Nearest Distant Shore

Year-End Wrap Up

In 2003 I:

buried my father

saw my brother for the first time in nearly 5 years

got even closer to my sisters

did a 5k walk to raise money for diabetes research

expanded my business from microscopic to teeniney

chaperoned several field trips full of four-year-olds

got on a plane and flew to meet up with several women I'd only talked to online

moved to a new house

joined a Bible study group

found lots of good blogs

started one of my own (still working on the "good" part)

had a wreck

got a new-to-me car

cried a lot

laughed a lot, too

In 2004 I hope to:

live more mindfully

go someplace I've never been

walk on the beach at least twice a week

paint these boring vanilla walls

learn a new skill

work on the few I already have

resume my Girls Night Out with my friend J

cry less

laugh more

dance often

I hope the new year is good to you.

Wonderful Christmastime

There is nothing better than having an almost five-year-old around at Christmas. From the moment he opened his eyes (telling his daddy, "You don't have to tell me what day it is-it's CHRISTMAS!") until he finally fell asleep clutching Batgirl in one hand and Catwoman in the other, my boy was in Full Metal Holiday Heaven.

Every single gift was greeted with "I always wanted this!," and he made it sound like he meant it, too. He was sweet and grateful and excited and funny, and he made every bit of preparation worth the work involved. I now have a priceless videotape of him singing along with Paul McCartney to Wonderful Christmastime, which makes me smile just thinking about it.

I've also learned that he is a shark at games, and truly has the luck of the Irish-he kicked my butt in Jr. Yahtzee right off the bat, and kicked his Daddy's butt several times at Trouble. Then he learned how to play Go Fish, and none of us were safe.

As for me, I was blessed to hear good music in a beautifully "greened" church on Christmas Eve, and to leave that building and see a sky full of stars. I got the joy of playing Santa with Sweetie and for Sweetie. And Santa was very good to me, too. I have a new!red!maglite!, picked out by Liam for me "because red's your favorite, Mommy." I got lots of nice little goodies from Mama and my sisters, and I was able to spend time with people I love, and I got to eat good food prepared both by myself and others.

And I got the joy of hearing "This is the best Christmas ever! about a dozen times from my sweet little boy, and truly, I think it was.

Hope your holiday was wonderful, too.

Friday Five

1. What was your biggest accomplishment this year?
I added a couple of new clients to my fledgling business, and our family raised $3500 in the JDRF Walk to Cure Diabetes.

2. What was your biggest disappointment?
I gained back the weight I lost last year, and that we didn't raise twice that amount in the walk.

3. What do you hope the new year brings?
Serenity in my personal life and a new president in the White House.

4. Will you be making any New Year's resolutions? If yes, what will they be?
There are things in my life that are constantly in need of improvement; progress in my spiritual walk, closer connections in my personal relationships. Then of course there is the matter of that pesky 30 pounds.

5. What are your plans for New Year's Eve?Sweetie always tends bar (big bucks night), so we'll have a quiet dinner, then once I get Liam to bed I will write out my "old stuff" for my annual burning ritual, then drink champagne and watch Dick Clark. I can sometimes see my town's fireworks from here, so I'll watch that, too.

And speaking of birthdays...

...apparently Jesus is dreading his.

(I love The Onion)

Happy Birthday to Me

...and to my little sister, two years younger than I, and to my best friend, who somehow seems to be the only one I know who is actually getting younger.

This past year has been very trying, and I won't be sorry to start a new one. I lost my Daddy, I lost my beloved dog. My son's illness keeps me constantly on edge, its very nature being unpredictable and difficult to manage, especially in one so young. Other relatives close to us have suffered various ailments, some more serious than others.

But I am blessed with a loving partner and a beautiful son. My sisters have been my salvation this year as we negotiated the tricky currents of living without our Daddy, who for all his faults did love us. My mother is alive and healthy and always there for me. I am blessed to live fairly near the ocean in a warm safe home with a full pantry. I've found a new church home that has welcomed me with open hearts and arms. And I am rich beyond measure in friendship, with more and better friends than anyone deserves.

