2019 December 02 Monday

2019 December 02 Monday in Liberty Hill, Texas

t was 40° outside and 58° inside when I rolled out of bed this morning. It climbed to 64°.

ell, December 2nd was a very slow day. Kids are back to school, Thanksgiving break is over. The kids who came to the Santa set today were all four years of age or younger with a sprinkling of newborns inn the mix.

rly, a special-needs gentleman and special friend of Santa’s, came to see me today. He is a real Houston Astros fan. He wants an Astros bobble-head and he also wants Rachael Ray. I told him that I might be able to help with me Astros bobblehead figure. I also told him that Rachael Ray is married. Besides Santa doesn’t work that way.

ver 1,000 children have seen Santa since November 8th. That number is divided between Santa Charlie and me. The photographers have not taken near that many photos.

he photographers were not happy with the brightness of the photos today. Sometime after 2 they finally got it where they liked it, by turning the flash off. Several people returned wanting retakes because they weren’t satisfied with the way the photos.

oward the end of the shift, I had a ten-month-old youngster who was not just happy to be on Santa’s lap he was joyous, squirming and talking (as much as a 10 month old can talk).

also saw Mike, another special-to-me special needs person, again today in his power chair. I went out into the hall to talk to him. He has new leg braces that are camouflage. I also found out that he sings in the choir and sings holiday songs. He said,”May I ask how you get down chimneys?” I showed him my magic keys, that only work on Christmas Eve. One key for north, south, and central America. One key for Eurasia and India. And once key for Africa and Australia. I also said that a very rarely use chimneys now days because they get my suit so dirty, which Mrs. Claus really doesn’t like.

bout four Santa Charlie called to say that he was having car troubles and asked if I would stay a little longer. Of course I did.

lla called in an order for pizza at Domino’s in Liberty Hill.
She had originally set it for 5. When I called to tell her about staying later because of Charlie’s automobiles troubles, I told her since I wasn’t even scheduled to get off until 4:30 there was no way I could have made it to Domino’s in Liberty Hill by 5:00 anyway. She called and reset the time for 6. 6 worked out very well. I picked up the pizza and came home.

ecause it was well after dark when I got home, I did not get a sunset photo tonight.

God bless and g’nite.

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  • Day 62 in our Texas home

2019 December 01 Sunday

2019 December 01 Sunday in Liberty Hill, Texas

hat a change from the 71° start with a high of 82° to 43° this morning!

he wispy mare’s tail clouds looked nice at sunrise. Often there are no clouds and the sunrise is rather plain and uninteresting. Sometimes the cloud cover is too thick and there is no discernable sunrise at all. So this sunrise was a nice surprise.

was able to go to part of the worship service today. I was able to hear and record all of the sermon, “Silent Wings” before leaving for the mall.

anta Was busy in spurts today. There was a line when I got there and it grew and shrunk for about an hour. There was a short lull. And then another line formed, grew, shrunk, grew again then stopped. After another break, the line formed again and lasted until about 1:30 or so. A had a few more in before I left at 2.

had a woman with two preteen boys come to see Santa. Being the usual mom concerned that every pant leg was of equal length and every hair in place, she was focused on the boys, not Santa. When she went to look at the photos, she started to cry. She came back and said that I looked so much like her deceased father that it had hit her hard when she looked at the pictures.

lso today I had a woman come sit on my lap and say I reminded her of her husband that died of alzheimer this past year. I told her that I have 3 lists: the naughty, nice, and prayer list. She asked me to add her to my prayer list.

rounded up all my gloves and shirts and took them with me to the laundromat where Ella was waiting for me. I had left her at church this morning. After worship she went for lunch with friends at Cherry Creek Catfish. They then dropped her off at the laundromat.

ne of our acquaintances, from the Grimes senior center in Iowa, is visiting his family in Georgetown, Texas. He called Ella and they set up a time to meet at IHOP. However, it didn’t workout with his ride. We did go ahead without him.

God bless and g’nite.

  • Visit my devotions blog new devotions every day (nearly)

  • My NEW sermons blog Armchair Sermons. Sermons posted Sundays 10 AM central time.

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  • Tom and Ella Daily Journal of Our Lives

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  • All content (except quotations) ©2019 Thomas E. Williams
  • Day 62 in our Texas home

2019 November 30 Saturday

2019 November 30 Saturday in Liberty Hill, Texas

was uncomfortably warm last night, even with my bedroom window open. Now I know why. It was also very windy. A few gusts felt like something heavy had rammed into the trailer. It is substantially calmer, though still breezy, this morning.

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Again I made it safely to the mall with minimal traffic. As I was coming off of the toll road this morning, I heard the stuttering squeal of ABS brakes behind me. In my mirror I saw a tan pickup make a half spin and attempt to start back up the exit ramp. There was still traffic coming down the ramp, so he was forced to stop. But the last I saw of him he was still trying to go the wrong way.

missed the sunset by a moment or two. However, the color of the sky was amazing.

