"No big shock that this time of year angels are everywhere. But what might surprise you is how many Americans think angels are real". Do Angels Exist, reported by Tracy Smith.
I have been praying for all of the children, adults, families, friends, and the Newtown community as a whole, in the wake of the shootings last Friday. It is despicable that when these people are hurting so much, others can get so ugly as they turn the whole ordeal into a controversial debate about God, guns, mental health, public security, etc. The carnage and mayhem is not just the physical aftermath, but all the emotional and verbal backwash that has followed. How unfortunate. "Angels lost too soon: Sandy Hook shooting victims remembered by twenty-seven wooden angel figures seen placed in a wooded area beside a road near the Elementary School in Newtown, CN."
It is not my intent to stir the pot, but to just express my feelings here. No doubt, our country and world are in crisis, facing many problems and challenges. Like cancer, it seems mental illness is on the rise. Why, I am uncertain. We can point our fingers at a chemical imbalance, speculate genetic defects, or question up-bringing and lack of God. I agree with some of what Mike Huckabee says, and, like him, am concerned that "the left has again shown that
it defines tolerance and diversity as being tolerant only of that with
which it agrees, and diverse only to include slight shades of the
orthodoxy of liberalism to which they adhere. They abhor censorship of
their own profanity, obscenities, or graphic violence, but are the first
to demand that a voice that invokes the name of God to be silenced." I think the ultra-conservatives and ultra-liberals; groups supporting anti-war, anti-abortion, anti-guns, anti-religion etc. all need to look at how they are voicing their opinions and beware of having a double standard. I also agree with some points made by a PTA parent, Kimberly Burkett, who points out that God is in schools when she wrote: "These educators, aided by school support staff and parent/community volunteers, are God-given, Mr. Huckabee. Through them God’s miracles happen every day. Through education, God’s children are provided a shot at a better life." She continues later in her letter, "Perhaps your efforts would be better spent, Mr. Huckabee, not in trying to bring your particular brand of religion into schools or dictating how God should appear in a classroom, but instead supporting public schools and the work He does through them.
I think we can all agree that this nation has some big problems. We just need to think, come together and talk, compromise as needed and then take action on agreed upon ideas. I can't even imagine what it would be like to lose any of our three beloved children, especially at such a precious, young age, to such a horrific death. Here they are being silly back in 1994.
Dan and Valencia dressed and ready to go to the 236th Inland Cargo Transportation Company Christmas Party, at 6:30am Saturday. It rained, drizzled actually, but with 23
mph winds, almost the whole day Saturday. It was coming out of the
south so I had that side of the barn all shut tight. I kept the horses
in until mid-morning, and then put them out on the side pasture, which I
thought was less muddy. They still found a way to get caked in it, and
the rain was not hard enough to "rinse" them off. 
Even though it was a dreary day, I was filled with excitement and anticipation. Britney was on her way home from Guatemala. I got the beds made in her room and completely cleaned it and her bathroom, in addition to adding a few Christmas decorations. I worked at cleaning other parts of the house too. Dan and Valencia dropped in with Charlie, who they were leaving here for the night because they were headed to Chicago. Britney was due to arrive at O'Hare just before midnight. Charlie was helping me in the bathroom while I cleaned.
Clouds continued to roll through as the sun set for the end of the day. Joe went to bed early, so he
could be up at midnight for work. I started baking out in the kitchen. 
Babysitting Charlie, who was in constant motion looking for trouble, kept me occupied while waiting for goodies to bake.
Charlie wasn't too sure about Kaysha, but curiosity got the best of him.
Abbey wasn't too sure about Charlie, but curiosity kept drawing her closer.
At the turn of a new day, Sunday 12am, we got word from Daniel that
Britney had made it to Chicago, met up with him while Valencia stayed with the car, and had just found her
"lost" suitcase that apparently flew to O'Hare on an earlier flight.
Joe had been up working, but I was then able to sleep more soundly knowing they were headed to Valencia's house.
