The Last Dozen of the Year!

1. Do you find it gross to share drinks with family? Friends?
Not really. But I guess it depends on how many people we are talking here and how well I know them. Oh, and if they are sniffing or not.

2. What have you learned this year? (You didn't see a question of that weight coming, did you? At least not for #2.)
It's been a tough year with a lot of changes. They were not all bad changes (engagements, wedding), but significant changes all the same. The dynamics of some really important friendships have changed and I don't like that. But those friends have stepped out in grace when God knew I most needed it. "Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness." (Lamentations 3:22-23)

I have also learned how incredibly blessed I am to be able to spend life with my husband. I have to tell you what he put in my stocking. He found a little sign that says "For Ever and For Always, No Matter What." I bawled when I read it. God was certainly gracious and merciful when He brought that man into my life.

3. When do you dismantle the Christmas decorations?
I don't think I have a hard and fast rule, but I do think it ends up being New Year's Eve or New Year's Day. When I was a kid I always thought it was unfair that my mom got to have the Christmas tree up for her birthday and it was put away by mine. (Our birthdays are eight days apart in early January.)

4. Something you wish to accomplish before the end of 2009 is:
Having supper ready to serve when I tell people it will be ready. I have several times recently, when we have company, stated a certain time for supper and have been an hour off. As in it's an hour late. I get nervous when they start hovering around the kitchen and I'm scrambling to get everything done and something ends up not being totally cooked. Today I will have supper ready by 6pm!

5. How do you feel about winter (after Christmas)?
I do get kind of tired of it come the end of March and yes, it drags into April too. The joys of living too far north. The bitter cold gets to me. I can handle 20s and up, especially if there is sunshine. I miss sunshine in the winter.

6. Have you participated in after-Christmas sales?
I haven't had time to. We went to Iowa the day after Christmas to celebrate with both sides of the family there. We got home Monday night and yesterday we celebrated Christmas with our kids. So, I've been pretty busy and not had time to hit the sales. Darn.

7. Do you have plans for New Year's Eve?
I think we will cook Chinese food and then I don't know what.... We need to talk with our kids and see what they want to do. There will probably be some Wii playing. We gave one to our son yesterday. They have had a blast with it so far.

8. Is there anything special awaiting you in January?
My birthday? It will be my last year in this decade, before I switch to some new numbers. Is that special? **sigh** Later in the month I have an eye appointment where I am hoping to come away with contacts.

9. If your life this year was a movie, what category or genre would it be? (Romance, Comedy, Drama, Thriller, Suspense, Farcical, etc.)
Yes, I had to look up the meaning of farcical. (So, I learned something new before the year was out!) Ludicrous and absurd were a couple of words used to define it. I think that defines some of my year. There have been some amazingly, absurd things that have happened in some of my relationships. Parts of the year have been a Romance, parts a Farcical, and parts a Drama. All in all a pretty tough year, with a few bright spots. I am looking forward to being done with 2009.

10. How much time per day do you spend blogging? Please do not lie. I will know.
I read quite a few blogs. My kids think I'm a little touched in the head for doing that. I have met a bloggy friend in real life even! That was way cool. I can spend a good hour just reading. Writing? I have no idea.

11. Who runs your household?
Well I know the right answer is my husband. I really do think that's true. We do talk a lot about how things will work. I must admit that I have had to work hard at not thinking I needed my way all the time. The household is a lot happier when the balance is the way God designed it to be.

12. Share one hope/dream for 2010.
That our daughter will have the wedding she wants and will have happy memories from her wedding day. And I hope that our new family consisting of a son and daughter-in-law and a daughter and son-in-law will learn how to gel as the new unit we will be.

Oops, I guess that was kind of more than one. But all sort of related, so I think it's kind of okay.

The Bible in 50 Words

God made

Adam bit
Noah arked
Abraham split
Joseph ruled
Jacob fooled
Bush talked
Moses balked
Pharaoh plagued
People walked
Sea divided
Tablets guided
Promise landed
Saul freaked
David peeked
Prophets warned
Jesus born
God walked
Love talked
Anger crucified
Hope died
Love rose
Spirit flamed
Word spread
God remained

Christmas Week

I decided Wednesday morning that I really like electricity.

