The Good List 12-28-11

10. The crunch of leaves and branches underfoot during a winter hike.
9. Old school Concentration. We used to play this game all the time when my sisters and I were little. Jody found one online that she got my Mom for Christmas. It's amazing the memories it brought back. So fun!

8.  Mom's seafood gumbo and shrimp poboys. YUM!

7. The Help. I read the book several months ago, but just watched the movie during the holidays. Both were terrible and wonderful all at once.

6. Having Peyton and Leah here to fix/play with my hair over and over again. I strongly considered holding them hostage. ;-)

5. 10 cousins playing in the snow.

4. Late night giggles with my whoooole family!!!

3. Macy and Jared snuggling together to watch It's a Wonderful Life repeatedly. Macy has developed quite a crush on Jimmy Stewart. :-D

2. The family band is well underway. A green ukulele for Macy. A blue one for Grace. And a cajon each for Ty and Jack. Nice!

1. I just booked a plane ticket for my Mom to come back and see us in the spring. This softens the blow of the Christmas holidays ending a little bit. Love you so much, Mom!!! Can't wait for spring break!!!

Sound Bytes

On the off chance that there are actually 2 or 3 people outside of my immediate family who read this blog, I should go ahead and warn you to probably just skip this post. It won't make any sense to those who weren't present for the recent few days of shenanigans and tomfoolery. It might not even make sense to those who were present. You're welcome for the warning. :-D


Jody: "These questions are easy." Dad: "No, they're not easy. They're hard. I'm just smart."


Vickie: "Jody is the one who's always singing ridiculousness."


Mom: "Funk and Farkle." Becky: "MOM! That sounds dirty and inappropriate. It needs to wait until later."


Jody, in response to Leah's less-than-thrilledness at being up late: "Leah! Go to bed, Raincloud!"


Becky: "That's not Pi. That's Stone Henge."


Peyton: "I can't believe y'all are actually playing a game you have to *think* about."


After everyone told Jon his answer was a good guess, Dad said: "How is that a good answer? It was wrong!"


Jon: "Don't be surprised at my smartness."


In response to the following question, "What microsoft plug-in delivers high quality audio and video to web browsers?" Mom: "Extension cord."


Amy (somewhere in the neighborhood of 184 times, but I lost count): "I'm sorry. What was the question?"


"Ummmmm. . . . . are you new?"


Amy: "Guys, I hate to be needy here, but does anyone know where I can find a pillow?" Jared: "Wait. Is that like Methvin code for some kind of female problem?"


Vickie, to her two oldest children: "Why are y'all sitting so close together? It's weird."


Josh to Leah, while we were playing a game during which the object is to accumulate the fewest points: "Leah, you have more points than the combined total of everyone else playing this game."


Jody: "Daddy, you do you."


Becky: "Dad is quite the tidy-er."


Dylan (who just turned 3): "Out of my way, you!"


When Dad said he didn't know the answer to the question, "What playwright wrote Romeo and Juliet?" Amy verbally assaulted him and said, "And you have a college degree?!" To which Dad very calmly replied, "Yep. In petroleum engineering. Shakespeare never came up."


Leah: "Y'all are more fun with margaritas."


There you go, Vick. Remind me of the ones I forgot. . . . .

The Good List 12-21-11

10. Drew Brees on Sesame Street. Could there be anything more adorable?
9. Serving breakfast for dinner. There is something so very cozy about it. I don't really know why.
8. The brilliant moonlight reflecting off of a snowy landscape. It's CRAZY how bright it can be! So magical and romantic and sexy.
7. Patriot Place. The perfect little occasional getaway place.
6. Fleece sheets. These are to the outside of my body exactly what the perfect cup of coffee is to the inside of my body. Plus mine are the color of chocolate, so it's almost too much awesomeness for a single scenario. :-D
5. THIS! I cannot wait!!!

4. The homemade doggy biscuits Macy made for Indi and Charlie. She couldn't bear to leave them out. So sweet.

3. Some of my favorite people in the world welcome Grandbaby #3 in May 2012. Congratulations to Kim and Dale Carr and also their daughter Molly and her husband Bryan on the birth of their FIRST sweet baby! 

