Not to Be · 365 Project

Not to Be by Rondi Aastrup · 365 Project

I was hoping to post a victory picture or two, but it was not to be.

Giants 21, Patriots 17.
Disappointing.

AFC Champs · 365 Project

AFC Champs by Rondi Aastrup · 365 Project

I've not had the opportunity to watch much of my favorite football team since I moved to Arizona. For some reason programmers think that people in the west are more interested in western teams than eastern ones. So...it was especially fun today to watch more than the highlights of the Patriots' AFC Championship win. Football is not my favorite sport, but I do enjoy the Patriots, especially since Tom Brady became quarterback in 2001...and since he's helped bring about 4 Super Bowl wins....

Photos:  Brady before the game and afterwards.  Score:  Ravens 20, Patriots 23

Happy Hanukkuh, #400, and SNOW!

I failed to notice when I posted on Friday that it was my 400th entry in this blog! It kind of crept up on me when I wasn't looking, I guess. It's kind of amazing to me that I've accumulating that many entries, as I wasn't always that regular in posting. Others I know are much more prolific. I respect their ability to share on a daily basis. My goal is to write more in the coming year. It's good for me, if nothing else.

This weekend our church celebrated Christmas and Hanukkuh in the same service. I thought it was a profoundly beautiful service that not too many people enjoyed, thanks to heaps of snow pouring down from the sky. We had wonderful music (that included my sister, her husband, and two children, all cellists) throughout the service.

Then a Russian scholar of Judaism talked about the origin of Hanukkuh and connected it to the Messiah and Salvation. It was fascinating. He brought with him a handwritten scroll of the Torah that took nearly two years to write. It was very old (don't remember how old) and fragile, but we were allowed to see it up close.

It had started to snow Friday afternoon and didn't stop much over night until early morning. Then it started again in the afternoon and kept on snowing all night and all day. It's still snow, in fact. Many things were canceled becasue of the snow, but not the Patriots' game. If you watched it, you saw how crazy it was out there. I went to a game once, years ago, in the snow. We had sleeping bags and heavy blankets to keep us warm, but there were some who didn't have as much protection. And still they stayed. My eyes watered so much, and then the tears froze on my face and my feet were blocks of ice, in spite of the covering we had. But did we leave? Of course not! That's a New Englander for you =)

All the same, school is already canceled for tomorrow. That's because it has now turned to ice on top of all the snow and is very dangerous. Tough, yes. Wreckless, we're not.