Parties and favors for Santa.

Well, Christmas is in full swing around here!  Even though our girl has a WICKED cough and cold, we are frolicking our way through these last few days before Christmas. We continued the merry-making yesterday with not ONE, but TWO family Christmas get-togethers!  Mary doesn't know what all the fuss is about, but she's right in the middle of it.

We began the festivities at Nana and Papa Chuck's house for brunch.  Uncle Chris and Aunt Mandy came, too, with their three kiddies and we had a grand ole time.  Nana and Papa Chuck are caterers, so there's ALWAYS some delicious food around.  Jack found favor in the shrimp and grits, Max enjoyed the bacon (as usual), those potatoes were my fave, and Joe?  Well, he liked EVERYTHING.  Mary's favorite?  Well, girlfriend discovered ORANGE JUICE for the first time.  That's right.  Apparently, we've been depriving the girl of orange juice.  She drank about 9 glasses.  This is how she feels about orange juice......

Why haven't you people ever given me this stuff before???

Let's eat!

Joe and Nana!

I love this stuff.....

Cousin Laken was VERY patient with Mary's bossy pointy finger.  They played VERY well together!

Mary and Papa Chuck.

I think Max liked what he saw in that package!

You know they are an official teenager when they want CLOTHES and CASH.

What?  This bow isn't the gift?

Girlfriend loves her jewelry!

Later that night, we enjoyed food, fun, and fellowship with PawPaw and Mimi.  There wasn't any orange juice this time, but Joe made his mandatory lime sherbet punch.  Apparently, we've been depriving Mary of THAT, too.  She drank about 700 glasses of that punch.  Girl is a heavy drinker.

Little punch tea-party with Aunt Mandy and Brentleigh.  And those are Riley's legs in the boots.  Hi, Riley's legs!  

After a quick costume change for Mary, she and Laken got out some of the boys old cars and had some more cousin fun.  

Mimi's showing us how this present-opening thing works.

Her very own "iPad"....... cause she MUST play on everyone's phones.... now she has her own electronic device!  Thank goodness!

Here, Mimi, throw this away.

Yep.  Happy boy.  Told him he could take me out to dinner.....

That looks like a Visa gift card, but later this week, it's gonna look like a new phone case.  Pretty sure my people were tired of the camera by this point.

Oh, PawPaw and Mimi.... how you've blessed us with a drum set that includes a tambourine, a flute, a set of maracas, and some little clappy things that make noise.  Our eardrums are so very appreciative!  But, it's actually perfect..... baby girl needed a musical instrument to play at the next family sing-a-long!

Three men.....

and a little lady!

Sitting on and playing with the Minnie Mouse magnet set!

So, Saturday was a GOOD day...... a wonderful start to our holiday week!

NOW..... TO ABRUPTLY CHANGE GEARS HERE>>>>>>>>>>

Cause this next part?  Not.  Merry.

And honestly, I had to take a hot bath, brew a cup of my new oolong tea, and watch a little bit of the ORIGINAL Sound of Music in order to relax enough to share this saga with you.

You see, this afternoon, I told Joe IT WAS TIME.  

IMPORTANT NOTE:  To any and all kiddies under the age of whatever..... I must explain..... SOMETIMES, Santa plans on bringing things to children that are too large to fit in his sleigh.  So, we, as parents, are happy to help him out.  His elves deliver larger items (which sometimes have to be put together) to your house early and your parents HIDE THEM.  Then, when Santa comes on Christmas Eve, he gets the present out and sets it up for you.  And REALLY, REALLY helpful parents (like Joe and me, of course) even offer to help Santa PUT THE ITEMS TOGETHER.  This saves Santa valuable time and, honestly, it's the least we can do.  K.  Back to my story.....

I told Joe IT WAS TIME.  Santa had delivered Mary's KITCHEN (!!!!) and it needed to be assembled.  

It took us three and a half hours of our LIVES to do it, but it's done. So, here's a photo documentation of this event.

Furniture in the dining room has been shoved aside and the deboxing begins......