I worked in the
nursery early Sunday morning, but then came right home to finish
preparing for Britney's arrival and the evening's dinner. Finishing
touches on picking up, cleaning, decorating, and meal preparation were
accomplished. Charlie, once again, was on the lookout for some action. 
Dan and Britney arrived about the same time as Courtney and Mike
did. See his new hood ornaments?
Charlie helped Britney get unpacked and settled in.
I forgot to take any photos of the food and dinner guests. We started with BLT dip from Patti's recipe and then had pork roast. The food was good, plentiful, and the company fun to have. After dinner Dan and Mike played a card game while Courtney knit and Britney and I hung out. Eventually, Joe, Britney and I watched Survivor.
Monday morning Britney was a good sport and went to Water Lilies with me. Back home she enjoyed snuggling with Abbey.
Later we hung out at the dinner table on our computers and watched the weather, which fluctuated between snow, rain and sleet.
I ran outside and took pictures periodically.
Zorro walking in a winter wonderland.
Stew sought shelter under this sad excuse for a pine tree. He could have gone into the corn crib with Babe.
This was the extent of snow accumulation we got. I guess it qualifies as our first official snowfall for the season however.
Britney made a snow angel to send a photo to a friend in Guatemala, who did not know what one was. This was more like a slush angle, with what little and wet "snow" we got.
Joe, Britney and I finished Survivor while nibbling on leftovers.
Tuesday morning Britney left for town, where she spent the day at three different meetings at two different Churches. I was a bum... worked on this blog post and my pet care note. I met with Angie, who is going to watch the place while we are gone. After dinner I had to run to town to take Dan a second set of car keys because he had locked his in his car.
While I went to Water Lilies Wednesday morning, Britney ran on the indoor track at the Replex and lifted weights. Back home, we resumed our spots at the dinner table and continued work on our computers. Joe came home from work early, and while Britney napped, we worked out in the barn yard. We cleaned all the soiled and uneaten moldy hay off the ground in the corn crib. Then we moved ten good bales down from the hay loft and into the side of the corn crib for Angie to feed to the cows. The wind picked up and it started raining before we got done.
In or out is sometimes the question with the horses when it is wet and
muddy, which it was Thursday morning. Rain changing to snow and strong
winds were predicted for afternoon, so I decided to get the horses out
while the getting was good, even though it was muddy. They went
straight to the side pasture avoiding most of the mud, and ate happily
without racing around. 
To go or not to go was the quandary for Britney in anticipation of
driving to Greenville to visit friends and professors. With the warning of an approaching snowstorm, we were wondering if we were going to get hit by it?; how bad was it going to be?; and when was
it due to start? The storm had hit big in Nebraska, but Iowa didn't get near what they were expecting. Britney would not be returning until after dinner and needed to be home by 6am Friday. Well, mid morning she hit
the road to Greenville, 
The wind really started to pick up at noon while I was out scooping
poop and dumping the cat litter box out by the tracks. I had troubles getting Hercules and the chickens to go into the coop. They had taken shelter from the wind under these bushes. Then the rain
began. After I finished cleaning stalls, I let the horses in. They were
ready to get in out of the blowing rain.
By 3pm, when I looked at the forecast on my computer, and out the
window, I was not so sure it had been a good idea for Britney to go to Greenville. The red
is for severe weather, stating blizzard conditions and 40 mph winds
through 7pm. I had to regularly remind myself to pray instead of
worry. 
We lost power several times, then it would come on after a few seconds.
But it was enough to shut off TV, internet, and clocks. As I was
taking this picture of the blowing snow, I thought I saw multiple fire
crackers go off up in the air near the east end of the barn. I went out
a little later to feed the horses and check on the electric wires where
I had seen the sparks. It was hard to see with the blowing snow, but
they appeared okay. In the barn I discovered Roni's stall partly
covered with snow. I cleaned it out and used tarp to fill the large
cracks at each end of the sliding barn door where it wasn't flat against
the barn. While standing and petting Roni, there was a bunch of
crackling outside over the roof of Zorro's stall. I went out and looked
again, but saw nothing. Just as I was checking water buckets before
coming in, the lights went out, and stayed out.
