Still Alive
Just in case anyone was concerned... I'm still alive and kicking :)
Christmas was a whirlwind, and it happened a little bit later for us than for most people. We began the festivities on December 25 and wrapped up with our final family gathering on December 28. The days in between were INSANITY. And I got sick on December 27, so we've been slow to get back into the groove here.
Today around lunchtime, I finally felt like I was going to live. I'm actually being productive this afternoon - which is good, because I haven't cleaned, worked, or cooked in over a week. And in my infinite wisdom (haha), I'm hosting a little New Years shindig here in a couple of hours.
I'm feeling better, but I still don't have a voice. SUPER annoying to me, but Geoff seems to be enjoying it. Briony too. She *so* doesn't take me seriously when I whisper or squeak out a 'NO!' when she's up to no good.
Anyway. More to come... And in the meantime, HAPPY NEW YEAR. Hope you all have a fun and safe night surrounded by people you love.
Labels: Briony, Christmas, My Life, The Boy
Merry Christmas To All
Labels: Briony, Christmas
Bonus Christmas
I can't help but focus on all the good things in my life now at Christmas time. It feels like we've come a million miles from last Christmas - a holiday that was celebrated despite a six week old, a major and long-lasting arthritis/fibro flare, and a mom who was still facing two weeks of radiation treatments and another surgery for breast cancer.
I've shed a lot of tears this Christmas over last Christmas.
This year, I'm celebrating with a happy, healthy one year old who brings me so much joy that it overwhelms me sometimes. I can't imagine anything better in life than getting to be her mommy and being on the receiving end of her thousands of noisy kisses.
I'm celebrating with a husband who is able to take all my ups and downs in stride and loves me anyway. He does an incredible job of providing for our little family and taking care of his girls. And he is every bit the wonderful daddy to Briony that I knew he'd be when I met him.
I'm celebrating with my entire family at home for Christmas - including my brother Aaron and sister-in-law Cait who are visiting from Vancouver and my grandma who's home from her second unexpected hospital stay this month. Having everyone home for the holidays is a 'bonus blessing' that I don't take for granted.
Maybe most importantly, I'm celebrating with my parents. These two incredible people have endured some big challenges in the last two years - challenges that could easily have taken down a less stable marriage. I've had the amazing privilege of getting to watch them journey together through the valley and it's made me a better person, a better daughter, and a better wife and mother.
Every Christmas we get to spend with my mom now feels like the best gift we could have ever asked for. It's a Bonus Christmas. And we are so incredibly blessed to be celebrating it this weekend.
But those laws of the universe and equal and opposite reactions apply to the holidays more than any other time. The full measure of our happiness is equal to the depths of grief and sadness experienced by families who haven't been as lucky as mine. Christmas is a terrible, terrible time to be missing someone. So let's all do what we can for these friends today and be their little Christmas miracle. Let's pray for them. Let's pick up the phone. Let's send a quick note. Let's drop off some cookies. Let's just drench them in love - which is the point of this season after all.
Labels: Aaron, Briony, Caitlin, Christmas, Family, My Friends, The Boy, The C Word
Presents
I am not usually the world's biggest fan of Christmas presents. Don't get me wrong - I love it when people buy me things, and I especially love giving presents to other people. I just don't like it when the presents part of Christmas overshadows the family part of Christmas.
I think that the presents part was more fun for me this year than ever because Briony loved it so much. She was so excited to tear apart the wrapping and tissue paper and it was so much fun to watch her investigating her new toys. If this is only a hint of what's to come, I'm looking forward to many, many more holidays with her.
We tried to keep it simple for her. She got a new stroller, which came on the 23rd and is every bit as awesome as we'd hoped it would be. Geoff + I bought her a Little People schoolhouse set and a book - and she loved both of them. Well, it was a three-way tie between the Little People, the book, and the shiny wrapping paper (hehe). And she has some other little things in her stocking to open up later today.
I was way more excited to watch Briony open presents than to open any of my own, but I changed my priorities pretty quickly when I unwrapped a gorgeous pink Burberry scarf and gloves set from Geoff this morning. It was love at first sight...
Labels: Briony, Christmas, The Boy
Silent Night
I've never been on my own for Christmas before. And don't get all technical on me - I know it's only Christmas Eve, which is technically the day *before* Christmas. But it feels like Christmas. And Geoff is working another night shift.
