Back to normal

My Christmas tree and decorations are still up, but life returned to normal today.

Oh my, re-entry is so hard after a week of frivolity. (I love that word, don't you?!)


We had a grand party on New Year's Eve -- part housewarming, part wedding anniversary (our 10th!), part birthday (my father-in-law's) and part New Year's.  There was a ton of yummy food, some margaritas, some wine, and a really huge bottle of champagne. There were games, there was conversation, there was a LOT of laughter. There were a lot of people in our house, and, for once, no one had to sit on the stairs in order to be part of the conversation (as they did in the old house).

I loved it!

At 1:00 a.m. on New Year's morning, Tim and I put the remaining food in the refrigerator and resolved to tackle the dishes after we'd had some sleep.

Because we have a puppy (and a teenage son who was going snowboarding), we were back in the kitchen at 7:00 a.m.  Oh well.

But that was okay because naps would come later!  I spent most of New Year's Day in my pjs, eating junk food, watching football, and dozing under my pink, fleecy blanket.

I did spend a little time in my craft room while Tim was out, designing a new thank you card for future use. Earlier in the week, while organizing the room, I'd found some leather-look paper among my stock. The ideas began to churn, and this was the first result.  An interesting departure from other cards I've made, and a definite keeper, this one.

I did not make any formal resolutions for the New Year. But I do see where there are one or two sketchy areas in my life that need some work.

So I'll be working on them -- with God's help.

Which is the only way to tackle any kind of resolution.

Happy New Year!

- Catherine

New Year wishes

May the music of God's love resound through your life in the coming year!

Happy New Year from our house to yours!

Love,

Catherine

Delightfully free on a Thursday

Today is Thursday of Christmas week -- I've been off for an entire week now.

So, it is 8:30 in the morning.

I am still in my pjs.

The puppy is asleep at my feet (his favorite place to nap, no matter where I am).

I haven't accomplished a whole lot this week, other than to do some organization of my craft room and to clean the house with more than just the customary "lick and a promise."

I have thoroughly enjoyed the time off.

Tomorrow is New Year's Eve -- party time!

Saturday is recovery and football games.

As if all of that were not exciting enough for you, know this: pictures are forthcoming (of the party, not the recovery -- and maybe a few of the rapidly growing puppy!).

- Catherine

Taking Stock

I first came across the phrase "taking stock" in the book "Betsy Was a Junior," one volume from the beloved Betsy-Tacy series penned by Maud Hart Lovelace. I read those books when I was seven or eight years old, I think. In the opening scene of this particular volume, Betsy is sitting by herself in a row boat on a pond, looking back on her life and thinking about the year ahead (her junior year of high school, which is about to start). “Taking Stock” is the title of the first chapter, and it was the first time I’d come across that phrase.

I like the phrase, and I still take stock myself from time to time.

Today is New Year’s Eve – the last day of 2009, with only one more year to go in this first decade of the 21st century. Now that I am middle-aged, time is really flying!

Today is also my ninth wedding anniversary. I don’t have a good track record when it comes to matrimony, but this marriage is a gift from God and has allowed me the opportunity to grow and to act on lessons learned during a lifetime. God IS merciful and He DOES redeem our poor choices, if only we will open our eyes and recognize it (and accept the gift).

2009 is the year I became an orphan, which is a weird feeling. I still find myself mentally “storing up” things to tell my mother the next time I talk to her, only to be hauled up short when I realize she’s not on this earth any longer.

2009 is the year my fuzzy ideas about eternal life finally became clear. In the process of helping to guide my mother home to her Creator, in the process of her earthly body shutting down, I gained an iron-clad awareness of what makes life eternal. That awareness has deepened my faith in ways I am still discovering. To be truly reconciled once and for all with God through the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ, is the most precious of gifts.

In 2009 I fell in love with my husband all over again. That sounds sappy, but the reality is anything BUT sappy, believe me -- because it isn’t based on warm and fuzzy feelings. It’s a new awareness of the depth of his character and a more profound respect for his spiritual walk with his Creator. He’s really an incredible person. Period. In the (admittedly paraphrased) words of Robin Williams from the movie Good Will Hunting: there are no perfect people, just people who are perfect for you. Amen.

And so we begin 2010. Bring it on!

- Catherine