Here's to my 46th year down here on Planet Earth, and here's hoping for at least that many more.

Friday Five

1. List your five favorite beverages.

strong, sweet iced tea

Diet Sundrop (available only in parts of the south)

Guinness

Gentleman Jack Daniels

Bombay Sapphire

2. List your five favorite websites.

The blogs on my sidebar, along with the links I follow from them

Television Without Pity

The Perfect World

Salon

Epicurious

3. List your five favorite snack foods.

potato chips

peanuts

chocolate

chocolate with potato chips

chocolate with peanuts

4. List your five favorite board and/or card games.

Trivial Pursuit

Backgammon

Poker

Monopoly

Scrabble

5. List your five favorite computer and/or game system games.

I don't really play these kinds of games, except the occasional foray into Free Cell or Marbles.

Santa

I'm thinking of using this in our as yet unmailed Christmas cards. Whaddaya think?

Walking the Walk

Go visit Open Source Politics and read John's wonderful Religion Tour post. It's a nice way to start a Monday.

via Body and Soul

O Come O Come Emmanuel

And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the son of God appear.

Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

During all of the Sundays of Advent, our congregation has begun the service with this song, to my mind one of the most hauntingly beautiful carols of the season. After the first chorus the Advent candles are lit, with a different family doing the honors each week. It's a wonderful way to start our service.

Today was rainy, cold and gray. If it hadn't been my week to run Children's Chapel, I might well have stayed home. But I was so glad that I went, and sat in our cozy church, with the rain falling outside and the warmth of smiling families around me. Today was our monthly folk mass, usually not my favorite service, but even that seemed just right, the guitars and tambourines providing just the right accompaniment to the voices ringing from the rafters.

Our Christmas tree is finally finished, and I think it's the prettiest one we've ever had. Liam is in Full Metal Christmas mode, so for him, the sparklier the better. So it has loads of colored lights, and gold and red and green bead garlands, a very gaudy star and ornaments old and new. For their fragile loveliness, my clear irridescent glass balls are my favorites-they look like bubbles suspended within the branches of the tree. But my sentimental favorite is the angel ornament that Liam made in preschool last year, with its glitter-stiffened wings, and his sweet smiling face peering out from beneath a golden pipe cleaner halo.

His grandparents came over and brought piles of loot for him this evening, and he was suitably polite and appreciative about the clothes, and enthusiastic about the toys. Tonight I tucked him in wearing new fuzzy pajamas with race cars all over them, with Vince Guaraldi's soundtrack for Charlie Brown Christmas softly playing in his room. I think it must be pretty nice to be nearly five and waiting for Christmas.

Friday Five...

...on Friday for a change!

1. 1. Do you enjoy the cold weather and snow for the holidays?
   NO! That's why I live in the south. I can only remember two white Christmases in my life-the first was in second grade, and the other was in the late eighties.
2. What is your ideal holiday celebration? How, where, with whom would you celebrate to make things perfect?
   I would like to be in a beach house on some warm island, with my kid and his daddy and whoever else wanted to stop by. There would be lots of food, lots of champagne, and we'd build sandcastles instead of snowmen.
3. Do you do have any holiday traditions?
   My family of origin is scattered; we do try to get together during the holidays. My small family here is building our own traditions-we celebrate my birthday on Christmas Eve, then we go to the Christmas pageant at church in the late afternoon. Supper is Birthday Girl's Choice and often involves red meat. Liam gets to open one present that night, and it's always pajamas, sometimes with a new book or small toy. After he gets to sleep, Sweetie and I commence to drink and play Santa.
4. Do you do anything to help the needy?
   In past years we've adopted a kid from the angel tree; this year we did a couple of shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child. Anything we can't use that is still in good shape goes to either the stores run by Domestic Violence Services or the one that is run by my former parish.
5. What one gift would you like for yourself?
   A week in the sun, all alone! Or a red Kitchen Aid.