Day 134.  Dugan mowed the yard for the last time this year, I think.  It shouldn't need to be mowed again.  It isn't growing now, but it did need to be cleaned up.  It looks nice now and the girls want me to put up Christmas lights.  That will have to wait until Monday.  I have the lights, but I don't have clips and I really don't want to use staples.  I will do something though.  I drove around a little tonight and saw the other houses with lights.  Some decorate for the nativity and some for the festivity.  I just like the lights and all the decorations.  I know why I celebrate Christmas, and it isn't about the decorations, they just make it prettier.

Day 133.  Today I had lunch by myself so I went to the park and sat at one of the picnic tables.  The park was pretty empty of people, but there were a lot of birds.  I sat there listening to the birds making racket and finding which ones were making which noise.  Then I realized I was being watched as well.  He sat on that branch and kept an eye on me.  He knew every time I moved.  I began to think of him as the park sentinel, keeping an eye on everything under his charge.  He was doing a good job.  When I approached to take his picture, he didn't budge.  He just kept watching me.  I wonder what he thought of my camera lens staring back at him.  He never left his post, he just kept watching.  It doesn't matter where I go, there is always someone watching over me.  "For His eye is on the sparrow, and I know, he watches me."

Day 132.  Life is easier if you think of it as a journey and not a predicament.  Life is a journey that God has set us on and every event is another step in that journey.  Some steps are rocky and others are easily marked, but every step leads to the next.  So, I just keep on stepping because I know that God has a plan for my journey.  He promised that His plans are not to harm me but to prosper me and give me hope and a future.  What a great journey.

Day 131.  Maggie is such a good sport.  She will do just about anything for me to take a picture.  Even crawl under the Christmas tree.  She is such a pretty young lady, inside and out.  On another note, I found out this week that my sister and her family are in a tv commercial.  Then last night I was watching tv and there they were.  So, I watched the same show tonight to see if they would show it again and they did, twice.  How cool is that?  I think it is very cool.  It is a cleartalk wireless commercial and it comes on during the Jimmy Kimmel show.  I recorded it tonight so I can show Stacy and the kids.  Way to go Mitchells, you guys rock.

Day 130.  One more decoration to show, just because.  I got this little tree for Stacy several years ago.  It is a lot like one at her grandparent's house that she grew up with.  It's a cool little tree that is lit by a single bulb in the base and has little light shaped pegs that fit into the holes and the light shines through them.  Stacy loved putting the pegs in every Christmas.  It was such a neat memory for her that I looked for one of these trees for our house.  Target started carrying them and I surprised her with it.  I don't know if they still have them or not, but, this one is helping our kids make memories.  They are very careful with it and love to set it up, so, the tradition comes full circle.  

Day 129.  It really hasn't been cold yet but it will get there.  When I was little I didn't want snow at Christmas because we usually got a toy that had to go outside, and it wasn't a sled, plus we would get too loud to stay inside.  The older I get, the more I appreciate my parents.  I don't like cold weather but I do like snow, so, if it is going to get cold then I think it should snow.  The weather doesn't care what I think.  It will do what it does and I will adjust and live with it, and be happy to be alive.  

Day 128.  Today I wanted to show off some of Stacy's handiwork. All of our stockings are handmade and stitched by her.  They are counted cross stitch patterns.  Mine wasn't too bad, but look on down at Annie's, the entire front is covered with stitches.  It took her several years to complete all of them.  It was pretty funny looking over the years when some of them were done and others weren't so we used plane stockings, and had some stitched and some not.  They all served their purpose so it was ok, it just looked kind of funny.  She started working on a tree skirt several years ago, but stopped to complete the stockings, and we have a quilted tree skirt, anyway.  Maybe someday she will work on it again, but it's ok if she doesn't, I like the quilted one.  So, we have personalized ornaments and stockings, and we have a collection of Nativity scenes,( see day 18).  I guess we have our own Christmas traditions that we are passing down to our kids.  When the kids grow up and have their own families they will start their own traditions.  I'm still not sure if Stacy and I will allow them to take their ornaments and stockings.  I will cross that bridge when I get to it.