It's a strange thing, and I really needed to fight my first instinct to call everyone I know to find someone else without plans so that I would be busy tonight. But it's peaceful here. We're ready for Christmas and the house isn't perfectly clean, but it's under control - good enough until after the holidays. I'm finished everything I need to do for work until next week. Briony's in bed for the night. And I'm about to curl up on the couch to watch some good TV on DVD with a giant bowl of popcorn - with absolutely nothing hanging over my head and making me feel guilty for doing something totally unproductive and relaxing. Sometimes I let myself get so busy that I forget how much I enjoy my own company. It's far from my first choice, but I also realize that I need to get used to this because I married a nurse and this is not likely to be the last Christmas Eve that I spend at home with Briony and without Geoff.
In a little over twelve hours, Geoff will be home again and he'll sleep for part of the day. When he wakes up in the afternoon, we're planning to keep our Christmas tradition of breakfast and presents and just ignore the fact that it's 4 pm. Again, not my first choice, but I realize that this is how memories are made :)
Labels: Briony, Christmas, Family, My Life, The Boy
So Close
I'm so close to Christmas holidays, I'm seriously like a kid waiting for Santa - or in my case, a little girl waiting for the first day of school. Hey, I never claimed to be cool :)
I wrapped up a major project yesterday and did some invoicing today. I have maybe an hour or two of research to do on another project that's beginning after the holidays, and I'll probably tackle that tonight just to have it finished. I can't really say anything for sure until 5.01 tomorrow evening because I'm still expecting at least one of my clients to have a sudden brilliant idea that it would be really nice to come back from their days off with some content completed and ready to go... But other than that, I'm *almost* officially on holidays for a couple of days. Crazy.
I'm realizing more and more that freelance = no time away from work. I don't mind because I love what I do, but I've been maintaining a pretty insane pace over the last couple of months and it's been months since I was able to just spend time with Geoff + Briony (and the rest of my family and friends) without having some project hanging over my head. I'm getting better at separating work time from personal time, but it's impossible to do that perfectly.
Unfortunately, freelance also = not getting paid for taking a day off, but I've been working so hard that I can afford to let that happen. I can't tell you how GOOD that feels :)
This morning, we hosted Aaron + Cait for brunch and it was *so* much fun to see them again - and to see Briony warm up to them again almost instantly. Tonight, I'm looking forward to doing one last load of laundry (I can't believe I said that either) and then watching TV without feeling guilty about not working. I can't even imagine what that will feel like, other than AWESOME.
And Geoff has two night shifts left before he's off until December 30. Not that I'm counting down or anything... :)
It's a good day. But two days from now will be even better because we'll ALL be off and Christmas can finally begin.
Labels: Christmas, Going Rogue
Stockings
I am *so* excited. This Christmas, we finally bought stockings and hangers for our fireplace. It's kind of funny that this is our third married/cohabitated Christmas and we're only getting around to it now - especially because it's a tradition that both of us grew up with. It's funny what a baby can do, isn't it?
Anyway. The stockings are fabulous. I had my heart set on something modern in grey and Geoff was (surprisingly) adamant that they needed to be traditional red stockings. We found some - at Chapters, of all places - that we could both agree on. After a pretty serious hunt, we finally found inoffensive stocking hangers at Walmart (SHUDDER). And the rest is history.
Except that now we need to fill them.
Our parents were both pretty practical with our stocking stuffers, which I really appreciate, and we're trying to do the same (with a couple of small fun items thrown in). I have a few things for Briony already and a few more things on my list, but I'm curious to hear what ideas other people have for great one-year-old stocking ideas. And I definitely want to hear about the kinds of things that you got in your stockings growing up.
Labels: Christmas
Briony vs Santa
Geoff + I took Briony for her very first photo with Santa today. We kind of expected her to be cool and smiley about it - she's an incredibly friendly, easygoing kid. We were standing in line for a few minutes, and she was checking everything out and saying HI to Santa.
Side Note: Everything about a Santa experience is just WRONG. Everything in my Mommy Brain is screaming DANGER! DANGER! as I placed my baby onto a strange man's lap.
Apparently, Briony agreed... :)
(Click to enlarge the photo. It's totally worth it.)
Why not traumatize your child too? Photos with Santa are FREE at Kildonan Place from now until Christmas.
