Lesson 826: Word of the Year

Merry Christmas, Readers!

Eloise and Family wish you  

the happiest of holidays!

We always make Christmas morning fun.

They are never too old

for Christmas morning magic.

Ellen Louise likes surprises, too,

like this wall hanging of a visual representation

of a sound wave.

However,

she does not like the surprise of a camera snap.

On Christmas Eve I always give them a set of 

new Christmas pajamas.

They also get a gift to open--

typically a game or a movie.

This year I presented each of them

an Amazon Mystery Box.

The boxes were fun to open,

and we sure got some laughs with these hooded towels,

and fake nail sets.

I expected the boxes to have just a couple of items in each,

so I bought three--

one for each of them.

They were chock full to the top!

Amazon played up the "mystery"

but the word for the box really should be "junk."

If you are a person trying to minimize your life,

this is not the box for you to get.

We got a few good things,

like an outdoor speaker and 

this cordless curling iron.

But unless green Halloween wigs,

dog tutus for chihuahuas,

and 600 brand new pandemic masks

appeal to your tastes,

I'd skip the box completely.

The word for our Christmas weather this year was warm!

It was a beautiful day at the Lamp Post on the 25th

and in Marienville on the 26th.

It's a fun practice to choose a word for the upcoming year.

I learned about this from the Happier podcast with Gretchen Rubin.

One Word Theme click here

For the last few years, 

I've taken Gretchen's advice,

and chose a word to use

 as a fun point of focus

for an entire year.

The first year I tried it,

I thought and thought,

and made lists

upon lists

of words.

I asked myself,

What word should I focus on?

as I sifted through my scratchy writing,

sideways on the page,

amidst the doodles.

I chose

the perfect word

for flitsy-ditsy Eloise.

It worked well for a few months,

then this little thing called a pandemic happened.

So for the next year,

I chose

Last year, 

after deciding that focusing on one thing at a time

left me always craving more time

for more things I wanted to do--

Eloise decided to expedite matters.

I chose pair.

Well, actually--

any of these.

I often tried to do two activities at once:

my exercise + dog exercise

dog walk + listen to music

drive around town + podcasts

clean my house + audio book

I thought of my word when I pared down items in my home

to more manageable amounts

(bye-bye million and one tee shirts).

I thought of my word when I matched socks.

I thought of my word when I completed tasks with my husband.

I even ate some of these on a regular basis.

Reflecting on my 2023 word choice,

I liked it! 

It was a good one and added some fun and connection to my daily living.

I've been thinking for most of December about

my Word of the Year for 2024.

Some words that were strong contenders,

but were eventually sidelined for potential future choices were:

bloom (for the Master Gardners)

and 

honey (sweet, vital, golden, healing)

I liked the number word feel that "pair" gave

and considered

trifecta

and 

trinity,

pondering a theme of threes.

It didn't seem right for

the year 2024 as it was an even number. 

Eureka!

I found it!

even

Isn't even a pretty word?

It has multiple meanings, 

which Eloise likes.

smooth

measured

uniform

fair

balanced

Eloise is going to be even tempered in 2024!

(My family just choked on whatever they were taking a sip of,

but I'll show them!)

Wake to sleep hours a bit more even,

I'll start practicing now,

in the last few days of 2023,

and call it a night.

Check back on December 31st

for your bonus blog post:

the annual Lamp Post Year-in-Review, 2023 edition.

It's my favorite to write

every year!

Eloise

Lesson 825: Greetings

Eloise extends her holiday greetings to you, Readers!

Happy Holidays,

but more specifically,

Merry Christmas!

This is how the sun greeted us this morning.

I've been working on my holiday greeting cards.

Some I sent twice.

Some I forgot because I lost my list.

Some are upside down in the envelope.

Some are addressed upside down.

And if you are really lucky to receive one

with an odd smudge--

my pen leaked and I was out of envelopes.

Grandma did a much better job.

Hers arrive with cute stickers 

and matching envelopes.

She picks a special card (or two)

for each of us,

even the dogs!

Did I mention she mails them--

and lives next door!

Grandma says its fun to find a holiday greeting in your mailbox,

and she's right!

Here's a holiday greeting in my listening in-box.

The holiday extravaganza from the 

Stuff You Should Know podcast was published today.

It's a great listen while you are running around on errands

or wrapping those last gifts.

It has a nice history of Christmas greeting cards

that I found quite interesting.

CLICK HERE

The High School Advanced Technologies Group,

made famous last week by contacting an astronaut

on the International Space Station,

brought their equipment to the elementary schools.

They radioed the North Pole

and got to talk to Santa and Mrs. Claus.

Santa and Mrs. Claus told all the children they were on the Nice List.

However,

Santa did issue a stern greeting to 

Clark School's elf named Rosie!

She's been spilling cereal,

sleeping under the Christmas tree,

and fishing in the school's fish tank!

I'm closing this blog tonight 

with a greeting from the balcony of the Warner Theater.

We spent the evening with Grace Church

celebrating the birth of Jesus.

Merry Christmas from Me and Mine

to

You and Yours!

Eloise

Lesson 824: Stars

Hello, Readers!

Eloise, here,

coming to you from the stars.

It was a big week for the Huskies.

My colleagues and 

students in the Advanced Technologies Group

made a radio contact 

with astronauts in the International Space Station.

The noteworthy mention for this motivated group of teens,

is that they built the radio equipment that was used.

Many in the group have HAM Radio licenses, too!

Our achievements are emblazoned on the Wall of Call Signs

in our one time locker room,

turned classroom,

which the kids have named

We proudly display our call signs above the wings 

of this famous Huskie.

NBC Today Show feature reporter, Harry Smith

came to learn about the event 

and interview the students.

The piece will air in early January.

Eloise will let you know when.

Here is the link of the moment when the students made contact.

I will never forget their faces for the rest of my life.

It was the moment they knew all of their hard work paid off.

https://www.facebook.com/100064424630417/videos/3361519347482813

The Lamp Post had a calm weather week.

It's hard to believe I'm walking across dry ground

on crunchy leaves in mid December.

We are all dressed and ready for the snow

but our snow people say our Christmas may be a green one this year.

Penny does not know what to think about that.

We've got a few new decorating stars

mixed with some oldies.

The 1973 Peanuts characters are gathered round the tree.

They better be aware of their surroundings though,

because Woodstock is driving the red truck.

We turned our unused artificial 

into a Grinch tree.

I need a few more finishing touches

and it will be perfect.

The true star of our outdoor lights this year

is the Holy Family sheltered by the barn porch.

The new star is spectacular.

And to the stars of the court tonight--

congratulations on double wins over the fine basketball teams

of neighboring North East.

Sam got the buzzer beater in the JV game to 

give the Huskies a win by 1.

The varsity team won a high energy,

back and forth game

in the final second by 3.

You are all stars in my book.

Big orange,

flaming-hot ones.

Eloise