Bring it on!

It's 2011! Bring it on!

We drove to some people's house where we got empty boxes before Christmas. We don't know them but here we are to pull another load out of their garage. Well that's not the story. The story is we drove away looking at one nice house after another, me saying, "I wouldn't want to live in this neighborhood."

"Kent," I said, "Tell me three reasons I wouldn't want to live in this neighborhood."

No brick, he says.
Yup.

No trees.
He's right.

"And," I prompt him, "the houses are all the same."

Uh huh.. 

Kind of like (he says) where we're moving to.

No brick,

no trees,

houses

all the

same.

Right.

Done

It's done.
2010 will drop away in a few hours like the Last Leaf in O. Henry's famous story.
I should remark on it I guess but I'm so-so about the Last Day of the Year. It's rather like other days in the end - it comes, it goes.
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Have you heard?  Four months and Jenny finally P.O.S.T.E.D.! It's a doozy (link).

She's a doozy! A beautiful, lively, bighearted soul with a big goal for 2011. Need an energy boost in the moment? Read ★★★★ GET HAPPY! ★★★★!

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I love, love Irisz Agocs' art. She's Hungarian. I brought the pics below over from her blog (link), watermark and all. Hope no copyright problems. Run there and enjoy!  Seriously you'll be smiling in half a second.

But hey STAY! You have to first see these funny poses.

Sun Salutations 1 through 9 

Napüdvözlet 1 through 9

Attention please . . .

Who IS this mystery woman? Her shape is so familiar.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

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P.S.

I forgot yesterday to post a scrap page I did of Abbie a couple of years ago. A December page and so it belongs. If you like, pop over here (link) and scroll down a bit to see it. Tomorrow's my last post in a row for 31 days. Don't know if I'll be posting every day after December - could be a New Year's resolution, wow. It's doable. Happy almost New Year ya'll!

Winter garden

Looking through my December pics and you HAVE to have this one!



On that day December 4th we still had peas (or not - just pulled)...



. . . and these delitefuls:

Nandina blushing with berries.



Hardy Gerbera daisy.



Pecans and green grass.



You may comprehend from an earlier post that the back yard is now dead and gone, overtaken by winter-long shadows.



"From December to March," writes Kathrine S. White, poet,

"There are for many of us three gardens -

The garden outdoors," (ah, done and gone)
"The garden of pots and bowls in the house," (but no - given to the compost a week ago)
And the garden of the mind's eye." 

That forever and always, as I shall not see another spring here.

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"God gave us our memories so that we might have roses in December."
- J. M. Barrie
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Happy today because

I am happy today because

...i'm realizing amazing trust in God

...i had a voice message from andrew

...i bought a paper mache (or something)
spotted giraffe at ross dress for less today

...i found two old watches in my dresser drawer

...the end of the year is almost almost here

...our houses are being bought and sold quicker
than i ever dreamed possible - pinch me

...i'm reminded of your prayers
and kindness to us

Work-a-day

My brains is puddled and my back are wacko. It's been one of those kind of days. Stretch and bend and squat and lift and haul and rest - and after that this morning a walk for some time around several stores biding time til I could go home again. (I mooned over books at Books A Million then bought a lovely blazer and skirt at Ross.) In the middle of my messy-mess yes I left this house in the hands of the buyer's inspector and the buyer and her real estate agent. A pot roast slow-cooked while the inspector tore around here for three hours turning on and off lights and on and off water (showers, bathtubs, dishwasher that I know of) and on and off the circuit breaker, and on and on. The ladies followed. Must've. I've seen it on HGTV a hundred times. I drove home near 5:00 p.m. and had to park at Regina's for all the room I had in my driveway with their vehicles, none. Garage door wide to the world, every light in the place on, and them huddled in the back yard looking over the septic tank. Yoohoo I shouted, coming through the garage into the house.

I'd come home not only from stores but from a lengthy hour and a half in Kent's office where we tidied up loose ends on the closing on our house in Utah (thaaank heavens) by cell phone and e-mail; it was getting darkish and feeling supperish, and I drove. Walked into my kitchen from from across the street and worked on potatoes and carrots with a peeler for the crock pot while the buyer-inspector-agent-and-Kent (who wasn't far behind me after hurrying to UPS with the docs, and who had had to park on the curb one house down) walked around yakking. That was a good, good thing - the buyer negotiated for most of the yard implements Kent has for sale. Cold hard cash.

The pot roast and veggies taste good. My brains IS puddled... be good to get a cuppa' hot chocolate, a bath and get loungy somewhere. Shortly.
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This 'n That

outside my window...



right now i'm thinking...

How my friend brought over Scotch Brite Easy Erasing Pads last night and showed me how to use them on my walls! Wonders! And wardrobe boxes - her husband trucked those in last night. The living room's a maze of cardboard.

i am thankful for...