I woke up that morning to a beeping sound. It took a little bit for me to realize the power was out. The carbon-monoxide detector we have plugged into the hallway beeps kinda sickly when the power goes out. It ended up being off for 4 hours. It's amazing to think of the list of things I can't do with no electricity. No internet. No TV. No laundry. No cooking. No fixing my hair in an acceptable way.

The up side was that we went out for lunch with the hubby! :) I like that.

Megan and Zach took off to celebrate Christmas with Zach's side of the family. Wednesday was the start of the Christmas Storm of 2009. I think they ran into some bad roads, but made it okay.

Before the worst of it set in here, hubby and I went to the grocery store and got everything we needed. Then we rented 6 movies in case we were snowed in.
We rented:
1. Father of the Bride (1950 version)
2. Hotel Rwanda
3. Grapes of Wrath (1940 version)
4. The Soloist
5. Seven Pounds
6. My Life in Ruins

We watched a movie Wednesday night.

Christmas Eve it snowed and snowed and snowed. A neighbor plowed our driveway! That was a nice surprise.

We went to our church's Christmas Eve service. Pete played the piano and I was a part of the worship team. It was a nice service complete with candles and "Silent Night."

Outside? It snowed.

Hubby and I actually went to a Chinese restaurant and ate Christmas Eve dinner. It was yummy.

We drove to a park I like to go to for the quiet peacefulness of the place and watched the snow fall and listened to Christmas music. Then we drove around town and looked at the lights.

We came home and opened our stockings. We gave each other some cook stuff. (And I only gave myself one thing...)

Then we watched a movie.

Christmas Day: it snowed.

We were invited to a friend's for dinner in the afternoon, but decided to not go because of all the snow. We were also planning on driving part way to my parents, but decided against that too. The neighbor plowed our driveway again. This time we saw him doing it.

See how much snow we have on the table on the deck?
I think we got somewhere around 19 inches of snow. That's a lot of snow!

Now we are headed to Iowa for celebrations with both sides of our families. I hope the roads are good.

The Christmas Story

It Came Upon the Midnight Clear

We sang this Christmas carol tonight at the Christmas Eve service at church. These are some of the words that struck me:

It came upon the midnight clear,
That glorious song of old,
From angels bending near the earth,
To touch their harps of gold;
“Peace on the earth, good will to men,
From Heaven’s all gracious King.”
The world in solemn stillness lay,
To hear the angels sing.

And ye, beneath life’s crushing load,
Whose forms are bending low,
Who toil along the climbing way
With painful steps and slow,
Look now! for glad and golden hours
Come swiftly on the wing.
O rest beside the weary road,
And hear the angels sing!For lo! the days are hastening on,

By prophet-bards foretold,
When with the ever circling years
Comes round the age of gold;
When peace shall over all the earth
Its ancient splendors fling,
And the whole world send back the song
Which now the angels sing.

Merry Christmas!

What Christmas Is All About

When You Think About It, It IS a Weird Song

Christmas Eve, Eve (The Day Before Christmas Eve)

Some Good Reads

I have really enjoyed getting into the blog-world. I have made a new friend (and met In Real Life), made other bloggy friends and been able to keep up with far-away friends. There are some pretty funny blogs out there and there are some people that have a gift for writing quite thought provoking posts. I wanted to share a few with you that have touched my heart recently.

Shaun Groves writes about the last two commands from God in Malachi. Awesome-Send-Me-To-My-Knees stuff.

Then there is a blog called Stuff Christians like. And this post. Read It.

Beth Moore and her daughters keep up a blog that is connected with Beth's ministry. This post is full of wisdom and perspective that I think so many of us (including me) miss when we are smacked in the face with really hard stuff like Beth and her family has been recently. Beth had surgery and you just have to read through the post to find out the names of a couple of nurses she had.

