December 3, 2009

• The Shelf Elf and Other Events

  One of Liza’s grand-godmothers (one of her mother’s godmothers; she has 4) gave Liza a Shelf Elf for Thanksgiving.  The Elf is a little doll, and the way it works is you keep it on a shelf in the child’s room or somewhere else in the house.  Every night the Elf goes to the North Pole and reports to Santa on the child’s behavior for the previous day.  To make it look authentic, the parent is supposed to put the Elf in a different place every morning before the child gets up, and that’s how the child knows that the Elf made an overnight trip to the North Pole to see Santa.

  This is charming, and it should be great fun for the whole family.  Unfortunately, Liza figured out that the Elf is a snitch, and it’s living right there in her bedroom.  Liza does not like the idea of some Elf tattling on her to Jolly Old St. Nick this close to Christmas, thank you very much.  She’d just as soon have that Elf stay put on his shelf, where he belongs (the mantle piece in the living room).  Last Saturday Liza told us she’s not going to be afraid of Santa this year, like she has been the last couple of years, but she prefers for Santa to judge her in a face-to-face, where she can at least defend herself, if she has to.  I think this is too funny.

  In Other News:

  • I had a phone call first thing this morning from a very close friend to tell us his daughter gave birth this morning to a bouncing baby boy.  His name is Logan, and he weighed in at 8 pounds, 11 ounces.  He’s 21 inches long.  His dad is about my size (5’8″), but his mother is no bigger than a minute.  He’s now part of the Big 8, Little 6, and now Very Little 6.  When his cousin is born in a few months, it will be the Big 8, Little 6, Very Little 7.
  • Beth had her Christmas Store today for the Bay Education Foundation.  Once a year, a few weeks before Christmas, all the Scholars (middle school and high school students) of the Foundation have a chance to buy Christmas gifts for family and friends using “money” they earn by making good grades, having good attendance, and showing a good attitude (read: good school conduct grades).  The BIG thing this year was a Wii video game, but they had computer printers, i-Pods, and a ton of other, smaller things.  I stopped there to have lunch, as I do every year, and the kids had eaten every slice of the 20 large pizzas they had bought to feed them.  I got one small and very dry cookie.  Once again, though, the Christmas Store was a great success.  Update on 12/04/09:  Last night two local TV stations had great coverage of this event, and this morning the local newspaper ran a front page story about it, with some great photos of the kids.  This is a wonderful program, and I’m glad to see it’s getting the good publicity it deserves.  And no, I’m not a bit biased.
  • This afternoon I had my first computer class for the Council on Aging.  I had 3 ladies as students (ages 60, 65, and 82), and it was quite an experience.  All three of them claimed to know nothing about computers, and, after about ten minutes, I knew they hadn’t lied.  We started working on mouse skills by playing Solitaire, and one lady never could master using the mouse to move cards on the screen.  They’re delightful people, of course, and I know I’m going to have fun working with them.  They wore me out, though, in an hour and a half, which just goes to show how out of training I am. 

  ED

  • 8:51 pm
  • 2 Comments