Random Musings

Last night I got my Christmas present (yeah, I know; it's not December yet!).  We went to the Mannheim Steamroller concert in Raleigh. I enjoyed watching the various instruments (especially trying to figure out the different parts of the clarinet family!), and I have always loved their music.  But what took me by surprise was the videos to the Christmas hymns HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THE WORDS AT ALL!!! For example:  God rest ye merry gentlemen, let nothing you dismay. Remember Christ your Savior was born on Christmas day to save us all from Satan's power when we had gone astray. Oh, tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and joy. Oh, tidings of comfort and joy.   There are so many ways that could be depicted in video.  Guess what they had?  A merry little feast (okay, they got the merry gentlemen not being dismayed by anything right) in a medieval setting.  And the Little Drummer Boy - it's a war clip about a boy who got a drum for Christmas, grows up,...

I could tell you that my sinful, evil nature means I am a glutton.  That would be true, but that's not what this post is about. I could tell you that my sinful, evil nature means I can be slothful. (Don't you just love that old English word for lazy that makes you think of a porch slug?) But that's not what this post is about, either. Today my sinful, evil nature has many words: meanness, orneriness, irritability, unkindness, or just plain old grumpiness. I am an adult. I don't feel that old most days, but the reality is, I'm old enough that I'm considered old-school. Don't believe me?  You should have seen the looks on teenage faces over Thanksgiving when I told them they should turn their cell phones off before going to bed (as one teen had sent a garbled text to her boyfriend in her sleep and was showing it to everyone while others talked of being awakened to an incoming text or call during the night) and was met with shocked faces and stunned silen...

I bought a book to give my parents, and after reading it, decided it wasn't one they would enjoy.  Written by a hoity-toity Duke divinity student, he shares a few of the lessons he learned from a small church.  Toward the end he wrote several paragraphs that resonate with a few thoughts I've been having the last few months. The church is easy to bash because the church is full of knuckleheads, that is, human beings. we're all hypocrites, the greatest saints among us chiefly so...She's (the church) made space for the strangest among us, allowed us to be that way, worshiped alongside us, cared for our children, wept when we buried parents, and been our friend and neighbor. It's a greater gift than any of us has a right to expect. It's like grace -God's own mercy. And the trick is- there's no batch of perfect people someplace else to replace this batch of sinners. Sinners are all Go d has to work with to get His way in the world...This doesn't happen a...

This will probably be my last post until the Monday after Thanksgiving (unless my withdrawals become so severe that next Friday at my sister's while I'm supposed to be watching Alabama's most sacred television broadcast, the Iron Bowl, I dare to fight the slow speed internet connection in hopes of attempting to blog.). I started out today early with Bobby having a 7am meeting.  I actually got a few things done before heading to church for a 9am instrument practice.  Have I ever told you how much I enjoy playing with Danielle? She jumped WAY out of her comfort zone for me with this new Christmas duet we're trying, and today was our first day to try it together with the accompaniment, and I was SOOOO pleased with how it sounded! Of course, Dave graciously hammered out my rhythms for me and brought the tempo down to help us get the notes.  And on top of that, Danielle switched from playing one instrument (the bass clarinet) from the Thanksgiving song to the Christmas pie...

Today is a whirlwind. Life has a way of interrupting the best of plans. Yesterday instead of dragging out costumes for church and finishing a logo for someone, I spent the afternoon at the hospital with a cousin and friend. I don't regret it in the least, but it makes today a little on the interesting side. And we have a van appointment.  There is a possibility that tomorrow evening Bobby will come home with a different vehicle. Should the momentous event actually occur, what he'll drive next week is still undetermined. And I think my nose is trying to get Bobby's cold.  Dear nose, don't you know that now is NOT the time for this? I have places to go, things to do, people to see!  The holidays are upon us!  This is not the time to demand attention!!! I hope to have a much more interesting post tomorrow, but we shall see. Upward and onward!

I think I've mentioned more than once my Mom's opinion that if you hear the same thing (whether it be via sermon, friend's conversation, personal devotions, what-have-ye), then God's clearly trying to tell you something.  And that my friends, is a little scary. Many years ago while finishing up my associate's degree at Wake Tech, I had to take a portfolio class. For pieces in our portfolio, we were supposed to actually design and print items for a company, whether it be as a real job or on a volunteer basis.  During this time frame, someone from a non-profit organization spoke in the church I was attending. They were on a very tight budget, and had this hand-out that was extremely boring and not cheap to produce. I took it home, modified it, updated its look, and at the next meeting where I knew the leader of that organization would be, I took him a printed sample, along with the file on CD in case he wanted to use it. I explained to him what my job was and the pr...