I just wanted to share some of my reading with my three or four readers. :)

12 Days of Christmas

This group is quite awesome. Click the arrow and enjoy the Christmas fun!

C.S. Lewis said,
“If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.”

One of Those Weeks

For not really having anything on the calendar, this has been a pretty busy week. I've kept busy with wrapping up my Christmas shopping and then well, um, wrapping the presents. I have one more present to wrap. The only reason it isn't wrapped yet is because Mr. UPS hasn't delivered it yet.

There also seemed to have been endless errands to run around town from Target to the post office, to the grocery store. I have even resorted to a "to-do" list this week. That's something I only do when I am feeling very swamped. I haven't even touched my baking list, and it got longer today.

I've been trying to get myself acclimated to my new piece of torture equipment this week. Oh, I mean exercise equipment. I actually like it. And maybe I will even take a picture of it to show you all. (But you'll have to come back another day to see it, because that would involve me finding my camera, go downstairs, take a picture, come back upstairs, load the picture on my computer and up-load it to here. And that is just way too much for someone who has already done her exercise for the day, you know.)

I have had nights this week that I slept very well, and then a night were I got to sleep a whole half an hour before my husband got up for his work day. (He gets up at 5am. You do the math.) (The sweet, wonderful, amazing hubby was a bit too noisy as he soundly slept.) (I love you, Honey!) That didn't make for a very productive day.

I found out this week that my mom was back in the hospital overnight to check on her heart rhythm and to up some meds to get rid of fluid on her body. (She's okay now.) She was also told she needs to have surgery on her feet because the tissue on her toes has died. (This is a result of the allergic reaction to Heparin, a blood thinner.) And by "surgery on her feet" I mean all the toes removed. The surgery is scheduled for January 8.

Thursday night we had dinner with some very good friends we don't see near often enough. It's so not fair that God called him to a different job and they moved almost 2 hours away. Geesh. It was wonderful to share a meal and talk and talk and talk.

Ever since Tuesday I have felt like tomorrow is Friday. And now, all of a sudden, it's Friday. How did it get here so fast? I don't have everything done I thought I wanted to. Phooey.

The best part of Friday? MEGAN COMES HOME! It's been way too long since I have seen her. Two months. She is riding to Minnesota with a friend from college and we only have to drive a little more than an hour to pick her up. Much better than driving eight hours!

Then tomorrow? Saturday? We are going to try on WEDDING DRESSES! No, of course, I am not trying on dresses! MEGAN is! My job is just to ooo and ahhh and take a picture or two or fourteen. (And bring out the credit card at the appropriate time.) It seems like just last year we were shopping for prom dresses. Well, it has only been a year and a half...

So that's my sort-of ramble for the week. How was your week?

A Dozen Of 'Em

I like this new, festive button that Linda@2nd Cup of Coffee has so I thought I would answer these dozen questions this week. Click on the button to find even more answers from even more bloggers!

1. Gingerbread: For or against? Discuss.

Yum! Cookies? Yum! I have an awesome recipe from my MIL for a cake-like gingerbread. Smells divine when baking and the hubby goes nuts when he realizes it's in the oven.

2. Is it important to you to always stay (live) close to family?
All that matters is that I am with my hubby. I lived seven weeks away from him once and I never want to do that again. I would not make a good military wife.

3. Which holiday pretend character do you wish really existed?
Jack Frost (is that a holiday character?) --- so I could smack him for this high of 3 and the -492 Wind Chill stuff. I am freezing today!

4. Which holiday movie best represents how you feel about Christmas or life?
It's A Wonderful Life always seems to hit home. I always wonder how or if I have impacted the lives of those around me. Would I really want to see what life would have been like without me here?

(Did you know that the man who plays Mr. Potter [Lionel Barrymore] is Drew Barrymore's great-uncle? Just a little free trivia for you.)

