2007...A Good Year

Every day when I hop online, I'm greeted by yet another top ten list of this past year's highlights. I was going to make my own list, but I'm too tired, quite frankly. So I just thought I'd wish the year a fond farewell (much too busy tomorrow to do it then) by pausing to remember a few of the year's major events.

Today I busily geared up for my next round of covenants and commitments, since I'm pretty much done with the list of 25 for 2007. I'm thrilled to say I accomplished more than I thought I was capable of doing. My biggest triumphs were 365 days carbonated-beverage-free and a whole year of exercise. And of course - the before and after pictures to spur me on to continue in the path of a good thing.

Last Christmas:



This Christmas:

Yes, I am aware that they are taken from totally different angles. Yes I purposely picked the worst of last year and the best of this year. But you know, in every single diet ad you'll ever see, the people tanned and got a hair cut and teeth whitening in between their before and after pictures, so let me have my fun, okay????

The year wasn't all amazing triumphs. Hopefully this year will be less catastrophic for the family - no more tornadoes! No more windy storms of any kind! Having said that, it was quite an amazing thing to see how people came together to help. People who knew me and had never met my sister or her family still wanted to help - and that was pretty humbling to comprehend. Though I wish the circumstances could have been different, I am glad that I had saved the vacation days and had the money to go out to see/help/be there after the tornado. Thank you to all of you who patiently read and encouraged me and prayed for our family during those first especially rough weeks. Lori, Jeff, and Cassie are looking forward to being in their new home soon!

(Below: Julie and I in front of a massive random rubble pile.)

I loved the times this year that allowed me to reflect. I enjoy reflecting and love the moments in a day when I can zone out of crazy life long enough to catch up with God and sort through the ideas tumbling through my head. This year my exercise hour often became that time. But I took out other days for purposeful retreat - like this one on the lake:

But never fear - my crazy side is never far away. I had a fun year. Overall, minus the tornado, a fun, fun year. I went into this year hoping to see the joyful moments for what they were and I feel that I accomplished that. I stumbled. I fell. I hurt. I cried. But I didn't do any of those things nearly as much as I laughed and enjoyed this life.

Here at my desk I have my brand new still-smells-like-leather day planner that is already filling up with fun stuff. I also have my book for January. (One of my commitments this year is to read a book every month that deals with a relationship of some kind. Trying to learn more!) I'm excited to dig in to both!

This past year, my theme verse was 1 Samuel 16:1 - "The Lord said to Samuel, 'How long will you mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and be on your way; I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem. I have chosen one of his sons to be king.'" My goal for the year was to work to put the things of my past behind me for good and prepare myself for the work ahead. I didn't do a perfect job, but I'm pleased with the foundation God helped me build this year. I don't know exactly what I'm doing with it yet, but I can tell some good things went into that foundation.

My verse looking ahead into 2008 is Romans 8:5 - "Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires." My prayer for the coming year is that I put aside what I have concocted in my head that I desire and need for my life and instead embrace whatever God has planned for my path. Not easy...but I want it.

So to each of you - happy new year!

Bits for Sunday, December 30, 2007

I realize that Christmas is over...but I have one more Advent reading to share, so you will find it below.

The Wise Men: The Light of Offering The Best Gift

Matthew 2:1-12

The wise men. Perhaps the most controversial characters in the record of the first Christmas. Should they or should they not be included in the Christmas account? They weren’t there right away…their visit was months…up to two years later, perhaps! Were there three…were there more? Were they kings or were they just smart guys? The debate goes on all these many years later.

And we spend so much time trying to figure out just how far away from the manger to place these figures in our Nativity scene that we miss the entire purpose for which they came! Even when we do separate ourselves from controversy long enough to talk about why they came, we focus on the exciting part of the story…like their run in with King Herod and their secret journey home. Or we focus on the lavish part of the story...like the gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh that they brought to honor Jesus.

And tucked away in that story, in the middle of lavishing and excitement, is the part we usually gloss over. “On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him” (Matthew 2:11a). That was their first order of business. They didn’t rush into the house and start pulling out presents right away. They didn’t scurry in and begin a great ceremony, declaring the Kingship of Jesus. They walked in, stopped, bowed, and worshiped.

We remember them for their material gifts that they presented. But their greatest gift – their first gift – was their worship. They didn’t come with the intent to impress. They came with the intent to humbly worship the One they recognized as their King. And the rest of that verse says “Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh.” Then. After the worship, they gave the gifts.

I love giving gifts at Christmas. I love planning out exactly what I want to give. I love planning a theme. I love writing notes to go along with my gifts. I love wrapping them with care and watching joy on the faces of those who receive them as they unwrap them during the Christmas festivities. Presents are good – but they are not everything. The greatest gifts are the unseen ones. The ones you cannot hold in your hands. Your time. Your friendship. Your listening ear. Your hugs. Your caring.

Though Christmas is behind us and the gifts are now given, there is still one you can yet give. An unseen gift that you should seek to give first. The greatest gift...your worship.

Toilet Tales

Below you will find a series of posts that include the touching photos of the Christmas season. Key word there - "below." Because this post is all about the madness that always happens in our family. Remember back a few weeks - my post about my sheets getting eaten up in the agitator of my washer...the same day that my chair broke while I was using it? Well you'll be glad to know that these mishaps come to me honestly. This was my mom's latest adventure.

In her bathroom, she has a shelf a few feet above the toilet. She changes out the decor on it to match the season/holiday. (More things that are passed down to me via the gene pool.) So for Christmas, she had a cut glass vase filled with gold glass Christmas balls. Well, one day she was cleaning or walking by or whatever and she accidentally knocked the vase off the shelf. This is the vase "after."


Amazingly enough - it was the least of her worries. The toilet below took the brunt of the mishap. Here's her sign to keep people away from using it. (If you can't read it, it says "Don't even think about using this!")

Why, you ask? Keep scrolling.


Yep! The vase shattered the porcelain! The stuff in the water isn't what you think. It's actually the gold paint from the Christmas balls that were in the vase. Apparently the paint comes off when it gets wet.

So Mom bemoaned the fact that she had to go toilet shopping 2 days before Christmas. I (in all my annoying wisdom) reminded her of what she said to me the last time I had to spend money on a home repair: "Be thankful you have the money to fix it." She found it about as amusing as I did when she used the line on me.

I Just Liked This One

I know I already posted one picture of me with the newest baby in my collection of honorary nieces and nephews - but I just really liked this picture, so I thought I would add it. This was taken Christmas Eve when I went over to her house to have Christmas with her (she was thrilled) and her sister and Mom.

Christmas Coordination

Janice - you made a comment about my theme. Here it is in full swing.

The packages (which match the tags)

Which match the card.....
(Skyepuppy - there is that saran wrap ink technique you asked me about)


And the winning photo for the inside - one of the last of 34 attempts my mother made at "the perfect picture."

Christmas with the Fam

Lori - I guess most of Sunday's festivities must be on Mom's camera - I was kind of in charge of both. I'm going to get my own set of her pictures on Monday, so I'll add to it then. But here's a few.

Julie (my sister) with one of her gifts from me: coffee. It's decaf, which in my head translates to "why bother?" - but she was happy and that is all that matters. (Or so I'm told.)

There's my cute princess Santa hat from Miss Kristin! :) And my new novel - it's called White Chocolate Moments by Lori Wick. It's from my Aunt B - she said the title sounded like me. I wonder why she would think that??? ;)


I think most of the family portraits ended up on Julie's camera, but this one was on mine. I kept making her retake the picture because I looked fat in all the others. (So vain.) I guess in this one, Mom and I ended up looking like a 2 headed person.