HOW can it be Tuesday already?  I am SO not ready for it to be Tuesday. But Tuesday it is, this day that is a gift.  I feel like an ungrateful child at Christmas who stares at the present and says "But it's not big enough!"  I should be thankful for this gift of today and not bemoaning that it doesn't have more hours. I share several weird quirks with my hubby.  We both love to read (no, that's not a quirk), and so naturally we love to share/gift other book lovers with books.  (Okay, quick clarification: according to non-book loving nieces and nephews, Uncle Bobby shares/gifts books with anyone. It's now a Bryan family joke.) Our weird quirk is that we prefer to read any book we give someone, and so more often than not we'll be frantically reading/skimming a book prior to a holiday or birthday. My Mom's birthday is Thanksgiving day, and for her birthday she's getting (drumrolllllllllllll): BOOKS!  I'm half-way through two of them, and am se...

No, today is not the day of rest.  Today is the day for kicking things into high gear. Today begins the countdown for The Great Trip. Today I'm adding all kinds of interesting things to my "to do" list in anticipation of this trip that we're taking. I hope. One of the things that I LOVE to tease my husband about is his allergies to my home state. It seldom fails. We head to the promised land of my past, and his van breaks down, one of us gets sick, something happens here that makes us wonder whether or not we should have stayed home, and so on.  But I think this trip is going to win the award for the most obstacles thrown in its path. Obstacle number one: vehicular.  I think most of you know we placed an order for a new van several months ago. It was to be ready the end of October, at the absolute latest. We are now a few weeks past that date, and no potential arrival time in sight.  We do know that the "fix" is in the works by the manufacturer, that the ...

This afternoon Bobby and I attended a liturgical funeral for a lady who was 3 months shy of 102.  Yep, you read that right.  She was 101 years, 9 months and 19 days young when she died.  And up until the ripe old age of 98, she walked 1/2 a mile to her church every Sunday morning and swam one mile every day.  Two of her granddaughters wrote poems for the program, and one of them read "How do you live to be 101?...You eat your veggies every day..." That made me laugh. Liturgical services. Up until I married my husband, I had never been to one. I guess you could say he's broadened my horizons.  One thing I do like about them is garments that the preachers (for the Lutherans) and priests (for the Catholics) wear. Many of their rituals and movements, along with their garb, remind me of the readings from Leviticus and Deuteronomy about what the Levitical priests were supposed to wear and do. Sometimes I think we lose some of the formality and reverence we owe God b...

I kiss my hubby good-bye every morning. I can call him at work if I need to. I know approximately what time he'll be home every evening. And sadly I have to admit that I often take that for granted. I go to the grocery store when I'm out of something. The shelves almost always have what I'm looking for, or something similar to substitute. It's a guarantee that my hot water, heat, and electricity will work every day. And if it doesn't,  there's a phone number I can call. I often take this for granted. I can turn on my computer and check e-mail or Facebook for family status and updates. I can call them on the phone and talk with worrying about excessive costs. There's no line of people behind me waiting to use the phone. I often take this for granted. I plan the meals in our household. I choose what to serve, and how to cook it. If we go out, I have a plethora of items to choose from. I almost always take this for granted. So today, on Vet...

What?!?  The second week of November already?  No, no, it can't be.  If it is, then that means I only have a week and a half to get things ready for Alabama, and then one week after I get back to finalize things for the kids' Christmas play.  So that simply just can't be. So in lieu of the crazy date that my calendar is showing, my brain is contemplating which task to tackle first.  Thankfully I actually made out a list last night of things I need to do today. Unfortunately, "make a pan of brownies" is not on it.  Computer work and phone calls are. And somewhere this month, I have to figure out when Christmas decorations go up.  When do they traditionally appear at your house?

I knew I wouldn't be home last night, busy tonight, and church Wednesday night, and since nighttime seems to be the best time to get things done, I disciplined myself yesterday and got a fair amount of things done on my list. So then it was off to choir practice.  We were tired.  Dave & Sara fed us.  Sara made dessert!  Haystacks and then this chocolate water/caramel thing that was absolutely AWESOME !  I intentionally didn't have any caffeine, but I think between the food, the exhaustion from the day, and then just the fact we were all together at an unusual time made the choir, at least the altos, a little wound up. I must admit, choir would be fun with just adults, but our teens take choir fun to a whole new level. When Dave, who is pleased with the new stage monitor, asks how well we can hear the sound, the teen standing next to it looks at him with a serious expression and says, "I can't hear anything."  Dave was horrified (I mean, it is a bran...

