The house is filled with laughter when Sarah, Adam, and Matt are all here. It’s not that we don’t have a good time when we’re alone, but it certainly is different and a lot more fun when all the kids are here. This picture taken at dinner when Rachel was visiting captures it perfectly.
Despite the fact that I was depressed the day before Christmas, our celebrations turned out great. The annual eleven o’clock service at Third Presbyterian on Christmas Eve put me back in the Christmas mood. Christmas morning, Tracy and I got up, read the papers, and went to breakfast at Mykynos. At four o’clock his extended family arrived for dinner, frivolity, and opening of gifts. Grandma’s fun gifts to everyone was 20Q, which provided a lot of entertainment.
Finally on Tuesday, we had our Christmas. Sarah and Adam didn’t arrive in Buffalo until 12:20 on Tuesday morning. By the time we got to bed, it was close to 2, so no one was up any too early. It’s not as exciting as it was when they were little, but it’s still really good. Love my kids, love my husband, love the holidays.
It certainly does not feel like Christmas Eve here. Maybe it’s the weather–warmer than it’s been in weeks, rain not snow. Maybe it’s the lack of vacation time. School didn’t end until yesterday afternoon. Not much time to relax and prepare before the holiday. Maybe–and I think this is the REAL reason–it’s because Sarah is in Washington with Adam and not here for the first Christmas ever. I know I have to get used to this. We’ll be sharing her with Adam and Adam’s family for many holidays to come. And I really believed I’d be OK with it, even this first year. But when I woke up this morning, it just didn’t feel much like Christmas here.
For several years when Sarah and Matt were teenagers, they alternated giving the prayer at the family Christmas dinner. It was not an honor they desired, but they always did it graciously. One year Sarah surprised all of us by memorizing this poem by Ann Weems. Each Christmas I reread it and remember how proud and touched I was by her effort and the message of the poem.
Star Giving
What I’d really like to give you for Christmas
Is a Star . . .
Brilliance in a package,
Something you could keep in the pocket of your jeans
Or in the pocket of your being,
Something to take out in times of darkness,
Something that would never snuff out or tarnish,
Something you could hold in your hand,
Something for wonderment,
Something for pondering,
Something that would remind you of
What Christmas has always meant:
God’s Advent Light into the Darkness of this world.
But Starts are only God’s for giving,
And I must be content to give you words and wishes and
Packages without Stars.
But I can wish you Life
As radiant as the Star
That announced the Christ Child’s coming,
And as filled with awe as the Shepherds who stood
Beneath its Light,
And I can pass on to you the Love
That has been given to me,
Ignited countless time by others
Who have knelt in Bethlehem’s Light.
Perhaps, if you ask, God will give you a Star.
Merry Christmas!
I found these cute notebooks with dividers and pockets at the Super Target at Stone Mountain when I was visiting Sarah in November. I’ve made three of them now; one for me and two for friends. This was for my friend Lynn. It’s a notebook for keeping track of great scrapbook ideas you find in books and magazines. Each divider is decorated as well and I added a library pocket to the
inside cover with a tag to keep track of the books or magazines that
are referenced.I labeled my dividers "Layout Designs/Titles," "Cards/Projects," and "Embellishments/Holidays." So far it’s been really helpful. I have a code for the magazine that is referenced on the tag, then a brief comment about the idea (ie. "tiny tages for dates & titles") and then the page number. Now if I remember an idea I saw, I can usually find it pretty quickly in my notes, or if I’m looking for a layout idea I can go to that section and know which magazines or books to look at. Far faster than leafing through my pretty extensive collection of idea books.
Yesterday Tracy and I went to the Finger Lakes in search of a wine named Star with a great label to give as part of a gift this Christmas. We stopped at the outlets, bought new sneakers and gym clothes for the ones that were stolen out of the van, a Christmas gift, and a new coat. We stopped at Goose Watch Vineyard and picked up a case of our favorite red wine, Renaissance Red. Then we got to Lucas Vineyards, only to discover “Star” was a single year production and there is none left. Well, that left me with a real dilemma since a whole series of gifts had already been purchased with “Star” as the finishing touch. So off I went to Marketview Liquor where I cruised the aisles looking at labels. Let me tell you, there are some great labels out there, but not many stars! Finally found an Italian pinot grigio called Stella with a satisfactory star on the label–although not as cool at the one from Lucas. All this for Secret Santa!