Christmas Day

Here's Dad "resting his eyes." Who was he kiddin'? He was OUT. Apparently the last minute lunch preparations just took a bit longer than he could handle.

Our lunch...and no the folding chairs are not a permanent fixture. I'm mid-dining-room-table/chair-hunt right now, so in the meantime I use a table I had in storage and a set of Mom and Dad's folding chairs.

Kitty Christmas

Of course I insisted that Kaegan and Braeya be part of the festivities......

Here's my Mom, possibly the closest she has ever been to Braeya (or "Pooch" as she calls her) - actually attempting to play with her. Good job, Mom. The ornament Mom is holding was a gift to her and Dad from lil Braeya Jo Jo.

Dad (polar opposite of Mom) l-o-v-e-s his grandcats and spent a lot of Christmas day playing with both of them. Here he is with Braeya and her new toy - well one of many new toys. She was having a blast reaching for that toy! Hey Lori - I think Mom was on the phone with you.


Greedy, greedy, greedy. She didn't even wait for me to pull the toys out of her stocking. Apparently I was not moving quickly enough to suit her.

Kaegan wouldn't join us for the longest time, but when he finally did come out to play, he had fun with his Grandpa.

Christmas Night

Christmas evening, my best friend (Lynnette) and her husband (Mark) stopped by for a little Christmas get-together. They brought their active little chihuahua, Belle. Wanna guess which members of my household disappeared altogether until she was gone??

Anyway, here's my gift from them - a very pretty Willow Tree (LOVE THEM!) figurine and matching picture frame. There's a kitty book too, but it was cut out of the bottom of the picture - woops! You'll notice over my shoulder there...HGTV!!!!

Time Off...Too Much of a Good Thing?

I'm LOVING my time off work. Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU to the decision makers at work who extended our holiday time this year an extra 3 days beyond what we would have had under the old policy. I'm thankful! Love the sleeping in, love the doing whatever I want, love the staying up late - LOVE IT, LOVE IT, LOVE IT!

And then comes the question of...what to do with all this time?

I started scrapping and made some serious progress in Cassie's high school book - but even scrapping can only last so long before other shiny objects attract my attention. And now said objects are starting to turn into $$$$ (at least mentally), so I think it will be high time I returned to work when the appointed day arrives.

Yesterday, because I could, I decided to hop in the car (a sight to behold) and drive down to the Gaither store because I just "needed" their two newest Homecoming videos. While driving, I contemplated how a girl who just received multiple Christmas gifts could "need" to spend money of her own...but I just did.

Then I came home and read a book - a whole book - just because I could. It was not my first read-through of the book, but it seemed an appropriate time to re-read it.

And then I started playing online. I don't know if I've mentioned this on a blog before...but I'm a SERIOUS Little House fan. Once upon a time I could really give the best of the best a run for his/her money on Little House trivia. So just for fun, I thought I'd see if I could find online trivia games. I did. I took 19 quizzes (I know - ridiculous waste of time - but I'm on VACATION!) and scored a 246 out of 310 overall possible points. And truly, if I'd read better on a few, I bet I could have had a 260. I got in a hurry and made stupid mistakes sometimes. Still, for not having earnestly watched this show in about the last 7 years, I thought that was the display of a PRETTY good memory.

One peril of this much home-time has been an overbonding experience with HGTV. By 10 pm last night I'd been all over the Lowe's website and had completely redesigned my bathroom. I don't have the money to do it - at least not yet. But I know what I want when the time comes! Upon staring at my wish list, I thought it in the best interest of my wallet to CHANGE THE CHANNEL. But I gotta tell you - when I do the bathroom - it's going to be cuh-ute! Pretty much everything goes except the toilet. It's in good enough shape to stay.

Fortunately, one of my former college roommates drove up for a visit today, so spending time with her kept me from taking quizzes and remodeling more of my house.

If I were smart, I'd start taking down the Christmas decor. I'm guessing I am not about to be smart.

Merry Christmas!

A very merry Christmas to each of you! I've had a great day with just the right amount of food - some SUPER new presents, and now - the need for a nap.

I can tell that I'm mellowing in my old age. I finally pulled myself out of bed at 10 - and my parents were scheduled to arrive for lunch at 12. In the "olden days" I'd have been up at 7 stressing about the food. Not now!

I told Mom it was probably the worst Christmas dinner she ever had. In our family, Christmas dinner is always a big to-do, complete with ham and potatoes and all sorts of other dishes. What did I serve? Baked potato soup and sloppy joes. Tacky, perhaps, but SO yummy. And my dad even had seconds on the soup, forcing me to search for breathing assistance. (Dad doesn't do well with new dishes - and I was shocked he made it through one bowl - let alone seconds.) We had cherry crisp for dessert and it was all very yummy.

We exchanged gifts...including Kaegan and Braeya. They are pretty wired from catnip. It was fun to watch them attack the toys. Braeya was trotting (literally) around the house with her toys in her mouth - as if Kaegan would steal them from her. What!?!? He's scared of her! I don't think she has to worry.

Mom and Dad liked their gifts - though most of Dad's were less than exciting. (The man asks for garden hose and copy paper...it's so thrilling to purchase.)

And I was SUPER excited about my gifts. I received a new blender which not only SAYS it crushes ice...it ACTUALLY crushes the ice. I make blended coffee drinks all the time, so this is an amazing help. I also received a new shirt that Cassie might fight me for...it's that turquoise color you like so much, Cass. I also received some hodge-podge coffee stuff for my kitchen, which I recently redecorated with a coffee theme. I was pretty excited about that.

As usual, I also received the gift I call the "lack-of-husband consolation prize." I can't remember if I blogged about it last year or not. When my sisters were out on their own and then still when they were first married, Mom gave them a box of food every year for Christmas. The staple stuff - flour and sugar, Hamburger Helper, chocolate chips, pudding, stuff like that. I couldn't wait to grow up so I could get one too. And even though I'm past the "living on Ramen noodles" stage of adulthood, I still get the box - and I call it my consolation prize for not having a husband to buy gifts for. Not near as cute as a man - but it's a fun present anyway.

After lunch and presents, we sat around watching the Christmas music specials on the IWU station while the cats continued to chase catnip mice around the floor.

A pretty perfect Christmas, I have to say!

Hope all of you are enjoying your day as well!

Happy Birthday to my Girl

Today is my niece's 18th birthday. Happy birthday, Cassie! You sure did get the cuter end of the deal in this picture!

It's safe to say we've both come a lonnnnnnnnnnnng way since then! I miss you - enjoy some cake for me, okay?

Love you!

In other news today - since I don't know when I'll make it back this way to post again - I enjoyed yet another Christmas celebration this morning. I went out to Faith's to have Christmas with her and Hannah and new baby Kaylah. (Mike was there, but he mostly served as resident photographer.)

Hannah was very excited about her gift - a box full of play food for her kitchen. Christmas was over as far as she was concerned...time to serve up ice cream and onion rings and plates of cookies. (Can you tell how much Aunt Bekah enforces healthy eating? HA!)

Kaylah was slightly less thrilled over her rattle and book, but hey, I guess when you're less than a week old, if it isn't food, you really don't care. She managed to pull off some cute pictures for me though.

And then...I just have to say a GOD BLESS THE MARSH (which would be the same thing as just plain old "God bless Marsh" - but I have to put a "the" in everything). I needed four things to complete Christmas lunch tomorrow and I was n-o-t going to go to Wal-Mart and risk life, limb, and sanity for four things. I went to the Marsh and the parking lot was full, so I steeled myself for a Wal-Mart-esque experience. BUT...I went inside, found exactly what I needed, was greeted by not one - but TWO employees, AND an open lane awaited my arrival at checkout. So what if it cost me twice as much!?!? THAT is how shopping should be done. Kudos to you, the Marsh! :)

And a very wonderful Christmas Eve to you!

