A rather unusual Christmas

'Twas the morning of Christmas, and all through the house. Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse--at least not until about 8 a.m., with the youngest BoilerBaby not arising until a leisurely 9:30 a.m. That was the first sign that this Christmas might be a bit different.

We we did everything pretty much the same as most other years, but with very different results. The fam opened up their "surprise" Christmas pajamas on Christmas Eve, but we didn't take the pajama pic until this morning. When everyone finally did arise, our breakfast of churros con chocolate, courtesy of BoilerBaby 1, and breakfast tacos, by Chef BoilerBaby 2, pushed back the gift thing until at least 11 a.m. We took our time opening gifts, savoring our smaller Christmas. Final dinner prep didn't really begin until 1 p.m. As of 3 p.m., 50% of the BoilerFam was still attired in Christmas pjs. Doesn't really matter who, but it was just that kind of day. The fact that this year we went no where and kept Christmas all in the family made it no big deal.

Dinner was good and the conversation good, including the walk down memory lane of some of BoilerBaby2's antics from his childhood--there were many. We rounded out the day with a few games of killer Blokus, one of the family gifts. We are a competitive family, and by the second game, it was all out war.

Some oddities:

--BoilerBaby 2 got nothing that required electricity or batteries.
--Everybody else did.
--BoilerBaby 2 was the official photographer, and had great fun acting like a paparazzi (I don't see a career in photography in his future).
--as of midnight, everyone in the BoilerFamily was awake and going strong.

It was a blessed day.

Everything old is new again??

When I was a schoolgirl, I was such a geek! Yeah, I liked to climb trees, ride my bike, and play, "the boogey man's gonna get you" with my friends, but in my mind, there was little better than a day off from school and morning filled with game shows. Back in the day, the game shows would start at 9:00 and last until about noon when the soaps would start. Split Second, The Joker's Wild, The Price is Right, The $10,000 Pyramid (before inflation made it The $100,000 Pyramid) and of course, Password.

Good stuff, so I was pretty excited when I saw the promos for the new Million Dollar Password. I had to watch! Was it what I expected?? Well, yes and no. The rules are basically the same, although the new format makes the game move lots faster. There's still the risk of a lame celebrity losing the game for the contestant. But. . . what happened to the guy who used to say in the deep whisper, "The password is 'cantankerous' or whatever the word was. It made the password really seem like a true secret because you knew something that no one in the studio knew except AllenLudden.

I guess with the top payoff being $1 million, there just wasn't enough money to hire that guy.

It Makes Me Hungry

Ever so often, I like to check out a blog that I found by happenstance. The blog is written by a New York foodie, who, as the blog name implies, sorely misses Texas. I believe she is a food photographer, and she takes beautiful pictures of mouthwatering food, often posting a recipe for the pictured item. Just looking at the picture at this post or this one makes me so-o-o hungry. The next time I'm in New York, I've got to get me some champurrado--or maybe I should give the recipe a try.

Blogging Jeopardy

I leave town for a couple of days and what happens?? I fall behind on my Jeopardy! viewing. And so, the Jeopardy! marathon! Would Geoff Moore repeat or be just another flash in the pan? Day 2 of the GM run, Moore was quite impressive--winning $37,200. Ah . . . that Baylor education is truly money in the bank. And the marathon continues.

Day 3 begins. Geoff got beaten to the buzzer on the first clue, notwithstanding that the category was "Movie Title Adjectives." The first clue was "________ Saddles." Barb rang in lightning fast with a perky, "What is Blazing?" Geoff got off to a bit of a slow start, but as has been the case the first two days, he was strong through both rounds. The low point of the show was when Alex got all three players to agree that of course the music group ABBA would want him to join the band based on his reading of the ABBA lyrics. Come on Geoff! There's no sucking up at Baylor!

Either way, Geoff went into Final Jeopardy ahead. Did he emerge victorious?? Aa-a-a-g-g-h-h-h! Only the first player got the right answer. The second place guy missed the clue, but made a very small bet. Geoff missed it too, but went big. So, alas, some guy who had a propensity to jump up and down, won.

It was a good run.

Drive-thru chuch

I was driving down the highway when a big banner on a church caught my attention: 30 Minute Church Service. That was the selling point. A total of 10,080 minutes in a week, and the selling point is one need devote only 30 minutes, a mere .003% of the week to worshiping?

