Wherein I discover that I'm no more organized in 2026 than before...

Here we are, a little over a week into 2026, and you've clearly discerned that one of my New Year's resolutions was NOT daily blogging, haha. I hope you all had terrific, fun-filled, peaceful, enjoyable holidays and have started off the year on the right foot. I have begun a jigsaw puzzle that we received for Christmas, but it is on the poker table in the basement and I'm rarely down there so I keep forgetting to work on it. Need to read more books and assemble more puzzles this year and play fewer games on my phone...

I've also, despite my hope and precautions, ended up with lymphedema, but that it not a story for today. We'll get there eventually. Right now, I'm just... I don't even know. But while I'm thinking about it, for whoever is taking notes, petite medium shirts aren't working. Some mediums also aren't working at all. I very much resemble a preschooler insisting on dressing myself, including getting arms stuck up over my head, because between the compression sleeve and the swelling in my arm sleeves are giving me fits. Please don't shop for me. It's going to be a case of me having to try stuff on to see what works. =/ Gah. Bah. Humbug!
 

On a better note, especially for those of you afraid to break a New Year's resolution, I have boldly gone there already. I possess a ridiculous amount of tea, including fun ones shared between my amazing sisters-in-law, below:

I decided I would have a cup of tea each day in 2026 since I have plenty. 

January 6, I forgot. 

So, you know, not even a week into the resolution. You're welcome. 

So far this is my run down:

Day 1- I admit, I was a little apprehensive to read "green tea, roasted buckwheat, and almond". However, it was delightful! I was not expecting to enjoy it.

Day 2- Grand Jasmin Chun Feng- green tea with jasmine flowers. Here's the thing. Had I not read it, I wouldn't have been consumed with giggles and probably would have liked it more, BUT because my Grammy had a jasmine air freshener in her tiny bathroom that my brother and I loved to hear "pssssst" when we pushed the button, my brain had a problem with the juxtaposition of that scent being in tea I was drinking. I let Dada try it and he thought it was fine, but I noticed he also didn't finish it.

Day 3- Detox- that word kinda scared me so I was apprehensive again but then I read, "rooibos, honeybush, moringa, and mango" and even though I don't know what honeybush or moringa are, I do like rooibos tea. This was no exception. Delicious! Bring on the detox!

Day 4- blend of Assam and Yunnan black teas, which was fine. Nothing stand-out-ish, but good.

Day 5- lemongrass, ginger, and carrot- didn't really expect much from this one but was pleasantly surprised about the delightful lightness of it!

Biggest letdown of the week was Day 6- long jing, "delicate and vegetal green tea". Probably fine if you're a green tea fan. I think vegetal was the right word and this one didn't get finished. I'm trying to drink them all straight and undoctored and this one didn't feel like much would improve it to where it wouldn't taste like honey or whatever versus the green tea taste itself.

Day 7- "blue mountain"- black tea, strawberry and flowers. Yum! Yes, please! Made up for the Day 6 even though I drank both of these on Day 7 to catch back up. 

Should probably mention I'm working my way through an Advent tea calendar that didn't get opened at Advent so I'm kicking off the new year with it before I work my way through all the other stuff I have. I'm also drinking all of these as hot teas, in case anyone wondered.

I don't know what today's will be, so I'll let you know later!

Have a wonderful week!

A Christmas ramble

Merry Christmas!

I'm scrambling to get this post written before everyone wakes up and we descend into the Christmas crazy. Bear in mind that we have big kids who are on break and in full sleep-in-after-staying-up-late mode. In my head, I already hear The Princess Bride's Prince Humperdinck musing, "...it ranged all over..." so I'll try to channel Mr. Woods, my 10th grade English teacher who used green felt tip markers to scrawl TWE on our papers- To What End? As in, "get to the point already!"

Everybody have their coffee or hot drink of choice? Some Christmas cookies? It is CHRISTMAS- don't worry about the calories, for goodness sake. Enjoy them!

(Mr. Woods sighs.)

Let's do this. 

Story time!

