A Very Grumpy Friday 5

Please tell us your least favorite/most annoying seasonal....

1) dessert/cookie/family food
Now to say fruitcake would be redundant, right?
Used to live near Claxton GA and my step-grandmother Nanny used to make fantastic fruitcake so, I'll be kind about it.
One cup of 'nog is enough for me...per season.

2) beverage (seasonal beer, eggnog w/ way too much egg and not enough nog, etc...)
oops, answered the nog question too early!

3) tradition (church, family, other)
Hmmm. I've tried to get rid of some over the years
so we're a little scaled back...except for the kid stuff.
Tomorrow is the town Christmas parade,
following the Lions annual Pancake breakfast.
I am told theres a Santa's toyshop thing in between too.
But, Hubby has a funeral so I'm not sure what we'll do.
Several folks have said that they always get their tree after the parade
...but I think we're going to wait on that...the day already feels so full.

4) decoration
LOVE love love decorations on other people's lawns.
Yes, they are tacky and use too much energy
but they aren't on my lawn...is that like NIMBY?
Don't like the styrofoam advent wreathes. angels made from toilet paper tubes, etc etc.

Our nativity set has already been thoroughly played with.
I am not sure all of the kings will return. They had capes...so...um... they can fly, you see.

5) gift (received or given)
Least favorite right?
OK plants.
My mom will ooh and ahh over a plant and feel thrilled by the gift of one (hmmm...gift idea!),
but I am terrible with houseplants and will kill them.
No, its true.
Almost nothing worse than giving someone a plant I say. Its like giving a pet.

BONUS: SONG/CD that makes you want to tell the elves where to stick it.
Oh, now I have a great answer for this one.
I am positive Hubby will be looking for the John Denver and the Muppets sing Christmas CD. Usually he's a Bing Crosby Christmas sort of guy...but that John Denver CD...Bah Humbug.

ps...He read this...we's gonna be looking for that CD. Sigh.

Job Hunt

I started the job hunt this week.
Three applications sent.
one Certification application sent.
After 3 years of one income, and part-time for some of it,
I'm feeling a little money-panic-y.
Maybe its the house,
or Christmas
or debt that are worrying me but...
Its time to get back to work.

And I was just beginning to get used to this
life of leisure thing.
(that was extreme sarcasm folks!)

Rescue Heroes

Have I mentioned that my home is guarded by a platoon of Rescue Heroes?
Two had a bath tonight.
One is on Flash's bedside table watching him sleep.
Theres one on my bed.
There are many many many in the playroom.

More now that ebay has worked its magic.
Santa must have heard about our need for an Ariel Flyer Rescue Hero,
because packages have arrived almost a month early.

Oh chilly chilly chilly

I'm beginning to get the idea of midwestern weather
and its only November: cold and windy here!
My husband is getting used to wearing closed toe shoes everyday because of work,
but I'm glad because this cold dry air will do terrible things to his feet.
Not to mention BRRRR.
Oh, and Flash has apparently inherited his warm feet,
and continues to refuse socks when indoors.
Clifford slippers are no help this week.
Myself?
I am enjoying socks, slippers, warm pants, shirts and sweaters and throw blankets!
And knitting warms me up in the evening too!
Our vintage furnace is chugging along well
and Hubby and our friend put in one of those energy saving set-back thermostats.
I think the heat is set to "no-one-is-home-right-now"
I guess I should have learned to work the thing before they all retreated.
So now its popcorn, cocoa and throw blankets for everyone!

retreating

Hubby and our adult houseguests have left for their 3 day new pastor's retreat.
Its a synod thing.
No child care however, and our friends are a clergycouple, with two kids.
The infant goes with them and I am keeping the 4 year old.
I kept her at the last presbytery thing too.
She's pretty easy
and she and my Flash have been friends forever
but the no child care thing is hard!
What about single parents,
what about the couples...especially when they make things mandatory.
Well, people out in the secular world do this some too
and they have neighbors and friends and family, I guess
but as a new pastor in a new location, what do you do?

So, for the moment I am a solution
...and happy to be, seeing as I am not yet employed,
but...this isn't a great way to do things.
The traditional pastor's wife hardly exists anymore, why do we keep pretending she does?

Friday5 on Saturday

From the Revgals:
Ah, the day after Thanksgiving--groan! Fortunately, I love Thanksgiving leftovers.

