Truly random...!

Note to self - do NOT listen to Gilbert O'Sullivan first thing in the morning if you want to have a bright, cheery, Mr Rogers kinda day!

Happy New Year!

Ethics query

I think I know the answer to this, but am interested in your thoughts. My DH and I have really been trying to be good - financially speaking - very tough area for us. Well, we really needed a break recently. Circumstances such as they are, we caught one and were very happy. Here's the problem: the break came about through someone else's, well, I don't want to say 'error' exactly, but it definitely worked out in our favor. We went into the situation with the best of intentions, explained what we needed and wanted to accomplish, yada yada, and it happened. So. Is this God answering prayer and giving us a break? Or should we be riddled with guilt over not bringing the situation to someone's attention? Actually, we did double check on the situation - just to make sure we had our ducks in a row. The powers that be confirmed what we thought had happened. Said powers had all the information in front of them, and still confirmed things in our favor. Like I said, I pretty sure I know the answer to this one, but just want some feedback - how do you know when circumstances are truly from God?

I'm just full of questions today - we've been invited to a surprise vow renewal this weekend (how he's going to pull this off I gotta see!) - should we take a gift?

Thanks for the comment on yesterday's blog, DJG. I tend to agree with you. I don't think the faking thing would work out very well. I think my grandmother would be pretty suspicious that a 13 year estrangement is resolved in a weekend...

I'm just feeling like I'm kind of out of it right now. Satan's not doing anything grandiose or overt, but just these little nips - like a pirhana nibbling on my ankles...and the shore is just out of reach.

Dilemma

Hope your Christmas was as nice as ours! We did all our regular traditions - no gifts under the tree until Christmas eve night, read Luke 2, bake a birthday cake Christmas day, watch Christmas movies, etc.

DH told my DS2 about Santa this year. No one but me believes anymore! :( But it did make things a lot easier for us elves!

We went to see The Polar Express tonight - utterly charming! Great story, wonderful graphics - four thumbs waaaaay up!

So here's the dilemma - open for your comments, suggestions, prayers...

When my grandmother was here last weekend, she asked me if there was any hope at all for a relationship between my mother and me. I know this is weighing so heavily on her, and I know she wants some resolution before she dies - which, please God, won't be anytime soon. So should I approach my mother and ask her if she can 'fake' a relationship with me and mine for the next few years for my grandmother's sake? I hate the idea of putting my kids through such an ordeal - not to mention my own sanity! I don't think it's feasible, but would be willing to try it I guess. (Yeah, that sounds convincing!) I don't know. Maybe during the course of a 'faked' relationship, she'd realize that my family isn't so bad, and it might become genuine. (Whoo boy! Eggnog must be workin' on me big time!) Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated...

Blugs!

whoosh

As I was running out (again!) last night to get stuff to finish the kids gifts for their teachers (side note - bad idea to give an 8 year old a glass ornament to take to school - FYI! - what was I thinking?!?!) I had a sudden sense of inspiration and deep, meaningful, rational thought. Something, I must admit, has been sorely lacking for me lately. I thought 'I really need to blog about this!' Great - topic for today is covered!

So. Here I sit. Listening to the wind rush about my ears. The same wind that blew every deep, meaningful, rational, bloggable thought right outta my head. All gone. Empty, echoing cranial cavern. Just sittin' there on top of my neck.

Tonight I'm taking the kiddos out to do Christmas shopping for Dad. Need something for Grammy and then I think I'm done. Whew! We've made our plans for the weekend, and then the relaxing can begin...

Have a joyous Christmas, blog family - blugs!

The crush begins

It never fails. Every year, one of my resolutions is to be ready for Christmas - shopping, planning, etc - by Halloween. Have I ever done it? No way. Ever been close? Yeah, right! Is this year ANY different? Well, kind of.

