Merry Post-Christmas! A few lucky individuals I know get celebrate the twelve days of Christmas. To you elite few, Merry Third Day of Christmas [Insert three french hens here]. I plan to have a talk with my parents about celebrating Christmas for twelve days instead of one. It would be fun to get presents twelve days in a row and they would be more appreciable spead out instead of crammed into a single day.

I haven't recieved all my presents though. For one, I am still waiting for my gift from my godparents. Their present is always one of the best, but it usually arrives a couple days after Christmas.Also, I'll get a couple presents at my mom's family Christmas gathering. We will be leaving tomorrow to go to the gathering. It will be at our Aunt and Uncle's house near Toledo, Ohio. Every year we have the cousins give gifts to whoever's name you drew at last year's gathering. The adults have a similar exchange. I am giving a gift to my cousin Chris. This isn't really surprising because somehow one of us has always drawn the others name and a few times we both got the other's name. I can say what I'm getting him because as of yet he has no idea I have a web blog. I'm getting him the most recent WOW CD and a glass paperweight with an extremely detailed golfer made out or bubbles inside it. I wonder how they manage to make things like that. Also this year we will be having the First Annual Nicol Family Cook-Off. It started as a one-on-one challenge from em to my cousin Kyle who is rumored to make a pretty mean pancake, but somehow it has expanded to include three or four other members of my extended family. I'm pretty sure I'll win, I've been making pancakes for the past ten years and am the only one other than Kyle known for his pancakes.

We will be at the Christmas gathering December 28th through the 31st. On the 31st we are leaving to go to the home of my mom's college room mate. Her son has been invited by their church (where the father of the family is pastor) to preach on Sunday January 1, 2006. It will be nice to see the Naumanns again, especially Dorothy and Nigel, the two who are close to my age.

I have just one more thing to comment on before I leave you all alone. Yesterday we finally went to see Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. It was better than I exspected. I have only two complaints with the movie. The journey from the beavers' home to the stone table was drastically altered to make it more of a action packed chase scene, and in the battle the White Witch was killed by Aslan. The second mutilation is the worst injury of the two. The Witch is not supposed to die, she just isn't ever seen again and everyone assumes she was killed. This becomes important in two of the later Chronicles. In Prince Caspian, a hag suggests that they might be able to bring the White Witch back by magic since no one knows that she accually died. In The Silver Chair, it is asked if the Green Witch, the Snake, might actually be the White Witch returned.

Well, that's the end of my ramblings for now. I might not be able to post again until after New Year's Day. So in advance I'll wish you a
"HAPPY NEW YEAR!"

Geetings Peeplings!

I am Aaron the Nonexistent also known as "Brutus, qui non sum". Only recently did I start blogging, and I did that on Xanga.com. However, I have switched to a Blogger.com blog because it was brought to my attention that only people with Xanga accounts can comment on Xanga blog. So for you several people. Here I am!

Below are my starting blogs from Xanga so that they may be commented on now.



Sunday, December 25, 2005
MERRY CHRISTMAS DAY!

Okay, I admit it. I lied. I told you that my second real post would be shorter than the first. Instead of making today’s entry shorter, I’ve decide to talk some more about stuff I did before I started writing in my blog, so this one should actually be longer. Here goes!

Just to be odd, I made a Thanksgiving Resolution this year. I decided to try to work out more. I try to make sure that a least every few days I do bicep curls, push-ups, pull-ups, sit-ups, and acting-up (I sorry, I couldn’t resist adding that pun.). Also, every day couple days I go for a long bike ride or for a walk and a run, something rather uncomfortable in this cold season. What was my point in mention this? None at all.

Thanksgiving Weekend I wrote our family’s annual Christmas letter for the first time. (Copied and pasted below) I thought it was okay, but everyone else has seemed to think it’s great. Everyone we’ve heard from after we sent our letter has wantonly praised it. It even managed to bring my uncle Jesse, who we hadn’t heard much from for year, out of hibernation to start regularly communicating with me by emailing a several page epistle. I still can’t figure out why people think I’m a good writer. I’ll agree I’m good when I can write like Sir Arthur Conan Doyle or Jules Verne. My English teachers seem to be the only people who agree I’m not good at writing. Here’s the letter so you can form your own opinion on the matter. Skip it if you want.

