Purely Drivel

The Simple Woman's Daybook: End of 2009

FOR TODAY...January 28, 2009

Outside my window...it's a little overcast, and still cool.  We're still in this El Nino cycle where it warms up, rains and then gets almost cold for a few days.  There's certainly nothing boring about our weather!

I am thinking...that Hanna needs to get up soon if we're going to get going on our girl's day.

I am thankful for...a wonderful Christmas, the blessings of family and friends, a warm house, my new frying pans (a little shallow, perhaps, but I love them anyway!).

I am praying...that Tom will get over this cold of his soon and not have to spend his entire vacation sick, and for God's guidance and provision in 2010.

Toward a healthier me....I TTapp'ed 5 times last week and while my food choices certainly weren't perfect, they weren't completely terrible as in holidays past.  When I weighed and measured this morning, I was down about half a pound and had lost nearly 2" inches...not bad considering.  This week's goals: another 5 days of exercise and work more on getting rid of the white stuff that crept back into my diet again.  Maybe a green smoothie fast or cleanse?

From the learning rooms...no school until next Monday, but I need to get the next few months plotted and planned this week.

From the kitchen...I am in the mood for soups!  I'll get a pot of stock going today before Hanna and I leave, and make a big pot of vegetable tomorrow.

I am wearing...my exercise clothes - black shorts and my Cavaliers t-shirt.  If I put them on as soon as I wake up, I'm far more likely to get my exercise in!

I am creating...a few custom orders for clients, lots of lists for things that need to be done this week and maybe some messy flower pins with Hanna.

I am going...to take down the Christmas tree tomorrow...or maybe this evening if I get a late burst of energy.  I love the tree and decorations, but I'm ready to have my house back.

I am reading...Retraining the Brain and pulling out my chronological One Year Bible.

Toward a lifelong education...reading Distracted and finding myself a little horrified.  Much of what I've been feeling and seeing and fighting against in my own family.  Terribly interesting.

I am hoping...I find a treasure or two when Hanna and I go thrifting today.

I am hearing...Tom coughing and the kids waking up.  This cool weather certainly has got them all sleeping later!

Around the house...there are still Christmas presents in the living room and the kids bedrooms have exploded.  Pretty typical week after Christmas stuff.

One of my favorite things...using my Grandma Martha's cake pan to make caramel pecan rolls in on Christmas day.  I love flipping it over and seeing her handwriting and maiden name on the bottom.  I still miss her so!

A few plans for the rest of the week:  girl's day today, taking down the tree and putting the house back in order, lots of work in the studio...that's about it!

Here is picture for thought I am sharing...

Finding the perfect gift for my so hard to shop for husband...priceless!  I feel like I owe the guys from The Crucified a personal thank you for getting back together and putting out new merchandise =)

Have a blessed week!

Read more Daybooks here, where they are graciously hosted by Peggy each week.

Christmas Review

6 loads of dishes over 2 days...with another load waiting in the sink that I just couldn't bear to do last night.

1 sick husband on Christmas Eve, and one boy with a migraine at Christmas Eve supper.

No church for us this year.

7:00, the "minimum" wake up time we gave the kids.

1:35 am...the time Caleb walked into our room and announced that he just couldn't sleep anymore and that Santa had come.

1 bed made on the floor of our room for little boys who couldn't sleep at 1:35 am.

6:54...the time we actually got up.

Scripture and Happy Birthday, Jesus and coffee.

2 stockings, too many presents.

2 new frying pans for Mom...not what you'd think to be the best present, but already used and washed multiple times each.

Craft presents for Hanna - a desk, a knitting set, a craft set, new sketch book, a digital camera, a sewing machine...from Grandma's and Grandpa's and Mom and Dad.

Building for Caleb...Legos and Erector Sets...and Wii games galore...and binoculars and a new scooter and so much more.

A garage theme for Tom and I...new bikes that we traded for, a freezer and a garage door opener.

Whole wheat biscuits and gravy, scrambled eggs and sausage.

3 friends to spend the day with, who made us laugh and blessed our day.

A day off from "no refined"...turkey and ham, mashed and sweet potatoes, gravy, stuffing, homemade bread and snacks.

