Lesson 454: Christmas Mysteries

Merry weekend, Readers!

It's the weekend before Christmas 

and the Lamp Post is in full holiday hustle.

The hustle is more like a slow-step, though.

Erie got a blast of snow

and ice.

The weatherman routinely has been posting reports like this.

This is what the gale force winds looked like along the lake shore on Thursday.

The only ones who really don't mind are the kids.

My workout group didn't mind too much, either.

Here they are modeling an exercise called supine jumping jacks,

nicknamed, snow angels.

Great for the inner thighs!

I think they could be mistaken for starfish on a beach.

The season invites such wonder and mystery.

Santa assigned us a real live elf this year!

Via text message.

Santa's a modern man.

We received a text message a few days ago from Santa himself.

He said to pick up the stocking outside of our door.

The typical procedure followed:

Hubby ignored the text.

My phone was lost and didn't see the text.

We tripped over the stocking the next morning,

with this note attached.

Every day we check the stocking which we hang on our front porch,

and every day,

right on schedule,

there is a 12 Days of Christmas themed surprise inside!

The kids are about as excited as kids can be!

This elf sure is stealth.

Some deliveries are made while we are home,

in our fishbowl of a living room.

I can only imagine what we look like

from the outside, looking in.

You can probably add some insight to that, Readers!

To add to the excitement, 

a mystery package arrived at the Lamp Post!

None of us have any idea who B Carlyle is.

This clever LOST themed note was enclosed.

I unwrapped it to find lamp post salt and pepper shakers!

They are absolutely treasured!

Thank you so much, B Carlyle,  for my mystery delivery!

Eloise is searching for clues,

looking for tracks,

dusting for fingerprints,

and creating logic grids to solve these mysteries.

Thanks for the fun!

Photos are posted below of the individuals I suspect to be 

behind this Christmastime magic.

I will narrow my list of suspects over the next few days.

And to all a good night!

ELOISE

See the photo list of suspects below:

??????????

Am I right?

Lesson 453: It Was Fun While It Lasted

Winter greetings from the Lamp Post.

This is the top of my new Lamp Post mailbox.

It was fun while it lasted.

Heavy snow came to our area yesterday.

This happened on the first pass of the snowplow.

Your Christmas cards got a little wet.

I think we rescued them all.

We did a little reading in the friendly little publication Your Harborcreek.

Remember Caddyshack?

We called in our own big guns to fortify it.

In the late 80's, mailbox baseball was the rage.

Ours got whacked numerous times---

until Dad welded a bat-proof box

that he was able to back over with his pickup truck

and it wouldn't dent.
I remember Dad cackling gleefully,

hoping that the mailbox bandits would be wielding a metal bat.

Never had a problem after that.

Our 19th hole looked like this last week.

It was fun while it lasted.

Eloise is feeling a bit under this cold, snowy weather tonight.

I am turning in early 

hoping to garner up enough strength for Christmas prep this weekend.

To make myself feel better,

I'll watch official movie trailer to The Shack, 

with looky who!

You can find the official trailer on Tim McGraw's twitter and facebook.

It can't be shared on this blog to a copyright.

Check it out.

It looks awesome.

The Shack opens on March 3rd-my birthday!

My birthday is on a Friday this year.

Skip the cake

and come plant your butt in a theater seat next to mine,

because you'll know where I'll be.

I'll buy the popcorn.

Oh my!

Goodnight everyone!

Time for my bedtime story,

straight from the Pacific Northwest.

Coolest Christmas gift ever!

Thanks, Angie and Kurt.

Just when I got a break from the

Is There Really A Bigfoot? argument 

because summer in the big woods has passed--

the discussion resumes over caramel filled,

chocolate footprints.

Does Eloise believe or not believe?
That is your thinking homework for the weekend,

answered on next week's blog.

ELOISE

Lesson 452: Namaslay

Hello, Cyber Friends!

It's December in Erie,

and everything looks like this,

with no color adjustment.

This is our grayscape for the next many months.

We do our darndest to fight the winter blahs.

I like to get outside with my workout group a few times a week.

Come join us!

Don't worry about what you are wearing

because we can't see you well, anyway.

The kids at school are getting festive.

We had a door decorating contest.

My neighbor made this cool igloo for the Huskie pups.

My students have been making me smile

as they bring in their Rock Baby houses.

These are from brothers 

whom I like to call

Tweedle T

and Tweedle D.

Hmmmm...

Otto's space ship has a great view of the Super Moon

from the Mission Control panel.

Bonus points to Tweedle D.

I'm having so much fun lugging around this dumb,

two-headed, ugly sweater.

I knew it would be a hit with my workout group.

The counseling department thought it was cool.

I even stuffed the janitor in it.

My friends from Seattle bought one and sent me this!

It's so stupidly fun.

Stop me if you see me around during the next few weeks.

I'll probably have it with me.

Best holiday mood-lifter ever!

It's easy to get blown over by the holiday.

Erie experienced some really high winds this week

as winter is blowing itself into town.

And when the holidays blow in,

so comes the stress if you let it.

I found my new favorite stress reliever!

Yoga by Candace.

Candace is a 32 year old yoga teacher.

She has a large following on social media--

everything from 

blog

to twitter

to facebook

to youtube

to instagram.

If you go to her website you'll find all kinds of really good stuff for free.

She wrote a book, too.

Because I use her website and youtube videos so often,

I bought the kindle version for $9.99.

Candace takes on yoga with a modern spin.

Namaslay is a twist on the term

I read Namaslay cover to cover in just a couple of days.

Well, 

actually,

where the cover would be 

to where the cover would be,

because I never touched paper.

I know print is dead in this cyber world,

but I still miss by hardcover books.

The most convenient piece to her yoga is her phone ap.

There are free links to a multitude of youtube videos.

She makes her money by offering exclusive content for $2 a month.

She also blogs about her favorites and is paid by her sponsors.

Candace had a setback in life with an unexpected,

life-threatening illness.

She recovered through a combination of medicine

and strict diet and exercise.

Her story is very inspiring 

and snippets of it are interspersed throughout her book.

I really dig yoga--

the little I know about it.

I have lots to learn.

Don't think it's weird,

but if you do,

that's ok, too.

I'm learning that's how yoga followers handle things.

Enjoy the Christmas preparations, Readers.

Don't let the holidays get the best of you.

Give them the best of you 

and remember,

Enjoy your weekend!

XOXO

Eloise