Song lyrics: "The small fry on our block have all been saving And now they're hiding things and looking sly Mom will get that doodad she's been craving And dad will get his usual Christmas tie .... Christmas can't be far away." Written by Boudleaux Bryant, (1920-1987), and made popular by Eddie Arnold, (1918-2008)

Today is Tuesday, October 13, 2015, and it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, at least in my Santa Enterprise email folder. We already have nine events on the calendar and that doesn't include five more that we will most likely repeat. It will be hectic juggling job, schedule, and commuting here and there but we always look forward to being a part of something that brings such joy to so many. I read some seasonal T-Shirts that I thought were cute. One said: Santa Saw Your Facebook Photos, You Will Be Getting Clothes and a Bible this Christmas! Another one was red, green, and white and had this thought: I have O.C.D., Obsessive Christmas Disorder. The line from the Elf Movie is on shirts too: The Best Way to Spread Christmas Cheer is to Sing Loud for All to Hear. Those that remind us of what our celebration is based on are always appropriate: I Love Christmas Because Jesus is the Reason for the Season. One I saw has a huge picture of the Angry Bird with a Santa hat. The inscription said: Is This Jolly Enough for You? There's always the political commentary to be shared. One has the image of President Obama with the following wording: This year I signed you up for Obamacare but don't worry, your neighbors are paying for it. I also saw a number of T-Shirts that have been made to look like the dreaded throwback and thought to be ugly Christmas sweaters. Those have become real popular for parties and for making fun of those who wear them. Meanwhile, folks are making money off their old ones on EBAY. See what I mean? "Christmas Can't Be Far Away." That's the title to one of my favorite Christmas songs as sung by the late country crooner, Eddie Arnold.

I'll actually be doing my first appearance of the season this next Saturday at the annual craft show the ladies put on at our local Church. It will be a 'take your own' photo with Santa in a fall festival setting. There will be no charges but voluntary donations will be received for the missions outreach programs of our local fellowship. This is a little bit of a new adventure for us as I have worked on some new outfits to use in different settings. Most people have phones today that take photos as well as some expensive cameras. I should have said it this way. Most people have expensive phones that take photos as well as expensive cameras. I should know. My wife has one. Sunday evening I was at Church getting ready to go into class and I was wondering about the Astros score. I walked up to a fellow and asked him if he could get his smart phone to check the score. He said he would be glad to. He then hit a button and held it up to his mouth and said, "What's the score in the Astros game?" The voice responded, "The Astros are currently winning 2 to 1." Now how do you like that? I suppose my little flip phone is very modest because when I held it up to my mouth and asked him a question, he refused to even say one word. Maybe he is the strong silent type.

The other day I heard some ladies talking about how bad some of the grammar is on social media. They were reading texts from college students at the time. Some of it is funny because of how it comes out while at the same time it's sad because it does expose a high level of ignorance. I'm sorry. I couldn't figure out how to say it in a nicer way. I'm not talking about a typo or even a slip up in postings that are typically clear and correct. Here's a real one. I actually saw an image of it from Twitter: "I hope to one day visit the ifold tower in france." Add this to the made up abbreviations and one wonders where it is all headed. Some so called experts say it shouldn't really bother anyone given the nature of the medium, you know, is to communicate. I suppose there's some truth to that but some of it is just hard to take. One was at least apologetic: "I can't rite english 2 good. lol." You think? I know. I'm not on my high horse since I've been frequently made aware of the grammatical errors I perpetrate in my blogs. I will tell you this. I hate it when I let one slip by. I suppose my concern is for our kids. If these very common distortions are a by-product of our educational system, I think, "Houston, we have a problem." I suppose Wilbur learned that working for food would have been a better choice than working as food. That should give us all something to think about. Have a great day and may God bless us all is my prayer. Amen. .....More later.