The Nativity of our Lord God and Savior, Jesus Christ

 Hello all, and Merry Christmas! It was a bit of a wild one for us, which I'll describe below, but I feel very grateful to be in this blessed season. I'm back and consistent on my Liturgy of the Hours train, and praying the O Antiphons this year just took my breath away. It is SO BEAUTIFUL. I enjoyed all of my prayer time, and my preparation time for this special feast. You can see both of our Advent wreaths fully lit up here in this post, and the whole family really enjoyed this traditon this year. I have an Advent wreath every year, of course, but having both this year, and having the longer lasting Eastern wreath in the center of our kitchen table really kept that devotion in the forefront of our minds since mid-November. It felt very special to finally light the 6th and final taper candle, and then the large white pillar on Christmas eve and Christmas day. This has become a cherished family tradition that I know we'll keep every single year now, and I'm very grateful for the increased closeness in faith that I feel with the kids now that we've started going to Divine Liturgy.

Our icon corner too has become a family favoite, but I keep the 12 feast icons on the dinner table with us, and of course we got to unveil the Nativity:

Love it. I have this whole set of the 12 Great Feast icons now in this extra small and am excited to continue to build our collection of holy reminders.

So, that's the normal part of our Christmasy celebration. Unfortunately, we could not attend either Divine Liturgy or Mass this weekend, because my part of the world experienced quite an epic blizzard, and we could not venture outside for two straight days, including Christmas eve. This is our house:

😳

It was quite something to behold. We were dispensed from our obligation to attend liturgy, of course, because it simply wasn't safe to be outdoors in those conditions, let alone travel. Christmas day was spent trying to dig out of the driveway so that we could get out in an emergency, but there was a driving ban in our town until the next morning. So it was an unusual Christmas to be sure, but we were safe and together, and that's what matters. We watched the papal Mass on EWTN (thankfully we never lost power!) and enjoyed time together and opening gifts. 

It was an unusual end to Advent and start of the Christmas season, but I'm grateful for everything that we have, and cherishing the quiet prayer time that I was able to indulge in.

How was your Christmas? I'll be back next week to talk more about Christmas season and some new Epiphany preparations! 🙌

It's *that* time of year: in which I ravenously purchase Christmas books...

Happy Wednesday everyone, and I hope that your week is progressing well! I'm doing great over here. I recorded a video post this morning (which you'll see tomorrow) and you'll notice that I'm all perky in it. It's another busy week, but I'm excited about a lot of things coming up, and that shines through all the coffee drinking, I think. ;-) The topic is dance related, so if that is of interest to you, make sure to come back tomorrow!

As I was reading a book on my beloved Kindle last night, it occurred to me via the sheer volume of titles that are cataloged in my Christmas folder (yes, I am a librarian and super nerdy about such things) how romance and mystery books with a Christmas setting are one of my very guiltiest pleasures. I'll be honest and admit that I do sometimes read them at other times of the year (don't judge me :0) but I especially love reading them in the late fall and early winter, leading up to Christmas day. I know it isn't actually Christmas until after that, but you know. We all have our weaknesses. ;-)

I end up downloading WAY more books than I can actually read in a single season, and I know this, but yet this does not dissuade me in any way. It makes me happy year round to see that folder labeled "Christmas," and to know that those stories are waiting for me. Strange, but true.

And so this is how I go about my quest, for anybody who wants to join me in this saga: Starting around September, I scout for Christmas books. You will begin seeing authors and publishers promoting their upcoming Christmas titles right around then. When I spy something that I like, I'll either pre-order it, or stick it on my Amazon shopping list to remind me to come back to it. My current read, which I did in fact pre-order is this one:

This is the eleventh book in the Seaside Knitters series (cozy mysteries, which I am an avid fan of), but you can read them as stand alone titles. The number of characters has gotten confusing at this point, but there is a list with a blurb of who everyone is at the front of the book. Here is the description:

In Sea Harbor, the holidays mean cozy fires, festive carols, and soft skeins of yarn waiting to become hats and sweaters and scarves. And this year, Izzy and the other Seaside Knitters are also knitting tiny ornaments to decorate a tree for the first annual tree-trimming contest.

Their holiday cheer is multiplied when Izzy’s younger brother, Charlie Chambers, unexpectedly arrives to volunteer at a local clinic. He brings with him outspoken hitchhiker Amber Hanson, who is returning to Sea Harbor to claim an inheritance. She quickly reacquaints herself with the area—and forms an unlikely friendship with Charlie. But their bond is shattered when her body is found beneath the undecorated trees on the Harbor Green.

Charlie is a suspect in the murder, so Izzy and her fellow Knitters step in to uncover the truth. Their journey takes them into Charlie’s past and tests their fierce love for him. But it’s only by peeling away long-buried secrets that they can hope to restore joy to the season and enjoy the shining lights of the newly decorated trees....

Intriguing, yes? I live for books like this. :0 The setting just puts a person right into the Christmas spirit. I'm also a big fan of the Love Inspired line of monthly romances.  They have sub-lines of contemporary, suspense and historical romances, and these can all be characterized as inspirational Christian stories. Starting usually in October, they will start to include Christmas titles in their lineup, and so I always peruse and pre-order what I'd like. Then on November 1st and December 1st, those titles will automatically download to my Kindle. So, for example, in November, this is one of the books newly on my Kindle:

Here is the description:

NO WAY OUT

The last thing Benjamin Duff needs is to be stranded at his friend Piper Lawrence's bed-and-breakfast with a dangerous intruder. But when he stops to say goodbye before moving across the world, he finds a masked man attacking Piper. Benjamin rushes to save her, crashing his truck and trapping them during a winter storm in the process. With no power or cell phones and time running out before his trip, he'll have to work fast to catch the killer. As they fight for their lives and their feelings for each other grow, Benjamin must decide if he's really willing to leave Piper behind.

As these are inspirational romances, they are what I would characterize as wholesome, no steamy love scenes. :) I particularly enjoy the suspense titles, but I do also like the contemporary romances, like this one:

 A Small-Town Christmas

Gemma Butler has a grand vision to transform the fledgling Christmas celebrations in Dover, Mississippi, and bring visitors to the town. It's also the single mom's last chance to provide for her son and revive her event planning business. But Gemma's not the only one with something to prove. Line Montgomery has the weight of the family business on his shoulders. And he'll go down swinging before he'll let anyone disrupt the traditions he holds dear. Yet when a storm threatens to destroy the holiday, he'll join forces with the beautiful planner and discover she just might be the love he's been searching for.

 Awwwwww...Sweet, right?! I love these books. Obviously, these are not deep literature, just enjoyable light holiday reading.

