Gosh, I'm sorry.  I didn't get this updated last week.  I worked on it a little, but ended up with a hurry-up project that made everything else go on hold.

I had another homeowner association board meeting here at my house.  I put together things for discussion.  I had to re-type some things that I had typed originally when I was on the board many moons ago.  I had a Commodore 64 computer back then.  Remember those?  Anyway, I spent many hours on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday getting ready for that board meeting.

Then, after it was over I had a long list of things I needed to do.  I spent many more hours working on those things.  I finally finished them yesterday.  Well, as much as I could do until tomorrow.  Then tomorrow I have more things to do.  Wonder why the workload is leaning heavily in my direction.  There are seven board members, not just one!

Anyway, I really am sorry.  You are higher on my priority list than I have demonstrated.

I got my Christmas decorations up.  Next week I have to start baking Christmas cookies so we can do our traditional thing of handing them to the neighbors and my husband can give them out at work.

I have to work on Christmas presents, too.  I have the presents but there is something I have to do to complete them.  I can't tell you what they are in case one of my family members reads this.  I don't want to spoil the surprise.  I'll show you what it was after Christmas.

My son who was rear-ended three months ago got a call from the claims adjuster for the guy who hit him.  She was asking him all the same questions about his injury as has been explained by him over three times.  Then she tried to tell him that their insurance company was not required to pay for his medical bills but that they were "comping" him.  To comp something is short for complimentary.  She was acting like they were doing it out of kindness or something.  GOOD GRIEF!

Anyway, the medical bills still haven't been paid.  My son still hasn't been able to go back to work because he hasn't been able to get any further medical treatment because the bills haven't been paid.

So, I began writing to the Department of Insurance here in California.  Companies that write insurance in this state have to comply with certain rules and regulations.  I need to finish that letter.  I'm trying to keep it simple but it is hard to do because of all the nonsense that my son has been going through.  I want that insurance company to stop doing this kind of stuff to people.  Oh, yes, I've mentioned it before but I'll tell you again.  That terrible insurance company is Coast National Insurance Company, a member of the Bristol West Insurance Group.  A man recently wrote to me.  He, too, is having lots of trouble with them.  Sad.  The guy who rear-ended my son pays his premiums in good faith thinking that his insurance company will take care of things the way the law requires.  What a waste of money!

I need a vacation!

(In April 2005 I put together a page about that insurance company to warn people.  I found out lots more information about them and they treat a lot of people horribly.  If you want the full story it is here.)

Boy oh boy we've been having weird weather!  I live in Southern California on the edge of the low desert.  Most days during the winter we have sunshine.  The air gets to freezing or almost freezing a few nights during the winter, but we usually have at least 70 degrees during the day.

We've been having lots of rainy and overcast days.  Plants are freezing that have survived for many years.  The mountains around us keep getting more and more snow.  The lower mountains get snow and then it melts, more snow, then it melts... 

I feel like I've been picked up and moved to another state altogether.  It isn't even winter yet and we are getting worse than normal winter-type weather!  Then, all of a sudden, we are having days of sunshine and eighty degree weather!  Crazy!

What?  It's Monday and this is getting updated?  Hey, you think that I am finally starting to get the hint that this is a priority item?  You think?

God has been dealing with me on prioritizing.  I'm not been consulting Him.  I've just been doing what I've programmed myself to do.  Shame on me!  I'm supposed to be listening to God every minute of every day.  I've been pushing Him aside because I was too busy and moving too fast to listen.  Big DUH!

Our weather took another strange turn last week.  The winter winds that we get off and on (called Santa Ana's or Santana's if you want to be exact) usually last anywhere from one to three days.  We had five days worth.  They were real strong for a day and a half.  They were knocking over big trucks on the freeways.

It makes a mess around here, too.  It blows leaves and garbage all over the place.  My front door is in a recess that likes to collect stuff.  So, don't come to my door until I get a chance to clean it up, OK?

I finally got all my Christmas packages mailed at the post office and got all my Christmas cards in the mail.  Now I just need to buy a few more presents.