Thanksgiving is the American holiday when the greatest number of people travel somewhere else to celebrate. It is difficult to think of anything requiring much energy today, so I will keep it simple.

1. Did you go elsewhere for the day, or did you have visitors at your place instead? How was it?
My house! Weird too, because we ALWAYS go to my Mom's. Its a bigger holiday than Christmas in my family, because EVERYONE usually shows up.

2. Main course: If it was the turkey, the whole turkey, and nothing but the turkey, was it prepared in an unusual way? Or did you throw tradition to the winds and do something different?
How can you throw tradition to the wind? How do you do that? Turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, peas (since the asparagus went bad, and I really dislike the green bean casserole thing) and a pumpkin pie. Forgot to make rolls...which was just fine. Our guests made sweet potatoes and brought apple pie. Wonderful.

3. Other than the meal, do you have any Thanksgiving customs that you observe every year?
We usually have fruit cup before the meal...trying to start off healthy I guess. Just the kids had it today while we were setting up the meal. We say my Pop's grace: Some have meat and canna eat and some havena that want it, but we have meat and we can eat and so the Lord be thank-ed. - Robert Burns I'm told. Its much better in Pop's thick brogue. He is unable to have Thanksgiving supper with us. Travel and "canna eat".

4. The day after Thanksgiving is considered a major Christmas shopping day by most US retailers. Do you go out bargain hunting and shop ‘till you drop, or do you stay indoors with the blinds closed? Or something in between?
I have gone out with Hubby's mom at before-crack-of-dawn. It was actually kinda fun, just for the crazy people value! We went to the Christian store in the next town over (Hubby needed advent bulletins) and hit the grocery store for the staples: Pull-ups and milk.

My stepfamily always goes to chop down their Christmas tree on the day after. W've gone with them the past few years. I would love to do that but it seems too early this year...and we've only been in our house 2.5 weeks folks!

5. Let the HOLIDAY SEASON commence! When will your Christmas decorations go up?
Some this weekend, some next weekend. Everything up before the 7th. Everything down by Jan 15. Has to be up through Epiphany though.

On that note, Happy Christ the King day...which is a very odd little holiday in my eyes.

where does the time go?

Thanksgiving is almost here.
and after months of living this strange life at my folks
and having been in my house (almost unpacked...settled) for only 2 weeks (!)
I am wishing I was in PA for Thanksgiving as usual.

For one thing, its lots less work when my mom does it. And its a huge holiday for us. Everyone usually shows up. Christmas is just a "nuclear" family thing for us.
We are having friends from seminary for Thanksgiving and they are staying all weekend...
I am beginning to think that might have been too much.

Anyhow, I am doing turkey, mashed potatoes (instant), stuffing (Stovetop with my additions), asparagus ( unless it has gone bad...not looking so hot in the fridge) instead of green beans, since I'm doing it! cresent rolls, pumpkin pie and fruit cup. My family always starts with fruit cup and that tradition I will uphold.

I am not as worried about the meal as, perhaps, I should be. Cooking isn't usually a big deal to me. Its the "whole weekend" thing thats worrying. House tidying and such. Our water heater is somewhat tempermental and ... I'm just making excuses now.

After living with another family for so long, I have been relishing it being "just us".
but its the holidays
and its one weekend.
Right?
And I am looking forward to seeing them.

Sunday Sunday

It must be odd
to become a pastor
and think to yourself,
I won't get to hear other preachers much anymore
because they all work on Sunday mornings!
I had thoughts of that this morning.

Friday5 from the REVgals!

"Friends, it's nearly Thanksgiving in the U.S. and it's the time of year when we are pressed to name things for which we are thankful. I want to offer a twist on the usual lists and use Paul's letter to the church at Philippi as a model.

Name five things that are true, honorable, just, pure, pleasing, commendable, excellent or worthy of praise. These could be people, organizations, acts, ideas, works of art, pieces of music--whatever comes to mind for you."

