Last night our Covenant of Grace church family gathered at the home of one of our member families to celebrate God's goodness through the Reformation. It's something we do each year, focusing on one area and one leader of the Reformation. One of the highlights is sharing food from the part of the world we're studying, and last night it was French and Swiss food, in honor of the 500th birthday of John Calvin. It was a cozy little group of 93 of us in one of the only houses that will still fit most of us and we had a glorious time!

Each year about this time I go looking for a Thanksgiving checklist...a timeline for getting everything done. But the ones I find never seem to cover our unique traditions and needs. So this year I went to the Internet and downloaded seven or eight different ones, copied and pasted them all into one document, and then crossed out duplications, added things we do that no one else would do (Make sure we have a serviceable football), and adjusted for the odd way we tend to operate around here. Now I have my own very detailed but personalized list of what to do "Four Weeks Before" all the way to "Thanksgiving Morning." It should service me well for many years.

Who'd have thought I'd ever be glued to the coming results of an obscure upstate New York congressional race?

After a couple of years of disinterest, I've again become very active on eBay, using it to collect table linens, silverware, glassware and extra serving pieces for our holiday tables. I love it that no matter what pattern I'm after, someone is selling it. Yes, some of it is way beyond what I want to pay, but I've stuck with it long enough this year to get most of what I need and want at reasonable prices. Twenty years ago I'd never have believed this virtual worldwide garage sale!

We're having two sets of company this week...more on that later!

It's always startling on the first night after the time change...I actually love it when it gets dark early, but it's still a little disorienting.

And that's precisely why the Snippets are abbreviated tonight. I'm disoriented and sleepy and have to be up early. Have a great week!

Labels: Church, Holidays, Political Observation, Sundays