The Monday DayBook

FOR TODAY December 29, 2008...

Outside My Window... it is sunny and cold. The girls are baking in the weak light, trying to absorb as much heat as possible.
I am thinking... that I need to finish my Christmas Stocking. I stopped knitting with only 4 inches left to do. At least it will be ready for next year!
I am thankful for... Casey foresight. He has diligently socked away some paychecks, which means we are cushy for a little while, he can take some much needed time off ( weeks! if not months!) and I know everything will get taken care of.
From the craft room... this week I want to finish up my stocking and a ribbon scarf that has been on my needles for way too long.

From the kitchen... roasted chicken with wild rice and peas for dinner. I am thinking about making bread, cookies, and brownies today too!
I am wearing... jeans, my favorite green striped shirt and Ugg slippers.
I am creating... a list of things to finish this coming month.
I am going... to the store today, we stocked up our pantry last week, but somethings have to be replaced all ready and Alex needs some more medicine. Plus Sharon tried to drag me out of the house for coffee this morning, so I imagine we will go this afternoon. I haven't left my house in 5 days!
I am reading... In Defence of Food by Michael Pollen. And my Bible.
I am hoping... that I finish the same puzzle from Thanksgiving this week. Only a fourth left to do.
I am hearing... Alex playing Banjo Kamzokie.
Around the house... No more Christmas tree! It is up and away. I just need to take down the mantel, lights, and Alex's mini tree.
One of my favorite things... my new camera. :)
A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week:

Monday: Grocery shopping and coffee.

Tuesday: Ummmm, library?

Wednesday: Cooking and celebrating!

Thursday: Sleeping in

Friday: Organizing of last years paperwork to be stored.

Saturday: ?

Sunday: Church and the return to school prep!
Here is picture thought I am sharing...

My Dad's first time at Hooter's, complete with beer, fried pickles, and a Cuban Sandwich. Yummy!

Me

Alex and I went to the Christmas Eve service with our friends, the boys with us at the adult service since it was a special event. That service shattered my emotional walls, with every song, with every word, prayer, thought I was emotional. A barely contained wreck, I wiped my eyes on the sly and kept on singing and watching and praying. This service was more about the music, all traditional Christmas songs but with the edge and modernism that is our church. It was outstandingly beautiful. I kept thinking that the angels singing must sound something like the beautiful amazing noise that we were raising up. I was in the perfect place that night, right where I needed to be to bring my heart in alignment with my thoughts.

One thought that I have had ever since that night was the God's plan, Jesus, took thirty some odd years to complete. So why am I so quick to get things done?! Why do I beat myself up over the hurry and rush of things? Why do I expect something instantly?

Why?

God's plan was completed in roughly the same amount of time that I have been alive. And what have I done with that same amount of time? I am not saying that my life is made up of nothing-ness, quite the opposite actually. But everything that has been filling up my life, does it really matter? Does it work towards our plan? And can I even list the finer details of our plan?

When these kinds of thoughts start to tumble in my head I turn to a distracting "comfort", cleaning. There is something about sorting through the stuff around me that helps my thoughts fall into a pattern, a piece here, a piece there. So I have been chipping away at my office, the closet, the pantry, the laundry. I mopped today and I have to confess that I think that is the first time Casey has ever seen me do it. As I have been righting our home, my mind has slowly been righting itself. Balancing thoughts between reality and dreams.

And I feel more like Me in these last couple days, than I have in a very long time. With the New Year less than a week away, I hope to enter into those fresh days with a focus, a plan. Not resolutions, but instead goals, steps, a balance to strive for. A fresh new calendar of days to live. That makes me happy. Especially as I finish off this year happy, solid, and with those who matter most of all.

Our Christmas Story

Our Christmas was supposed to be a low key one. We had set a rule way back in October that each Adult would buy only one gift for each of the other adults. Alex was free rein though, but not too crazy. Well none of us really stuck to the one gift rule. And we were all totally spoiled. I have to admit that I think I was the most!

Casey gave me a new camera! A Nikon D60 DSLR!! Woo HOO!! I am still learning all it's bells and whistles and the limits and capabilities of the lens, but all ready I can tell that it is an amazing camera. As for my Canon, that baby will still by my sidekick too! It's Macro and super zoom capabilities are great, and my current lens don't do either. So be expecting lots of shots!


Alex will NOT shoot his eye out. Promise. Casey has been showing him how to hold and aim his new Daisy Red Rider BB gun. We still need to get safety glasses ( how could we forget!) so he has been practicing his position.

Can you tell what sort of Christmas Alex had? Those Lego sets are all most all built too! He can build a 700+ set in about an hour and a half. Our little engineer always make adjustments to the original design too.

Right now, Casey is downstairs enjoying the boxed set of Robotech DVD's that Alex got him. Alex is in the tub since he has a bit of a cold and his attitude is crabby. And I am finishing up so I can cheer up my Bugman.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Zoo, Hooters, and Older

We made our annual Christmas Eve Eve trip to the zoo again this year,followed by lunch at Hooter. My dad joined us this time, which gave him a chance to play with his camera and my mom a chance to finish her Christmas stuff. Yesterday it was cold cold and cold, plus wet and drizzly most of the day. And the zoo was empty of all but a few people, which was perfect.

Feather on the Lake with reflection.

Honeysuckle dewy.

Slippery Rhino. He was afraid of falling on the ice slick at the end of his enclosure, but it was just to much fun to resist sliding on.

Alex, a preview of his teenage years.

Hawk Armor.

Green face.

Photog Dad.

Civet Interest.

Casey Love. I snapped this as my first shot of the day. He was busy trying to snap my Dad and I snapping the Sun bears, but I got him first!