Sweet Pea immediately finds her way into the middle of the STUFF and offers her help.  Isn't that nice?

Joe is already starting to self-soothe I think..... Still deboxing....

Lots of parts.  LOTS.  And Mary is RIGHT in the middle of them at ALL TIMES.

Making a bit of progress.....

At this point, I might have already said one little bad word and Joe had asked if there isn't a You-Tube video showing how to put this God-forasken thing together???  (Step ONE took us 35 minutes. Bad sign.)  And you can't see it (or maybe you can), but the deboxing process brought out these little styrofoam, clingy things.... ALL OVER THE PLACE.  It looks like it SNOWED in the dining room.  And it was sticking to US and the FLOOR and the DOG and MARY and the KITCHEN and the PIANO and the CHINA CABINET.  So, at various stages of the process, we'd go after the vacuum to clean up some of that AWFUL mess.... THEN WE'D REMEMBER THAT OUR VACUUM IS OF THE DEVIL.... and just move on.....

And it's funny.... I'm just remembering that when I read the reviews on this product (for Santa, of course), some lady mentioned the styrofoam clingy things.... and I thought she must be a lunatic, cause who puts THAT in a review of a product?  "It sheds A LOT of styrofoam."  Dumb.

I understand now.

This is pretty much how it went down the whole time.  Mary, uh.... helped.

Mary crawled up in the cubbies.....

......and wouldn't get out.....

As soon as it resembled an actual kitchen, that girl knew just what to do..... While we worked on the front side, she played on the back side.

She.  Was.  Busy.

We're getting there......

All of a sudden, Mary RAN over to the shelves in the dining room and began pulling my pewter bowls off the shelf.  Girlfriend saw that stove and needed some pots and pans.  I sure hope Santa brings some REAL ones...... or.... real PLAY ones.....

Wonder what she was cooking......

There's my Arthur Court in the oven AND the dishwasher.....

She played HARD in her kitchen for a good solid hour.  Too bad it got hidden in the boys' "Man Cave" while she was in the bath.  Reckon she'll forget about it?  At least until Christmas morning???

And just when Joe and I were TIRED OF IT, she started a rousing game of "Where's Mary?"  

We love her.

We do NOT love putting things together, but we LOVE the resulting happiness.  

And Santa..... you owe us.

Hope you all are having a great holiday week!  

Great Joy!

The last two days our Powell Family Advent activity had to be quick ones.  Jack had his youth orchestra concert on Monday, both boys were in the Strings in Schools concert last night, and we were putting the finishing touches on a couple of projects (bleck!) that the boys had due, so we didn't get to enjoy the fun until time for bed.  Monday night, we all crawled up in the big bed and enjoyed a story together and last night it was Chocolate Chip Peppermint Milkshakes from the ChickfilA! Yay and YUM!

This lovely picture book, written by Kate DiCamillo, one of my favorite children's book authors, is precious and was my choice for our family bedtime story on Monday night.

I'd shared it with my book club at our December meeting a couple of weeks ago and decided that my family would love it, too.  It's called Great Joy, and it's about a little girl, Frances, who is sad to watch the organ grinder and monkey on the corner stand in the cold day after day.  She wants to invite them to dinner, but her mom says no, so instead, as they rush past them on the way to church, she hollers an invitation to the Christmas pageant.  In the play at church, Frances is the angel that brings the news of Jesus' birth, but she can't seem to get her line out - she's SO SAD and worried for the organ grinder and monkey that she can't seem to say her words.  Then, suddenly, the old man walks through the back doors of the church, and Frances is so proud.  She raises her little hands and proclaims,

 "BEHOLD!  I bring you tidings of GREAT JOY!"

 And then the book says,

 "And, because the words felt SO RIGHT, Frances says them again,

Great Joy!"

