Pinch me! I'm dreaming!

Can it be that I actually have some time to sit down and blog? Wow!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas -- we certainly did! I had the joy of seeing my parents and my sister (and got to talk to my brothers), which made it a joyous time right off the bat.

Unfortunately, the only "down side" to it all was... can I say this?... Christmas Eve Mass. We had to go to the children's Mass, which is always a disaster -- not because of the music, or anything like that.

It's me.
I can't handle distractions well.
(go ahead... laugh at the lady with 8 kids! You see why this is my path to holiness...)

While my heart cried out to focus on the birth of my Savior, the rest of me couldn't help but be distracted by all the kids who figetted, squirmed, squawked, cried, stage whispered, and danced around me. God have mercy on me, but I just can't take it.

I try to show grace and offer it up... I really do... but after awhile I'm shooting "death looks" at the parents and begging them inwardly to TAKE THEIR CHILD TO THE CRY ROOM.

I was in tears by the time the Consecration rolled around.

Next year we're skipping the children's Mass and going to Midnight Mass.

OK, now that I've gotten that awful confession out of the way, I'll move on.


To focus on the positive side, here's some of my favorite gifts:

My faith. No, I'm not just trying to sound all "holier than thou" so that someone may be impressed. I am grateful beyond all telling for the ways that the Lord has led me so far.

My family (my husband was off to the side talking to a friend, so he didn't make it in the picture. Trust me, though... I'm thankful for him, too! *grin*) We are all healthy, well-fed, well-cared for, and I'm so thankful.

And yet on top of that, I have material things to be thankful for, such as:

My new pump pot. I know that sounds a bit odd, so let me 'splain. My husband, dear man that he is, makes me a pot full of (decaf) tea every morning. It has now become a joke in our house that I know he loves me because he "made tea this morning." As long as there's tea in there, I know we're good for another day. *grin* On those rare occasions when I've run out of tea bags, he'll leave me a note that says, "I still love you, but I couldn't make you tea today."

ANYWAY, my old pump pot was good, but this one ROCKS! It only requires one pump to fill up the entire mug, the tea bags don't get stuck around the pipe that sits down in the carafe, AND... get this... the tea is still piping hot 17 HOURS later! Wow! For this northern chick who has been raised with the belief that a good hot cup of tea is the cure for all ills, this present is amazing!

 Books, books, and more books. As long as I have a stack of books to read, I am a happy camper! (this isn't all the books I received... these are just the ones on my desk at the moment...)



My St. Anthony medal. Seeing as he is now our official (by popular acclaim) patron saint here at Chez Ouiz, I am thrilled to have a medal to wear!

This chair. No, we didn't buy it. A friend got two of them at a yard sale for $5 (total), and after a few months the thin fabric gave up the ghost, and it was in tatters. I wanted to chuck 'em out to the curb, but my husband wanted to keep them because they were so comfortable. Being the amazing man that he is, he managed to take them apart piece by piece and figured out how to put them back together. My job was to take the pieces he took off and figure out how to duplicate it with the new fabric. We now have two ridiculously comfortable chairs -- whoo hoo!


The final gift I want to mention is also in the picture above. See that fuzzy little munchkin off to the side? We've had her for over a month or so, and she is an answer to prayer (although a frustrating answer, to be sure!)

A dear friend of mine got a Havanese several years ago, and I just fell in love with the dog -- pretty amazing for me, because I am NOT a dog person, and especially not a "little dog" person. However, her dog was so cute and friendly I found myself reluctantly warming up to her. This same friend bought a second Havanese two years later, and sent me a picture saying, "whenever you guys are looking for a new dog, you should get one of these!" Well, there's no way we could ever afford one, but one night I found myself sitting at the computer, looking at the picture, and just tossed up a quick prayer: "Lord, You know how much we've struggled with (our current dog) and how I'm finding myself irresistably drawn to Havanese for some bizarre reason. We couldn't afford one, but if You ever want to drop one in our lap, I'll take it!"

Well, 3 weeks later, my friend calls me. She and her family decided that they were a one-dog family, and were going to send this puppy back to the breeder.... unless we wanted her.

Of all the prayers I have ever uttered, and all the answers I have ever received, this one shocked me the most.

"Wait... wait a minute, Lord... did You actually just drop a Havanese into my lap?"

Yes, He did.


Off to work on the many crafting/organizing projects I have swirling around in my head!