Sunday, December 28, 2008

Post-Christmas Wishes!

I hope everyone had a very, Merry Christmas!
I sure have had a nice Christmas season so far. My family got together up in the big C.S. and after church we held our traditional Christmas Eve party with lots of presents and food. The party is always at my parents' house with the extended family coming to us so it's nice to celebrate in my own home. This year, we had a lot of kids around so that was particularly fun and certainly kept things busy! I'm going to need to detox this next week from all the rich food, though! :P
Over Thanksgiving, we saw "The Four Christmases" together, which was a cute movie. One of its trailers was for "Marley & Me," and we decided right away that we would see it over Christmas since we have a yellow lab named Lucy. "Marley & Me" proved to be a really good movie, but definitely be forewarned it's not just the funny movie the trailer makes it out to be!
I'm back in Austin now and sort of done unpacking, etc. I'm really hoping to get down to business soon on my writing, but, at the same time, when life slows us down, I feel like there is always an important reason. I'm sure it will all make sense someday. ;)
Continued Merry Christmas wishes!

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Family Time

Wow, what a busy month it has been so far! Now I know why I always look so worn out in December pictures! :P
My immediate family and some extended family travelled earlier this month to Texas Tech in Lubbock for my sister's graduation. I'm really proud of her and have always said that she will become super successful at whatever she decides to do so I'm curious to see where life takes her next. She has so many possibilities! :)
The night before my sister's graduation they had John McCain as the speaker, in his first talk since the presidential election. We missed that, but the graduation ceremony we attended actually was really interesting, with a speaker who communicated in a meaningful way. I'd never been to Lubbock before this trip, and I found the people to be nice and down to earth so I can see why my sister likes the area so much.
The weekend after the graduation, we had a family wedding for my cousin. The wedding was down near Lake Jackson, Texas. The couple seemed like a genuinely good match, which, of course, is a very good thing, and the reception was a lot of fun. It's not often the family gets up and dances together, and I love to dance so I enjoyed that a lot. I liked watching and dancing with the little kids, too. Oh, and my niece and nephew were so cute in dress-up clothes! Adorable, actually!
I've also had multiple birthdays this month for friends, some Christmas get-togethers, and had to take off some time from writing to do some other work so my schedule has been packed!

Monday, December 08, 2008

Glad it's Monday Morning

It sure has been a whirlwind this past week!
I started by having my two-year-old niece stay with me for a couple of days. We didn't do anything special, but we had a lot of fun living life! Having a child around makes everything else in the world just disappear! And, sometimes, that is just what we need! :)
Saturday, I wrapped gifts at Brown Santa with the Leadership kids. I was pretty impressed by what goes into it. For example, my group had a family of five kids. Each of those kids will receive a puzzle, a book, and a stuffed animal, and then three other miscellaneous toys - for six, wrapped "from Santa" gifts total. That, in my opinion, is a very nice amount. Each family also will receive two family games so there will be plenty to occupy everyone on Christmas morning!

Saturday night, I attended the annual Wine, Cheese, and Chocolate party. Lots and lots of cheeses, two chocolate fountains ... need I say more?
There also have been a billion other things keeping me busy. I'm actually ready for the week and ready to get back to working on my book!

Tuesday, December 02, 2008

Post-Thanksgiving

I hope everyone had a very nice Thanksgiving!
I was able to spend time with the family and extended family, and that always is enjoyable. We don't really do a whole lot, but somehow I always like it!
Right before Thanksgiving, I served food at a community dinner. I did this last year, and something about it really draws me. I like to get in there, hands-on, and be with the people. A smile and a kind word can go a long way, I've learned. I spent about fifteen minutes with a self-described "high class homeless" man, who was talking about his life. It was obvious he had a mental illness, compounded by alcoholism, but we're all still just people, doing our best. Something about getting to experience that firsthand I like and also appreciate. I felt great the whole time I was there and the rest of the evening. We served a lot of people, too - we ran out of plates after 500!