Christmas Eve

My Favorite Things About Christmas
1. God, out of love, humbled himself to take human form and live with us. Immanuel: God With Us.
2. Lights and candles everywhere
3. Family and friends getting together
4. Christmas Music
5. The smell (and taste) of pumpkin pie
6. Eggnog Latte
7. The Charlie Brown Christmas Special
8. The movie, A Christmas Story - not to be confused with A Christmas Carol. If you’ve seen it, you know what I mean. I hope you have seen it.

I know it should be 5 or 10 to be an ideal number, but this is everything I wanted to include and there is nothing else that I really want to add.

This year is a rather low-key but nice Christmas. We are going up to spend the day with Grandpa like we did on Thanksgiving. The dinner will be much simpler, though. Here is the menu: Ham, scalloped potatoes, salad, baby brusselsprouts, Pillsbury crescent rolls, and pumpkin pie. I know, I know, but we actually like brusselsprouts.

I’m not going to the midnight service at my parent’s church, though. (No, I don’t go to the same church as my parents. I have attended occasional holiday services with them at their church, though.) I closed at Lane Bryant twice this week and things have been busy. I just don’t have the energy to do it. I went last year and enjoyed it, even though it is terribly long. My church has an earlier service, at 7:00 and I’ll go there and spend the rest of the evening relaxing quietly alone with beautiful Christmas music and candles. If I can’t get my parents to watch the Charlie Brown special with me this afternoon, then I’ll watch it before I start the music.

There was debate about when to open our presents this year. Because we want to get on the road quickly so that the ham can get in the oven in time for an early dinner we thought tonight might be a good time. I want to sleep a little later and keep the morning simple. We ended up deciding to wait until tomorrow night after we have returned from Grandpa’s. That sounded best. We won’t be overtired and we can just have some quiet, relaxed time opening a few gifts after everything is over. There are very few presents, actually. I couldn’t even afford to buy any this year. I’m giving cards- and they still aren’t in the mail. I know, I’m bad. But a couple times when I was in Korea there were no presents from anyone, and it didn’t really matter. I don’t care much about that, except it is fun when you can take the time to plan special gifts and see people open them up. It is also great fun to be surprised with something wonderful that you never thought of.

I hope that you are having a Merry Christmas wherever you are, celebrating with people you love.

Progress Continues

Today was the pageant and it was so much fun. Everyone, especially the kids, did a great job. We in the "ladies’ aid" had a blast and got good laughs, too. One woman came up to me and said that we reminded her of a group of women in the church that she grew up in. One of ladies that played the part actually acts sort of like that in real life, except for the gossipy and slightly mean spirited part. She is just kind of a den mother sort of boss type, organizing and keeping everyone in line.

The Christmas cards are well under way. I’ve finished all the stamping and printed out the insert that I’ll glue in and use to write on. I put a verse on it. "Arise, shine for your light has come and the glory of the Lord rises upon you." (Isaiah 60:1) I chose a verse about light because the picture on the front of the card has 3 candles. Jesus also called himself "The Light of the World." I have decorative scissors that make a nice scalloped edge to the paper. I’m cutting out all the inserts with those scissors and I’m really happy with how it’s turning out. Now I just have to finish assembly, write on the cards, and address them. Ooh, there is plenty of work left.

I’m starting to get a cold, so I’m taking some Zinc stuff to help it go away fast and hopefully not turn into a full blown head and chest cold. I can’t afford that right now. There are too many important things happening right now and I need all the strength and energy I have. I told my head manager at Lane Bryant about my new jobs and that I didn’t want to be scheduled for any hours after December 26th. She was totally fine with that and very excited and supportive of my new opportunities. The people at the store have been really great to work with. Even though it has been stressful learning the retail job, I’m glad that I did it and it provided exactly what I needed right now. I’ll have even more fun whenever I shop there in the future.

A friend told me about one of the communities at MSN groups. It is called Christian Singles. It is not focused on dating and they actually don’t allow you to post "personal ad" messages. It is a place for fellowship, encouragement and friendship. Of course, some people meet and end up dating. But that is not the main focus. I really like it. I introduced myself and have been warmly welcomed. In fact, we are beginning to plan a meeting of members who live in the Pacific Northwest. The place and time is still to be determined, sometime in 2005 of course. I haven't joined eHarmony again and am less certain that I will. I have some matches still on hold while I figure out what I should do. It will probably a month before I can afford it, anyway. Even so, I find my interest and desire to go back to that form of matchmaking is lessening. It is pretty pressurized. I tried it for a year already. I think I may finally be finished with it.