Once upon a time, there was a girl who worked at a summer camp. It's no longer there, sadly, but that's another story to be found here. She met a boy and life happened; they got married, moved a lot, got a kitten, had kids, got a dog, the whole shebang. (Mr. Woods rolls his eyes and reaches for the pen.)

This is the girl, who because of her erect posture and the faux feather in her hair, reminded her friends of the kidnapped princess in Peter Pan, and thus earned her the handle of Tigerlily at the aforementioned camp. 

One Christmas Eve, a long time later, the girl felt discouraged and not very festive. In fact, said girl cried a little while doing the dishes before her shower before the Christmas Eve service. (Mr. Woods uses his green pen.) She felt frustrated with her children who wanted to play video games instead of going to the Christmas Eve service and was astounded that they didn't see it as a given that they were going. She reminisced about a time when she and her mother had walked the handful of city blocks home from church on a below freezing Christmas Eve and how the stars had been so bright, and wonders if her mother remembers that, too. Generally feeling sorry for herself and ready at any moment to blame her tears on getting dishsoap in her eyes, she remembered something important which had been passed along to her and others at camp. 
"Satan tends to attack people and places of strategic importance."

These words had been spoken by a boss whose handle had been Spiritual Giant. His profession was teaching; he was and remains a true leader, caring about each person under him as well as those under them. 

(Mr. Woods pauses, then decides to allow it to see where it leads, but scribbles another TWE?)

Some of you may be musing, "who does she think she is?"

Slight pivot.

Last night, the girl also watched "It's a Wonderful Life," knowing full well that it's imperfect and dated and cheezy at times but wanted the nostaglia of an old movie she'd watched with her Nana. (Here's the link in case you want to investigate further: it'll open a new window.)

In the movie, Clarence muses, "Each man's life touches so many other lives..."

I've talked to more than one person this week who has felt depleted, that hard things kept happening to them, and that they were exhausted, and I keep coming back to that nugget of wisdom the girl heard decades ago. 

If you are a church worker, most especially in the season leading up to today, it makes complete sense to me that an enemy would try to keep you discouraged, make you feel like your work didn't matter, that it's only for an hour and everyone will go back to their "real" lives and forget what you taught or sang or how you loved, so why bother? 

Don't give up. Do it anyway.

For the parents whose kid would rather play with the box than the gift you finally found for them, for the health care workers who have yet another patient come in with something avoidable, for the way the world keeps turning and you have to keep dealing with all of it when you just feel like you can't do one more day/thing/event/minute because you've suffered a loss or a diagnosis or _____ and are barely hanging by a thread... 

Breathe. Call someone in your village. Don't get isolated. Don't get picked off one at a time. 

George Bailey experiences the... Clarence calls it a gift, I think, but I'm not sure that's quite the correct word. He experiences the  (whatever) of seeing what life would have been like without him in it. 

Eventually, we will all leave this life, and our loved ones will have to navigate around the land mine that our passing leaves in their own lives. That's not the same as you never having been here. That can be worse, at least to start, because of the (there are no words in Entish, Elvish or the tongues of men for the all encompassing emotions) that loss is. Grief doesn't play fair. It sucker punches. 

So, to answer the "who does she think she is?" 

(Mr. Woods scrawls TWE in huge letters.)

Just me. In fact, back in the day when I'd call my high school boyfriend's house, his Dad would answer and I'd say, "it's just me." He'd laugh and crow, "HIIIIIII Just!" 

I'm just me. You're just you. We can only each be just ourselves. 

But we're priceless, one of a kind, each a masterpiece.

If you feel like you're under attack, you probably are. Because no matter how you FEEL, you matter to someone. Make it a capital S if you want to- you also matter to Someone. That baby in the manger is for you. And me. And him and her and them and they and those. 

(Mr. Woods just yeet his green pen in annoyance and sloped off to get a warm up for his coffee cup. Maybe coffee doesn't get cold in the afterlife. I guess we'll all find out.)

