I can't believe I didn't go!

Every year Wake County Public Libraries has a used book sale. Some of the books are culled from library shelves (meaning they haven't been checked out in a long time); the vast majority are donated. Over the last ten years the sale has grown and grown and grown to the point it's now held at one of the buildings at the State Fairgrounds.

Between buying books for each other for Christmas and birthdays and the annual library sale, we've also purchased some books on vacations (museum bookshops have the best historical selections). And after seventeen years of that, our shelves are very close to capacity. They're so close, that books, like fabric, are on a "no purchase" list in our house (which means I buy 2-3 a year instead of an armload ;).

Thankfully we had too much going on this weekend, or the temptation to head over to the sale would have been WAY too tempting. My goal for 2016 is very similar to this year's. Read what I have. If it's not something I wouldn't share with someone or read or reference again, get rid of it. And while most of my reading list this year has been non-fiction, next year I think I'll add a little fiction to the reading pile. I probably won't have all the books cleaned off my dresser by the end of 2016 either, but hopefully it will be a much smaller stack.

I don't know if I'll be able to go to the book sale in 2016 or not. We may have to wait a few more years before making that a habit again. And I don't feel so bad for putting a few book titles on my Christmas wish list...he did it, too!

presentation day

This afternoon I joined another lady from a local Quilts of Valor group to award a quilt to a veteran. This never gets old for me. Sometimes the task seem daunting (North Carolina currently has a waiting list of over 300 vets who've been nominated for quilts). Even with all of our group pooling our efforts each month and churning out a minimum of a quilt a month, we've still barely scratched the surface. And yet, when I go to a presentation and see the pride and humility of these vets, their joy, the tears, and their gratitude, a quilt seems like such a small thing. Our nation has many flaws, but the sacrificial attitude of most of our vets is certainly not listed among them.

So from this quilter to all the other QOVers out there...piece on!

consensus building...or not

Last night Bobby attended Garner's Town Council meeting. One of the items on the agenda was the building permit for Bryan Rd Elementary School.  NC DOT at this point is refusing to pave the road; Wake County BOE will pave the part in front of them (because they want to straighten out a curve) but not the rest of the road. Garner TC does not want to grant a building permit unless the road is paved, saying that their town should not have a brand new school on a dirt road. The matter was postponed until this next Tuesday, hopefully giving DOT and the county time to reach a consensus.

Personally, other than the dirt created by all the construction vehicles moving on a dirt road, I think the state would cave and pave the road within a few months of the school opening. The monthly scraping and quarterly deposit of gravel on the road would not be sufficient to sustain the level of traffic they are talking about. And as slick as a dirt road is after heavy rains, it would only take a few school buses and a few minivans rushing in and sliding off the road for something to be done. There's actually a school bus that comes down this road now, and it does not go slow. I can only imagine how fast they'll actually go once the road is paved. Between parents complaining and the increase in traffic creating more frequent trips for road scraping, I think the cost in maintaining this road will become so high that they'll have to pave it. But that won't satisfy the pride of the town, and so the bickering continues.

Here's the layout of the proposed site. 
See that road at the bottom (the "parent entrance")?  Our driveway will be about 10' from that. If the permit is approved next week, our life is going to start radically changing in a few months.

transitions

Recently I read an article about the transitions in food over the years, and how it could be seen through cookbooks. They were able to pinpoint when people started using processed foods and microwaves within a  few years by the number of casseroles. I couldn't help but think if we looked at group cookbooks now,  they'd probably have a lot of crockpot soups and freezer meals. I certainly don't think there's anything wrong with that, but I just found it quite interesting. And this morning as I was thinking through my favorite Christmas goodies over the years, I was a little surprised to realize it follows the trend as well.

Growing up, making Russian TeaCake Cookies was one of my favorite Christmas baking events. They're really not Russian, and ours were always more cake-like (in hindsight, I'm wondering if Mom simply wanted the process to end and intentionally rolled the dough out thicker than required, of if she just really liked them fat and cakey). I loved eating the dough (a big no-no today that I think is a bunch of nonsense), loved using cookie cutters, but I really wasn't all that crazy about the finished product...unless we were allowed to put icing on them. And then they were incredibly good. We also had homemade apple pies (many people call them flapjacks) that were folded in half.  Perfect for a child's hand, but still so big that Mom made us split them. We had instant oatmeal chocolate cookies, "No Bakes" my Granny Rea called them, and Hawaiian Pie on Christmas day (all kinds of fruit with pudding and cool whip and sweetened condensed milk on a graham cracker crust) and fudge.

And then my middle school years rolled around. Mom was working and wrestling with the beginning symptoms of her lupus and arthritis (neither of which received a diagnosis until 20+ years later). Goodies became brownies (from mixes, not the homemade kind we used to make), Ritz cracker peanut butter sandwiches dipped in chocolate, chocolate dipped pretzels, chocolate chip cookies, and fudge.

High school was much of the same as middle school, except we girls started experimenting, and peanut butter balls, sausage balls, and Martha Washington candy got added to the mix.

