Things You Eventually Just Accept

Like, for instance, the fact that I will never be as likable as my mother.

I have grown up happily not caring much for what most people think about me. Sometimes, this is very freeing and good. Sometimes, this makes you (mistakenly) assume other people must not care what you think about them, either. It's kind of a compromise.
My mom has spent (in my opinion) too much time worrying about what other people think, what other people will say, and feeling all manner of false guilt if she might have offended someone. On the other hand, everyone who's ever met her also likes her.

I think my way of life is a lot easier, but not necessarily better. I have examples to prove it, too.

One week I was counseling at the east campus of KBC, an all girls gradeschool camp. Mom was the activity director. We had a particularly difficult camper who was causing a lot of trouble, and bothering camper and and counselor alike. This girl's family had been attending camps for years, and the mother (let's call her Sue) lived fairly close to campus.

I should add that parents are not frequently called in to deal with a difficult camper. It is avoided until necessary. In this case, though, Mom had to call Sue and ask her to come by. This woman was not a particularly friendly person, and when she showed up it was very plain that my mom was going to get chewed up and spit out. They disappeared into Mom's room and we, the counselors, stood around looking at each other nervously.

Over an hour went by and we could hardly imagine what was going on in there. Then, an incident required Mom's attention, and one of the counselors had to sheepishly knock on her door and ask for her. She was invited to enter, and found my mom and Sue sitting next to each other on the bunk, giggling and spitting cherry seeds into a bowl on the floor.

Later, when questioned about this phenomenon, my mom just said what she always says, "a gentle answer turns away wrath."

I still think she worries too much about what people think of her.

Then again, she seems to be doing alright.

Winter Happenings

Last Tuesday night brought perfect snow for snowman building. I was so excited that we even had carrots in the house (not normally a vegetable of choice).

All you had to do was roll it along, and it picked everything up in it's path. Too bad we hadn't raked our leaves...

That is one adorable man, right there!

He was taller than me! And...maybe a little evil looking. But we love him anyway.

Catch Up

Not having the internet at home makes posting difficult, so let me just catch up all at once.

• At the end of October I got to visit my wonderful friend Amber. She is in her last semester of school, and will be heading out to the missions field in no time. I desperately wanted to spend time with her and see what she had been up to first hand, as my opportunities to do so are quickly becoming less and less. It was a great trip.
• We celebrated my Grandma's birthday, and she told us a hilarious story we somehow hadn't heard before then. Let's just say I never expected to hear Grandma say, "and the next thing I remember was..."
• We have been married for 1 1/2 years, and it has been a blast. Jono makes this whole marriage thing very easy.
• I committed the evil sin of decorating for Christmas a week before Thanksgiving, and it was so fun. We even got lights up on our house for the first time since we've had a house together.
• Thanksgiving snuck up on me completely. I felt totally unprepared, honestly, to be thankful. I started out stressed because nothing was happening on my schedule, and we left over 12 hours after we had planned to originally. Once we got to his grandparents' though, things really slowed down and I finally got my head on straight. :)
• We got to sit front row at an Andrew Peterson concert, and had an amazing time. I felt like this guy a little bit, but no one ended up kicking us out of our seats. :)

There's lots to look forward to, too. This month is going to fly by with business, but I wouldn't want to change a thing. I hope your December is lovely!

I Am Not Snow's Biggest Fan

I was not excited to see the pile of snow on the street (and the car) this morning. I would be perfectly happy if it only ever snowed on Christmas Eve. However, I live in Kansas, and really ought to make the best of it. This morning I was thinking about all the blessings that are made more apparent by unfortunate weather conditions.

• My selfless husband who forced me to stay inside while he warmed up the car and cleaned off all the snow.
• Our tiny house that has been keeping plenty warm with only the aid of a sweet space heater.
• The sweet space heater that saves us money.
• My new car that has HEAT (poor Rosalind, though I love her, did not).
• Job flexibility for my husband, who ended up NOT having to drive 90 miles on sludgy highways, but rather gets to work in town today.
• Hot Chocolate.

I pondered these things as I watched Jono cleaning off the cars through our front window. And, you know, I have it pretty good.

Happy Snow Day, friends!