Christmas - Day 23

Today was my "big" Christmas bash. Though I will have a gift exchange with my parents on Christmas day, today was the day we had the official family Christmas.

First I went to church - and it was SO GOOD to be there after two weeks of being gone. I'd missed my row-o-chairs! During Sunday School I helped the jr. high class sort Christmas cards and then we all passed them out to people between Sunday School and church. I love to sort, so I was perfectly happy.

Right as church was starting, my friend Chris tracked me down with his almost two-year-old son on his arm and a panicked look on his face. Given that today was the children's Christmas program (which his five-year old was participating in and his wife was helping with), I figured he was on video camera duty and there was no one to watch the kiddo. And I was right. So Chris passed Liam off to me and together we continued to hand out Christmas cards. We parked ourselves in our pew and church began. I'm not inclined to allow for much noise - and right at the beginning of church, Liam felt the need to talk. I asked him to whisper, and he said, "WHY?" Well so much for whispering. But God was kind to me and put Liam into a very mellow mood and he sat on my lap without a peep for the entire service, alternately accepting bites of cereal bar, playing with my rings, and trying to figure out how to zip and unzip my purse. It was fun to have him there with me.

After church, I went to my parents' house, and family Christmas began. We had a good time - made complete with me getting the traditional bent-over-under-the-tree Christmas photo of my Mom that you can't see because she could still revoke my gifts. :)

I got some fun presents - new sheets (since my only set encountered that unfortunate agitator episode in the washer) and the world's coolest picture frame. It's from my sister, Lori, and it is a wooden frame that says "Sisters" up in the corner and then our names are etched all over the frame. Never seen anything like it. I'll have to post a picture. I also got a very festive new shirt, a baking stone (YAY!), a new mattress pad (she rolled her eyes upon giving it to me - but I was thrilled! No more stupid vinyl thing!) and FULL SIZE makeup brushes. (I've been using the travel set on a daily basis for about 2 years because I was too cheap to buy the regular ones.) AND - a new novel. LOVE books. So I counted it a good day.

I've spent this evening working on Cassie's scrapbook - my project for the week. I'm mid-volleyball season, so I thought it was a good time to take a break, drink some chai, and enjoy the day!

Bits for Sunday, December 23, 2007

Anna: The Light of Perseverance and Hope

Luke 2:36-38

What a lonely life she must have lived in those last years. Probably most of her friends had passed away. Her own husband was gone – after seven too short years of life together. I doubt a day went by that she didn’t think of him and remember those brief years together and wish for one more opportunity to see him…to be near him…to talk with him.

Eighty four years she had lived on the earth – and for so many of them, her life had been one of solitude. Lots of time…too much, sometimes…alone with her thoughts. Had she questioned why God left her here? What purpose did she serve? Couldn’t He see how lonely she was? How tired? Was she still worth anything?

But what a prayer warrior she was! Night and day she fasted and prayed, never leaving the temple. She watched the people walk in and out of the temple courts – she saw much need. She saw people caught in sin. She saw people stricken with illness. She saw marriages in trouble and rebellious children. She saw true repentance and those who just wanted to buy off a few more days of “righteousness” before they’d have to come back and atone for the same old offense. And, burdened for their lives, she devoted her own life to praying for them.

I wonder if the day felt different to her when she woke up that morning. I wonder if she knew, in her prophetess heart, that something was going to happen that day. Something big. Something life changing. Something amazing.

As she wandered about the temple, praying as she always did, she saw the family. The mother, the father, and the brand new baby. Not an unusual sight – babies came in all the time for the eighth-day circumcision. But this baby drew her in a way the others did not. As she walked closer, she knew. This was the Child. This was the one she had prayed for. This was the one she and all who worshiped with her had longed for…for so many years.

And Anna could not keep quiet. Life’s purpose now spoke loudly. This was why she was still here. This was why God had asked her to endure days of lonely sorrow. This was why she remained when so many had gone on before her. Today, with her own eyes, she saw the Hope she had waited to see so many years. Her perseverance had paid off. Though she might not have known this was God’s reason for leaving her here, she now knew that He had wanted her to see this Child in the flesh.

We don’t always know why God asks of us the things He asks. They seem difficult at the time. They may even seem pointless. But to persevere with hope and great faith will show us that in the end, we are rewarded for our efforts. It will make sense one day. Things will come together and we will see the purpose of God’s plan!

Christmas...Days 21 and 22

Free at last! Christmas vacation has descended upon me - WOO HOOOOOOOOOOOO!

On my way home from work, I played the Hallelujah chorus in my car. So it was off the Easter CD - who cares? Still applicable!

Last night I had a fun Christmas celebration. I dropped off some gifts to one of my friends' kids (the kiddos met me at the door with an eager "You brought presents!?!?!?") and thoroughly enjoyed watching them rip into the wrapping paper. They're still at an age where everything is exciting no matter what it is - and they were unwrapping boxes and starting on puzzles almost faster than their mom could help. It was a fun thing to watch.

Then we had a girls' night out - watching movies and eating Christmas cookies until after midnight. It was fun - I hadn't had an evening like that in a while. Of course when she left and I still had to crawl on the elliptical and exercise...well...not so much fun then. :) I've never really exercised at 1 in the morning before. Wouldn't recommend it.

Today I slept in (still only got a normal amount of sleep but when you start late, that pushes back the waking up time too) and spent most of the day doing my chores.

But tonight I had so much fun - I had Christmas with my friend Kari and then went with her to a Grey's Anatomy trivia party. It was so much fun! Trivia's a funny thing...even when you think you know a lot...you find out you aren't quite as smart as you want to be. For you fellow Grey's watchers out there...one of the questions I missed was Denny Duquette's time of death. I could see that whole scene in my mind. I could see Bailey telling the Chief "Denny Duquette died at ...." and then the scene went mute in my mind. I guessed 8:02. Turns out it was 7:42. Hey, I got the two! Another Denny question that I missed was the time difference on the organ transplant list between him and the person who ended up receiving the heart. I guessed 2 hours. (I vaguely remembered it wasn't long.) Correct answer? 17 seconds. What a bummer. For both of us. I did manage to remember which two interns held up the 65 pound tumor as the surgeons tried to remove it (Yang and O'Malley) and where Burke hid the apartment key when he gave it to Christina (bottom of the coffee cup). Isn't it weird what sticks in the mind?

So it was a fun night - and I gotta sign off because I have 10 more minutes of exercise to clock in before the day is done.

Only two more days!

Christmas - Days 19 and 20

Only five days left...I can't believe it! I'm having so much fun this Christmas...I'm not ready for it to be almost here and gone!

Last night I had Christmas with my friend Olivia. We managed to squeeze and entire celebration into 45 minutes and still have a great time! :) We had to consult the scrapbook to make sure she wasn't wearing the same coat she wore to our last celebration. (Oh the worries of photo documentation.) Anyway, we had a great time!

And today...our office had a Christmas party. (This would be bigger than my immediate office but smaller than the whole campus.) I got the COOLEST gift from Kristin - you'll see it in pictures eventually. It's a Santa hat that says Princess. LOVE IT. Already warned Mom that it will make an appearance at the family Christmas exchange. Thanks, Kristin!

Tonight the Christmas "party" I was supposed to have was postponed, so I gained an entire evening at home (reintroducing myself to Kaegan and Braeya) and scrapped! I'm three pages away from being caught up to the Christmas season! YAY! This week has been so on-the-go that I'm thrilled to have a night to rest.

Sweet Baby

Three posts in one day - admittedly a bit much. But it's been a three post kind of day!