God bless and g’nite.

  • Visit my devotions blog new devotions every day (nearly)

  • My NEW sermons blog Armchair Sermons. Sermons posted Sundays 10 AM central time.

http://armchairsermons.wordpress.com

  • Tom and Ella Daily Journal of Our Lives

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  • All content (except quotations) ©2019 Thomas E. Williams
  • Day 61 in our Texas home

2019 November 29 Friday

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  • 2019 November 29 Friday in Liberty Hill, Texas

oggy foggy morning. There was very little traffic this morning. Since this is Black Friday, I had expected the hoards of shoppers flooding the highways. It will be interesting to see how today plays out on the set.

he mall was busy but certainly not the crazy Black Friday Frenzy that you see on television. Santa was busy most of the time without having more than a few people waiting in line.

riving home in the fog wasn’t bad except for the sudden appearance of cars driving without their headlights on. Even though we were both in the proper lanes, It’s unnerving when they suddenly appear a dozen car lengths away and heading in your direction. I took as many back-roads as I could, to avoid traffic.

God bless and g’nite.

  • Visit my devotions blog new devotions every day (nearly)

  • My NEW sermons blog Armchair Sermons. Sermons posted Sundays 10 AM central time.

http://armchairsermons.wordpress.com

  • Tom and Ella Daily Journal of Our Lives

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  • All content (except quotations) ©2019 Thomas E. Williams
  • Day 60 in our Texas home

2019 November 28 Thursday

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  • 2019 November 28 Thursday – Thanksgiving in Liberty Hill, Texas

was up at 6 and wrote a devotion for my Musings blog. I then prepared some items to take to the Thanksgiving gathering at my son, Arik’s. The foods I prepared were in remembrance of my mother.

om always had a large garden (1/4 – 1/2 acre) with lots of green beans. When It was time to pick and can the beans, there was always a large pot of green beans, bacon, and chicken stock bubbling on the back burner most of the day. So, I made green beans with bacon and chicken stock and cooked it over night on low in a crockpot.

nother thing that she would make on rare occasions was Yorkshire pudding. After oven roasting a beef roast,she would remove the meat, mix some flour, eggs and other stuff, pour it into the roaster, and pop it back into the oven. I used a lot of shortcuts such as pancake mix, beef soup starter, and some canned beef. I hope it will taste something like what I remember ought Mom’s.

hursday’s are when I check my blood clotting factor (INR) and my hands need to be clean and warm; doing dishes is a perfect way to accomplish both at once. My INR was exactly where it was supposed to be.

e had a great meal and wonderful conversation. The meal we a cooperative event. The conversation was helped along by a set of cards fussy asked things like, “What do you think the world will be like in 25 years?”

God bless and g’nite.

  • 1a+]Visit my devotions blog new devotions every day (nearly)

  • My NEW sermons blog Armchair Sermons. Sermons posted Sundays 10 AM central time.

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  • Tom and Ella Daily Journal of Our Lives

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  • All content (except quotations) ©2019 Thomas E. Williams
  • Day 59 in our Texas home

2019 November 27 Wednesday

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  • 2019 November 27 Wednesday in Liberty Hill, Texas

he trip into Cedar Park, Lakeline Mall was once again free of jam-packed traffic. It makes me wonder when my luck will run out.

un out it did! You mast not want to sit and watch all 8 minutes of this video. If I had begun recording at the beginning of this jam and continued until I was of the highway, it would have been about 20 minutes of bumper to bumper. Now I realize that, for those of you who live in large cities, this would be the norm. However, this section of highway is mostly rural. So this is not the norm, unless there had been an accident. There was no accident.Just looking through some mail.God bless and g’nite.

  • 1a+]Visit my devotions blog new devotions every day (nearly)

  • My NEW sermons blog Armchair Sermons. Sermons posted Sundays 10 AM central time.

http://armchairsermons.wordpress.com

  • Tom and Ella Daily Journal of Our Lives

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  • All content (except quotations) ©2019 Thomas E. Williams
  • Day 58 in our Texas home

2019 November 26 Tuesday

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  • 2019 November 26 Tuesday in Liberty Hill, Texas

here was some color in the predawn sky. However, by “sunrise” the sky was a dark charcoal. It was more like a sunset than a sunrise.

ostly moderate traffic this morning. Since some of the area schools (maybe all) are on holidays break, I didn’t know of traffic would be heavier or lighter. This morning it proved to be lighter.

he trip home was less connected also. I’m anticipating that the holiday traffic is going to be clogging the roadways soon enough.

rom 7 to 8 we were at Cross Tracks Church for the Tuesday night prayer meeting. We sang some hymns that had special meanings for us in this time of uncertainty. We shared praises for the joys in our lives and lifted concerns to the Lord I prayer. It is always an uplifting hour.