So. I need to know. Am I alone in this, or are there other Christmas romance fans out there as well? Show yourself in the comments, pretty please. :)

The Church Triumphant: Spotlight on St. Stephen

Afternoon all, and I hope that you are all having a wonderful Thursday. :) Me? Well, my day started off with a bit of an adventure. I left the driveway to head to work, my Fr. Roderick podcast happily playing in the background, and all of a sudden my audio started sounding like an alien spaceship was landing in the background. I have an old car, and thus an FM transmitter to listen to my iPod, so these types of occurrences aren't all that rare. :) Then, precious Fr. Roderick stopped talking altogether, and I looked down to see that my radio was off. Huh? I was pondering this surprising development as my car started making gasping noises and stalled. Uh oh, not good. I managed to coast around the corner and off to the side of the road to try and get it restarted. Let's just say that didn't go well. A phone call to Mike had him and Anne swooping in to rescue me, with a tow truck soon behind. Both Mike and the car shop guy think it's the alternator, but we're waiting for them to call with an official diagnosis. So, I'm at home waiting on the car, and I'm hoping that it'll be fixed today. Always an adventure. :)

At any rate, welcome to December's edition of The Church Triumphant! Everything is moved up a week in December (book club, this series) to accommodate the holidays, so the dates are off a bit. We usually do all of these posts in the 4th week of the month. But anyway, today I'll be discussing a saint  with an upcoming feast day - St. Stephen (feast on December 26th).

These Advent and Christmas feasts are so lovely, are they not? Now, I will grant you, St. Stephen isn't exactly an easy story to read through. This poor soul is known for his death by stoning by those calling his beliefs blasphemous, and he is the very first Christian martyr. A key part of his story is the presence of the future St. Paul in the crowd during all of this. Quite a dramatic scene that was, I am certain, especially since St. Stephen was praying for his persecutors as they were stoning him. You can see from the iconography in the photo within this post that he is portrayed as a deacon carrying stones atop his Bible. He is also shown carrying a green palm, which symbolizes victory. Martyrs are often depicted carrying palms for their triumph over the enemies of their soul.

St. Stephen's feast falls during the traditional 12 Days of Christmas, so we're starting that off on a powerful note. :) I keep emphasizing to my kids that Christmas is not a single day, but is an entire season. And each day within has special meaning. St. Stephen's feast day, to me, signifies trust. Total abandonment to trust in the will of the Father. Not an easy thing, to be sure. But also faith, hope and love. These things apply to many things in our lives, usually cheerier things like a wedding, but they apply to martyrdom and death as well. Certainly, these things were all swirling about in the mind of our Blessed Mother in the early days surrounding the birth of her child. How do they apply to each of us in our specific vocations and states in life?

The Second Day of Christmas, when I was a child, always seemed like a "letdown day." You look forward to Christmas Eve (our big extended family celebration) and Christmas Day (gift opening and general frivolity) for months, and then it's like someone just let all of the air out of your balloon with a fork. It's December 26th, and it seems like the only thing ahead of you is the longest part of the winter and going back to school. Of course, at that time  I lacked a full understanding of the Christmas season, not to mention maturity. Now I see December 26th as the beginning of a season of promise, with St. Stephen as our model in faith. We always have that, no matter what, and we're only just beginning (no matter our age) to discover what God has in store for us. What's not to be joyful about in that?

Who has a special devotion to St. Stephen? Do write in a comment. :)

I have a Christmas party tomorrow and won't be able to blog, but I hope that you all have a beautiful Fourth Sunday of Advent, and I will be reporting in first thing Monday morning. Until then!

The sound that all parents dread...

Originally posted on December 30, 2009... :)
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Yesterday, I left work early to have lunch with my mom and sister Shauna'h, and then go visit my grandparents. We had a smashing time. For inexplicable reasons, our local Olive Garden was jam packed at 2 pm on a Tuesday afternoon. As we relaxed over soup, salad and breadsticks, I noted the time: 3:30 pm. By time Shauna'h and I did our visiting, I'd be getting home later than I usually would when coming back from work. Thus, I gave Mike a call:

"Hi, Honey. We're just about to be on our way to head to my grandparents. I was thinking; how about I swing by and pick up Hank? That way, he could visit with us and you could get a break..."

"YES!! YES, that would be great!"

Mike and Hank have had quite a bit of togetherness lately, so I assumed correctly that it would give Mike a much needed breather for me to tote Hank around for a bit. We went and picked him up, and headed to my grandparents' new senior living complex. Their apartment looked real cute - all unpacked and homey. We greeted, and sat down for some tea as Hank went to explore all of their Christmas decorations.

As we chatted, my grandmother filled an enormous platter with homemade cookies. My mom's side of the family are Italian, second generation Americans; these people can seriously cook and bake. Despite the fact that we'd just eaten WAY too many breadsticks, there was no way I was getting away with not eating a homemade chocolate ball - or two. And then there were the anise cookies, and the cutouts...

With the scent of cookies in the air, Hank materializes and begins to squirrel cookies away into his hands. He's quickly consumed quite a few, and naturally, becomes thirsty. My grandmother asks if he'd prefer milk or juice.

"Juice!"

"Ok. I have Cranberry-Grape."

Whoa boy. My grandmother has her hands busy with tea prep, so I get Hank a small glass of juice. I sit him carefully down *at* the table, push him in gently, and instruct him to be very careful. Clearly, I had just lost my mind. In what universe is asking a preschooler to be careful going to translate into actual careful behavior? I just figured that since he was pushed right up against the table, the cup couldn't possibly fall onto the floor.

Well. I'm certain you can see where this story is going. Within 3 seconds of returning to my seat and beginning to chat again, I hear the exclamation that all parents dread:

"UH OHHHHHH....."

I look up to see Hank seated, with his hands cupped as if around a cup, but the cup is conspicuously missing. A feeling of horror wells up in my throat. I leap up, race over, and sure enough, the cup had managed to go onto his lap, slide to the floor, and splatter all over the cream carpeting. I groan.

"I sorry Mommy. I did not mean to do it."

Aw. Of course he didn't, little pumpkin. I reassure him that it was just an accident. All the same, we've got quite a situation on our hands. Immediately, Shauna'h, my grandmother and I grab paper towel and begin to dab frantically. I take a break from dabbing to whisk Henry's pants off his body.

"Mommy. Now everyone can see my underpants."

Well, that may be true, but it's better than dripping grape juice from your pant leg. We manage to get the juice up real good with the dabbing, and then some sprays of Resolve finish the deal. Whew.

We had a nice visit, and later I was able to get some laundry in as part of my pre-trip preparations. I also had to say goodbye to Shauna'h, who is headed back to North Carolina today. I'm super sad about this; Miss you Shaun :(

Tonight, we have lots of trip prep to do. Taking down and putting away the Christmas decorations and some house cleaning. We can pack tomorrow morning. I'm certain I'll blog from Florida, but I'm not sure which day. I'll be out of blogging commission at least for tomorrow. So...Happy new year everyone!

Readying for Christmas Eve...

The following was originally posted on December 22, 2009. Enjoy. :)
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Christmas Eve is approaching, and this year Mike and I are hosting. Naturally, this event causes no small amount of anxiety on my part. Some people like to host. They're good at hosting. I'm not one of those people. Well, I suppose that I'm not *bad* at it, but I definitely don't thrive in doing it.

I'm Martha. You know, the one that was in the kitchen, spouting vicious obscenities while covered in flour and cleaning the kitchen, as her sister Mary lounges angelically at Jesus' feet? I just can't help it - having all those people in my house makes me incredibly nervous. And see, already? I make it sound like random marauders are going to invade my house at approximately 6 pm on Thursday. These are my FAMILY members. Yet it still drives me to drink.

Based on years past, I can predict how events will transpire:

The evening before and the morning of Christmas Eve, I will drive Mike crazy as I fritter around the house and clean, straighten, and bake with the sublety of a tornado.