I found a website that promised a Christmas that was stress-free. 'Could it be?!' I thought. Well, apparently it could - just not for me! Those who followed the suggested plans are at this very moment relaxing and watching the rest of us scrambling. Although I have enjoyed the ideas and plans, the cosmic forces have decreed that I will never be organized for the holidays. Ever. Don't even bother trying, 'cuz it ain't gonna happen. As a matter of fact, the plans only made me realize how far behind I truly am. All my focus had been getting to and through the recital, and now I realize that it's four days before Christmas, and I have bought no gifts. None. Ugh. I realize that gifts, etc, are not why I celebrate, and I've truly been trying to keep focus on Christ and the miracle of His arrival to this sinful place. But sometimes it's hard to do with younger kids in the house.

On to happier things. It was 11 years ago today that we found out we were expecting DS1. What a Christmas gift! We were so excited! Full of hopes and plans for our little someone. And he's turned out better than we could have hoped! Sweet, caring, loving, with a dash of spunk to keep things interesting...

Wrigley has been so good! He's starting to warm up to us more and more. He has been so sweet! We're just waiting for him to start feeling comfortable enough to play more. The only problem we had was when he left my DH a 'yule log' by the Christmas tree yesterday, and 'inaugurated' the entertainment center. We're not sure exactly why that happened, but he's not done anything else bad. Tomorrow is the true test.

It's over!

Yessss! The recital is over! DS2 did a great job on 'Jolly Old St Nicholas' and I'm not just saying that! As for the PT and me, well, I think we did a pretty good job too! What a blessing to be allowed to sing with these marvelous, talented people!

I got to our warm up session a few minutes late, and I couldn't find anyone - I mean how can you lose ten people in one room?!? So, I'm trying to decide where to start looking, when I hear the most beautiful group of voices start singing. WOW!!! Gave me chills!!

I was so excited my grandmother was able to make the trip to hear us sing and hear DS2 play. She was unable to make it to the spring recital.

Our dog is doing fine. He's a little unsure still, but I actually got a wagging tail yesterday! Of course, the little buggar also took off running...grrr.

Now onto that whole holiday thing...:)

The End is Near

The end of a very busy week, that is! Tonight the elder DS has a surprise b-day party to attend, while I, once again, will be waitin'. For the laundry. To finish. Yup. Hopefully, I'll be able to rest a bit more and shake this congestion thing...

DH is heading out tomorrow to pick up our soon-to-be-spoiled new family member. Can't wait! I know I've completely turned around from my earlier dog feelings, but this seems right. His foster mom says she's having a hard time telling him goodbye.

Last night was such a good time! The fellowship, the fun - truly a great evening!

Thank you for all your kind comments and encouragement about this weekend, not too mention your hard work, PT! It's almost over, gang!

Sorry

I apologize for being such a whiner yesterday! I suddenly became my least favorite type of person!

Tonight is our Christmas banquet at church, and I'm really looking forward to it! We haven't gone for the last few years, but I really felt I wanted to reconnect with my 'family' this year. I've missed not being there!

Tonight is also our in home visit - the final step to getting Wrigley to come live with us! So, we were getting our house ready. Looks pretty good, if I do say so myself! Hopefully, our 'inspector' will think that too!

Things are quiet today at work. Two out of three bosses won't be here today, and the third is not really a stickler for rules, so it should be pretty relaxing around here today - which will be a nice change after the last couple of weeks!

Lord, help me to be focused and efficient today. Let me get done the things that need to be done. Help us to relax and enjoy the banquet tonight. Let us recharge by being with the body.

Ugh

I'm having one of those days. I'm tired and don't feel well - which fills me with trepidation for Sunday - so I didn't get as much accomplished last night as I had hoped and expected. So I'm taking tonight off to rest - which makes me unhappy to miss the last practice before the recital - but I just don't think I can do it!

I'm stressed because of my busy week - who isn't busy this time of year?! And someone said something to me today that really hacked me off. I just keep stewing on it - worrying it like a dog on a bone. And it's just making me madder...

I have so much to be thankful for, but I keep focusing on the yuck stuff. I hate these moods!!

