Houston...

...we have a problem. For some reason, half of my house electricity keeps shutting down. It is the half that is stove, fridge, furnace, kitchen, girl's bedroom, and our bedroom. It wouldn't be such a big deal except for the whole fridge and furnace--mostly the furnace since it is cold outside.
The other thing is...we are having a party tomorrow with food & people. Oh sorry everyone, the food is cold and so is the house. We can function without the non-working part for several hours, however this party is tomorrow. It is having some major issues tonight and I have to finish housework. If I'm tired tomorrow it's cuz we were up trying to get this lovely stuff straightened up. My sweetie pie is working until close this evening and opens tomorrow morning at 6:30 am. That leaves very few hours with which to fix this. Please say a little prayer for us--thanks!!!

Tired

Do you ever get "worn out" by events that take place during a given week or day?? That's where I am at the moment. Most of today's events are family-related.
My parents are worried about the future of my dad's job. He works for a well-known place in the area. The company has started making cuts. He (dad) says that they were going to be doing a re-organization of stuff even before all of the bad news in the economy. If the cuts they are doing now do not do whatever they intend, they move on cutting other people according to how long they have been there as well as their position I guess. Many of his c0-worker friends will have their last day on the 19th of the month. It is saddening to hear and see this happening everywhere--the holidays don't make it easier.
Adding to the job questionability are issues with another family member which I won't discuss, but needs prayer. It doesn't have anything to do with us, but it presents a strain on my parents. I'm going to do the only thing I know...and that is pray.
I need to clean and get ready for the Christmas party, but at this moment, I'd rather take a snooze--to clear my head. Sorry, I usually don't try to focus my blog on being down and BLEH...but this is how I feel right now. Ending on a positive note...I am thankful for God's blessings large and small and His provision.

Peace

This post was meant for a few weeks ago, but as things go I didn't get around to writing about it until today.

A few weeks back on a Saturday Chicago trip, amidst the hustle & bustle we were amazed to enjoy this spot...

As you can see, through the archways, civilization lies just beyond the other side. In fact, you will recognize this that is really just across the street...

On many trips to Chicago, I have admired this building and photgraphed it--from the front. It is beautiful from any angle. Usually, there is a wedding going on that would keep us from getting photos of anything but the front--not on this day.

On this very busy day of shopping, dodging crowds of people and even some things I wouldn't ever wish to see again in life, here it was... footsteps away from Water Tower Square, an address on Michigan Avenue, mere feet away from busy sidewalks, and inches away from most of the people and the noise.

It was only for mere minutes that we visited. Amazement filled me as we stepped in to the courtyard. Here we stood looking around at the grandiose stuctures you have just looked at, and marvelled at the quietness and tranquility of this place. Having left the sidewalk only a few feet away, the new quietness amidst the constant bustle of a large city on a Saturday was unbelievable. One could think and breathe it in here. In a city of millions of people, a place where it was just two people. A few other visitors came into the courtyard--only a couple.
The quietness struck me. It was not an eery quiet, just a peaceful quiet. I was thankful for that moment of the day. After all, in those moments you can stop and recognize that in the midst of our crazy world, God is there. He holds those quiet places and patiently waits for us to come in. So many times, I have seen this structure and enjoyed it from the outside. Never had I gone further and experienced what it offered only to find it better from inside than the outside. The same holds true of my life with God. All too often, I observe rather than being fully invested.

In the midst of this season in particular, it is my goal to be a person who experiences the peace and quiet found in the everyday life. It is then that I can sit and truly listen to what He is saying to me.

Interestingly enough, this photo of the front was not taken on the trip I have mentioned, but on another trip earlier in the year. It is probably obvious since the light of summer is different than that of fall. In case you were wondering, it is the Fourth Presbyterian Church of Chicago.

ho-ho-ho

I didn't know what to call this mish-mash of a post so ho-ho-ho seemed to work.
We are happy to report that our bathroom is WHAT????? FINISHED!!!! Yes, our party is Friday night. As of this moment, there will be 16. The more the merrier right? I'm starting to get in the do I have enough this & that mode. Josh has been working on building a soffit in our main bath as well as the girl's bedroom. This is to cover the new plumbing stuff that we put in for the new bath. Granted, the soffit will not be painted in time for the party, however the plumbing stuff is dry-walled in at this point.
The realization has come that the main floor bath will now need totally repainted--oh no--more color choices. I always know what I want, but translating that into the correct color of paint doesn't usually happen.
Tonight, after a late dinner, we drove around in a couple of subdivisions by our house to look at Christmas decorations. We do this several times during a holiday season. It was the shorter version tonight and minus the Starbucks drinks. We were surprised at the number of people that put up decorations. It was fun and it is a family tradition for us. Speaking of traditions, Taggie is ever popular these days! Last night, we decided to ring a bell (well I did). Josh was kinda wondering what I was doing. The girls bolted out of their beds and immediately knew that Taggie must have left his spot (he had). It's so cute! We are getting questions regarding: 1. what he looks like when he flies 2. what his voice sounds like etc...
It seems that I may have received a revelation on Christmas gifts or sort of for Josh. He wants a) The Dark Knight b) the new book by Huckabee 3) a remote starter for his car...ok--so granted he didn't say these things exactly, but I've caught them in random conversations of him saying oh--that would be cool etc...
Once again, I'm off to contemplate how many things/what I need to clean & do before Friday arrives. If you have any great ideas for anything involving a Christmas party--please share--games, food, fun, gifts what--I'd love to hear!

