Status Report December 2009

Lisa’s status report format is a fun way to encourage blogging for those of us who find we are more and more sporadic about posting and more and more in need of a boost for post ideas. She graciously shares the idea, so I’m borrowing it again today. Hers are always fun to read, too.

Sitting….in my dining room/living room listening to Boo watch Emmett Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas, a childhood favorite of mine. I was so excited when I found it on DVD a couple of years ago, and now I get to share it with my guys. Boo has a stuffed otter named Baby Otter, and she’s enjoying these Muppets.

Drinking…..coffee, mostly decaf with just a tad of regular and lots of hazelnut creamer and Splenda.

Thankful….for a heated house. It was 13 degrees this morning. That’s beyond cold. I didn’t have to convince anyone to wear a coat today! The extreme cold spurred an interesting discussion with the boys as we shivered our way to school wishing the heater in the car would crank up sooner. We were talking about how hard it must have been on the pioneers and settlers when winter came here. So bitterly cold. Then we started talking about how hard it must have been in the hot summer, too. We came to the conclusion that we are quite spoiled and extremely thankful for what we have.

Anticipating….an evening at “Star Wars in Concert” with the boys tonight. They are so excited. This is part of our Christmas gift to them, and a cool benefit to living in a real city where these kinds of things come in concert. Boo gets an evening with her favorite babysitter, and she’s excited, too.

Thinking….that I am not going to do Christmas cards or a letter this year. Maybe I’ll try to do something early in the year instead. I just let it go too long, plus it will cost an arm and a leg on postage and copying.

Needing…to get a picture of the kids made. My mom gave Boo the cutest little Christmas dress, and I need to get them photographed together. Sure would be nice if my camera hadn’t died. Guess what I’ve requested for Christmas.

Ready….for our Christmas musical this weekend. My 11-year-old son is in the drama and I’m singing in the choir. J is doing a great job with his part, and our youth pastor has written a sweet play to go with the music we’re singing. Last night was our first practice with the stage and props and it looks like it’s going to be very nice and I love that the focus is on worshiping Jesus. Last year, Drew had moved up here the first of December and I and the kids came after school let out the week before Christmas. I came up to visit him before bringing the kids and our stuff, though, and that week we visited our church for the first time. It was the week of the Christmas musical, and we never felt the need to visit anywhere else. This church has really become home and we love our church family here. I’m amazed how quickly St. Louis, and especially our church, has become home, and at the tight friendships we’ve formed. We really needed that after the desert of the past few years.

Planning….to do a bunch of baking next week. I want to do several different cookies and mini cranberry bread loaves to give to people. Looking forward to it.

Working….on a goal to go from being a couch-potato to being able to run 3 miles in 30 minutes. I found a plan that I’m following and so far I’ve stayed with it better than I ever have before. Also working to lose about 20 pounds. Hoping the baking next week doesn’t put a damper on my resolve. Moderation….

Reading….The Jesus You Can’t Ignore by John MacArthur. Good stuff. I had to not check out anything else from the library, though, so I could focus on finishing it because Drew wants to read it next and he keeps mentioning that he really would like to read it soon. Also reading Because the Time is Near by John MacArthur because I got to Revelation early in my through the Bible in a year reading plan and I have been wanting to read this verse by verse look at Revelation.

Preparing….for our January Bible study, Hoping for Something Better by Nancy Guthrie. Planning to start today to really focus on our first meeting’s reading. Looking so forward to digging into the book of Hebrews with the sweet ladies who meet together on Tuesdays!

Enjoying….our little Charlie Brown tree this year. We decided not to spend the money on a real tree this year and, besides, we don’t have much room in this apartment. We’re using the little tree Drew put up last December to make our furniture-less apartment more cheery when we moved in the week before Christmas and had to wait until after New Year’s for our furniture. While decorating it the other night, it fell over as we were putting the ornaments on. It's because our floor is slanted. Drew, my hero, was able to stuff some paper under one side of the pot it's in and evened it out so it at least won't fall over anymore. Memories….

Reminiscing....as we watch favorite Christmas movies with the kids....Charlie Brown's Christmas, the Grinch, A Christmas Story. And we have a new favorite read-aloud book that we're going to read together: The Shepherd, The Angel and Walter the Christmas Miracle Dog by Dave Barry.

Also enjoying...reading through an Advent devotional with the kids in the evenings as we seek to make the Christmas season worshipful.

Time….to end this post and go get some work done.