Saturday, November 30, 2019

November 30 – “Blessings Both”


Well, I finally did it.  I managed to convince Chris to go to WalMart on Black Friday to "check out the sales" (Read here, "People watch."  Zak was with us and he did see a man in a skirt this year.  Just saying ...).   We even looked at a new TV.  Problem there was, all the sale TV’s were gone the night before.  You know, the pre-Black Friday Black Friday sale that is actually on Thursday night at 6.  And Chris didn’t really last very long anyway.  While I was off scoping out the electronics, she and Zak ambled around the corner, only to find … a lady crying out for help.  And what did she need?  Something along the lines of “My kid just threw up in the aisle just ahead.”  Ah, well, there is always Cyber Monday …

The afternoon was pretty calm.  Uncle Josh took all the kids to the park to play basketball and hang around (literally) on the playground.  Chris and I stayed at the house and hung around with just Nathan and April.  It was really nice to just sit and talk with them.  It has been a while …

And then the thundering hordes returned.  For supper Chris made a turkey enchilada pie.  April brought over a dirty rice concoction as well as some kind of heavenly cinnamon tortilla something or other.  If you come over and there is any left … wait … you probably wouldn’t like it … and there probably won’t be any left anyway …

Cousins’ sleepover was just as wild and crazy as usual.  The kids played outside for a long time.  We watched through the windows as they turned a broom into what we could only imagine was everything from a shepherd’s staff to a witch’s mode of transportation to a double-sided light sabre.  The bedtime movie with popcorn was a bit easier this time.  Nathan got us a fire stick that made it possible to try out the new Disney Plus channel.  We watched an episode of a Little Mermaid serial for the little guys.  Then they adjourned to iPad watching of some other kind of cartoon.  Meanwhile the big guys settled in for the few opening episodes of Mandalorian.  I couldn’t hear a lot of what was happening - apparently there are no subtitles available – but it definitely had the Star Wars universe feel to it.  Tough bounty hunter falls for his prey (Sort of.  Don’t want to be a spoiler here).  It helped everyone calm down a little.  And then came the attempts to actually sleep.  That went pretty well.  Well, except maybe for the four remaining older ones (Jachin disappeared into the bedroom to claim an actual bed for the night).  It was the newly-crowned teenagers (Zak and Micah) and the rapidly-rising pre-teens (Caleb and Cailyn) who were just not ready to give in.  Nani eventually plopped herself down on the floor in their midst, and after a shower, I pulled up a chair and relaxed on the outskirts.  They gave in before we did.  But once our heads hit the pillow … zzzzzzz …

And for today?  Turkey Bowl 55.  High Noon.  Jones Park (Unless it’s too wet.  Then we’ll play in the street in front of the house).  Time to give this new knee a real test …

Romans 12:21 says, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

Father, thank you for the moments of calm amidst the wonderful chaos of the Thanksgiving holiday this year.  Blessings Both … for sure.  Amen.


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