December 11 3-D printing

Thursday afternoon:  I drive over to say "HI" to Jesse and Kaity almost every Thursday afternoon ... because I miss them terribly! I don't stay very long--maybe an hour or so--but it's enough time to just feel connected to their lives, even just a little bit. And a little bit is much better than not at all!

A few weeks ago, a friend of Jesse's (Rob) gifted him with a (used) 3-D printer. Jesse tells me it is just a basic model--but being the highly technical individual that he is, he is already using it to print stuff like brackets for shelving units, and other odds and ends. He can simply design a part he wants to create, program the printer, and then ... voila'! I'll have to take better pictures next week when I am there.

Kaity is getting in on the fun too! This week, Jesse "printed" two little foxes and Kaity painted them. Look!

The smaller fox (which isn't very well photographed) has moving parts! It's little legs move and its head wobbles around--it's super cute. Kaity placed the small one on top of the large one--they are separate toys, but this is how Kaity positioned them for the pictures. I should have had Kaity hold them sideways so that their whole bodies would have shown.

Perhaps when I am over to Jesse's again--I plan to watch the Lions/Ram game Sunday late afternoon--maybe I will get better pictures then.

December 9 with the kids

Tuesday:  It's just a little over two weeks now until Christmas Day. It has been a nice wintery few weeks, and it certainly LOOKS like Christmas everywhere. I feel pretty "ready" for it--but then I always wish that Christmas would last many more days than it does. Mostly because people seem nicer during this time of year. Perhaps they are more conscious of Christ's coming to earth--how entirely awesome it was for Him to come! I long for more of Him in my heart, and evidence of His Spirit in my life, surrendering my heart to His. I play Christmas music a lot when I am at home. There are so many beautiful Carols and hymns that tell His story. Ah ... my faith is so small--please grow me, Lord.

I had fun playing with my kiddos this afternoon. Brendan came home from school first, as always. He told me he has a Christmas concert Monday evening--YAY! I love to go and hear Brendan sing. It's one of the highest forms of pleasure in my life. I invited him over to spend the night this Friday. He said he will come! I'm always shocked by his acceptance. We plan to go to the Christmas play over at Calvary, with cookies and hot chocolate to follow. Brendan likes plays and music--so this should be a nice time.

Dylan and Kelly were home early--Dylan teaches a class Tuesday evenings, and Kelly had a meeting to attend over at their church--but she brought us a pizza to have for dinner. I'm to stay until their neighbor, Piper, comes over to carry on childcare at about 6:30.

I did remember (rather last-minute) to snap a few pictures today--but I only took TWO:

We played a game of UNO, the dinosaur edition with special rules. 

I missed taking a picture of Cal today. He was in "wild" form. I'm never quite sure where on earth he gets half of the things in his head--he's a very funny little kid, though; always surprising me with his boldness, his energy and fun. 

These Tuesdays come and go too quickly!  

December 8 MNBS party at Margaret's

MONDAY:  My small-group Bible study leader, Margaret, always invites all of us in her group to her house for a Christmas dinner. She does not allow us to bring a single item of food! Her husband, Mike, is also a small-group leader (for men) and they are also invited to this party to just eat a good meal and fellowship with each other. It's always a good time, mostly because Mike and Margaret are such hospitable people.

Margaret served their family's traditional Christmas Eve meal for all of us to enjoy. They home-make meat pies, served with cooked apple sauce, and green peas on the side. Trust me--there were NO green peas on the side of my plate. To this day, I cannot eat a pea without gagging. I was able to very politely decline the peas as they were being served. Margaret also baked plenty of tasty desserts. She is an amazing person.

Our small group is not very small this year! There are 18 ladies in it. Usually, we have topped out at 12! I'm not sure how many are in Mike's group--but everyone who had a spouse were welcomed to bring them so we ended up with about 65 people over at Margaret's house Monday night. They have a big house--good thing!

Julie, Jen, Karen, Migena, Alicia, and Cindy

Julie and Jen and I meet for lunch every Tuesday before I go over to Dylan and Kelly's house to do a little cleaning. Jen owns the flower shop right across from John Ball Zoo. She is a really interesting person. She is in her early 40's, has never married, and is quite content. Julie is married to Victor. They are a combination of Italian and Greek (!!), are amazing chefs, and really great to fellowship with. Karen and I share the exact same birthdate, only a year apart. Migena is a hair dresser--she is Slovakian, and a super interesting person. Alicia is Christy's sister-in-law, and new to our group this year. Cindy is Jewish by birth, but came to know Christ during her high-school years when she lived in Chicago.

Arlene, Ed, Pam, and Lynda (at the table)

Arlene is new to our small group this year. She and Tamela share a grandchild. Arlene's son was married to Tamela's daughter, you see. Ed is married to our co-leader, Christy. Both of them are KIND beyond words--and interesting as well--and super grounded--and happy together for over 43 years. Pam is married to Paul (who couldn't join her tonight), and Lynda (with a "y") is married to Norm (who is standing behind Ed)--they have three sons (I think), all of whom worked for our government in various places in Africa, and all of whom lost their jobs due to our change in presidents (no comment).

