Movin', movin', movin'. Keep those boxes movin'. Rawhide!
Okay, that was lame, but I'm feeling lame. George and I tried to move the ping pong table from the garage to the basement. It did not go well, although feeling is returning to my left hand slowly. Who knew ping pong tables were so heavy? Not me. Anyway, we didn't even get half the table top through the front door before I cried uncle and we retreated to the garage. We will have to wait until the mud freezes, and we can go around back through the walk-out (rather than negotiate the stairwell inside), and we can get someone else to help George because I'm no help at all.
I hate to fail.
There was also an unfortunate incident in which a plastic laundry basket melted on the stove when a burner accidentally got turned on. A spatula gave its life to save the stovetop, and a little Barkeeper's Friend took care of the rest.
Otherwise, things are going well. Slowly, but well.
I expect postings to be very light for the next week. In the meantime, please contemplate this truth I read on Pinterest...
"You never know what you have...until you clean your room."
I would amend it to read, "...until you move." But no matter.
Happy New Year to you!
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
New House Haiku with Egregious Exclamation Points
Drove to house Tuesday.
Saw orange, dropped jaw, exclaimed, "Noooooo!!!!
This will not work. Fix it. Pleeeeease!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
As George said when I posted this picture on Facebook, it's worse in real life. Bright pumpkin orange stucco just finished Monday, and everyone's appalled...even the woman who picked the color...a woman who did a fine, understated, and conservative job with every other color choice for this house and is as shocked as the rest of us.
Can you imagine how the orange will pop when the sky is bright blue instead of snowy gray?
*shudder*
A friend asked if we were Tennessee fans. No. No, we're not. My blood runs Duke blue, George's runs Carolina blue, and we wouldn't put stucco in those colors on the exterior of this house, either. The house needs some color, but I was thinking about painting the front door, eventually. Orange, however, wasn't a color I was considering.
The builder will fix this, which is why I snort laughter every time I see this picture. Laughter with a slightly hysterical edge, to be sure. But laughter, nevertheless.
We're still waiting to hear if we close today. There's been a holiday-related hold-up with the title paperwork, but our mortgage agent thinks it will get cleared up soon. Will keep you posted.
Saw orange, dropped jaw, exclaimed, "Noooooo!!!!
This will not work. Fix it. Pleeeeease!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
As George said when I posted this picture on Facebook, it's worse in real life. Bright pumpkin orange stucco just finished Monday, and everyone's appalled...even the woman who picked the color...a woman who did a fine, understated, and conservative job with every other color choice for this house and is as shocked as the rest of us.
Can you imagine how the orange will pop when the sky is bright blue instead of snowy gray?
*shudder*
A friend asked if we were Tennessee fans. No. No, we're not. My blood runs Duke blue, George's runs Carolina blue, and we wouldn't put stucco in those colors on the exterior of this house, either. The house needs some color, but I was thinking about painting the front door, eventually. Orange, however, wasn't a color I was considering.
The builder will fix this, which is why I snort laughter every time I see this picture. Laughter with a slightly hysterical edge, to be sure. But laughter, nevertheless.
We're still waiting to hear if we close today. There's been a holiday-related hold-up with the title paperwork, but our mortgage agent thinks it will get cleared up soon. Will keep you posted.
Monday, December 26, 2011
Gratitude Journal #118
Wow. I'm not even sure where to start today. Gratitude overflows in this, the last Gratitude Journal entry of 2011.
Today, I am grateful for the gift of Christmas. So grateful.
Today, I am grateful for family and friends, for the community in which I live, and for my country.
Today, I am grateful for my children and my husband.
Today, I am grateful for rest before chaos...the move begins tomorrow (Tuesday).
Today, I am grateful to look forward to another year, with all its promise and hope and uncertainty and adventure.
Today, I am grateful for you, the readers of my blog, for your support and encouragement, for your comments and emails. Thank you.
What are you grateful for today?
Today, I am grateful for the gift of Christmas. So grateful.
Today, I am grateful for family and friends, for the community in which I live, and for my country.
Today, I am grateful for my children and my husband.
Today, I am grateful for rest before chaos...the move begins tomorrow (Tuesday).
Today, I am grateful to look forward to another year, with all its promise and hope and uncertainty and adventure.
Today, I am grateful for you, the readers of my blog, for your support and encouragement, for your comments and emails. Thank you.
What are you grateful for today?
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Christmas Haiku
Six thirty wake-up
Blessed by smell of strong coffee.
Hot, black Christmas cheer.
