Suddenly Incapable of Caring for Kids

In other words...

SICK.

Yes, yes, yes. That is my state at the moment. Fever-running, snot-producing, sore-throat, chills, achy-breaky muscles, lying-on-the-couch-and-if-you-touch-me-you-die kind of fun.

It all started last Wednesday, over a week ago. As we were in the car, leaving for our long Christmas vacation, my hubby starts getting sick. Lo and behold, he wasn't faking it to avoid socializing at his mother-in-law's (not that I could accuse him of that, because he loves his in-laws), because my daughter soon joined in with all the feverish coughing snottiness. My son followed suit, and I cleverly avoided capture by telling my body I didn't have time to be sick, and if I was sick, who would watch everybody else?

So my body listened until the opportune moment... okay, she's home. She's got her hubby around until Monday. She's done unpacking. Score!!!

And thus it began.

On a more cheery note, I did have a wonderful Christmas, boogers and all. We got to see the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, which by the way, if you haven't seen them, it is now dubbed a priority by your royal highness, the Pumpkin Princess. I was astounded. They put on such a good show, and the carrying on and joking after the show was just as fun!

And we got to go on a horse-drawn carriage ride through Lake Kiowa to see all the Christmas lights. And we got to go see Enchanted with the kids. Never mind that Eli threw up twice during the end... once on the row in front of us and once on me. No more buttery popcorn for sickie. And thank God there was no one sitting in front of us.

So I'm bed-bound and dreading only being able to squeeze down a few spoonfuls of chicken noodle tomorrow, which was the fate I witnessed my whole family go through over the past week.

And Mom, he wasn't crazy. At the beginning of this thing, there are just some smells, seemingly random in nature, that just can't be handled. Your beef ciabattas weren't to blame. In fact, they were excellent. But pizza tonight was just not to be, because that was the particular scent my nose just couldn't handle. Maybe it's just this stage of it and the smell of food in general... hmm...

Anyway, pray all goes well over the next few weeks. Hubby has accepted a new job, one with a company whose name will generate endless jokes to keep me and my family entertained. I really hope it's everything we've been praying for.

All righty then, I'm going to go sanitize my keyboard now.

Brownish-Greenish Christmas

If you dream of horse-drawn carriages
Dashing through the snow;
Before you move to Texas
There's something you should know ...

(Chorus)
That they don't have White Christmases in Houston.
I've lived here most my life and I should know.
I've prayed and I've pleaded for way too many years
But they just don't have White Christmases down here.

I've heard of winter carnivals in Aspen.
It looks just like a winter wonderland.
But remember while you're freezin' throughout this Christmas season
We'll be down here with Christmas cheer and flip-flops in the sand.
I've seen all those Christmas shows on TV.
Blankets of white powder; my, how grand!
But while you've got snow and holly, I'm feastin' on tamales;
Sittin' on my back porch with an iced tea in my hand.

(Chorus)

I laughed out loud when I heard this song.

And oh!!! How I connected with it today. It almost felt surreal to be packing sweaters for our trip when I had to change shirts today because it was too hot for a long-sleeved shirt.

On December 18th.

A week before Christmas.

Yep, no chance.

The one time it snowed for Christmas I was out of town. The weather reports on the radio keep saying there's a chance, but I think there's about a snowball's chance in H - E - double hockey sticks that it'll actually happen, especially since Weather.com says it'll be 69 degrees. And of course, you know that Weather.com knows everything. And they also say it'll be 57 degrees where I'm going, so I don't even know if I need to pack a jacket. Is there a point, really?

I have this beautiful suede long jacket lined with fuzzy fleece. It's so warm and makes me look like an Eskimo. And I get to wear it once a year. I don't even think I'll need it at all this year. But it's one of those things you just can't throw away because you know one day you'll go somewhere really cold (like anywhere north of the Mason Dixon right now) and wish you'd kept it. So it hangs forlornly in my front hall closet. Poor, lonely jacket. But hey, my denim jacket's seeing a lot of action lately. 'Cause I'm so southern that if it drops below 70 I'm freezing. Hardy har har. I wish I was joking.

Anyway, I'm rambling tonight. Looking forward to Trans-Siberian Orchestra on Friday (go Mom!), and spending Christmas relatively relaxed. Semi-stressing about getting 3-4 new students in January. I'm already so busy! But hey, you get what you ask for, right? I'm going to have to concentrate on that when I pray. Specifics, specifics, and semantics!!! I'm debating whether I want to spread them out or just have a couple of crazy days and the others be not-so-crazy. I mean, Monday's already shot. If I shoot Thursday in the foot, too, then I'll have Tuesday and Wednesday with only 1 or 2 students. I think I'm going to have to think, and I'm soooooo not in the mood for that right now.