Wine and Williams-Sonoma hot chocolate, and sparkling cider for the kids.

For dessert...caramel pecan rolls, all made from scratch.

11 pm...when we finally crashed last night.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

A Christmas filled with memories and fun, of friends and blessings.  Even though we miss our far away family so dearly, our Christmas was simple and wonderful.

Oh yes,...

and...

4 - the number of times Caleb has asked (by 8:22 this morning) if we are going anywhere today so he can spend his Christmas money.

Christmas Memories

I was the last one up last night.  It's not often that happens.  The kids were in bed and so was Tom, and I had the living room all to myself.  As I enjoyed having the whole couch to myself  by the light of the Christmas tree, I had this weird experience of Christmas memories flooding back, almost like a movie.

I've always had a strong case of Christmas Eve Insomnia so old movies are a strong memory when it comes to this time of year.  I remember being wide away at 3 am one Christmas morn, watching That's My Boy and High Time on channel 26.

Memories of Christmases with new a new baby sister, of new baby brothers and of new baby cousins...all of whom are old enough to be married and parents as well.

Christmas Eve's at Gram and Gramps, when Santa would stop by to bring us each a gift and Papa would announce, "Hark, I hear the sound of reindeer hooves!".

Of visits to Granny Wooten, always so frail, who would give us kisses and tell us we'd grown.

Of times with my Grandma baking cookies and playing cards with cousins in her backroom, which I always remember as being so cold.

Going to Great-Grandma vonMoos's to take her a small tree and decorate it for her, as she pulled out boxes of heirloom glass ornaments.

Christmas day at Grammy and Papa's, with piles of presents and fudge and homemade caramels and family everywhere.

Of Anderson/von Moos Christmas parties full of even more family and fun, with Swiss Mac and Cheese and a white elephant gift exchange that could make you fall out of your chair laughing.

Of cards from Great-Aunt Ella and Uncle Eddie, always with two crisp dollar bills inside.

Of Christmas card photos, with Mom trying to get four kids to smile and look at the camera all at the same time.

Of watching a Good Times marathon with Dad one year, waiting for Mom to finish getting everyone else ready to head to Gram and Gramp's.

Of pots of Gram's chicken and noodles and then, in later years, Grammy's chicken and noodles.  Now, the chicken and noodles are mine and I will pass this recipe and tradition on to my own children, along with the love that goes into making them.

Of caramel pecan rolls and lebkuckens, of almond cookies and snickerdoodles.  One year, Carrie and I made 17 different kinds of cookies, while PBS broadcast holiday specials like an Andy Williams retrospective and An Ozark Mountain Christmas (which I would love to see again someday).

Of watching A Christmas Story for the first time, and  thinking that I'd never heard my Dad laugh so hard. 

Of getting to stay up past bedtime to watch A Charlie Brown Christmas and Rudolph, a tradition that I still keep with my own two little ones.

Memories of coming out on Christmas morning to find gifts we didn't even know we wanted, but would love for years.  That crazy push-me-pull-me spinning thing that was meant for outside, but spent most of the winter in our living room.  A My Little Pony nursery that Hanna played with many years later, a Barbie and the Rockers stage and dolls, new bikes, kitchen sets and more.   A black and white panda and a rocking chair for my first Christmas...the bear still in my closet and the rocking chair in my living room.

And once I had brothers, Legos...always Legos.

This year, as I prepare to spend my second Christmas away from the family that makes up so many of my most treasured memories, I am so very thankful for the little family of my own God has given me.  For my dear husband, who supports and loves and treasures me.  For my beautiful girl, who is so very like me.  For my silly boy, who can make me laugh like no one else.

Have yourself a Merry Christmas, and may it be filled with new memories to treasure.

This, that and the other...

