Stampin' Out Ignorance

I just have to start by saying, "You have to be kidding me!" There is just no way I heard this...

I was at Wal-mart and needed to buy more of the Christmas stamps to send out a few more Christmas letters. When the employee said that they didn't have any, but that they had Kwanza and Hannukah stamps; I was a bit upset. Irrationally, I was thinking that they just didn't carry them. Then one of the other employees, in an attempt to right the situation, told me that Kwanza and Hannukah are the same as Christmas, so it shouldn't matter that they didn't have any Christmas stamps . I looked at her (a bit baffled) and said, "you're kidding, right?" Hannukah is a Jewish holiday and they don't believe in Jesus Christ, and Christmas is the Christian holiday celebrating his miraculous birth. The poor employee looked so confused. I said also that Easter is not the same as Passover. I wanted to finish stampin' out her ignorance by saying that the 4th of July is not the same as Mexican Independence Day. However, I stopped with Easter simply because I thought she might actually say "duh." And if she didn't, I may have either gone into a tizzy over the fallen state of our culture, or just climbed over the counter and taken away her badge explaining that she needed to go back to grade school before she should work with the public.

It turned out that they do carry Christmas stamps, but had just sold out. Thank goodness that was the reason, or I may have gone into another rampage!

HEAVEN HELP US ALL! Please tell me that my friends know that Christmas, Hannukah, and Kwanza are all different.

That little white stuff

Our cousins Linda and Matt visited from Colorado recently. In their generous ways they extended the normal invitation to visit them in Colorado sometime. Maddie was excited at the thought of going to Natalie's house! We also explained to her the greatness of Colorado snow. A few days later, Maddie asked when the snow would come to Texas. I responded that snow doesn't come here very often. She started to cry and declared that we must go to Colorado to visit the snow. It took me a minute to realize why she decided Colorado had her snow. (I didn't instantly remember the snow discussion with Linda and Matt.) I had to add this discussion in honor of Maddie and her childlike joys and hopes. She was so excited when she woke up this morning to a dusting of the white stuff right here in Texas. When I say dusting, it was barely even that. You could see whiteness in the crevices of the rooflines. Well, that was enough to feed her need. Her wish for snow came true, at least true enough for a five year old. May all of our simple wishes come true this season. And may we, like a little child, find our needs met even in the simplest ways. I hope that when I ask for something grand, I can see that a "dusting" is enough. HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

History Fair

Brandon participated in the History Fair this year. His project was on Lieutenant James H. Doolittle. He is one of Brandon's favorite WWII heroes. We all learned a little bit more about him, and our appreciation for all war heroes grew while doing this project. Just thought it fitting to add this experience this week in honor of Pearl Harbor Day.