Plans

Casey and I were shopping at the Costco without the kiddo the other day, and some how we ended up with a cart full of wine and champagne. Looks like we have some Holiday plans of our own. As Casey put it, he plans on having "purple" teeth on Christmas Eve. Once the kiddo is in bed, the presents are wrapped and stashed under the tree, and the house has quited down, I plan on making sure we celebrate all on our own. Just need to figure out which bottle we will be toasting with first.

Hoo Hoo

I think I have a new Christmas Ornament love. Woodland Animals! This little guy is Edward the Owl, he is currently roosting in the Fresh Wreath by the front door. Just so he can Hoo Hoo at people.

Gah, the cuteness!

For the love for Rug Doctors

Casey is my rug doctor pro. He has been dutifully cleaning all the carpets in the house for the last three hours, and probably has another three to go.

This all started because poor old blind Betty got sick in front of the sliding glass doors two days ago. So I busted out my favorite Christmas present from last year, my Little Green Clean Machine, and went to town. Since the spot was in a high traffic area, my fabulous cleaning job just exposed how dirty all the carpets really was. We lived with a perpetual sunspot for two days, got fed up with it and then we went and rented the big red machine.

If anyone came to our last holiday party in San Diego then they will remember how much of a perfectionist Casey is when it comes to cleaning the carpets. He goes over the carpet at least four times, and from every direction. The floor was damp for days! I imagine our carpets this time, will dry out just in time for Christmas. :)

Now all the downstairs carpets are beautifully clean and fresh and WHITE!!! I super vacuumed everywhere before he moved to a new room and I even tackle the base boards. It is amazing how much baseboard cleaning can brighten up the look of a room. I even scrubbed down the walls, door frames, and doors. Gah I swear Alex and the dogs have been rubbing every dirty hand or paw they have ever had on those walls.

Hmmmm... clean house!! Makes me happy!

Pictures to come later when I can retrieve my camera from downstairs. Alex and I are currently boarded up in the only dry room in the house, my craft room. Which is only dry because it was too messy to clean quickly!

My All Time Favorite Christmas Song

Seriously, one of the best songs out there, that doesn't get nearly enough play during Advent Season. The lyrics are otustanding, and of course the man in question really did get "screwed".

Now, I just have to decided which version is my favorite.





Love Wins.

Daybook

Outside my Window...grey morning sky with a small hint of drizzle.

I am thinking...that Mondays are great things.

I am thankful for... our fabulously fun relaxed weekend, just what family time should be.

From the kitchen...Cranberry Apple bars, OMG so dang good.

I am creating... a felted Christmas stocking, mine this time.

I am wearing... Old Navy Pj pants and tank. And the ever present Ugg slippers.

I am reading... Nora Roberts Smut, The Pagan Stone.

I am hoping... That this week flies by fast for Casey, so he can spend the rest of the year at home!

I am hearing... Pink, go girl power at 8am.

Around the house...Dozens of white twinkle lights, they are everywhere!

One of my favorite things... checking things off my to-do list, both daily and holiday. There is always so much to do!!!

A few plans for the rest of the week...

Mon: Cleaning and baking bread.
Tues: Teaching Access
Weds: Teaching Excel
Thurs: Teaching PowerPoint, Scout Pizza party.
Friday: Laundry, cooking, cleaning, Christmas prep.
Saturday: More yard decorating, Christmas shopping!
Sunday: Praying!

Here is a picture thought I am sharing with you...

I have a thing for animal noses, they make them look so much like stuffed animals. Don't you just want to stroke those wrinkles?!

Rhino nose from the zoo.

The Weekly Set

I have decided that I need to start noticing the small simple things in our life. I am going to start posting slideshows of weekly sets of pictures, everything and anything that catches my eye in our life at home.

See right over there on my sidebar, underneath the About Me section, it's my flickr link to the weekly sets, but I will also post a slideshow.

Now, onto this week's set. It's all about the little things I see this week.

Listed

It's the right kind of day for a list:

• Coffee, in hand, Peppermint Mocha creamer, oh so delish.
• Breakfast, in belly, hot and perfect.
• Vitamin, in belly, a needed addition to the daily.
• Exercise, next, hello again The Firm
• Errands, plenty, a standard on my Friday.
• Casey, home coming, hugs and kisses.
• Friday night, show, at Idaho State Pen, super creepy for sure.
• Weather, cold, freezing for the next three nights.
• Christmas, cards, tree, last of the decorations to finish up today.
• Pups, with just the four, our evenings are full of licks, snuggles, and tails.
• Alex, so big, tall and boy, do I love him so so so!
• Me, happy for good friends and conversations, I love all my girlies.

A Zero Week

This week, starting yesterday, is a Zero Spending week for me. I have been toying with the idea for a while because I hemorrhage money, and after reading about it on someone else's blog, I thought what a perfect idea! So this week there is zero money being spent, save for two things. Alex's after school care and gas on Friday.

I have all ready stuck to my decision by making up Alex's lunches for the week instead of replenishing his cafe account. I made us some tasty sandwiches and reheated Casey turkey chili for dinner last night. I am making bread for all the sandwiches I know we will be eating for lunches.

I am having coffee with a friend, but using a gift card to Starbucks, that totally counts as zero spending in my book because it's not MY money. LOL!

I am excited about this! It feels like the right thing to do, especially since we are getting ready to buy Christmas presents, talk about a hemorrhage of money! But even that this year is being limited. We decided that each adult is buying ONE gift for each of the other adults. Alex is the only person who isn't really being limited, but it sure isn't going to be the excess of years past. We have a budget in place for his Christmas this year, it even includes his 12 days of Christmas gifties, which I snagged at the dollar bins at Michael's.

I know I can do this week! I think I am going to make it a monthly thing in 2009, imagine how much money I could sock away into savings!!