5. Is there a particular Christmas song that you're enjoying now? Any that you're tired of?
I heard Elvis "singing" Silent Night yesterday when I was shopping and I wanted to run screaming from the room! It was the worst rendition I have ever heard. Can you say scoop? He scooped up AND down to EVERY note! (and took a breath in the middle of a word) AAAHHHH! On the other hand... a favorite.... I heard this song (Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas) yesterday when I was driving and really liked the melancholy simplicity of it. I know it isn't a "churchy" song, but I like it. And the Coldplay version is in honor of my almost-son-in-law.


6. What is your favorite way to remember those less fortunate at Christmastime?
I think the Angel Tree is my favorite. (Although we haven't participated in this for a number of years since the kids were little.)

7. Does it upset you to see "Xmas" instead of Christmas? How about "Happy Holidays" etc., instead of "Merry Christmas?"
I don't mind "Xmas" Cannot stand "Happy Holidays" and I like "Seasons Greetings" even less. If someone says "Happy Holidays" to me I either respond with a "thank you", or I respond with "Merry Christmas." I am not ashamed of the holiday I celebrate on the 25th of this month.

8. How many Christmas programs are you attending this month?
Zero. Kind sad, huh?

9. Are you dreaming of a white Christmas? Any chance of that dream becoming a reality?
Well, since I live in the Great White North. Yes, it is already a reality. I think we've had about 5 inches so far this month. I don't mind the snow... it's the -604 Wind Chill that gets me. (remember #3?)

10. Tell me about a Christmas present you received as a child. Pics are always nice.
I remember getting this flower making kit when I was 12. My family had gone to a conference and they thought I was too young to go, so I stayed at my aunt & uncle's farm. I don't think I went outside the whole week I was there. It was too cold. I remember spending hours with this. I think it was called something different, but basically the same thing. Another gift that I remember is an Easy Bake Oven. I don't know how old I was. My oven was a lovely turquoise blue. I actually still have it in the original box and everything! I can't believe I found a video of an old commercial! (The Easy Bake Oven commercial starts at 0:34.) We had one of those groovy Spirograph toys too!)

{Lots of videos in this post, huh?}

11. How many Christmas parties are you attending this month?
Zero. Man, I think we need a social life. (Or maybe we got left off the invite list?) **sigh**

12. How do you keep yourself centered on the significance of Christmas?
There are some awesome verses in John chapter 1:

¹In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ²He was with God in the beginning. ³Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. ⁴In him was life, and that life was the light of men. ⁵The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it. ¹²Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— ¹³children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God. ¹⁴The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. ¹⁶From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Gift Idea....

You're Welcome...

Signs

I have been collecting pictures of funny or puzzling signs for several months.

Yes, I am always looking for ideas for a blog post.

It's a gift and a curse. (And kind of fun.)

This sign is in downtown Lawrence, KS. I just don't understand what a "Magic Carpet Traveler" is. Any ideas?

This was found in a major department store. I really don't know what Men's Collections and Furnishings are...

These two restaurants right next to each other and the run-on signs make me laugh. I wonder what kind of food they serve.

I know this isn't really a sign, but it fits in this post anyway. (Besides, this is my blog and I can make up the rules!) Caleb and I like to check out the TV guide to see what interesting combos come up. (Yes we are entertained easily.) (And I'm perfectly fine with that.) So on this TV screen shot are a couple of good ones: Titanic: The Dog Whisper, and my personal favorite: What Not to Say Yes To. (I think that could be a show that could have some potential.)

From a rest area/gas station/convenience store in Kansas:

I hope you have been thoroughly entertained this Monday morning.

Your welcome.

But…

Christ was born.

Christ died.

Christ rose again.

That's what it's all about.

Wednesday & A Question

Winter has hit Minnesota.

**SIGH**

It was a wonderful November. I could really get used to winter with lows in the 40s. Too much to wish for in this land of the Great White North. I am glad I don't have to get up early to see if school is canceled or delayed. I did wake up at 4am hearing the snowplows. I am thankful for snowplows. I am thankful for my hubby who gets up early to start up the snow-blower and clear the driveway. This is our ninth winter in Minnesota and I have yet to learn how to use the snow-blower. I am proud of that record.