Dear Friends and Family,

This year I, Aaron, am taking keyboard in hand to write the Nemoyer family Christmas update. All puns are intended. Please try to forgive any bad humor that escapes my mom’s proofreading. If you cannot, then bear in mind that I inherited it from Robert Nemoyer. To get to the point, this has been a year packed with God’s grace until it was bursting at the seams.

NOTE: The opinions expressed by the writer of this message are not necessarily those of the management. –NN

Our spring activities consisted mostly of May madness. They began in mid-May with my mother, Nancy, attending the CDC 25th Anniversary Conference at the Concordia in River Forest, Illinois. Soon after she returned, our parents received a shock when Nathan was confirmed May 25. They are being forced to admit that Nathan, Joel, and I are all growing both spiritually and physically. Nathan is now almost as tall as mom. Meanwhile I am sorry to see my parents aging too. On the 28th, dad’s 53rd birthday completed our spring.

This past summer was very busy to say the least. It began with Joel reaching the first of his teen years on the first of July. Vacation Bible School was the third week of July, but my mom, Nathan, and I were not able to help as we usually do. Mom took four of our cousins, Nathan, and me to the Higher Things Magazine’s fifth annual Lutheran youth conference, which was this year entitled Dare to be Lutheran and held at St. Louis University. These were all the high school age cousins on mom’s side of the family. The sectionals on teen issues, magnificent liturgical worship services several times a day, and the time with family all made for a wonderful experience. On the July 28, I turned 17, but everyone already knew I was odd. I am now to the point of begging my parents on hands and knees to let me get my driver’s license and a cell phone. Following that, we hooked up with our aunt, uncle, and family and traveled together on a 2000-mile plus loop out west. We spent a week in the Colorado Rocky Mountains where our dad flew in to meet us for the rest of the trip. Here we celebrated mom’s 51st Birthday. We also got to visit some of dad’s family whom we rarely get to see. We then spent a couple weeks traveling through much of the United States’ Midwest. We returned to Aunt Bonnie’s for mom’s family’s camp out. After nearly a month gone, we returned home for a week before spending another week in Ohio for a LCMS homeschoolers gathering and saw many of our friends from when we lived in Medina, Ohio. After this exhausting vacation, we were glad to return to our home in PA for the few days of summer remaining.

Far too early the school year began again. My mom is again homeschooling Nathan, who is now in high school, and Joel, who is in seventh grade. Meanwhile I am still pressing on thru classes at our little local high school of 2,500. I do have some fun classes as well as clubs that make school fairly enjoyable, particularly Latin III, Art II, and Teenage Republicans. Beginning of this fall, we stopped taking piano lessons. The man we were going to was more concert pianist than he was teacher, so I personally think I can learn to play more complicated music on my own as fast as I was learning with him. I know I know my musical theory. Additionally, with my parents’ permission and money, I can begin taking guitar and maybe even voice lessons. Also starting this fall are youth group and Boy Scouts. Joel is starting Confirmation class and is now in the youth group competing with Nathan and me. While my brothers are in Boy Scouts where Nathan was elected assistant patrol leader, I have moved up to Venture Crew and have voluteered to be Treasurer since no one else seems to like the math part of the job. This is the next level up in the BSA in terms of activities. October 28 Nathan turned 15 completing our odd year and prompting his decision to join mom and me in our church’s small choir where I am one of three Bass vocalists. In another token of the higher levels of responsibility with which our parents are coming to trust us, they left us alone several days so my dad could preach the sermon at a former parishioner wedding in Phoenix, Arizona. My mom seems somewhat nervous about me having that written in here, so if that was illegal, please just send a discreet email and not the police.

As I bring my letter to a close, I will make a few remarks in the present and future. Today, Thanksgiving Day, we woke to find our world blanketed in snow. It is a wonderful start to the Christmas and Advent season. As every year, we will be bringing Grandma Nemoyer to stay with us for Christmas. While she is here, we will go to see a dramatic performance of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. For the end of Christmas week and New Year’s Eve, we plan to go to mom’s family’s annual Christmas gathering. That is always fun but especially since after moving out to Pennsylvania we are nine or ten hours away from all the Nicols instead of one or two.

Hence, we are halfway thru our third year out here in Pennsylvania, and we are thriving. I hope you all are happy in this joyous holiday season. May you and I always remember that this is a season more for giving than of getting and keep in mind that God’s gift of His Son is the soul reason for the season.