• Tom and I went on a Christmas date Monday night.  It was one of those things we said we'd make a tradition of when Hanna was small...and we've done it maybe half of the years since then.  A friend works in promotions and was able to get us tickets to the Orlando premiere and after-party of Sherlock Holmes.  The movie was fun (if a little dark and contained a few dark magic things I didn't care for) and the friends were amazing.  We got to not only spend a kid-free evening, but we were able to share it with some of our favorite people. 
  It was a little exciting to get "'swag" when we walked in the door, and to hear the people running it threaten us with being thrown out if they so much as saw a cell phone light up.  I remembered yet again that I am tragically uncool and eternally unhip.  The after-part was at a club at Universal Studios and I felt quite a bit like a fish out of water.  The great company kept it from turning into a full out panic  and I was reminded how thankful I am of the friends God has brought into our lives over these past few years.
• I think the kids had even more fun Monday night than we did.  Our sweet Madeline came to stay with the kids and brought with her enough craft projects to open her own Michaels!  Exactly what Hanna and Caleb love.  They've suggested that perhaps Madeline doesn't need to go back to college and could just hang out with us every day =) 
• We are ready for Christmas.  The gifts are wrapped and the turkey is thawing, as will the ham be as soon as I can find space for it in the fridge.  The one thing I still haven't done...sent off the gifts that need to go to California.  They just can't seem to make it out the door, even though they're all ready to go.  Today, today, today. 
• Our schedule has been so out of whack for the last week and a half.  After three nights of our Christmas program at church last weekend, a busy week, a busier weekend and more crazier since then.  Last night, Tom and the kids got home from church around 9 with Chinese food for dinner.  We need our normal schedule back!
• Have I ever mentioned that I'm a bit of an oatmeal snob?  It's what I eat nearly every morning for breakfast, with a little sucanat and cinnamon, a few dried cranberries  and some chopped walnuts (I'd add in some ground flax seed if I could ever remember to clean out the coffee grinder!).  The only oatmeal I seem to like is Bob's Red Mill, and it has to be the extra thick rolled oats.  Anything else is inedible. 
  And did you know that you could buy food on Amazon?  I've been looking at some of the more natural sugars and flours I've been eating, and the deals are pretty decent (especially if I can get them shipped for free with Tom's Amazon Prime!).  It's hard to find a lot of those products in our small town, so this could be a great blessing.
• I failed yesterday.  I ate a lunch I shouldn't have...which lead to blood sugar spikes and crashes...which lead to more things I shouldn't have eaten...which lead to more blood sugar spikes and crashes...which lead to a refined carb coma on the couch and exhaustion that came out of nowhere.  Lesson learned!   This weekend was also a little difficult, with two parties in a row featuring baked ziti and pizza.   A little is okay.  More than a little throws my body into chaos.

The boy is calling for snuggles...and after that, my TTapp DVD and work are calling.  Have a blessed day!

Primal by Mark Batterson - Review

I'm going to make this really simple.

You need to read this book.

Your pastor needs to read this book.

You might want to think about handing out copies to every Christian you know.

And then you should read it again yourself.

I'm not kidding.

In the 15 years I've followed Jesus, I've come across a handful of books that have truly challenged and changed me.  Primal is one of them.  I'd considered giving my copy away, but it is so underlined, full of notes and scribbled in that I couldn't bear to part with it.  I'm not even sure I want to share my copy with my husband - I might just have to get him his own!

Batterson makes the case that over the last 2000 years, Christianity has evolved to something that can be very far removed from Christ's original message.  We've added layers of history and tradition...and even entertainment, all of which have diluted the true heart and message of Christ.  It's time to rediscover and reclaim the primal elements detailed by Jesus:

The heart of Christianity is primal compassion.
The sould of Christianity is primal wonder.
The mind of Christianity is primal curiosity.
And the strength of Christianity is primal energy.

Back to the basics of what it means to follow Jesus...and how we communicate and share that love with others.  I was challenged and inspired by every single page of this book, and that is rare.  

I am haunted again and again by this thought raised in the second chapter:

If you are a Christ follower, then you have been drafted into an army of compassion
that knows no enemy but those things that break the heart of God. 
And it's not okay to not do something about them.

Primal should be the first book you read in 2010, and is available for purchase using any of the links above or this one.

This book was provided for review by the WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group.

The Simple Woman's Daybook: Christmas Week

FOR TODAY

December 21, 2009...

Outside my window...it's 42 degrees right now.  Probably sounds nice and toasty to a lot of the country right now, but for us it's cold! 

I am thinking...that it just doesn't pay for me to eat foods with too much (if any) refined sugar or flour.  Pasta one night this weekend and pizza the other, and I feel a little hungover and dopey today.  

