Yep, on the Eve of the Eve, we had to go shopping! With all that has been going on in our lives, we just had not finished. And it wasn't like we were missing a little thing here and there. Nope, these were key things we needed for the kids. So off we go to various stores in the area.
And what one word would describe our experience? Waiting. Waiting in line through numerous light changes to get through an intersection. Waiting for a parking place while folks who are leaving fumble for their keys and their cell phone and their seat belt. Waiting for enough room to push our carriage in the aisles of the stores. Waiting in line to check out. Waiting.
Through it all, store employees were in remarkably good spirits. And most shoppers seemed to be in pretty good moods. In fact, only once did we feel enough stress to momentarily 'go to our happy place' in our heads! So the waiting did not turn it into a bad experience.
But don't get me wrong. That does not mean I wanna go again tomorrow!! Not a chance! Our only outing tomorrow will be the Christmas Eve service at our church tomorrow night. Other than that, I'm ready for egg nog, cookies, and hanging out with my wife and kids.
I've been waiting for that for too long!
Saturday, December 23, 2006
Friday, December 22, 2006
Yule
Today is the first full day of winter. As the earth turns on its axis and brings us into winter, pagans recall the celebrations of our ancestors. The bonfires and the Yule log, said to foretell good luck if it burned for twelve hours. Our ancestors also bring us the tradition of decorating our homes with evergreens as a way of reminding us about the life in nature when much of nature around us seems to die away. Even mistletoe, thought to provide healing and protection, was used in decorations.
We embrace the dark and cold of winter. We gather together with our families and friends around the hearth. It is a time of rekindling relationships and connections with each other.
But we also we lean toward tomorrow, and the day after. Always leaning toward the light of the longer days.
Blessed Yule.
Rebound!
Okay, the exclamation point makes it seem more profound than it is, but I still feel like I'm finally bouncing back from the doldrums and starting to have some Christmas spirit. Thanks to the folks who left comments or sent e-mail. It was so nice to get support. And nice to know I'm not alone in feeling the stress!
Today is our last day of school (yes, I'm actually posting from work for once....shhhhhh) and then I'll get to be at home with the family for ten days! Lots of relaxation. Lots of time with the kids. Lots of time with my wife. No doubt, plenty of good food and beverage. And all the other goodies that come with a break from work.
As we head into this last weekend leading up to the big day, I hope all of you who were struggling are rebounding! Let's kick some holiday ass!! :)
Today is our last day of school (yes, I'm actually posting from work for once....shhhhhh) and then I'll get to be at home with the family for ten days! Lots of relaxation. Lots of time with the kids. Lots of time with my wife. No doubt, plenty of good food and beverage. And all the other goodies that come with a break from work.
As we head into this last weekend leading up to the big day, I hope all of you who were struggling are rebounding! Let's kick some holiday ass!! :)
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
I wish I had a river...
I wish I had a river
That I could skate away on
That I could skate away on
I think I'm doing this Christmas thing all wrong. I mean, it's supposed to be fun, right? In the movies, folks are practically skipping down the sidewalks as they do their shopping. The first tree they see is the perfect size and shape for their house. Gifts come pre-wrapped. Strangers greet each other with warm holiday wishes. And around every corner there is a jolly Santa, a cup of eggnog, and one more chestnut being roasted.
So why do I feel overwhelmed and exhausted?!?!? Shopping has turned into a series of stores that don't have what I want. Every checkout line is 2.6 miles long. Oh, and here's a tip, get your checkbook out before the cashier is standing there staring at you. Our tree sits half decorated while the kids finish projects and study for tests. And the daily debate over whether we should cook or just suck it up and eat take-out one more time is being won almost daily by the take-out option.
I know, my mother-in-laws recent cancer diagnosis is weighing heavily on us. Every little thing seems like a tremendous burden. Life feels, as my wife describes it, like running underwater. Requiring lots of energy just to slowly move a few steps.
I assume we'll get it all done and have a nice little Christmas. And grandma is all finished with her initial round of chemo and feeling pretty darn good, all things considered. And the kids are patient and understanding. Well, at least understanding. But it's been a very hard week. And it's only half over.
(Pardon the depressing tone. I tend to be more upbeat but I just needed to vent and whine a bit.)
So why do I feel overwhelmed and exhausted?!?!? Shopping has turned into a series of stores that don't have what I want. Every checkout line is 2.6 miles long. Oh, and here's a tip, get your checkbook out before the cashier is standing there staring at you. Our tree sits half decorated while the kids finish projects and study for tests. And the daily debate over whether we should cook or just suck it up and eat take-out one more time is being won almost daily by the take-out option.
I know, my mother-in-laws recent cancer diagnosis is weighing heavily on us. Every little thing seems like a tremendous burden. Life feels, as my wife describes it, like running underwater. Requiring lots of energy just to slowly move a few steps.
I assume we'll get it all done and have a nice little Christmas. And grandma is all finished with her initial round of chemo and feeling pretty darn good, all things considered. And the kids are patient and understanding. Well, at least understanding. But it's been a very hard week. And it's only half over.
(Pardon the depressing tone. I tend to be more upbeat but I just needed to vent and whine a bit.)
Friday, December 15, 2006
When the students go to the mall...
My profile lists me as a teacher, and I am. But I haven't worked in the classroom for several years. I work in a school for kids with special needs and my current job is technology director and development of professional development activities. But I still get invited to help out in the classrooms now and then. And today was one of those days. I got to go on a field trip to do Christmas shopping with a class. What an interesting experience! Each student had brought a shopping list from home with some gift ideas (suggested by the parents) for members of their family. So we loaded up the vans and off we went!