It's currently 10:02 - and I've basically been up since 4:30 this morning. Never let it be said that I'm lazy!

The phone rang at 4:30 and I knew that little zippy ring could mean only one thing - BABY TIME!

My friend Faith has been waiting for this day for...well...9 months! Due yesterday, actually, she finally went into for-real-no-turning-back-labor early this morning. I was scheduled to be the keeper of soon-to-be-big-sister during labor. So I pulled myself out of bed, snuggled on the couch with a blanket until the doorbell rang, and found myself in charge of a toddler in cute jammies complete with feet!

I was so proud of Hannah for jumping right into bed and trying her best to go to sleep in a room that wasn't hers...with strange sounds and different lights and no Mommy in the next room. It took her about an hour to fall asleep but she stayed very still and quiet while she tried! She slept until 9, but I got very little sleep in the meantime.

I had saved a "floating vacation day" for such a time as this, so this morning I found myself wondering what to feed a toddler for breakfast and wishing I'd stocked up on juice and sippy cups. I learned much about the Disney channel in the morning, multiple renditions of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, how being quiet too long is something to be extremely cautious of, and just how much my cats detest children within the walls.

Hannah renamed each of my cats, by the way. Kaegan is now Callie (renamed AND regendered!) and Braeya is Cheera. (Don't ask - I have no idea.)

When Faith called to tell me that baby Kaylah had arrived, I eavesdropped on her phone-delivery of that message to Hannah. Hannah sat very still and nodded (helpful for the phone) but she listened to every word. I know this because when she hung up, I said, "Well we have to get ready so Daddy can come to get you!" She responded with "Yeah, because baby Kaylah isn't in Mommy's tummy anymore!"

After working for the afternoon (so much for a whole vacation day!) and running some errands, I had the opportunity to meet sweet baby Kaylah in person. She's precious! :)

Faith's Dad also has a picture up on his website if you want to see it....here.

For Skyepuppy

As promised....a very small portion of the cooking extravaganza. Not nearly as elegant as yours - but MAN they taste good. :)

Christmas - Day 18, Kitty Christmas, and Wal-Mart Rants

Well as you can see, today has been an EVENTFUL day in the life of Bekah. My celebration for today was the soup carry-in we had at work today. Three AMAZING soups (and I'm not really a soup person, so I was impressed to love all three) and all kinds of yummy side snacks and cookies. The "office celebrations" exist on a variety of levels, since we are part of so many different areas. Today's lunch was just for our immediate office. And it was YUMMY. Especially the sweet tea. LOVE some sweet tea.

In ranting news, I would like to say that what happened to me this evening is proof of why, even though Wal-Mart drives me NUTS, I have to shop there. I wanted to drop off some pictures this evening. That's it. Just pictures. One look at the Wal-Mart parking lot told me I wanted to avoid turning THERE if at all possible. I thought I would go to Wal-Greens. Should be safe, right?

WRONG.

When I arrived at the kiosk, an employee was working on other pictures and asked if I needed help. I told her no, but that I would like my photos printed on matte paper. (When you scrap as much as I do, you have to minimize fingerprints.) I've learned that at Wal-Greens, you have to hunt down an employee and state your paper preference, since you can't indicate it on the order. She wrote it down! At the end of my order, I stopped and asked her if there was anything else she needed from me regarding the matte paper. No. I left.

Went back an hour later, and picked up my pictures. Guess what? Glossy. RRRRR!

I would have complained, but I had already trekked across their icy parking lot (which I'd almost fallen on when dropping off the prints) to get back to my car. And not two weeks ago, I took 125 Christmas card pictures back in and made them reprint the whole lot because they were grainy. I don't want to be known as the lady who never likes her pictures, but good GRIEF!

And therein lies my complaint. I'm willing to pay 4 cents more a picture to go to WalGreens simply to avoid the chaos that is WalMart, but the truth is, the service is worse! THAT IS NOT GOOD, WALGREENS!!!!

And because there's no point in ending on a bad note - here's some pictures of my kiddos enjoying their Christmas:

One of Braeya's new favorite spots - under the bedroom tree. Her new favorite toy is that bit of gold beading dangling just above her. I've had to restring it already.

Kaegan is a bit more reserved. He prefers to enjoy the view from afar. I find him like this often - curled up on the bed, staring at the lights.

A rare moment: Kaegan and Braeya resting TOGETHER. This is under the dining room tree.

Christmas - Days 16 and 17

Well I certainly had plenty of time for Christmas yesterday, given that I was snowed in! I caught up on a number of TV specials - including the good old Little House on the Prairie Christmas special where Rose was kidnapped. Amazing how times have changed. Today her dad would have been tossed into jail for leaving her unattended (not to mention out of a seat belt) in the wagon while he went for food. Today adoption is so much more complicated then "Want this kid? Okay, here you go. I'll let the orphanage know he won't be coming back." Or so I hear, anyway. But even so, good episode. Add to it a couple of Hallmark mushy movies and it was a great Christmas celebration.

And today I had my gift exchange with my good buddy Jenny. She was my supervisor when I first hired on at my job oh so many years ago - and even though she works elsewhere now, we still go to lunch all the time and she puts up with all my craziness. For that, she deserves a gold medal. Not quite what I gave her, you understand, but it's what she deserves. My first gift exchange of the season - a great start to the week!

As a bonus to the day, I survived yet another pre-holiday trip to Wal-Mart, despite the lack of a SINGLE CART at either entrance to the store and the lack of a SINGLE EXPRESS LANE for me to use in purchasing my armload of stuff. Okay I'm willing to accept that it's a busier time of year, but they put a commercial on TV saying they'd open more lanes! Where are said lanes? In what city? I will go there!

Whew. I'm okay now.

Bits for Sunday, December 16, 2007

I have to admit - I enjoy a good snowed-in-Sunday. I stayed "extra rested" in bed this morning - after the church cancellation notice came through, of course. I put up the blinds so I could look out at the snow and turned on the Christmas tree lights and snuggled down for a pretty perfect morning.

Since I had the time, I made baked potato soup for lunch - it is a comfort food sort of day. While beginning to cook, I noticed that someone (and I think I know who) made an appearance with a plow to open up my driveway. THANK YOU!!! In a little bit, I'm going to go shovel the sidewalks and that should certainly burn off the Christmas cookies I had for breakfast. :)

Then I plan to hit the scrapping for the rest of the day - and that completes a perfect day!

So if you're having a snowed-in-Sunday also, you stay warm and safe and enjoy the extra rest! (Once the shoveling is done, of course.) And if you need a break - here's some Advent reading for you:

Shepherds: The Light of Spreading the Good News!

Luke 2:8-18

God chooses the most unlikely candidates to do His work. It doesn’t matter what training we have – what our background holds – what our strengths and weaknesses are. The only two things that God really needs are our openness and our willingness.

Perhaps that is why He chose shepherds to be the first missionaries. The first ones selected to spread the Good News. I can imagine that few people paid attention to shepherds. They were probably just a group of men who smelled as bad as the sheep they herded all day long. Maybe they were viewed as less intelligent or less important because they didn’t have a more impressive or skill-demanding occupation. Perhaps they comprised the bottom rung of the occupational ladder – above only the unthinkable occupation of prostitution.

I can imagine there was quite a bit of dissatisfaction in this job. They had the worst parts of all jobs rolled into one. Like the mail carriers of today, they had to report for duty regardless of weather conditions. Like the medical field of today, they had to work holidays, weekends, and all other lesser desired hours, because there was always work to be done. Like farmers of today – one disastrous event could completely shut them down forever with no hope of recovery. Like the police force of today – there was always danger that had to be faced (though more in the form of animal predators rather than escaped convicts).