And if you've figured out you are under attack, don't just stay there. Call for reinforcements! That can look all kinds of different. Sometimes just getting out of your house can make a difference, even if it's frigid, yes, even with a baby. Hearing the voice of a friend instead of the usual texts. Using the "good" dishes. Wearing the fancy clothes. We are quick to splurge on others in this season, but you are hereby allowed to splurge on yourself, whoever was waiting around for permission. It can be little things, but YOU are special, you are worth it, you need to take care of yourself so you can continue loving on/serving/standing in the gap for those around you. We need you. 

We are heading into the "long dark of Moria" winter, but be of good cheer- the days are already getting longer and the light will be returning. Breathe deep, my friends; you are loved, a New Year is coming, and Christmas is here! 

Despite life's hiccups, and because of them, they all lived happily ever after.

The End.

 

I'm still kickin'

 Hiya and happy almost holidays! The title is something my Nana used to say when asked how she was doing. I felt it was fitting to sum up how I'm functioning these days.

For those of you who are panicking because you're not ready, take a deep breath and know that we are right there with you. For those of you who keep getting more things tossed at you in this game called life, take another breath and be still a moment. You're allowed. There is hard stuff happening, and you, too, are not alone. For those of you experiencing a very Blue Christmas, big hugs from us, and more deep breaths, and just do what you can. And if you can't, that is okay, too. Just be. Just breathe. Please know you're loved.

I had the last of the AC part of chemo on Tuesday last week and you guys must have been praying hard, because I was expecting next-door-to-end-of-the-world awfulness but experienced next-door-to-exhaustion instead. Thank you! The nausea has not been fun, but it has been manageable, and I'm still taking as many naps as possible, which helps. The brain fog is real; I've caught myself making out multiple Christmas cards to the same person, so if you end up with three or end up with none- it's my fault either way. Sorry. Next year will be better. Doing a lot of facepalming over here. But, as my Nana said, "I'm doin'."

The next step will be weekly infusions of Taxol for all of the next three months. Supposedly that will be easier on my system and my doc thinks I will handle that well. The new wrinkle will be hands and feet neuropathy, which I'm a bit nervous about as I've been fortunate to never have to deal with that yet... guess we'll see how it goes. Doc said if it's terrible they can dial back the dose of Taxol, but I want this round of cancer to be the last ever round of cancer so I kinda don't want to inhibit any of the meds... no sense stressing over it. It'll be what it'll be. We will figure it out. 

Since that doesn't start until January, I have the rest of this month to recover, gain weight I mean "enjoy Christmas goodies", attempt to finish my cards before Christmas, get my far and wide ranging ducks back in a row, take the boys to the dentist for their appointment, enjoy time with loved ones, hopefully bake some and take more naps. I am very much enjoying not waiting at the bus stop while the temps are in the teens, but I'm sure there will be plenty of that in 2025. 

Don't exhaust yourselves this season chasing down the Stuff or trying to do All The Things. Make the time for the people and activities that fill your spirit back up, and know that you're loved more than you realize. Be good to yourself! You are worth it!

Drink water and wash your hands. The germs are legion!

3700

 No, that's not an amount for a bill for any of my surgeries or chemo or insurance for driving Ori onto rocks, though good guesses all. That's the number of posts on this blog! Can you even believe it? It's like I have something to say... or something. Who'd have thought? (Nana, in the afterlife, is chuckling to herself and snarking, "anybody who ever met you! Are you kidding? All those times I had to separate you from Tammy at nap time because you wouldn't stop talking?!" Yes, well, there is that.

I'm sort of just checking in. I miraculously have zero doctors' appointments this week and am on the upswing after mostly a week of chemo crumminess. To say I'm not looking forward to next week's treatment is an understatement of epic proportions. However, it IS nice to know that I will sort of be feeling myself come Christmas, AND the AC part of chemo will be over with. Hooray! Merry Christmas to ME! As they used to say in karate, "LAST ONE, BEST ONE" though I'm not sure that quite applies here as the results are cumulative and I felt like... well, to quote our youngest, "dogwater" would be pretty applicable. I'm not sure if he means dog pee or the scum in their drinking water from their backwash because I'm afraid to ask, but either way, yeah, that kinda fits. To have the inside of your mouth feel sandblasted, to have the chemical roiling of your stomach, to feel like you've been dragged through solidifying cement with the accompanying pounding of your heart when all you've done is climb up a single set of stairs... I'd say dogwater fits. 

