leaving 2011...bringing in 2012

to end 2011 on a good note would be a welcome happening. i think we did end on a good note with Christmas and a visit to far away family over the holidays. js and i took pbs to first night tonight. it was really a great experience and we'd like to participate in it again next year. it was so nice to not feel like we had to be too careful about where we went because first night is a family friendly new year's eve party that starts earlier in the day so that the little ones can get in on some of the fun. there were different venues with music, dancing, food, face painting, story time, etc. it was really great fun.

it's 11:45 pm and i'm realizing that i'm too old to stay up this late anymore. ;)

i don't do resolutions really. i set goals for myself for what i want to accomplish and hope to achieve those goals. so for 2012 i've not yet come up with any real goals except to buy a house, with js of course. i guess that's a pretty big goal that we're on track to achieve. it's really pretty exciting! another goal would be to lose a few pounds and get in shape, but i think that's probably on most people's lists. i like to set a goal of reading one book a week every year, but i have yet to reach that one. i do read an awful lot, but i go in spurts.

we're watching rockin' eve in times square on tv and waiting for the ball to drop so we can go to bed. i hope that 2012 finds you all in good health in mind, body and spirit. happy new year!

merry Christmas!

merry Christmas! i hope time is spent remembering the reason for the season with loved ones, near and far.

it's almost here!

it's almost here! tonight is the only night this week that we have nothing on the calendar. that rarely happens this time of year. we took this past weekend "off" except for js' work Christmas party on friday night. we just relaxed, laid low and took it easy because we knew this would be a busy week.

tomorrow night we sing "handel's messiah" with a mass choir on stage at the kennedy center. saturday morning i have bell practice. i'll come home after that and we'll do Christmas in the afternoon. we'll be at church on saturday night and then again sunday morning to celebrate Jesus' birth. after church we'll go on to see family and endure the chaos that is likely to happen with an almost two year old.

so i guess i'm excited that all of the added, extra craziness of the holidays is almost over and we can get back to "normal". i know that after everything is said and done, there will be a let down period and i will be trying to figure out what i'm supposed to do with myself and pbs.

holiday blues

decorations are mostly up. gifts are purchased and beginning to be wrapped. those are good things, but why do i seem to feel down at this time of year?

i know there are reasons for this and that i can't do anything to change past circumstances. my aunt passed away 16 years ago a few days after thanksgiving. i had a miscarriage three years ago around this time. all of the hustle and bustle gets to me. i like to spend time with my family and we seem to do less of that during the holidays.

there are always so many parties to go to. i think we've had at least one every weekend since the beginning of december, some weekends more. all the planning and budgeting that goes into buying gifts and traveling to the family, just gets to be too much for me sometimes. i'm so thankful for the advent services on wednesday nights at church to calm my spirit and help me to remember what all of this is really about.

now i need to figure out what to do to get out of this funk, these holiday blues.

baseball vs. the reason for the season

i'm a cardinals baseball fan by birth. i don't follow baseball very closely but enough to know when something big is happening...or maybe i just read facebook to find out what's going on... anyway...

albert pujols has made a huge impression on st. louis and baseball in general. he has a restaurant in st. louis called pujols 5. they've erected a statue of him looking towards the heavens. now that he's decided to go to the los angeles angels of anaheim, what will happen to those?

cardinals fans all over are pretty upset and disappointed in albert's decision. most are hurt that he went for more money instead of loyalty, but i can't say that i'm too surprised. but really wasn't it just that, his decision? i can't fault him for that, nor do i know where his heart is/was when he made this decision. i've read a lot of mean spirited comments about his decision on facebook and other articles but one status update on facebook really made me think about the real reason for the season.

my facebook friend said that all she was hearing about this morning was pujols and his decision to go to the angels. she heard it on the radio, at the grocery store, walgreens and from family and friends on the phone. she walked out of walgreens and saw a little girl with her mother, emptying her piggy bank into the salvation army red kettle. that small act of kindness from that little girl made her realize that she had been more concerned with some guy with however many millions instead of the real reason for the season. right then and there she made the decision to talk about the reason for the season and be thankful for what she has.

so to get to my point, there are bigger things happening that have more meaning and reason than some guy going to another baseball team. children are giving there savings to charity and learning this very lesson. Jesus is the reason for the season! 

holiday decorating...update

holiday decorations are still not up and we've been to three holiday parties since the month began. we have at least one per weekend until Christmas day. i'm sure we'll get it done...eventually. i guess i can try to put a little up at a time during pbs' naps or when he goes to bed.

i think we're pretty much finished with Christmas shopping, so i'm not worried about that. i have to wrap everything still, but that might be kind of therapeutic.

pbs' birthday is about two weeks after Christmas and i think we've got that taken care of already too.

now, to start the decorating...