Squeals of sheer delight!
Santa came! Tidy tree scene
Devolves to chaos.
Santa gives dog a bone.
Dog growls at boy, gets lesson
In sharing her toys.
Half an hour it takes
To open presents. Best half
Hour of whole kid year.
Nick expected worst
Christmas ever. Got Legos.
Best Christmas ever.
Nick and George build the
Alien Conquest HQ.
So. Many. Pieces.
Jack expected best
Christmas ever. Got Kodak.
Best Christmas ever.
Snap-happy Jack takes
Pictures of hands, feet, phone, toys
Pillow, toilet, self.
Mom and Dad get Nook
Tablets. The end times approach.
Joy, joy, joy, joy, joy!
Charge Nook before use.
Three hours before playing.
Mimosas pass time.
Dog needs to be walked.
No one whines; Christmas spirit
Shines. A miracle.
Dog deposits mulch
On carpet. Nom, nom, nom, nom!
Mom vacuums. She’s Scrooge.
Rib roast makes house smell
Like expensive restaurant.
Thank you, God, for cows.
Thank you, God, for hope
And joy and celebration
And peace and kindness.
Even greater thanks
For giving your Son to teach
Us how love should be.
Saturday, December 24, 2011
Friday, December 23, 2011
Literary Words, Words, Words about Peace and Love, and a Blessing
I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old, familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet
The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Love came down at Christmas,
Love all lovely, Love Divine;
Love was born at Christmas;
Star and angels gave the sign.
Christina Rossetti
God Bless Us, Every One!
Charles Dickens
Their old, familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet
The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Love came down at Christmas,
Love all lovely, Love Divine;
Love was born at Christmas;
Star and angels gave the sign.
Christina Rossetti
God Bless Us, Every One!
Charles Dickens
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Things on Thursday: The Nativity
Sadly, in the year Christ was born, cameras and camcorders hadn't been invented, so we can only imagine what the Nativity was like. Going to modern-day Bethlehem doesn't help us get back to the inn and stable, either.
Consequently, we all have different images in our head of the event, based on what we learn in Sunday school, popular culture, and books. If you Google nativity images, an incredible variety of interpretations in a wide range of media pops up.
Stained glass provides a particularly appropriate medium for portraying the birth of Light in the world.
Historical accuracy rarely figures in images of the Nativity. We adapt the story to our times, our needs, our imaginations, our culture, as in this beautiful African Nativity.
Cute, cartoony representations speak to the child in us.
Renaissance portrayals of the Nativity often include anachronistic figures (wealthy patrons who commissioned the art piece often appear as wise men, the artists themselves might make a cameo as a shepherd, clothing is more suited to 16th-century royal courts than first-century Bethlehem, etc.) and symbolic or inaccurate images (a manger that looks like an empty tomb, as above).
Figurines are mass-produced or hand-crafted so families can have their own Nativity scenes over fireplaces, under trees, on tables in their homes.
Films depict the Nativity and play out the story for us in a medium we definitely understand. This image, from The Nativity Story, shows how human the event was.
Modern, clean depictions strip the event down to its barest elements. (This photo made 9-year-old Jack exclaim with joy, "That's baby Jesus!")
What is your favorite version of the Nativity scene? What do you value most in a Nativity depiction?
Consequently, we all have different images in our head of the event, based on what we learn in Sunday school, popular culture, and books. If you Google nativity images, an incredible variety of interpretations in a wide range of media pops up.
Stained glass provides a particularly appropriate medium for portraying the birth of Light in the world.
Historical accuracy rarely figures in images of the Nativity. We adapt the story to our times, our needs, our imaginations, our culture, as in this beautiful African Nativity.
Cute, cartoony representations speak to the child in us.
Renaissance portrayals of the Nativity often include anachronistic figures (wealthy patrons who commissioned the art piece often appear as wise men, the artists themselves might make a cameo as a shepherd, clothing is more suited to 16th-century royal courts than first-century Bethlehem, etc.) and symbolic or inaccurate images (a manger that looks like an empty tomb, as above).
Figurines are mass-produced or hand-crafted so families can have their own Nativity scenes over fireplaces, under trees, on tables in their homes.
Films depict the Nativity and play out the story for us in a medium we definitely understand. This image, from The Nativity Story, shows how human the event was.
Modern, clean depictions strip the event down to its barest elements. (This photo made 9-year-old Jack exclaim with joy, "That's baby Jesus!")
What is your favorite version of the Nativity scene? What do you value most in a Nativity depiction?
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