Yes, I am taking my anti nausea meds, though I could take more of them, though they come with their own side effects and I'd rather limit all that nonsense. Yes, I'm climbing back into bed (YAY, BED!) at every opportunity. I'm even feeling less guilty about it because my brain knows healing is hard work even though my spirit wants to Go Do Stuff. My Lisa says, "go back to bed for all of us who can't!" I figure I'm taking one for the team. Teehee. I should be drinking more, so if you talk to me, ask where I am water-wise and tell me to go take some sips. *Reaches for her glass of water whilst rolling her eyes* 

No, our Christmas tree isn't up yet, but our wreaths are, so that's progress. At this rate, once we get it up it might have to stick around until my birthday. Those of you who know us are asking, "how is that different from any other year?" Hush, you. 

For those of you asking about meals for us, bless your sweet hearts. As I was telling my friend the other day, food is tricky right now, though this week should be better. Dada is still doing no carbs, the kids are pretty much all carbs, and I am absolutely all over the map like a pregnant woman. I will have a sliced baby cucumber. Then an hour later maybe cheese and crackers. Then another hour after that perhaps a little bit of meat or some peanut butter toast. Last night I was eating single Cheerios out of the box, one after another, while I watched TV. For lunch, I plan to devour an entire head of butter lettuce* with veggies and cheese and croutons (Thing Three is at school so I'll only have to fend off Thing Two since Thing One doesn't emerge for awhile yet) and maybe a can of tuna on it and it is going to be DELICIOUS and then my mouth won't feel like I've licked a salty camel straight from the Sahara. 

*In a text from Dada, that came out "butthead" lettuce so we will be henceforth calling it that.

All in all, and my doc is in agreement with this, I'm doing well. It doesn't always FEEL like that, but as I'm also not praying to the porcelain god, I'll take it. I may look like a drunken sailor on land who is using the wall with one hand to stay stable, but I'm still moving, thank you, Jesus. Today I'm actually on my second load of laundry**, have swept the kitchen floor, made phone calls which I despise (who's with me- where are my "I'd rather die than talk on the phone" peeps?), renewed Pepe's license plate, got some mail ready to go out, and some other stuff. I'm hogging 2/3 of the couch with paperwork and have displaced Thing Two completely. I have a pile of Stuff on the floor in the Old Lady Room that I need to deal with, but we are getting there.

** The second load is dog towels and blankets. Miss Honey, who will be at least 10ish years old this week, relieved herself on the hall rug before Thanksgiving and we didn't have time to deal with it other than baking soda and vacuum it before we travelled, so we lugged it outside where the weather could rain and snow on it to it's heart's delight. We brought it in a few days ago, still smelling of baking soda. The Idiot Bos decided to lick it in a bunch of places last evening while we were having dinner, then proceeded to barf on a different rug when his stomach realized it couldn't digest dog hair, dirt, and baking soda. Hence the load of towels. How he can manage to NOT throw up rat poison when he needs to but CAN vomit other stuff remains a mystery. Dumber than a box of rocks. Seriously. That's insulting to rocks. He's no smarter now than he was when we got him 7.5 years ago. Somebody save us. I am never picking out a dog again. And if Honey doesn't quit pooping on the deck, I am going to ask Santa not FOR a dog, but to kindly take both of ours!

So I'm off to make my salad. Have a wonderful hump day!

The gift that keeps on giving

 

Okay, I got this book for Christmas in…. *sigh* … 2009? 

 Theoretically I should be long done with it. My story, and I’m sticking to it, is that this book periodically goes into hiding. A kid rediscovers it and attempts to get me back on track. I’ll do well for awhile… and then we will need to clear off the kitchen table, it will get shelved, and forgotten.

