Thinks By Me

Luckily I'm married to a guy who gets the whole love language deal and he's well tuned into the fact that acts of service really fill my love tank. To earn brownie points so that he could buy a new snowmobile demonstrate his undying love for me, he has been doing all sorts of favors for me this week--odds and ends that generally would stay undone and cause me to be accused of nagging at some juncture--he has just been knocking them out right and left. He's even taken on a few of my own procrastinated chores. Just because. Without me asking. So although today was the official "day of luv" as they say, I've just been celebrating all week because I won the jackpot in the husband department. It seems that we have successfully passed the idea and excitement about treating your "special one" special on this day to only one of our offspring. Little Chic got right into the spirit of carefully selecting her Valentines for each of her friends, sig...

.....since I haven't been feeling nearly as motherly toward ya'll faithful readers to let you know each and every mundane detail of my life in real-time fashion.... I am busy and more ambitious than ever, taking full advantage of the fact that I am no longer fully consumed with procrastinating my transcription ;) A few of the blog topics that have been waiting in the wings, and are now completely out of date (but you seriously need to know them) are... 1) I got my Christmas decorations down and put in away in a completely respectable amount of time. That is quite an accomplishment for me. While I was doing that, I snapped a picture of my favorite set of ornaments on the left--the expectant parent bears we got when we were pregnant with Eric. The other shot is the sad realization that Little Chic has a lot more personal ornaments than Brainy Boy has. Not quite sure how that happened since I get each of them one every year, but...I'll be hitting the clearance sales to d...

With all our family living scattered near and far, it's a rare occurrence for us to spend the entire Christmas vacation at home. But this year we are, and we're actually excited about it. It was awesome to attend Christmas Eve service at church last night, come home and do the Christmas Eve traditions and then get up this morning with no place to go! After we attended our annual candlelight service at church (in which Little Chic sang), we came home, sipped a little Purity Egg Nog, read the Christmas Story from Luke 2, opened our new Christmas jammies and settled in for a traditional viewing of Little Lord Fauntleroy. When the movie was over, Little Chic was initiated into the world of "non-believer" since this is her first year of officially not believing in Santa. She has been on the fence for a while, but she was never really ready to admit it before this year. We live in a family of skeptics and realists, so it's amazing that she held out as long as she di...

During his sermon yesterday, our pastor related statistics about how many people, including pastors, don't enjoy the holiday season because of all the commercial pressure we put on ourselves. One woman, in the middle of a hectic shopping trip, remarked that whomever was responsible for Christmas should be shot. A fellow shopper responded, "Don't worry, they already crucified Him." I'm sorry to say that I've had my frazzled moments this season, but I hope you'll join me in getting your perspective back and remembering why we celebrate Christmas in the first place. Enjoy your family, enjoy your traditions and enjoy your moments reflecting on the real meaning of Christmas. "Thanks be to God for His Unspeakable Gift." II Corinthians 9:15

We all know that I can procrastinate along with the best of them. But I do consider myself a realist nonetheless. Do the online companies really think that I will swallow their line when they promise that if I order in the next 4 hours, they will, in fact, deliver the perfect gift to its recipient by Christmas day? I mean, seriously, enough with the marketing emails every time I open my in-box. It's down to the wire, now, People. And checking out all your ads is putting me way behind. Just give it up and send a New Year's gift if you weren't on the ball. That's what I'm gonna do.

Okay, so I'm at my local Walmart this morning. The one in rural upstate New York. I hear them making their morning announcements, sending out a special thank you to the employees for their hard work this past Saturday. According to Walmart officials, my small-town Super Walmart was #1 in sales for the Entire Company on Saturday. For real? From what I hear, it was a madhouse but I would've expected stiffer competition from say, the City?