That got me thinking.  Christmas certainly, CERTAINLY is a time of GREAT JOY.  There's family and music and good food and gatherings and presents and traditions and parties and holiday specials.  There is SO MUCH to be happy about during the holidays, but, not everyone experiences GREAT JOY during this time.  There are people I know who have lost loved ones in the last month, parents who are watching their children fight heart problems or cancer in intensive care units, folks who need help if Santa is to visit..... the list goes on and on.  Just as there is reason for GREAT JOY, there's reason NOT, too.

Life has seasons of GREAT JOY and life has seasons of great hardship.  So, I think in the times when things are going well, we must NOT take JOY for granted.  Don't miss it.  Has your JOY been ROBBED lately because of the busyness of the season or the traffic in town or the grumpy (and probably VERY TIRED) salesperson or cause the milkshake machine is broken and you have to drive across town to the other ChickfilA?  Yep.  Me, too.

Our JOY can be robbed of us....... IF WE LET IT.

There ARE times when joy eludes us, times of much sadness and difficulty..... moments when joy is just NOT an immediate option.

But for many of us, we really have nothing to be sad about.  We lose our joy because we CHOOSE to dwell on other things.

Things like.....It's only Tuesday, but Joe and I are already tired.  We just wave at each other in the kitchen in the morning as we both run around like nut cases getting stuff together for that day, text each other with the plans and needs for that evening, run here, deliver kids there, somebody needs popsicles for their Mercury presentation in Science and somebody else signed up for donuts for their Strings party.  Max needs to wear his bathing suit to school AGAIN (don't ask) and Jack's tux needs to be pressed.  Mary has stored her pizza crust in the ice bucket that houses her princess toys and Max thinks we've put Buddy's collar on "death mode" cause the red light is blinking and he won't stop worrying about it.  Both boys are irritated that they have to take tests before the holidays, Mary is opening the presents as fast as I can get them wrapped, and there is a "processing delay" with my Christmas cards.  

But, even in the midst of that.... I can find my way back to JOY if I want to..... For example:  My terrible, awful, no good, very bad vacuum won't clean up the granola bar crumbs that are ALL OVER my living room floor.  Why are there granola bar crumbs all over the living room floor?  Because Mary likes granola bars and ate one in the living room and made a mess.  Why is Mary eating in the living room?  Because she lives here and has made herself VERY comfortable.  Why does Mary live here?  Because this is her HOME.  Why is this her home?  Because the Lord MIGHTILY BLESSED us this summer when, through the miracle of adoption, we brought this precious child home and she became part of our family.  See?  I'm smiling now.  Started out with that darn vacuum and ended up with the joys of adding a daughter to our family.  You can almost ALWAYS trace things back to JOY.

So today, I'm choosing JOY.  GREAT JOY.  Because I have no reason not to......

I'm choosing to focus on THIS:

(Ready for the Strings concert!!)

And THIS......

(post concert, Day 4 Advent yumminess)

And THIS.....

(Slaw is one of her favorite foods.)

And THIS......

(Text from the Jackster about his EPIC epic that he'd worked so hard on!)

Hope you are enjoying this holiday season and that you find lots of JOY in your life!

"BEHOLD!  I bring you tidings of GREAT JOY!"

Music to my ears.....

When I was a Freshman at the University, I took a public speaking class - Public Speaking 101, I think.  One of the assignments was to choose ANY song ever written and to SPEAK it to the class.  No music, no singing... just SAY the words like a story.  Pretty nifty assignment for a public speaking class.  Pretty nifty assignment that I COMPLETELY FORGOT about until I got to class.  The teacher got up and asked who'd like to go first, and it dawned on me that I was supposed to have prepared a spoken song for that day.  I WAS A MESS.  Folks were getting up one by one and, in narrative style, speaking the words to Broadway lyrics, country music tunes, and current pop hits.  Finally, the professor looked at me and announced that it was my turn.  So, what did I do?  Start crying and confess that I hadn't prepared?  Nope.  I marched right up to the front of that class, turned around, and began telling the story (song) that was the only one that popped into my mind at the time.....

Frosty the Snowman was a jolly happy soul with a corncob pipe and a button nose and two eyes made out of coal.......

