This is why I’m conflicted. I can’t find a happy medium.  It’s all or nothing.  I asked God to help me temper my response to what He is showing me.  Really?   Really?  He was not amused by that request.

What I meant was to help me NOT be a wet blanket to those around me.  Can I do this Christmas with love, joy, encouragement and still be less focused on the materialism of the thing?

OH YES I CAN.  In fact, I’ve realized that if I focus more on what I’m for, instead of what I’m against, then my joy is revealed.  Yep.  Have I ever mentioned that I’m a slow learner?  Duh.

I think if I spent less time thinking, life would be simpler.  Nevertheless….

Now I just have to figure out exactly what I am for.  What I do know, is that this year there will be more Christmas music.  More holiday baking.  More decorations, lights, Christmas movies.  Still not more shopping, but more time enjoying the traditions that involve family, friends, and Jesus.

After Christmas last year, Cameron said “It just didn’t feel like Christmas”.    My bad.

This year I’m reading the Rediscovering Christmas reading plan on YouVersion (actually I’m reading it on my mobile device)  It includes reflection questions and action steps to center each day on Christ.  Which is awesome.

So what are you expecting from this season?  What are you preparing for?  The very first Christmas changed EVERYTHING.  Why does this Christmas have to be any different?    That’s what I’m expecting.

AND I watched the Advent Conspiracy video. Here is one of them (there are a few).  Be careful, it’ll mess you up.

• Make homemade ice cream.  I say this every year but hardly ever do it.  Cameron says she doesn’t like it.  whatever, I’m making some.  It’ll probably have Reese’s cups in it…or Butterfinger.
• Shakespeare in the Park.  I LOVE this.  We did it last year and the whole thing was dreamy.  The setting-Myriad Gardens, downtown OKC. The play–it was Hamlet. The company-just me and my hubby.  Romeo and Juliet starts in August and I already have my tickets bought!
• Scrunch sand between my toes.–I’m not much for swimming in the ocean, but I love to look at it from the beach…or a boat.  Next week I’ll take care of this little item.
• Take a boat on the Bricktown canal.  I never get tired of doing this.  and I don’t care if it is 500 degrees outside.
• Eat enough blueberries to make my poop blue.  I have never been as crazy about blueberries as I have this summer.  I put some on my cereal one morning and it was like a party in my mouth!  oh. my.    Gradually, the cereal-to-blueberry ratio in my bowl has been tilting in favor of the berry.  I was kidding about the blue poop thing, btw.
• Use the fire pit in our backyard about 100 more times.  Remember it?  We built it last year.  Here’s a refresher. It’s  waaaaaay cool. and I love it.  Feels like camping in the backyard with the sound of locusts in the trees…so relaxing and it just screams SUMMER!

That’s all I can think of right now.  Time’s a-wastin’!

Recently, I’ve tried eating sauerkraut for the health of my small intestine (gross), running(thumbs up), acupressure (definitely works), and oil pulling(weird).   I’m sure there are lots of other things I could mention here, but my memory is failing me–what else is new, right?  I’ve also eaten alligator.  Fried alligator.  Yuck.  Anyway,  my most recent foray into the strange and unusual alternative medicines, is the oil pulling.  It’s the practice of swishing oil around in your mouth for 20 minutes at a time to rid your body of toxins.  The whole time I was doing it, I kept thinking, “this doesn’t make any sense”.   But I googled it, and everything I read, led me to think it was worth a try.  It can cure everything from headaches and acne to arthritis and cancer.  (yeah, right!)  I’ll try it for a couple of weeks and let you know if anything comes of it.  I know you’ll be anxious to hear the full report. ha.

Everything  that’s happened and everything I’ve done in the past few months could easily have it’s own dedicated post, but that itn’t gonna happen anytime soon….so rather that losing everything (to my faulty memory), I’m just going to hit the highlights! (and there were lots of them!)

