Merry Christmas (a.k.a) Fire Avoidance

We're going to Spokane for the holidays but my cousin is staying at our house.

This is the email I wrote her.

I think it boarders somewhere between psychotic and humorous:

i was going to leave you a long-winded letter about stuff about our house.

but then i remembered that you're 30 years old and have lived on your own for 12 years.

so here are the things i'm OCD about, and we'll leave it at that:

1. when you leave the house, check to make sure the garage door is down. it's best to check 5 times, and then turn around twice in your car as you drive away. if you need to check one more time because you're not quite sure if it "popped" back up - you can drive around the block and do a drive-by check.

2. make sure there is water in the tree before you turn the xmas lights on. this is my new holiday OCD that is revolved around the house burning down - a new OCD characteristic that has formed since we decided to get a real tree this year. i know - special.

that's about all. not to bad right!?!

oh wait, i remembered another one:

3. when you use the downstairs fireplace, take the stockings down first. it gets too hot for them to stay up there. you know - fire and all and house burning.

should i seek counseling? this isn't healthy. is it. DANG IT! i need house-burning-down-fire-related therapy.

LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!! Have a great time. Mi casa es su casa. Did I get that right?!? Call or text if you need anything.

Merry Christmas.

Oh - the sheets (on our bed) and towels are all clean for you guys.

Merry Christmas everyone.

Love your soon-to-be-in-therapy friend,

Lisa

And though it pains me to put this picture up,
this is literally what I visualize:

And now I have it up on my blog as a reminder of my worst fear.

GREAT!

Ugh ... I need help.

Remedy

I have officially found a remedy for my NON-Morning-Person grumpiness.

Especially track #6

Ironically, The E.N.D. stands for "The Energy Never Dies."

Which is just what I need in the morning.

I DARE you to listen to it without dancing.

Giraffe

For our creative writing yesterday, I asked my kids to write a story about a giraffe who tries to sit in a human chair.

Here are the various spellings for GIRAFFE:

• chraff
• draf (two kids spelled it this way)
  
• jrafe
• burat
• darafe
• graf (the "g" was backwards)
• greft
• gfaf
• jraf
• graf (three kids spelled it this way)
• gurraf
• grath

I love 1st grade.

The End.

Pure Heaven

I have always loved nativity scenes.

I have fond memories of playing with our nativity scenes we set up every year around Christmas time.

My mom had a wooden "kid friendly" set that my brother and I could play with to our heart's content.

But it was always the fancy ceramic set that my Grandma Jackie handmade for my mom that I wanted to play with.

To rub my finger over their glossy faces was heaven.

To touch their silky, shiny robes.

To look at baby Jesus in his manger.

To see the joy in Mary's face looking down at her baby.

Pure heaven.

Knowing how much I loved nativity scenes, my Aunt Patty gave me a full nativity set for a wedding present in 2004.

I set it up each December with the same joy and exuberance as my 6-year old spirit did.

Carefully taking each figurine out of it's individual wrapping is like a yearly gift I never tire of.

The same gift ... every year.

But each year, a bit different.

Jaded by time.

Confident in life's journey.

Learning from experiences.

Healing from wounds.

Eager for the future.

Excepting of the present.

So this year, I added a special angel to my nativity scene.

If you look at the above picture, you'll see on the left-hand side, that one angle sits atop a riser.

A special angel.

An angel that looks over the nativity scene.

Protecting.

Praying.

And so, I gave this angel to Jay today.

The Angel Of Remembrance.

For our sweet baby we lost this year.


Another way to heal.

Another way to remember.

We cried painful, healthy, hearty, healing tears as we placed her atop her mighty stand.

The nativity scene feels a bit more complete this year.

Perfect.

And protected.

Pure Heaven.

Love you baby.

Panic: An Update

So here's the deal.

I survived through my ketchup drought.

But I'll tell ya ...

meatloaf sandwiches without ketchup are NOT that great.

Reeeeal meaty and bready.

ACH.

Anyone have some water I can drink?

In A Panic

I'm in a panic.

I brought left-over meatloaf to make a sandwich for lunch ...

... AND FORGOT MY KETCHUP!!!

I've been thinking about it all morning.