Labels: Briony, Christmas
Holiday Card Spoiler
Coming soon to a mailbox near you...
With all kinds of thanks to the lovely and talented Miss Amber Olson who turned the beautiful family photos that my sister took this fall into a perfect holiday card from our crazy little family :)
They're all addressed and ready to go. It was quick, easy, and painless - and for a surprisingly small budget. AMAZING.
Oh, and I'm totally over the guilt of 'cheating' and opting out of cards that I would actually need to write something meaningful in. It's simply not happening this year. That seems to be the theme of this Christmas, actually - not cheating, but choosing to do things simply. And it's making me feel *so* happy and Christmassy.
Labels: Amber, Briony, Christmas, Family, Jessimica, The Boy
Friday Smile
It's been an effort to find 'smiles' in everyday life this week, but I'm determined to find some today as I recap the week that was and look forward to the weekend.
1. I'm grateful for this amazing weather. It sounds so cliche, but November has been incredible - still no snow to speak of, and lots of bonus opportunities to go for walks as a family and just enjoy being outside before the inevitable Manitoba winter kicks in.
2. It was a tough week with both Geoff and I working, but Katie was available to come and help an extra day. That makes all the difference in the world to me, and we're lucky to have it as an option.
3. Last weekend was amazing. It was so fun to have so many friends and family members stop by to wish our little princess a happy birthday and celebrate with us.
4. For some completely inexplicable reason, this week - which I'd completely written off and was feeling really down on myself about - was a good weight loss week. I lost two pounds, putting me about 2/3 of the way to my goal with a month to go.
5. This Sunday is our annual Pilgrim Potluck - basically, a bunch of friends all come together at our house and celebrate American Thanksgiving together (combined with Grey Cup again this year). Looking forward to amazing food and a house full of friends. It really doesn't get any better than that. (And there goes my two pound weight loss, hehe.)
6. I made it to yoga today for the first time in a couple of weeks. I hate that it doesn't always work in our schedule, but I'm grateful that it did today. After a good yoga class, I'm in a healthy place - especially psychologically, because it fills me with respect for my body and what it can do. It allows me to let go of the feelings that cause me to focus on everything I CAN'T do with a broken body and realize that - deep down - I'm still strong.
7. Briony, as always, is the bright spot in everything. She's been particularly funny this week, making up new little games to play with us and then giggling until she literally falls over and is just lying on the floor in hysterics. She's mastered the stairs. She's starting to answer 'yes' and 'no' to some questions. And she's starting to take 10 or 15 steps at a time behind her little walking toy. I am *so* proud of her.
8. I have a fabulous new logo for my freelance business in progress, with business cards and a functional website following soon. It's so exciting to see it all start to come together :)
9. I have a huge school project due on Sunday, and then I'm pretty close to finished this course. One left in April, and then by the end of July I'll be FINISHED and scheduled to graduate in Victoria in November. No idea if we'll actually make an appearance at the convocation or not - I didn't even go to my grad from the University of Winnipeg - but it sounds like a bunch of my online classmates might be planning to attend and then have a big graduation party for ourselves. I hope it happens, because it would be so great to meet the people I've been going to school with.
10. It's less than a month until Christmas! And around three weeks until Aaron + Cait come home for a visit. I think I might wrap some presents tonight...
I have a little bit of homework planned for tonight, and then I fully intend to just RELAX. It's been an intense week, and although I still have a massive to-do list left, I think that I need to pause and take care of Lindsay for a couple of hours. Wish me luck :)
Labels: Back to School, Briony, Christmas, Family, Going Rogue, Katie
What A Way To End A Week
I'm drinking tea and invoicing, my responsible but seriously DULL afternoon activity every other Friday. Not my favourite thing to do because of all the math involved, but something I do anyway because emailing out invoices = getting paid soon. And it was a solid two-week period for my little freelance writing business. YAY.
Went to yoga this morning. A 09.30-10.30 yoga class is pretty much the perfect way to kick of a Friday as far as I'm concerned. Awesomeness. I don't know why I waited this long to start going again. I am really, really liking this new instructor. And I switched from my former yoga studio which means (a) it's significantly cheaper, and (b) I can walk to class. Cool.
Geoff, Briony, and I hit up a dollar store to finish off our
Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes today and followed it up with lunch at Nikos. How can I *not* be happy?
