue. :-)“

SHORTS:

CLICK https://www.facebook.com/reel/3819716858317187 for a giggle.

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