Seriously ... ketchup is consuming my thoughts.

Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays!

From Jay & myself ...

And from my parents ...

I hope your holiday season is filled
with wonderful memories and time spend with family & friends.

LIFE - Like A River

My mom shared this with me today.

I thought it was really symbolic or things that have gone on in our lives lately ...

Indian wisdom says our lives are rivers.

We are born somewhere small and quiet and we move toward a place we cannot see, but only imagine.

Along our journey, people and events flow into us, and we are created of everywhere and everyone we have passed.

Each event, each person, changes us in some way.

Even in times of drought we are still moving and growing, but it is during seasons of rain that we expand the most - when water flows from all directions, sweeping at terrifying speed, chasing against rocks, spilling over boundaries.

These are painful times, but they enable us to carry burdens we could never have thought possible.

Firelight

This is hilarious ...

Video Recaps | Full Episodes | Webisodes

Grandpa's Funeral Today

Today is Grandpa's funeral.

I cried all night.

Barely slept.

And work up early with a stomachache.

Half Mast

Our school's flag pole.

For the Lakewood Police Department.

For the brave officers who protect us.

For those who have fallen during their duty.

Most recently at the hands of a very sick man.

Time

Talking to my students:

Me: Ok, you have three minutes to finish up your art project and then it's lunchtime.

Student: Mrs. Stookey, how long is three minutes?

Me: Three minutes long.

:)

Facebook Buddies

This afternoon, I told my students that my Grandpa passed away
and that his funeral is this Saturday.

We've lightly talked about death and funerals lately
due to student's questions about great-grandparents and pets getting old.

When I was done telling the kids,
one of my students quickly raised his hand and said,
"I already knew that your Grandpa died because my mom is your buddy on Facebook."

Great.

Technology.

Awesome.

The World's School

A good friend of mine gave me THIS book a few years ago and I just love it.

If the World Were A Village: A Book about the World's People.

Here is an excerpt about the world's school:

Schooling and Literacy

A school bell calls young people of the village to school. But for some children, there is no school to go to, or they must work instead, to help feed their family.

How many people in the village of 100 go to school?

There are 38 school-aged villagers (ages 5 to 24), but only 31 of them attend school. There is 1 teacher for these students.

Not everybody in the global village is encouraged to learn to read, write and think. Of the 88 people old enough to read, 71 can read at least a bit, but 17 cannot read at all. More males are taught to read than females.

So sad.

And it's so sad because its realistic.

And true.

It's OK

I'm having a rough emotional week.

I continue to be deeply saddened by my miscarriage.

Not so much mad anymore.

Or asking why.

Just sad.

Sad.

Hard to see pregnant women.

I want to be pregnant too.

I was pregnant.

I want to still be pregnant.

And I keep getting weekly pregnancy email updates.

To thebump.com and whattoexpect.com ... I AM NO LONGER 14 WEEKS PREGNANT.

OK?

Your emails are like salt in my wounds.

And so I have changed my due date (on those websites) back to "Trying To Conceive."

And well ... that just sucks.

My time will come.

I know that.

This time wasn't right.

I know that.

But still ... sadness persists.

And that's just OK.

And this too ... shall pass.

Grandpa's Tribute Banner

My brother made this beautiful banner as a tribute to my Grandpa.

It will be displayed at Grandpa's funeral this Saturday.

Danny, your talent continues to amaze me.

Thank you for this thoughtful and heartfelt gift.

You can check out Danny's company
and more of their work on their website HERE.

Or stay up-to-date on their latest projects
from their blog HERE.

A Global Look ...

at the HIV/AIDS pandemic ...

Lord help Southern Africa.

World AIDS Day Info

Today is World AIDS Day.

Join us at OCC tonight at 7:00.

You'll hear stories and learn how you can help.

On a related note ... a mission team left for South Africa early this morning to help in Durban at iThemba Lethu ... and their other website HERE.

The same mission I went on exactly a year ago today.

Wish I was going with them.

I chose not to go this year because I was pregnant.

... I will be praying for your effectiveness as you make a difference in hundreds of young lives.

I will be posting pictures this week from our mission trip a year ago, in honor or World AIDS Day, and for the team that is down there now.