Wow. Ok, I'll give it a shot.
True:
Honorable:
Just:
Pure:
Pleasing:
Commendable:
Excellent:
Worthy of Praise:

Whew. Um, truthfully, this made me think of our military men and women. We had a very touching presentation at church for Veteran's Day and it has really stuck with me this week. We have a lot of ties to the military as a family, although not in our immediate family. We have a lot of ties to the military in our church and in this community. I don't think our family is a minority in this.
A local bridge was dedicated to Veteran's last week and a friend remarked that he was so pleased that his nephew, a soldier, will have to cross that bridge on his way home, when he comes home. And Hubby has recently been to the VA Home.
I guess I am thinking about Thanksgiving and gratitude to them, regardless of your politics. If Service men and women aren't on your prayer list, please put them there.

Pastor's Corner

Just thought I'd mention that our new neighbor is also a pastor.
I thought it was really funny.
His wife seems very nice and they have 3 kids.
And we have that "pastor's wife" thing in common.

Getting settled

I am washing my first load of laundry in my washer and dryer.
Never been so excited about laundry in my life.
I'm sure the euphoria will wear off soon.

also: my folks have left and Flash and I have a terrible cold.
Achoooooooo

Friday5 on Sunday

From the Revgals!:
I am writing in my official capacity of grump!!! No seriously, with the shops and stores around us filling with Christmas gifts and decorations, the holiday season moving up on us quickly for many the time from Thanksgiving onwards will be spent in a headlong rush towards Christmas with hardly a time to breathe.... I am looking at the possibility of finding little gaps in the day or the week to spend in extravagant unbusyness ( a wonderful phrase coined by fellow revgal Michelle)...

So given those little gaps, name 5 things you would do to;

1.to care for your body
Joining the gym again. Feel like I haven't stopped moving for weeks. I'm a little achy.

2. to care for your spirit
Need to find a bible study group...barring that, I'll try to do some self study and read what the Revgals are up to more often, now that I will be re-settled.

3. to care for your mind
Got my new library card on Friday! I'm planning on taking some classes next year.

4. to bring a sparkle to your eye
Shiny new eye shadow? We are due for a date night! Now all we need is a babysitter!

5. to place a spring in your step
New shoes are good for that, right? No, no. Um, just being settled is fantastic, even though we're living "among the boxes".

Enjoy the time to indulge and dream.... and then for a bonus which one on the list are you determined to put into action?
I was too practical, wasn't I? I'll shoot for whimsical later this week!
New eyeshadow definately, and the gym and taking classes next year. Hold me to it!

dogs

Why do we have dogs?
OK they're furry and they love us and...ummm.
Huh. They're expensive and messy and just when you think they're so excited to see you, they run away.
Grrr.
They're back, of course. Simba will come to food, car rides and once, a leash and a promise of a walk. Weird.
Max doesn't want food, car rides or anything else but to be able to run!
New backyard is unfenced.
So tomorrow, after church and the required post-church lunch and rest, we install the invisble radio pet fence. We had one when we lived in GA and Max thought our existing fence was a hurdle. This time there won't be a physical barrier. I know it will stop Max...he understands it. But I'm not sure about Simba.
Old dog/new tricks?
And we can't have a dog flap here, I don't think. Sliding glass door, and the dog flap panels take up too much room... makes it hard for people to get in and out.
So, Operation Dog Containment starts tomorrow!

Us people are doing alright. Mom and Stepdad are visiting and Mom has reacted favorably to the town and the church folk. Thank God! On Tuesday Hubby has Presbytery meeting and Flash has school, but the parents will still be around. So, it'll be a while before we hit a "normal day". More news another day!

what a welcome!

We closed on the house this morning,
had lunch and went to our new house!
Flash was at his new daycare, having a ball!
At about 2 pm...the calvary arrived.
2 ladies from church...they started cleaning.
At 5:30 we had 7 church members, Flash and two other 10 year olds,
three pizzas and assorted cookies.
Painting had begun. Cleaning was just about done,
lawn had been mowed and "volunteer" plants eliminated.
7:30 Flash imploded screaming:
"I'm tired, I want to sleep in the guesthouse!"
We came back, he and I.
Warm milk, two stories, three blankets.
Geez its cold.
Tomorrow, more painting,
carpets are being cleaned,
fridge must be bought and delivered.
Thursday: our stuff comes!
Friday: Mom and the dogs!
Whee!

well, well well

We're here, or rather, most of us are here.
Full van, top carrier, bike rack
Flash and me.
left at 7:15, got in at 9 ish
3 stops, one wrong turn
completely exhausted...
am blogging inmy sleep.
G'nite.
ps...dogs come Friday with my folks...thats why "most".