Yesterday was a day to decompress. I woke about four but made myself stay in bed. Unbelievably I went back to sleep and woke about nine-thirty.

I took a quick shower and decided to go get a haircut, since this would be the only day the shop would be open when I would have the opportunity.

When I arrived I could see several people waiting, but when I walked in Leonard (or Lenny), one of the barbers was sitting in his chair. Everyone waiting was waiting for Tina to cut their hair. To be honest, Leonard probably cuts my hair better than Tina or Toni, but I usually take whoever can get me in and out more quickly.

From there I went to Hastings to look for a DVD. I want to get "The Ghost and Mr. Chicken" for the boys. In fact I think Kat and Addie would enjoy it too. It is a 1966 release starring Don Knotts. An aspiring typesetter wanting to be a reporter gets a chance to prove himself by spending the night in a haunted house. I am not sure, but if I remember correctly Tim Conway was in it as well but it was before he became a regular on the Carol Burnett Show.

I looked until I got tired of looking.

From there I did do a little Christmas shopping.

My final stop was HEB. I guess they have figured out I am an easy mark. Last time I was in there I took advantage of some "in store" coupons and saved over $15. Yesterday I saved $52. I went in for one thing, but ended up picking up a ham and turkey for our traditional Christmas Dinner, whenever we decide to have it.
I ended up getting thirty items free for purchasing certain items. The savings was over 25% of the bill. It was somewhat easier this time because I kind of benefited from having done it before. The worst part is it can be work to find some of the items. You have to use your brain. Even though they have one station with the majority of the free items there, all of them were not.

I had been trying to decide what to give Sylvia and her husband for Christmas. This is the first time I have been working at the parts store during Christmas, so I finally just asked her if they exchanged gifts between employees. She said she gave gifts, but Chris considered the Christmas bonus as his gift, and Max was kind of hit and miss. I decided I would give Sylvia and Oscar a HEB mesquite cooked and sliced brisket. I know we enjoy them and I think she would too. I also think this isn't something she would splurge and buy for herself. If she has family in besides Willie, it would be a quick and easy meal main course. Whip up some potato salad and warm some beans and you have a feast.

As I mentioned earlier, she is giving us four dozen homemade tamales!

I think I may give Max and Chris gift certificates. Max always eats at Retta Maes, but I don't know if they have gift cards. (It is weird, but Max doesn't even own a stove and doesn't want to). Chris buys a lot of CD's and stuff online, so something he could use like that might be in order. Of course he always is upgrading his drum set. His latest project is new cymbals.

Krl is puny. She thought she had the flu. I did too after Kat was diagnosed with H1N1. However, Dr. Mackie said she has bronchitis and a bacterial infection. He gave her a shot and prescribed some oral medication that is so raunchy he had to give her a nausea medication they normally use on chemo patients. The only thing she had been able to eat was a strawberry milkshake I brought home Friday night. Yesterday I did surprise her with a burrito supreme and she ate it over the course of the afternoon. This treatment is an eight day treatment so she will get through with it Christmas Eve. I hope her stomach sees some instant relief when all the meds are gone. Her instructions are if she should throw up, she is to immediately go in and get a shot or they have to start the meds over. This is almost the case of the cure being worse than the illness.

I have had opportunity to watch another remarkable Home Extreme Makeover. This one involves the Martinez family in Albuquerque, New Mexico. They returned to a troubled neighborhood and have dedicated themselves to returning it to a desirable neighborhood. The operate a mission and something like a halfway house. The Dad said that twenty years ago he was sleeping in his car behind a motel and he connected with the brokenness of the homeless and he and his wife have made it their mission to help others. An outstanding episode.

Abilene High Eagles won State yesterday. Way to go Eagles! Graham Steers fell one point short after going for a two point conversion and the win instead of tying it up and going to overtime. I like the fact that Brad decided to go for the gusto! The Albany Lions fell after leading by ten. Congratulations to all of them for a great year!

Rian called me yesterday. He said Friday night he and Erica and the boys took the motorhome acquisition out for a drive. In fact, Erica even drove it. Yesterday Rian and the boys took it to have the heater, defroster, a/c motor check out. Turned out the place they went wouldn't work on it and tried to tell Rian what he already knew. He went home and found the problem. In a funny happening, the boys call the motorhome "the bus". In fact, Rian said Reid had gone and asked the neighbors to come over last night to ride around in the bus looking at Christmas lights. Rian got busy because they had to have Christmas carols and the radio was not working so he made a dash to Walmart to get a new AM/FM CD player.

Well, have a day!

FATHER thank YOU for all our blessings, for all our successes. Help us to learn from our failures. Forgive us when we fall short.