Today is the second day of Los Posadas, the nine-day Mexican tradition that celebrates Mary and Joseph's journey into Bethlehem, looking for a place to stay. We're not Mexican, but what devotee of Our Blessed Mother can help but celebrate the pregnant Mary on a burro?
In the garden...
...brown, but warm. Each day I think maybe the weather will turn and we'll get winter, but not yet. Some days it's too warm even for tights, and long sleeves. It's crazy!
The squirrels are hungry because the big oak trees in our yard failed to produce many acorns this year (did you know oak trees have cycles -- some years producing masses of acorns and others years hardly any?). The squirrels eat the sunflower seeds from the bird feeders and the peanuts we throw out for them every day. (I only do that in hope that they won't dig up my tulip bulbs in desperation.) The Blue Jays must be hungry too, because there are squabbles over the many peanuts available.
I'm thinking about...
...trying to stay in the Advent state of mind. It's difficult not to start panicking at this time in Advent, when so much is left to be done for Christmas. Mary on the burro sometimes helps -- she's still looking for a place to rest. But sometimes the thought of being nine months pregnant on a burro with no place to birth makes me panic even more.
I am wearing...
...pajamas and slippers -- it's 8:30 and I'm done for the day.
I am reading....
...The Word Game by Steena Holmes, but I'm only two chapters in, so no opinion yet. I just finished listening to Carly Simon's memoirs, Boys in the Trees, which I found to be very sad in many ways.
I am creating...
...the last few Jesse Tree ornaments in my collection. I made December 1 the cut-off for special orders in my Etsy shop -- scapulars, Consecration bracelets and rosaries -- and the weekend of Thanksgiving I received orders for eleven scapulars and two Consecration bracelets. I just finished up the ones owed to people for Christmas, and decided to finish up the Jesse Tree ornaments while I wait for yarn to arrive for one last minute gift. Will she make it?
I'll share a photo of my Jesse Tree ornaments after Christmas if you want inspiration for your own set.
In the kitchen...
...simple meals and very little baking. I'm only going to make a couple kinds of cookies this year -- too many were wasted last year.
At the school table...
...one more day of school until break. Woohoo!
Around the house...
...everything is fairly clean (at least for the moment) as we just got all the Christmas decorations up. With company coming next week, I'll have to do some tidying up again before Thursday.
Beginning
End
Plans for the rest of the week...
...well, there's not much to the rest of the week, is there? After school tomorrow I have a few errands to run, and then it's officially weekend. We have a family gathering on Sunday, but mostly there will just be last minute preparations and a little bit of baking to do.
A few of my favorite things...
...Christmas trees
...Christmas cards in the mail daily
...violet and rose candles
...new tubes of homemade lip balm and a new recipe for hand sanitizer
Prayers sent heavenward...
...for my husband and children, to do God's will every day
...for all priests and religious
...all babies whose mothers are contemplating abortion, for a change of heart
...for friends who have asked for prayers
We just got our tree up this week, but I'm not panicking about Christmas. I've even got all my gifts wrapped! The children are impressed. :-)
ReplyDeleteIf it was just my family, I'd be fine. But, I have all the extended family coming for dinner on Christmas Eve, and getting the house, meals, table settings ready on top of all the normal Christmas prep puts me over the top..
DeleteNice to see you! We still don't have a tree; i think this is the latest we have ever put one up. Usually, we get it before and decorated it on Gaudete Sunday.
ReplyDeleteGaudete Sunday is usually my goal. This year we had it done on Saturday. Yay! And Faith and I did all he outdoor lights ourselves. I think the chiropractor is helping! That and not doing everything -- meals out on super busy days.
DeleteI love the figurine!! Everything is so beautiful. When I put the little Russian nesting doll ornament on our little tree this year, I thought of your and said a prayer for blessings for your lovely family.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your prayers, Phyllis -- so kind!
DeleteLove the update Barbara! The tree looks beautiful...we still have to chop ours down yet. Running extremely late as I was laid up with the flu. Appreciate your blog so much!
ReplyDeleteI'm so sorry you've been ill, Janelle. next time, give a shout, and I'll bring you some food!
DeleteI have been admiring that statue for years. It speaks volumes, doesn't it! I finished my 33 Days consecration and as I feel the stress I remember to give it all to her :) So far so good. I pray this peace continues for me. We didn't do much baking last year and have only tried a few this year. Not enough time, not in the mood, forgot to add ingredients to the grocery list, ya da ya da ya da. The ones that have come out of the oven, we've almost eaten them before we froze them ;) and my daughters have baked them.
ReplyDeleteSchool. Aren't you glad it's done for now?! This finals week was a really, really tough one for some reason. So glad to be done for a couple of weeks.
Your tree looks BEAUTIFUL! Wishing you a peace-filled Advent (what is left of it :)
I think the days of stored up baked goods are gone for me, Patty. At least until I have a few grandchildren to enjoy them.
DeleteI am sooo glad to be finished with school for now. We're not quite at the end of the second quarter and she's behind in history and science, but that's what winter is for, right?
Have a Merry Christmas, Patty. We went to the Cathedral for the last Sunday of Advent last night, so now it's the pedal to the metal. I'm still knitting one last gift!
Hi Barbara! I'm a bit behind on blog reading..but it's so nice to read a new post from you! Your tree is beautiful. We are getting into cookie mode today..we make about 4 kinds and maybe pumpkin roll: ) My kids love nuts, so the pecan snowballs are a big hit. Also, tiny little pecan pie tarts,Hershey kiss cookies and good old fahioned rolled sugar cookies--decorated, of course: )
ReplyDeleteforgot to ask..how is the anxiety lately? under control?
ReplyDeleteFor some unknown reason, all my Blog comments are going to my spam folder. I was standing in line at Kohls on Christmas Eve morning (long story) and I was hunting in my phone for a coupon -- they are also in my spam folder. Lo' and behold, I saw your comments. Sorry about that. My anxiety has been a little worse than normal, but I has 19 at my house on Christmas Eve, so not unexpected. Another crew comes in on New Year's Eve, so it will probably stay this way until we're back on normal schedules. I wish these two weeks off could have been relaxing. Alas, no. Thanks for checking!
DeletePS Your cookies sound wonderful. Our Noah has peanut and tree nut allergies so anything with nuts always sounds heavenly!