Well, today my ACTUAL sketchbook is in hiding so as I dashed out the door I unearthed this so I could do an #Inktober prompt. Today’s was “backpack”:

See you in September...

 Tomorrow kicks off Pinktober (breast cancer awareness month, and don't think it has escaped our notice around here, heh) and Inktober in case you want the official rules. We made it into autumn, people! Not to tip anybody into a complete panic or anything, but we have Trick or Treat, a fairly major election, Thanksgiving and Christmas coming up. I suppose I should start thinking about shopping. My mother is probably already done. Way to go, Mommeeee!

In the meantime, I'd love for y'all to try Inktober with me. Once I find my sketchbook, since I probably haven't done more than a squiggle or two, I will attempt the daily prompts and post them here. Don't hold your breath for them to appear in a daily post; there is a reason Mommeee says I am the least competitive person she knows. Remember that it's for fun, not pressure, so doodle on a napkin somewhere and you don't have to go in order and just enjoy getting the creative juices flowing. You might make something hilarious that you know someone would love! In that case, feel free to give it with boldness to the recipient, who can then post/mount/display it with pride because someone who cared about them took a risk and thought about them! Everybody wins. Be brave!

And here's another PSA- go get your parts checked. Heavens, especially if wherever you work supports that, take advantage of the points or the system or whatever. Go see your doctor and be honest with them about what's working well and what's working not so well. If they don't listen to you, it's okay for you to try a different doctor. Just because you've gone to the same person forever doesn't mean you have to. Find your tribe, add them in, and with diligence you'll both find out early if anything is going wrong with you. Men, this goes for you, as well. Yes, it can be awkward. Go anyway. Your doc can turn into a trusted friend. Tell the truth. Make them earn their money- you had to wait for their time for your appointment. Be real. 

If anyone's not seen this refrigerator magnet before, it's partly to credit with me finding this round of cancer. You can click on it to enlarge it. The dimple part was what caught my eye and then I noticed the lump underneath it.

Know your body so that when something changes, you notice. A cousin would also like me to remind you to get checked for skin cancer. It doesn't take very long to do and the peace of mind of being declared free or getting samples sent off is worth it. Again, we're aiming for early detection because that brings better results. If you feel crummy, don't wait! Be your own advocate. Trust me, going forward, I'm going to be vocal about my allergy to chloraprep! I'd not go through the intense itching again if I don't have to! 

Take good care of you, grab your doodling pen, and I'll see you in October!

New Year and already behind

 Happy New Year, yes, four days late- that's how I roll. I hope that all y'all had blessed Christmas vacations (or staycations) and New Years celebrations sans drama or police involvement or anything other than the way you had hoped 2023 would go out. I know quite a few of you were more than happy to see the old year out. 

New, fresh beginnings, huzzah!

My parents made it out for a between Christmas and New Years visit and are safely home again. We'd seen Dad in August, and Mom had come out in June to keep an eye on the kids while we were in Scotland but I hadn't seen her in person since April and that's a really long time to go without my Tiny Mommeeeeee! Thank you to any/all of who you have prayed over her and wished her well through her year of health issues. We all are very appreciative.

School started today for the Damonater, to his intense distress. However, he does have Phys Ed and his STEAM class this semester, so it'll be interesting to hear the report of how the first day went down. 

Five more days and we'll have been married for 25 years. He has put up with me for a quarter of a century, people, and most of that was even spent in the same state together. Amazing. That man deserves a medal. Or cookies. Or something. Prayers, probably.

We5 are well, staying warm in the subfreezing temps, prepping for the snow we're supposed to get this weekend. We hope you kicked off 2024 to a great start!

Out with the old...

This kid. He makes me laugh every day. He's campaigned for months for a Duck Donuts hoodie, which is a chain in the Outer Banks with super fun donuts. The plan was to get him this brand new hoodie for Christmas, but the day before it came in the mail this week, he showed me how he'd utterly killed his faithful OBX hoodie. He's worn this every day for over a year, and it apparently has had it. He lost the grommets off the strings. He eroded the cuffs off the sleeves. He wore holes into the kangaroo pouch and the back by the tag. He tore the elbow of his left sleeve previously, but when he came home the gash was much larger, having gotten stuck on a desk. Poor thing. He quipped, "well, you can't time it any better than that!"