Maybe that is why God chose them. Maybe He wanted to give them one perk in a career otherwise filled with repetition and disdain from the community. Or perhaps He chose them because they were the only ones being quiet enough to listen that night – while the world around was busily bustling along.

For a group of men stuck on the night shift, the surprise of a world-time awaited them. The Lord lit up the night sky with a fantastic display of an angelic choir. A message came down from Heaven just for them. An invitation to be the first visitors to the King of Kings.

Forget the sheep! These men made the executive decision to take a break together, leave the sheep to do what they would, and go in search of the Baby. And the experience of that night moved them so greatly that when they were done visiting Jesus, they became the first missionaries – telling everyone who would give them the time of day just what they had seen and heard that night. You would think that the praise and glory and spreading of the news about the birth of Jesus would have been reserved for the educated and holy men of the temple. But instead it was granted to men who were “the least of these.” And though they’d not been trained for public speaking, they were the ones chosen for the task.

And most importantly…they took the opportunity.

Christmas - Days 14 and 15

I'm settled in for a long winter's snow - since apparently that's what we're starting to get. I have a good supply of the world's staples (bread and milk - always amuses me how people flock for this before a storm - as if they regularly consume them as a combined dish) and Bekah's staples - chocolate, ice cream, chips, cheese, pork chops...you get the idea.

I've had a busy - but good - couple of days in the Christmas celebration department. Yesterday we were dismissed from work early (nothing weather related, but certainly very welcomed!) and I had a chance to visit the discount bookstore that's closing. I won't even tell you how many books I purchased, but when the most expensive book was only $3.00 - you can imagine that I went a bit crazy. Merry Christmas to me! I started reading one right away - and I'm very excited about it. It's written by Bruce Marchiano, who portrayed Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew production. We watched that at church a couple of years ago and I thought it was the best portrayal of Jesus I'd ever seen. He put so much joy into Jesus - and I loved that. Anyway, Bruce wrote a book about his experience, and I wanted to see what he learned. I'm about 30 pages in and have already done quite a bit of underlining. :)

Last night was the all-campus Christmas party and I actually enjoyed going. It used to really bug me because it was one more place I had to go by myself, and I hated that. But the last couple of years haven't been so bad. And that iced coffee - well - YUM. I had two cups and would have gone back for more but I was starting to guzzle...and that's just not attractive at a dressed up all-campus event. But it was a fun celebration, at any rate.

Today I went to help Joe and Sarah paint in their new home. Had my first experience with wallpaper removal. That was kind of interesting. And sticky. And I helped paint the kitchen a very cheery yellow! And the whole time, there was some very festive Christmas music going on in the other room. Though not an official "Christmas celebration" - it was a very fun time. Sarah, I love your house. :)

Christmas - Day 13

I had a HUGE icing party at my house last night. Party of one, that is. :) The cats didn't even sit in the kitchen hoping for a scrap to fall to the floor. (They must know that I'm even OCD about my cooking and don't allow for messiness.) Everything turned out just great and the couple of cookies that I sneaked for taste-testing were yummy. And I did take a picture - I'll get it posted here at some point. :) That ended all the Christmas prep - and now I can simply....enjoy.

In non Christmas-related news, I'm starting to get irritated with this writer's strike. Last night I tried watching Leno - which I've not watched since the strike began, because I get confused in the reruns. (Leno is my news source, so if he's joking about old stuff, then I get all messed up.) Anyway, last night's rerun featured jokes about the finale of Joe Millionaire and a guest was going to be the Bachelorette, Trista Rehn. Um....Trista as in Trista that has been married for about three years and has a baby? THAT Trista?

It was then that I decided that reruns aren't fun, and when every blessed show goes to reruns...well...I guess I'll watch more HGTV and TV Land!

Christmas - Days 11 and 12

The last two days I've been a baking crazy woman. Tuesday evening I started the annual Christmas baking and used up nearly all my measuring cups in the process. :) I didn't really sample much of what I made - aside from licking spoons and beaters. Isn't that the best part of the baking process anyway?

I kept the spirit going by watching Holiday in Handcuffs (do NOT laugh at me) - which was I think on ABC Family. It had Mario Lopez in it, so you know, how could it be bad? I love all the little made for TV holiday movies. Cheesy yet cute.

Last night I came home from one of the worst days I'd had in a while...to find that my oven (which I had set to clean when I left for work) was STILL cleaning. After pulling a reaction like my Dad ("I wonder how much this is going to cost on the electric bill?") I sat down and cried for a half hour. I had come home hoping for improvement, not an oven stuck on cleaning. I managed to get it to stop and unlock in time to bake the cutout cookies. Tonight is the icing night. I love to ice cookies.

So that's been my holiday celebration the last couple of days. Now if I can give everything away before I'm tempted to dip into it myself! :)

Braeya's in Trouble and Christmas - Day 10

Braeya received a middle name after having lived with me less than 24 hours - because I already needed it to yell at her. I was painting my bedroom and she kept trying to get into the paint try (she was very tiny - about six weeks old) so I confined her to the bathroom to keep her out of the paint. Long story short, because she was so tiny, she found a very obscure hiding place and though my parents and I searched the entire house for about an hour after we were done painting and she was allowed to come out, we couldn't find her. I was crying, my Dad was crying, my Mom was sick to her stomach...it was a mess. We thought she'd somehow gotten outside without us knowing about it. And then...she showed up. Wherever she'd hidden must have gotten boring. And she received a middle name on the spot.

And this weekend I had to pull out the "BRAEYA JO!" because she learned to flush the toilet. And she practiced. OFTEN. So until I can figure out how to stop THAT from happening, she is banned from the bathroom. I don't feel really bad about it, but I do feel bad that her grounding is also keeping Kaegan out of the bathroom, and that is HIS spot. He loves to sleep for hours right beside the shower. Poor kiddo. It's rough having a little sister. (Not that I know. I was the little sister in my family.)

Anyway, aside from that, yesterday was a good Christmas day. Our church's Ladies Bible study had its Christmas party. Let me tell you - these ladies can COOK. I was so miserably full when I came home. And now that I am watching what I eat, I don't eat until I'm miserably full anymore. Not even at Thanksgiving. But last night I just had to have seconds. It was so worth it. SO worth it.

Christmas - Day 9

Today was an almost perfect day. The almost was courtesy of the icky weather - but the rest of the day was great. I woke up knowing that we were supposed to be under an "icky weather advisory" - so I figured my plan to attend my own church would be thwarted. I enjoyed a leisurely morning of staring at the Christmas lights and listening to my Dad's radio program. (I have to pay extra close attention in December so I can know when he's pulled out the ultra-humiliating recording of me reciting Luke 2 as a somewhat congested 3 or 4 year old. Fortunately today was not that day.)

At the last minute I remembered this town does possess churches closer to me than the one I normally attend and icky weather advisory or not, I could make it to church somewhere. So I pulled myself together and attended a very nice morning service - even if it wasn't home.

The rest of the day was sort of a hodge-podge Christmas. Snippets of Christmas movies on TV (though I do have to admit I was suckered in by Sleepless in Seattle) and the last of the wrapping that I can do without snagging some boxes from somewhere. I enjoyed a couple pieces of Mom's Christmas candy and ended with a church service at my very own church tonight. Despite my concern that instrumental music would put me to sleep, the violinists who provided our music this evening were not only talented, but they were not snooze-inducing. A great end to an almost perfect day.

Bits for Sunday, December 9, 2007

Herod and the Chief Priests: The Light of God’s Plan Prevailing.

Matthew 2:1-18

Another day. Another list of political duties to attend to. A banquet to prepare for – just to showcase his wealth and power…and to waste taxpayer dollars on a round of drinks. A line of people who wanted to see him – to plead their cases – and he enjoyed the sob stories almost as much as he enjoyed saying no at the end of them. All in a day’s work for Herod.

