God is good...

 The 15th was my son's birthday.....he would have been 40 years old but he passed away a few years ago.  I think he wanted to ensure I would not dwell on it too much.....so........in the middle of the night I woke up to what I thought was the furnace...I tried to go back to sleep but it kept running.  I thought maybe I had turned on the fan instead of the heat so I got  up but that wasn't it.  I went to the basement and the furnace wasn't even running.  I could not figure out where the noise was coming from.  I even thought maybe it was a car engine outside so I opened the front door but all was quiet.  I went into the kitchen and I could hear the water softener recycling and I figured that was it but it was on the other side of the house from my bedroom.  Hmmmm....I finally went into my bathroom on the other side of the wall from my bedroom and I put my ear to the wall....oh yeah....pipes were banging and they are under my bedroom in a crawlspace.   I turned on the water and there was little water pressure so I figured there was a leak under the house in one of the pipes.  It was about 3:00 a.m. and I had been up since 1:00 trying to figure out what was going on.  I went back to sleep until about 6:00.....waited until 8:00 when my neighbor calls to check in on me.  I asked her if she knew a plumber as mine had retired.  No, so then I called my lawn guy but he didn't know one either.  Then I called my pest control guy and he gave me the name of a plumber.  By now it is 9:00 a.m. and I hear noises outside.  I go to see what it is and the city is digging up my front yard by the water meter............hmmm.......coincidence?  I don't think so!  I call one of the guys over and he said there's a leak (no kidding!) and they are trying to find it and fix it.  I told him my nightly adventure and he said he was pretty sure it was their problem.  PTL!  Who needs a plumber bill at Christmas time?!?  I also got a call from a company letting me know they were sending me something they thought they were out of and would not charge me shipping.  It ended up being a day where I was grateful instead of feeling sorry for myself.  I can't help but think my son had something to do with it.  Love you, Jim!

So, now onto the Advent gifts........so sorry I haven't blogged...it's a busy time of  year.  In fact, Amy and I delayed for a day until my gifts arrived........so, without further delay............

Gift #1 - melties!!!

Gift #2 - a sani-key; anti-microbial copper coated stylus that helps you not touch dirty surfaces

Gift #3 - gourmet almonds

Gift #4 - Sharpies!!!  I needed these....the metallic ones I will use on my oven as the numbers have worn off the temp dials etc.  The other ones will be used for my "lists" of which I have many!

Gift #5 - so nice....this is lemon hand cream with shea butter....ooh la la!  it smells really lemony too and not greasy.....

That's all for today folks!  I will try and keep up now.  It is stormy here today but mostly pouring rain.  There are flood watches but I never worry about that as the lake has a "spillover".  It is really dark out there today.

I hope you are all safe, dry, and healthy!

Happy Trails!!!