We will go to the Christmas Eve Vigil Mass. Hank will drive us a bit crazy, and we'll come home tense and cranky. Then I will open the box (yes, BOX) of wine and commence to drink it. I will drink just enough so that I'm loosened up and (somewhat; it's tough to break through a steel wall with a hammer and chisel) more laid back for when everyone arrives. I will put my last minute things in the oven and set the food out. I will sip more wine.

As people begin to arrive, I will begin to sweat. I will get caught up in a flurry of getting drinks for everyone, putting coats upstairs in the master bedroom (and NOT the more visible downstairs guest room, which I want to use for seating space. It's not going to be easy shoe horning 20 people into my house), taking things out of the oven and likely burning myself, and attempting to prevent Hank from depositing the contents of his toy box in the middle of the living room floor and making it appear as though a bomb went off in there. I will lose all of these battles. I will sip more wine.

In the midst of all this, my well-intentioned mother will arrive to help me, and inevitably she will dump 10 shopping bags full of things I don't need onto my kitchen floor. I will have to deal with placing aforementioned items out of the way as people step over me to access the drinks. My mom will ask me lots and lots of questions, a child may vomit, and my anxiety level will peak. I may move on to scotch.

Everyone will eat, and I will remain nervously fluttering about the kitchen. By time I stick a cube of cheese onto my plate, all guests will be done eating and want dessert and presents. The clean-up process will begin, during which time a dozen women will try to squeeze into my kitchen and wash dishes. Present opening chaos will begin in the other room. By the time all dishes are washed and presents opened, will I be tired? Nope. I will be strung out on adrenaline waiting for everybody to leave so that I can attack the floors with a broom and vacuum cleaner and dust the coffee table.

I am, in a word, insane.

All the news this week about Brittany Murphy passing away from a heart attack at 32 years old has got me to thinking. I need to chill out. One day (hopefully in the far distant future) I will no longer be here. And at that point, am I going to care that my house is clean and exactly the way I want it, finally? Or am I going to cherish the memory of a Christmas with my family esconsed in my wonderful home? With my uncle, healed from cancer and physically and spiritually thriving? With the knowledge that his daughter, my cousin, is also thriving and healed from a bout with cancer, expecting her second beautiful child? With both of my mom's parents still here and celebrating with us, married for the past 61 years?

I have a lot to be thankful for. I'm not quite 35 years old, and I have a loving family and supportive group of friends, an adoring husband, a beautiful child, a warm home, a faith that I love, a career that I enjoy, and hobbies that I cherish. A person really can't ask for any more than that in life. And at Christmas, we are called to look upon our lives and appreciate how they all reflect the Saviour. So, I'm going to try to do that.

My Living Faith passage for the 4th Sunday of Advent has an appropriate reflection:

"For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled. Luke 1:44-45

I am struck by the vulnerability in the story of Mary's visit to Elizabeth. Mary, traveling alone to the hill country; by Elizabeth, having a baby in her old age; by Mary, pregnant and unmarried in a culture where she could be stoned to death.

Perhaps I notice vulnerability because there seems such precariousness in the human family at this time. In these days near Christmas, when there is so much traveling to the homes of loved ones, I pray that we can greet each other like Mary and Elizabeth in trust and gratitude even in our vulnerability. May we remind each other: Blessed are we who believe that what was spoken to us by the Lord would be fulfilled - God is with us! May our spirits leap for joy."

On Thursday, I will be vulnerable. But I pray that I can focus on the proper things and appreciate and cherish good fellowship, as Mary and Elizabeth did during their pregnancies. I always loved that accounting - even the mother of our Lord needed to seek out her cousin to lift her spirits during a difficult and confusing time. At Christmas and always, I pray that I strive to see the Lord's face.

A liturgical year book review - and a giveaway!

Lots of excitement, no? :) I am very pleased to be a reviewer of the Let Us Keep the Feast series of books from Doulos Press, chronicling the liturgical year. There will be 4 books total in the series, and yours truly will be hosting a review and a giveaway for a print copy of each! Lots of squealing going on over here, rest assured. I love this stuff. Let us begin with the first volume, which covers Advent & Christmas.

This series is edited by Jessica Snell, but one of the authors included in volume 1 is the fabulous Michelle Bychek of Liturgical Time, much beloved by yours truly for her blog and veil shop. The other co-author of this volume is Rachel Telander, who wrote the excellent Advent portion of the book. The books are written from a traditional Christian perspective, and are very accessible to Christians from a variety of affiliations. Including, of course, us happy Catholics. :)

These are slim volumes, but are packed with beautifully written and useful information. For each season (so in this volume, Advent and Christmas) there is a standard format for ease of use:

(1) Introduction - background and historical information, including relevant foundational Scripture passages;

(2) Calendar - highlights of special feast days therein;

(3) Traditions - Both historical traditions and suggestions for creative ideas to supplement those;

(4) In the Kitchen - Ideas for seasonal dishes;

(5) For the Very Young - Ways to adapt seasonal traditions to accommodate the tiniest among us;

(6) Things to Make - Crafts! The sure way to my heart.

(7) Beyond the Home - Ideas for celebrations out in your community;

(8) Resources - Lists of applicable Scripture verses, books, music and prayers.

Nothing pleases me more than a standard format for a series of books, it makes it so much easier to pull them off your shelf and use them as reference sources during the season in question. And the sections chosen for this series are just perfect.

The Advent portion discusses Advent wreaths and calendars, the Jesse Tree, and even mentions fasting (a long standing, but often not well-known, Advent tradition). *swoons with delight* St. Nicholas and St. Lucy make strong appearances, and indeed these are the two feast days that I really emphasized with my children this Advent. The resources section discusses the O Antiphons, and on this I really learned something. Of course, I have sung "O Come, O Come Emmanuel" many times in church, but I had not really put two and two together on this. The O Antiphons are the verses from this hymn, and for centuries have traditionally been recited or sung during the last seven days of Advent. Yes, that is December 17th through the 23rd, perfect timing for this blog post!! Each of the antiphons is fully listed in the Advent Resources section. Reading them evokes being in Mass amongst the lit Advent candles and a darkened sky permeating the stained glass windows. Just beautiful.

The Christmas section nearly brought tears to my eyes, it is so lovely. And this is the information that we need to share with others - Christmas is NOT a day, it is a SEASON! There is SO much beautiful tradition still to come following December 25th. In this section, we learn about the Christ candle, a progressive approach to laying out the family nativity set, the history and symbolism of Christmas trees, the Twelve Days of Christmas, and so much more. The author discusses the feasts of St. Stephen, St. John the Apostle, and the Holy Innocents. *Lots* of suggestions for activities with small children in this section, it is delightful! The children will be off from school until after the new year, and thus it is a perfect time to have crafty things to do together at home, especially if the weather prohibits outside play. Holy Name sugar cookies, anyone? Sounds delicious.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, and cannot wait to read the next volume, Epiphany & Lent! Look for a review and giveaway of that volume to come in February.

This book is available both in print, and as an ebook from the Doulos Resources eStore, (*UPDATE: use the code "LUKTFBlogTour" to get 15% off your purchase!) as well as on Amazon. They are *extremely* reasonably priced, at $9.95 for a print copy and $1.99 (!) for the ebook. You may also download only the Advent segment, or only the Christmas segment, for a mere 99 cents! If you want to get right on those O Antiphons, download away!

