You are currently browsing the monthly archive for December 2007.
Days in a year. Three hundred sixty-five opportunties to bless someone. Can I do it?
I had an idea that one single solitary note a day wouldn’t kill me. It also wouldn’t break the bank. Three hundred sixty-five times .41 equals one hundred forty-nine dollars and sixty-five cents. ($149.65) That’s down right cheap for encouraging three hundred sixty-five souls and saying howdified. (That’s my girls’ new terminology. They add ‘ified’ to everything. I love hearing Braelyn say “Icktified” when something is “icky”.) I digress.
Can I do it? Will you bug me and hound me and drive me crazy so I don’t forget? I even have a great place to send cards for me! Send Out Cards is an excellent company for sending cards online. Each card with postage costs approximately 1.00 or so… probably more now thanks to the postal rate hike but still, very affordable. I love this place!! If I don’t have time to hand write, I can always type in a quick note of encouragement to someone in Send Out Cards and voila! Not as nice as hand-written perhaps but MUCH nicer than nothing!
Three hundred sixty-five. (You do know that you aren’t supposed to say “and” sixty-five” right? Ask Mrs. Elkins about that. She drilled it into our heads. And in the middle of a written numeric phrase signifies the beginning of a decimal/fraction. Thought you ought to know.)
This is my goal for 2008 (hey, I’m feeling really thankful that I didn’t decide to do 2008 notes of encouragement.) Think I can do it?
Oh my goodness. I just realized. This is Leap Year. Three hundred sixty-six.
I’m doomed.
What is it? It is visual? A sunset? A baby’s smile? A ballet dancer? A waterfall?
Is it audible? A symphony? A child’s song? Laughter?
Is it an action? A hug? Maybe a meal brought to a tired mother? A toilet scrubbed? A smile?
Beauty is something that is supposed to appeal to humans. I think it is because we are created in the image of the God who created a world of incredible beauty. Our spirits crave loveliness.
I wonder sometimes, if some of the angst that seems to permeate society isn’t at least fed by the lack of beauty that surrounds us. Buildings used to be exquisite. The architecture on libraries was amazing! Art was not just recognizable. Sculpture imitated the works of the creator rather than the created. Rather than imitate man’s works, it imitated those things God created and the best art was that which most closely resembled that which God created. Music was melodic!
Today we are surrounded with a-symetrical building built of sleek metal and glass. Some of it is beautiful but much of it is starkly utilitarian. Art is reduced to garbage full of bodily fluids and religious icons tossed into it or blobs on a canvas. Music pounds our ears and sensuality seduces us to love our kids, husbands, boyfriends, and even Jesus.
I don’t think everyone has to have the same taste in things. I am truly speaking in generalities. I have seen modern art that while it isn’t recognizable as a person or a mountain, was fascinating or beautiful. I love the Art Deco period and Stickley as well as the white columned neo-Grecian influenced buildings and Queen Anne furniture. I enjoy the silliness of Roger Miller and the unique sound of the Beach Boys as much as I do Rachmaninov and Strauss.
We crave beauty. We don’t have to have a unified definition of exactly what that is but we do need to take a deep breath and inhale beauty from time to time. We need to surround ourselves with not just beauty of our own making but with the beauty God gave us. Look around you. Is the room you’re in beautiful? Does it calm your spirit? Could it if you gave it half a chance? Do you ever listen to music that doesn’t shake the house or pulsate in unison with your ever increasing heart beat?
Oh and hey, try smiling. That one move beautifies the world around you.
No. Not the song. When I was a kid I thought that song said, “And kids a nation” and wondered what that was all about! No, I’m talking about Christmas of course! That wonderful season of delicious scents, melodic sounds, beautiful sights, and such intense feelings that your heart squeezes at the thought.
Do you remember it? Do you remember that feeling when you first put up the tree and realized that it’s coming? Do you remember shopping for presents and just about bursting at the thought of having to wait to see if everyone liked them? Did you wrap and wonder if anyone else got the same thing you did? Did you wonder if they’d like it? Did you try to choose wrapping paper to throw them off the scent? Maybe wrap something small in a big box with a huge rock wrapped in a towel and a few loose beans to totally throw them off the scent or did you wrap an album in aluminum foil and slap a few bows on like my mom did one year. Cracked me up. Of course I didn’t know what album it was but there was no doubt that it was an album.
Did you look forward to caroling? Did you dream of taking goodies to friend’s houses and surprising them? Did you lie awake at night and day dream about Christmas services at church when the lights were dimmed and the pastor read Luke chapter two with a voice choked with awe that the God of heaven would come down and make Himself vulnerable for sinners?
