Christmas has arrived

I should have waited until later...I will take some with the tripod one of these days...

Advent

I mentioned to Cory this morning that if not for the icky colds that our girls have developed, today would have been a good day to make a rare appearance in church. He encouraged me to go by myself and enjoy the service without having to worry about keeping the kids under control, and so after a short hesitation when I contemplated staying in my pajamas all day, I headed up to the shower and got myself out the door just in time.

As I sat in church listening to the soothing prelude being played I contemplated my weekend, my year, my life. As O come, O come, Emmanuel sung out from the piano, faces scrolled through my mind. The dear friend that I know is hurting and hoping to feel the presence of God her life. My Mother in Law Sandi, who is fighting disease and uncertainty. The families that I see in the food pantry, hoping for a windfall to get them through. The beautiful little family that was making their first trip to church as a complete family after their baby girl came home from the hospital, a two time open heart surgery survivor. God is good.

I am not a fan of the Holiday season. It always seems like an excuse to spend too much money, eat too much food and book too many activities. Whenever I go to church it seems that I find myself leaving there having been personally spoken to. With our pastor out of town for the holiday weekend, I expected this to be an exception, but instead I enjoyed the beginning of the advent season with the hanging of the greens and the framing up of the Christmas season. As it turned out, I did leave the church having been spoken too. I pray that I continue to feel the love and presence of Christ throughout the season of Advent as I did today.

This weekend was topped off by the hanging of our own personal "greens" this afternoon. Our beautiful new house looks even more beautiful with the colorful lights of Christmas wrapped around our porch and the pretty new Christmas tree, that so fittingly reflects the season on our little girls faces while they play in our living room.

Merry Christmas. Peace be with you.

Arizona

So Cory and I took a quick trip to Arizona for work. It was outside of my comfort zone, so I had a stomach ache for most of the trip, but I still really enjoyed seeing something different. I made a few observations about Scottsdale. First of all, it is an awesome place to shop. Secondly, everyone there has lots of money. We saw tons of high end cars that we rarely see, especially in such high numbers, here. Bentleys, Porsches and Ferraris were everywhere. Thirdly, Everyone in Scottsdale has a tan, and for two whole days, I got to be the fattest person in eye shot. It was kind of unnerving, but Cory was able to point out to me that we saw a person in the mall that was fatter than me. That was comforting.









The terrain in Arizona was definitely worth the trip, but I am glad to be back in the land of the corn-fed, where I am not the fattest one in the crowd.

Comfort Zone

I took Leila to a birthday party a couple of weeks ago. It was her first birthday party that wasn't for a family member and I woke up that morning with a rush of anxiety at the thought of taking her. Lots of parents of the kids that Leila goes to school with would be there, and the last thing I wanted to do was alienate the parents of Leila's friends because I am socially awkward. We arrived at the Children's Museum and Leila plopped herself right down with the birthday boy and started in on the art project they were doing together. Being the first of these such events for me, I wasn't sure what the protocol was, but I fully expected to stand off in a corner and watch the festivities, ensuring that my child didn't misbehave. As the other parents began to arrive and leave I realized that I was probably expected to leave as well. I wasn't sure about that, but Leila didn't care either way. I stayed around to snap a few pictures and see if the birthday mom needed any help while I watched more children arrive. There were a few kids that clung to their mothers as if they were being dropped at the doctor’s office instead of a birthday party at one of the coolest kid spots in town. There were lots of tears and anxiety. It made me uncomfortable, because I could see myself in these children. I coaxed Leila to offer seats to the criers, and she did it, just as I asked, and I was proud of her. I have a feeling that as different as Leila is from me, and as happy as she was in the unfamiliar setting of the birthday party, Thea is going to be a clinger like her mama. Sigh.

I left the party and started walking through the mall...by myself. A truly unique experience for me. I strolled around in stores and checked out a new little gift shop where jewelry and gifts sporting famous quotations were sold. That kind of thing is always a hit with an English major like me. I picked up a magnet that proclaimed:

"Life begins at the end of your comfort zone."

Huh. I am still thinking about this one, two weeks later. Is that really true? Because life within my comfort zone is very nice. Life outside of my comfort zone gives me a stomach ache.

Tell that to the screaming and crying four year olds back at the birthday party and maybe they would agree, after all, they did get cake.

I think...

I really need this shirt. Don't you?


This site has lots of great stuff that I am eyeing! www.raygunsite.com

I try not to talk politics too much on here, or in real life for that matter. I hate being disappointed by humanity, and politics inevitable disappoint. I don't like either party very much, and I don't particularly care about the election results, with one exception. I am really disheartened by the vote in Iowa to not retain the 3 judges on the ballot, who along with the other 4 supreme court judges, ruled that gay marriage is not illegal. There are a lot of implications to this action that make me uncomfortable, but above all it makes me really sad that so many people want to take out their anger on these individuals, for doing their jobs and making rulings based on the constitution. And that aside, I am really sad that there are so many people who want to stand in the way of marriage equality. I can't think of a single reason why someone would care to keep someone else from having the rights they enjoy. I know that there are people that I really respect that hold this opinion, but this is an opinion that I can not respect. God is love, and the hate puts me in a bad mood. I feel like we are involved in an ongoing sporting event and both teams will do anything to win. bleck.

This afternoon I turned on my Van Morrison Pandora station on my phone and reminded myself that there is so much more to life than politics.

Little Bo Peep has lost her sheep...

I couldn't help myself from coaxing Leila into a cutesy coordinating outfit with her little sister. Luckily, she was pretty excited about the idea of being Little Bo Peep...likely because she had just gone to see the Toy Story movie with Aunt Cassie so it was fresh in her mind.
Thea loved her costume. Mom and Dad brought it over last Wednesday night, and she refused to take the booties off at bedtime, she slept in them. Again tonight she picked the costume up off of the stairs and carried it over to Cory with her sweet little baby begging face on.

Self Talk

Leila started out the night with no interest in going up to a strangers door and asking for candy. My Dad and I followed behind while Cory and Andrea led the kids up to the first driveway. I assured Leila that she had met the people who lived in this house, and there was no reason to be scared. I guess the allure of candy, and the reassurance that she would not be confronted with a total stranger was enough to give her the boost she needed to head up to the front door. She returned to the sidewalk with renewed confidence, and we were off!

As I walked down the street with Leila she was chanting happily, "I'm not scared! This doesn't scare me! I'm not scared! This doesn't scare me!"
I thought to myself of all of the mornings of late when I have woken up to an anxious feeling in my stomach and a lump in my throat. I repeat to myself, "I'm not sick, today will be a good day. There is nothing to be worried about."
I have to appreciate that at the ripe old age of four years old, my little Leila has already discovered the art of self-talk. My first line of defense against the butterflies that have taken up permanent residency in my stomach...or maybe its in my mind, either way, I just have to hope that Leila's defense doesn't have to spend as much time on the field as mine does these days.