There is, however, an opportunity to win a free print copy. I subjected myself to Rafflecopter just for you all. :0 It really wasn't that complicated, I'm just being curmudgeonly. I actually contemplated having you simply leave a comment and I would pick names out of a hat, just to let you know what you're dealing with here.

#oldfashionedlibrarian

#bunheadsrule

Anyway, enter below! This is for a bound print copy that includes both the Advent and Christmas segments. The giveaway is only open until midnight Thursday December 19th, EST! So enter quick like bunnies!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Blessings abound as we prepare for the holy season...

Afternoon all, and welcome to all new readers! I've been doing a lot of linkups lately, which I hope you all don't mind (*blows kiss*) because that is a fabulous way for me to gain readership. The proof is in the statistics, that's for sure. But I never want this blog to lose what it's original intent was: as a "life blog," full of humor and real life anecdotes. I always craft that into my linkup posts as well.

But I have had a good number of new people sign up as official "followers" of the blog, and I'm just so thrilled! I'm very excited to write about all of the upcoming Advent and Christmas goodness and I'm delighted to have you all along for the ride.

I was thinking this morning about Christmas preparations. This is something that throws me into panic mode every year. I have reigned in my knitting/crocheting, you'll all be relieved to know. I have *most* gifts finished. Although I still haven't crocheted a single dishcloth, and those are my big ticket items for relatives on Christmas Eve *bites nails*. But everything else that I *really* wanted to get done, aside for a few things, is done. I will spare you dragging out The List yet again. Suffice it to say that the only things I really still want to get done are Mike's cardigan (I added an inch or so of stockinette stitch to the 1.25 inches of ribbing, GO ME!!) and my knitting group exchange gift, which is coming right along. It'll take me several more weeks to finish it (the final fabulousness will speak for itself) but I should finish it by mid-December. So we're good.

Oh wait. I promised Mike I'd crochet a Christmas tree skirt since our old one fell apart last year. To have it finished by the first Sunday of Advent, I'll need it done in (*large pause as I realize I haven't updated my permanent calendar for November yet, yikes*) just over 3 weeks.

Oh dear. And then there's the dishcloths. And the fact that Mike's cardigan won't even fit a newborn for several more weeks. This might be bad.

But I'm not going to worry about it. Whatever gets done, gets done, is what I've learned. I don't want stress to ruin my Advent.

Mike and I were talking about the kids' gifts this morning. We want them to have a wonderful Christmas, but Christmas isn't all about getting gifts, of course. It can be tough with the grandparents, because both sets spoil our children rotten. I'm not saying that that's totally a bad thing, but it makes it hard on Mike and I when what is under the tree Christmas morning pales in comparison to what is at their grandparent's houses waiting for them. I want our children to (a) show proper appreciation for each gift they get, and (b) not expect a huge show of gifts just because it's Christmas, and (c) understand that Christmas is about so much more than gifts. No easy feat, but we're going to try.

We need to start budgeting, so we came up with a small, but thoughtful, list of items for each child. I'm sure we'll add a few things to it, but we thought of 3 gifts each that I know they'll really love.

Henry is about at that age where he begins to get tough to buy for. We don't own a video game system (to his great consternation) so his choices are limited in that regard. He's 8 this year, Anne is 2. What are you getting for your children this year for Christmas? How do you impress upon the meaning of the season? Leave me some comments, I would love to hear from you!

Jammied up, and happy

I go back to work on Wednesday, and I can't believe how quickly my time off has gone. We've been getting this winter storm that has been in the news, which is just fine with me, but it's meant that I've spent a LOT of time in my pajamas and new Christmas slippers entertaining the kids inside. Henry will go out to play in the snow, and has the proper garments to do so, but Anne doesn't. We need to get her some boots. But it's been very cozy and pleasant. Mike and I have been watching lots of new movies that we received for Christmas in the evenings, and we've had several fires. I've been knitting a lot, and reading.

The kids have been enjoying their new gifts, and with the 2 sets of grandparents, it was quite a task to get everything organized and put away. We always do a big sweep in November every year to donate things that the kids are no longer playing with and other things that we no longer need to our local St. Vincent DePaul Center. And thank goodness for that. We're grateful, to be sure, but the toy avalanche can get a little overwhelming. :)

So far, Anne seems to be enjoying her new toy mailbox, and her play food with accompanying microwave the most. Henry is putting together lots of new Legos. Both kids seem to really like their new books, as well as their new saint peg dolls! I had to take St. Therese's head out of Anne's mouth a few times, but otherwise they are unharmed. Even after Henry lined them up to knock down with one of his cars. They are now safely resting on his bedside table. :)

As for me, I'm contemplating what to get with my Knit Picks gift cards and happily planning deep winter projects. I have some things for my twin nephews in mind. I get very jealous when other people knit for them, and hearing that they had new booties spurred me to let my sister know to expect a package soon with new baby leg warmers and crocheted toys to be in her mailbox by the end of January.

Oh! And I received a brand new personal retreat/Marian consecration book from my older sister that I plan to start next month and that I will detail here. So fun!

Lots to look forward to in the new year. I will report in again mid-week! Happy new year!

A lovely Christmas...

Well, it's December 26th. That used to seem like a sad day to me, but now I know that the Christmas season only just begins on December 25th and I see things a lot differently. It's much happier this way. :)

It was a very nice, much less chaotic Christmas this year (wine will do that for me). Everybody was well behaved at Christmas Eve Mass. Anne looked stunning in a purple velvet dress. Only on Christmas day, she took one look at the fuzzy trimmed red Mrs. Claus dress I was about to put on her and shouted "No No No!" There's only so many fancy dresses Anne can take.

The kids loved their gifts, and I received a new green iPod Nano from Mike, very needed for my dance performances. I also got some new books (including a book of knitted sock patterns for all 4 seasons, and amigurumi crochet animals) and clothes. I'm a very happy girl.

We're all persevering very well on our Christmas staycation, and it's currently snowing up a storm outside! I'm quite cozy tucked in here with Mike as the children (blissfully) sleep.

I hope that everyone had a nice holiday and is happily making new years plans. :)

Adventures in wrapping...

CL: "I really appreciate that you're helping me, Sweetie, but I have a *system* when I wrap."

Mike: "A system? Well, we want to get done before I have to go pick up Hank from school. I'll start with this one."

CL: "Ok, well, that's a Santa gift, so try to disguise your handwriting on the tag."

*A moment of silence while Mike digests this, and decides to humor me*

Mike: "Ok."

*sounds of wrapping*

Mike: "I'm done with this one. So I'm putting 'Santa' on the tag?"

CL: "Yes. Oh! You used that blue wrapping paper?"

Mike: "Yeah, why? It has Santas on it, I figured that was good for Santa gifts."

CL: "Well, but I've wrapped *other* gifts with that that weren't Santa gifts. He might notice."

Mike: "I really don't think he'll notice,Sweetie. Plus, the gig is up on Santa after this Christmas anyway, we agreed, so it doesn't matter."
CL: "I know, but..."

*CL desperately thinks of her usual, organized System, though realizes that it would take twice as long*

Mike: "All right, I"ll wrap this giant one next. Where's the extra long rolls of paper?"