I am thankful for...two families at church yesterday that blessed us more than they'll ever know.  One financially, the other by calling to ask if they could bring us supper and then spending nearly 15 minutes on the phone with me to discern our likes and dislikes.  The entire family will be together after the holidays and wanted to create a meal to encourage one of the ministry families at our church.  I am so truly humbled and blessed by both of these lovely families.

I am praying for...a peaceful holiday week, but especially for  the people of the Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (3rd paragraph down)  If you happen to be a local reader, there will be a prayer vigil tomorrow evening at around 7:30 pm at FUMC Clermont.

From the learning rooms...school is on break for the next two weeks, but I need to do a little prep work for when we begin again.

From the kitchen...a little more baking to take care of before Christmas Eve, and I'm pondering making caramel rolls for Christmas Day dessert.

I am wearing...Pajamas, socks and a sweatshirt, and hoping that heater gets cranking!

I am creating...a few more custom layouts.  I don't normally create things for clients over the holidays, but I've had so many requests that it's hard to say no.

I am going...to get the gifts shipped to CA today if it's the only thing I do! 

I am reading...too many books at once right now.  I am officially on my winter reading binge.

I am hoping...to exercise at least 5 times in the next 7 days.

I am hearing...cartoons on the living room and feet pattering on the hardwood floors.  It's after 8:30 and about time the house started waking up!

Around the house...we finally got in that much needed scrubbing and the house is feeling so, so much better. 

One of my favorite things...soaked oatmeal with walnuts, cinnamon, a few dried cranberries and sucanat.  Always yummy, but even better on a cold morning.

A few plans for the rest of the week: lots of studio time, date night for the Orlando premiere of Sherlock Holmes tonight, communion/prayer vigil tomorrow, movies with the kids on Wednesday, Christmas Eve dinner out and church and Christmas on Friday.  This week is going to fly!

Here is picture for thought I am sharing...

 

My baking assistant, always ready to lend a helping hand.

Read more Daybooks here, where they are graciously hosted by Peggy each week.

Sunday Response: Loving More

This morning's message theme was Loving More, and I found it particularly timely.

As I've been finishing up Primal for review (hopefully tomorrow), I have found my faith challenged...not in a bad way, but in that good, makes you think about your core beliefs sort of way.   And that's something I really do believe we all need to do more often.

My core belief:  following Jesus ultimately comes down to love.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,
that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world,
but to save the world through him.

John 3:16-17

We hear and see John 3:16 all over the place and it's probably the most known verse in the entire Bible.  It occurred to me this morning, though, that perhaps all those John 3:16 signs, all the times we hear it quoted, all the times we see it printed...maybe they're just a little short sighted.

Sure, we wouldn't have much if it weren't for 3:16 - it sums up so much in one little verse.  But I think that maybe John 3:17 is the one we need to focus on a little more right now.  Maybe it's more important than we tend to give it credit for. 

As followers of Jesus, we should seek to be known for the way we love - radically, limitless, intentionally.  When we're really honest with ourselves...as a whole, Christians are often more known for their condemnation and their disapproval.

Ouch. 

God didn't become incarnate so that the world would know condemnation through His followers.  God didn't step down from His throne so that 2000 years later, those who claim to be His are known more by their finger wagging than their radical, limitless, intentional love for all of His creation.

Following Jesus, experiencing God's love - it isn't about a show on Sunday morning.  The sounds, the singers, the background slides...the hour of entertainment that we've made worship into and find new things to complain about each week...I wonder sometimes if we've gotten it all wrong.  We lament the slow death of Christianity if America, we cry that the younger generations are leaving the church.  And yet, I truly believe that if we were loving the way God loves us...the way He calls us to love others, we'd see a different reality.

The church can't compete against the world. 

It shouldn't even try.  

It should offer things that the world can't. 

What if we focused on developing welcoming, real-life relationships rather than acquiring more "friends" on Facebook?

What if we were as intentional in our truth as we were in programming our DVR's?

What if we were as passionate about discipleship as we are about our favorite sports teams?

What if we gave people truth?

What if we gave them Jesus - simply Jesus? 

What if we were radical in love and the way we showed it?

A new command I give you: Love one another.
As I have loved you, so you must love one another.
By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.