It is NOT EASY to speak a song without pausing at all the songy places, but I did it.  Everybody in there just laughed, nodded their heads, and said, "I never would have thought to choose that song, but it worked!"  I was SO relieved.

Why do I tell you this?  What in the WORLD does this have to do with ANYTHING?

Well, that day, for the first time, I really listened to the WORDS to a song.  When you take away the instruments and melodies and harmonies and have JUST the words, you get a whole new take on what the song says.  (And Frosty the Snowman is a CRAZY sad story, by the way..... poor ole fool KNEW he was melting......)

Anyway, since that day, I've paid more attention to the lyrics of songs.... just reading them like a story.
And the Christmas carols that we're all singing this time of year?  WHAT  A STORY THEY TELL.


Away in a manger, no crib for a bed, the little Lord Jesus lay down his sweet head.  The stars in the sky looked down where he lay, the little Lord Jesus asleep on the hay.
Be near me, Lord Jesus, I ask thee to stay close by me forever and love me, I pray.  Bless all the dear children in thy tender care, and fit us for Heaven to live with thee there.

Oh, come, all ye faithful, joyful, and triumphant.  Oh, come, ye, oh come, ye, to Bethlehem.  Come and behold Him!  Born the King of angels.  Oh, come, let us adore Him!

O, Little Town of Bethlehem, how still we see thee lie.  Above thy deep and dreamless sleep, the silent stars go by.  Yet, in thy dark streets shineth the everlasting light.  The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.  O, Holy Child of Bethlehem, descend to us, we pray.   Cast out our sin and enter in, be born in us today.  No ear may hear His coming, but in this world of sin, where meek souls will receive Him, still, the Dear Christ enters in.

Silent night, holy night....all is calm, all is bright.  Round yon virgin mother and child, holy infant, so tender and mild....sleep in heavenly peace.  Silent night, holy night.....Son of God, love's pure light.  Radiant beams from thy holy face.... with the dawn of redeeming grace.... Jesus, Lord, at thy birth!

Joy to the world, the Lord is come!  Let Earth receive her King!  Let every heart prepare Him room and heaven and nature sing!

Aren't they wonderful?   I so enjoy the music of the season!

So tonight, our Powell Family Advent today focused on music...... we had a little sing-a-long with Jack on the violin, Max on the cello, and Mary in her pajamas "organizing" the music stand.

We had a GRAND time.  

Today also took us outside to the FREEZING cold for a VERY QUICK photo shoot.  It seems that I have signed myself up for a yearly Christmas card exchange with some of my fellow adoptive Moms through Facebook.  I ADORE the idea of watching our little ones grow up through the years through Christmas cards..... then realized that I STINK at sending Christmas cards.  I CALMLY explained to my family that I didn't care HOW cold it was outside, we were GOING to get some nice pictures today after church and you BETTER act like you're enjoying it.

Turns out, it WAS pretty fun.  Here are a few of the shots I got.

 

For the rest of my life, I will cry when I see this picture.  I love, love, love these three humans.

This one might be my favorite.

 Mary kept looking back like, "Hey, y'all come on!"

 I did not EVEN tell the boys to do this, and I just about DROPPED MY CAMERA when I KNEW I  had captured the moment.  I think they love her.

 I have NO WORDS.  And that's saying something.....

 Beautiful boy.

 Max kept mumbling stuff to Jack and got him all tickled.  

This kid is fantastic.  Until he irritates the stew out of me.....

Wanna see some of the blooper pictures?  Cause they funny.

We wish you a Merry Christmas!

We wish you a Merry Christmas!

We wish you a Merry Christmas!

And a Happy New Year!

Making Time.

For YEARS, I've said that I would love to have a tiny little device in my purse that I could use to PAUSE TIME.  When I get behind or my to-do list runs amuck or it's 5:00 and I don't know what's for dinner or I have multiple places to be at once..... just hit PAUSE.  Then, while all of y'all are PAUSED, I can take my time getting caught up.  I'd just leisurely go about my business and take care of things, then hit UNPAUSE and resume normal life, all caught up.

