I long for snow

I do. I love snow. I love the soft sound, the quiet. I love the way it looks, and the way it feels.

But most of all, I long to see how the bee responds to the joys of snow in her fourth winter, and how Huck enjoys it in his second.

My children are absolute joys to me. I can't wait to see their response to so many things.

Alcohol

I love a good beer. Ambers are my favorite, and I like to discover local breweries and sample their beers.

I like wine, but am not a wine snob. I'll drink two buck chuck with pleasure.

I don't like hard liquor that well, but it is fun for cooking, and sometimes cocktails.

But one of the things that we include in our food storage is whiskey and vodka. Now, we don't drink whiskey or vodka, though my husband does enjoy a bit of makers mark once in a while.

IMO alcohol is essential for food storage and especially a TEOTWAWKI situation. Alcohol is incredibly useful, especially high proof alcohol. It can be used for cleaning wounds, knocking someone out if they need a splint put on or bones readjusted, making extracts and tinctures, and even currency.

I store cheap whiskey and vodka. NO need to store high quality alcohol as the cheap stuff will do the job just as well.

Christmas and the meaning behind it

I'm not a big "Keep Christ in Christmas" type of gal. I couldn't care much less if a retailer has up holiday signs rather than Christmas signs. I don't expect a secular world to live a Christian lifestyle, and have Christian principles. But in our home we aren't huge into the whole birthday of Jesus thing either. Christmas to me isn't about the birth of Messiah, that is what Sukkot (Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year) is all about. But the fact is that we wouldn't be celebrating Christmas if Jesus wasn't born, despite the fact that he wasn't born anywhere near the time of Christmas.

What Christmas is though, to our family, is a time of giving and loving on as many people as we are blessed to do. I want my children to not only have fond memories of the gifts they get on Christmas morning, but also experience the thrill of giving and sharing with our friends, neighbors, and those who are less fortunate than us.

One idea that I'm incorporating this year to pick a family and sponsor them for christmas without them knowing. We are going to drop off a small gift, food item, card or whatnot every day today through Christmas day. I know this family, they are friends of ours, and they are really struggling financially this year. I'm excited to have the bee help out making small things, and dropping them off. Teaching her that it really is more blessed to give than to receive.