I just want to wish you a happy 2010!

. . . And when one of your deacons etches grave markers you find something like this under your tree. And you cry because you know how much they love you. And you are thankful again that God knows what He's doing when he moves you from one place to another.

Merry Christmas everyone, and may you be as loved as this humble preacher!

. . . and so the children surround themselves with piles and piles of loot (before the avarice set in):



Then -- After the carnage:

After Puddn N Pie and Bubba got air time from their school program, I feel it's only fair to present this clip of Little Bit and her daycare group in their "program".

The oldest is now trying her hand at adapting the Christmas story. Check out the results below:

1. I apologize for the poor quality of the video below.
2. I do not apologize for being a doting daddy--you can watch and enjoy or click out.

The oldest is singing these first selections:



The son, as you can see, was a last-minute substitute for one of the "no show" reindeer (a good choice, I think):

My son is really getting into the Holiday Spirit this year. He has now been turned on to Christmas music--like this, and this.

Yesterday he was singing, "Police nadida . . . Police nadida . . ."

Enjoy the show:

A couple of years ago, I posted some pictures of a unique Egyptian Nativity the Blushing Bride gave me when we first got married. If you click the link, you'll also get to enjoy an old seminary joke about exegesis ('extra Jesus'). The old wit says, "Extra Jesus -- we don't need no 'extra Jesus!'"

What do you think? Could you spare a little extra Jesus in your holiday cheer this year?

Here's some more holiday cheer from Straight No Chaser

For those of my readers who get hot under the collar because the local stores have full-blown Christmas displays beginning in late August, stop reading now!

For those of you who decided to stick with me, Christmas spirit has come. One radio station in the major market in which I live started playing all Christmas, all the time last Friday. This doesn't bother me as it does some, simply because I'm a Christmas Junkie--I love (almost) all Christmas junk (whether it's really junk or the real thing). I cry over showings of It's a Wonderful Life and White Christmas.

[aside] My only beef with the radio playing so much Seasonal music is that on the day they started I hear the Euthrythmics' version of "Winter Wonderland" twice in the same day. If you're going to play all Christmas format, there is enough material out there that you don't have to repeat the same song (let alone the same version of a song) more than once in a 24-hour period. [aside over]

Anyway, for all of you but Bill Crider, who might take offense at the crocodile line, here's a little Christmas cheer:

For those who haven't seen this news feed, you want to watch this. Several great headlines come to mind. Add yours in the comments section.

. . . Do not eat all the candy in one sitting.

I really missed it this year. "Talk Like a Pirate Day" is September 19th, and I was so busy, I forgot to celebrate. So, in honor of Columbus Day, and for those of you who want your pirate fix, I'll let these guys tell you why I missed it:

My father-by-law e-mailed this little video that he found posted by Will Shin. The Blushing Bride's dad is a preacher, too, BTW. Enjoy!

As the Cardinals look toward another shot at the title (at least they made the play-offs again), Puddin 'N Pie brought home this pencil drawing from her 2nd grade art class.I call it "Bush Stateyum" -- Enjoy!

So, if it was Christmas Eve a couple of days ago for Sci-Fi Wonder Boy Henry Melton, then it felt like Christmas for me today when I opened up the mail and found this . . . (see picture)

It's been awhile since the word police reared its ugly head, but I just couldn't take it any longer. I saw it again today on a blog where the author should know better. What was it, you ask? That bear of a usage error known as "less." The word "less" is a quantitative amount, and not a numeric register. In other words you can have less water or less money, but you cannot have less dollars.

The culprit this time happened to be a book reviewer who suggests that one should rate a book that they are reading with "5 or less stars."

Of course, this is just another of those things that for no particular reason gets to me, but when reviewing, and using a five-point scale, you should rate with 5 or fewer stars.

Thanks again for listening.

Then you'll be interested in Charles Ardai's Hard Case Crime. I've read a couple of selections from this publisher and find them very satisfying escape novels. Also, check out their Twitter drawing for ARCs of upcoming releases.