CL: "Over there, but only use the polar bears, not the penguins. Wait! Remember, polar bears? That's the extra large Santa paper. Bears, only."

*Mike gives a long suffering sigh*

*CL huffily tries to tie ribbon around some crocheted dish cloths*

Mike: "What's wrong?"

CL: "This ribbon is *ridiculous*. In this entire roll, I could only fully wrap one set of dish cloths! Not to mention that this polar bear paper sucks. We're not getting Christmas supplies at Target again next year."

*CL porkily tries to tape the ribbon rather than tie it in order to conserve yardage*

CL: "Great, now I've got glitter all over my pants. Do we have time to vacuum before Hank gets home? Did I mention that I hate this chintzy ribbon?"

Nothing like getting into the Christmas spirit...

Hoping for some snow, and about to embark on my Christmas staycation...

Today is my last day at work until January 2nd, I'll be on a "staycation" for almost 2 weeks, which will be really nice. I was remarking to Mike recently that we have never taken a family vacation. Which is fine, really. I mean, I'd rather have our current, flexible job situation than have more money and thus be able to afford vacations (where you actually go someplace, that is :)). Someday, maybe. But I'm also a person that HATES crowded places, hence my moratorium on ever going to Disney World ever again. EVER. And I mean it. I actually hate Disney World, I don't care how many cute cartoon characters they have there. We'd like to do some things like go to Vermont to see the fall foliage, or maybe go to Hershey Park (in the middle of the winter, ha!). Maybe someday.

We're a little nuts in that we really like cold weather. Mike and I talk about driving up to the Ice Hotel in Quebec for our anniversary (in January) one year. I think we're quite abnormal, actually.

And so, you won't see blog posts for about a week and a half, but I promise, I'm coming back. :) We're down to a single decrepit computer at home (hoping to get a new one soon) and although we have high speed Internet, the age of the computer makes things pretty slow going. Plus, we're all sharing it, so I just have little motivation to carve out the time to attempt to compose thoughtful posts when I don't have access to my speedy work machine. I'm battling Anne trying to climb on me and rip letters from the keyboard, Hank whining about when it'll his turn to play a game, and sharing time with Mike who uses the computer to actually work. It's a very competitive computer world in our house.

But happily, we are in for some snow, FINALLY! We haven't had significant snowfall in western New York since I was pregnant with Anne. Yes, seriously! This region is known for it's snowfall (although, for the metro area, that reputation is actually unfair; south of here is where the major accumulations occur, and as one would expect, that is the ski country) but the past winter and so far this year have been uncharacteristically mild. Read: muddy and overcast. I'd much rather have snow, especially in December. I'm hoping that we get snowed in. :) In such a case, I have plenty of yarn and books on my Kindle. I won't be bored for a moment, no sir.

I'm *almost* done with my Christmas shopping, although I still have the majority of my wrapping to do. I'm aiming to get that done tomorrow morning while Henry is in school. I'm very much looking forward to Christmas with the children this year. This will be Anne's second Christmas, but really the first one in which she'll be interactive and into it.

If there are short things that I can share while I'm off I will post then. But expect me back on January 2nd with new and amusing tales. Most of all, MERRY CHRISTMAS and happy new year to all of you!

Feeling weak, and just in time for the annual Christmas concert...

I'm not certain if I'm coming down with what Anne had or what, but I'm feeling decidedly *not good*. Perhaps it was the 3 hour long seminar I sat through this morning that did me in, but whatever the cause, I feel flushed and woozy. Not a good sign. And Henry's Christmas concert is tonight, which is never a picnic to sit through. His school has no auditorium, so events are held in the church, and the pews aren't the comfortablest (is that a word?). Sigh. I just want to be at home in jammies, a cup of tea by my side.

This mystery illness also has the side effect of rendering me brainless. What else is new? I have absolutely no idea. All I know is that this Anne Removing Pants phenomenon has transferred to public spaces as well (read: restaurant last night) so we're going to have to deal with that. And she's finally saying her name and Henry's, or, at least her version of their names. So I apparently have children named "Nay" and "Hay."

I'm hoping that I live through the evening. If I do, I'll check back in tomorrow.

:)

St. Joseph coming through at Christmastime...

One of the books that I'm putting in Anne's stocking this Christmas is the final installment in the St. Joseph board book series that we don't own, Daily Prayers. I included this with my big Amazon order last week and it just came. It's *adorable*. When Hank was a toddler, I ordered the rest of the series from the publisher, Catholic Book Publishing company, and you can see the full list of titles that they now have in this series here.

We have the ones that are toward the bottom of Catholic Book Publishing's list, the larger books with the big handle at the top. The toddlers *love* toting these around. Anne has been bringing them to me for weeks now, wanting to sit in my lap and flip through them with me. Her favorites are Our Guardian Angels and Our Friends the Saints. Henry was always partial to We Go To Mass and Gifts of God.

These are such cute books that I wanted to give a quick plug for them, and they would make great stocking stuffers for your little ones. They're easy for the kids to carry around and can take a lot of abuse. My children really enjoy the color illustrations. I always brought a selection of them to Mass with us when Hank was little. Anne still rarely makes it to Mass with us because the 10 am Mass is usually coinciding with her nap so Mike stays home with her. So for the time being, the books live in her toy basket and she brings them out every day.

My only quibble is the page featuring a guardian angel watching over a little girl as she stands on a stool and uses the stove top without parental supervision. Although the text cites that her angel is watching out for her, I'm thinking we shouldn't be giving the kids any ideas. :)

A busy bee with Christmas shopping

In the spirit of the holiday (New Years resolution 2012: no crazy, chaotic Christmas season this year) I started my Christmas shopping a few months ago. Not a lot, but I picked up some things when I could so that we wouldn't have a lot to do in December. This also has the benefit of spreading out the expense.

Christmas is always tight for us financially. We live on a budget, and while we certainly have a sufficient amount to spend on entertainment and simply our "wants," we're always conservative about such things and watching our bank balance. Sometimes I feel like, being in our late 30's, we should be past this stage in our lives :) but alas, I think it is this way for many, many people. The reasons are manifold:

(1) Student loans. This is far and away the main reason, nothing else even comes close. I made a significant dent in mine even before Mike and I got married, and we've steadily chipped away at them over the years to the best of our ability, but it's a very depressing and humbling reality that it's going to take at least 10 *more* years before these are paid. I know that we are not alone in this burden. I'm grateful that we do not have credit card debt and we just put as much on the student loans every month as we can. Every time the principal balance shrinks I try to focus on the positives of that rather than how far we still have to go. That's all one can do.

(2) We own a house and thus have a mortgage. But I'm grateful for our house and the fact that it will be paid off in about 10 years is a cause to rejoice. I'm also grateful that although we own 2 cars they are both paid off, though we're going to need to replace at least 1 of them in the next few years.

(3) Our flexible jobs. If we were willing to move and for Mike to work more hours, we'd certainly be making more. But we want to be near our families and have one of us at home with the kids as much as possible.

Thus, Christmas is tough on our budget, especially now with 2 kids. Hence, this year I wanted to really focus on the thought behind the gifts that I give, rather than worrying about whether I'm getting each person "enough." I've found this to be very soothing on my peace of mind.

I'm making a few things, but I'm trying not to go overboard. I love homemade gifts, but last year I made myself nuts, so I didn't want that side effect either. The things that I am making are by special request so I know that the recipient will really like them. Otherwise, I've picked out 1 thing that I think the person will really enjoy.