In Christ Jesus our Lord,
in Christo Ieso nostro Domino,

The Nemoyer Family
and specifically…

Aaron D. Nemoyer
The Nemoyer Family Scribe

The Saturday I sent my first Air Mail parcel ever. It was an envelope containing I-won’t-say-what-in-case-she-is-reading-this. I sent it to my Canadian friend Heidi lifeuniverseeverythingcrazy.blogspot.com. She should like it.

Yesterday, Christmas Eve, we had a delightful candlelight service in the evening. My dad preached a short “sermonette” on the point of God sending His Son and comparison of Jesus and legalistic Santa using Santa Claus Is Coming to Town. The ten man Choir, in which I am one of two Bass singers, sang an assortment of Christmass hymns in between the parts of the Christmas program being carried out by the eight regular attendees of Sunday School. We sang Lo, How a Rose E’re Blooming, From Heaven Above to Earth I Come, Gentle Mary Laid Her Child, and since our church is one of the few remaining charter members of the English District of the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod we just had to finish up by singing the first verse of Stille Nacht (Silent Night in German). During Silent Night everyone held a little lit candle, which, if you couldn’t guess, is why it’s called a candlelight service. The part of the program after the angel brings the good news to the shepherds was wonderful. It was while the choir sang From Heaven Above to Earth I Come. The only other teen in the choir, a tall fair-haired girl, stood centered in front of the altar area. She sang the second and third verses unaccompanied. Becky was nervous but needlessly. Her voice was so perfectly suited for the angel’s song. It sounded so pure and clear and breathtaking.

To you this night is born a child
Of Mary, chosen virgin mild;
This newborn child, of lowly birth,
Shall be the joy of all the earth.

This is the Christ, God’s Son most high,
Who hears your sad and bitter cry;
He will Himself your Savior be
And from all sin will set you free.

Nevertheless, I need to continue, or I won’t get finish writing before New Year’s. After service we drove around the neighborhood and looked at peoples Christmass decorations. This is a tradition of ours, but we haven’t really done it since we moved to Pennsylvania. I was disappointed to only see a couple nativity scenes. There were some pretty extravagantly decked houses. When we returned home, we continued the traditional flow by opening a Christmass Eve gift. Nathan, Joel, and I received a twelve games in one set from our friends the Allmons in Florida. I also opened Joel’s gift to me. It was the new basketball I’d asked for and a dog doll. The fat stuffed dog doll is cool, it is sitting wearing a sun visor and sunglasses and holding a royal flush. Joel got me it because I like playing Poker. No, I don’t gamble.

CHRISTMAS(S) DAY!!!

I need to hurry now; I’m running out of time to type this if I’m going to put it on my blog today. We unstuffed our stockings before church (another tradition). I had a Garfield book, a headband/sweatband, a fancy brass cross ornament, and a piece of dark chocolate in my stocking. We had our usual really liturgical Sunday service but even more so. We had a procession to the sanctuary, and the incense we have at Easter and Christmas, a few choir hymns, and all sorts of cool stuff. We got home and started opening Christmas(s) presents. I got a Texas Hold’em hand held video game and $1,000,000 bill from Nathan and a nice new coat from my Grandma. My parents gave me a new desk lamp, a book Why I Am A Lutheran, Axe spray and shampoo and stuff (actually, I bought it but they took it and pretended they had bought it), hiking gear, orange gloves, new dress socks, and orange hangers to match my Orange sponge-painted room. Oh, I almost forgot to mention. I also got a FujiFilm FinePix E550 digital camera, the best-rated digital camera in both PC World and Consumer Reports! That’s the second item on my wish list. I didn’t get a 2005 Ford Mustang painted a metallic red-orange with two white racing stripes slightly off-center. I’m ecstatic about my camera though! It has infinite settings and can do movies too! It’s cool!!!
Anyways, I’ve got to go. I hope you all got everything you wanted. Bye for now!

Saturday, December 24, 2005
MY FIRST BLOG ENTRY!

[Insert appropriate fanfare] I’ve done it! It’s here! The first real entry in my Xanga blog!

With some urging from my friend Heidi, I have decided it is time for me that it was time for me to start writing stuff in the blog I've had for months. Sorry if I sound a bit rusty, I haven't written a blog entry anywhere for about a year. If you read all of the ramblings I write here then tell me, I will be very impressed.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVE!