A few years ago a friend of mine received a gift from her small children for her birthday: a sponge-bob decorated cake and a bottle of smell-good lotion.  Her husband over-ruled the kids' present ideas of a doll and some other toy as "the gift that Momma really, truly wants".  Did I mention how much her little girl LOVES smelly lotions and powders?  We laughed. It was sweet.  We like this, we want this, so it would make a GREAT birthday present for Mom. I thought about that yesterday during church. We had popcorn testimonies finishing out the statement "I love Jesus because..."  and it was very special. Every answer that went through my mind as people were talking made me realize just how spoiled and selfish I truly am.  I love Jesus because he loves me even when I fail him. I love Jesus because he is faithful. I love Jesus because he puts up with my whining and questions. I love Jesus because he doesn't zap me dead when I ( SPOILER ALERT: Bobby don't...

Last night I was researching a topic on-line, and kept finding a mantra running through every article I read. Healthy heating + exercise = good mental health. Granted, it didn't break it down in such a simplistic equation.  But exercise can trick the brain into creating more serotonin, the chemical that depressed people are often low or missing, and that sleep-deprived Moms deplete (specifically those who are suffering post-partem).  Maintaining a healthy diet can also prohibit it from disappearing all together. So then this morning on the news they're blabbering on about lack of daylight and its repercussions on people (don't you just love the optimism?) and get this: exercising 20 minutes a day and eating certain foods (ESPECIALLY for women) like fish, bananas, fiber, etc. will help eliminate the winter blahs. I used to tease my parents about the Bible verses that said "Whatever you do, do it heartily as to the Lord and not unto men" included my junk foo...

Yesterday Bobby took a vacation day, and for the first time in what seems like forever we actually had a day of rest. I didn't worry about laundry, dirty floors or dishes; we couldn't do outside house or yard work because of the rain, so we rested. And it was absolutely wonderful. It also made going back to the routine this morning a bit of a challenge! : It's also made me think about doing a better job of guarding our schedule. Seeing as how our schedule is quite full between now and mid-December, I'm thinking that might be a wonderful new year's goal: to be realistic and practical with our time. And having said that, housework is calling.

Halloween night, we watched a "scary" (as in a LOT of tension in the plot) movie.  Lord of the Rings: Two Towers. I've read the books almost ten years ago, but had forgotten the majority of the plot. As far as movies go, it wasn't the best rendition.  If you haven't read the books, it meant absolutely nothing to the viewer. One thing that did take me by surprise, was how many things portrayed in the movies (and also in the books) also occur in sundry forms in the writings of JKRowling.  I shouldn't be surprised. People have always commented on how well-read she is, how her writings reflect various cultures and their important literatures, as well as historical references and facts. But it made me a tad uneasy.  As a teenager I used to feel as if, like a certain teacher I had angrily proclaimed to our class, I truly did live in a pocket of ignorance.  I sometimes feared there was a whole world at the end of our street, which I would never see nor experience...

Today I am an elf, in the wee hours of December 24th, exhausted and with deadlines looming. Today I am a superhero who has lost her lasso and ability to jump and is mortally aware of her shortcomings without props. Today I am a dreamer, reminiscing of a night when I served burnt chicken and too salty potatoes for supper, then had to grade 10th grade essays while my boyfriend watched the election results on tv, and shocked me with a ring during the commercials. Today I am a child, dragging my feet to go clean my "rooms", when I'd much, much rather be playing. Today I ponder the concept of change, and wonder whether a mule horse can ever truly be changed into a stallion. Today I look into the mirror and wonder what words of truth it will tell me. 

Today at noon begins my first time ever of being a Coordinator for 8 precincts on election day.  (I normally work the "help table" in our precinct and serve as an Assistant Judge (a fancy name for having to reconcile the ballots voted and unused and sign my name to every sealed envelope and document the precinct submits). Above is all the "stuff" I had to pick up Saturday.  Not pictured are four yard signs I have to put up today as well as another duffle bag of supplies I'll need tomorrow and things I need to review today.  I'm a little nervous, but also a little excited!  There are election days when I think it's time to quit and not do this anymore, but I firmly believe in our election process.  I'm thankful for all the safeguards the Wake County Board of Elections and all the checks and balances they have in place to ensure a just election, but I also understand that without trustworthy or dependable people to work for them their hands are tied.  ...