With the kids it's tougher. You just want to give them everything they could ever want and watch their eyes light up. But of course, we won't, yet I still want Christmas morning to be fun for them.

What I decided to do was select their gifts very carefully. And even this winnowed down allotment added up quickly over at Amazon! We can afford it, but it's why December and January are so tough anymore. Each child is getting 3 gifts. Henry is receiving 2 Lego sets he's been wanting, plus a Super Mario Bros. K'nex building set, I think it's a race track. Anne is getting a talking zoo, a Fisher Price mailbox, and the Disney Princess Castle. Each child is also getting a few books, Henry a few movies, and Anne a tiny baby doll, for their stockings. I also have a few peg saint dolls for each child from Cam's etsy shop (I just ordered St. Joan of Arc and St. Patrick for Anne, she's taken a real interest in her saint board book and has fixated on those two; appropriate since one of her namesakes is St. Therese, and St. Joan of Arc was her favorite saint :)).

And that's it. I ordered a few books and movies for Mike that I know he'll love, and I made him a pair of socks recently.

He's a Steelers fan. :) I still have a few other family gifts to procure, but I'm not stressing. I'll get a few at a time, and pick one carefully for each person.

I've noticed that I feel a lot more relaxed this holiday season. I don't feel all worried and frantic. And that's the way it should be.

Stop the madness!

When I had a lull at the reference desk this morning, I flipped over to MSNBC to glance at the news. I don't know why, because I got all depressed seeing the majority of the headlines. Seems like all news is BAD news these days, kwim?

At any rate, I spied an article about Black Friday, so I read it. The article was about Target employees protesting that the store is opening for Black Friday, on, well, *Thursday*. Thanksgiving day, to be precise. 9 pm on Thanksgiving.

And apparently this is the new thing this year. A handful of other popular retailers are opening at 8 pm Thanksgiving. I knew, I just KNEW that the midnight thing last year was a bad step on a slippery slope. For as long as I can remember, Black Friday doorbusters began somewhere in the realm of 4-6 am Friday morning. Suddenly, last year it was midnight. I heard lots of complaints from people that that was too early and interfered with Thanksgiving dinner, since people wanted to go wait in line. (I think such people are absolutely out of their minds, but I suppose that is neither here nor there).

And I KNEW that this year it would be earlier. Once that step was taken to push the opening time back to midnight, the floodgates were opened. 8-9 pm Thanksgiving evening.

Here are the two positions:

Con - This is an outrageous infringement on a family holiday about GIVING THANKS that is now being run amuck by corporate greed. Employees are being given no choice but to work, and despite being paid more than usual, this is unconscionable. Nobody needs a jump start that early. What is so different 8 pm Thanksgiving night that wouldn't be the same early Friday morning? The store will still make a lot of money.

Pro - Target will lose a ton of business if they don't open at the same time as their competitors. Employees are well compensated for working a holiday, in addition to extra bonuses. People should be grateful that they even have a job in this economy, and have the opportunity to make more than usual to boot. If they don't like it, they can find another job.

So. I'm sure you'll be unsurprised to learn that I side with the Con position. :) I mean, it's a free society, the store's management can open whenever the heck they want. But the point is I don't think we want to be going down this road. Are they really going to be making MORE money by opening on Thanksgiving, or will it just spread the same sales out over a longer period of time? I think it'll just be the same, but obviously they disagree. I just think that some things should be sacred. Black Friday will always be Black Friday, but Thanksgiving is about family. Why take away the joy of that day? There's just no need.

In Christmas preparations generally, we've lost that sense of joyful anticipation. Everything is so hectic and *rushed* anymore. It feels like we as a society don't sit back and simply enjoy things enough. I've noticed in Children's Liturgy of the Word (when I'm excitedly lecturing them about the liturgical calendar, because that's what I *do*) every time I ask the children what season is next in our Church calendar they say: "Christmas!"

And of course, it's not. :) It's *Advent*. Nobody remembers Advent anymore. Before the excitement of Christmas morning comes the quiet expectation of the nativity.

It's a shame that Black Friday (still pre-Advent, but the spirit is the same) has become a crazy fest, but it is what it is. I wish the stores wouldn't open until Friday morning, but they didn't consult me, so there you have it.

We'll see what the reports are after this year, but I fear that the opening time will creep sooner and sooner until Thursday morning will commence "Black Friday." I just find it all very sad.

A hodge podge of cute family activity, and is it too early to start listening to Christmas music?

*flips through animal board book with Anne*

"Woof woof!"

"Yes, that's a Dalmatian on the "Spotted" page, he's a doggie. He says 'woof woof.'"

"Woof woof!"

"I'm pretty sure that's not what the antelope says. But I don't what he says, so..."

"Woof woof!"

"No, the panther doesn't say 'woof woof.' I'm not exactly certain what the panther says, but whatever it is, it's much more sinister." *attempts growling noise*

"Woof woof!"

_______________________________________________________

*Mike readies for his morning*

"That was a good night with Anne, huh? Especially coming off of those 2 tough nights earlier in the week."

"It was."

"I mean, she did fuss that one time at 10:30, but she went back to sleep."

"She got up at 10:30?"

"Yeah, don't you remember? You started crying."

"I did not."

"You did, but I knew it would be fine. You went right back to sleep."

"I don't think this actually happened."

"It did."

________________________________________________________

This happens every year. The week before Halloween comes and I want to break out my holiday playlist. I don't know what it is, I mean, I'm always enjoying the fall and all the fabulous weather and activities that it entails, I don't need to rush Christmas.

But I do it every year. My husband is completely scandalized, because he's all for keeping all holidays within their proper season and savoring them. He doesn't think you should listen to a beat of Christmas music nor glimpse a lighted tree until after Thanksgiving.

I will grant, prior to Halloween is too early. I make myself hold off, but it isn't easy I tell you. However, the instant November 1st comes, all bets are off. I already told Mike to prepare himself for Hank and I starting the Christmas movies in November, because otherwise we don't have enough time to watch them all. We own a LOT of Christmas movies.

And with Christmas gift knitting in full swing, I mean, who can blame me?

I love this time of year. :) That is, until mid-December when I'm cursing all yarn that is destined to still be knit or crocheted into a Christmas gift...

Busy weekend, and preparing for fall

You know I'm busy if I don't post on a weekday. Friday was like that. Things are definitely gearing up both at work and at home for the start of a new school year.

We were out getting Henry some new school clothes this weekend. Can I just say how much I love Catholic school uniforms? We don't have to intervene in Henry's morning dressing routine at all. He must wear:

Navy blue pants
A belt
Navy socks
Black loafers

He can choose only the following:

Shirt: white or light blue
Long sleeves or short sleeves

Ahhhh, no more morning matching battles. Attempted pairing of bright red Angry Birds tee shirt with camouflage pants, no longer! It's a thing of beauty. When Anne starts there, I can only imagine how adorable she will look in the girls uniform. Although I have to admit, I do worry about... I don't know exactly how to put this. But about men finding the Catholic girls uniform appealing, let's just say. Mike worries as well and says that he blames Britney Spears. Ha!