Mike and Margaret are always welcoming guests home to their house. Mike is a very good photographer. His portraits are framed all over their house--from locations all over the world. Mike is a retired dentist. I try not to hold that against him, being that I have quite an aversion to dentists in general.

We had quite an enjoyable few hours with everybody celebrating Jesus. It certainly is nice to be a part of a group of seriously genuine Christians.

December 6/7 My Christmas Tree

Saturday/Sunday:  For some reason this year, I was less than enthused about trudging out to the shed, digging through the boxes, and finding everything I needed to put up my Christmas tree. We are experiencing extreme COLD, so being outside in it is very unpleasant (at least to me). We also have quite a bit of snow--perhaps 8" or so out here in my neck of the woods. It's very pretty to look at! I have always loved the beauty of the winter months--well, as long as there is fresh snow. Once the snow melts, everything is just so GRAY or BROWN or BLACK that it just doesn't appeal to my artistic sensibilities at all!

It took me two days--well, actually THREE, to finish putting up the tree. I assembled it on Saturday and strung the lights. Sunday, I started decorating it--but didn't finish up until Monday. Here are a few pictures:

I've never been one that favored colored lights--I'm not sure why exactly, but I just prefer the white ones. They just feel so much more peaceful to me. I have two strands on the tree--one strand has a bigger bulb (about 150 of them), and the other strand has 350 lights that you can program to do a variety of different things. I prefer the setting that has them slowly blinking.

I have an angel tree topper, and got it out to look at it; but I remembered that I never really liked it in years past! It's just too big and wobbly. It leans weirdly, and no matter what I do, I have to constantly keep fussing with it for the weeks that the tree is up. It has lights, too, but I always felt the lights clashed with the rest of the tree. SO ... I went to Menard's and Meijer's looking for a smaller replacement, but I didn't find anything that I liked (that I was willing to pay for). 

I finally decided to just use an ornament for my topper. She is a pretty little angel--she doesn't show up very well on the tree, but I like her far better than the other huge angel--so I am happy to have her!

December 5 The GIR Christmas party

Friday night:  I attended my first ever GIR (Growing in Relationships) Christmas party tonight. It was a catered dinner (very delicious), with entertainment afterwards by the Roedema's son (who is a pastor, but also sings beautifully). 

I am not particularly comfortable (!!) at social events. I'm not actually certain why that is. Perhaps it's because I am single, status post two rather failed marriages. It's not that there aren't any other divorced people in the class--in fact, there are quite a few; however, most have successfully remarried for a lengthy duration. There are a few widows and widowers in the class too. Some of these folk I have been somewhat acquainted with going all the way back to 1992, when I first began attending Calvary Church. Some of the people who are class members are also in my Monday Night Bible study group, and some I knew back when I was a choir member.

I drove a dear lady, Beverly, over to the party. She lives a few miles down the road off from Jupiter. She is 90 and no longer drives. We had a pleasant drive there and back. I met Beverly way back in 1992, but we have never really been a part of the same small group, so we got a little bit better acquainted on our drive. 

I only snapped just a few pictures of the party, all of them were taken before the party actually began:

Several class members decorated this space--which is usually used for the youth at Calvary on Sunday and throughout the week.

This is Tamela (L) and Cindy (R)--both of whom are in the small group I am in on Monday nights (Bible study). I have known both ladies now for over five years. Both are single women, divorced, with children and grandchildren. They are a blessing to me.

I hope I become more comfortable attending some of these social events. I have become quite a homebody in these years--happier in my little cozy space than anywhere else. It would probably be good for me if I grew some courage and socialized every now and then. I am far more comfortable with ladies' groups than I am in mixed company, especially if there are single men around. I'll pray about it!

December 2 with NO photos

Tuesday:  I honestly did not realize, until I was driving away from the house today, that I never even one time pointed my phone at anyone in order to take a picture. Rats. Sigh.

I ate lunch today with my friends, Julie and Jen, and then halfway through Julie's husband (Victor) joined us. What a wonderful 90 minutes of fellowship. I felt completely refreshed. 

I arrived over at Dylan and Kelly's at 1:00 and did the usual, very surface, cleaning until about 3:30 and then cut up some fruit for the kids to have for their after-school snack. When they got off the school bus this afternoon, they were pretty tuckered out--but enthused to work on their "Wish lists" for my Christmas shopping benefit. We made great progress! I feel so encouraged.

It WAS a process, however, with at least two kiddos talking to me at the same exact time trying to show me exactly what they wanted. BUT ... this little session was so successful, that I actually ordered almost everything from Amazon this morning. YAY!!