**Warning:  this post may be filled with sentence fragments.  fragmented sentences.  apparently that’s how my brain is currently functioning.

• Series finale of LOST–good.  glad it’s over.

• my first 5K–good. glad it’s over.   No, just kidding.  I had a good time, felt great about my accomplishment, and definitely want to run another one. soon.    I’m still running to improve my 5K pace, but have no plans to ever do more than 3 or so miles at a time.

• Reading…Eragon, and it’s sequels.  The kids both read these books and they wanted me to read them too.  I like to read what they are reading so we can talk about it.   Especially if it’s something they particularly enjoyed.   Cuz you know how if you read a really good book, you want to talk about it?…so do they, and I want to share some of those moments with them.  In this case, though, these are VERRRY long books, so it’s taking me a while to get through all 3 of them.

• A quick trip to Colorado to attend a fantabulous birthday party for 2 really cute 3 year olds.  It’s always great to see my sister and Chris and see what Daniel and Elizabeth are up to!  They are so sweet!

• Also reading…Salvaged by Stefne Miller from my very own Edmond, OK.  Such a good book, written by a local author, set in my general neck of the woods.  This one is a MUST read for all girls.  It’s a beautiful love story about avoiding temptation, staying pure, being completely honest and transparent about feelings, seeking Jesus, hurting and healing.  and more.  I loved the characters. It was way good.

• Fireworks sales in Louisiana.  oh, snap, I don’t even know where to start on this one. Working three 12-13 hour days, friends, family, hanging out, playing cards, staying up late, getting up early, eating junk food, $74,000 in sales, dirty fireworks  Cajun rednecks.  Good times.

• My new favorite guy–the chiropractor. Love that guy.  I can sit in a car, at my desk, in a movie theater, you name it, for hours without my butt/leg hurting!   and to think that I lived with that for 9 months before trying to get it taken care of…what a dummy I am.   I still don’t have full range of motion with that leg/muscle/joint, but it’s improving slowly.  Aren’t you glad to know that!?  Don’t answer that.

and the Grandpa Nellie Grand Finale…is still to come!  Florida vacation right around the corner!

On a better day, I’d be all super spiritual right now and find some applicable scripture about “running the race” or “the plans of the diligent”, but today you’ll have to find your own.  I’m tapped.

Here’s why it works…If I focus on my timer and how long I have left to run before I can stop and walk, I can sometimes forget that my legs feel like concrete or my lungs are about to explode.  I said sometimes.  And I know that without that timer, I’d stop when I got tired…which is approximately at the end of the street…or occasionally at the end of my driveway.

Every time I ran last week, I’d think, “I’ll never make it a whole 5 minutes!  I”ll just run 3.”  and then I make it 5.  I have to psyche myself out every time, but then I come back elated because I didn’t think I was going to make it, but I pushed myself!  It’s like a mental game that I play and I can’t tell if I’m winning or losing or both…but whatever works, right?

So, now (since my last blog post) I have a new goal…lose 1 1/2 pounds a week for the next 15 weeks.  Dang.  How am I going to do that?  I was thinking of sewing my lips shut.  But then I couldn’t yawn, so that’ll never work.  I have a goal, now I just need a plan.  Weight Watchers?  Counting calories?  Liquid diet?  Atkins?  South Beach? (that would be appropriate!)  I don’t know, perhaps I should refer back to the last 4 or 5 times that I’ve lost this same 15-20 pounds.  Surely, one of those methods would work again.

In search of fruit,

CariKelley

This self-confessed, card-carrying control freak just let 1/2 of the family plan a vacation…with very little input from me.  Oh, I was asked my opinion…and I think I supplied it (at least I know I said “Please not WDW”), but it was like a runaway train…once it got started, it was impossible to stop.   Cory said he wants to be surprised when we get there, which is really just his way of saying “I don’t care to be involved in the sometimes-excruciating decision making process”).  I decided to join him in that philosophy.

