Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Hijacked by an Android

If you wonder what I've been up to that has kept me from blogging these last couple of days, I blame it entirely on this little monster:
Yes, I have finally joined the ranks of the Smartphoned. Ugh.
Adam found this phone for me on Christmas Eve, an amazing deal. It's actually cheaper to operate (i.e., buy minutes for, etc.) than my old dinky trac phone. And with the discounts and sales, the phone itself didn't cost much either.
However, I'm not convinced that I have the brain power to operate this machine. I'm just Too Old!
And I think if he'd handed me a new baby instead, it would have been less trouble. Oh my word! The screeching I did while trying to figure out how it works! Finally, Julia had to help me, but while doing so, I accidentally called an old friend and couldn't figure out how to hang up.
Now ... back to technology that I can manage!
Books!
Two more Christmas books arrived today, both by Elizabeth Von Arnim. Very much looking forward to reading them.
Philip and Kara sent us a Christmas gift, a particularly lovely gift. It's a framed photo of the moment during the proposal when he showed her the ring. I adore this picture. Her expression to me shows utter delight, impossible happiness. Sigh. It's hanging in the hallway where we will see it every day.
Poinsettias are surviving the winter inside. I kept last Christmas's poinsettia all through winter, spring, summer and fall, until it froze a couple of months ago.
Today, the girls and I went to town. I did not particularly relish a day in town. I wanted a Day-at-Home, if you know what I mean. A day to rest, sip tea, dabble in watercolors, read a book. Instead we attacked the stores!
Bath and Body Works was having amazing sales, plus I had a coupon we could use if we combined all our purchases. It was highway robbery. Most things we got were about $3. I love this metal candle holder.
Notice the jamberries, still holding up.
We were rather silly. Anna started singing or dancing or some other frivolity in the Christmas clearance aisle of WalMart. Julia is holding a stack of Christmas cards for Adam. We buy them each year on clearance (75% off!), and I hit the mother load, thankfully. It's very difficult to find Christian Christmas cards. I looked in: Michael's, Hallmark, TJ Maxx, Books-a-Million. Not one card said "Merry Christmas," much less any whiff of religion like a Bible verse or a baby in a manger. Not even a Christmas carol. They all say Season's Greetings, Happy Holidays, and all manner of other inoffensive drivel. One box of cards even said, "Nose So Bright" on the front of the card. Really???
This brings me to another issue. I mean ... when you ask the teller, "Do you have any Christmas cards on sale?" you've already said the big naughty word: CHRISTmas. And the teller directs you to a stack of cards, all of which deliberately omit the name of Christ from the cards that celebrate His birth ... whether some people want this yearly event to have anything to do with Jesus Christ or not ... and what do you find in that stack of cards? "Nose So Bright"???
People whine and say, "We need to put Christ back in Christmas." I understand their angst. But truly, you can't take Christ out of Christmas, not even if you want to. Without Him, there is no Christmas, there is no holyday, there is no season for joy, bliss, merriness. (Whoa! Merriness is a real word! My computer recognizes it!) You can load your front lawn with reindeer and mount a Santa on your roof and even talk about angels in particularly heretical ways, and still you cannot remove Christ from His own birth. His birth is the crossroads of human history, whether people like it or not. If people don't want Christ in this yearly event, they should become complete Scrooges and retire for the month to their hovels in protest. Meh.
Off my soapbox. Onto the river. These shots were from this afternoon. Adam would say those cloud formations indicate ice crystals, I'm sure.


Each New Year's Eve, Oriental has a big party down by the harbor. The town has a long Chinese dragon (think, the one from the movie What's Up, Doc?), complete with a team underneath the hold it up and wiggle it up and down Hodges Street. The 8:00 PM dragon run is for families and involves only moderate alcohol consumption. The 11:30 PM dragon run is more of a drunken-sailor rout, I'm sorry to say. I do not attend either one. It's too cold for antics in the dark, dragons or no dragons. Adam will go with the girls. I'll stay home with the doggies and go to bed at a normal time.
Happy New Year to you!

11 comments:

Pom Pom said...

You are indeed smart enough for your smart phone! You'll appreciate it eventually! Happy New Year and enjoy your cozy night, MK!

Una said...

My ancient phone needed replacing recently as the battery would die mid-phone call. My husband gave me one of his old smart phones and it completely baffled me. So I did loads of research and bought another simple, non-smart phone. It suits me fine! The simple life is good.

Debbie said...

I got the most beautiful Christmas cards at Walmart this year with and old fashioned wiseman/star picture and a KJV verse. There were quite a few good ones in fact. None at Homegoods. I sent out quite a few cards this year and it always makes me feel happy to get cards.
Most of my shopping done on line, and no kids home this year. I know how you feel about the phone. I dread changes like that. I got a new computer in October and that was somewhat tramatic because the kids aren't here to help me anymore. I was very proud to not only get the new one going but also repair the old one with help from the internet. We stayed home last even and read our kindles together.
Very quiet in our town. For once.

Gumbo Lily said...

Hubs and I just got smart phones -- our first. Thankfully, our daughter and SIL came for New Year's Eve and Day and they've been schooling us on them. It sure does help to have those young techie minds alongside me. I think we're going to get it! Keep playing, and I will too.

Lisa Richards said...

Those clouds are amazing! My hubby had a smart phone for a short while, but it drove us crazy. An old flip phone that calls people and lets me text is fine with me. I was early to bed last night myself. Not a big New Year celebrator. Hope you had a cozy evening at home. ;)

Ida said...

Wow those clouds were amazing. - I agree about Christ and Christmas. I boldy said, Merry Christmas to everyone because (Happy Holidays) just seems so impersonal and boring to me. We do display Santa in our yard along with snowmen, penguins, trees etc...but we consider them Christmas lights and know the real reason for the season. - We made it up till well past midnight with our tradition of watching movies, eating junk food and setting off fireworks along with having a New Year's toast. It's fun. - Looking forward to sharing with you this year and do enjoy that new phone. (I'm slowly thinking about the idea of maybe getting one someday).

M.K. said...

Oh, I totally agree, Ida! We do Santa and reindeer and all that fun stuff -- too :) I only dislike it when retailers so obviously, deliberately, leave out any allusion to religion at all. Seems somehow dishonest to me. Your New Year's tradition sounds like fun! Happy New Year to you and yours!

Mary Ann Potter said...

No matter what the world does to Christmas, it's still God's truth that we celebrate! I enjoyed this post --- and I enjoyed listening to you on your soapbox! (I am similarly gifted/afflicted/reactionary. Just ask Mr. Potter!)

Dasha said...

I love my Android phone AND my Android tablet. Would never switch to the "other" type. LOL.
I so loathe the non-Christmas cards on sale in Australia. My particular pet hate is the koala Santas and the kangaroos pulling sleighs. What tripe! And I so loathe the common "Happy Holidays" greeting you get. Good on you for getting up on that soap box. More people should.

Thistle Cove Farm said...

your first photo is fabulously beautiful! smartphone...got one but don't know how to use it. I took it back to the store, asked them to remove my e-mail account and they looked at me like I'd lost my mind. DISCONNECT E-MAIL????? yep, disconnect. every year I think I'm going to make my own cards and seldom do. maybe this year??? LOL

Leslie said...

You will love that phone. They are so handy but also still easy to set aside.
Seems like I had more people tell me Merry Christmas this year than in previous years. And I had a stranger on the train tell me Cherry Mistmas. That was a new one on me and of course the family said I WOULD engage a stranger on public transpo in conversation. I just can't HELP it.