John 13:34-35

Lord, help others to see Your love through my love and my life.  This is what it's truly about, God - letting my love for You and Your love for me spill out onto those around me.  Let it get messy, Lord.  Let it splash all over, help me to overflow with Your Love.  Let me love with Your Love, teach me to live without condemnation, help me to share Your Glory and Your Promise through my words, my deeds, my heart.  To You be the glory.

Amen.

Christmas Countdown

We're almost there - can you believe Christmas is just a few days away? 

So far, we've been able to enjoy a quiet little holiday season.  Sure, there have been a few hectic days...but they've been just that - a day or two here and there and not the entire season as a rule.  As I lay in bed last night, all the things that must be done in the next week went rolling through my head... and I realized it's not really that much.  And the things that will take up our time are not stresses, but pleasures. 

Today:

• Christmas Cleaning (with the business of the last few weeks, our poor house is in desperate need of a good scrubbing)
• Studio time (a few custom orders to take care of)
• Christmas party at the Caponi's

Sunday:

• Church (Tom is needed at all 3 services
• Studio time
• A bit more baking? (I have a need for spiced nuts and want to try making them with sucanat instead of refined sugar)
• Youth Christmas Party/Open Gym

Monday:

• Tom's first day of vacation
• Studio time 
• Bake banana/pumpkin breads
• Sherlock Holmes premiere at Universal (date night)

Tuesday:

• Take treats to church staff
• Studio time?
• Communion service at church (that Tom is part of)

Wednesday:

• Movies with the kids

Thursday:

• Cook turkey/prep stock/bake bread for Christmas Day
• Dinner at Robata (thanks to a gift)
• Christmas Eve service at church
• Open a few gifts

Friday:

• Pray the kids don't wake us up before the crack of dawn
• Sing Happy Birthday to Jesus
• Enjoy Christmas

Also in there, we're hoping to get in lots of bike rides, lots of games of Apples to Apples ($7.99 on Amazon right now - if you don't have that game, get it now!) and doing nothing as a family.

Sounds like a perfect recipe for Christmas week to me!

40 Loaves by C.D. Baker Review

40 Loaves by C.D. Baker

I love little books.  A little something that I can keep by the bedside or even tuck in my purse and take with me as I run errands. 

Even more than that, I love little books that contain big truths to big questions that we're all too often afraid to ask.

40 Loaves is one of those books.  In 40 little chapters, it covers topics as varied as:

• Why do I want Jesus in my life?
• Why do I fear unbelief?
• Why am I so discontented?
• Why do I pray only in emergencies?
• Why are some Christians so hard for me to like?
• and so many more.

While it's meant to be used as a 40 day devotional, I've been a little overwhelmed with those right now.  Instead, I've kept mine in my purse for those down moments that come each day.  Waiting at the doctor's office, in the car (while my husband drives, of course), at the pharmacy...all those moments I'd normally find myself reaching for a magazine or staring out the window.   It was perfect.

Each chapter was short enough to read in just a few minutes, but I kept finding myself coming back to it in thought and prayer later each day. In fact, if I had one criticism, it would be that some of the topics are a little too deep to be covered in such a short writing.  At the same time, I can't really say that's a true negative because it often sent me to my Scriptures to dig deeper.  Perfect as a little gift this holiday season, I'd also love to see churches give this book to those who are new to following Jesus or even to new church members. 

Available for purchase here.

Hardcover: 176 pages
Publisher: WaterBrook Press; 1 edition (October 6, 2009)
ISBN-10: 0307444902
ISBN-13: 978-0307444905

This book was provided for review by the WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group.

This'n'That - Boys and Girls and Books and Stuff

Just over a week out from Christmas.  All of the presents I have to take care of are purchased.   I do still need to get the grandparent's gifts all shipped, and there's a chance they may not make it all to California on time.  Perhaps we'll call them Epiphany gifts this year.

 

This sweet boy has been dealing with a little bout of insomnia.  It started this weekend, I think, after being out late for the Christmas production at church for 3 nights in a row.  We finally got him back to normal bedtimes on Monday, but he's been up until after 11 each night. 

"I just can't turn off my brain, Mama."