Another message for him – something urgent, no doubt. Wasn’t everything? Magi from the East have arrived and requested an audience with you, King Herod. Magi? Well they might be good for a gift or a compliment on the fine workings of the kingdom. Show them in.
The men stood before King Herod, richly dressed and obviously on a mission. “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him” (Matthew 2:2)

Herod’s blood boiled within his veins. How dare these men stand in his own palace and insinuate the presence of another king? And that they desire to worship Him! Before causing himself political embarrassment, he dismissed the men and called an emergency meeting of his staff. He demanded answers, and when Herod demanded, Herod got. Though they trembled at the thought of bearing bad news to the temperamental king, they spoke up in hopes that because they spoke the truth, he might spare their positions – and their lives. The Christ was to be born in Bethlehem to fulfill an old prophecy.

Donning his most serene countenance, Herod met alone with the Magi. Feigning great interest, he directed them toward Bethlehem only if they promised to return with a report of the baby’s exact location so that he too, could offer his worship and gifts.

While attending to his normal kingly duties throughout the following days, Herod often withdrew to himself, offering only the explanation that he had an important project. He devised scheme after scheme to rid himself and the world of any King of the Jews. He alone ruled, and he intended to keep it that way. He restlessly awaited the return of the Magi…day after day…after day.

Too much time had passed. They weren’t coming back. In a rage like his staff had never seen, Herod called together his army and sent them out on a killing spree. His targets? Not thieves. Not late taxpayers. Babies. Any boy two and under…kill them. Don’t ask questions. Don’t research. Just destroy. He sent the soldiers away and leaned back. That should do it. The world would be rid of this Baby.

Herod did not know that the most carefully devised schemes and the acts of irrational rage are no match for the Plan of all Plans. By the time the army left his presence, God’s Word had already saved the life of His Son: “Get up, take the child and his mother, and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child and kill him.” Herod may have outwitted his kingdom, but he could not outwit the King of Kings. His plan prevailed above all.

Christmas - Day 8 and Braeya's Card Adventure

MY FEET HURT!

I had my last shopping hoopla today. Last one before I start boycotting stores altogether on account of the sheer madness. Because the weather cooperated, I was able to go out of the city limits to shop, so that was exciting. After narrowly escaping the accidental joining of a funeral procession (how embarrassing if I would have had to break away from the line of traffic to go to the first store!), I enjoyed a long and crazy - yet successful - day of shopping.

The sales were out in full force today and I came home with not only the last of the gifts and a new supply of work socks, but a number of couldn't-pass-em-up clothes.

For my festive daily celebration, I went to my friend Sarah's house. She cooked a very yummy dinner and we watched The Holiday. I'd not seen it before, but I loved it. It might have to go on the must-own list. I wanted to stay and chat, but we were supposed to start getting ice, and I was too far away from home (anywhere outside my garage is too far away from home in ice) for my comfort, so I left and tried to beat the weather!

So now I need to go sort the purchases and the receipts - but I leave you with this photo. Sorry that it's fuzzy, but do you have any idea how hard it is to hold down a cat and take a picture at the same time? During one of my Christmas card stamping fests, Braeya batted the red ink pad with her paw every time I dabbed the saran wrap wad in the ink. By the end of the stack of cards, she looked like she was bleeding. She took a bath, but for several days after, I saw traces of pink on her paw.

Christmas...Days 6 and 7

Friday at last.....yay! L-o-n-g week that ended with a l-o-n-g day!

But life is good and my Christmas celebration is good despite long days and a long week. Last night I finished the wrapping. Well, at least what I can do. I have a couple more things to purchase and some things that have to go in gift bags because they just can't be wrapped. But what can be done is done.

And this evening I celebrated by watching The Santa Clause...The Escape Clause. Cute movie! I didn't know I was going to be watching it, but my friend Angela stopped by and offered - so watch, we did!

In not so Christmas related, yet very exciting news, this evening also brought about the installation of my new carpet on the stairs. I'm very excited to have that project behind me! I can't believe how much better it looks in there. I'm not sure how I doubted...it had nowhere else to go but up in looks. :) So I definitely love that.

And since I was sort of confined to one room while they worked on the installation, I sorted pictures for my upcoming scrap-a-thons. I found a multitude of pictures taken around this time last year...at work. I could see a definite change in looks from last year to this year. It was funny to me because just this morning I looked in the mirror and thought, man...for all the better food and no pop and working out...I'm still really fat. And then I went to breakfast (hmmmm....) with Olivia and completely randomly, she told me that she could tell a big difference. So I told her what I'd just been thinking and she said, "Well go home and find a picture from last year." I forgot about the stack I hadn't scrapped yet, so they were in the pile to sort. And she's right. I could see it then. Just the boost I needed to keep from drowning that sorrow in a pile of cookies.

So all around - good days!

Christmas, Day 5 - and a pleasant surprise

Yesterday was a long day at work for me. I had to stay after for a bit, and when I was ready to leave, I realized I still needed to shovel and eat dinner and exercise...before hitting the actual PLAN for the evening.

MUCH to my surprise (and joy), when I drove up in front of my house, some mystery shoveler had visited me! I don't have any idea who it was - but if you know, tell him/her/them thank you for me! That was a great gift!

Because of that, I was able to celebrate the season by working on my wrapping project, and I am over half done now. I'm quite excited about that. My plan is that the gifts under the tree will serve as an anchor to the tree skirts which the cats tend to....rearrange.

Christmas...Days 3 and 4

SNOW! I spent my days 3 and 4 of this Christmas finally finishing the signing, addressing, sealing, and sorting of all my cards. What a project! Tonight I took a break from addressing to make some chai and when I looked outside, I discovered the snow had begun! Now as long as I don't have to shovel it....

I'm glad to have the card project behind me (except for straggler cards) so that I can look ahead to the next Christmas project, but I do have to say that I love addressing the cards. I love looking at the names of people on the "card exchange list" and remembering the fun times we had when we used to see each other more regularly. Former youth pastors...college roommates...friends who have moved away...I miss them! I'm already looking forward to hearing from them and seeing pictures of their growing families.

So days 3 and 4 were a success, and now I'm going to enjoy watching the snow fall!

Christmas...Day Two

It sounds like a spring storm outside! I keep checking to see if my wreath has left the property, but so far, so good. But I don't think I care for this much wind.

Today proved to be a successful day two of the twenty-five days of Christmas at Bekah's. This evening I visited another church that was having a special Christmas program. It was pretty close to perfect for my tastes. Christmas carols, a little Gaither music, handbell choir...nice. A little strange to walk into the church with an umbrella in hand to hear Christmas music...but still very nice.

After that ended, I went over to Angela's to help her decorate her Christmas tree. Minus a little strand-of-lights-gone-bad issue and a couple of stops to chase her cat who was trying to snitch some tinsel to eat, it was a very quick decorating and I think the tree turned out really cute!

Bits for Sunday, December 2, 2007

I'll admit it. I'm cheating at my own weekly bits. For weeks now, I've been trying to decide what to write about for Christmas this year, and I'm not closer to an idea now than I was in September.

But it just so happens that two years ago, I wrote five little articles for our church's "Twelve Days of Christmas" devotion book. So via the magic of copy and paste...I will spend December sharing those with you. That gives me a whole year to think of a theme for December 2008...

By the way...the theme for the book was "Behold the Light." Each day focused on a person and the light that shone from his or her life.

Elizabeth: The Light of Joy and Belief

Luke 1:39-55
How many years had Elizabeth waited to become a mother? How many times had she stood among the women of the city and watched as another one announced that she was expecting a little baby. How many times had she smiled and hugged and congratulated the glowing ladies who were her friends and neighbors…and then cried in the solitude of her own bedroom because she could not experience that joy for herself?

