***Very OT*** CHRISTMAS ***OT***

Wow - I'd love to see this. I just love driving around town at night this time of year to see all the great light displays - it seems more lights than ever have gone up this year. We have one family just on the outskirts of town who have just an amazing and very tastefully done display - huge soldiers down the driveway, ladies and gents in old-fashioned garb, sleighs, snowmen - oh, it's just amazing. Haven't gone yet this year - was waiting for a bit of snow - somehow that just makes all the lights look even nicer - but now that we have a little, that trip will be coming up shortly.

Shar> > ...... Honestly, I can snap my car headlights

PAX, Tia Mary

A bit of light wouldn`t keep me awake - but "Dawne`s" carolling penguins might!

Hey - where did I use foul language? ;-))

Pat P

"Pat P" wrote>

Dunno---are penguins fowl??? Dawne

*huh* wha? *huh* Oh. Ok. *Grin*

Elizabeth

HEYYYYY! I AM NOT spoiled!

*throws self on floor kicking and banging*

Elizabeth (youngest, yes. Spoilt, never)

Ok, me too, but if someone starts singing "Kumbaya," I'm right out of here.

Elizabeth

Now there's a good possibility I'll be humming that melody all night. Not what I want to be doing, but how do you get those notes out of your head?

Lucille

I'll join; you'd run no matter what I was singing.

Cheryl

Hate to put a damper on enthusiasm, but all of this troubles me. We are a nation at war. We are a nation that is consuming huge amounts of oil and natural gas in comparison to the rest of the world. Some of that natural gas fires our electric companies. I think all of the massive displays of Christmas lights is a bit indulgent. Where is our country's sacrifice? Billions are being spent, and we are sacrificing nothing to help offset these costs.

I don't think we should hang our heads in shame. Well, maybe so. But that is a conversation for another day. What I do think we should do is show a little modesty, humility, and sacrifice.

I'd rather we light just one candle in a window to show our solidarity and resolve.

Dianne

clancyc wrote:

Hate to disagree with you on this one Dianne -- as regards my decorations only -- but our total electric bill for the month we have the lights displayed is barely $10 higher than the month before or after. We use the little tiny lights that don't use a lot of energy. Now, we do use a lot of the lights but an increase of just $10 isn't shameful. Modesty, humility and sacrifice can and are shown in other ways by my family -- just not when it comes to my Christmas Decorations. DH and I conserve in other ways all year long and we feel justified in sharing our yard display with the kids & families in the neighborhood. Ours is not an extravagant light display with hundreds of thousands of lights. I DO like the idea of the people who have those type of displays collecting money for charities. I tell you one thing, keeping my thermostat at 66 in the winter and

78 in the summer IS a sacrifice. It sure saves a LOT more energy than what we spend for lighting our Christmas decorations. CiaoMeow >^;;^<

So does this mean we can sing "Michael Row Your Boat Ashore" instead??? R&D&H before the Brat lobs a few dozen spitballs (or worse) at MOI!!! CiaoMeow >^;;^<

It's better than Small World! CiaoMeow >^;;^<

Rockapella has a great recording of "It's a Small World" on their Comfort & Joy album. Beats that dreadful, chirpy themepark version!

Tell me, what is the verdict I would hear from the elder siblings ? My three each insist one of the other two is the spoilt brat. Both girls say it is my son, he insists it is the girls and so it goes.

How about the Lion Sleeps Tonight ?

Show me something worth sacrificing for, and I'll do so. A war in Iraq begun under false pretenses doesn't meet my criteria.

Why? Invading Iraq in the face of the opposition of many of our allies didn't show any modesty or humility. Why should we start now?

I didn't vote for that war, and with one traitorous exception, none of my representatives voted for that war. I have no control over how Georgie chooses to spend my hard earned taxes nor over how careless he is with my students' lives, but I do have control over how I spend my own money and if I want to light up my whole house, I'll do so and not feel bad about it, war or no war.

Well, ok, I might tone it down out of respect for the 42,000 souls who have died through no fault of their own, but not out of solidarity with a "nation at war." Feh.

Elizabeth

Slobbery dog bones!

Elizabeth

They'd say spoilt, spoilt, spoilt, because I got to go out both nights on a weekend, but they never did. My mother laughed and said "that's because someone had to stay home with the baby, and it wasn't going to be me!"

Elizabeth