Did you ever look forward to the day when you could give something that would really make a difference in someone’s life? I remember I used to think that if I just had a thousand dollars to use however I wanted, that I could give ten people one hundred dollars to help out during the holidays. It was my Christmas fantasy. Now I dream of tens of thousands to get friends out of debt, replace worn out vehicles and appliances, send worn out people on vacations.
Did you ever make crazy Christmas “wish lists” that were miles lng and filled with everything from chapstick to horses! Anything and everything and other things inbetween went on those lists. I didn’t really want it all but I loved seeing all the things that people could want. I loved the possibility of it all and am thankful now that the probability wasn’t there.
Shaking presents. Taunting recipients. Long lines at the post office that always seemed a little a symbolic testimony to the long wait to Christmas Day. Christmas Eve. Bedtime never seemed to come! Then the long hours of tossing and turning- too excited to sleep. Would Dad like his new guitar bag out of gray flannel instead of the old pink one? What about his blinders for listening to music? Would mom like her new coffee mug? Her refillable lighter? The giant poster sized crossword puzzle? Why did that little box rattle so much?
We’re in the countdown. My children are watching the pile of gifts grow and they’re getting excited. Every day someone brings another one to pile around the tree or takes off to a friend’s house with arms laden with their gifts. I laugh as I hear someone say, “I forgot Brunhilda’s gift! How could I forget to get that!” or “Does anyone know if Hildegaard’s package arrived yet?” I see them shaking their gifts and speculating. Of course, someone has let the cat out of the bag on a gift. They’re feeling pretty terrible about that right now.
Lorna knows which ones are hers, which ones are Emma’s and one of David’s gifts. The rest are, in her opinion, extraneous and unnecessary. This year, Ethan’s gifts are huge. Large boxes taking up massive amounts of space. He’s just in awe! His eyes are big and I think he feels extra special to us right now. If large boxes do that to a kid, it’s worth the space that Playmobil set up will take. Jenna is going to be shocked out of her skin when she sees one of her gifts. She’ll love it.
I love this time of year. The anticipation is everything. Come Christmas night, I’ll be ready for a fresh new year with “no mistakes in it” as Anne Shirley would say. However, right now, I’m just enjoying every waking moment that I have as I watch the days until Christmas 2007 fly past me.
Savor these days. Don’t let the busyness and the frustrations that come with celebrations rob you of your joy. I promise you that in fifteen or twenty years you’ll look back with huge regrets if you don’t stop and savor these moments while you can. Ask me how I know.
Now that I can breathe again, I’m determined to get back in the “saddle” again. I thought about starting WATP but I realized I’d never make it for more than five minutes so I’m starting with elementary ballet movements. I’ve been doing them nightly for a few days. My legs don’t wobble as much already.
Demi plie`
Stretch
Press up!
Come down
Demi plie`
Stretch
Point to the side…
Close in second.
Demi plie`…
Until I go though all five foot positions. (I remember the teacher mentioning six but I can only remember five! No idea where that sixth would be!)
Then I switch arms and go back.
When I can do it without a “barre” I’ll start on WATP.
Recovery. Who knew it would be so tough?
Well this was great fun! The suggestions were marvelous! I shopped until I dropped, and then I shopped some more! People suggested amazing things I’d never thought of and other things I’d almost purchased.
I had this and the similar one (Fashion Designer Plates)
in my shopping cart at Hearth Song last week. I was going to get one each for Jenna and Andra but the older girls thought it was a little too much for them yet so we’ll do it for birthdays or Christmas next year.
I considered the Loom
Kevin and I had finally decided on this adorable terrarium
Until Challice pointed out that I could buy this Stamp Set at our local Children’s Boutique! I’d seen it there when Emma was born and thought, “This would work perfectly for Jenna or Andra if I need a ‘filler gift.’” I decided it’d be perfect! It has fun, Braelyn could bring it home from the shop, and no shipping charges!
So I started wrapping…
And then I put a bow on it…
So… I was in a quandry. It hadn’t occurred to me to say before hand that I was allowing family to enter the contest. Frankly, I hadn’t thought about it but outside Kevin or I entering, I was game for anyone and anything. However, I wasn’t eager to be open to a charge of unjust judging so I came to a decision. I would offer two prizes. Since Challice (my daughter) picked the perfect thing for me to get for Andra that is both easy to purchase and that Andra will enjoy!
Dell came up with the terrarium that I almost purchased so she also wins! The winners can collect their prizes by emailing me. (Since both happen to have it, this is easy!)
