This is Mary’s Christmas Kitchen and, boy, was it productive yesterday! From left to right, the magical cooking elves and their magical leader: Alison, Brook, Mary, Renae and Trish. Missing are the creators of the Twisted Tiger, Yawning Kitten and Barking Spider, Mr. Talsma and yours truly. This was my first year in Brook’s mom’s kitchen and I am duly impressed with Mrs. Talsma’s organization and candy-making skills. I am also very grateful that at the moment all created sweets are still at Brook’s house… There would be no hope for anything chocolate-covered or pepperminty if such an array found itself in my home.
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The list of DPP participants grows larger. This is fun! The more, the merrier.
Repeat to self: My tree is beautiful. My tree is worthy. My tree is… plastic.
I’m a real tree kind of girl. I like tromping in the tree lot (and once in an Oregon forest) to pick out the perfect tree. During our first year of marriage however we were tight on cash, we weren’t going to be in our seminary apartment for the holidays, and we didn’t have much space for a large tree.
Voila, the Walmart tree!
As you can see, it’s quite a bargain. Not to mention flame retardant.
And it’s up, in the Prairie Box, as I type. Let the season begin!
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Welcome, December Photo Project participants! If anyone else feels inclined to join our fun, please comment or email me and I’ll include a link to your blog.
The DPP is back! Beginning December 1st, I’ll post one picture each day through Christmas. I’d love to have other bloggers join me in exploring the Christmas season through photography. If you are willing to step up to the challenge, leave a comment here and I’ll link to you during the month of December.
And folks, this is indeed a challenge for me this year. The Prairie Box has been woefully neglected recently. Let’s see if it can get a little lovin’ for 25 days straight.
**A post about a photo project should be accompanied by a photo. So here it is… three generations of Tredway, all with happy-silly grins before Thanksgiving dinner. LOVE it.
The subject line has been my motto for many years. So I truly don’t know what got into me when I decided it would be fun to get up early Friday morning and join the crazy masses on a shopping spree.
The alarm went off at 5:30 am. Dad was out back, headlights blazing into my kitchen window, by 5:45 am. And we were off with warm McDonalds biscuits in our hands for an early morning adventure.
My goal was to avoid sections of stores that appealed to me — afterall, I was aiming to Christmas shop for others — so I consider it lucky that I came home with only one item for myself (hey, boots were marked down by 50%!). Sears was handing out doughnut holes to keep patrons fat and happy. Target was insanely busy, but as Dad pointed out, we enjoyed a lovely sunrise through their front windows while waiting our turn in the checkout line. Bath & Body was an estrogen extravaganza with my father as the lone carrier of male hormones in the shop, whereas Penneys was full of shoppers of every sex and ethnicity, most looking a bit brainwashed and weary by all the “doorbuster” items blocking the walkways. Or perhaps that was just the way I felt; Penneys was our last stop.
Dropped off at home by 8:45 am, I was giddy on a shopping high and gushed over my savings and purchases to my sweet husband who fulfilled his husbandly duties by nodding along and attempting to feign enthusiasm.
The coolest thing about the morning was that I got to be with my Dad. There’s not a lot of time these days for us to hang out alone, without the Wee One in tow, much less to head off for an adventure together. I realize that my Dad is the ONLY person who would have enjoyed this early morning hustle-and-bustle with me… and that made Black Friday even more fun.
Maybe, just maybe, this will be the one day of the year I can stand spending my morning hours in something other than my favorite pasttime, sleep.
Eric Carle
Margaret Wise Brown
Sandra Boynton
Dr. Suess
If you have a young niece, nephew, cousin, cousin’s grandchild from his fourth wife, or whatever, run (do not walk) to your favorite bookstore and buy the child a book by one of these authors.
**I’ve linked each author to one of his/her books we’ve enjoyed reading with Livia during her infant and toddler years.
Problem: No Dora videos in the house.
Solution: iPod, outfitted with Dora and Blues Clues from our vacation last month.
Oh, to be two and a half in 2006…
Is there ever a good time for something bad to happen?
Today I was thinking about all the rough patches I’ve been through in 2006 and, one could say, I’m not very happy about all of it. And yet, there’s never a permissible time for suffering to enter my world! I developed rheumatoid arthritis about ten years after becoming a type 1 diabetic. This health development found me saying stupid comments like, “What’s going to happen when I turn 36? Cancer?” And even if I hadn’t miscarried a pregnancy this year, but had experienced one next year I would’ve had a terrible attitude about it as well: “2006 was shot, and now 2007 is too!”
The funny thing is that I should expect suffering. The bible says as much, and frankly, I don’t know of a single human being that hasn’t suffered in his or her life. We all go through rough patches. Loved ones die in sudden car accidents, friends deal with affairs and divorces, we’re diagnosed with diseases and challenging conditions, our children struggle with school and relationships, our mentors and heros fall off their pedestals. Life happens, suffering happens.
And still, I’m surprised by the bad times.
But, a day is coming where there truly will be no good time for a bad time. I’ve said before that I look forward to Glory, to the day where I meet my Creator face to face and find myself wholly redeemed by Christ. I’m not sure how others get through the suffering they face, but I know that I find hope in knowing that someday this life of difficulty will be replaced with a life of complete fulfillment. One day I won’t need my insulin pump in order to survive. One day I won’t need to take medication in order for my joints to work properly. One day my soul will quit struggling for joy and all my relationships will work harmoniously.
One day. Someday. No more bad times.