Lord, help! I need Your peace and Your healing. Help me not be the way I'm feeling right now. I'm frustrated with everything and with my reaction to everything. I want to focus on You, to glorify and praise You. I want Presence more than presents.

We're expecting...

a new family member - hopefully by this time next week! We met with 'our' dog and his 'foster mom' this weekend - and it went really well! We're just waiting for the in-home visit to make sure we're not going to perform some sort of medical experiments on him and he'll be ours!

It's been really kind of weird knowing that someone is blatantly and overtly going to judge you. I know people do it all the time, but they don't necessarily tell you that's what they're doing. 'Hi, I'm Susie, and I'll be judging you tonight!'

Anyway. Had a good session with my voice coach Friday. She really likes 'So Are You To Me' but wasn't all that impressed with 'Hallowed' - of course, it doesn't quite sound the same without the entire group! Only one week, and all this madness will be done! We did some of the recital songs during worship today, and I think they went over pretty well - in spite of my missing a couple of notes - oh, and being scared witless!

So, it's Sunday night and I'm waiting for the laundry to finish. Yup. Just waitin'. For the laundry. To finish. Yup.

Good night and God bless! Yup.

I was killing time at work today (much as I am presently) and went back and read through some of my favorite bloggers blogs from the git-go, as it were. It was neat to see the way some prayers were answered, the encouragement that came from our little blog family, the struggles and the triumphs. Wow - whodathunkit?

And speaking of work, the check-sigining-name-on-the-letterhead-boss actually said 'hi' to me and smiled! Woo hoo! Doin' the happy dance...

Yes, I can see the time. Yes, I realize it's after 1am. Yes, I have to go to work in a few hours. Not as soon as DH, but soon enough.

We went and got our trees tonight. Yes, I said 'trees.' I've been a member of a Christmas forum since late summer, and I was always amazed at these people who have trees in every room. One woman even has one in her garage! Well, we haven't quite gone that loopy yet, but each of the boys has one in their room, there's the main one in the LR, 3 tiny ones in the bathroom, a small one in the kitchen, and DH got one for his cave ("where everything has a remote and the scented candles have a purpose" - his words - not mine!) So that basically leaves my office and the master bedroom with no holiday spirit. And to be honest, I'm okay with that!

We were looking through some of his mom's old photo albums tonight, looking for a picture of him when he was younger. Some of his coworkers had been bringing in yearbooks, etc, and they all wanted to see him, well, with hair. My mother in law saved some of the oddest things in her photo albums. I wonder what weird things people will find in my stuff.

Okay, so I'm now kind of blathering. I know I need to sleep - especially with the dizziness that plagued me all day, and that weird feeling I had in my throat (of course that could have been damage from when I was gently chastising my children yesterday - gently, but at the top of my lungs...whatever works)

Alright, you've convinced me - off to bed! Blugs (luv that!) to all!

We had practice for the recital last night. I'm still amazed that these wonderful and talented people have agreed to help me out and sing with me! I am so incredibly blessed to be a part of this group and this church!

I woke up feeling pretty yucky this morning - mostly dizzy. Nothing too weird I'm sure, but it concerns me - maybe I'm just more tired than I realized.

Sounds like we're going to meet our newest possible family member Saturday. I'm actually getting excited about it!

At practice, JL asked those of us who blog what we have to blog about. Well, today, not a whole lot!

Thank You Father for my church family - for their love and acceptance and willingness to serve. They are truly one of the treasures in my life. Lord, please keep me and mine healthy through the holidays. Help us to be truly grateful, and to focus on the gift You have given us so unselfishly.

I'm not sure I want a dog...then I saw a picture of Burr...(cue angelic singing)...what a sweetie!!!

Okay, maybe a dog wouldn't be so bad...