 

A snippet of Christmas

I know. It's strange to look back instead of forward, but some of my photos have to go somewhere lest these library trips spent organizing them go to waste. 

Our stockings and the Leons, haha

I blame some Girlfriends. You know who you are.

Nobody makes sugar cookies like Thing One. Still. Forever.

After a small misreading of dates on my part, we did all end up in church clothes and at the appropriate service at the right building at the right time and even on the right day.

 

However, as Aragorn declares, "that is not this day," as you can tell by the number of people in pajamas. My apologies to my more polished family members; I just didn't have the fight left in me to get everyone back into them when they weren't thrilled about their sacrifice in the first place. Can you hear me rolling my eyes? I hope so.

Anyway, we hope that you have managed to take some of the sparkle and magic and love (and not just the pounds) of the holidays into the New Year with you. 

If this year is hard, or you feel like you're at a breaking point, please let us know. We'd love to help. We have room, ears to listen and shoulders to lean on. 

And a new cookie jar. Thanks, Grandmama and PaPa! The Honey Bear knocked our cookie bear off the counter and polished off all the freshly made almond crescents. All of them. The cookie bear had been given to us by Lisa's Grammy way back during our baby shower for the firstborn. Got that kid into adulthood, so well done, good and faithful servant, but man, we will miss you and your distinctive opening sounds that were a dead giveway of sneakage to mom ears. Out with the old and in with the new. RIP Cookie Bear 2003-2022.

 

Christmas 2020

One of Thing One's Christmas presents was the piercing of ears, which happens at tattoo parlors around here, believe it or not. And not being 18, this was the second attempt getting them done as we didn't have the requisite birth certificate in hand the first time around.

 Apparently earring care has changed since I've had mine done a long, long time ago, and you're not supposed to turn the front one way while rotating the back the opposite direction twice a day or swabbing them with rubbing alcohol. The new thing is a container of "Wound Wash" which just leaves itself open to so many wrong avenues...

I know a lot of you got buttloads of Christmas snow. Thankfully we were not so "blessed", haha. We got a dusting and that counts as a white Christmas, thank you very much!

We also had a lovely sunset. The weather cooperated for Pap to get here from Uncle Kelly and Aunt Becky's, from which he left Christmas morning. We waited to open presents until he got here, which was much harder on some of us than on others. Overall, they did well, and he got here around 1:30 so they didn't have to wait forever regardless of what they'd tell you.

Liam had a moment of exasperation with Damon, who was dancing with glee, and commented, "Bro! Stop flossing and put these over there!" I don't remember what he was trying to hand over, but it cracked me up. Other things overheard:

YES! It's the GOOD paper! ~regarding a new sketchbook

YAY! Plain clothes! ~regarding new wardrobe additions

WAHOO! Gift cards!

There apparently was some good-natured ribbing from some online friends about still using a rainbow loom, to which was replied, "shut up and let me be fabulous!"

There were new games, art supplies, clothes, puzzle games, video games, books, lovely scented lotions, a fuzzy blanket, and even a lunch box in case we ever leave the house again. 

It was a pleasant, quiet, blessed Christmas that we spent in our warm, cozy home. Three kids, three dogs, three adults, far too much food, two Christmas trees, a partridge in a pear tree. 

We are thankful. 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from us to all of you!

Freezing Fog Advisory

Our area had a Freezing Fog Advisory today. Yes, that's a thing around here. We used to be known as the Great Black Swamp. Swamps are, shall we say, damp. Add in cold air and you get freezy trees, wheeee!

Some schools around us cancelled. Some were on a two hour fog delay. Not us. They actually posted, "Virtual Learning Thursday; No Transportation" for our district.

Well, duh. We've been remote learning this entire school year so far, and just like the rest of the country, we'd finished out the spring semester in the same way. Which means these children, These People, have been home for nine months. I could have had an entire pregnancy in the amount of time everyone's been home together. Yeeeeeesh.

