Seasonal

I first encountered the phrase “seasons of life” a few years ago.  Before then it just wasn’t something used by the people I knew.  Maybe it’s a regional thing.  But once I heard it, I liked how nicely it fit with so many things.

In many ways, it gave me permission to prioritize my life in a way that would best suit my family. For example, I have been a Girl Scout leader for three straight years.  Pumpkin Girl really likes me being a leader and I like it, too.  But now, in this season of my life, I need a break.  I need to focus on other things.  It is OK for me not to be a GS leader (I say to myself) because what Pumpkin needs from me right now is to be a ballet mom.  (That’s like a soccer mom, but you know, with miniature ballerinas with buns and pink tights in the back of the minivan, not sweaty soccer players.)

Sometimes life seasons are long, other seasons are short.

Funny enough, blogging seems to be seasonal for me, too.  I’d love to be one of those bloggers who blog daily (or more!), but that never seems to work out for me.  I don’t know where my time goes every day – it’s like I wake up, eat lunch, then go to bed.  The days fly by.  It just hasn’t been a season for blogging lately.  I haven’t even gotten around to changing my blog header to one more…seasonally appropriate.

But the good news is, I feel a change of seasons coming on…

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In Which I Hit A Milestone

So, yes, Tuesday was my birthday.  I’m 40 now, can you believe it?  I can’t.

My day was less than stellar.  Not because I turned 40, but just a variety of things failed to be.  It was a mildly difficult day, but since it was my one day to be completely self involved (well, not really), it was not so good.

For one, I had to make dinner.  Boo had to fill a Cub Scout requirement that night, so we couldn’t go out.  I slaved over my favorite dinner – Chicken Pot Pie and felt very sorry for myself.

Some good things did happen – one of which was a phone call from one of my 8 Friends Named Jen.  She left me a message in which she sang “Happy Birthday” and wished me well and then at the very end remembered to tell me who she was.  Made me smile.

And my grandparents sent me flowers!  The whole concept of someone ringing the doorbell and handing over flowers was baffling to the children.  “How did ‘they’ know it was your birthday?” Boo asked.  “The flowers are from Grandma Honey and Papa T.  They were there when I was born,” I explained.  I think Boo is still trying to figure out how the flowers got from California to here.

Here’s the flowers –

rsz_dsc02303Aren’t they pretty?  There are irises, one of my favorite flowers!

My day recovered after a call from my friend Tami, followed by chocolate cake, cards from the children and presents.

This is from my parents:

rsz_dsc02297Can you believe I’ve gone forty years without a proper cake plate? But wait, it gets better…

rsz_dsc02299Turn both the base and the lid over and it becomes a punch bowl!

rsz_dsc02301Remove the lid/bowl and it’s a chip and dip/veggie and dip server!

rsz_dsc02302Put the lid back on to keep your veggies fresh.

Sadly, it does not make julienne fries, but it is very cool nonetheless.

From Philip and the children:

rsz_dsc02295This wonderful Polish pottery bowl in Stars and Stripes.  I’m not really into Polish Pottery, but I love this bowl!  Check out the inside…

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We did go out to dinner on Wednesday, so that was good.  I’ve been trying to convince Philip that it’s not so much a birth day as 40 Days of Celebrations, but he’s not buying it.

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I Return

I seemed to have forgotten all about my blog last week.  Actually, it was there at the back of mind, nagging me.  Poor, neglected blog.  Alas, Philip was gone last week, leaving me with all the burden of being Solely Responsible.  Plus, anything that was truly blog-worthy had to do with him being absent, a fact I did not want to share at the time.

And so here I am.  And why does my blog still have its Christmas theme going on?

So while Philip was off doing whatever it is that he gets paid the big bucks to do, I practiced great feats of strength known as single parenthood.

That Monday was, of course, the one day out of the month when ballet and scouts collide.  I dropped Pumpkin Girl off at ballet, then returned home to feed the boys.  Forty minutes later I dropped off Boo at his scout meeting, then headed back to the dance studio for Pumpkin.  Back home to feed her, then back out to pick up Boo.  All the while eyeing (eying?) the gas gauge and wondering why Philip had left me with only a 1/4 tank of gas.

‘Cause you know, far be it from me to actually pump my own gas.

Wednesday afternoon was a gift, with all three children off at Religious Education classes.  I had precisely 1 hour and 5 minutes of quiet.  Bliss, I tell you!

By the end of the week, one toilet was clogged, the house key no longer worked on one of the doors, I ran out of decaf coffee and for some reason, my coffee cups no longer found their way to the dishwasher like usual, but instead remained next to the  computer.  Puzzling.

I did manage to color my hair, rearrange my bedroom closet, find a table cloth at Goodwill for $2 and get most of the Christmas decorations put away.

(Did you notice I have completely avoided mention of the Impending Doom of My Advancing Age? I’m in denial)

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Out With the Old

Well, I guess it’s time.  Time to change my picture that appears in my sidebar.  Afterall, the old picture is 5 years old and I’m approaching a Major Milestone Birthday this month.

I like the old picture.  You can read the story behind it here: The Haircut. But I guess it’s time to let it go.

So I had a little photo session with myself in the bathroom mirror and behold…the me that is me today.

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Epiphany Blessing

3kingsEven though Epiphany was celebrated in church last Sunday, the original, official date is January 6th.  (Remember back in the day when Epiphany was a holy day and it seemed like we were constantly in church from Dec 25 through January 6?)  So if you haven’t already done your house blessing, it’s not too late!

Epiphany Blessing

All make the Sign of the Cross.

Head of Household: “Peace be to this house and to all who dwell here, in the name of the Lord.

All: Blessed be God forever.

Reader: In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things come to be through him, and without him nothing came to be….. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we saw his glory, the glory as of the Father’s only Son, full of grace and truth. (John 1:1-3.14)

Above the entryway to your house, write with chalk:

20 + C + M + B + 10

(This is the initials of the three magi -Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar – with the numerals of the new year surrounding them. C, M, B can also be interpreted as the Latin phrase “Christus mansionem benedicat” which means “Christ bless this house”.)

All: Lord God of heaven and earth, you revealed your only begotten Son to every nation by the guidance of a star. Bless this house and all who inhabit it. May we be blessed with health, goodness of heart, gentleness and the keeping of your law. Fill us with the light of Christ, that our love for each other may go out to all. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

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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.

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Merry Christmas

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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.

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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.

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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.

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The candy garland is from my childhood.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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