Cause WHEW there's a lot of stuff to get done.  I mean, my agenda items aren't national security or life or death or anything, but there's so much that I would REALLY like to get done.  But then, maybe ALL that stuff isn't what is best......

Maybe what is best is taking time on these last TWELVE days before Christmas to do three things:
1.  Study Jesus with my family.  His birth, His ministry, and His love for us.
2.  Do something fun EVERY DAY with my family - just the five of us.
3.  Be still and hear what the Lord has to tell me during this holiday season.

Joe and I can fill the Powell time up with going and coming and running around here and there, or we can fill our time with #1-3. Will we choose correctly every day?  Doubt it.  But we're gonna try....

A couple of years ago, we prepared a set of twelve "Advent" meditations.... some "borrowed" some from our own little brains, and typed them out on cute Christmas paper and gave them out to some of our friends - Joe's deacon families, Sunday School class members, etc.  I was reading through them the other day and came across one that said EXACTLY what I've been thinking about for the last few days.  It said:

525,600

There are exactly 525,600 minutes in one year.  Doesn't it seem like there should be a lot more than that?  That's it..... that's all we get.

525,600.

How will you use those minutes this year?
This Christmas season?
This week?
Today?

Our lives are busy.  We have So.  Much.  To.  Do.  So, I think the only thing we CAN do is PAUSE.  Think for just a minute about what is most important to you.

Who has the Lord put in your life to care for?
What has He called you to do on this planet?
How can you best bring glory to Him?
What is the best use of your time, talent, and treasure?

Spend the next ONE minute praying that the Lord will help you focus on what is most important.  Pray that He will help you order your days to bring glory to Him.  Seek His will in your minutes.

Listen to Him.  What does He say?

You have the next 525, 599 minutes to be faithful to him this year.

525,600.


So, as we prepare and anticipate the birthday of our sweet Jesus, I'm going to try to use my minutes VERY wisely.

And, in keeping with #1 and #2 above, I'm working on a sorta "Twelve Days of Christmas" Advent - Powell Style.  Joe's in charge of the Scripture each day and I'm in charge of the fun!  Here was today's....

NOTE: There is probably some clever way to rotate this picture so it isn't sideways, but, alas, I have no clue how to do it.  So, just tilt your head or your computer sideways and carry on!

As I type this, the boys are digging through the kitchen drawer looking for a spatula to dish up the cookies we just made, The Polar Express is ready in the DVD, and Joe has fallen asleep putting Mary to bed.  So, it might just be three of us watching the movie, but the whole family was at the dinner table when we opened the envelope, so that counts.

NOTE #2:  While I was figuring out how to rotate that above picture (no success), Joe came back downstairs WITH Mary.  Apparently, she is rallying tonight.  As it turns out, I went back upstairs with her and Joe proceeded with the Polar Express fun with the boys.  She finally fell asleep and I joined them right when those two kids sing, "When Christmas Comes to Town" and cried like a baby.  That part gets me every time!!!

I love Christmas.  I love everything about it.  But most of all, I love sharing it and really, really CELEBRATING it with Joe, Jack, Max, and Mary.

Well, there's that.....

So.  Apparently I haven't blogged in a while.  I always wondered what in the WORLD I would do all day if I wasn't at school teaching.  Well, now I know...... but if you ask me, I'm not sure I'll be able to explain it.  I have no idea what we do all day. Does that make sense?  I know we do stuff, but I'm not sure what it is.  But we do stuff.  I doubt very much that you will find ANY of this interesting, but I fear if my mother (along with a few other friends.... you know who you are) continue to see nothing on this blog, my name will be MUD.   So.  Here you go.

These are in no particular order...... like the minutes of my days..... a bit random, but, to me, quite enjoyable......