I was just about to climb on my high horse when I remembered that the church service at my church is only an hour. If the service runs beyond the 60 minutes, people start to squirm, particularly if it's a Sunday when the Cowboys play the early game or the Lady Bears have a basketball game. So while I could spin it to smugly note that we worship twice as long as the people who attend the 300minute service, it still amounts to only 006% of the week. As one of my good friends, who attends church for at least two hours each Sunday, likes to say, we've got that quickie church.

I suppose even 30 minutes (or 60 minutes) spent in worship is better than spending those 30 minutes sleeping, golfing, reading the Sunday New York Times, but there's just something about advertising a particularly short service. What's next? Drive-thru church? Oh wait. That already exists.

Baylor knocks off Amherst! (And Babs is everywhere)

Would this be a reference to football? Basketball? Wii Bowling? No!!!

Jeopardy! Yes, that's right. Geoff Moore, Baylor alum, who during his interview with Alex, talked about being one of the bear trainers for the Baylor Chamber, emerged victorious in today's episode, defeating Amherst student and four-time champion, Ben Bishop. Bishop was a four-time champion who had amassed some $114,000.

Geoff went into Final Jeopardy ahead. Ben, who'd thus far been pretty impressive, missed giving the correct "question", which was "Who is Barbra Streisand?" But the minute Alex announced the Final Jeopardy category--Actor/Directors--I knew that Geoff, now a LA screenwriter, had the edge. And sure 'nuff, he answered correctly and then raised his hand in a bear claw, leading Alex in a round of "sic 'em Bears." Okay, no he didn't, but he should have.

As to Babs, how fitting that the day after she and GW Bush traded "un beso" (evidence that I did learn some Spanish during my recent visit to Granada), she would appear in the Final Jeopardy question.

The Future of labor unions, particularly, the UAW

The Big 3 American auto companies are in desparate financial condition. If GM's CEO is to be believed, GM is at risk of going bankrupt if it doesn't get help fast. So, who's to blame? The anti-union crowd, mostly conservatives, want to blame unions. But the answer can't be that simple. With a companies as old and complex as any of the the automakers, there are too many elements that went into making the companies successful when they were kings of the hill and that have now coalesced to put them on the brink of financial disaster.

Yes, the UAW has insisted on huge hourly wages for essentially unskilled labor. The unions have negotatiated collective bargaining agreements that create specialized jobs that can be done by only certain workers, diminishing the flexibility of the auto companies to simply get the job done.

But the simple fact is that there is plenty of blame to go around: the execs who failed to develop fuel efficient cars or to design and build cars that matched the reliability of the Japanese cars to start. And let's not forget American consumers who demanded their pick-up trucks and SUVs (this consumer included). Detroit gave us what we wanted. Gas was relatively cheap, so that unlike many other parts of the world, where SUVs are a rarity, Hummers and Excursions ruled our roads.

The UAW did what all unions are supposed to do: get the best wages and working conditions they can for their members. It was the UAW's duty to seek top wages and the best retirement plans, as well as the best health care plans and working conditions it could get. To put it another way, the UAW did what every party to a contract does: looks out for its own best interest. That's true of every union--and every executive, who negotiated multi-million dollar compensation packages--and collected their paychecks religiously, even when their companies were bleeding money.

The UAW has already shown signs of granting concessions, as well it must. The future of the UAW is quite obviously dependent on the survival of the automakers, and like any organization, the UAW will experience a paradigm shift to ensure its continued existence. I expect that Congress will work out a bail-out package for the companies and that everyone with an interest in the automakers will have to concede in ways they might have never imagined. In the end, the UAW will survive.

Bye OJ!

Lightning doesn't often strike twice, and it didn't happen here. OJ might have beat the rap on the murder charges 14 years ago, but he didn't beat the rap this time. While the judge didn't exactly throw the book at him, she did send him off to jail for at least 9 years--and that assumes he gets parole when he's first eligible.

"I was stupid." So says OJ. Really?? How pathetic. The man who had everything, personality, athletic ability, looks, and enough acting talent to generate big bucks now joins the ranks of others like him who ended up in jail. Bye OJ. Give my regards to Michael Vick.

The Diamond Anniversary

Prohibition ended 75 years ago. I think that's a cause for celebration. Cheers!

Peace on Earth

Here we go again. The battle over "Merry Christmas" vs. "Happy Holidays." It's bad enough that anyone would spend time on such a trivial matter. It's even worse that Christians would insist on "Merry Christmas" when there is so much Christian work of importance to do, which might actually serve to spread the gospel.

If anyone were to ask me, I'd say, how 'bout just remembering that this is the season for peace on earth, goodwill towards men. Rather than becoming combative about "Happy Holidays", maybe we should seek peace and spread a little goodwill. Just a thought.