I OUGHT TO LEARN YOGA

Another highlight this Christmas season.

Wow! Yoga in front of the Christmas tree! Only Rachael and Jenna could come up with this.

So what are your goals for making 2011 better than last year? I almost hate to write mine down, because someone may hold me to them, but here are a few anyway:

• Grow more zucchini and potatoes.
• Visit the Anderson family.
• Do something special for the big 45th anniversary.
• Compose more music.

Okay, so I suppose that, of the above resolutions, composing more music could be the most challenging, but then again, for guy like me, original tunes run through my head all the time. Ask Tammy and her family! They still sing, "Going, North to Olympia," and "We are the Hugging Bears." :)

Other subjects, that I have thought of, that might make good resolution material, are the following:

• Reading
• Repenting
• Forgiving
• Mending differences
• Praying
• Charity
• Testimony building
• Sharing

Alright, I have put my head on the "chopping block." You are welcome to comment, but please don't tell me that I ought to learn Yoga!!!!

SHE WAS JUST SMILING AT ME

Well, Christmas is over, Santa came and went, and I was richly blessed with the company of many grand kids. You can see why I enjoy my grand kids at Christmastime. Just look at Jenna's smiling face. You would think that she had just seen Santa, but in reality, I think she was just smiling at me.

Another highlight of the holidays for me, was the December 24th, premiere performance of Dan Palmer in Mike's living room. He was approprately wearing a Hugh sombrero, while singing "Santa, My Hat is too Big," and "Dominic, the Christmas Donkey." I must say that his Spanglish was flawless, as was his guitar playing. What a guy! He had everyone in the room rolling in laughter.

I also enjoyed the participation of all the kids during the playing of the homemade chimes led by Dan and Annie. Way to go guys. You all were awesome!

Another highlight that poor ol' Grandpa Zucc" had, was trying out Jeff's inversion machine on Christmas Day. This is a contraption that you step onto in an upright position. You fit your feet into 'holds' that kind of locks them into position, then you raise your arms, slowly, and you start to tip backwards, until you are upside down. Try to picture a teeter tauter.

Believe me, I didn't remain upside down long, as I experienced the rush of blood flowing quickly to the upper part of my body. I also felt my backbone stretching. I'm sure there is a way to get this machine to turn you right side up, but at the time, I was glad that Sherry, Grandma, and Jason were there to help.

I believe everyone that celebrated the holidays with us, really had a good time. Santa is a good guy, and so is our Savior. May we always remember His goodness.

ISN'T HE CUTE?

Sunday 19 December, Mike set up our family PC with Skype, an online call and video conferencing service. I have tried it several times now, and I am truly amazed how easy it is to talk with someone and view them at the same time. 300 years ago, when I was a kid, television had been just invented. I was just 12 years old when my parents bought their first one. It was a console, with a small 19" screen. Our front room was so small that the TV was placed in the doorway to the front bedroom, which had another doorway that connected to the kitchen.

Our telephone was the circular dial type. Our number was something like "Fernwood 325." After a few years, we got an updated push-button phone, with lighted buttons. Both of these phones were huge, black desk types, with black chords. Our system was a "party line;" meaning that we shared our connection with 6 to 8 other households in the neighborhood. In order to make a call, you had to lift the receiver and listen for a dial tone before dialing. Often you would interrupt a neighbor's conversation, and have to apologize. In case of an emergency, you would have to declare that was the case, and ask them to hang up so you could make your call.


Needless to say, you had to be really careful to not badmouth or gossip, or you could easily be found out, and perhaps have to answer to entire neighborhood.


In today's world, using Skype is marvelous, but I'm not to convinced about the privacy of it. I believe that the whole world could listen to your conversation, if the right hacker was interested in the content of your call; so using discretion is still, and always the best policy.


I tried to copy a photo from the Skyp's picture gallery, but I guess they have the program rigged so that pictures cannot be copy and pasted to this blog (I wanted everyone to see the faces the grand kids pulled at me). So I put this photo of Matthew taken in 2007. This is one cute kid, don't you agree?

I REST MY CASE

Santa's place in the Fashion Place Mall.

Santa's place in South Towne Mall.

Santa has a kid sitting on his lap, and there are actually people in line.

In an earlier post, I came down pretty hard on Fashion Place for not having a lot of decorations this Christmas. Don't get me wrong, as I do think it is a great mall, and I still love to walk it. It's just that South Towne is more conducive this year to the Holiday shopping spirit. I rest my case.

SNUG AS A BUG

Erin settling in to watch TV at grandpa's house.

Funny how one can become so comfortable. "Snug as a bug in a rug," is one descriptive phrase passed down to me by my parents. "As cute as a bugs ear," is another phrase

When someone is giving you a hard time, have you ever said, "Don't bug me?" I wonder if bugs say, "Don't people me," when someone bothers them?

I just happen to know of some people who are afraid of insects, especially spiders. This is very curious behavior since people must look shockingly huge to the little creatures. The poor things must actually tremble with fear when they not only see us coming , but also feel the frightening vibrations of our footsteps.

Hey, put yourself in their place. How would you feel if a creature of some type, as big as the Church Office Building came along ready to crush you, knowingly or not?

Anyway, Erin is such a loving, gentle, and caring person. I guess you could say that she "wouldn't hurt a flea."

YOU TOO CAN BE CONSIDERED AN EXPERT

Reading the newspaper can be interesting, at times. An article in today's paper stated that a new study suggests there are a mind-blowing 300 sextillion stars. Frankly, I had never heard of the word, sextillion. For us earthlings, the calculation is 3 trillion times 100 billion.

Wow! Actually, I am impressed with glory of the night skies. My expertise consists of stepping out onto my back deck, and trying to locate the Big Dipper. I can find several of the constellations, and some of the planets. Actually, I can find Draco the Dragon curling up and around the Little Dipper. You can find it too, as soon as your eyes become adjusted to looking at dimmer stars.

For people like me, Grandpa Zucc, one of the best astronomy guides is the Astronomy Merit Badge book published by the Boy Scouts of America. It deals with all the really cool basics. I found that as I point out heavenly objects, both grandchildren and adults think I am really knowledgeable on the subject. Ha ha.

Believe me, if you can locate just a few of the basic objects in the heavens at night, you too can be considered an "expert."