Melanie is always good for some interesting memes that get-to-know-ya better, so I figured I'd steal this one from her. 1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? All different prints of wrapping paper. 2. Real or artificial Tree? Totally fake, but pre-lit, so no light aggravation for me, Baby. 3. When do you put Christmas tree up? I try as soon as possible after Thanksgiving. Sometimes a little later than sooner. 4. When do you take the tree down? I always feel very self-satisfied when I have it down before the end of January. It was very embarrassing the year February came and I hadn't packed it away yet, so I try not to let that happen any more. 5. Like egg nog? I'm an egg nog snob. I suppose I don't like it enough to drink just any brand. But Purity from Ithaca, NY . Well, let's just say it's more like melted ice cream than egg nog. In calorie count as well as taste. I promise you, my favorite brand will totally beat up your favorite brand. 6. Do you have...

To indulge those who weren't present and who haven't seen my family for a while, here are some other pictures of our week away... My Sis, My Mom's Sis & Me Amy, Dale, Brooke,Connor and Liam (turning two while we were there) Uncle Dave (my dad's youngest brother and his family) From lt to rt (Josiah-15, Dave, Jonathan-21, Martha-18, Aunt Susan, Emma-10) Aunt Susan with her eyes open ;) Bravo to Ken who suggested that the men do all the Thanksgiving dishes. They even kept their smiles on to the end!

....we really did have a Thanksgiving celebration with some of my family. Indeed, I've been home a week without giving all the juicy details, but that's because I've been unpacking the eight over-the-weight limit bags we hauled back & forth, working at school and intending every day, yet failing to get my Christmas tree up. So though I've kept you in desperate suspense up to this point, I assure you, I have lots to tell. I can't begin to describe how overdue I was to spend some family time with my own flesh & blood since I live so far in the nether regions away from them all. Bonuses always come with that sort of rare family get-together and this time was no exception. First and foremost was my chance to meet my very first blog friend. Sort of. She's a friend of my sister's, she reads my blog, so wah-lah. Blog. Friend. There ya go. Since her name's the same as mine, you know she's gotta be cool. And she likes the same kind of TV s...

We're back from our blast to Thanksgiving in Texas. This is how we looked there. It's not how we look today, believe me. I'll be posting all the juicy details later, but first we wanted to throw out a big "hang in there" to my brother and his family who did their own traveling to a family Thanksgiving in Indiana. While there, they witnessed his in-laws having a very serious car accident. Thankfully God was watching over them and it wasn't fatal, but their recovery will be long and difficult. Also thankfully, my brother, along with his kids and wife, were following the Grandma & Grandpa, so none of them were in the involved vehicle. We love you guys!

Here are the Halloween pictures of Little Chic who was dressed as Chinese Royalty (in her own description). Blogger was having issues this morning so they couldn't go with the post they belonged to. And yes, I did the hairdo myself. Even the teal highlights. While I was sick. Just call me "Super-woman."

The winter ick has hit me, but luckily has spared the Short People thus far. The world doesn't stop for sick moms as you know, so fall activities and Halloween have carried on as scheduled. I have indulged in some moping around the house in between all the bustle so I am surviving just fine. The highlight of the week was last night, of course, with even DogSpot succumbing to the peer pressure to celebrate. Brainy Boy would have none of the nonsense, but told Little Chic she could bring him back a treat or two if she so desired. She was happy to oblige as it added a benevolent excuse to do the Trick-or-Treat ritual. Pictures will be forthcoming once Blogger sorts out its issues.

On this day especially, it's fun to celebrate all the loves in your life. As far back as I can remember, the goal was always to have somebody special on Valentine's day, if for nothing more than to be able to spend $4 on one of those fancy cards. My Valentine's Days have evolved drastically since I first got the guts to admit I was in love with 12-year-old Darrin Christ back when I was in sixth grade and at this stage of life, the challenge is finding a new and creative way to express that feeling to the guy I live with every day. These days, not only does Valentine's include my One & Only, but it also provides ample training ground for Brainy Boy and Little Chic on how to adequately provide a tangible token to their special someones one day in the far-off future. They don't mind these lessons at all, being that they both scored one of the oversized Hershey kisses that come out at this time of year (Brainy Boy's from Mom and Little Chic's from Dad). T...