Lights

As you can see, Taggie found his spot for today in the light fixture. Where will he go next??

Can I just describe some of my frustration with the outside Christmas lights?! We try to make a nice display for everyone to enjoy including the children. I must preface this with the following information. Our Christmas lights/trees/deer etc...that are outside are either new this year or were used last year for approximately 4 weeks--all one Christmas-year old or less. That said, every day something malfunctions. The girl deer has a head that doesn't light up. The spiral has the top section of lights out. Today, the LED spiral tree has a section of lights out. Two sets of icicle lights have sections out. There is only so much "fixing" & "replacing" we can or will do. I am not going to fork over tons of money to keep replacing things that only work for a 1-4 weeks!!
Last year, we had floodlights on the front. One worked for less than a week, the other about two, and the third made it for the entire time. We kept the third one and of course, it did not work this year. It's pretty pathetic when Christmas decorations don't even last for one entire Christmas season!!!!!!!!

When we lit up the display, everything was working with the exception of one stick tree which we replaced with a new spiral tree. That tree has fallen over in the picture. Maybe by Christmas, it will just be wreaths and greenery! I'm annoyed =).

Yes, it's only a minor very minor irritation and no it's not important at all really.

I guess I will add pics later. Blogger is acting funny--like Christmas lights.

Taggie

Meet Taggie! This is our new Christmas tradition & the girls are mesmerized. I first read about "Elf on a Shelf" on the Bring The Rain blog. I thought it was really cute. Let's just say, I didn't have plans of getting one and wouldn't have known where to do so. Yesterday, when we walked into a store, the lady came over to me and informed me that they had "Elf on a Shelf". Well, I looked at it and here he is living at our home.
Taggie only comes out at Christmas time. Children can't touch him. They can talk to him if they wish and they give it a name. What it does is help them remember to be good and act nice as Taggie reports in to mom & dad or Santa or whomever. He leaves each night, and comes back before the little ones wake up (in a new hiding spot).
The girls have LOVED being able to find him in the morning. Aliyah is always worried that Keirah will touch him. She also reminds Keirah that Taggie is watching. It's funny.

The name was given to him by Keirah. The picture of Taggie today is in our Christmas tree.

Monday

It's a quiet and wintry evening. The girls are playing, nothing is on TV, and my sweetie is in cheese country (a.k.a. Wisconsin). We finished school quickly tonight--yay.

I have to post my great deal from Saturday night. For 52 cents, I purchased a grater, a twin-sized bedskirt, 2 boxes of candy canes, & a pack of Twizzler's Nibs. Here's how: we received a $10 coupon for K-Mart for anything, the bedskirt was on clearance from $20.00 to $3.50, the grater was on sale for $3.99 ( didn't know it when I picked it up) and the candy is self-explanatory. The .52 cents is the total I paid including tax!!! Funny thing is that everything I bought was something I had wanted/needed. The bedskirt on Keirah's bed was ripped. I wanted a flat grater on a stand instead of a box type one. I had been looking for regular old red/white candy canes, and I love Twizzlers. It was fun!

In a bathroom progress report, we are in our final stage. Josh has started the grout, however needs to purchase more. I am guessing it will be done this very week!! It looks awesome. I'm glad to see a completed bathroom that Josh started from scratch. This has been one of his biggest projects to do alone. He plans to tile the kitchen floor in Jan. or Feb. He told me that we are waiting until February to order upper kitchen cabinets since they are coming out with some new stuff that would be good for what we need. It will be nice to have some extra cabinet space since we are limited on that with the current set-up.

In the way of Christmas gifts, I would say I am finished with the exception of Josh. I'm having a hard time thinking of something cool to get for him. We purchased my parent's gifts on Friday. As usual, we went with something they really really need. It's kind of a boring gift, however this is something they really need and really want. They have an old garage door and haven't EVER had an opener. That will be history very soon =). Another item was a new front storm door. Practicality is the way to go with them if you know what I mean.

Well, I have some exciting stuff planned for this winter evening--folding laundry & wrapping a couple of gifts. I'm happy to report that I finished off my lengthy to-do list with the exception of the cleaning the windows part. It's just too cold!