God bless and g’nite.

  • Visit my devotions blog new devotions every day (nearly)

  • My NEW sermons blog Armchair Sermons. Sermons posted Sundays 10 AM central time.

http://armchairsermons.wordpress.com

  • Tom and Ella Daily Journal of Our Lives

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  • All content (except quotations) ©2019 Thomas E. Williams
  • Day 57 in our Texas home

2019 November 25 Monday

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  • 2019 November 25 Monday in Liberty Hill, Texas

he sky was so bright and clear this morning even though the sun had not quite climbed over the mountain cedars. With a predicted high of 80° I decided that I needed neither a jacket nor a long-sleeve shirt today.

y schedule had me working only until two o’clock for this week. I don’t recall ever working so few hours per day on the Santa set. My contract pays no matter what hours I work. I’m just not sure what I’ll do with extra time at home. Perhaps I’ll clean out the backseat of the truck. With the weather nice, I should water proof the topper’s roof.

hen the sun had fully mounted the horizon, it cast long shadows over this country lane.

ofia My granddaughter came to see Santa today. Not really, she came you see grandpa. She and two friends were scouting the mall for bargains or boys. I don’t know which, could be either, both, or none of the above.

lla had food ready when I got home. She fixed my favorite, spaghetti! I could eat it every day for a week and never grow tired of it.

o what did I do with my extra time, you ask. Nothing. After eating I sat down to do some writing. I became too drowsy to think clearly, so I started to watch something on TV and promptly fell asleep. When I woke, it was dark. I had slept the afternoon away. By the way, there’s no sunset photo today ’cause it was dark when I woke.

God bless and g’nite.

  • Visit my devotions blog new devotions every day (nearly)

  • My NEW sermons blog Armchair Sermons. Sermons posted Sundays 10 AM central time.

http://armchairsermons.wordpress.com

  • Tom and Ella Daily Journal of Our Lives

https://tomandellajournal.wordpress.comhttps:/

  • All content (except quotations) ©2019 Thomas E. Williams
  • Day 56 in our Texas home

2019 November 24 Sunday

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  • 2019 November 24 Sunday in Liberty Hill, Texas

ert Marcum brought three message today art Cross Tracks Church in Liberty Hill Texas. His message was timely and thought provoking as our church is currently going through some turmoil. You can watch his sermon here.

fter worship and Sunday school Ella and I went to Hobo Junction for lunch. Then we went home to nap and rest. I am now working 6.5 hours a day 5 days a week and 3 hours on Saturday. Starting in December I will be working longer hours and 7 days a week. I know many of you are thinking, “So what, I work longer hours everyday and 50+ weeks a year. Yes that’s true but I’m 70+ years and have been retired for many years. It’s not always easy to get back into work mode for even 2 months.

God bless and g’nite.

  • Visit my devotions blog new devotions every day (nearly)

  • My NEW sermons blog Armchair Sermons. Sermons posted Sundays 10 AM central time.

http://armchairsermons.wordpress.com

  • Tom and Ella Daily Journal of Our Lives

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  • All content (except quotations) ©2019 Thomas E. Williams
  • Day 55 in our Texas home

2019 November 23 Saturday

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  • 2019 November 23 Saturday in Liberty Hill, Texas

t turned a bit chillier overnight than I had expected. I’m glad I closed the windows before going to bed.

he sky was clear enough at 5 a.m. that I thought about trying to photograph some stars. But that would have meant getting dressed for the cold and going outside. I decided to stay in my nice warm bed to study and write a devotional instead.

he sun came up bright and yellow through the haze. Once again the light has overcome the darkness and our souls rejoice.

y route to work this morning. Once you calculate the time/distance ratio, you will see that the traffic was heavy for a Saturday morning.

his is just a rough ballpoint oen sketch. It was the folds in the clothing that I found fascinating.

t was nice to sit in the big Santa chair and have children come to talk to me. Now, if the photographers would use better salesmanship than saying, “Do you want pictures?” they might actually make a sale. I love visiting with the children and there is no charge for them to come to me. However, the photographers make little or no attempt to turn the visit into a sale. Strange way to run a business. But I doubt they are trained in anything more than now to run the camera, printer, and register.

he trip home was really much faster than indicated here. I stopped and did some shopping along the way.

God bless and g’nite.

  • Visit my devotions blog new devotions every day (nearly)

  • My NEW sermons blog Armchair Sermons. Sermons posted Sundays 10 AM central time.

http://armchairsermons.wordpress.com

  • Tom and Ella Daily Journal of Our Lives

https://tomandellajournal.wordpress.comhttps:/

  • All content (except quotations) ©2019 Thomas E. Williams
  • Day 54 in our Texas home