Tuesdays Unwrapped 12.4 (Tough Love)

Today, I am participating in "tuesdays unwrapped" - where Emily (of Chatting at the Sky) charges us to write about "anything that causes (us) to pause and celebrate the moment.  Not what will be or what is to come, but what is real and true this day: the messy, the lovely, and the unexpected... discovering the gifts in the midst of the ordinary."  I'm hoping that this challenge will keep me focused on the Reason for the season - Jesus Christ, and keep everything else in proper perspective.

As I write this, it's 7:27AM, and it's already been quite a day.  We've been battling illness in our house... and missed school... and catching up... and more than a little panic over the situation, resulting in... more sickness. This morning, "tough love" was called into play.

Tough love sucks.  There.  I said it.

The "messy" was one of the first conversations of the morning, in which I yelled.  Also, the reaction that I received.  Really messy.

The "lovely" was the apologies that were exchanged before we left the house for school.  And I will tell you -- my heels were dug in.  I didn't go first.

The "unexpected?"  I'm not going to lie.  My faith wasn't strong.  The unexpected was that we made it to school, and there were no tears.  No more angry words were exchanged.  It felt a little bit like confirmation of the tough love being used by God.

Truth is, our situation is ordinary, but feels like one big mess to us -- the ones in the midst of it.

The gift?  Truly...baby steps.  The GIFT is that this morning is behind us, and we did it.

Celebration.

Sometimes all God asks of us is to put one foot in front of the other.

You can read more "Tuesdays Unwrapped" posts HERE.

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh!

So, it turns out that the Christmas tree (as I've mentioned) has an attitude, as random portions of it's pre-litness have decided not to light.  I figured that was to be expected eventually, since we bought the tree for cheap. What did we do to remedy the situation, you ask?  Well, we made do.  We added some extra strands of lights, and hope that with our excellent tree-decorating skills, the untrained eye won't be able to tell the difference.  (As for you trained eyes out there... well, just don't look so closely this year!)  Here's the thing: just yesterday, I was chatting with some friends at church who told me that the exact same thing happened to them this year with their tree.  Only, they have a pricey-expensive-supposed-to-be-nice kind of tree.  They are even less happy about the whole situation than I am, needless to say.  The lesson?  You don't have to pay top dollar in order to have your pre-lit lights give out in just a few year's time.

My friends also mentioned that just when they thought a section of lights was done-for, it would pop back on. So... I'm holding on.  I have great hopes for our mischievous tree!

I love these ornaments of our family of four... as babies!  My hubby and I are at the top, and the ornaments at bottom are our kids around the time of their very first Christmas.  They are the first ornaments to go on the tree... always at the top, and front.  My mom made the ornaments of my hubby and I using Christmas cards to frame or mat.  The kids' ornaments are just mini picture frames from Michael's.

Years ago, when our kids were tots, I removed all of those old metal hooks from each and every ornament, and replaced them with thin red ribbon.  Fast-forward thirteen years or so.  Don't judge my time-line.  My motto is "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!"  Now, I'm ready to part with the red ribbon, because I've found these:

Aren't they pretty?  They're swirly, delicate ornament hooks -- in gold.  I found mine at JoAnn's, but then also found them at a dollar store.  I first became aware of these last year when I received THIS SPECIAL GIFT.  But I looked everywhere, with no luck.  This year, success!  I love them because they take up less visual space on our skinny Christmas tree.  They sort of disappear in the tree, really making the ornaments shine... and at the same time, reflect the lights (whatever lights are actually lit!) of the tree.

Obviously, you know our Christmas tree is the same every year, since we've had red ribbons for thirteen years, right?  *wink*  Is your tree the same every year, or do you have a theme?  Do you have any secret tips for decorating the tree?  Any "rules of thumb" that you stick to each year?  Tell me your secrets.

Never Let It Be Said...

...that I made my daughter put up the Christmas tree on her sick day.  I mean what mother would do that?

However, she was feeling better in the early afternoon yesterday, and was bored.  You know, she OFFERED.  I mean -- I wouldn't want her to be bored.  Besides, I may have mentioned before that putting up the Christmas tree isn't really my thing, and my girl gets SO EXCITED to do it!  Why rob a girl of her joy?

I'm just sayin'!