That's not really how I think about years gone past, but I do find myself looking forward to what is to come and fresh starts for those things I like to improve. I generally do make a resolution or two, just in the name of progress I suppose. I figure this year I'll give myself a break and not officially declare some big fitness goal--(oh, I am fully pursuing that physical perfection ideal still, har har) but I figure that it's a cop-out to reset the same goal every year for the last 20 years. My commitments this year are 1) To join my bro in reading the Bible through for the first time ever and, 2) To get all birthday cards/gifts to my family members on or before their actual birthdays this year. The first goal is one that I've toyed with for a while and with my brother's challenge, got me moving. The second one has been a bane to me for a long time, driving me crazy that I can't get myself to the post office in due time. Since it irks me so much, I'm ...

Dear Santa, Will Dasher lead the slay next year? Do you have a magic watch that can stop time or slow it down? Tell dasher hese my favrite. Do you know Tiana M or Erin S? My brother doesn't beleave. a bealver, Little Chic PS. I hope you like your cokies. I left a carot for each reindeer and 1 for you. My favrite animal is a cat. My favrite color is blue. Dear Little Chic, I'm fine if Dasher leads next year. I'll tell Dasher, don't worry. Want to know a secret? Dasher's my favorite too. Of course I've got a magic watch. Actually I've got two of them in case one breaks. Tiana and Erin? Yes, I know who they are. Are they friends of yours? I know your brother doesn't believe. That's his choice, I guess. Don't you worry. I love your cookies. Also my reindeer love carrots. My favorite animal is the reindeer obviously, and my favorite color is green. Let me take this time to complement you on your cat. It's so well-behaved. ...

I wrote this script for our live nativity at church, trying to capture the thoughts of what the various characters might have been thinking as they experienced Jesus' birth. It's a story that we've all heard a million times, and I find that 2000 years later, many people think of the Christmas story as a fable or a folk tale. Sometimes it's difficult to really grasp the fact that this story really happened, and it happened to regular, ordinary people like you and me. Our nativity on Christmas Eve attempted to bring the story back to life and help each of us connect ourselves with the people that were around during the time when the event actually happened. I wrote the script on request--it's definitely out of my comfort zone to do dramatic writing for a public audience like this was, but hopefully it will make the meaning of Christmas more personal for you as well. Mary’s Reflections I am but a girl who intended to marry a man and eventually start a family togethe...

From our family to yours - Wishing you a Christmas Eve filled with the Spirit of the only reason we have to celebrate--the arrival of the Messiah, our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Why is it that every female head of household that I know, is running frantically like a hen being chased by a wolf as the days whittle down to the BIG ONE? Why is it that the children of those same females are gleefully pronuncing, "Christmas is in only five days!!" as if their moms are calm and organized with everything done? And why is it that the male partners of those females (be they husbands, boyfriends, dads or brothers) are saying "What stress? What needs to be done? I'm not stressed, why are you stressed?" ?? As of now, if it doesn't get done, it's not getting done, and I'm committed to being OKAY with it. Well, that is except for the remainder of the shopping to do tomorrow, the school classroom party on Friday, the wrapping on Saturday, the singing at two services in church on Sunday....all except for that.

The hustle and bustle at this time of year is infamous. I, like every other person in modern-day America, promise that I am going to shop online, am going to get my errands and mailing done early, and am going to sit back and relax throughout the season approaching Christmas. Of course I never do, and today was no different. I headed to the Post Office with arms overloaded at 8am this morning, praising myself for beating the mad Monday rush (the 18th of course will be heralded as the busiest mailing day of the year). I had a dilemma about how to get my too-many packages into the building and up to the counter. Should I even attempt to carry them all at once? (even half the load was near impossible). Should I take in half, and speak to the nice counter woman explaining that I have another load and could I please deposit half the load in a safe spot while I run to the van for the second armload? Should I carry half inside, deposit it in line to hold my place and then dash back out ...