It's not tattooed on the back of my neck!

It appears there is a war on Christmas and it is fought on many fronts and has new tactics each year. Someone told me the war on Christmas began when some retail chains decided to their policy of no solicitation and wouldn't let charities do their annual fund drive outside their stores. Others report that the war on Christmas happened when some companies decided to have holiday sales rather than Christmas sales in December. And I've even heard the war on Christmas is because some merchants won't wish their customers a "Merry Christmas" during the month of December. This last battle is being fought down in Texas by a large church that is placing offensive merchants on a 'naughty' list while placing stores who say "Merry Christmas" to their customers on the 'nice' list. I think I know many Christians who cringe at this response and just want to say, "Jesus needs better PR!".

I guess I am just oblivious - or I was taken as an early prisoner when I was a kid. I grew up in Central suburban New Jersey. Since childhood, I've had Yom Kippar and Rosh Hashanah off from public school along with Easter and Christmas. In grade school, we traced oak-tag patterns to cut Christmas stockings and Chanukah dreidels out of construction paper to decorate the classroom. Santa Claus came to our school and handed out candy canes to EVERYONE, even the Jewish kids! (It was our Jehovah's Witness classmates that were sent on 'errands' out of the classroom and down the hall shortly before Santa made his appearance so they wouldn't violate their church doctrine about celebrations).
In the neighboring town of Dunellen, huge wooden figures and the words "Season's Greetings" were spelled out on the town's green. In the early days of December, it was with torturous anticipation that Jim and I would beg Mom or Dad to make a detour to see if the festive elves, candy canes and Santa's sleigh was on display yet. (And until I was an Auntie, I never realized how much the driver was looking forward to seeing how much of the town was decorated).

Well, I made a major detour today to see what was on Dunellen's town square. I was disappointed to find out that the giant red wooden signs that spelled out "Season's Greetings" I remember from childhood are no longer a part of the decor....BUT I was thrilled to see that all of the parking meters in town are covered with little plastic baggies to let shoppers park for free as they shop downtown. And it wasn't because I had some shopping to do. It's because I have absolutely no problem when a merchant says to me "Have a nice holiday" as I leave their store. How is the merchant supposed to know I am a Christian and am doing my Christmas shopping? Despite what a classic Monty Python's sketch infers, my religious affiliation is not tattooed on the back of my neck. Since my brief interaction with a salesclerk is not likely to illicit a protracted conversation about what holiday I'm celebrating this month, I am not faulting the cashier or the company they work for because I am offered a generic holiday greeting that has been used since greeting cards came into style.

Don't get me wrong, I do like being wished a "Merry Christmas". And when that greeting comes from a person working in a church's gift shop or is offered by the clerk in a Christian bookstore I try to return it with as much warmth and meaning as I did when I exchanged greetings with the cashier in the secular store - because I hope we all enjoy a wonderful time celebrating time with family and friends. But when I am wished a "Merry Christmas" by the clerks who I purchase from all year long, persons with whom my purchase is more than just a random momentary encounter, "Merry Christmas" takes on a special quality, because hopefully what they know is that I am a Christian - and not because they know it is tattooed on the back of my neck - but by the person and witness to Christ I've been all year long. After all, doesn't that little song say "And they will know we are Christians by our love"?

Taking a breather

Pumpkin, mincemeat and apple pies made. Preparing dinner for 14 people. Two last minute trips to the grocery store. One done by me, other done by Dad. Mom is sick in bed with a bad cold and horrible cough. Table set. Silver polished. Serving dishes and serving utensils prepped. Cider purchased and iced. Stuffing ingredients ready to rock and roll in the morning. Busy day. All the more reason to take a moment and find a quiet moment to say "Thank you, God, for the incredible world you've created. How blessed we are, indeed."

Field Trip to Woolrich!

Today, Mom, Dad and I went for a field trip. We drove out to Woolrich, PA and visited the original company store. It was a wonderful store - not a huge box store at all. Kinda like LL Bean used to be in Freeport, ME. Not that that store isn't a great place to go visit - but it has lost the quaint charm it had until it remodeled and expanded sometime in the 1980s. This store has obviously done remodeling since it was founded 180 years ago. They don't have the factory store they used have on the premises when my grandparents used to stop here, but its stuck with what made it famous - wool products and buffalo plaids for home and outdoor use. We did some Christmas shopping, some personal shopping and found some deals we were very impressed with. During lunch at the little cafe adjoining the store, we discussed our bargains and decided to return and make another purchase or two for dad. Though we filled up the trunk with bags of treasures and bargains, I did leave the little sheep that symbolizes the store on the shelf when we were ready to leave and explore the little town.
The whole town is centered around the store and I think there are some historical markers describing the significance of the cabin - but we were tired from shopping and ready to head for home that I didn't take the extra time as we left to go read the markers.

We were interested enough to drive around the town and see how much John Rich influenced the area with his little mule cart that he used to peddle his woolen goods he manufactured at a mill in Plum Run before relocating to this spot where he had a steadier supply of water. If you know your 19th C American History and anything about the spread of evangelical denominations across the country, it will come as little surprise to you that a circuit rider made his way to the settlement that resided around the mill to bring religion to its inhabitants.