1.  Mary's first NATIVITY!  I collect nativity scenes and keep them up year round..... and as I've thought about collections that I'd like to start for Mary and add to throughout the years, nativities are at the top of the list.  This week, Mary got the Little People Nativity and she loves it!  She can already identify the baby Jesus and sticks the angel up on the top of the stable.  We have spent much time already pointing out who is who..... and every time we get to Jesus' mother Mary..... our Mary points at herself and then points to her, like, hey, we have the same name!  And at this very moment, you'll find Mary, the mother of Jesus, having a conversation with the Little People Cinderella that came with her Disney Princess set - cause Mary turns her cups upside down and sets them all on top.  So, there's that.  Mary's first Nativity.

2.  These bowls went with us to China and provided MUCH fun for our girl.  Today, they just about did me in.  Cause today, Mary decided to use them for food - FRIED PORK SKINS, to be exact.  Every bowl had ONE fried pork skin in it.... and Mary would "deliver" the food to Jack and Max in the living room.  Trouble is, the bowls have HOLES in the bottom of them..... and pork skins are VERY DUSTY.  So, by the time I recognized what was going on, there were smashed pork skins ALL OVER the living room.  I'm pretty sure I gasped and then moaned cause Mary started pointing and grunting at all the piles of pork skin "dust" like, hey, do you see this?  Look what those silly pork skins did.  So, I went after my vacuum, which is THE SORRIEST VACUUM IN ALL THE WORLD.  Basically, it sucked up the pork skins up through the front, smashed them up REALLY good, and then spit the dust out the back -which will be GREAT for all the ANTS that keep coming into my house.  So there's that.... Bowls and pork skins and that darn vacuum.

 This is the worst vacuum in the history of the world.  

3.  Last week, Mary had some testing done by the sweet folks at the Alabama Institute for the Deaf and Blind.  Our ENT suggested that we go ahead and start working on some speech/communication therapy, so, we sought out the experts in Early Intervention.  This week, AIDB came over and went through the test results with us.  You have to have a 25% delay to qualify for their services.... and our girl DID.  In ONE area:  expressive language.  Yep.  Girl takes it all in, has great gross and fine motor skills, and is on point socially and cognitively.... but her expressive language is at a 40% delay!  FORTY!  Her RECEPTIVE language puts her at the 31 month mark, but her EXPRESSIVE language is like that of a 7 month old.  See that gap?  That's why we sought some expert help!  So, we're going to see a speech expert a couple of times a month, but MOST of the work is done at home through the family.  The first line of defense?  Only give her what she's asking for it she attempts to say the word.  When she points to her juice cup on the table and then signs "cup".... don't give it to her.  Wait for her to at least attempt to say the word.  "Mary, what do you want?  Do you want your CUP?"  ** Mary nods profusely and frantically signs cup.**  "Mary, CUP.  Do you want your CUP?"  ** Mary begins to whine and grunt, points several times to the cup sitting RIGHT THERE, WOMAN and continues to sign "cup" over and over. ** "Your cup?  Is that what you want? Say CUP, Mary.  CUP."  ** Mary falls to the floor in protest and Max walks into the kitchen, hands her her cup, pats her on the head, and then passes on through. ** THIS IS NOT GOING TO BE EASY.  So there's that..... speech therapy.

4.  During our recent Rotavirus epidemic, Mary and I stayed VERY close to home.  Thanks to Pinterest and some crafty friends on FB (thanks, Erin!), Mary had a new little game to play.  She loved dropping those little colored pompoms through that paper towel tube, then dumping the bowl out and starting all over.  Wasn't sure it would actually keep her busy, but it did!  She happily played as I washed dishes, and then I looked down, and she'd changed the game a bit - she'd started sorting the colors.  That girl.  With a little help from Mom, we had them ALL sorted in no time.  She's so clever.  So there's that.... Rotavirus survival games.

5.  I continue to KILL IT at the CVS.  I was a little late getting there this week, but tonight, I scored the following items for $2.31.  And they gave me back $6.00 in extra care bucks.  So there's that...... awesomeness at the CVS.