Thank you everyone that participated! I had a difficult time deciding what to purchase. I loved so many things but Andra has a love for gardening and the desert isn’t exactly the most conducive to growing beautiful things. I think I’ll buy this for the kids when we get to the botany section of science this year.
Merry Christmas!
I love wrapping presents. I love choosing the perfect paper, the coordinating ribbons, and finding the perkiest bows. I love making each package look so pretty that you don’t want to unwrap it. Almost.
If I had the resources, I’d spend a fortune on the best paper, and gorgeous ribbons and learn to make amazing bows. Every package would be a total work of art. Just because I love that kind of thing. However, my frugal side (yes, contrary to popular belief, I do have one) doesn’t allow me to spend as much or more on the wrapping as I do on the gift. However after years of trying to make cheap paper work, I no longer allow myself to buy it. I don’t care how beautiful it is, how perfect for this or that person, cheap paper tears, doesn’t cut nicely, turns white at the edges and looks rubbed at the slightest slip across the table. So, now, I only buy the strongest paper- preferraby with a nice grid on the back.
I’ve been putting ribbon on my packages for years. When I was a pre-teen in Ventura I used to walk up Harbor Blvd. to Seward, turn right, walk over the freeway, up the hill, and down a few residential streets. I’d often cross Newberry’s parking lot to go visit John&Gloria for a few minutes before I crossed back over that same parking lot, across a little side street, debated a Wendy’s Frosty, and finally slipped into the wonderous world of Pic ‘n’ Save. This is where I first found the rolls of ribbon (you know, eight colors on one tube and once you open them they swirl into a total mess everywhere until you get smart and start taping them back up immediately?)
This year while packaging my presents, I realized something. My packages have crosses on them! Isn’t that a silly but sweet reminder of what Christmas is all about? How amazing that something so simple as festive ribbons on packages would remind me of why we celebrate this holiday in the first place!
So today I wrapped. I have papers with holly, snowmen, stripes, plaids, scripture, nostalgic scenes, wreaths, snowflakes, Santa hats and ornaments, and scriptures! I have bows of red, green, blue, white, and purple. There are penguins on tags and sweet scenes of boys pulling Christmas trees back on sleds through the snow. There are Christmas presents from mom, dad, siblings, and grandparents. There are gifts to children, grandchildren, grandparents, and friends.
We are richly blessed. I absolutely love everything about the Christmas season but I think the one thing that seems to be the embodiment of it all is a beautifully wrapped package. To me it reminds me of the true Gift of Christmas and how He left the beauty of heaven to be a humble package for us. There isn’t anything more beautiful than that.
I need another gift idea for Andra. She’s a bit quirky. She is a lot of fun but anyone who knows anything about her will tell you that her blonde hair is no lie.
Andra is ten but more 8-10 on the maturity scale. She’s very much a little girl who loves little girl things. Right now her two Christmas gifts are Calico Critters and a Webkinz. I’m looking for something a little different if possible and I’m looking for specifics.
I DO NOT WANT…
Books
Movies
or any other item that is likely to become immediate community type property. I am looking for a gift that is uniquely Andra’s.
Here are the Rules.
- You can enter as many times as you like.
- You MUST provide a link to where it can be found.
- It must be under 100 dollars.
- It needs to be something that doesn’t take up half a room. (I’m not looking for 6′ high doll houses!)
- Your entry MUST be in by 9 p.m. PST on Friday December 7, 2007
The Prize:
I am offering a $25.00 Amazon e-certificate.
Asthma.
After my PFT on Monday, attack on Wednesday night, my ER trip on Friday, and the follow-up today, the doctor has determined that I have a-typical asthma. It presented with unusual symptoms (cardiac) probably because I’ve had it most of my life and my body compensated (this explains why I wasn’t a very active child) until my heart finally demanded more oxygen than my lungs extracted from the world around me.
So, I now have a fascinating array of drugs!
1. I have a nebulizer. 4x per day. I don’t have the stuff to go in it because the Dr’s office didn’t call in the Rx like they said they would.
2. I have Advair. I take it morning and night. It is some kind of preventative medicine.
3. I have Singulair. He’s checking to see if I have allergy induced asthma. The idea is that he’ll take me off later and see if I react.
4. I have the Combivent inhalers for away from home.
Oh- and I have to keep taking the antibiotic that the ER gave me. Bronchitis may or may not be a problem as well but he wants me to take it now that I started in order to stop any infection that IS there or prevent me from creating a spiral.
So there you have it. Nebulizer, Drugs, and antibiotics. Yip for me.