I also had a hair appointment this weekend, and in the spirit of fall, my hair is now super dark. I mean, my hair is brown. There's only so much you can do with that. And yes, I dye my hair, because I do get some gray. :) Not that I've complained about that before, or anything. I like getting my hair colored, but I don't put too much stock in any one hue. I like to change it up often, to the extent that is possible with dark brown hair. Lately I'd noticed that my hair was looking quite reddish. I don't really know why, aside from the fact that the summer sun could have been a factor. And I only get my hair colored every 3 months, so it's a long time in-between, and thus the sun fading can really make an impact by around month #2. It looked fine, but it wasn't really what I had chosen, plus you can see my roots more when they grow in.

So, this time I asked my wonderful hair stylist to dye my hair darker. She's excited about changes too, and bustled off to mix my dye. I didn't look at any color cards or anything, I just trusted her.

And my trust is well placed, because I love my hair color now. It's a really dark chocolate brown. Much closer to my original color than the last batch. It's so dark Mike was surprised when he first saw me, lol. It does feel more fall/winterish. Love it.

I brought Henry with me (lured by a new Lego sticker book and the promise of a 7 Eleven slurpee if he was good), to give Mike a break, which resulted in questions such as:

"Mommy, see that sign over there? What is wa...waxing?"

Oh sigh.

"Well Honey, it's to remove hair that you don't want."

*scrunched eyebrows*

"Does that hurt?"

Kids just intuitively always know the important questions, do they not?

Another sign of fall's approach is that I'm really noticing that everyone knows most of the new Mass translation changes now. The "And with your spirit" is a slam dunk every time, along with "It is right and just" and "Lord, I am not worthy for you to enter under my roof." The Nicene Creed still requires a missal, but hey, you can't expect miracles, right?

Henry is still doing lots of whining about attending Mass, but the Magnifikid! is a life saver every week. This was very worth the $34.95 subscription price, let me tell you. He works on the activity for a time, but really spends the rest of Mass just following along with the readings and prayers. He's very much like me, always with my nose buried in a missal. He even follows along in the hymnal. It's precious.

My last fall update is about yarn. Because I'm just so excited about it that I'm busting at the seams. I've been finishing up lots of cooler weather projects. New hats for both kids, photos to follow shortly. A scarf for myself. I finally photographed a few sweaters and wraps that I knitted over last winter and early spring that I'll finally be able to break out of the closet.

A snowflake sweater:

I really like that one. It's very warm, knit out of wool.

A cardigan from the well regarded February Lady pattern:

 (please ignore how chunky I look in this picture; My skirt was all bunched up in the waist from my quick changes for knitting photos, and I look downright dumpy. But the sweater looks cute, so I wanted it featured to its utmost potential. :))

And the most infamous of all knitted wrap patterns ever created, the Clapotis:

Very toasty garments, all. And then there's the socks, which I'm the most excited about. I'm currently knitting a pair of falling leaves socks, and I have several self-striping pairs in the wings that I can hardly wait to cast on for. AND, most importantly, after much discreet stalking of my new favorite etsy yarn shop, I am on the waiting list for a skein of self-striping watermelon sock yarn, as well as a self-patterning ghost kit for Halloween. And when the owner mentioned in her message to me that she had just put up more snowman and other Christmas sock kits, I nearly tripped over myself speeding to her site to pre-order one. 

Seriously. In just 2 hours, the Christmas confetti yarn was GONE. Only 2 lonely snowmen kits remained! I scooped one of them up so fast he didn't know what hit him. The kits (which include not just the patterning yarn, but also some coordinating skeins of solid colors for the heels and toes) are, well, a bit more expensive than what I usually pay for sock yarn, lol. However, these are a true work of art and are just beautiful. I think I'm going to knit the snowmen for my mom for Christmas, and with the leftover yarn the shop owner includes a pattern for some ornaments which will make nice gifts.

I'M SO EXCITED.

I can just picture the conversations with Mike this will spawn:

"Have you been buying some gifts Sweetie, I see lots of etsy charges on the bank statement."

"Yes. Um, yarn."

"$50 worth?"

"IT HAS GHOSTS ON IT!!!"

*angelic beam*

Here's to a happy 2012...

Well, I'm back. And I keep typing the year wrong. I'm a good typer, I took a typing class back in high school (do they even do that anymore? *feels old*) and yet I notice that in my head, I type "2012," yet what comes out is "2010." Apparently I want it to be 2 years ago. Well, it'd be nice to be 2 years younger, but other than that, I'm happy it's today and not two years ago. But I digress.

I had a very nice holiday, and most of all I LOVED just being home with my family. So, quick updates on everybody:

Anne - Thriving. Is now slowly cruising around furniture when she pulls herself up. *heavy sigh* She has also discovered the entertainment center and now attempts to push buttons when she pulls herself up over there. I think this has been genetically bred into modern babies. She can now crawl at the speed of sound and is extremely happy all of the time. Except when she's teething, which consumed a good amount of last week. During which time, our days consisted of (1) carry Anne around, (2) arms get tired, so set Anne down, (3) Anne bursts into tears, (4) repeat steps (1) through (3) for approximately 12 hours, with short breaks in between for one decent nap and one crappy one. Pretty typical for her age. But overall, she's doing very well. She loves her new Christmas toys and has been playing very cutely with them. Her favorite is a Fisher Price tea set, and she carries one cup around with her even when she crawls so that she can bite on it when she reaches her destination at the other side of the room.

Henry - Very cute and happy. He loves being home with us and being on break from school. He got lots of Legos for Christmas, and has been a very good boy playing with them, taking everything apart and putting them back together. He also loves board games, and he got a bunch of new ones for Christmas this year. We also took both kids to the our local botanical garden over the break, and Hank just loves it there. One thing that I really enjoy about him is his appreciation of beautiful things. He really has an eye for aesthetics in nature, and he loves showing his finds to others. It's really precious. He also memorized his assigned prayers from the Advent chain he brought home from school and learned to read them himself. He's such a good boy.

Mike - Thriving at home with the kids. And we couldn't stop talking about how much we loved all being together as a family all week. Although I work full time outside of the home, I feel lucky to have a job in which I get lots of vacation and holiday time, plus normal hours. So I'm home a lot. We enjoyed every moment of last week, and I have plans to take some additional time off in the coming months when Henry is off for his winter break and for Easter. The only mar in Mike's week was a bout that he had with some sort of throat infection. And we've been married long enough (7 years this coming Sunday) for me to know one thing about my darling husband: he is SUPER easygoing and easy to live with, aside from one thing, but hey, nobody's perfect, right? And that one thing would be that he is a terrible sick person, and he would be the first to admit this. He gets actually mad when he gets sick, because it incapacitates him and keeps him from doing things he wants to do or feels he should be doing. And hence, he's miserable to be around. He grumps around the house until I tell him to go to bed. Translation: "you're driving me crazy, so please go get some rest before I say something that will hurt your feelings." The next morning, the antibiotics had kicked in and he looked sheepish and back to normal. Thank God. He's really adorable, and I'm lucky to have him.

Me - I knit, and knit and knit. I finished socks, I crocheted myself a cardigan, I knit a scarf and I felted slippers. I was Super Compulsive Knitter. And I loved every minute of it, being inside on a chilly winters day with a cup of tea by my side. I played with the kids, and I snuggled lots with Mike. Life is very, very good.