Going to the dogs

So my DH decides that he wants a puppy for Christmas. Ugh. He sees the fun part - I can only see the similarities to having another infant in the house. A creature that eats and leaves messes on the carpet and in the yard and has to go to the doctor all the time, and the only reward is a chewed up shoe full of puppy spit. Actually, it's not that bad, and I really do love dogs. I had two when I was growing up, and adored them. But we've tried the whole dog thing before, and it wasn't a good thing. So, now we're looking at rescued dogs. I'm much happier with that idea, especially since they are usually out of the puppy stage. We're looking at Brittany Spaniels - he's been to the rescue site and has found a couple of possibilities. The boys are so excited! I'm working on it...

Last night, my DH and I were talking about how great our kids are, and how proud of them we are. I should have known. This morning, DS2 looked me in the eye (sort of) and lied. Not much I hate worse than being lied to. So, no TV for a week - which will be a hardship for him.

And now, the fixing begins. The client sent the dox we need to fix their accounts. However, I am not assisting in the whole process. Which I guess is okay. I just feel bad for my office manager. I cleared my desk of work for today in anticipation for the big fix and now I have to look busy the rest of the day...

Angry boss redux

Okay, so boss #2 comes in. (He's the one that actually signs the checks...) And no fire was shooting from his eyes or anywhere else. So that was good. He actually didn't even speak to me - which I'm not sure exactly how to take. But it went better than I thought it would. My office manager - bless her! - had my back again, and fortunately for me - not so fortunate for a coworker - bad things kinda went his way.

But, I still think I'm going to continue my search for something different. The stress here is unbearable at times. I'll keep praying...

So far so good...

...although the first question the boss asked when he came in this morning was 'how many definitions of the word 'fire' can you all come up with?'

He doesn't think it's as big a problem as he did Friday. But there's still a problem. Fortunately, my former office manager and my current one both have stuck up for me. But I still don't know what the other boss thinks - he probably still thinks I've cost him tens of thousands of dollars and will come in here tomorrow breathing fire...ugh.

Ch-ch-ch-changes?

Well, DH is doing just fine - nothing major with his work injury, thank the Lord! He's back to full mobility and ready for work.

On my work side - well - as some of you know - mmm, not so good. I'll find out tomorrow if a major error that I've committed while pleading the Nuremburg defense (Just doing what I was told to do!) will cost the boss mucho money, a client, and cost me my job. Nothing like a little holiday stress. DH is not worried - which is very helpful. Of course, he doesn't necessarily want me to stay in this job anyway. I'll probably be putting out feelers for other positions just in case. I've asked God to tell me if this is where He wants me to be, and if not then a) let me know clearly, and b) make another opportunity present itself with the stuff we need. I have pretty much spent this weekend in denial and isolation.

We had what I thought was a great practice today for the recital - which is approaching in a terrifyingly fast manner. It was so great to be able to sing and praise with brothers and sisters. And to sound halfway decent while doing it!

The children's Christmas program was tonight at church. How sweet! Although I have to admit, I think I identified more with Halo and Harpo than Michael and Gabriel (the old fuddy-duddys!) I admire so much all the talented people who helped make the program such a success!

Lord, You know my needs. I take refuge under Your wings. Help me to be humble at work, and let my employers be merciful and understanding. Let me feel You beside me as I go through this stuff, and show me where You want me to be.

Late Thanksgiving...

It was a very grateful family that sat together and watched 'Rudolph' last night. I got the call every wife dreads. My DH was hurt on the job yesterday at a scene. He jokingly called himself a 'casualty.' What an odd word - I find nothing casual about it at all! He's actually fine, but he had to leave work and will be off for awhile. They were at a fire scene and he went through the floor. He's a little stiff today and his hip hurts, but other than that, he's fine physically. He had a hard time getting to sleep last night though, because he kept 'falling' again as he drifted off.

Thank You, Lord that he's safe! And thank You for the reminder of the brevity of life and the risks associated with his career. We'd become complacent and this was a wake up call for us. Please let him heal quickly.

Flakes Welcome

Just for fun... www.snowflakes.lookandfeel.com ...definitely something I enjoy when I should be doing something more productive! (Not sure this address will actually link to anything or take you anywhere - I'm very much techno challenged!)