A couple weeks ago I did a ton of Christmas decorating around our house. In fact, I did all the decorating this year. I strung lights along our front gutter and around a giant blue spruce at the corner of our house. I put lights and a garland around the front door. I used some old and dying icicle lights to cover the bushes along our front walk, and I put big light up candy canes in between the bushes. I wrapped a garland around the lamppost in our yard, stuck a big bow on top, and interwove the unreasonably long ribbons with the garland. I put two big bows on either side of our mailbox. Having seen many window wreathes in our neighborhood, I decided to make some for a couple bucks instead of buying them premade for about $10. I used old metal hangers and leftover garland to make seven of them then hung them on our front windows. The final touch on the outside our house was a big light up star about 20 feet up the side. My parents were excited about all the decorating I was doing until I teasingly told them my goal was to set a record for our electric bill. Inside I just strung a few lights around, and set up our new prelit artificial tree. I wish could have a real tree but my brother has allergies and couldn’t stand a real pine in our house for the whole Christmas season. This year I convinced the rest of the family to limit the tree decorating simply to red and gold glass globes and gold and silver tinsel.

Last Saturday I went to a big Party at a friend's house for his birthday. Lots of fun. There were about 30 people there. Jerin (the kid hosting) got 4 people to bring their X-Boxes and 4 people to bring TV's, and he had a four X-Box system link set up so 16 people could play Halo 2 at once. The other people hung out in his basement playing ping-pong and air hockey and stuff. I won my first game of air hockey and decided to stop while I had 100% wins. The other guys were comparing who could lift more or do more chin ups on the chin up bar and stuff like that so I saw an opportunity to show off my acrobatics. Being light I can do all sorts of stuff on a chin up bar, the most impressive being hanging by my knees for many minutes at a time. I didn't get any sleep that night but had tons of fun playing Halo 1 and 2 and watching movies. Sunday morning I didn't leave until 8:40 instead 0f 8:00. I sprinted home, jumped in and out of a shower as cold as it could be, put in my contacts, changed, and was ready to leave for church at 8:50.

Wednesday was my last day of school. I went to school dressed up formally, wearing a santa hat, peppermint striped shirt, and red tie. At school I handed out about 100 Christmas cards. I only recieved one in return, a card from the girl who lives across the street from me. That evening my mom brought Grandma from Ohio.

Last Saturday I went to a big Party at a friend's house for his birthday. Lots of fun. There were about 30 people there. Jerin (the kid hosting) got 4 people to bring their X-Boxes and 4 people to bring TV's, and he had a four X-Box system link set up so 16 people could play Halo 2 at once. The other people hung out in his basement playing ping-pong and air hockey and stuff. I won my first game of air hockey and decided to stop while I had 100% wins. The other guys were comparing who could lift more or do more chin ups on the chin up bar and stuff like that so I saw an opportunity to show off my acrobatics. Being light I can do all sorts of stuff on a chin up bar, the most impressive being hanging by my knees for many minutes at a time. I didn't get any sleep that night but had tons of fun playing Halo 1 and 2 and watching movies. Sunday morning I didn't leave until 8:40 instead 0f 8:00. I sprinted home, jumped in and out of a shower as cold as it could be, put in my contacts, changed, and was ready to leave for church at 8:50.

Wednesday was my last day of school. I went to school dressed up formally, wearing a Santa hat, peppermint striped shirt, and red tie. At school I handed out about 100 Christmas cards. I only received one in return, a card from the girl who lives across the street from me. That evening my mom brought Grandma from Ohio.

Thursday/Yesterday was the last day of school for everyone else, but I legally skipped to go to downtown Harrisburg for a production of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. Most of the play was really good, but there were a some people who I really thought should have been casted for the parts they had. The first two ghosts weren't very good. The apprentice Scrooge was very noticeably balding. I kind of missed not being able to go to the parties in some of my classes, especially the BIG Saturnalia party in my Latin III class. On the way home from the play we stopped at a book store having a closing sale. I thought I would be in Heaven but found myself in the bookstore equivalent of the opposite extremity. The worst part was their political science/opinion section which was mislabelled as "History". I did find something good though, a giant book titled A Photographic History of the GOP, which I bought for only $3.

That should be enough information about me for now. I promise that the rest of my blog entries won't be so long. Enjoy your Christmasses!