Winding Down 2008! ::

And we have 22 days of The Shrub left!

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas and holiday season and we're looking forward to a Happy (and safe) New Year.

I'll be interested to see how the holiday shopping season shakes out. I actually wound up spending more than usual, but the big purchase was a 32" HiDef television to replace one of my 19 year old RCAs. I tried, and I hope succeeded, to get some educational gifts for the grandkids. I think this is the first year I haven't gotten them any books, but I'll send them some reading material throughout the year. Savannah has become interested in music so we gave her J.'s Guthrie guitar in hopes she will become the musical one in the family. Before her accident J. did a mighty Janis Joplin imitation on stage and we spent many fine nights around a campfire with the guitar accompanying a sign-along. When she had the accident the subclavian artery from her heart to her left arm was torn in half which necessitated an arterial graft. Unfortunately the nerve which controls the left vocal cord wraps around this artery and was cut in the process so she has a permanently paralyzed vocal cord and her singing days on stage are over.

I'm wandering again and losing track of why I started this post. I was in the local Wal-Mart garden (read Christmas) shop earlier this evening and didn't expect to see much left on the shelves. Normally when the holiday merchandise is put on deep discount after Christmas the shelves empty very quickly, but this year seems to be much different and there are still an awful lot of holiday decorations on the shelves. This seems to say more to me about this economy we are experiencing than anything else I have noticed!