Well, I have one reason: I totally broke even on weight loss this week. Nothing lost. (But nothing gained, either). Ordinarily, it wouldn't bother me this much except that I checked on Wednesday and I was down three whole pounds. I blame last night's celebration of Christine's birthday - and Dolly's calorie-laden attempt at making some sort of whipped cream-inspired substance :)
I'm over it.
Still on the agenda for tonight:
- Ordering our next book club selection!
- Family pumpkin carving!
- Last night's episode of The Office!
- Bubble bath for Lindsay!
- More Christmas shopping brainstorming!
Oh, and finishing these darn invoices.
Labels: Amber, Book Club, Briony, Christine, Christmas, Dolly, Going Rogue, My Life, The Boy, Yoga
Christmas In Pictures
Christmas flew by in a bit of a blur for our family... And I really expect no sympathy because Geoff and I have about half as much family in Manitoba as most of you - and therefore about half as many places to go and people to see.
Christmas Eve was a little bit crazy here at our house. Geoff was working a day shift and I was frantically trying to pack, finish some last minute Christmas prep, and clean up the house (I *hate* coming come to a mess, it totally stresses me out the entire time I'm away). Briony and I managed to leave the house exactly on time - a feat I'm still feeling pretty proud of - and picked up Geoff from work before heading over to join the rest of my family at my parents' house.
On our way to my parents' house... Yeah, so Briony's new hat is just a tiny bit big :)
I always feel so Christmassy the moment I step into my parents' living room.
My sister snapped this shot, which was supposed to be candid. Apparently, neither Geoff nor I can resist screwing up a picture (hehe).
I bought this dress for Briony right after we found out we were having a girl... It made my heart so happy to see her wearing it this Christmas.
We stayed overnight at my parents' house, then enjoyed a relaxing day together on Christmas Day. We lounged around, had brunch together, and just generally didn't accomplish very much - other than stopping by to say hi to my dad's family (the official gathering on that side will happen in January).
My daughter is a baby with a thousand goofy expressions. Here's one of them that makes me giggle.
From there, we returned home and exchanged our own gifts. I spent a lot of the evening (and the next morning) running around like a crazy lady trying to do some baby laundry and get things packed and quasi-organized before we left again at lunchtime on Boxing Day. Do not underestimate the effort required to be away with a baby for three days... We managed to be ready to go TEN MINUTES EARLY (even I was surprised) and hit the road for a 3+ hour drive southwest where we spent the entire weekend at Rock Lake with my mom's family.
Briony - and the other two babies - kind of stole the show. Here, Briony is admired by a gaggle of adoring young fans. For my less-than-regular blog readers, my sister Jessica had a baby girl (Chloe) eleven days before my daughter was born in November, and my cousin Sara had a baby girl (Eva Beth) just an hour after Briony was born - same hospital, same doctor.
My sister attempts to steal back some attention for Chloe by dressing her up in a penguin costume. Seriously. They were told that their baby would be early, so they had a Halloween costume all ready to go, but didn't get to use it because Chloe showed up on November 5. So they used it for Christmas instead. Here, my cousin Mady (aka Mady-Cakes, because she's so cute you could eat her) checks out the baby penguin with amusement.
Ever the party animal, Briony managed to sleep through Christmas at my parents' house, Christmas at our house, and - pictured here - Christmas at Rock Lake.
My daughter being attacked by her Uncle Kevin's new Peter Griffin slippers. (Seriously, Kevin... Kick your own baby!)
Yeah, so Briony likes to give me the finger when I'm feeding her. Not Geoff or my mom or anyone else who's fed her. Just me. I'm pretty sure it's an 'eff you, mom' because I'm not breastfeeding her anymore.
Chilling out on her daddy's shoulder.
As if it's not weird/funny enough that we essentially gave birth to twins last month, Sara and I rather inexplicably showed up at breakfast on Sunday morning wearing eerily similar outfits. It pretty much required a picture.
And from there, we went HOME. Briony's still dealing with thrush - her mouth is steadily getting better, but her thrush-related diaper rash is taking a long time to clear up and it makes her uncomfortable. Having a sick baby isn't especially fun. And then Geoff was sick from Friday night until Saturday night, and then again last night. Of course, Briony chose last night to wake up for feedings again after sleeping through the night for two weeks now. And with me still flared up... Yeah. We're fully grounded in reality here. I had more than one moment in the last 24 hours when I wished for a mom who wasn't in the middle of cancer treatment and a mother-in-law who wasn't four provinces away.