We finally got the Christmas decorations out this week. Things are toned down from what we have done in the past, but at least it looks like Christmas around here now. We put the Christmas tree in the living room instead of the family room. I thought it would look nice to have it in the front window.

I had this hair-brained idea the other day...

Are there any questions you, my three or four blog readers, would like to ask me? Anything you would like to know about me? Leave the question in the comments, or email me. I will do my best to answer them.

Ask away....

Christmas Shopping

Since I said on Wednesday that I only had about 10% of the Christmas shopping done, I thought I should get my rear in gear and tackle that project.

Yesterday I drove to a not quite as big as The Big City, City and got busy. The first store I went to has SO MUCH STUFF it was crazy. I spent most of the time maneuvering around the other people and all the stuff. I decided pretty quickly that Christmas shopping wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for all the people.

A notable item about my trip is that I drove my husband's car.

(He needed the bigger vehicle for something I will post about in the next couple of days.)

The good news is that I didn't kill it once! (It's a standard transmission and my car is automatic and sometimes when I switch, I forget the little detail of, Yes! There is a clutch!) Once, when I was down shifting I thought I was grinding the gears. At least it sounded like it over the radio I had blasting. I realized later it was just the cup of mostly ice I had in the cup holder and I was hitting it with my hand... :) The bad news about driving a different car is I kept forgetting which car I was driving when I went out to the parking lot. I had to remind myself that I was looking for a Little Red Car, not an Oasis Green SUV.

I had a nice break in the shopping while I had lunch at Chipotle. Yum. Somehow I always feel strangely out of place when I walk in there and there are mostly 20 something people...mostly men. Oh well. This middle-aged lady loves the food. I park myself at a table and pull out my book and enjoy myself and the yumminess. I think I was there for an hour, engrossed in my book. I can get lost anywhere if I have a good book.

I did manage to get quite a bit of the shopping done, so that's good.

On another note...

I managed to finally find a purse I like! It is bigger so I can stuff a book into it, but not so slouchy everything jumbles together so I can't find anything. I even bought a green one. Not brown or black. I am so proud of myself. Now I just hope my $25 purse holds up for a while. I have usually spent a lot more than that on a purse for the quality, but then get tired of it before it wears out. So I thought I'd go cheap on the theory that it will wear out about the time I get tired of it. We'll see how my theory holds out.

(I know all this information about my life is so riveting. :) But hey.... just being real. Sometimes my life is just that riveting.)

On the home front...

The festive decorating around the house hasn't happened yet. I do have a red candle on the table AND I have the oh-so-festive Red & Green M&Ms in a red bowl on the kitchen counter! I know! The Christmas spirit is overwhelming! Or maybe I should say, underwhelming.

I thought I would show a picture of my festive M&Ms. My almost-son-in-law let his OCD show up the other night.
Do you think we should be worried about him or our daughter? (Since she's going to marry him and all...)

The Weekly Random Dozen. (Because I Lack My Own Creativity So I Have To Use Someone Else's Creativity.)

1. Which Wizard of Oz character are you most like?
Probably The Scarecrow. I feel so incredibly brainless lately.

2. When you're deciding what you're going to wear each morning, which item do you select first? Why?
I usually put on my jeans first. Because I wear jeans basically every day. While I put on my make-up I think about what I want to wear.

3. What kind of animal do you think the world could live without?
Anything in the reptile family. ANYTHING. They are all quite unnecessary.

4. How many Christmas trees are in your home?
At the moment? None. I am in a severe lack-of-Christmas-spirit. Severe.

5. Would you prefer to be emotionless if it mean you didn't have to feel a heartbreak?
Oh man, sometimes I wish I didn't have so many stinking emotions. They wear me out.

6. Do you ever experience holiday let-down or depression?
Yep.

7. Do you like Michael Jackson's music?
Nope. Never ever have.

8. Why is it that we never judge people who have their teeth fixed for cosmetic reasons, but every other cosmetic procedure has a stigma?
I have no idea. Remember the whole brainless thing?

