All Manner of Pressing Issues

I had not planned on blogging until after New Year’s day, but something blog-worthy happened today, so I had to write! Richard bought me these knitting needles for Christmas, so after we went to lunch with some friends, I decided I was going to run by a local yarn shop to buy some quality yarn so I could test drive my new needles.

SUMMARY OF MY YARN SHOP EXPERIENCE: I found out the shop offers classes once a week, but that knitters can come in for assistance anytime the shop is open! I bought some yarn and I am going tomorrow to meet with one of the ladies who works there (we share a first name although we’re about 50 years apart in age).

Here is the yarn I purchased:

The purple is Baby Alpaca and the blue is wool. I wonder how uncultured the lady in the shop thought I was when I told her I saw Alpacas at the state fair?

I had to post a picture of my Christmas tree from school. My students made the
paper chains to put on it. This was the first year I have ever enlisted their
help to take the tree down. I will do that every year from now on! Last year I
think my tree in the classroom stayed up until–oh about Feb.–It was downright
embarrassing.

Friday night Richard took me on one of our ‘Christmas dates’. We went to the state capitol. My family used to go see the capitol at Christmas each year. We’d make a trip to Little Rock to Christmas shop and go to the capitol. We haven’t been
together in years to be able to do that, but this year Richard and I got to go. The nativity is wooden and hand-carved. It has been displayed on our state capitol lawn during Christmas for many years (there is also a donkey and a camel, but they didn’t make it in the photo).

CRAFTINESS UPDATE: Someone remind me next year when I get the artsy-craftsy bug that I’ll be tired of the project halfway through. I got to finish the trees and the ornaments today. The trees turned out exactly as planned. I can’t wait to see them on our table! The ornaments are okay. I was so tired of them by the time I finished I didn’t even bother with pictures!

I couldn’t work on my projects yesterday for a very fun reason: Richard and I spent most of the day at a car dealership. According to Richard it was a very educational experience for me because I was able to learn “all about buying a car”. He is a professional negotiator and apparently I learned a few new tricks. We were both satisfied with the outcome.

Last night, Richard and I went on another one of our ‘Christmas dates’. We went to the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra’s Yuletide Spectacular. It was indeed spectacular!

Today we’ve been doing ‘chores’ getting ready for company. I am very thankful to have a husband that pulls his fair share of the load of housework. I even got almost all of the cooking done so tomorrow we can just pop everything into the oven!

I almost forgot to share this–Friday night while Richard and I were standing in front of the nativity, admiring its beauty, reveling in all that is Christmas, a lady spouted off, “You’d think they could have at least made Mary smile.” The wooden statue of Mary depicts Mary with a very somber expression on her face. What the lady said really struck me wrong for a few reasons. Christmas is the season when we celebrate the miracle and the gift of the birth of Jesus. However, the birth of Jesus is not a fairy tale. Mary was a teenager who had just given birth next to a cow with her brand-new husband whom she didn’t know very well at her side. Keeping that in mind I’m not sure I’d be smiling either. I didn’t have the guts to mention that to the lady, but one man said, “She’d just given BIRTH.”

In all that is magical and fairy-tale-ish in our society’s and even our religious celebration of Christmas, let’s not forget the reality of Christmas. God made a sacrifice by giving His only Son to live in this world and to die so that we could have eternal life. That’s Christmas.

The Nativity (the movie that came out last year) provides a realistic portrayal of what things were most likely like for Mary and Joseph. I think we’re going to try to watch it sometime tomorrow.

Merry Christmas!

I am extremely busy today.

Here are some ornaments my students painted. I thought they turned out so cute. Only 2 got broken! I sprayed a clear gloss over the ornaments after the paint had dried, so they would be shiny. Yes, I did spray the ornaments in the sink–and yes the clear gloss is all over my sink. Surely an S.O.S. pad will take care of that! If not, having shiny ornaments is worth it.

I remember about 10 years or so ago I attempted painting Christmas ornaments. If I remember correctly, I used paint pens on silver balls. I think I drew snowmen on them. I remember sitting in our breezeway (don’t really know why we called it the breezeway because there was no breeze), watching Top Gun, and painting Christmas ornaments. I have not a clue where those are. It’s really too bad because I am sure they would be collector’s items by now. After all, they were hand painted.

We have had an absolutely wonderful weekend! Now I am really feeling like it’s Christmastime!

Richard and I have a series of Christmas dates planned. I bet you can’t guess whose idea that was. Well, Friday night was the first of our Christmas dates—Starbucks and Christmas lights. It was just what I needed after being with 6 year olds who are excited about Santa all week!

Saturday my parents came and we had lunch together and did some Christmas shopping. We fought the crowds and were productive! After Mom and Dad left, Richard and I finished up more shopping and then had dinner together. It was nice to go to dinner when we weren’t just absolutely exhausted and when we had nowhere else to be. We sat and talked long after we were finished eating.

After dinner, we came home and Richard tried to study for his Biostatistics final that is on Tuesday and I wrapped Christmas gifts in front of the tree in my pajamas!

Richard has been studying for his final. I’ve been wrapping more gifts and baking. I’m baking banana bread, no bake oatmeal cookies, and peppermint bark (Alwheat, keep your comments to yourself on the banana bread). Is it still considered “baking” even though I won’t be officially baking the cookies or the bark?

If you think of Richard between now and Tuesday, be sure to pray for him—-his Biostatistics final is Tuesday. I have no doubt he’ll do great on it!

I am still at work, but I had to share this with y’all.

This month, in first grade, we’ve been reading and writing poetry. One of my little girls was writing an acrostic about computers. I was helping her come up with words to use and when we were almost finished, she started drawing a picture beside each word to denote its meaning. She came to the word, “operate”. She asked me what it meant and I told her it meant to work it–referring to the computer She proceeded to draw a picture of a girl dancing.

I am buried under paperwork for school right now, but I just can’t let this day go by without posting at least a little something. Today Richard and I have been married for 6 wonderful months. People have told me over and over how hard the first year of marriage is, but so far, it just has. not. been. that. hard. Of course, being married to Richard makes it easy. He is godly, patient, helpful, respectful, hardworking, FUN, a good cook, responsible, loyal, easy to beat in Monopoly and Skip-Bo (did I just type that?), and my best friend.

Here’s to our first 6 months…. and counting!