In a Word

~For just when ideas fail, a word comes in to save the situation.~

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Over the past few years – or more – I’ve read about people choosing a “word” for their upcoming year. It becomes sort of their mantra, or resolution for that year. Crafty sorts make scrapbook pages around their word, or signs or pillows or temporary tattoos....  I always thought it was kind of - - well, silly, I guess. 

But a  few weeks ago I began thinking about how I’ve felt like 2010 somehow got away from me, and I began reading on blogs and emails some other peoples’ words: Believe, Give, Laugh, Patience, Inspire, Grace….  I began to see some value in having a “word”, a reminder of what I might want to achieve or be or whatever for the coming year.  And, I decided that I, too, would pick a word for 2011.


Soooo, here it is the last day of 2010, and I am still trying to decide on “my word” . I kept coming back to “Be Aware” – but that’s two words, AND it looks too much like BEWARE, and I don’t want to start out 2011 THAT paranoid. 

“Focus” seemed close – but, good grief, I’ve been saying that to myself for YEARS, and really, it isn’t quite "it". I want to BE AWARE of God’s presence in my life. I want to Be AWARE of my husband’s needs, my children’s fears, my friend’s concerns. I want to BE AWARE of how I am spending my time, my thoughts and my energy. For me, being aware will move me to action.  See where I’m going here?

~The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug. ~

Mark Twain          

Since I knew I wanted to write about this today, this morning I decided to cheat a little and look up “Be Aware” in my thesaurus (That’s such a funny, dinosaur-looking word, isn’t it? Sorry, I know – FOCUS!)

Here is the list of words that came up when I typed in Be Aware:

Absorb


Grasp


Clutch


Grapple


Get


Realize


Understand


Comprehend


Discern


Receive


Learn


YES, YES, YES! All of the above! The final kicker for me - the thesaurus told me that the opposite word was IGNORE! OHHHH….So, as is typical for me, I’m going against the norm and having a Word Compilation. Since my word can't be "Opposite of Ignore", together this word list makes up My Word.  I do like to make things complicated, don't I?

...Perhaps my word just should have been… DECIDE.

Do you have a word for 2011?

~I am so clever that sometimes I don't understand a single word of what I am saying. ~

Oscar Wilde

And The Quiet Comes

After days preparing with extended family,

making fruit salad and pies

of gift-giving and receiving....

tables draped in splendor,

and fires to warm our hands and hearts,

Today, we find ourselves blanketed by snow and enjoying the afterglow of another wonderful Christmas, filled with love.

The miracle of Christmas.  May we keep it in our hearts the whole year through.

Merry Christmas to you!

Preparing My Heart for Christmas

Desperate Times

Call for Desperate Measures!

Or ..... Fake it Til You Make It?

With only an inch of snow on the ground, Noah and Emily attempt to have a full fledged snowball fight.

on an 18 degree night.

I wish they appreciated each other as much as I appreciate that they have each other!

The Best Laid Plans

I started this blog two years ago with a post about Noah and Emily creating our gingerbread house by themselves.  Last year, they again created a masterpiece.  This year, they wanted to create an entire village.  Well, this year their plans went a little, um... skewed.

This is as far as they've gotten this year.  It's supposed to be the "bakery" that you can see on the box in the background.  They gave up.  For now at least. 

Looking at Noah and Emily's "bakery"  I'm reminded of a manger.  A manger.  A reminder of His Master Plan.   A reminder of the ultimate gift given.  A reminder of a love so big it is impossible to fully comprehend.  A reminder that He is in control, despite MY best laid plans.  A reminder that He can take our mistakes and give them purpose.

A reminder of something made perfect from something so fractured and lost.

I guess, on second thought, it would seem this humble little bakery may very well be a sweet, sweet Christmas decoration for our home after all.

First Impressions

Keith and I have very different views on movie trailers.  I love them.  I love the anticipation they create for movies I "need to see".  I think Keith finds them to be a waste of time.  He'd rather hang out in line for a $30 cup of popcorn (if we are actually at a theatre for the viewing) or skip right over the trailers (if we are viewing the movie at home).  Currently, we have lost our DVD remote, so Keith is stuck watching movie trailers at home. 

Last night I had rented a movie for which the trailer looked really good - I thought it would be a really funny movie.  It was - just okay.  I hate when movie trailers do that to me - when the movie turns out to be very different from what the trailer portrayed.  Would have seen these movies if the following had been their trailers?:










Oh, I do want to see Pride and Prejudice again!  I think Keith might rather watch movie trailers....  There a few other very funny  movie trailer recuts on youtube, but not all are very kid-friendly, so I won't be putting them here on my G-rated blog.  But if you are of a mature audience, there are a few worth checking out for a good chuckle.

And last night's movie: 
"Did You Hear About the Morgans?"  Wouldn't be on my movie must-see's list if I had such a list.

On the 8th Day of Thanksgiving

the good Lord gave to me....

8 Diners Dining, 

Seven nights in SoCal....6 days in Myrtle... 5 friends on Halloweeeeennnn...

4 extra pounds, 3 willing helpers, 2 wannabes,

and a happy healthy, famileeeeeyyyy.

 

Hold your applause.  Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving and are enjoying a pumpkin pie-sweet- weekend  (or whatever kinda pie you happen to enjoy). 

 

PS.  Got the itty bitty gravy boats that I used to hold little favors,  here.   

Black Friday Surprise

Are you a rush to the mall before the sun rises kinda person on Black Friday?  A Cyber shopper?  Have you been camped out in front of Best Buy since late last night with turkey and cranberry sandwiches wrapped in cellophane hoping to get the one flat screen in the store that is on sale for $199 even though you don't even need another tv? 

Well, if Black Friday shopping is part of your Thanksgiving tradition and you do score a big ticket item for a teeny weeny fee, good for you.  And if you didn't get that Tom-Tom GPS for $29.99 that you stood in line for hours hoping to get, or you got pushed into a tower of beeny babies by a woman trying to get to the last Dancing Mickey, I hope you at least got to experience something like this:



Funny, beautiful and what a nice reminder of what the holidays are all about!  I wish I were in one of these groups that goes around surprising people with song... of course I'd have to be able to sing, so there's that.

Happy Shopping or Left-over Eating Day!

On the Seventh Day of Thanksgiving

the good Lord gave to me...

Seven perfect nights (and 8 days, but that doesn't work here) in Southern California....

6 days in Myrtle, 5 friends on Halloweeeeennnn...4 extra pounds, 3 willing helpers, 2 wannabes,

and a happy healthy, family.

On The Sixth Day of Thanksgiving

the good Lord gave to me...

6 fun-filled days in Myrtle Beach (with the Kuni's!),  five friends decorated for Halloweeeeennnn...4 extra pounds, 3 willing helpers, 2 wannabes and a happy healthy, family.

Only 2 more, I promise...