Archive - December 2009

The Year That Was 2009

In January, I declared my birthday a national holiday.  People everywhere slept in and held parades.

My children and their dance group auditioned for “America’s Got Talent” in February.  We never heard back from them.

We got some snow in March.

In April we had one crazy night of Mexican folkdancing.

Pumpkin Girl made her First Communion in May.

We bought a house and Philip had his retirement ceremony in June.

In July,  we moved most of the way across the country and we couldn’t believe all the deer we were seeing!

August brought our first house guests and a big hail storm.

We went on a totally spontaneous trip to Disneyland in September.  Back at home it started snowing on the last day of summer.

It kept snowing in October.

The turkey danced in November and we got more snow, saw more deer and worried about mountain lions.

By December, we stopped keeping track of the snow and deer, we got a new fridge and I got a new haircut.

And a good time was had by all.

Merry Christmas

nativity_haba


For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.   Isaiah 9:6

Merry Christmas from our family to yours.  I hope your Christmas is filled with love, peace and hope.

Six

Six years ago and half a world away, a sweet baby came into this world.   We brought her home from the hospital on Christmas Eve and we all fell in love with her.  God entrusted her to our care for just a short time, but we are so happy that He gave us the chance to love her and be loved by her in return.

Happy Birthday, Rebecca.  Our lives are better for having had you.

pc240230

Christmas Foyer

This is for my friend Tami.  The first thing she said when she arrived at our house, after my family finished mugging hugging hers, was that our banister was going to look great for Christmas.

dsc02153

dsc02156

The candy garland is from my childhood.

rsz_dsc02143

This buffet table is about 90 years old and newly restored to its former glory.  The dining room is too small to fit the whole set, so this piece moved here.  Philip actually came up with the idea to put it here, and I like the weight it gives to the entry way.   Plus, it provides some nice display area.

dsc02138

Right now it has our lighted Nativity.  I bought this so long ago that I can’t even remember when.  This is the first time we’ve had room to put it out.  Originally we had Mary and Joseph, the shepherds and animals all set up, too, with Baby Jesus safely tucked away until Christmas and the Wise Men waiting off to the side to begin their journey.  Then one of the children said that maybe we should put Mary and Joseph away, too.  And boom!  It hit me.  Boo has a statue of Mary and Joseph on their way to Bethlehem.   We packed everyone away and put the statue out instead.  Now we are reminded of Mary and Joseph’s difficult journey all through the Advent season.

dsc02139

I smile when I see this statue.  Mary’s patient, resigned face is so telling of her end of pregnancy state.  I have been pregnant for two Advents, both times just about ready to pop, too.  In fact, my girls were each born at 8 pm, one 3 days before Christmas and one 3 days after.  I am eternally grateful for the comfort of our car instead of having to sit on a donkey.

dsc02141

————————————–

So here’s today’s Design Delemma.  The staircase seems to need something (during the rest of the year, mostly).  Or does it?  It curves, so it’s tricky to hang anything up, but I suppose we could make it work.  My original thought was to put a round table in the space, but with the buffet table we’d just end up zig-zagging around.  So what say you?  Attempt to hang something on the curved wall?  Leave it as is? Here’s a different view, capturing the whole hallway.

dsc02145

Well Protected

A  squad of snow soldiers keep silent vigil over  the entrance to our house.

dsc02146

These guys claim the foyer for the USA.

dsc02144

LTC Freeze’s battalion has seized the high ground in defense against the children that are rumored to be in the area.  Freeze is the 3rd guy from the right, with the red hat and green scarf.

rsz_dsc02147(hmm, next time I’ll close the cabinet door for  a better picture)

Snowman Army all present, sir!

dsc02148

Seemingly Unrelated

Pumpkin Girl finally started piano lessons again.  After searching long and hard (or really just avoiding the issue), I found a very nice homeschool graduate working his way through college. Unfortunately, our music room now looks like this:

dscf0006

We had our very last household goods shipment arrive last week and we’re slowly working our way through it.

I was in the shower when the household goods arrived and saw them for the first time as I came downstairs.  I was happily distracted by all our long awaited storage stuff and, well…I stepped into air.  I did something to my ankle, not a sprain and probably not broken since I could walk on it, but it was definitely painful.  I had to stop wearing my favorite Dansko shoes and be extra careful picking my way through all the snow, lest I reinjure myself.  My ankle hurt for so long that I was starting to wonder if I should go have it x-rayed in my spare time (ha!), and then  I caught a cold.

Not just any cold, but a breathe-through-your-mouth, cough-up-phlegm, and update-your-will, kind of cold.  At the end of the last two days I was completely. wiped. out.  I went to bed hours early.  And lo and behold, I woke up this morning with my ankle feeling almost completely better.  Full range of motion, no more stabbing pains.  I guess it just needed a rest.

So feeling able to walk again, we went to the mall and I got my hair cut.  I came home and immediately had Philip take a picture.   It doesn’t really show off the cut, but pretend it does and tell me it’s cute.

me

In review:

Music room full of boxes
I fell down the stairs
I caught the mother of all colds and took to my bed
Rest made my ankle feel better
Better ankle meant a trip to the mall
I got a haircut
Comments are required requested optional but encouraged on how cute I look.
Thus, my story of seemingly unrelated events comes to an end.

Out With the Old

dsc02121

In with the new…dsc02129

When we first moved in we knew that the side-by-side refrigerator that came with the house was going to be too small.  It wasn’t a pressing issue, but we did research and figured out which fridge we wanted when the time came.  Then Thanksgiving week we found an ad from Home Depot and we were able to save $700 on a new fridge!  We’re loving the extra room, especially in the freezer.  There was a brief moment of panic when I realized that we forgot to measure the space between the kitchen island and the counter.  I made Philip get up (we were already in bed) and come with me to confirm that the new fridge would actually be able to be maneuvered in.  No worries, it had a couple of inches to spare.

The rest of the appliances in the kitchen are black, but we decided to go with the stainless for the fridge.  I’m glad we did, since we’ll be getting a gas range in the next few years and so will slowly go completely stainless.

Candle Lighting

How are your holiday preparations going?  I don’t mind saying “holidays” instead of “Christmas” because there are many celebrations at this time of year, which include the Feast of St. Nicholas, St. Lucia Day, the Immaculate Conception, Our Lady of Guadalupe and continue through New Year’s Day and Epiphany.

This time of year can be so wonderful, the beauty of the decorations, the thrill of impending presents and the love and joy that abounds everywhere.   But all that happiness and love and togetherness can be very difficult for those of us who have lost a child.

The phrase, “at least we’re all together” rings hollow when a child is missing from the gathering.  All that merriness can be a bunch of bah humbug when your heart is broken.  And all that talk of a child being born – ack, can it get any worse?

This coming Sunday, December 13 is the annual Worldwide Candle Lighting to remember the children who have died.

I would like to invite you all to participate.  At 7 PM local time on December 13, just light a candle and keep it burning for one hour.  In this way, we can create a wave of light for 24 hours to remember the children.

I ask you to do this for me, to remember our Rebecca.  When you do, please say a prayer, not just for me, but for all the families who have been left behind.  Please remember especially, those families who have lost a child this year.  Please also pray for those who do not have a faith to rely on, or who have turned away from God in their grief.  But lastly, please thank the Lord for those children who, though they stayed with us too briefly, brought us immense joy.

Copyright The Mac and Cheese Chronicles 2020.  All rights reserved. Images and content may not be used without express permission.