But we've been on an upswing since this afternoon - and I even managed to have a nap this evening, and made some plans for the New Years party I'm hosting on Wednesday. Christmas is winding down, but real life is starting up again. And I'm even more excited about that.
We don't seem to be able to snatch a family picture, but this is the closest thing so far... Hope you all enjoyed some great time with family and friends over the holidays.
Labels: Briony, Christmas, Family
Getting Ready for Christmas
As always, Jenni from ChronicBabe.com has climbed inside my head and posted an article that speaks to *exactly* where I'm at right now. This week's topic:
Get Ready For The New. And I am sooo ready to do that.
2008 was a big year, and the record-high high moments were balanced by earth-shattering lows. I'm ready to move on, and so very excited for what 2009 will bring for my family: the end of my mom's battle with breast cancer, my daughter's first year (and mat leave until sometime in October), and so much more that makes my heart smile in anticipation.
But for today, and the last week of this year... I want to make the most of these very precious moments with family and all the people I love. I want to dwell on peace, surround myself with love, and seek out little moments of joy. And I wish the same for you, dear friends. Merry Christmas.
-
This is the ornament we bought to celebrate Briony's first Christmas:
Labels: Christmas, Chronic Babe, Stuff I'm Thinking About
Healing
Near the end of last week, I had a little bit of a meltdown. It was small as far as meltdowns go, but I feel like it deserves to be noted. I was so tempted to just blame in on sleep deprivation and the emotion of the last five week or so of my life, but I don't think that's fair. I think that everything I was feeling was completely legitimate. I was just feeling all the weight of my mom's cancer all over again as I begin to notice the signs that she's getting tired from the radiation treatments and their rigorous schedule. I know that it's making her better, that it's part of her healing process. It's incredibly hard to watch sometimes, but there's also nowhere else I'd rather be - and it's an honour to experience all the highs and lows of this journey alongside her. But it seems like every couple of weeks at least, I just need to process and feel it all over again so that each layer of this experience can heal before it's covered up and we can move on.
On Saturday, Briony and I spent the day at Val's where we participated in a family tradition of Christmas baking together with my mom, my grandma, and my aunts. We got a lot of baking done - and we left Val's place so far beyond exhausted that it might take a couple of days to catch up again - but the highlight of my day was getting to spend some time with my mom. It was exactly what I'd been needing, and I didn't even know it. Somewhere in the course of that day, I found a little bit of healing just by being close to her.
After we finished up, I drove her back to Niverville and Briony and I had a sleepover at my parents' house (Geoff was working a night shift). This morning, my dad was awake when Briony woke up for breakfast just before 7 am. After she finished eating, he offered to take her so that I could go back to sleep - and both my parents surprised me by keeping her and taking care of her next feeding so that I could sleep straight through until after 11. Amazing. I was so incredibly grateful. I think it's amazing that, in the middle of an experience that is sucking up so much of my parents' energy, they can still give to me like that. My daughter is so blessed to be loved so much by so many people.
Labels: Briony, Christmas, Family, The C Word
Firsts
Today was a milestone: Briony's first trip to the doctor. We met her pediatrician, Dr Hanna, and I was happy with her - something that doesn't always happen with a new doctor. We were referred by our obstetrician, and I'm almost wondering if the two of them might have gone to school together because they both seem very close in age.
The appointment went well. Briony is absolutely okay after our car accident on Saturday (we were rear-ended, for those of you not on Facebook, and everyone seems to be doing okay other than a touch of whiplash and a headache that I've been dealing with since then). She's gained almost 9 ounces over her birth weight, which puts her at the 75th percentile for weight and around the 90th percentile for height. Interestingly, she's at the 95th percentile in terms of her head size - which kind of explains a lot about my recovery :)
After our appointment, we stopped in to introduce Briony to some of Geoff's coworkers. She made her first appearance at Cocoon yesterday. My coworkers were much more apprehensive than Geoff's, but equally happy to meet her.
And now, after replacing our two week old car seat / stroller / travel system (at Autopac's insistence), we're back at home and the rest of my family is napping on the couch while I'm trying to get bottles washed, baby laundry stains soaked, dinner defrosted (hey, I'm not magic), living room decluttered, presents wrapped, and Christmas tree finished. Oh, and blog updated.
