Merry Christmas!

The Real Saint Nicholas

Here is a brief blurb about the real Saint Nicholas. I think my dad, who sails for a living, will be happy to know that St. Nick is also the patron saint of sailors!

"The historical St. Nicholas of Myra is a far cry from Santa Claus. He's the patron saint of children, women seeking husbands, travelers and more. Of the few things we can say with historical certainty about this saint of early Christianity is that he indeed lived. He was born in 280 and his see was on the Mediterranean coast, in an area where St. Paul had first brought the gospel a few hundred years earlier. The busy seaport of Myra, in the Asia Minor province of Lycea, is present-day Demre, Turkey. He was such a devoted and holy bishop that, much like Mother Teresa today, the people immediately recognized him as a saint. Thus, the Church kept careful track of his remains after he died in about 342...

Patron of Sailors
There are countless stories of St. Nicholas intervening to help sailors in times of distress. The most famous is told of a time when Nicholas went across the sea on pilgrimage to the Holy Land. A frightful storm came up, and the sailors feared they all were about to die. They came to the holy bishop and pleaded for his help. Nicholas prayed fervently, and the seas became miraculously calm. The sailors were amazed and gave praise to God.
It is said that on the return voyage a sailor fell to his death from a high mast. Nicholas prayed over the man and he came back to life. Nicholas never took credit for any of his deeds. He always instructed the people to turn their hearts to God and repent from sin. "
For full text, go to: http://www.americancatholic.org/Messenger/Dec2002/Feature1.asp

The Powers of Ten

As promised in my last post, here is my favorite documentary video of all time. It can be seen in its entirety as this link: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5555313278261147278&q=powers+of+ten The video will start automatically if you click on this link. The video lasts 9 minutes, but it will feel like only a few went by. This video takes you from the edges of the universe to the nucleus of a single atom. Every ten seconds the picture on the screen will take you either 10x closer or 10x further from the specified object. Hillsdale friends may recognize this video from the physics movie nights. I myself saw it in my dorm freshmen year at a Neidfeldt Monday Night Documentary. So Neidfeldt, so good. So enjoy!

9th Annual IAWL Party

The big night came and went. We had 21 people at our 9th annual It's a Wonderful Life Party Christmas Party. I cleaned all day the day before and the day of while Kim was busy in the kitchen cooking some great hors dourves. She made several types of cookies, caramel corn, an amazing crab dip, meatballs, bacon-wrapped waterchestnuts, and we also had platters of veggies, crackers and warm brie, etc. The picture to the left is the sign given to us from our friends Setha and Carrie down the hall from us to hang from our door. We took out the bed in our bedroom and turned it into the talking room during the movie. In the past, most people actually did not watch the movie and would be in other rooms chit-chatting. This year all but three people watched the film, by far the largest percentage. Highlights include having Joel, Allie and sister Melissa drive in from the city to make the party. Joel has only missed one party in 9 years. His sister caught her long hair on fire, but Joel was quick to pound it out. The stop, drop and roll method was not needed. But I had a blanket if the situation had escalated. We had one first timer there who had never seen the movie before, which is always a treat. I showed them the alternate ending to the film [Saturday Night Live did a short skit were George's Uncle remembers what happens to the money and all the people that have gathered at the Baileys home in the last scene turn into a mob and go and beat-up Potter]. Classic. I forgot to take pictures like usual, but others there took pictures and once I get them, hopefully in a day or two, I will add them to the post. The picture to the left is the wall in our hallway, which is actually up all year. The smaller pictures are postcards that my Dad found for me in Minnesota, I believe. Sorry that there are not more photos, but like I said, I was busy hosting and forgot to take a few snapshots. I am officially all done with the semester after finishing a 15 page paper on Numbers 22:22-35, the passage is on Balaam's donkey. I could talk ad nauseum concerning it. Kim and I are flying to Nebraska on Saturday for four days and then it's back to work for Kim on the 28th. I have a great post to add later this week about my favorite documentary ever. Stay tuned.

Busy Week Ahead

Kim and I are getting ready for our 9th annual "It's A Wonderful Life" Christmas Party this Saturday, but we still have to clean, figure out a menu, buy food, and cook food and clean the house again. And if you have not seen this movie, here is a link to a 30 second synopsis of the film portrayed by bunnies: http://www.angryalien.com/1204/wonderful_lifebuns.asp.
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A big thanks to Anna D. for the link. I have one 15 page paper and a Greek final exam left for this semester. Kim is working late Thurs and Fri. So, we are wondering how its all going to work out, but it will. Look for pictures and recaps after the party.

Michigan vs. Nebraska

ESPN, Wed Dec 28, 8 pm:

Michigan vs. Nebraska.

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The unthinkable has happened. For the next 25 days my marriage may experience major turbulence. We knew that the only way we would ever see our beloved teams play would be in a bowl. Low and behold, this is the year. We ask for your prayers during this trying time. We have always rooted for each other's favorite teams and have said many times that the only time we wouldn't root for them is if they played each other. I don't know if we'll be able to watch the game together... but we will and someone will be cheering every play while the other gives a very dirty look. Any ideas for a good "friendly wager?"

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"The match-up between Nebraska and Michigan will pit two of the all-time winningest programs in college football. Michigan is atop the all-time win list with 848 victories, while Nebraska ranks fourth with 793 all-time wins. The two schools have met just five times in school history and just twice since 1917. The most recent matchup between the two schools was 20 years ago, when Michigan posted a 27-23 victory over the Huskers in the Fiesta Bowl following the 1985 season. Michigan leads the all-time series between the schools, 3-1-1." (huskers.com)