XM Is Here To Stay!!

I recieved my XM2GO Satillite Radio today. Yep 'er, it arrived safe and sound to the top of my mail box. Now I realize that you do not need a college degree to deliver mail, but it seems that common sense should be a requirement! I have been expecting my radio for the past couple of days, so I had been on the lookout for it. Today as I came home from the church I saw something big ON THE TOP, did I tell you, ON THE TOP of my mailbox!!! Eighteen wheelers and log trucks frequently cruise by our house at high rates of speed which could have easily shaken my mail to the ground/road. Hello! I am sure what she was thinking went something like this, "Let's see. It is the middle of winter. The weather is unpredictable. It could rain. It could snow. Winds could reach 30 - 40 miles per hour (which it seems all three have occured in recent days) so I guess the best place to put this man's mail is right smack dap on the top of his mail box. Just in case, I will raise the flag to give it something to lean on." The only way I can excuse such madness is, SHE'S A WOMAN!!!!!!!!!

A 2 Cent Annoyance

One of the great annoyances in my life the past few days has been the US Postal Service's grand idea to raise the price of stamps, AGAIN! The local postmaster says another raise is likely in 2007. After I recovered from my great outrage of such things, I realized I now have a stack of stamps that are useless, unless you go by a stack of two cent stamps. I know life will go on and the mail must still go through, but do they really have to try to make a yearly effort to frustrate the stew out of me?!?!

You Sold Me On It

This past week we recieved our credit card bill. On it was two charges that we did not make. The funny thing is, they were not for purchases at Boscov's, Walmart, or Cooley's furniture. They were for, get this, Fraud Protection Plan and Payment Protection. When I called about these charges, it was admitted by the card company that I had not signed up for these. Indeed, they had made a mistake. One was a charge of $14.00 and the other was for $68.00. The very thing I supposedly was paying them for obviously does not work properly because even with such great protection, I was still charged. Of course, they had the nerve to ask me if would like to go ahead and sign up. I felt like saying, "Sure, can I have a lifetime membership? I'm sold on it."

New Kicks

I have officially used the last of my Christmas money. I was in desperate need of some new tennis shoes. When it comes to tennis shoes, I hate to spend alot of money. So when I walked into Footlocker and found these $75.00 shoes on sale for $19.99 there was just no question on to where I would make my purchase that day. Vonnie looked at them and said, "I can see why they were on sale for $19.99." None-the-less, I like 'em.

Sirius, No More!

Saturday, January 21, I officially washed my hands of Sirius Satelllite Radio. I sold my "gear" to a man in Selinsgrove, PA. I am really glad I sold it, because the night before I bought this XM Radio off of EBay. I bought the MyFi system which is the first satellite radio to have a built in FM antanea for portable use. I am really excited. I should recieve it by mid-week. Now I just need to subscride. All donations may be sent to...oops! I now have FOXNEWS back, (which is the real reason I left Sirius). I'll keep you updated on the progress of my new machine.

Justin's Television Debut

The Pennsylvania Farm Show is an exciting thing around the Ellison household. Especially for Justin. All year long he continually asks, "Is the Farm Show coming?" Finally it arrived. So with his cowboy hat and boots we made our way to Saturday's High School Rodeo. We had seats right at the bull shoots about two rows up. Justin was able to see all the action. He kept going down and talking to the cowboy and cowgirls. He watched them spit so he gave it a try. It wasn't long until a camera man for PCN was at the shoots. He saw Justin mimmicking the cowboys and therefore began filming him. This happened twice and later that evening he was interviewed. Another thing that Justin likes to do at home is to preach. So with his early start in television and his excitement in preaching, he just very well may be the next Billy Graham, the well-known televangelist. I sure hope not! None-the-less, the Farm show has come and gone, and all we see now is Justin swinging his rope, catching his invisible cows and riding his bull, which is usually on my back.

Old Friends

It is amazing to find out who really reads your blog. Since I have started my great adventure in cyberspace, I have recieved emails from numbers of old friends that I hadn't heard from for awhile. Jon Earls, Joel Byers, and Sally Sebo recently replied to my blog. Hey guys, (and gals-Jon & Sally:) Good to hear from you. Keep in touch.

We're Home

The past few days have been a little different for the Ellison's. Vonnie's mother had surgery on January 6. Since then Vonnie has been staying in Penns Creek with her. Valerie came to stay with Vonnie for a week after each of our children so it has been a pleasure trying to repay her. But since I still had responsibilities at the church I have been running here and there. Today, we are staying at 2268 State Route 44, Allenwood, PA for the first time as a family since Jan. 6. I must say, it sure is nice having them all back.

Mark Lowry

Just recently I heard some sad news about former Gaither Vocal Band member and funny man Mark Lowry. He has been diagnosed as having MS. It was said that he was in the beginning stages. If anyone has any other information, please drop me a line.

There are "SIRIUS" problems on the horizon

As a yearly subscriber to SIRIUS satellite radio, I am greatly concerned about recent news. Of course we all know we now have that pervert Howard Stern gracing our menu, but to pour terrible news on top of that, FOX NEWS may be pulled from SIRIUS. I conversed recently with an employ of SIRIUS and the word is that SIRIUS and FOX NEWS are having serious negotiations. If FOX is pulled, I will proudly become an XM RADIO subscriber. This is just one of the many ripples I face in my daily life.

Christmas Presents

We may say that Christmas isn't about the gifts, but one has to admit, they are an exciting part of Christmas. All year long I can always think of 1,000 things that I want, but when people start asking what do you want for Christmas, my mind goes blank. I did manage, however, to come up with a list of things that I would like. A Harley Davidson was tops, but of course, I didn't get it. But I did get some other neat things. Here are a few things I got:

1. An alarm clock that has natures sounds and shines the time on the ceiling in the dark. It really works. Now in the middle of the night, all I have to do is look at the ceiling and I got the time.

2. Casual shirts, dress shirts, a tie, dress socks, etc.

3. A watch. I was tired of using my cell phone to keep time.

4. An indoor/outdoor talking themometer. It has an alarm you can set to your alarm clock. As you wake up, it tells you the indoor/outdoor temps every 15 minutes for the first hour. At the end of the day you can see the high and low's of the day. It's pretty nifty.

5. The new Kingsman CD. They are probably one of my all-time favorite Southern Gospel male quartets. My favorite group was when they had Gary Sheppard (tenor) the best tenor they ever had in my opinion, Tim Surrett (lead), Parker Jonathan (baritone) and Ray Dean Reese (Bass) and Jim Hammill was their MC. They were awsome.

6. I would say that my favorite gift, even though I loved them all, was a new Bible. It is now my preaching Bible. It is a paralell Bible with both KJV and Amplified side by side. It is wonderful. I used it the first Sunday of the 2006.

These were great gifts, but none compared to the greatest gift of all, Jesus Christ. I am glad I one day excepted that wonderful gift.