And I need to keep that in mind when my birthday approaches next month and I move even closer to 40. But we'll return to obsess about that another day...

Merry Christmas! And a short blogging hiatus...

I hope all of you have a very blessed and merry Christmas this year! It'll be a little chaotic in my household, but I'm looking forward to it all the same. And I'm very much looking forward to my week off with my family. Thus, I likely will not blog next week. I just want to spend time with Mike and the kids and focus my attention on them.

But rest assured, I'll be back on January 3rd! There will be lots of exciting news to blog about in 2012 I'm sure. Knitting, belly dancing, and lots of Catholic "stuff." I'm looking forward to it, and I hope you are too.

For your reading enjoyment, here are some posts from Christmases past:

2010

2009 prep, and rundown

Comfort and Joy

Last night when I got home from work, I was whipped. I was in good spirits, but absolutely exhausted. I was busy at work, since I'm going to be off all of next week...

...and before I go off on my home and family anecdotes, let me interject a quick librarian tale. When you're a reference librarian, you sit out at a desk in the middle of the library with an "information!" sign hanging above your head. Thus, you're a bit of a sitting duck for all sorts of interesting characters that happen into the building. I used to be more nervous about this when I was first starting out, but nowadays, I realize that this rarely happens (although annoying people are plentiful, scary ones are pretty rare) and so I don't sweat it anymore. But you're definitely putting yourself out there for some potentially awkward interactions.

And so yesterday. I was on the morning reference shift, and since exams are officially over for the fall semester, the library resembles a war torn region. It's quiet and eerily empty and stray trash abounds. And in comes this guy.

I remember This Guy. And so I immediately tense up.

"HELLO!"

"Yes, hello."

"GOOD MORNING!"

"To you as well."

"MERRY CHRISTMAS!"

*sighs* "Yes, Merry Christmas."

He beams at me and sits at a computer near the reference desk. Now, on the face of it, it looks like I'm being a real meanie, right? What is he doing wrong? Well, it's just that I like to think that as a woman I'm attuned to the people around me, and I hope it doesn't sound sexist, but particularly men. And I do not mean this in a romantic sense, but in a "protect myself" sense. It's not that I think that random men are hiding behind stray study cubicles just waiting to jump out and scare me, it's just a self preservation sense that I believe most women have. I tend to be overly naive and think that everyone is nice until proven otherwise, but I can spot a predator a mile away. And I have met several of them throughout my life. And This Guy isn't necessarily a predator, but there is definitely something off about the way he interacts with me. Well, mostly because the "interaction" is totally coerced. I know that I'm a librarian, I'm there to help people, and I'm sitting out there just waiting for someone to ask me a question. But my job is NOT to have personal conversations with you, especially if you are creepy. Unless you have a legitimate question, I'm not going to allow someone to make me uncomfortable. And that's what This Guy most certainly does.

So, I was sitting quietly at the desk, browsing some yarn online since no one needed my services for the moment, when suddenly, I see a movement out of the corner of my eye. This Guy is suddenly RIGHT.THERE. Over my shoulder, leaning down to my computer screen.

"OH, WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT?!"

That did it. I certainly did not care that he saw that I was looking at yarn. We're permitted to look at non-work related information on the desk if no one is asking us for help at that moment. But This Guy was violating my personal space in a big way. And he was being loud and drawing the attention of the few people that were actually in the library. And I did NOT want to get drawn in to a personal conversation with him. I shouldn't have to do things that make me uncomfortable, and I've learned this librarian lesson: when you have someone that is lacking in appropriate social skills and is actually causing you discomfort, you have to move out of your comfort zone and be a bit forceful to get your point across. Otherwise, they'll never go away.

"I'm sorry, but don't you have your own work to do?"

See? Now I was even more uncomfortable, because I hate, hate, hate being rude to people. But this was not a normal situation. Something is definitely amiss here with This Guy.

"Oh. Sorry. Sometimes I have a hard time separating the personal from the professional."

Maybe he isn't as clueless as I first thought. But as my tone intended, he stepped away and back to his computer. Shortly after that, he left the library. And I didn't feel the least bit bad. You just have to look out for yourself sometimes. I've found that that little instinctive voice in my head is usually right. "Angel Tiffany" or whatever.

So, after my long day, I headed home. Anne is usually very grumpy by that point, and Hank is hyper. He's thriving in his new school, by the way. The Catholic stuff he brings home is totally adorable (he got an 'A' in religion in the first quarter :) ) and he seems to be loving all the extra attention he gets in such a smaller school. We're really liking the school, and it's looking likely that we'll be registering him to stay there for second grade.

When I get home, I'll take Anne from Mike, since he's put in a long day with her. He unpacks my work stuff for me, and dinner is usually just about ready. I'll nurse Anne and chat with Hank for a few minutes, and then we'll eat. Anne is eating solids now too, and she's very demanding about them. She even likes the pureed vegetables, and puts away an entire oversized jar every night. I think she's ready to move up to 2 solid meals per day, actually. I'll feed her at her high chair while the rest of us eat.

Our evenings are SO much better with Mike at home with the kids during the day. We're absolutely loving our new situation. We have less money coming in, but to say that it is worth it is the understatement of the century. We all couldn't be happier.

But they're still exhausting in the sense that Anne is now at That Age. You really can't put her down unless you can sit right there and play with her. Because the instant you put her down, you'll see her little pink clad butt crawling away to get into something you don't want her into. Or, in the evenings, you have option #2, which is that she begins to scream hysterically when you put her down because she's tired, needy and miserable.

So, we had a lot of that last night, and we had to take turns holding her while simultaneously trying to fold laundry, clean up the kitchen, and get the wrapping supplies out. Once both children were in bed, we wrapped madly for 30 minutes and got nearly everything wrapped. I still have some hand knits to block tonight (WILL THIS CHRISTMAS KNITTING TORTURE EVER END?!") and a few last minute gifts to pick up tomorrow, and then we're DONE.

Finally, we settle in to watch The Queen with drinks and my new non-Christmas crochet project (THE FREEDOM!). About an hour in, we hear Anne. Oh sigh. The nights have been tough lately, and last night was no exception. I gave it a few minutes to see if she'd go back to sleep on her own (ha!) and then I went up. I was pooped anyway, so I told Mike to go ahead and enjoy the movie, and I'd get her back to sleep and get ready for bed.

When I got into her room, what was she doing? Was she sitting there howling, like I said she doesn't do anymore? Actually no. She was STANDING UP and HOWLING. Fan-tastic. She's so short the top of her head doesn't even reach the edge of the crib rail, which is pretty funny. And boy is she cute. But I'll just say it: teething is a pain in the absolute ass.

I nursed her and got her back to sleep. And then commenced I think 4 additional wakings (including one in which I had to take her downstairs to calm her down a bit) before "morning," which this morning, Anne demanded be at 5:30 am.

So, here it is, not even noon, and I'm already tired. But once again, I'm in good spirits. I've been saying some prayers for Mike, because he's exhausted, he has an exhausted and miserable Anne on his hands, and Henry gets out of school today at 11 am. So, he's having a long day. But we're hanging in there just fine.

This Christmas, I'm very grateful for my family. And for my friends, especially my knitting girls, who mean so very much to me. I hope that you all were able to read this entire post and get to this happy declaration of love at the end. :)

Life is good.