6.  Max and I have been spending quality time together each evening here in Powellville.  No, we aren't discussing the day's events.  No, we aren't reading a grand book together.  No, we aren't going on long walks.  We are watching DOWNTON ABBEY, baby!  We've already watched all three seasons once (back when we were in the WAITING of the adoption process, DA was a great distraction!), but now, we're gearing up for the January 5th premier of Season 4 and We.  Can't.  Wait.  It's our THANG!  And it's funny..... I now find myself speaking in a random British accent and saying things like, "I fear that Mary has an unclean diaper." and "Perhaps we'd all like to freshen up before luncheon." and "Why must they assign so many bloody projects just before the holidays?"  (said THAT one today!)  So there's that..... Downton Abbey with my Max.

7.  The Strings in Schools Christmas concert is quickly approaching and the Jackster has to have a TUXEDO since he's in the high school orchestra this year.  So, we got one.  And then, we needed to have it altered a bit.  Enter Jenny's Alterations (which is what is says when I google "alterations in Tuscaloosa", but there's no sign of or mention of "Jenny" at the place)..... Anyhoo.... this week, we returned to "Jenny's" to pick up the tux.  I must admit..... I am drawn to this place.  At Jenny's Alterations, they, of course, have a sewing shop.  They also sell videos for $3.00 each or 2 for $5.00 (titles like September Dawn and Boom - ever hear of those?)  AND, if you like, you can visit the tanning bed there, too.  Sewing, video, and tanning beds.  All surrounded by 78 buddah statues and a GIANT fish tank with ONE goldfish in it.   (Is that how you spell buddah?)  But those things are not what make me smile at Jenny's Alterations.  No.  It is the tiny Chinese man that does the alterations. When we took the tux in and he started pinning and marking, he looked at Jack and said, "Do not worry.  I know what I am doing." This past Wednesday, when Jack came out in his newly altered tux, that little man walked all around him and said, very proudly, "I do a VERY good job."  And then he walked away and said no more.  I like him.  So there's that..... Jenny's Alterations.

8.  I am going to be 40.  In 10 months, I am going to be 40.  So, I have made a decision.  For my 40th birthday, I am going to participate (I did NOT say RUN, I said PARTICIPATE) in the Walt Disney World Princess Half Marathon.  I have ALWAYS wanted to do this and, in 2015, I AM.  So, because run I do not, I have started "training."  This gets quotation marks - "training".... cause I'm not sure that all the huffing and puffing and staggering that has occurred in this past week is actually considered "training."  But I trust in the RunDisney expert, Jeff Galloway.  He says I can do it, and I BELIEVE HIM.  So, every night after Joe gets home, off to the Quad I go.  If between the hours of 6-9 you pass by and see a lump laying on the sidewalk, please call for assistance, cause those stupid college kids will just walk right over ya and keep yacking on their cell phones.  So there's that..... marathon TRAINING.

9.  Each day, Mary and I are trying to get a little Christmas shopping done.  Mary is not a good shopper.   Oh, she's sweet - never fusses.  But she is an OCTOPUS in these places - ALL HANDS.  AT&T store - pulled down a HUGE banner displaying the new data plans.  Sorry about that.  Barnes and Noble - emptied the shelf in the mythology section while we were looking for something for Jack.  Sorry about that.  Belk - pulled about a dozen purses off the table and started walking around with them on her head.  Sorry about that.  Hobby Lobby - literally SPIT on a plastic Christmas tray and laughed while it streamed down Santa's face.  Sorry about that.  And there I am.... the maniac woman picking everything up and redirecting the little black-haired toddler.  I love her.  So there's that.... Christmas shopping with the Mary.

10.  What else?  Oh, there was Mission Day at church, so we got pictures made in front of the Chinese flag.  Mary has PRECIOUS new red glittery shoes which I have no pictures of, but which have SHED all over our church building.  Jack is working on an EPIC epic project and had every computer in the house tied up at once.  And I have about a go-zillion projects in my mind that I want to accomplish in the next 13 days.  Cause people - Christmas is in THIRTEEN days.  So there's that.

Well, there you have it.
Blog:  updated.