Britney called to say she was on her way home from Greenville. I had
veggies and dip for dinner since I could not heat up left overs. Then
I wrapped all my Christmas presents and did most of my packing for Florida using candle and flash light. The wind was so strong it knocked over our glider. Britney called again at 10:30 and was only to Springfield, but she had hit worse road conditions. Come to find out later, she had actually gone in the ditch, requiring a tow truck to get back on her way. Kaysha and I went out to check on the horses and we had a 4 foot drift near the barn. I checked the front part of the drive and it wasn't as bad. Next thing you know, the dog is no where to be seen. This was all I needed. I yelled and searched, but her hearing isn't so good, especially in 35 mph winds. And with the snow blowing and flying all over the place, I couldn't see very well. After I circled the house and went towards the chicken coop, I found her. Phew.
I came in and sat by the fire to warm up. At midnight I was really
starting to get worried about Britney. So I called her. My phone said
there was a connection error. I waited 10 minutes and tried again.
Same problem, only now it was telling me my battery was dying. Boy did I
miss having electricity.Britney called at 1am to say she was almost to Lincoln but was getting off the road because she had gone in the ditch again, and two tow trucks in one night was enough. There was no room at the inn, but a nice lady let Britney rest on the lobby couch. Britney would have stopped sooner, but she needed to get home to be at the train station by 6:30am. We saw no end to this already long night, so Joe and I decided to leave the dark, cold house and go to Lincoln after Britney.
Joe drove my car home and Britney rode with me in the Expedition. The
roads were in better shape (salt working, snow stopping, wind slowing).
It had been the black ice that was the real problem. There were still
patches of it, and plenty of cars and trucks in the ditch, but we made
it home by 4:30am. 
At some point I realized the apocalypse was supposed to have happened. It kind of had for us... only it was a freezing over not a burning end we were experiencing. We all went right to bed... well, I actually slept in front of our gas fire place, to be sure it wouldn't go out without being turned off, which it has done sometimes. We were all back up at 6am and Joe and Britney were off for the train station. I heated up water for tea on the stove... thanking God for a gas range. Then went out to feed the horses. 
The power company arrived after 8am, and it wasn't long before we had lights, heat, internet,
water pressure, garage doors that worked, etc. etc. etc. It was the transformer that had malfunctioned. We had gone thirteen hours without
electricity and had only a little gas fireplace to keep us from freezing.
It was 44 degrees in the house at sunrise. But that's better than the 18 degrees and colder with the 28 mph
wind chill outside. 
After the power company left, I started a load of laundry, the dishwasher, and then went out to let the horses out and see how frozen all the water was. The beautiful sunshine also reminded me that today is the Winter Solstice! I am so glad to be ending these short, dark, (and cold) days... and moving to longer light, brighter days. 
The horses were thrilled to finally get out of the barn and frolicked in the snow as they trotted off to go graze. I took some hot water out to sped up the thawing process on the water
buckets, tubs, and stock tank. 
The day flew by as I was busy getting ready to head south with Joe. I continued laundry, washed sheets on the bed for Angie, filled live stock feed bins, and cleaned out the refrigerator
among many other tasks. I even got in a little nap. Joe and I ran my car to the
airport, dropped more hay down from the loft to make it handy for Angie and did some last minute cleaning and packing.
Kick up your heels and enjoy the holidays.
My wish for all of you this Christmas is to not despair
but have peace on Earth.
but have peace on Earth.
Two verses from the song "I Heard The Bells"
And in despair I bowed my head:
"There is no peace on earth," I said,
"For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men."
Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead, nor doth he sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail,
With peace on earth, good will to men."
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