Merry Christmas!! (or please substitute alternate winter holiday)

[Lucky]

It's Christmas at the Crumpler household*, so I wanted to take this opportunity to wish all my friends here in the Bull Pen a Merry Christmas, or whatever holiday you celebrate this time of year.

It has been a nice Christmas morning. My mom (77) came over about 6:45, and the kids woke up shortly thereafter. When I say kids I mean my daughter (24) who lives across town, and my son (14) who still lives with us.

Highlights: I got Alice a Roku. I wasn't 100% sure what it was, but we hooked it up and are amazed by the content we can now stream. One thing - we have Amazon Prime, which means that hundreds of movies are completely free, as well as dozens and dozens of TV series.

We got Robert a Cirrus 5 bass. It's either a 2000 model or a 2001, but you couldn't tell it wasn't fresh from the factory. It's a U.S. made bass and is both beautiful and a wonderful playing instrument. He's on Cloud Nine.

We had my daughter's favorite rings re-sized. She opened one and was tickled. When all the opening was over, the second ring was nowhere to be found. We looked frantically for close to an hour, then gave up for a while. She was sitting on the couch sorting through some wrapping tissue, and there it was. A Christmas miracle.

I got my Forecaster, which I will read next week while recovering from surgery. One thing I did peek at, though. If you look in the back on Page 280 at PQS Across America, the very first license plate shown is mine. PQSFIVE from Arkansas. As a Baseball HQ fan since the early 90s, I was tickled.

Alice is cooking a big Christmas dinner, and my old roomie from college days is coming by to share it with us. So, it will be a nice evening.

So, I just wanted to share a little with the fellow Junkies and wish you all the best.




*I'll be in the hospital from the 22nd through the 25th (at least), so we decided to have Christmas early rather than try to have it in a hospital room. The kids were good with it, provided we do everything just like Christmas. So, on Christmas Eve we had all the traditional goodies, Christmas music, Christmas music, etc. The morning was the same, very traditional except for the date. I think it worked out well, all in all.

I hope lots of others will share their holiday experiences, in this thread or elsewhere.

[Lucky]

Hospital? Hope everything's okay.

Back surgery. They're going to try to correct what went wrong with unsuccessful back surgery last year.

I trust the surgeon, but they will have to keep me way under for about five hours, which sort of scares me. I'll be in the hospital from the 22nd through the 25th. The insurance company has approved three days in the hospital. Last year they approved a single night and then it was hit the road.

It's been a miserable year. I'm not expecting any miracles from this surgery, but I am hoping for enough improvement that I can be a better husband and father. Please keep your fingers crossed for me.



(Holiday fun fact: a couple of weeks ago was the junior high band's Christmas program. I sat through the usual fare, then then the band launched into "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)". I couldn't help but wonder what Lennon would have said in 1971 if you told him that his protest song would become a Christmas standard played by junior high bands across the U.S.)

[Erik]

I would think he'd have loved the idea, as he wanted everyone to embrace the message.

Merry Xmas, hope your surgery goes well.

[Stephen]

Happy Hannukah and Merry Christmas to all of you guys as well.

Lucky, I'll have you in my thoughts man.

[Gregg]

Thank you for sharing your Christmas with us.

I am hoping and praying for a miracle for you and your family.


Heavenly Father, thank you for the gift of our friend, Lucky (as we know him).

Please keep Lucky safe during the operation and let him have peace now and through the procedure knowing that you are with him.

Thank you for the gift of Doctors, who's talents you use to heal us. We ask that you keep the surgeons hands sure and steady and that you give them extra wisdom during the operation. Please let their work and the healing be better than any could imagine. Heavenly Father, please heal our friend.

In Jesus name we pray amen.