Being in the Lord's hands; knowing that. Life is up and down. Whatever comes I DO accept.

i am wearing...

(27 degrees out here!)


i am remembering...

I need to run to the store for a postcard (where?) and mail it to a little grandson's school for a little gingerbread project.

i am going...

To Walgreen's to look for a postcard, Kroger for Ambrosia apples, and the library - a book is due. (Below)

i am currently reading...



i am hoping...

Closing on our homes goes well. Hello that, goodbye this. Please.

on my mind...

Jenny leaving her sister and the kids and flying home. :(

pondering these words...




from the kitchen... 

Got this for Christmas. Can't wait to use it! ('Tis packed in a deep dark box, ahhh.)



around the house... 

(Should be busy on this...



... and 'stead, I'm blogging!)



Christmas present



Not much in the freezer now



Christmas PACKED



Empty



And full



one of my favorite things...

her
(linky)
ART



i'm creating...

Another December scrap page



a few plans for the rest of the week...

Carry on. Pray. Be glad.
-----
q

Christmas
is over, but the
feelings linger...
had one more holiday-ish
page
to share.

Calm water

A good day today - lots done. A one-person kayak cutting through calm water. I feel very grateful for my energy and for the time before me to sort and pack, sort and pack. My Goodwill pile grows and the dumpster is full. The freezers are emptying. I'm working from handwritten lists - I may forget a thing, or not have time for it and have to write it on tomorrow's, but it'll get done. Thank goodness; I love an orderly process and so far this is that, though I'm hip-deep in stuff.

Who said I needed all this stuff in my house?

Luckily tonight when I went to make rice for dinner I found loose in a box of Stuff (and so retrieved it and used it) my 1-cup rice measurer. Makin' no waves.
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Look Not Behind Thee

Paul to the Philippians: "This one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 3:13-14)

Our lesson in Sunday School today was taken from a BYU Devotional talk by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland in January 2009 about looking forward, not back - as did Lot's wife.


Whether or not she really was turned to a pillar of salt, her longing backward (when the commandment to her household was to leave) resulted in her becoming stuck so to speak. On many levels this has application and there was lots of discussion in class.

Elder Holland:

So, as a new year starts and we try to benefit from a proper view of what has gone before, I plead with you not to dwell on days now gone, nor to yearn vainly for yesterday however good those yesterdays may have been. The past is to be learned from but not lived in. We look back to claim the embers from glowing experiences but not the ashes. And when we have learned what we need to learn and have brought with us the best that we experienced, then we look ahead, we remember that faith is always pointed toward the future  -  faith always has to do with blessings and truths and events that will yet be efficacious in our lives. So a more theological way to talk about Lot's wife is to say she did not have faith. She doubted the Lord's ability to give her something better than she had. Apparently she thought, fatally as it turned out, that nothing that lay ahead could possibly be as good as those moments she was leaving behind.

One context for this discussion is (for me) literally relying on the Lord for what's ahead of us as we move. I've spent mental energy here and there considering what it is I'm getting myself into in the new year! And looking longingly over my house and our life here. Nothing at all desperate; just thoughtful, and reckoning how blessed we have been and how perfectly we can - surely must - trust the Lord to brings us to a happy life ahead. Elder Holland says, "Faith is for the future. Faith builds on the past but never longs to stay there. Faith trusts that God has great things in store for each of us, and that Christ is the "high priest of good things to come."

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Christmas

Kind'a fun, eh! A great morning . . . scriptures, prayer, presents, Bluegrass Christmas music and waltzing in the living room to Patty Loveless' Silent Night; orange Danish and hot chocolate then Skype with Arkansas kids and grands; jazz CD (blows me away it's so good!) and we're laying around on the couch almost ready for a nap. More to come. Come back later if you can.
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Lunch at a friend's house - leftover ham and salad and rolls, and I brought pumpkin pie. Two and a half hours and a game of Farkle later home to watch a Christmas movie. It's raining and due to be colder; we may get snow. An unusual December. I ran across the street to see my neighbor who gave me a whole pumpkin pie she had left over from their Christmas dinner. What goes out comes back around I guess! We had left over pizza for dinner in front of another Hallmark Movie Channel show . . . the last two have been tearjerkers, tender and believable - Hallmark's getting better - and made Kent a little sad. It's dark now - it's been a good Christmas, Kent says. I believe he believes it.  I know it has been. How was yours?! Merry Christmas!

-----
Abbie, Landon and Joseph, 2009



Scott 2007

Christmas Eve

How do you combine sentiments about worldly gifts and  the birth of the Savior in the same Christmas Eve blog post? Well. Shouldn't we focus only on the Savior this night and then Santa tomorrow?