2. The Maywalds are almost here!!! Project Vermont Christmas is coming together quite nicely. Quite nicely indeed. :-D

1. A nice, long day of shopping and giggling with Mom and Jody yesterday. So much giggling. . . 

Beautiful Hands

I have a thing about hands. Always have. I remember as a relatively young child making a comment to my Memaw about how soft and pretty her hands were. She chuckled and assured me that her old, worn, hard-working hands were anything but soft and pretty, but I remember disagreeing with her. My limited vocabulary most likely intended words more like "tender" or "gentle" and "noble" or "gracefully strong," but what made sense to me at the time was "soft" and "pretty." My Memaw on the other hand saw rough, unpampered hands that had worked hard for decades with extremely limited resources and zero luxuries. Memaw raised 6 children. She cooked, sewed, cleaned, gardened, and did everything else a family of 6 children and a husband required of her. And I can almost guarantee she never got a manicure or owned any expensive lotion. But still there was something about her hands. They held love, care, tenderness, a certain kind of beauty. To me, even as a young child, they were "pretty" even though they were probably not attractive by worldly standards.


I was reminded of this a few days ago when I was reaching for lotion after washing my 4th or 5th sink full of dishes on one of my "cook all day" kind of days. It occurred to me that my hands really aren't much to look at. They were feeling awfully rough and dry after the work I had been doing that day. And even when that isn't happening, they're chubby and stubby and scarred and bearing the consequences of washing dishes 3 times a day most days. You'll never see them pictured in a lotion ad or featured on a poster in a nail salon. But I'm ok with that, because I'm finding that when I think of beautiful hands these days, I'm much more drawn to the ones that evidence their work and service much like my Memaw's did. The story written in experienced hands inspires and encourages me far more richly than a pretty picture of a smooth, manicured hand ever will. Not that there's anything wrong with having model hands. :-D But mine are not. So I'm just hoping that maybe one day they will tell a beautiful story.


Young ladies, one day you will likely look down and realize your hands aren't so young anymore. When that happens, don't be sad. Remember with joy every dish you washed, every tear you wiped away, every diaper you changed, and every scar you created while preparing a meal for someone. This is why God gave us hands. To love and serve. Use them well for that purpose and be proud of what they accomplish and the story they tell. This is true beauty. And if they happen to be attractive too, well then that's just a bonus.

The Good List 12-14-11

10. Smoked salmon flatbread wrap with arugula, goat cheese and caramelized onions. Yes. Pretty sure I could eat this every day if I could afford to.
9. Shopping in my pajamas on my couch with a huge mug of coffee by my side and having everything delivered to my door. So excellent.
8. Disney's Prep and Landing. Fantastic.
7. The winter moon is typically framed right in the center of my kitchen window when I'm preparing and/or cleaning up after dinner. This makes me a special kind of happy and "settled" in my heart.

6. Will Arnett in "Up All Night." Brilliant.
5. Reading Christmas picture books with Jack and Dylan. It's fun to be reminded how much I love this.
4. The Barn restaurant. Jared and I have had a gift certificate to this place for over a year. We finally used it last weekend, and it was fantastic. Excellent food. Warm, cozy setting. Wonderful service. The only thing we'll do differently next time is make reservations to sit by the fireplace!
3. Scrumptious, chubby little toddler hands and feet. I simply adore them.

2. I happened upon Macy's favorite locket and opened it up to find my Memaw's picture. Stirred my heart to tears. Macy didn't know her very long, but somehow she has always felt a strong bond to her. Precious.

1. Getting to watch "It's a Wonderful Life" at the historic Paramount Theatre. An old, black and white, Christmas movie on a big screen in a theatre that was built in 1912. Kind of like a fairy tale for me. :-D

Prayer Time 12-13-11

"Christ chargeth me to believe His daylight at midnight." --Samuel Rutherford


When I first read this, I read it to say, "Christ changeth me to believe His daylight at midnight." I think that's equally true, but not without a great deal of time at the feet of Jesus.


And with that in mind, what might I bring to Him on your behalf while I'm there today? Please feel free to leave prayer requests in the comments field. Comments on this post will not be published publicly for the sake of those concerned with privacy.

Photo of the Week 12-12-11