Oh sweetie, do I ever know that feeling.  We've made sure to cut out any sugar or caffeine from the afternoon on, but it doesn't seem to be helping.  We even gave him a Benadryl night before last, thinking it might do the trick but it didn't do a darned thing.  I'm thinking of picking up a sleepy time tea or something of the sort to help him out.  Warm milk isn't really an option.  I finally made him a bed on our floor, and that's where he's slept since Tuesday night. 

This dear girl has been crafting and crafting and crafting.  Her new love?  Finger knitting.  She figured it out yesterday and has been creating garlands and scarves ever since.  Yarn has become our new treat - she and Caleb beg for new skeins at the store.  She even taught her little brother how to finger knit and he promptly made me a scarf last night.  She has a whole file of crafty blogs, but I do believe her favorite of all is Elsie Flannigan.   Elsie is talked about like a close friend in our house and I've decided that for an 11-almost-12 year old girl, she's a role model I rather like.  She could be idolizing Miley Cyrus or obsessed with the awful *Twilight books and movies like many girls  her age and women much older. 

I'll take Elsie - she's creative, follows her passions and inspires Hanna to be an individual.  She's also inspired Hanna to want a pair of yellow tights...which I think would make someone look a bit like Donald Duck, but we'll keep looking.

*Side note: yes, I have read most of the Twilight books - the first 3 of the 4  -  and I feel comfortable saying that they're easily some of the worst fiction I've ever read.  I read a lot - somewhere around 75 books so far this year - and I don't claim to just read quality literature, but those books are like bad-junior-high-love-poetry bad.  

And I've read a lot of vampire novels over the years, so that's not really the crux of my concern.    My main issue (beyond the awful writing, of course) is about the model it is giving our young women of romance.  I don't like that the "heroine" is so completely incompetent that she can barely walk or that she is thoroughly reliant on men to save her over and over and over.  I'm also concered about the way many women - younger and older - have turned it into an obession to escape from their daily lives and families.  I find something so very sad about that.

Off my soapbox.

A few more things on my mind:

• Lots of reviews coming up.  Two book reviews that need to be written and a promised review of soapnuts.  I'm hoping to get one book reviewed later today, another this weekend and the soapnuts as soon as I can. 
• I've been pondering a bit about this intentional year.  Expect some thoughts soon, as well as my goals for 2010.  As I'm praying and thinking, I'm realizing that my goals for this upcoming year are very different than previous ones.  I blame it on that intentional thing.
• I have been suffering from a severe lack of  initiative this week.  I have lots of things that should be done, but they're not happening.   
• Tom finished his Hebrew class Tuesday night and just has his online classes to finish up.  This has been a loooong semester, but he's finally over the hill and past the half-way point.  If he can keep up this pace, he's got 5 more semesters until he graduates.  I'm already planning his party.  He's taking the next two weeks off and we're all looking forward to having him home.
• We are nearly finished with school for this "semester".  Just a few odds and ends this week so that we can start up again in January with a clean slate.  I am planning to continue with the 6 or 7 weeks on with one week off for a mom-break and time to plan again cycle.  I also think we're going to continue on more of a year-round schedule through the summer, with the exception of our time in California.  It doesn't make sense to me to have the whole summer off when we're stuck inside due to the heat and humidity. 
• I'm nearly to 3 weeks almost completely refined sugar and flour free.  I did have about a 1' long piece of a Kit Kat last night and it was sooo sweet it almost hurt.  I've lost 9 or 10 pounds, which has been wonderful, and need to lost about 50 more.  Again.  Ugh.
  It' s really not easy to eat this way, but I've been sleeping better, have more energy and am thinking more clearly than I have in a long, long time.  I'm hoping to start exercising next week and think that will make even more of a difference.  I need to start keeping a list of what I can eat and meals I like - the hardest part has been feeling like I have a lack of variety, but I know that's really not true.  
• Our winter garden is starting to produce.  I've picked about 4 pounds or so of beans over the last few weeks, have cherry tomatoes starting to turn red, and the beets and broccoli seem to be doing well.  Onions will go in soon.  I'm starting to think about our Spring planting and have decided we need to add two more beds.  My goal this year is to go from growing enough for meals to growing enough to preserve.

Time to get moving!