I don't think there's any better feeling in the world than watching Geoff and Briony together. I keep on stopping what I'm doing to just look at them and smile. My heart is so happy and full.
Labels: Briony, Christmas, Cocoon, Mommy Stuff, The Boy
Holiday Round-Up
Let's see if I can summarize...
I suppose that Saturday marked the true beginning to this year's Christmas season. Geoff and I went shopping for a bit in the afternoon to take care of a few final details, and then Emily joined us for the evening to watch Elf - can you believe that neither Emily nor I had seen it before? Anyway. What's not to love about a movie in which Christmas is saved by singing. I thought it was absolutely delightful.
Sunday had an EARLY start. Because of the snow, Geoff and I had to leave our house at 7 am to get to Niverville in time for my 8 am soundcheck. After some quick practice, we left church to meet Rocky for breakfast - then it was back to church for the Sunday morning service. I had WAY too much fun singing the old-school Amy Grant version of 'O Little Town of Bethlehem' with my peeps (complete with a rockin' synthesizer solo and THREE key changes). After that, it was off to my parents' place to help them get ready for the Hildebrandt family gathering there later in the afternoon. By 3 pm, our house was full of people and we dug into presents and way too much food. Geoff and I stayed late to help clean up, then it was back to the big city.
I worked on Monday, then Geoff picked me up and we headed straight back to my parents' place to help get ready for my own family's get-together in the evening. We shared dinner, gifts, and so much laughter that my stomach hurt. It was so much fun to share our family Christmas traditions with Kevin and Geoff for the first time, and we had Cait there as well to share in the festivities. I love my family. We had such a great time. Geoff, Aaron, and I slept over - and my dad and I were predictably the first people awake. I shared an hour with him over a cup of coffee (or two...) and that was really special time for me. By 11ish, everyone else was up and we all pitched in to make brunch together. By 2 pm, Geoff and I were on the road again. We spent the afternoon preparing dinner and dessert to bring along to his brother Kevin's place, and we shared Christmas dinner with him and a Christmas phone call with Marilyn while we were there.
Boxing Day started off pretty slow for us... We slept in, then went to a couple of stores around 12.30 - bought a new stereo for my car (an extremely necessary purchase), a few books I'd been eyeing from Chapters, and two pairs of shoes for Lindsay. Nothing really extravagant, and nothing that was one of those 'oh my god, you'd never believe it' sales. I really didn't want to get up early or go to any of Those Stores. Then we were off to Morris to spend some time with my mom's family. More great food, and lots and lots of Blokus. By 11.30, we were home again. And back to work this morning. Whew.
My challenges for right now are trying to get through the ridiculous list of things I've planned to accomplish at work this week, making time to get my house back in order, and not being disappointed with Geoff's and my conflicting work schedules... He's off while I'm working today and tomorrow, then I'm off for the weekend while he works, and then he's working Monday night (New Years Eve) and Tuesday (my brother's birthday). And then he's off for the rest of that week while I'm working, and then working on the weekend again. Sigh. I suppose it's good for us to miss each other.
Oh, and trying not to be disappointed that Christmas is over. I love Christmas. I especially love spending time with family and friends, and giving gifts to people. It's such a long wait til next year...
So, all in all, my first married Christmas was busy - but kind of perfect. And Geoff contributed to the perfection by surprising me with probably the most perfect gift anyone has ever picked for me: a black pearl necklace that is absolutely stunning and simply looks like it was created for Lindsay to wear it.
He succeeded in making me speechless, which probably says it all :)
Geoff & Lindsay
Cait and Aaron
Jessie and Kevin
Labels: Christmas, Family, My Life, The Boy
Merry Christmas To All...
I'm feeling a little bit overwhelmed this Christmas, to be honest. I can't remember another Christmas when so many people who I love have been hurting, and so deeply. My heart breaks for all the families who will be doing their best to celebrate this season with an empty chair around the table for the first time. My prayer is that in the absence of happiness, you will experience some measure of joy. And hope that we'll all be together again someday.
To those of you who are hurting...
To those of you who are celebrating...
To those of you filled with great anticipation...
To those of you who are too tired to imagine tomorrow...