But her time had come. Though she was older and her friends were enjoying grandchildren, her time had come at last. She wanted to rush out and share her good news, but for five long months, she stayed home (Luke 1:24 ). She rested and prepared and rejoiced. And at the end of five months, she emerged from her home, ready at last to share her good news with everyone around her.

It was then that Mary arrived. When Elizabeth saw her coming down the road, she probably rushed to the door, eager to share with her own family the good news of her upcoming baby. But Mary spoke first and when she greeted Elizabeth , the baby inside Elizabeth moved. Was it the first time she had felt the life within her? The moment she had waited years and years to experience?

And in that moment, Elizabeth knew. Knew that Mary was carrying a little one, too. And not just any little one. The little one. The promised Messiah. So many thoughts could have rushed through her mind. No! It’s not fair! This is my moment. You are young. You aren’t even married yet. This is my time. I felt my baby move. There is life in me, and I don’t want you to take this away from me. You can have your turn later.

But no. Elizabeth was filled with joy. She blessed Mary. She said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!” (Luke 1:42-45).

And together the two women shared – though of different generations – sharing together in the wonder of life growing within them. And of Life that would grow in the world because of the children they would bear. Unlike her husband, Elizabeth did not doubt for one minute that the baby within her was God’s plan and that the Baby within Mary was God’s son. She believed and shared a beautiful time with Mary – time filled with joy.

She could have been envious. But she chose joy. And because she did, she enjoyed the company of Mary for the rest of her pregnancy – and together they prepared for the lives that came into the world to change our lives.

Christmas...Day One

I decided that this year I would try to do something special every day in December to celebrate Christmas, because it's my favorite season.

Today ended up being rather frigid, but it didn't stop me from having some Christmas fun!

This evening my friend Robyn (from work), her daughter, and I went on a Christmas tour of homes. I haven't been on a home tour for probably ten years, so I was excited to go. I told Mom before I went that this was like HGTV in person.

We toured four homes and I came up with all sorts of great ideas to implement...after this year. The homeowners spent more hours than I could ever hope to know in preparing some beautiful Christmas displays! And Sarah, I found some that had (if you can believe it) even more trees than I do! But the decoration went beyond the trees. I made mental notes of coffee table displays, dining table centerpieces, mantle decor (if I ever have a fireplace) and even themes for bathrooms. (And I coveted a garden tub or two along the way, I have to admit.)

At the end of the tour, we went to the church's bake sale and I found a couple little treats to bring home. That almost led to catastrophe. They packed my purchases in a paper bag similar to what you would receive at Bath and Body Works. I put it on the couch, and while I ate my dinner, I noticed Braeya was nosing around in the bag to see what it might have for her. (As if I share cookies...HA!) She stuck her head through the handle to peer inside, and then the handle got stuck around her neck. It wasn't choking her, but it did FREAK her out. She went rip tearing through the house, screaming, and there was no way I could catch her. I knew even if I did catch her, she'd bite me because she was so scared. So while I half laughed at the sight and half pondered how to fix this mess, she headed straight for "the tree." The eight foot tree. I had visions of it toppling to the floor, glass ornaments shattering....but fortunately the bag caught on a branch and tore enough to free her.

This would be why I can't HOST a home on a tour. :)

Little Bit o Christmas

In honor of tomorrow being the first day of December....I thought I would share this that my friend Kari emailed to me.

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? I wrap everything that I can. If it absolutely cannot be wrapped and I can't find a box to put it in - I bag it. I wrap because I have a theme for every Christmas and the paper is part of the theme.

2. Real tree or artificial? Too scared of fire to deal with real. And too cheap.

3. When do you put up the tree? The Friday/Saturday after Thanksgiving...while all the crazies are out trampling each other for technology and toys.

4. When do you take the tree down? Usually a couple of days after Christmas - definitely before New Year's.

5. Do you like eggnog? Tried it. Hated it.

6. Favorite gift received as a child? Daybed - when I was a third grader. We have some festive pictures of that Christmas. I opened my gifts wearing a green and gold school spirit sweatshirt, light pink sweat pants, and white ballerina style dress shoes. What a babe.

7. Do you have a Nativity scene? I have a one piece ceramic holy family that my Mom painted for my great grandma years ago (I inherited it after she died) - and baby Jesus has one arm intact and one arm amputated and snuggled up next to the good arm. I also have a small frosted glass nativity from when I was a kid. My dream is to own a Willow Tree complete Nativity.

8. Hardest person to buy for? My Dad. He only wants gift cards, so I always have to come up with a creative way to offer them. One year I bought a bunch of popcorn boxes, filled them with popcorn, and hid the gift cards throughout the boxes.

9. Easiest person to buy for? My Mom because she likes anything or my brother-in-law Jeff because I usually like everything he wants. (We have similar tastes in coffee, books, and music.)

10. Worst Christmas Gift you ever received? I love all gifts - so I can't think of a worst.

11. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail. I make them all by hand and spend about 6 months on them from start to finish. I'm in an annual competition with my dad to see who receives the most cards. So far I have won every year, but a couple of years have been close.

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? I don't think I have a fave - but I love the marathons that Hallmark and ABC Family and Lifetime run. I like the mushy love stories. HATE the movie with Ralphie.

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? I usually do 90% of mine in one day - which is usually in early December. This year it was before Thanksgiving.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Not that I can remember.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? My mom's homemade chocolates. They are the BEST.

16. Clear lights or colored on the tree? Clear - except on the hodge podge tree, and I use colored lights on that.

17. Favorite Christmas song? Oh boy - there are many. I think O Holy Night is my favorite "anthem" song and Welcome To Our World (sung by my friend Julie Crandall) or All is Well (sung by point of Grace) are my favorite "other" songs.

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Usually just traveling to my parents. Not a long trip.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? Yes but only if I sing the song. Kind of like the only way I know the books of the Bible.

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Both. I have six trees.

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Christmas Morning

22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? Idiots at Wal Mart blocking the scotch tape aisle with a class reunion.

23. What is the 'corniest' family tradition you do, or miss doing? It's not corny, but it's a tradition I miss. Every year when I wa s little, my Mom would read the children's book "A Certain Small Shepherd" for our family devotions. I have a copy of the book and still read it but it's not the same.

24. Ugliest Christmas Decoration ever invented? overuse of obnoxious lawn ornaments.

25. Which looks best theme trees or homey trees? Yes.

Hamster Wheels

I've not written this week because my brain feels like its on a hamster wheel. If I can't make coherent thoughts of what is happening...why should I subject you to reading?

This time of year is tough at work. Every job has its hard parts. And I'm sure the same job can have a different effect on different people. In my job, I hate it when I desperately want to help someone and I can't...for whatever reason. This week I've been slowed down by computer problems beyond my control (to the point where it takes me literally twice as much time to do a task as it should). I've had to deliver news that people don't want to hear. And today I was the recipient of a verbal tirade...which isn't really new...but today it happened in front of someone else. (Just to clarify - this wasn't a co-worker or supervisor who let me have it. Just one of the people I was trying to help.) I don't like being made to look stupid in front of another person. I kept my composure during the event but the moment the door closed, I had to hide in the next door office and have a little meltdown while the workers over there brought me peace offerings of the chocolate variety. It helped.

So anyway, with work being as it is, and with evenings being filled with Christmas prep...my mind feels like it's on a hamster wheel.

Maybe it will make sense tomorrow?

