Sick Days.

I've spent much of the last few days in bed doing the following:

1.  Sleeping.

2.  Drinking 7-Up.

3.  Reading.  When I'm sick, I want comfort books: these few days, it's been Betsy-Tacy.  I've made it all the way through Betsy's high school years, half-way through her European excursion.  Betsy has been my friend for over 20 years now.  I still remember the first time I found a Betsy-Tacy book at the library, and how I checked the books out over and over through the years until my dream came true--they finally came back into print and I could have a set of my very own!

4.  "Shopping".  Check out these earrings on Etsy.  Love them.

5.  Listening.  To music.  Specifically, to Pomplamoose.  Love the "Beat It" cover.  And see Nataly Dawn's very cute hair?  Mine never works in that style.  Sigh.

5.  Pondering.  The year is still new, and feels like a good time to take stock of life and my soul's journey.  I've felt a little directionless lately, a little too prone to coasting through day-to-day life without much vision for bigger things.  You know that "can't see the forest for the trees" mentality?  That describes where I've been ... I need to step back, look around at the whole of my life, see where God has been working and where's he's leading me next.  This little brochure from Sojourn has challenged me to think how I can take practical steps to open my heart and life to the ways that God wants to renew and transform me in my current season.  And I like this blogger's list of "101 in 1001"--a list of plans, goals, and desires that are planned with a three-year time frame in mind.  I'll be making a 101 list of my own.  When I take my vague thoughts and put them down on paper in black and white, it's much easier to act on them.

It's amazing how productive a couple days in bed can be.

Caught!

A few minutes ago I walked into the bedroom, switched on the light, and saw this sticking out from under the bed:

This is how momma and daddy found the boys' little stash of old, used paper towels under the bed. (Where do they find that stuff??)  But the sight of Truman's little rear end is so stinkin' cute, who can get mad?

Some Christmas Snapshots.

On Christmas Day, I tried to take a photo of my sister.  I told Katie that if she made a weird face or attempted to hide behind the pillow, I'd put this photo on my blog:

I can't believe that Christmas has come and gone already.  If I had taken more than a couple of photos that day and if I were feeling more inspired right now I'd wax eloquent about what a great day it was.  But my brain is tired at the moment, so suffice it to say that Matt and I had a lovely Christmas. We spent the morning here at home with each other and Teddy and Truman.  We opened gifts, listened to Christmas music, and ate cinnamon rolls.  Speaking of Christmas music, Matt gave me Sufjan Stevens's Songs for Christmas.  It's music that I want to listen to when I'm curled up on the couch watching the snow fall outside and I'm sure I'll be playing it long after the Christmas tree is put away.  (Yes, it's still up.  It's too fresh and beautiful to take down yet.)   

Christmas afternoon was spent at my parents' home.  We opened presents, feasted together, and watched Rudloph and Red-nosed Reindeer ... just me and Matt, my parents, my sister, and my grandparents. 

 

This is a picture of two things I love: 1) My husband.  2) One of the best Christmas gifts I've ever received.  I bought this cupboard for myself at a yard sale several years ago, and it's been in my parents' storage shed ever since.  When I bought it, it was a mess--filthy, layer upon layer of peeling paint, rusted hinges.  The previous owner said that it came from a remodel of the original Park Place Hotel kitchen--if that's true, the cupboard dates back to the 1920s.  I love the Park Place so I was sold.  I couldn't take the cupboard back to Louisville on the plane so we stashed it in my parents' storage shed until we could drive it back to Louisville, but as the months went on I forgot that the cupboard even existed.  Recently my dad was cleaning, came across the cupboard, and decided to refinish it as a surprise for me.  The hours of work he put into it make it priceless.  I love it.  Sadly, we don't have a good place to hang it here in our condo, so we put it up temporarily in the garage ... that way I can at least see it and use it for storage.

I'm off to work on a little creative project that I hope to feature on here in upcoming days.  Stay tuned!