Here we are--at the last weekend before Christmas. Has everyone got their stockings stuffed? Got your hams ready to be cooked?

The last few days have been quiet around here. It has allowed me some time for quiet reflection. For instance, it was on this day in 1968 that the Apollo 8 mission lifted off aboard the mighty Saturn V rocket. This was the first mission in which men from Earth would leave the orbit of their home planet and head out to the Moon. To me, this mission was nearly as momentous as the actual landing mission. Even at the tender age of seven, I was dumbstruck by the fact that we were going to be seeing our Earth as we had never seen it before. And of course, there was that moment captured by the Apollo 8 crew of the first time they saw the Earth rising above the lunar surface--a picture that became known as "Earthrise." I've got my various recordings from the Apollo 8 mission out and ready to watch over the course of the next few days--of course culminating in that stirring reading from the book of Genesis on Christmas Eve.

Also, this last Friday marked a milestone in our family--my father would have turned 100 years old (he only made it to 84). So I spent some time in the last few days gathering old photographs and thinking about the man who helped give me the gift of life. I found all of these photos from when he was in the army, from his hunting and trapping days in Montana, his shots where he was working on various cars, him sitting out in front of his first garage--all wonderful snapshots of his life.

And of course, this week saw the ending of a couple of my favorite shows on television--the Colbert Report had its final episode on Thursday, and the Late Late show with Craig Ferguson ended on Friday. So many changes...I really hate to see those guys go.

I actually entered a couple more contests this last week. One was for a spaceship design for the group https://enterpriseinspace.org/vote/ (I made design #8), where they are planning on building the final design and putting it into orbit. I only found out about the contest a couple of days before the entries were due, so I threw something together in a hurry. So I really didn't stand a chance against the folks who had known about the contest since September! Another contest was for another 3D Printer, and was hosted by Make magazine. That one was judged strictly within the magazine staff, and it was awarded to somebody else. Oh well...

Speaking of 3D Printers, I finally heard from XYZprinting on Friday, and they gave me an update. For one thing, they had originally said the loan period was "a few months," but they just informed me that the longest loan period they could allow was six weeks. So a little miscommunication there. Secondly, because of their inventory situation with Christmas, and then the fact that they will be going crazy at CES (Consumer Electronic Show) in January, they are estimating it will not be until mid February that they will be able to ship a printer to me. So for the time being, I will be doing everything I can think of in preparation for receiving the printer, and learning as much as I can.

I'm thinking I may get started on the Molly figurine in January, so that some of those will be available by the February-March timeframe, which will mark the five year anniversary of the beginning of Carlos's broadcasts. I don't really need a prototype for that; I can just use polymer clay to create my master object.

So that's about it from here. I wish everyone a very Merry Christmas!