Christmas Pictures and kitty poses

Here are pictures I finally got developed. You can see my Christmas tree - the first one I have had in six years. You can see how the cats have taken over the place. You can also see pictures from my FIRST trip at the nutcracker. I would have taken more pictures at the Nutcracker but I got caught taking these pictures and they told me to stop. The pictures at the Nutcracker are from inside the Boston Opera House that was renovated 10 + years ago at over $3 million dollars I think. Anyway, enjoy the pictures and see that Christmas is pretty good up here.

Thanksgiving Pix

Scroll down to the Thanksgiving Post and you will see three pictures of my Thanksgiving Day - including an owl that I met while we were there. It was soooo soft. NOTE: the group shot by the fireplace is one that I took with a professional digital camera. It was NICE. A dream nice. :)

WHAT A SURPRISE I GOT TODAY

I had a rough week this week. It was a long, challenging, roller coaster of a week. I won't go into details, just know it was AHHHH. Anyway, today is Sunday the 9th and I had the best surprise of ALL. I was getting ready to walk on the chancel today and I was surprised with the visit of dear friends the LeRoux's from New Highland Baptist. It was a MUCH NEEDED surprise. David, Alicia, and Caroline came Boston for a four day weekend and surprised me. They have known for a while they were coming and did not tell me.
I can't tell you what a blessing it was to have them here, to come all this way and care that much to visit. THEN on top of the visit to church, they took me around Boston for the day. God, I know God had a plan. I had nothing planned for the day. The first day in quite a while where I had nothing going on. I got to spend the day with friends.
First, they took me out to lunch at a quaint cafe in the Isabella Stewart Garden Museum. http://www.gardnermuseum.org/ It was a beautiful place, with gorgeous paintings, gardens, and artifacts. Unfortunately, they were having a special event going on so we could only see the museum for about an hour.
Next, we went down to Govt Center and walked around and SHOPPED around Fanueil Hall. That was fun fo rme to see them in their excitement of history, shopping, and entertainment.
THEN....You are not going to believe this...BUT they took me to see the NUTCRACKER!!!! YES - THE NUTCRACKER!!! I teased Alicia because she is always reading my blog but had not for the past week. I was just as excited to see it today as I was last week and it was just as magical and phenominal. It was also wonderful to be able to share the experience with them. It was wonderful to be able to share my new life with people from home and they came up here to see me and they took the time out to do that. AFter the ballet it was time to say goodbye but I did not want to however I was wiped out. I felt bad but they understood completely. They kidnapped me for the day and it was the best kidnapping I could imagine.
They did not know the kind of week I was having but I bet God knew. All the way home, I was thanking God and smiling about my day. Thank you.

The Nutcracker - oh my goodness

I have seen the Nutcracker before but I have NEVER seen the ballet performed in the manner in which I witnessed it Saturday night. I was given the gift of a ticket to see the Boston Ballet and their performance of The Nutcracker, accompanied by the Boston Ballet Orchestra. Richmond is good, but this is 10 times better. It was wonderful. It was riveting. It was creative. There was magic. There was humor. There was fantasy and hope. There was even a hot air balloon. This was the first time I was taken into another world and became a part of the company. I was moved. It was breathtaking.
What helped was to enter into a beautiful Boston Opera House, down in the theatre district. I took pictures before I was caught and told to stop. So I am hoping they will come out for you to see. We are very busy at the church right now and this ballet was a much needed respite for me. It was a wonderful release.

I bought my first Boston Christmas ornament and purchased one of the nutcrackers. It is hanging on my brand new Christmas Tree that I have not had in six years. But right now, it is the only thing hanging from the tree. Thankfully I have Monday off to work on it some more. :-) I will try and take pictures of those too.

Hey - if you are reading this. A digital camera would be wonderful Christmas gift!!!!!!

Go see "Bobby"

I saw the movie Bobby this week. Movie about Robert Kennedy, written and directed by Emilio Estevez. You need to go see it, especially if you were not around at that time. The most amazing part of the movie was the actual footage of Kennedy speeches and photographs of his life. I was two years shy of seeing Kennedy. Seeing this film and the speeches and pictures really helped me to understand him, his passion, and his mission. It was good for me.
The movie itself was very busy. What I thought was going to be a documentary of sorts about the real life, it was a movie about the lives of 15 or so different people on the day of the California Primary. But what made it work was the connection of the Ambassador Hotel and their connection to Bobby Kennedy's impact on the United States and the world. You only wish that he were here today. And the other big question for me was, if Kennedy were not killed, can you imagine how different things would be now?
Anyway, go and see the movie and see the life of Bobby in the pictures and hear it in the speeches.