Merry Christmas

Hope you and your family had a very Merry Christmas. The weather cooperated enough that Noah made it home for my birthday. He surprised me with a Kindle! I didn't quite know how to respond. It is an awesome gift, but way too much for him to spend as a college student with expenses and loans. But it is rude and disappointing to make someone feel like they shouldn't have done something, so I tried to walk that fine line. I probably did it wrong, as I seem to do most things wrong with him nowdays. We had another argument a few days before he came home, and he was obviously still angry about it because after breakfast on Christmas morning, he picked a fight with me again. And he didn't just drag up what he was angry about this time. He drug up what he was angry with me about this summer, and something he was still angry with me from 5 years ago. Apparently the message has been sent loud and clear around here that anger is justified and it is ok to vent it all upon me. I'm struggling with depression because I feel like all the years I poured into raising my boys have been in vain. Example is more powerful than words. I thought I could make a difference, but that is not what I see with my eyes. I know, I need to keep looking up in faith, believing in that which I cannot see. It is not the end of their story. God is not through with them yet. It is just difficult right now. I can't wait for my prayer group to get going again.

We had another blizzard over Christmas. This time was worse than the last. We are having problems with ice dams and a faucet on the back of the house burst. My back is still giving me problems from shoveling last time and there is so much to shovel still. Thankfully we were together. We had a nice Christmas morning. The boys really seemed pleased with their gifts, so I did good even though they hadn't given me any ideas. We had a break in the storm, so we went to see the movie, Avatar. I wanted to see Nine, but didn't get any takers.... Avatar was much better than I expected, but we probably should have stayed home. When we got out of the movie, the storm had picked up again and it was a little tense getting home. The storm was still raging on Saturday. Noah and I were supposed to work. Thankfully, they closed our businesses. He wound up going home Monday morning. Also thankful that we had power the entire time! Still, Jim kept the wood stove stoked, which made things extra toasty.

Jim gave me permission for a puppy for my birthday. She was actually born on my birthday! Now we just have to wait until spring to bring her home. She is a Maltese/Shitzau mix. Smaller dog this time, non shedding. Sometimes I think-What am I doing? And other times, I am just so excited. I think I need her right now. Something to mother and love and something that will look back at me with loving adoring eyes. We are also getting ready to start our kitchen remodel, so I am trying to get all my Christmas stuff put away. I will need to move EVERYTHING out of my kitchen for the duration. Oh my, what a mess that will be! I don't even know exactly what I want to do yet!

Well that is all for now. I have to go and get ready for work. Drop me a note and let me know how your Christmas went and what is new in your life!

Christmas is coming

Hello everyone! Merry Christmas! Down to the last week and the busiest time of the year. Last night we celebrated our 22nd anniversary. We went to Village Point shopping center and took a carriage ride. It was very romantic, the lights, the sound of the jingle bells on the horse's harness, snuggling under the blankets with hot cocoa. In reality though, it was freezing cold! So cold it hurt! Ah, but that's what you get when you marry in December. Then we went to dinner at the Melting Pot-a fondue restaurant. I reserved a private booth with curtains-again very romantic. Fondue takes awhile, so we spent over two hours enjoying our four course meal together. The dessert fondue was definitely my favorite course. I asked Jim if he could have chose a month in which to get married, which month would he choose? He said September. I would choose October-fall must be our favorite time of the year. Looking ahead this week to my birthday; Noah will be traveling home that evening. The weather is supposed to be bad, so that is a concern. Have to plan ahead for our traditional Christmas Eve meal and Christmas morning brunch. Then of course we will spend New Years Eve with friends karaoking and celebrate Jim's birthday before all is said and done. Afterwards, I have to quickly put everything away and get ready to start our kitchen remodel. I am overwhelmed with it all, but am trying to focus on the real reason for our celebrations this time of year. Jesus!

Snow, Snow, Snow

Teachers aren't the only ones to get snow days. Sometimes, librarians get lucky too! I was surprised though. The heavy snow wasn't supposed to start until later this afternoon and into the evening. I expect I will be off tomorrow too as we are anticipating 10 inches of snow and 40 mph winds. Blizzard conditions they are saying. I thought I could get out before the heavy snow and pick up some extra milk & bread. After shoveling for an hour more snow than I expected at this point, it was just too slick so I came right back home. Hope Jim can make it home from work tonight.

We had a pretty good Thanksgiving. I did get much of it done ahead of time and the boys helped me throw together a few dishes at the end. We ate around 2 pm, without Jim. Nate left to take his girlfriend to the Holiday Lights Festival. Noah and I watched tv and slept. That turkey is powerful stuff! Jim made it home around 7 and we sat down and had some more food with him before taking Noah back to Lincoln. Nate had gone down to fetch him home because his car was acting up. I would have liked to spend more time with Noah, but he had to work the next morning.

I spent the four day weekend cleaning up Thanksgiving mess and putting up Christmas decorations. Got everything up before heading back to work on Monday! I love Christmas. I love pulling out the decorations and the memories that come flooding back. I love the smells and the music. This year I made four dozen Froebel stars to hang on my tree. I also didn't put as many ornaments on the tree-just the most special ones. Beautiful! Then I hit a wall. I had no ideas for Christmas gifts. I wasn't even excited to buy the boys anything. I think this is normal for their stage in life, but I just don't have the warm fuzzies as their mother anymore-which makes spending money and trying to find things to please them draining. I wish they thought about giving more instead of just receiving. Thankfully, the Lord provided inspiration and worked out some great deals too. I think it is going to be a Merry Christmas after all!

My bathroom sink continues to leak, which is a source of frustration to my contractor and an inconvenience for me. Friday, we are having a wood burning insert put in. That should really warm up our super cold basement. Jim is in charge of getting a cord of wood. Looking forward to toasty evenings together in our recliners! I have been practicing my clarinet quite a bit lately in preparation for a holiday performance-TOMORROW! Since we will be under a blizzard warning, I don't think I will be performing after all. Still, I can finally play for a fair amount of time without my chops giving out. I need to continue daily practice.

Noah has finals next week. He will be home a few days at Christmas, but once again has to go back early for work. Nate hasn't been working much at all, and is running out of money again. He didn't sign up for school and I don't know what he is going to do. He has been smoking. Besides the obvious health concerns, it can cause attacks of his Raynauds disease, so I have been trying to give him information to persuade him to quit. Jim is still busy working the outage.

Well I'd better sign off and go shovel again.