9. Enjoy horseback riding?
Yes. I always have wished I knew how to really well. I actually haven't been in years. When I was a kid I used to use all my spending money at camp on riding the horses.

10. Shoes--practical or stylish?
I love stylish shoes, but my feet are leaning more towards the practical. Hopefully I can find stylish-practical shoes. I have wide feet, so I have a hard time finding shoes that I can get more than my big toe into.

11. What was the name of your first pet? Feel free to post a pic.
Sunburn the Cat. Most of the time we just called him Kitty. He was yellow and white striped. I think we got him after my sister had open-heart surgery. She was 8. I was 3. I have no idea if a picture exists. It would be at my parents house if it did. Oh and I can't forget that later it was D.C. for Dumb Cat. And when he was really old we called him Grandpa. We did get a few strange looks when company was over and someone asked, "Did anyone feed Grandpa?" "Did anyone put Grandpa out?" (I don't even want to talk about the gerbils that I owned....)

12. What percentage of your Christmas shopping is done?
Something like 10%. I am so pitiful and so behind.

A List

This will represent the scatteryness (yes that is a word...) of my mind lately.

1. I am so not in the mood to decorate for Christmas. But I feel like I should be. So I just decorated my blog. That counts, right? And I took down the fall decorations. My hubby and I feel pretty bah-humbug this year. Hopefully we'll get it done before Megan gets home for Christmas break.

2. I think I need to stop cooking. I have somewhere around four burns on my hands. It's a dangerous activity. On the other hand, I made quite an awesome turkey pot-pie last night. (Thanks to Pioneer Woman).

3. I've been to Target four times in two days. I need to go again today to return something. I think I love that store.

4. My mom has been home from the hospital for a week now! She spent 6 weeks there and is so glad to be back in her own house. They had to get a hospital bed for her because the bedrooms are up a full flight of stairs. So now she is sleeping in the dining room.

5. I spent all day Saturday doing laundry. I think the laundry basket was empty a total of .42 seconds. **SIGH**

6. The first of the wedding planning started this week. (Well, last week when I put in a request for the church. I'll hear next week if that is going to work.) This week's job is to find a location for the reception. (Good news! I just got a phone call from the church saying that it is approved! I get to write my first deposit check today! WooHoo!) (Oh for a bit of explanation... our church does not have a building, so I had to ask another church in town to use their facility.)

7. The neighbor's down the street amaze me every year with their gaudiness. I didn't even get a picture of the GIANT blow-up turkey. Thankfully that house isn't next door.

8. Speaking of the house next door, the barking dogs have been taken care of. It has been a blissfully quiet couple of weeks. (All it took was a couple of phone calls to the right people...) ;)

9. We had a wonderful week with Caleb and Amanda. We were blessed that they could spend a whole week with us. We had fun going out to eat, shopping, watching movies and just hanging out. We are thankful for their happiness and contentedness. Below is a picture depicting both the shopping (they were testing out the cuddlelyness of the chair) and the contentedness. Handy, huh? Thanksgiving dinner was good. (Even if the turkey wasn't completely done.) (We ate the fully-cooked part.) We even got to have a friend from church who had to work that day join us for dinner.

10. Speaking of eating out, we ate at a Big Bowl restaurant. I ended my quest for the best lemon chicken. And it is the best I have had in this country. Now I am getting hungry. Is it a good thing or a bad thing that the nearest restaurant is an hour away??? When I was almost finished I realized I should have taken a picture of this yumminess. So you get a shot of the last bite.

Your welcome.


11. (Dern. I thought I could end with an even 10, but I found this picture and had to post it.)
This is my sweet hubby who has this (uncontrollable?) reflex to organize 3M displays when we are out shopping. He wants his company to be represented well. :) Oh how I love that man.






P.S. You are welcome for all my made-up words in this post. Real words just didn't quite cut it today.