The Halls are Decked...and I am Pooped

I have one minor task left to do on the Christmas decorating, but if I have to look at one more piece of evergreen right now, I will absolutely scream. So it's still curled up on my bed waiting for much later, and I'm sitting here catching a moment of rest before one of my "nieces" arrives for a few hours of QT with Aunt Bekah. I know once she gets here there will be no rest - since she's two and energetic. I'll have her and two angry cats who will be glaring at me for letting someone under four feet tall in the front door.

But for as exhausted as I am after all the decorating, I'm very pleased with the way it all turned out. I started yesterday and completed three trees before I gave up and called it a night. I had to call it a night on the couch because my bed was buried under plastic tubs that had once held the ornaments and lights and garland and...and...and. I enjoy the occasional slumber party on the couch, but last night I was craving a good stretch in a warm bed, not a curled up half-sleep where I had to wake up every time I wanted to turn over. Even so, it was very nice to fall asleep next to a big tree with Christmas specials playing on TV.

This morning when I woke up, I could feel the raw scratches on my arms where I fought with pine needles and pine needles won. I could still feel the very tender goose egg on my right arm where a ladder fell on me. I thought of the tree yet to assemble and said, "I don't think so." I got up, took a shower, threw on some makeup (a lesson well learned yesterday...more on that in a minute) and drove to Big Lots for a mostly assembled tree. I found a skinny little hinged tree that came in a box about a yard long, and $19.08 later, I walked out the door. I came home and had it assembled, fluffed, and lit in about 25 minutes flat. Sure beats the four or so hours it would have taken to mess with the big tree. And it fits the room much better too. I am pleased.

About the makeup...yesterday I didn't put much effort into getting ready because I planned to stay home all day and work on the house. But halfway through the day I ventured out for a coffee drink and the new Christmas CD that David Phelps released this year. When I purchased the CD, I paid by check, and the lady at the register looked at my name and asked who my parents were. I told her and said "Do you know them?" She said yes and then she said, "I think you were a year behind me in school." I need to say this carefully because I could get myself in a whole lotta trouble right before the holidays, but let me just say that I could tell that we were not in the same...class. I said, "Um, maybe you're thinking of my sister?" She said, "Oh yes, the one in Kansas...she was ahead of me. I said, "Well I have another sister too." After a few more explanations, we clarified that I was BORN the year before she graduated, not actually in the class behind her. Clearly some makeup was necessary and I won't be making that mistake again.

Silliness

I've gone a little picture crazy lately. Tis the season, I suppose. :) Here's some of the silly ones.

Last weekend I went to the wedding shower of our secretary's daughter. Part of the table decorations were crystal prism "thingies." During the gift opening time, I started playing with them, and the lady next to me told me to hang them from my earrings for an extra special look. I did - and then I realized they went well with my obnoxious black ring that I bought when I went to Brown County last month. So I was kind of a little Joan Rivers jewelry special going on - right during the presents.


Here are a couple of rejects from the Christmas card photo shoot. I think this facial expression mirrored the one my Mom wanted to wear - the "can we just be done with this?" look.


This one I liked - but I figured I should probably actually look AT the camera for the card picture.

Happy Thanksgiving!

What a wonderful day! Happy Thanksgiving to all of you. I hope you've enjoyed a day of...well...whatever you enjoy most!

I slept in this morning (until my Dad called at 9:15 and I had to figure out what the ringy sound was and how to stop it) and had a perfect morning of watching TV from bed. Matt and Meredith may have had ringside seats to the Thanksgiving Day parade, but I definitely had the warmer end of the deal!

This year, Thanksgiving dinner was at my parents' house, and everyone was there except my Kansas family. The meal was wonderful - WAY too much food. And last night I did something horrible to my jaw, so eating was a pretty significant challenge, but I managed to eat through the pain. I wasn't missing Thanksgiving dinner, no matter how much it hurt!

After lunch, I was entertained by Emma and Wills, my younger cousins. This is the first time I have seen Wills since he could talk, and he had a lot to say! The two of them went outside for a while and when they returned, he was carrying a piece of tree bark. He yelled to all of us, "LOOK!!! I got a piece of ark!" (We were thankful he wasn't around Mr. Noah, or that whole piece of history might have gone sinking into the depths.) Wills' dad asked him if he found it on the ground or yanked it off the tree, and he proudly announced, "I yanked it off the tree." Then he grabbed my hand and said, "Come on, I'll show you!" So with no time to don a coat (and we were getting a bit of snow right then) I followed him out into the yard where he found "the tree" and yanked off a piece of "ark" for me.

After everyone left and the leftovers had been stashed in various corners of Mom's refrigerator, she and I went about conducting the great Christmas card photo shoot of 2007. It was comical, to say the least. This is the first year that I've put a photo in my card since Kaegan's first Christmas, so that's about five years. I was completely OCD about the whole thing - even informing Mom that if my hair day went bad or the zit that sprouted out on my chin two days ago was too crazy, we'd not be taking any pictures. So three locations and thirty four pictures later, I felt I had some decent contenders.

Now I'm home, I've had an iced coffee and a little snack, and it's time to make some serious headway on the Christmas cards.

Have a great Thanksgiving - and to those of you braving the shopping establishments tomorrow - GOOD LUCK!!!

Good Grief

I watched the Bachelor after-show last night and by the end, I was yelling at the TV and beating the air with my fists. I just don't get it.

Here's my take on it, which could be totally off base. I still need to believe that he went into it with honorable intentions and that he did not do it just to get publicity and become a 15 minutes of fame star. I also still need to believe that he really did like (though I'll concede to no love) both Jenni and DeAnna. HOWEVER - I think pretty much everything else he said was an excuse. I think he wants to believe he WASN'T offering excuses, but he still did.

Before I get into what I thought about his speech, let me just say that my opinion of Jenni went up about 50 points for her behavior last night. I liked her before - it wasn't that I didn't. It was just that she seemed kind of giggly all the time. But the fact that she seemed genuinely hurt for DeAnna meant a lot to me. And the fact that when she offered Brad the hypothetical situation of dating just one of them - she offered up dating DeAnna - that was classy. And her dress was cute - but WAY short. When she reached up to hug him, I got a little worried there for a minute.

Now to poor DeAnna. I thought she handled the situation with a whole lot more grace than I would have. I appreciated that she did not hide her anger, because I thought it was more than justified. I felt sorry for her because you could tell they still had that chemistry and they both knew each other well enough to have this totally personal argument in front of so many...and still he let her walk away. I hope she sticks to her statement of that being his last chance.

Brad, Brad, Brad. You lost two really great girls - and one that might have been absolutely perfect for you. YOU ASKED FOR HER DAD TO BE FLOWN TO THE SHOW - HELLO!!!! YOU DO LIKE HER! She doesn't deserve better than you. She deserves a chance to see what she could have WITH you - and you deserve the same with her.

I could NOT believe what he said to DeAnna at the end about how she'd never know how much he would miss her.

So that is my take. Just a hearty "Good Grief."

Nice save on the part of the show for bringing back Ryan, Trista, and cute baby Max to save the day.

Definitely Didn't See That One Coming

I will be the first to admit I'm the girl that never figures out the ending of the movie ahead of time. I'm the girl who actually has to watch until the very end of the crime shows to figure out whodunnit. So with such a record, it really shouldn't shock me that I didn't figure out how the Bachelor was going to end...but I really didn't expect that one.

I know they said it was going to be "the most shocking rose ceremony yet," but aren't they all? I thought he was going to send the first girl away, then send the second girl away and get the first girl back. But I knew by the time he told DeAnna no...there wasn't enough time left before the show ended to get anybody back.

Brad's still my favorite Bachelor - and if he really wasn't in love, then good for him for not proposing just for show. But seriously - he couldn't have kept just one of them to see where it went??? Just to date?? I don't get it.