I do know where the time has gone, but I’m not sure why blogging got to be such a non-issue. It’s not like I haven’t done anything to blog about. So in the next few days, I’m commited to catching up. It won’t be in any chronological order, and I’ll probably add photographs later, but at least I’ll be back in business.
A friend and I participated in the local walk to raise funds for breast cancer yesterday. It was a chilly, windy day, but walking soon warmed us up. It was inspiring to walk with so many breast cancer survivors and some who are obviously in the throes of treatment. I don’t think anyone is untouched by this disease. We all know someone (or many) who have survived the disease, are fighting it, or who lost their lives. Research is the key to eliminating the disease, and money is the key to the research. It was a satisfying way to help.
It was another great Book Group outing. We went to hear Brian Greene, author of The Elegant Universe and The Fabric of the Cosmos at Monroe Community College. He was asked to lecture as part of their celebration of World Physics year–the 100th anniversary of Einstein’s landmark theory of relativity. I avoided physics at both the high school and college levels (now a regret), and know zip zero about physics. Brian Greene was articulate, entertaining, and absolutely understandable. Not that I could explain what he said, but I did understand it. I now have a reasonable sense of the difference between the theory of relativity, quantum mechanics, and string theory–and how they relate to one another. Greene made great analogies and had wonderful video clips that provided visual images of the abstract concepts. He is an amazing speaker. If you ever get a chance to hear him talk, don’t miss it.
For the third year in a row, Tracy and I took a weekend trip to Manchester, Vt. We drive to Albany on Friday after school, spend the night, and drive over to Manchester in time for breakfast at Up To Breakfast. Their specialty is Morning Glory pancakes–a kind of carrot cake for breakfast–totally yummy! Then we head off to the Northshire Bookstore, one of the few really large independent bookstores left. Rochester has lost all the independents to the big names. Northshire has actually expanded in the last two years, and it’s easy to spend an hour or two browsing through the store, and reading the staff recommendations. After Northshire, we head to the outlets and the flagship store for Orvis. This year Tracy did a lot of shopping. I had already found my bargains at Macy’s at the Colonie Center the night before. Finally we stop in Bennington at Bennington Pottery (no finds this year), but we had a great lunch at Madison Brewery. This year we extended our trip and drove on to Hyde Park, NY to visit my brother and my niece.
The weather was generally crummy. It rained all the way to Albany Friday night, drizzled all day Saturday, but the foliage was beautiful. . . even in the rain. It POURED from Manchester to Hyde Park, NY. The Taconic Parkway was treacherous as water accumulated on both sides of the road, making passing very difficult. Later that night portions of the Taconic flooded and had to be closed to traffic.
It finally stopped raining Sunday morning so Dane and Tracy managed to get a golf game in. Julie and I had a wonderful lunch at Crew in Poughkeepsie, and then drove to Rhinebeck and did the shops. Rhinebeck has retained its charm from my high school and college days, but the shopping has definitely expanded and there are many delightful shops with interesting selections of products. “Random,” is Julie’s interpretation, and she’s right on–odd assortments of stuff, but much of it nice. Found another nice independent bookstore there, though not nearly as large. Had a wonderful meal at Max’s Memphis Barbecue, an upscale, cozy restaurant in Red Hook. Drove home today under gray, cloudy skies. Great weekend away; seemed a lot longer than three days. Nice.
Julie in Rhinebeck
Last weekend I went to my second scrapbook crop. It ran from 5-11 on Friday and 9-9 Saturday. My friend, Lynn, and her sister and I had a great time. Friday night we worked on projects with sei papers. I ended up with two 2-page layouts for a future album and 13 cards!! On Saturday I finished the second of two gift albums and completed 10 pages in my Christmas album. It’s amazing how fast the time goes, and it sure is nice to have so much accomplished.
