Tag: holiday

TBT: Happy New Year from TPP!

The Portly Politico7 Comments

2025 was quite a year!  Dr. Wife and I often talk about how long the year felt, for good and for ill.

It was a year with many ups and downs.  Dr. Wife’s third year of residency has been brutal, but she is doing well as the co-chief resident.  My work schedule has been far more manageable, but financing and buying a house—as well as planning a wedding!—took up a good deal of my time in the latter half of the year (to Dr. Wife’s immense credit, most of the latter-stage wedding planning fell to her—she really nailed the fun details, things I would have neglected or not thought of).  My maternal grandfather passed away; several of her close friends and family have had personal and medical crises.

But we also got married—woooooot!—and bought a house.  We have great dogs and even better families.  We have immensely enjoyed spending so much time together over the Christmas holiday, even if we’ve been rocketing all over the Carolinas moving furniture.  We are excited for 2026!

What are your hopes and dreams for 2026, dear readers?  Leave a comment and let me know.  I think Dr. Wife and I primarily want to get moved into our house completely—and get her through residency!

With that, here is 1 January 2025’s “Happy New Year from TPP!“:

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Lazy Sunday CCCXLIX: Christmas Cheer 2025, Part II

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Merry Christmas, TPP Readers!  I’m back with some more Christmas-related posts from the last week:

Happy Sunday—and Merry Christmas!

—TPP

Lazy Sunday CCCXLVIII: Christmas Cheer 2025, Part I

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The Christmas season is here!  As such, here are some classic posts of yesterweek to get you into the yuletide spirit:

Happy Sunday!

—TPP

Lazy Sunday CCCXLVII: Thanksgiving Week 2025 Posts

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Here are a couple of perennial Thanksgiving pieces for your enjoyment, dear readers:

Happy Sunday!

—TPP

Phone it in Friday XCV: YouTube Roundup LCV: Brass to the Future Plays “The Stars and Stripes Forever”

The Portly Politico4 Comments

Fifteen years ago today, on 4 July 2010, my old brass band, Brass to the Future, played an outdoor concert in a park in my hometown of Aiken, South Carolina.  It was a bit of a “guerrilla” concert, in that we did not ask permission, but just showed up in the park and started playing for our fans.

In the spirit of Independence Day, I’m featuring rare footage from that concert today.

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Good Friday

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Today is Good Friday, a day to remember the Sacrifice Christ Made on the Cross so that we might be saved.  The fun part of the celebration is Easter, when Christ Arose from the tomb, proclaiming victory over Death.  Today, we Christians reflect on the magnitude of His Sacrifice.

I’ll be spending this evening with Dr. Girlfriend, and we’ll be enjoying the Easter weekend together.  We are both looking forward to a relaxing and prayerful weekend after some very busy months.

Thank God that He Sent His Son to Die for our sins.  We don’t deserve it; Christ Did not deserve it.  That makes it all the more powerful.

Praise the Lord!

—TPP

The Portly Politico Presidents’ Day Extravaganza

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Welcome, folks, to The Portly Politico Presidents’ Day Extravaganza!  I hope you all put out milk and cookies for George Washington and Abraham Lincoln so you can get 0% APR financing until 2026 on your next vehicle!

In all seriousness, today is just a quick filler post.  As readers know, this weekend was a bit of a whirlwind on Saturday, followed by a relaxing Sunday with Dr. Girlfriend.  Yours portly is back in Lamar and Murphy is getting a much-needed bath and nail trim at the veterinarian.  I’m taking advantage of the quiet to knock out several tasks around the house and for work.

I’ll be back to regular programming tomorrow (God Willing).  February always seems to be an unusually busy time.  Work hasn’t been too crazy, which is blessing, because I’ve had quite a few other things to attend to at home and in my personal life.  Everything is good—it’s nothing bad or difficult—just a lot of getting my proverbial ducks in a row so I can feast on metaphorical mallard in the future.

I’m thankful for another day off—we’re in the midst of our “Winter Break.”  Teachers return tomorrow for a professional development day.  We’re going through the lengthy reaccreditation process, and we’re working on our curriculum guides.  Mine have been done since our teacher workday back in January (the one on my birthday—ha!), so I’m anticipating a pretty easy day.

Famous last words?  We’ll see.  Here’s wishing one and all and Happy Presidents’ Day!