Seriously.
Are you drinking this in?
I, for one, have no words.
I’ll bet that, in this recent season of thankfulness, you forgot to mention your gratitude that this outfit is not in style. I can’t even wrap my mind around it to be honest. Cast your eye over it again. Did you forget to notice the dressy gloves paired tastefully with a sweatsuit? I’ll bet you did. No one expects gloves. And honestly, I’m still stalled out back at the SWEATSUIT! With tastefully appliqued floral motifs upon the sweatshirt, no less.
Another thing you may have missed on first glance, taken aback as you so rightfully were by the sweatsuit, is that this poor girl is sporting a tam, perched precariously on the side of her perm. I think that’s why she has to hold her head that way - bobby pins are only so sturdy after all, and the whole thing may slide down onto her shoulder in a minute.
Take a quick gander at the foot gear. Yes – your eyes have not mislead you – dress shoes with socks.
Now that she’s decked out in this sumptuous ensemble, what does she do? She loiters coyly by a lacy tea table, holding a lily. Possibly to indicate the variety of lifelike instances in which this outfit would be appropriate.
Where did I get this photo you ask? No – it’s not my senior picture . . . thank heavens. Continue reading ‘Something you forgot to be thankful for’
I have always found it remarkable that sometimes people think that being a homemaker is a somehow limiting occupation. Like there isn’t enough to do. Before I go on to some specific ideas, I’d like to just say a little something about this. I am fairly certain that if you gave yourself five minutes, some scratch paper and a pencil, you could come up with a list of at least thirty widely respected careers that could fall under the heading of homemaking. What I mean is that if you are a homemaker, it isn’t like there isn’t any scope. A homemaker needs to be a great many things on a shallow level, but if she wants to get deep in some area or another, that simply adds richness to the home. It adds life. It adds love. Think of a few ideas here with me. Interior design, Cooking, Baking , Pastry Chef, Landscape Architecture, Musician, Artist, Event Coordinating, Educator, Accountant, Tailor, Farmer. A woman at home can dabble in almost anything – not wasting her time, but learning her craft.
But if you are all on board with the thought of loving your calling at home, but simply having trouble with the tangible ideas, here are a few: Continue reading ‘How do we love thee? Let me count some ways…’
Happy Birthday to the makers of my stretch marks! We love these two so very much. They are such a delightfully playful couple of crack -ups. They are the worst offenders of yelling “Mom! Help! MOOOOOOOM!” but acting surprised when I come running. “oh. not you. The mom giraffe is who we were talking to.”
As I rather speedily write this, I hear Chloe yelling “Baby Moses!!!” and Titus is just talking and singing about chicken on the bone. As for the birthday gifts? Chloe is looking for something girlie. Titus asked for a real sword. The kind that would make blood. However, he promised in advance to not wiggle it around anyone in the family. Just practice by himself in the basement. I don’t think he will be too disappointed with the nerf gun.
Tonight is our kick-off for Advent, and out comes the Advent candle wreath with the four candles, one for each week until Christmas. It is also the night that I hand out the Christmas jammies to the grandkids. I know some of you save those for Christmas Eve, but my philosophy is to let them wear them for the month of Advent, so they can get nice and worn in and out for Christmas Eve. If I hit the sizes right, they’ll be wearing them till Easter!
But what about dinner? Who wants to cook a big meal two days after Thanksgiving? Who wants to eat a big meal two days after Thanksgiving? But it is Lizzy’s birthday as well as our first Sabbath in Advent. However, since she has always been a very flexible girl, she doesn’t mind something easy, so we are having sub sandwiches to celebrate her birthday and the first Sabbath of Advent. Think paper plates (festive red plastic ones) and the bright green Christmas oilcloth (with poinsettias all over it) to cover the table. Goodbye acorns and fall colors and hello red!
The idea with the Advent candle wreath is to light one candle tonight and let it burn through the whole celebration. Then next week I light that one first and then light the second one for week two, and so forth for four weeks. Then Christmas Day we light one in the middle.
Next week I’ll hand out the ornaments to each of the grandkids, and the following week….hmmmm….I haven’t gotten that far!
But a Merry Advent to you all! And Happy Birthday, Lizzy!
Most mornings Doug and I read (well, he reads to me while I drink my coffee and try to wake up) selections from a couple of books of daily readings. Every day is full of good stuff, though I may not be fully awake enough to appreciate it all. But I must have been wide awake this morning, because it was so good that I wanted to post it up for you. It’s from C.S. Lewis (A Year with C. S. Lewis, Daily Readings from His Classic Works) called “Love Your Neighbour as Yourself.” It’s really supposed to be read on July 25, but we press on. It’s a quotation from Mere Christianity. (Don’t be confused by the British spellings and punctuation. It’s the way they do it over there.) Here it is:
Well, how exactly do I love myself?
Now that I come to think of it, I have not exactly got a feeling of fondness or affection for myself, and I do not even always enjoy my own society. So apparently ‘ Love your neighbour’ does not mean ‘feel fond of him’ or ‘find him attractive’. I ought to have seen that before, because, of course, you cannot feel fond of a person by trying. Do I think well of myself, think myself a nice chap? Well, I am afraid I sometimes do (and those are, no doubt, my worst moments) but that is not why I love myself. In fact it is the other way round: my self-love makes me think myself nice, but thinking myself nice is not why I love myself. So loving my enemies does not apparently mean thinking them nice either. That is an enormous relief. For a good many people imagine that forgiving your enemies means making out that they are really not such bad fellows after all, when it is quite plain that they are. Go a step further. In my most clear-sighted moments not only do I not think myself a nice man, but I know that I am a very nasty one. I can look at some of the things I have done with horror and loathing. So apparently I am allowed to loathe and hate some of the things my enemies do.”
I love that we have a feast day called Thanksgiving. And I also love that it’s entirely American and that every where across America everyone is serving up the same basic menu on the same day. It’s just such a funny thing to think about: millions of people feeling culturally obligated to cook a turkey and serve it with all the culturally expected side dishes and pies. Pretty fantastic!
I also love making the side dishes and pies and cooking the turkey bird. Love it all, start to finish. But I have to confess that my very favorite part of it all is setting the table. I will probably set it early on, maybe even Wednesday night, so I can feast my eyes on it. I will enjoy putting every fork and spoon and goblet in exactly the right spot designated for such things. Ah, cultural expectations galore! Tradition galore!
I love making the table look beautiful. I’ve been thinking about what tablecloth or runner I’m going to use. This year it’s a Thanksgiving runner from a few years back over a pale green tablecloth from a few years back. Sounds weird, but it looks so Continue reading ‘Thanksgiving Prep’
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