I'm going to go wrap more Christmas presents now, because you definitely don't have to think to do that.


glitter-graphics.com

Last Night Standing

I found out on Wednesday that my best friend is moving not in January or February, but next weekend. Talk about a harsh blow. So we decided to have a girls' night out at Baker St, a local sports bar. We had such a good time! I can't even begin to describe it. Everything was funny. We met some great people, danced a little...

Here's some pictures:


On our way to Baker St


Steph after a shot of Patron


That meant I had to do one, too


Monica joined us!

Being the Proverbs 31 Woman Breaks Nails

Yep, you read that right.

I was cleaning the house last night, and got to thinking about the commonalities between myself and my friends and the Proverbs 31 woman. (The scripture I'm referring to is Proverbs 31:10-31.)

She is smart and resourceful and ever working to better her family. She toils from before sunup to way after sundown. The entire community respects and loves her. She touches everyone she meets.

How many women do I know like this? Quite a few, actually. Maybe because I'm blessed with a fruitful church, and have met many women who follow this example, even if they don't know they're doing it.

Take a look at this:

28 Her children arise and call her blessed;

her husband also, and he praises her:

What I find amusing is that nowhere in this passage of a perfect woman does it say "and her husband and children help her with the housework." Believe me, I searched that passage thoroughly.

What a ripoff!!! I mean, honestly, I was looking for some justification to get my family in line to help me clean the house. We have guests coming tonight, and I want it to look decent. Not perfect, 'cause no one would believe that, but a house that doesn't cause a guest to think... ewww... would be a start.

Most of the women I know clean their homes with little to no help from husband or family, and just grin and bear it. Most of the women I know are actively involved in the church, and most of them have jobs in or outside the home that we spend a great deal of time working on. Most of them either homeschool or are otherwise intensely involved in their children's educations. Most of the women I know bend over backward to make their husbands happy and content.

So I'm sitting here scrubbing a chair, thinking about how the perfect woman works her whole body to the bone sacrificially in the name of service to others, meditating on the perfectness of myself and the women I know, (*smiles*) and...

Crack!

Owwwwwwwwwwwwwww!

My nail on my middle finger of my right hand breaks. In half. Horizontally across the middle. I repeat:

Owwwwwwwwwwwwwww!

No fixing this one. It still hurts. Especially since I'm right-handed. I feel like a gimp. I can't do anything without it somehow needing to be used. God forbid I ever broke that finger, I'd be up a creek.

And because of the busy season, Saturday morning's the first time I'll get to have it fixed. I've got to survive with a throbbing finger until then, and I know it'll sting more than a little when they fix it (having broken nails before).

Such is life, eh?

In the air

Last night I got my first real Christmas feeling. The air was cold, with that familiar snap in it, and the smell of woodsmoke drifted by on a breeze. For some reason this always is my signal that Christmas is upon us. It just never feels like it until I get the snap and the smoke. Hah. Therefore I can never move to California or Arizona or any other place that doesn't get that, because Christmas is my favorite holiday and it would be a tragedy for it not to feel like Christmas.

I've gotten most of my shopping done. The ones that haven't been covered are on hold for one reason or another, either waiting on something or I simply don't know what to get. Hopefully my gifter's block will end soon and I'll be able to wrap it up...

Since I just found out that we'll be leaving on Wednesday instead of Friday! And I'm very excited about that. For those that don't know, there is not a single holiday that we spend here, since we have no family in town. Luckily I married a family-oriented guy as well, so there's no questioning whether we'll be with family over a holiday or not, it's just a fact of life. It's always been that way for me, and it would break my heart to change it.

I am finally sending out Christmas letters this year, so please, if I don't have your address, or if you're not sure I have your address, or you've moved, please e-mail it to me so I can send it to the right place. I'll try to contact everyone that I know for sure has a different address than the one in my so-very-not-up-to-date little black book. I hope to get the cards out by the week before Christmas, but with the Christmas rush, there's no telling whether they'll make it on time or not. So just know that you're in my thoughts and prayers, and a card will arrive soon.

All my love to my friends and family!

Thanksgiving Pics

Here's the promised pictures from Thanksgiving week. Enjoy!


My ice princess


The first (but amazingly graceful) fall


"Mommy, hold my hand!"


Stuffing the turkey


The Thanksgiving spread


The other side


My family


I'm going to show this to Eli's girlfriends!