And today it is known as the Woolrich Community Methodist Church!

I just loved the little pine trees in the porch fence.

The road into town is lined with 2 miles of pine trees just on the road's edge. Don't know who took the initiative to plant all those trees years ago - but it made an impressive procession on the way in and out of town.


Mom managed to get this video from the front seat on our way out of town. Coming or going, it offers the same stately effect.

Penzey's!

After a morning full of meetings that lasted into the middle of the afternoon, I got off campus and went to Penzey's Spices in Careytown, a Richmond neighborhood. If you are familiar with Penzey's you know I was in one of the best places to get premium herbs and spices at affordable prices. I meant to take pictures of the store and some of their displays, but I totally forgot. I did remember to get the cinnamon I wanted and some shallots for a recipe I want to try as well as a present for my brother (which purposely I left in the bag and kept out of the photo) when I got back to the M&M B&B.

Girls Day Out!

It was a long and rewarding shopping day for me, my sister-in-law, my niece and her two grandmothers....and we refreshed ourselves for the ride home with an ice cream treat. Though we have shopped with one another and with as many as four of us together at the same time, we think this is the first time that just the five us have been on our own. We got some great bargains and hope to repeat the experience at some point again...preferably after we've built up our bank accounts again!

She helps me save by not spending!

Normally, when Lorraine, my sister-in-law, and I go shopping, I am the one doing all the buying and she does all the looking. The tide is now turning, because today, for the first time since we've known one another, she did more buying than me! I think I had a little good luck charm in my niece being along for the excursion today. Here is silly Sarah being ultra silly in a shoe store in which none of us bought anything.

Back to the apple orchard

I meant to take a photo of the Apple store this afternoon. I went for my first 1 on 1 session after receiving my new MacBook and iPod in the mail this week. I am so happy to be back on a Mac. I had one when during my full-time teacher stint in NJ schools and I then I had a notebook throughout my seminary career. I even was able to loan one from Asbury's technology dept. when mine died the year before graduation. When I returned it before leaving Kentucky, I was actually told I could have kept it if I had wanted. During my time at St. James UMC, I used a church own PC and it worked well enough for the purposes of my ministry. The hard decision came when I returned to full-time student status: Mac or PC? I ended up going with a PC - a Dell - that served me well the last five years and I could easily afford, but it just wasn't a Mac.
I almost cried when I realized how wonderful they were that first semester at PTS when I saw my colleagues' but I have used it faithfully the past five years. I often watched those Mac/PC commercials and often cringed because I understood them firsthand.
For more more than a year now, I've been saving for the Mac and even though I missed having one the past several years, I am glad I am back. I actually scored an iPod with the summer student discount! It's my first legitimate MP3 player and I have so many things to learn! So with the whole kit and kaboodle I got a year's subscription to 1 on 1 services. Having someone help you once a week with all the questions I have as well as show me some fun things and shortcuts is totally worth the price of admission for even a month's worth of sessions, let along the whole year! The trouble is, my head was swimming when I walked out of the store and I totally forgot to take a picture of it. So instead, you get to see the engraving I had put on my iPod for free - it clearly identifies who it belongs to as well as reveals a little something about a television show I have enjoyed since a kid and now love on BBC America....other fans will know exactly who the doctor is.......

She always helps me save money (by spending it!)

I've mentioned before that I got a sweet deal when my brother married Lorraine. I've also discussed that we both enjoy shopping at Talbots. And the nearly eleven years that the two of them have been married, hardly a shopping excursion goes by in which we don't discover all sorts of bargains in which I do all the buying and she does all the looking. Lorraine's been talking sales since I returned from NC last weekend and told me about some good deals in the current L.L. Bean catalog. I made my little wish list earlier in the week but held off placing it b/c we suddenly had an opportunity for our own expedition and I just knew if past history held true I was going to find some pretty good bargains. And I did. I found two dresses at the Bass outlet that were almost replicas of two dresses I earmarked in the catalog - and at 70% off their original price, I saved more than $25 on the deal had I ordered the similar dresses from L.L.Bean. As we were leaving the dressing room she let slip that she really thought I should have bought a dress I saw on sale at Talbots earlier. I shrugged her off and told her by not buying it today I was sticking to my budget better.
By the time we returned to The Homestead late afternoon with my purchases I'd forgotten about the Talbot dresses until Lorraine mentioned to my mother that I had passed up the deal of the day as she was willing to kick over to me her b-day coupon that could be used during the month to bring the sale price down even lower. So, off we all went to Talbots where they both convinced me that I had to buy a 2nd dress of the same style b/c the 2nd sale garment purchased was discounted an additional 50%. The dress looks great, I'll have them as a part of my wardrobe for years to come, and the price of both dresses was about 60% cheaper than the original price of one dress - so I really did save by spending!

Wearing one of the earlier purchases I made
as I made the purchase of the Talbots' bargain.
Thanks, s-i-l, it was a fun day!