So, earlier than ever, the Christmas tree is up.  We usually tackle the job about the first weekend in December -- but this year, we're having December's Second Sunday lunch at our house, so I'm getting decorated a little early.

The "First Gift of Christmas" tree is in place, and so is the Hot Beverage Station.  There have been a few additions, and a few subtractions in holiday decor.  Some things are exactly the same because... really?  I can't imagine doing them differently.

I'd show you the tree, but... after an episode with bulbs that wouldn't light, and a trip to the hardware store for my hubby and daughter... well, let's just say the lights need a little reconfiguring before the decorations go on.  Stay tuned.  (And no.  I am so-not stressing out about it.  Just not.)

How about you?  Is everything decorated at your house?  Tree up?  Wreath on the door?  No?  That's okay.  It's way more fun to do it in YOUR time than someone else's.  So, whenever you decorate...

enjoy the process and remember the REASON for the season.

Wearing JOY

The other day, as I headed out the door to do errands, I put on my bright yellow goose-down vest.  It was just right for the day.  One of my first stops was Target.  There's a Starbuck's inside the front of this particular store, and windows look out towards the parking lot.  As I walked up to the store, I noticed two women sitting in the Starbucks, and, well... you know how it feels when you think someone is talking about you?  It felt kind of awkward, because they were both staring directly at me with big smiles on their faces.  I was dying to check my pants to see if I had forgotten to zip or something.... and then, I remembered what jacket I had worn.

The yellow one.

I picked it years ago.  My mom asked what my hubby and I wanted for Christmas, and I told her vests.  My hubby picked navy, and I wanted yellow.  It was so cheerful, and such a surprise -- I just couldn't resist!  It screamed happiness and JOY to me, long before I had really even given much thought to living JOYfully.

As the realization hit me, I relaxed because... this actually happens a lot to me when I wear my vest.  When I WEAR JOY, people notice.

And that's not why I chose it,

but,

on the other hand... why not be a poster-child for JOY?  Not just when I'm dressed in sunshine-yellow and feeling good, but always.  Because it doesn't really matter what I'm wearing.  There are always people watching, and I have much to be JOYful about.

As I got closer to the storefront, I looked intentionally towards those women... and smiled... JOYfully.

...And a Partridge in a Pear Tree

It's early Monday morning, but I can already tell you that my first call of the day will be to the doctor.  My girl has been "working on" a cough since Thanksgiving Eve, and it seems to have become more than just a little tickle. Since nothing she's taken seems to have helped, we'll see what the doc has to say.

Luckily, our kids still have today off -- so perhaps we can get something in her system today that will kick this cough to the curb!

This has been an extreme fall for us.  We are not usually so sick.  I feel like the nurse must roll her eyes when she hears my voice on the phone.  But alas, we've come away with legitimate issues each and every time, so...

I thought I'd be far along on my Christmas decorating by now, but rather than decorate this weekend, we got some Christmas shopping done.  Nothing major, but it's a start.

There was other stuff going on too, like... my hubby repairing the dryer!  Hurray!  I am back on my usual laundry track!  There's nothing to throw a monkey-wrench into your week like not getting laundry done.  My hubby was fortunate enough to find a new motor on e-bay that saved us a lot of cash.  It's now installed, and I'm back in business!  I am blessed to have a handy hubby!

So, while I had hoped to finally get some decorating done today, I'm thinking that (realistically) it won't be until Wednesday.

This pretty dishtowel is one of my favorite things to put out each year, but I'll tell you a little secret.  It's only been used as a decorative flash of color, and NEVER for drying dishes.  Why?  It was a gift from a dear friend who passed away several years back, so I really treasure it... and, if I would actually USE it, I'd have to WASH it -- and I'm worried about that beautiful red fading, or worse yet, running/bleeding.

Do you have anything like that... that you baby along through the years?  It seems my Christmas decorations fall into two categories: ones with deep memories, or ones that were grabbed "on the fly" and hold no real meaning, other than to fill a particular niche at a particular time.

Last year, I tried to pair down my Christmas decorations, and as I sorted things to throw away or donate, I wondered if some day the kids would say, "What ever happened to that ornament...?"  But, they store their own collections of ornaments separately, and so I feel free to get rid of what I feel is excess.

What about you?  Have you started decorating?  -- or is today the day?