We are hanging in there. Not much decking of the halls yet, as we are slogging, chugging, soldiering on through school, but we do actually have two Christmas trees up for the first time ever. And my Leon elves. There's been little time to bake or shop as I'm supervising a certain fifth grade student who makes it his personal mission in life to sneak into other screens the second he thinks his particular assignment is done. It's a lot of lassoing and reeling back in. He has made a lot of progress and gotten grades back up where they should be after quite a slump, so yay for progress!

Must get back to it, so stay warm, stay home, stay safe! 

 

This Old House

After 40 plus years, my parents are moving.

Sorry, shoulda had you sit down first.

We stopped in on our way home to see the new place for the first time but I didn't take any pictures as they still have boxes and plastic wrap over the carpet so it wouldn't have done the place justice. However, some of us then made a trip over to the old homestead.

Some of you have been to Ye Olde House on the Hill and may have fond memories of hanging out on the porch swing ("that is NOT a roller coaster. Be gentle. GENTLE!"), or sliding down the now lily covered hill (which my Dad used to have to mow) on the Twister tarp ("what are you DOING!?") or coloring with sidewalk chalk all over the corner lot ("Girls, we need rain. Can you go draw, please?").

This is the porch swing where my bestie and I used to snooker my little brother into being a "patient". Once we had his consent and he was prone, we'd tie him to the swing with a jump rope so he wouldn't fall off and then would proceed to "operate" on him with our Fisher Price doctors' kits. Being extremely ticklish, I was always surprised that he'd consented more than once...

This was the Storage of Christmas Stuff room in our attic. I never thought I'd see the day that it was empty. There are crayon scribbles on the ceiling behind the cameraman and Carrie asked me if I'd done it. "Seeing as it says 'Jack B wrote this', what do YOU think?"

My parents' eat-in kitchen. Looks forlorn without the full view of mom's baskets on the walls and fun things in the cubbies. Also looks naked without the fridge and stove, haha.

The living room, with PaPa's vacuuming triangles if you look close. I always loved the French doors.

This was my bedroom, my gorgeous floor. When I lived here, it was covered in hideous (not an exaggeration) wallpaper showing large avocado, sunset orange, and yellow flowers. When I was small, second grade maybe, my parents redid it for me in Holly Hobbie wallpaper with soft blue trim. That lasted until about my junior year of high school when I'd worn my parents down with my begging and pleading to paint it Bermuda blue. AND they let me do a mural featuring a dragon on the smallest wall. Once I moved out, my mom papered it and had a very restful seaside theme going, featuring shells from the ocean and adorable stuffed crabs we'd picked up in our travels. 

And that would be Carrie helping unwallpaper during one of her visits when she was small. The bed fit between those windows and she saw a peely part so she "helped."

So send your good vibes to my parents as they downsize and, most importantly, enjoy only one flight of stairs in their new home instead of four. 

I shudder to think what Shenanigans this old house would report if these walls could talk.

Merry Christmas

I'm sitting here, perhaps as some of you are, amidst the Detritus of Christmas Crap. I don't mean that the presents were crap or that the intentions behind them were, either. I just mean I'm sitting amidst the physical mess left behind: two tables heaped with boxes which are themselves filled with bubble wrap, tissue paper, hoping-to-be-reused wrapping paper, new socks, empty glasses, books, Christmas cards, candy wrappers and writing implements. In short, in the Mess of Christmas Aftermath. 

A grandfather is here, outside with the grandsons, partaking in a Nerf war. His dog and our dog are outside as well. Ours is barking madly (the neighbors must hate us), desperately wanting to be part of the running, shooting, laughing and mayhem. His penchant for eating Nerf ammunition has him clipped to his tie-out, far away (hopefully) from any stray bullets. We're all witness to his displeasure. 

Dada is downstairs, testing out new video games with the Care Bear, who got both her highly desired ukulele and her cell phone, given before Christmas. 