I don't fix a whole lot of Christmas goodies anymore. It's just the two of us, and I think that's one of the things I miss about having my family with me for the holidays. Granted, even if I lived nearby, they'd be doing things with their families so it still wouldn't be the same. I try to make some of our favorites when we have a party or have someone over so we have plenty to share and still have a little bit here at home. And one of my goals while I'm home at Christmas is to master the art of mini apple pies. A friend of mine posted a video on Facebook that made it look so much easier than how my Mom always did it, and I am so tempted to try it. If it works, I'll be sharing and I might be starting a new trend!

they come in batches

It seems once or twice a year there will suddenly be all these trailers for movies that I want to see. And this last month has been no exception. At this point we'll probably wait for most of them to come out on DVD or Redbox (which we've still never used).  But here's my list:

Mockingjay2: I must say I enjoyed the books so much better than the previous movies. Maybe because my mind can somewhat not envision the violence while reading. That's not an option in a movie. But I do want to see the ending of this series. I've come this far, might as well finish the race.

33: I grew up in a coal mining community. I remember the strikes, the layoffs, the fear in people's eyes. I remember the stories, overhearing people talking to my father, their pastor, about their fears and nightmares, but feeling there was no other way to support their families. I remember when this event happened, and praying. It's every coal mining community's worst fear.

Bridge of Spies: I had never heard of this story, but Bobby remembers reading about it in school. Like the movie listed above, this is supposed to be based on a true story.

The Letters:  A few years after Mother Theresa died, there was an outcry when her personal letters were released, revealing a woman who often questioned her faith and her actions. This movie is supposed to be based on her life story and her letters.

So in the insanity of the Christmas rush, I may call it quits for an afternoon or evening and actually do something that doesn't require me to think or do. That would be a blessing indeed.

new to me

Things get lost in translation, no matter how wonderful or educated the translators may be. There's just some things that don't translate culturally.

For example, the Christmas story in Luke 2. Growing up, I always assumed Christ was born in a barn/stable. I don't know that I was taught that, but it's what Christmas cards and flannelgraph from Sunday School taught. (Yes, I know I just dated myself with that last sentence. Church kids today have NO idea what flannelgraph is.) When I was in college, I was surprised to hear a chapel speaker talk about the manger, and that in Israel animals were kept in one of two places: in a lean-to under or behind the house or in a cave. That was mind-boggling to me. It made perfect sense, but it was just so out of sync with everything I had ever thought.

A few days ago we received a newsletter that included an article from Jimmy De Young, (an prophecy teacher who lives in Israel and speaks a lot in America). I had to read it several times for it to make sense, and even then had to show  it to Bobby to make sure I was totally grasping what he was saying. I can sometimes be a little slow that way. :) You can find the article here. I'm not big on prophecy stuff, but this made sense to me. I've often wondered what kind of sign it was for a baby to be wrapped in a feed trough. I can't imagine it was all that common, although it would make it an easier identification of the baby. But signs usually mean something. I don't know of the accuracy of De Young's information, but it makes perfect sense and also helps one understand how God was proclaiming his Messiah from the very beginning.

So I'm rejoicing and pondering this information as I celebrate this month: our Messiah has come.

December 1

Today is/was my father-in-law's birthday. Some days it seems like he's been gone forever. Other days it seems like yesterday.

But today has been interesting for other reasons as well. We have a new puppy. I woke up to find a rope and a fan belt on the back porch. No idea where either came from. Both dogs also got outside the fence line and began chewing the landscape fabric off of my garden pallet. What is it with dogs and landscape fabric? If it wasn't supposed to be raining tomorrow, underground fence line flags would be going up and training would be commencing immediately.

And we had the big heron and three wild ducks at the pond this morning. As well as eight deer running through the field across the pond. The small trees in the field have finally started turning colors. When the sun shown before the mist and clouds totally covered everything this morning, it was absolutely beautiful. I snapped a few pictures. Come this time next year, that view from my bedroom window will be the progression of a three story elementary school.

Last year I had this brainstorm to make something for my family for Christmas. I ran out of time and didn't get it done, so thought I'd complete it for this year. I now have 22 days left, and I'm still not finished. Up until now, I've said "Life still goes on" so I've tried not to let these projects consume everything, but I think it's now to the point I've got to say "No" to any extra activities if this is going to happen. I've so badly wanted to post pics as things progress, but as soon as I do, someone in my family will decide to check my blog.

Meanwhile, the last of my Christmas decorations went up today, and hopefully tomorrow I can organize boxes and containers and reclaim the room that looks like a box explosion.

My younger sister is moving, and I'm not there to help. It stinks.

Meanwhile, I'm reading "Plague of the Frogs" about the abnormalities that happened in Minnesota in the 90's. I'm to the point where EPA is getting involved, and the perspectives on that are interesting. Growing up in a coal mining community and having friends and family members who work for power companies, I don't think I ever heard EPA mentioned in a positive tone. But my thoughts on that subject will have to be a post for another day.

There's been a lot whirling through this crazy brain of mine while I've been tackling projects. Some of it I may eventually get around to writing down.