The main objective of this trip was the mall. But before the mall, we made a stop at Target to try to knock off some ideas at a discount. The student I was assisting had candles on the list for several folks. Of course, he had to sniff EVERY candle in the store. And I don't mean every scent. I mean EVERY CANDLE!! The 3-inch jasmine. The 4-inch jasmine. The 5-inch jasmine. You get the picture. Just knowing what jasmine smelled like was not good enough. Of course, he wanted me to sniff them too and offer guidance! By the time he finally made a choice, my sense of smell was pretty much shut down from too much sniffing!
Its funny to shop with someone who has been carefully taught to pay attention to prices. He clearly had the idea that the cheaper it is, the better off he would be. For example, in addition the candles mentioned above, his list had 'tealights' for grandma. And there were many options. Plenty of little red and green holiday tealights in tiny glass holders. Plenty of various colored and scented tealights. But he spotted the giant bag of 100 white, unscented tealights with just their little tin-cup holders. And 100 candles for only 2 bucks seemed like the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow! It took a lot of convincing that, while that was quite an irresistible bargain, the other options really were a nicer gift for grandma.
It's also interesting to shop with kids who have limited organizational skills but very strong ideas about where they want to go. My kid had a definite series of stores he wanted to visit in the mall. Of course, we walked past all of them 6 or 8 times in the process of visiting them in the order that existed in his head! But we had plenty of time so I was happy to just tag along.
It was a fun day. We had a nice lunch together. And he'll be able to put a present under the tree for all his family. And with all that walking, I shouldn't have to exercise for a week!
The main objective of this trip was the mall. But before the mall, we made a stop at Target to try to knock off some ideas at a discount. The student I was assisting had candles on the list for several folks. Of course, he had to sniff EVERY candle in the store. And I don't mean every scent. I mean EVERY CANDLE!! The 3-inch jasmine. The 4-inch jasmine. The 5-inch jasmine. You get the picture. Just knowing what jasmine smelled like was not good enough. Of course, he wanted me to sniff them too and offer guidance! By the time he finally made a choice, my sense of smell was pretty much shut down from too much sniffing!
Its funny to shop with someone who has been carefully taught to pay attention to prices. He clearly had the idea that the cheaper it is, the better off he would be. For example, in addition the candles mentioned above, his list had 'tealights' for grandma. And there were many options. Plenty of little red and green holiday tealights in tiny glass holders. Plenty of various colored and scented tealights. But he spotted the giant bag of 100 white, unscented tealights with just their little tin-cup holders. And 100 candles for only 2 bucks seemed like the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow! It took a lot of convincing that, while that was quite an irresistible bargain, the other options really were a nicer gift for grandma.
It's also interesting to shop with kids who have limited organizational skills but very strong ideas about where they want to go. My kid had a definite series of stores he wanted to visit in the mall. Of course, we walked past all of them 6 or 8 times in the process of visiting them in the order that existed in his head! But we had plenty of time so I was happy to just tag along.
It was a fun day. We had a nice lunch together. And he'll be able to put a present under the tree for all his family. And with all that walking, I shouldn't have to exercise for a week!
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Totally Dumb Questions
Today I visited the friendly periodontist. A nice little follow-up to the broken tooth incident. And the receptionist handed me a bunch of forms to fill out prior to the examination. The usual stuff about insurance and who to call if I keel over in the office. That kind of thing.
And then there was the Health Form. Checking off Yes or No to the typical questions about past diseases, etc. And then we got to the part that made me go...huh?!?! A series of questions...each phrased the same way....with multiple choice answers to circle. For example:
Have you ever knowingly been exposed to [insert various disease here].
And the choices for answers: YES NO DON'T KNOW
Wha???
If each question asks if I've KNOWINGLY been exposed...aren't the only possible answers either Yes or No? Is it even possible to not know whether or not I knowingly did something?!?!
Who creates these forms???
And then there was the Health Form. Checking off Yes or No to the typical questions about past diseases, etc. And then we got to the part that made me go...huh?!?! A series of questions...each phrased the same way....with multiple choice answers to circle. For example:
Have you ever knowingly been exposed to [insert various disease here].
And the choices for answers: YES NO DON'T KNOW
Wha???
If each question asks if I've KNOWINGLY been exposed...aren't the only possible answers either Yes or No? Is it even possible to not know whether or not I knowingly did something?!?!
Who creates these forms???
Monday, December 11, 2006
A different direction
When I started this blog I thought it would be a place for me to record my thoughts, share about my day, try to tap into a tad of creativity, and just enjoy being out here with others. I didn't envision sharing sad news.
But we don't control these things. This past Friday, my mom-in-law was diagnosed with leukemia. She entered the hospital on Saturday for additional tests. And today she began a seven day treatment of chemotherapy. She will get those meds 24/7 for the full seven days. Afterwards, they predict she could be in the hospital as long as 30 to 45 days for recovery, additional tests, etc.
My wife's mom and step-father usually visit at Christmas and we were looking forward to seeing them this year. This unexpected change has certainly shaken us all. We'll be working to find a bit of our Christmas spirit again and enjoy the time with our kids. But it definitely alters many of our plans and hopes about the holidays.
But we don't control these things. This past Friday, my mom-in-law was diagnosed with leukemia. She entered the hospital on Saturday for additional tests. And today she began a seven day treatment of chemotherapy. She will get those meds 24/7 for the full seven days. Afterwards, they predict she could be in the hospital as long as 30 to 45 days for recovery, additional tests, etc.
My wife's mom and step-father usually visit at Christmas and we were looking forward to seeing them this year. This unexpected change has certainly shaken us all. We'll be working to find a bit of our Christmas spirit again and enjoy the time with our kids. But it definitely alters many of our plans and hopes about the holidays.
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