We are surrounded by Stuff. Good stuff. Stuff to read, stuff to snuggle into, stuff to eat, stuff to wear, stuff to play with. We are thankful for the Stuff. 

But I suppose this is a post where I should talk about the Stuff that made this Christmas special for me. I finished with radiation last Thursday, which will be another post, and today was Day 5 of Tamoxifen, which is a medicine I could be on for the next 5-10 years as part of my maintenance regimen. It's all good; thankfully they're not huge. I'm thankful the medical community has the knowledge and that we have the insurance which will help take care of me for years to come, God willing. It's been a year of medical magic for sure. 

This is the only Christmas where Damon will be 8, Liam will be 13, and Carrie will be 15. Getting them the perhaps ridiculous things their hearts desired at each of these ages made us happy. When I finish my potential decade of medicine, Damon might not still want Nerf guns and bullets. Well, okay, he might, since he's a b-o-y, but you never know. My point is that I don't want anyone to miss out on what matters most at Christmas. Hug those in your life hard. Tight. Tighter! Nothing lasts forever (and yes, those of you who are trying to get little ones to sleep through the night- even that stage doesn't last forever and you ARE allowed to say hallelujah that it doesn't!)  and tomorrow isn't promised. Say thank you for those little things and the people doing them. From me: thank you to every single one of you for reading, praying, sending cards, sending food, transporting my kids, coming to visit, texting, calling, dreaming up fun gifts, and being your wonderful selves. Thank you for being part of my Christmas and everyday magic. 

For those of you still searching for a little bit more, who are maybe missing some of that magic because you thought the hole you're trying to fill might have been filled by some of the Stuff, try checking out Cedarcreek.tv on the odd hours each day. They are rebroadcasting their services all week long, and Ben has a good reminder about making room for Christmas itself, not the Crap or the Stuff. Listening to it in the background of your Aftermath might help as you get through the rest of the Christmas Crazy. 

Be careful traveling and eating and shopping and recovering and eating and napping and sampling Christmas cookies... you know how it is. Remember that you are loved lots, not just by those around you, but by a Savior who was born at Christmas. Thanks again for being part of my tribe. May your Christmas be merry and bright!

Already?

I know there's a bunch of you out there whose favorite season is autumn, so I ask you- what is this nonsense!?

One with flash and one without. Ugh. So not ready. 

I woke up at 4:45 and saw there was snow on the sunroom roof which is right outside our bedroom windows. It's not even Grandmama's birthday, so why the heck is it snowing already!? 

To add insult to injury, my phone died yesterday. One of the apps on it is the Sonos app which controls the music throughout the house. It's a wonderful, magical creation, one of my favorite and most used apps.

Well.

Today Dada used his phone's Sonos app to turn on a Christmas music station in the family room and then went on his merry way to work. My phone is dead and the iPad is so old it can't update its version of the Songs app so I can't change the station. It's either Christmas music inside with snow outside or silence with snow outside. 

Bah humbug.

First world problems, truly. 

Seriously, Mother Nature needs to get it together. Check out Monday's forecast:

Once again, she figures, "a smattering of everything would be nice. Shake well and pour."

What comes to mind is the scene from "Into the Woods" where the witch visits the baker's house after she discovers a 40-foot footprint in her pulverized garden. They debate what species of monster could possibly be responsible. She storms off, the baker looks at his wife, and she then proclaims, "we are moving!" 

Tis the season

No, not that one yet. I don't skip Halloween and Thanksgiving to head straight to Christmas, though I did muse to Grandmama that I should hang Christmas lights outside today since it's 60 degrees. On Halloween. In Ohio. 

Some sneak peeks:

Above would be Carrie as a mirrored ninja. Below would be Liam as Skullduggery Pleasant, based on the series written by Derek Landy.

You can always tell what time of year it is once Carrie's hair goes dark:

And Count Chocula becomes the breakfast of champions:

Dada becomes the Artist Extraordinaire:

More to come, today or tomorrow, as tonight is Trick or Treat + Liam's birthday = utter chaos.

Happy Halloween! Be safe and have fun, everybody!