Day After St. Nick Day...streaming

aka Pearl Harbor Day...streaming

I knew I had to write something today because I am so tired of receiving an inbox full of cyber ads every day and nothing fun (hint, hint)!


St. Nicholas Day: we woke up to a thin sheet of ice, following a slight sleep-in when schools closed for inclement weather. It was a lovely day to stay inside, and warm, and dry, and all the rest. I did venture out for the Post Office and to take a basket to church. I always do that on St. Nicholas Day. I fill a basket with tea and coffee and chocolates and Speculaas cookies and the ladies at the office always say, "Is this for the priests?" in a tone that implies it always is and they never get anything good. So I always enjoy saying, "No, it's for everyone!" Makes me feel just a wee bit like St. Nick.

In the afternoon, Doug built a fire and we lit some candles to chase the cold and dark away. It snowed most of the day but I think we only ended up with about 4 inches. Of course the weathermen had predicted "a big storm." They were off by quite a bit. I often wonder if those weather forecasts aren't sponsored by the local grocery stores as every time they predict inclement weather people run to the stores to make sure they aren't stuck at home without their favorite snack foods. Funny thing is, in Ohio, when people are shopping to prepare for for inclement weather, it's never like people shopping for hurricanes. No water, no milk or bread, batteries, it's just junk food and beer. Wonder what that says about Ohioans?

After the picture was taken, I had to take down the stockings in the middle so the chocolate inside them wouldn't melt {lol}. Geoffrey, Joshua and Taylor won't empty their stockings until they come home at Christmas break. They are still taking finals. Joshua and Taylor had their Spanish final last night at 8 o'clock. Isn't that absurd? Of course that is not their class time, but these institutions of higher learning seem to do everything for their own ease, and not a thing for the students (says Mother Bear).

Dessert last night was Speculaas and chocolates, of course, in keeping with our festive day. Noah had a friend (girl) over and I'm pretty sure she thought we are in a cult. I don't think she was Catholic (she was a first-time visitor so I didn't want to interrogate her), but even mainstream Catholics these days act like celebrating feast days is odd, and old world, and, well, cultish. Do you find that? 

We have many Catholics in our community, as the largest church in our diocese is in our city, but every single religious Christmas book, St. Nicholas book, books about feast days during Advent, was available at our library just a week ago. I find that so sad (that sentence sounded awkward but I am pretty sure it is grammatically correct. Margaret?). But I was glad that we got them, and now we have much reading for the rest of Advent!

I have lightened up our school load a bit so that we can read, visit the conservatory (good time to learn about the legend of the poinsettia), go to the Nutcracker, and generally just slow down.

I intend to celebrate Las Posadas this year, and teach the children more about it, even though we are not Mexican. It is celebrated the nine days before Christmas, so it's the perfect time to start a novena, learn about the journey Mary and Joseph made (watch The Nativity Story) and the geography and history of the Holy Land, focus on preparing ourselves for the birth so as not to "turn them away from the inn," cook some good Mexican food {wink}. There are some good ideas at this link if you want to check it out. 

Inspired by Las Posadas I purchased a statue to put on the table next to the Advent wreath...a visual reminder that the journey is taking place, and we have not arrived in Bethlehem. It is not yet Christmas...we must wait and prepare.

Speaking of which, are you praying the St. Andrew novena? I have more supplies on the way and if you still need a chaplet, I have one left and will have more soon (shameless self-promotion).

Now, I'm off to do laundry and take Faith to see Frozen. I haven't been to a theater in probably a year, so I am kind of excited. 

Btw, I realized I kind of dropped the story of the cat. She is doing well, though she still has to get her stitches out. She has been lurking around the house in her cone of shame, and today I am finally taking it off for good. I think she got a couple of the stitches out herself, but since they are coming out on Tuesday, I no longer care.

Gratuitous "cat shot," early on in her convalescence when she didn't need the cone because she was so drugged. She was a pretty sad-looking kitty. Unfortunately she has not learned her lesson and still races for the door, cone and all, every time she hears it open. Sigh. If any one of my readers knows a device for keeping cats indoors, please let me know (we have a dog so the Scat Mat won't work for us).

I also have not forgotten about my "Who is Perfect?" series. I was a little bit intimidated after the last one, but I'll get to it.

Happy weekend! And don't forget to "Remember Pearl Harbor" in your prayers today.