You have all our love and prayers. I wish you a very merry Christmas, and a new year full of God's blessings and his love - which is so much bigger and better than mine :)
Brandy blogged this quote yesterday, and it's so perfect:
I have found the paradox, that if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love.
- Mother Teresa
Labels: Christmas, My Life
Home for Christmas
Okay, it can't be a secret anymore that Lindsay LOVES Christmas. And last night was Christmasfication night chez Geoff and Lindsay. I've always been excited to make my house festive (and incredibly reluctant to take it all down again in January), but this year is extra-special because I have a HOME to decorate. And an incredibly tall husband to help with all the annoying stuff I can't reach at the top of the tree.
Yesterday after work, we set out on a mission to find a not-too-ugly artificial tree. It took almost two hours and probably six or seven stores, but we finally found one that was exactly what we'd had in mind. We got it home, set it up, fluffed up the branches, decked it out with ornaments and decorations... Lovely. It is a lovely tree. I can't stop looking at it, it just makes me *so* happy.
The best part is that it's a pretty tree, but a sentimental tree at the same time. I look at it and I see the new ornaments that we picked together, the snowflake we bought with Geoff's family in England, the decorations I bought on my very first Christmas on my own, the old ones that Emily and I used to fight over, the one Geoff bought me last year to mark our first Christmas together...
It's perfect and cozy and wonderful.
Geoff's surprise beginning to our Christmas project
Our tree
The ornament we bought in London
Our shared favourite 'new' ornament
One I've had since my first Christmas on my own (maybe I was destined to work at Cocoon?)
Some Christmasfication in the dining room
Labels: Christmas, My Life, The Boy
It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas...
I love our neigbourhood on a bad day. Now that it's December and all the houses are decorated for Christmas, it's ridiculous. The trees, the snow, the lights... Happy sigh. I can hardly wait for it to warm up a tiny bit so that I can go for a walk and just soak it all in.
Yesterday was a *full* day of Christmas baking with my mom, my grandma, both of my aunts, and (for a little while) my sister. And I do mean a full day. We started around 10 am and finished around 11 pm. In between, we completed enough of 9 recipes for all of us to go home with enough cookies, squares, and other festive goodies to pack our freezers.
My mom and I were both a little worse for wear this morning - I guess that's how you know you put in a good day's work.
I came back to Winnipeg in the late afternoon, and Geoff had this look like he'd been up to something. Sure enough... I didn't even have my shoes off before he dragged me into the living room to show me what he'd done. He's been working nights all weekend, but he set his alarm early today to get up and go buy an evergreen garland and some lights to decorate the banister, to surprise me. So adorable. How could you NOT love this man?! :)
And then he was off to work, and I settled in for an evening of email catchup, copy editing, and reruns of The OC. Underneath the glow of our very first Christmas lights of the season.
Labels: Christmas, My Life, The Boy
Heavenly Peace
My family was at Rock Lake this past weekend, away from cell phone signals or television channels or internet access. Odd, really. Because I love going to Rock Lake. But if I were anywhere else in the world and found myself without those conveniences, I'd probably hyperventilate.
I woke up yesterday morning and the world was white. We'd received nearly 18 inches of snow overnight, and the lake and trees were gorgeous. The snowflakes coming down were those big, fluffy ones that are usually only found in children's books. But it was a lot of snow - so much snow that we were snowbound until a snow plow came through later in the day. Forced to relax a little longer, I found myself admiring the tranquility I saw outside the window (tranquil... other than the fact that I could see my dad and Geoff just around the corner of the lodge, trying to shovel out cars). As I sat there, I was struck with the strangest thought: 'I wonder if Saddam Hussein was executed yesterday.'
He was, as anyone with access to technology and news media would have known. A violent man met a violent end, though his was brought about by justice that his victims were denied. Thinking about it yesterday morning, I felt awful. His execution will not bring peace to his country, or to the families of his victims. He'll never even stand trial for most of the things he did. The concept of justice has never seemed so empty to me. And it seems his execution has incited a new wave of violence in Iraq. So much for heavenly peace.
And sitting there - looking at the quiet scene in front of me, interrupted only by Anica and Sophie offering to share their strawberry scratch-and-sniff stickers with me - I knew that my idea of peace is absolutely foreign to most people in the world.
Funny, but it made me feel the most Christmasy I've felt all month. Because our need for a saviour has never seemed more obvious to me.
L
Labels: Christmas, Current Events