It’s amazing to me how much stuff people bring to these events. I know I have tons of supplies, but my stash pales in comparison to some of the materials these ladies bring to the crop. Is this just part of their supplies, or do they bring it all? Being a planner, I brought only what I needed. Of course, I also bought new supplies as well. Every time Lynn or Robyn came back with a great piece of paper, it was so easy to walk down two doors and buy a piece yourself. The best purchases, however, were two new containers of flowers. The flowers are great and so is the packaging. The cute bottle of Forever Flowers is brightening my desk and reminding me that there is more to life than grading papers.
And I wonder why I don’t have time (or the energy) to blog. Perhaps soon.
One of many advantages to being a teacher is having two New Years every year. The traditional January first New Year, and the new start of a school year. My whole life has always revolved around an academic calendar, and I have almost always loved the beginning of a new school year. (The one year I didn’t was my junior year of high school when my family moved from Ohio to New York. To say it was traumatic is an understatement. It was, however, one of the best things to happen to me–in retrospect.)
So there’s been no blogging because I can’t do the get ready for school thing and much of anything else. Haven’t done a scrapbook page, haven’t read a book, haven’t done anything but think about the new year. What worked well last year? What new things do I want to try this year? What will my bulletin boards look like? It goes on and on. But now it’s done. The kids come tomorrow. I have met a few of them–all with great smiles and eager to start a new year. Just like their teacher.
Last year I read an inspiring book by Jerome Groopman entitled The Anatomy of Hope. He says:
Hope , unlike optimism, is rooted in unalloyed reality . . . Hope is the
elevating feeling we experience when we see – in the mind’s eye –
a path to a better future.
He goes on to talk about the importance of faith and hope in the recovery from disease, and outlines the difference between hope, false hope, and faith. It’s a wonderful book.
I’ve had reason to think about hope again this summer. First, Sarah’s boyfriend talked to a elderly Palestinian this summer while he was living in Israel. The man said he had no hope for himself, his children, or his grandchildren. His comments have not been far from my mind since I read them. You can read Adam’s whole entry here.
Then our book group read Thomas Friedman’s book The World is Flat. Friedman quotes a Chinese government official who said, “When people have hope, you have a middle class.” (p. 375) Friedman goes on to say that the world will never truly be flat for people who have no hope. “The bad news is . . there are hundred of millions of people who have no hope and therefore no chance of making it into the middle class. They have no hope for two reasons: Either they are too sick, or their local governments are too broken for them to believe they have a pathway forward.” (p. 376)
Finally, I just finished reading Tracy Kidder’s inspiring Mountains Beyond Mountains that tells the story of Paul Farmer and how he has single-handedly made a huge difference for many third world people too sick to have hope. It occurred to me that although their health was certainly the greatest cure, having hope restored is close behind.
I am a constant worrier. When Matt was having lots of difficulties in high school, his counselor cautioned me not to “catastrophize” every little event. I was (and am) capable of envisioning the worst possible outcomes for every incident. I learned to work hard not to allow myself these negative thoughts. But throughout it all, I never lost hope that things could get better. If I try to personalize a loss of hope, I cannot. It’s hard not to come to the conclusion that the functioning governments of the world are not putting their resources where they can truly make a difference. Paul Farmer’s efforts have been fruitful; the war in Iraq has certainly not instilled hope in the Iraqis. Where is the money better spent?
I belong to a great book group – four couples. Some of us have been together in this group since 1990. Occasionally we take a field trip. Our biggest one was to Buffalo after reading Lauren Belfer’s City of Light, a historical mystery set at the turn of the century and dealing with the harnessing of Niagara Falls to produce hydroelectricity. We took a tour of some of the architectural delights of Buffalo mentioned in the book, had a hard hat tour of the Niagara Power Plant, and checked into the Ransom House for an elegant dinner and night at the inn. This week we joined Jim and Suzanne at Esperanza Mansion for a wonderful lunch overlooking Keuka Lake and then retired to the cottage they had rented for their vacation for our book discussion of The World is Flat. It’s hard to imagine having a more thoughtful, creative, and entertaining group of people with whom to share your love of books. Lucky us.