I wrote the poem Christmas Loaves and Fishes four years ago after reading this Christmas Eve story (link) by Raynier Maharaj with the same title in an issue of Family Circle. Mom read it to me actually; it originates with the book Christmas Miracles (link). I do love this story - you can tell - and've wanted all month to post my version here on December 24th. It spotlights... well, you'll see! No, I'll tell - a miracle! The title is perfect. And of course the image of Mary and the baby below says "miracle" to me. And "Christmas Eve." It's all one.

CHRISTMAS LOAVES AND FISHES
There’s a quiet excitement on Christmas Eve,
A festive feeling with family near.
It brings to mind a story I tell,
A little something I share each year.
(A story you well may not believe.)
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Young friends spent Christmas Eve one year
With children in a hospital wing
And every nurse along the hall.
One dressed up like Santa Claus
And passed out toys and gifts for all.
They played guitar and helped them sing
Because they needed Christmas cheer.

Cheery Christmases quickly spread
As year by year the friends came back.
Twice, now three times, even four,
With gifts for wide-eyed girls and boys.
And this year, presents for the poor!
Tonight young Santa checked his sack.
“We have some toys to spare!” he said.

Somebody mentioned Squatters’ Row
Nearby beyond the city lights.
A couple of shacks (no more than three).
The desperate homes with desperate plights
Would surely be the place to go.

Near midnight now, the friends drove out
With the nearly empty bag of toys.
One hill to go. They topped the rise
And eased along not very far,
Then stopped in panic and surprise
As more than thirty girls and boys
Ran to the car with a happy shout!

Somebody told them (was it a bluff?)
That Santa Claus would come tonight.
The friends were stunned, but Santa wasn't –
He was panicked! He was white!
Santa doesn't have enough.

He didn't want to let them down,
So lining them up in order of height,
(And knowing he’d soon pull the very last toy)
He dipped in his bag for the first little child.
And again, and again, as each girl and boy
In turn stepped toward him with eager delight
And smiled at their Santa in shantytown.

He dipped and found a present each try,
And smiled and thought, Well, what do you know!
The last eager child reached for a gift.
Then he let out a hearty “Ho Ho Ho,”
And lifted his hand to wave goodbye.

“But Santa, WAIT!” two little ones cried,
And Santa’s heart sank to his toes.
Two little girls who’d been asleep,
Sarah and Elisabeth
(Who midnight hours couldn't keep)
Heard all the excitement and eagerly rose
All out of breath and starry-eyed.

If Santa Claus was worried before,
Dear Santa’s heart was broken now.
The bag was empty. There were no toys.
He almost cried. He almost told.
But two little girls needed Christmas joys,
So he dipped again (he doesn't know how)
And lo and behold, there were two presents more.
-----

The friends still talk of that Christmas Eve
With no explanation for how it was so.
And I share the story whenever I can
And say it’s a miracle. How do I know?
I was the Santa, and I believe.
Me, December 2006

Mary, did you know?

Pins and needles

It was Sonny's for supper last night, my last southern barbecue for a while. De-LISH!

It's so close to Christmas! I have a coupl'a things to wrap and put under the peace lily. Shhh, Christmas Eve! Wish our little "tree" was loaded with sparkle or had at least one

                   bright
                               red
                                          ornament

on it! Anyway there's right now three empty boxes around it out in the Florida room, leftovers from yesterday's packing. I'll put them away and clean up for Christmas morning but really I can see us wanting to sit by the fire in the living room early (and chilly) to open presents, so I'll just move the plant by the fireplace, yeah? Santa's elf and all, rearranging Christmas. Rearranging Christmas sounds like a John Grisham novel.

We're on pins and needles. Have been for a while, and what's new?

For tomorrow, a no-work day for Kent. 
For Christmas! Two days, yahoo! 
And New Year's Eve, another day off. 
January 10th and Auburn vs. Oregon in the National Championship game. 
For my fly date to Minnesota to tend Erin's kids and the whole week with them. 
Then my flight home!
For the house to close. Ba-da-ba-da-bing! 
And the container or pod or van, whatever, to load and go away with our stuff. 
NOT, phooey, for the cross-country trip by car. 
For seeing our families and opening the door to the new house. 

On pins and needles, but being practical. I've undone more things around here than you can shake a stick at. That's not impractical as I need time to box, empty the house, and clean before I leave for MN; and it's lovely after having things just so to stage the house. I've put into boxes an assortment of things we don't use, that hang around inside cupboards and closets and on shelves. Office supplies and Bundt pans and fingernail polish. Towels, the Magic Bullet and the remote control are out. Band-Aids aren't packed, nor is the spaghetti pasta. I talked to Dad a while ago and he said they are on pins and needles there for us to come. Well, and, incidentally, for the snap scanner they're getting for Christmas. Santa Claus won't bring this one I guess, UPS will. And on pins and needles please (says he) to get off the phone and eat corned beef, rice and peas.

We're counting the days, and not in a panic. Counting them as blessings! Keep us in your prayers will you that nothing falls through.


Merry Christmas almost!
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