“Sometimes-excruciating” because SOMEONE has to research EVERY SINGLE POSSIBLE option before they make a decision about where to stay.  and then you throw in the 2nd member of that “team”, Kevina, Jr., and she gets her heart set on the PERFECT spot and nothing else will do.  Truth be told, I’m very thankful for his “thoroughness” in research, and I’m  \thankful, too, that he mostly leaves me out of it.  I know he’ll find the very best place, for the very best price.  Weighing all the options, considering all the possibilities.  Good thing, too, because I do NOT have the patience for all that.

You see, Kevin has history in this particular place…in that he lived there for a few years…maybe 5ish?  I can’t remember. But apparently, Sarasota, Florida  is the 2nd happiest place on earth (after you know where )  .  Actually, I’ve been there already, so I should know, right?  I wonder who took me there??  Oh wait, it was Kevin.  Of course. 

No really, they do have gorgeous beaches on the Gulf of Mexico.  Very clean white sand.  Like sugar.  Very pretty.  If you Google “best beaches in US” Siesta Key, FL comes in 2nd–right behind a beach in Hawaii!!

But, the beach?  Really?  I’m 40…and soft and squishy all over.  *whimper, whimper* .  We leave in 15 weeks and 2 days.    Perhaps if I get busy and lose a pound and a half a week for the next 15 weeks, I’ll feel a little better about beaching it for several days–and possibly getting photographed while near the beach–in the sunshine.  Oh, dear.

and in case you were wondering, NO, we are not driving.  I just can’t. won’t. whatever.  So we’re flying!  First time in 12 years and the kids are pumped!!  Wow, I don’t know why we don’t just take a vacation to the airport–I think the kids would be just as excited about that…maybe not.

Ideally, the majority of time spent should be in Quad II.  Processing, planning, preparing, personal development,  prelationships (ok, that one doesn’t start w/ p, but I was on a roll).  In my defense, I have done a LOT of reading so far this year.  I’ve read 3 non fiction books, and am finishing up the 2nd fiction book, plus 39.5% of the bible (according to my YouVersion.com reading plan).   All well and good, but, to be productive there has to be some output, right?  Time  spent thinking about what I’ve read, planning to apply it, and thoroughly processing it.

Wow, hopefully I have a LOT more years to live, because I’m awfully slow to figure all this stuff out.    One day, I aspire to be really really smart. and productive.  whatever that means…  Maybe by the time I’m 90 something, I’ll have it all together.

Apparently she has cataracts and a pigment-free third eyelid, both of which are not the problem.  We’ve been referred to a animal opthalmologist.  Oh, joy. That’ll have to wait till after the new year, precious, black, hairy, child-o-mine.   Her smeller works just fine, btw, and, boy, did she ever want what was in the trash this day.  If you look really close to the right side of the door…see the scratch marks??   She got the door open.  Lucky for us the trash wasn’t very full, but we’re gonna have to be smarter next time.

Sweet, rotten dog.

These little beauties are the highlight of breakfast.  My mouth is watering just looking at the picture. mmm…Chickn Mini’s.

The winner of our annual best worst Christmas ornament is….whatever this is.

Honorable mention for best worst Christmas ornament goes tooo….the hideously malformed ginger bread…uh…boy.

At this point in the day, we took a break and went back home to see Daniel and Elizabeth, my nephew and niece, since they were visiting from Colorado.  Chronologically, this picture doesn’t fit, but it’s representative of them and their visit, so, shush.  Aren’t they cute?!

A little while later we headed to Bricktown for some more silliness.  and dinner.  and lights.  The water taxi is free, starting that day through New Years, and you’d a-thought they was givin’ away dollar bills for all the people lined up to take a ride.

So, we skipped the water taxi and just took a walk along the canal.  Apparently, they lit the Christmas tree while we were there, but we managed to miss it somehow.

So, there.  That marked the beginning of a Christmas season made up of very little shopping, very little stress, and some just plain old fun for the sake of making memories.