Twas the Night before Christmas

‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads;
And mamma in her ‘kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled down for a long winter’s nap,

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.

The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow
Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below,
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer,

With a little old driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name;

‘Now, DASHER! now, DANCER! now, PRANCER and VIXEN!
On, COMET! on CUPID! on, DONDER and BLITZEN!
To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!
Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!

As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky,
So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,
With the sleigh full of toys, and St. Nicholas too.

And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
As I drew in my hand, and was turning around,
Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.

He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;
A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack.

His eyes — how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow;

The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath;
He had a broad face and a little round belly,
That shook, when he laughed like a bowlful of jelly.

He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself;
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread;

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all the stockings; then turned with a jerk,
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose;

He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,
“HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO ALL, AND TO ALL A GOOD-NIGHT!”

by Major Henry Livingston Jr. (1748-1828)

By Peggy Schlichter

Update 2 – Well the computer is still in the shop.  Seems to have a replicating trojan that is continuing to reappear every time they think it is gone.  Norton did not catch it and spyhunter can not clear it.  Am keeping my fingers crossed that they find the solution soon.

Update – Well I finally got the computer to the shop.  Do not expect to get it back until Friday at the earliest.  Hope everyone had a good holiday.

It is the time of year when we look around and give thanks for all the good in our lives.

All in all it was a pretty good year.  All the family health problems have resolved themselves.  Everyone seems to be in good spirits and looking forward to the holidays.  I have had the pleasure of reconnecting with several old army friends this year.  Some I have not seen in 30 years.  Yep things are pretty good this holiday season.

So I guess in the grand scheme of things having my computer crash last night is just a small bump in the road.  I have come to he conclusion that Norton is not all it is cracked up to be.  Every time I have had trouble with the computer it is because Norton says it needs to fix something.  So I tell it okay fix it and it breaks something else that I cannot repair myself.  There goes another $100 just so the repair guys can run their “Fix What Norton Broke Disc”.  Have decided to not worry about it until after the Thanksgiving holiday is over.  I do not have time to get it to Des Moines today or tomorrow anyway.

Will check the blog whenever I get next to a family computer until mine is back up and running again.

Enjoy the holiday everyone.