I hate having to do things at the last minute.  Unfortunately, my involvement in our homeowner association came at a bad time... just before Thanksgiving.  I've spent many days working on correspondence, doing research, etc.  That pushed off the things I wanted to do for the holidays.

Today I want to get things put away.  I've got piles of wrapping paper, ribbon, etc. in the living room.  I have the dining room filled with my project I'm making to give for Christmas presents.  The kitchen is still a disaster from making Christmas cookies.  The family room has a pile of chair parts that my son brought home from work because they told him to throw them away.  My bedroom has piles of clean clothes that I haven't had a chance to put away. 

I think about the times I've seen television news programs or those "Cops" shows where they enter into someone's home that is piled high with messes.  Don't look now, but that is MY HOUSE!  So, no emergencies, no visitors, no anybody comes in until I get it cleaned up!

OK, I have a Christmas present for you.  Gosh, I hope you like it.

Just click on the package and it will give you your present from me.

Oh, silly me.  I left the previous week's scripture "address" on the new scripture.  Last week's scripture was from Matthew 2:4 and NOT from Psalm 103:1!  Too many details, too little brain!

So, this is the last Bible study for 2004.  It better be a good one!  Oh dear, too much pressure.  Who is putting that pressure on me?  Who? I ask you!  Wait, never mind.  It was me.

Somebody's silliness level is way too high this morning.

Now I can tell you what I made for Christmas presents.  I gave family pictures (the same picture I gave you last week) to our family members.  I cut the mats for the pictures myself.  A year ago I bought a mat cutting system and finally used it.  They came out pretty good, for a beginner.

I gave my brain a workout, though.  Calculating the cuts was rough since I created a little window below the pictures to insert a label with our names and the date.  When you cut mats you have to allow an extra quarter inch since the cutter doesn't go right up to the straight-edge.  For some reason I had a great deal of difficulty getting the dimensions correct.  I would have done all right had I not had to cut so close to the edge of the mats.  I had to put in a spacer and that, for some reason, made my brain not function properly in calculating the measurements.  I had to throw out a few before I got it right.

I had been put into a rush for time since the pictures didn't arrive as quickly as I had hoped.  So, I felt rushed and that was not helping things.  I was going back and forth from cutting mats to baking cookies and wrapping presents to mail.  Fortunately, all got done and were delivered in time.  Yay!

We are getting quite a bit of rain.  I had to keep checking the wash behind our house to see what was happening out there.  There are quite a few trees that are lying down due to previous rains and winds.  That means the water (which can rush through there like a river) gets pushed farther to the sides and can flood the back yards, including ours.

I would love to have all the people who have, over the years, fought the idea of removing the trees come over and watch when the water gets real high.  They would change their opinions very quickly.  It is easy to think another thing when it is hot and sunny in the summer and the trees are throwing some cool shade.  The only people who really know the dangers are the ones whose houses back onto the wash.  Most of the other homeowners have not ever seen it.

In the past, when I was on the board of directors, we gathered information from the flood control, fire department, engineers, and even consulted a lawyer to find out the best way to reduce our liability in our common areas.  Removing the trees was a biggie.

Since they didn't like the sound of having to spend any extra money, various homeowners got on the board and promoted their own ideas of what was good.  I had to resign from the board because I became a "bad guy" and nobody wanted to hear anything that came out of my mouth.  I was too "legalistic" since I wanted to follow all the guidelines we had collected from the experts.  Oh, yes, and I was "sue happy" since I kept mentioning that, if we didn't follow the guidelines and someone got hurt, we would get sued.  Sigh.

My husband is home this week since it is winter break from school.  Sad.  It used to be called Christmas break.

Anyway, I'm trying to get him to help me do some things that require muscles so my schedule has been a little off and that is why this didn't get done Monday.  Plus, he kind of expects me to hang around with him while he's home.  Is that a good excuse?  Let's take a poll.  Click on this button for
YES-and click on this button for NO-.