TulipGirl

I like the New Year.

I like having a time to collect my thoughts from the past year. A time to reflect, be grateful, see how far the Lord has brought me.

I like having a time to dream.

A few years ago, some girlfriends introduced me to the idea of a “Mondo Beyondo List” for the new year. This is the list of all the wild and crazy dreams we have, the things that are so out there it is almost scary to write them down. This isn’t a resolutions list of eating healthier and spending wiser. This is the mondo beyondo list, the ideas that tug at your heart and are almost out of reach even of day dreams.

I’m taking some time this week to day dream. And I’ll post my Mondo Beyondo list come January 1st. (Well, at least part of it–some is too scary to post publicly–you know. . .)

Please share yours, too–either on your own blog or in the comments.

Mondo Beyondo Lists:
Lenise’s
Kristen’s
Hannah Im’s
Amie’s
Christina’s

I did a quick search for something worthwhile to occupy my mind while I fold clothes tonight. One of my favorite resources is Monergism.Com, and once again it delivered!

I perused the Audio Resources page, and instead of a sermon decided to a history lecture:
The Story of Calvinism: A Historical Survey by Phil Johnson

I’m about a third of the way through it, and it is very interesting. I like ol’ Pyro Phil, even if he isn’t Presbyterian. *eg*

Woohoo! We’re getting ready for the Laurichka! Aunt Laura from Kyiv is coming to visit and spend New Year’s, a traditional Ukrainian New Year’s, with us!

(And, oh, I am soooo behind on laundry. . . And that guest room we e-mailed her about? It’s still the office/storage room. Ah, well. She knows us well, knows all our dirt, and loves us anyway.)

This day,
In sadness borne,
We must confess:
The Spirit of the Age
Has crushed
The infant in the cradle.

And yet:
O glorious yet,
One day, in gladness shown,
We must profess:
The infant from the manger
Has crushed
The Spirit of the Age.

Tristan Gylberd (1954-)

From George Grant and King’s Meadow

I have a sore throat and having trouble talking. It’s getting worse. *quiet sigh*

I’ve been feeling so sentimental about Ukraine the past month. Maybe because one year ago we were in the midst of the Orange Revolution. Maybe because I’m feeling more settled now, and “safer” to start missing Ukraine.

The holiday season has seemed so different. I really got used to preparing our family / American friend Christmas for December 25th. Then celebrating New Year’s with our Ukrainian friends. And then a religious observance of Ukrainian Christmas. This year everything seems so. . . rushed.

My dear friend Laura has just returned from serving over three years in Ukraine. We are hoping to have her join us for New Year’s. Have some familiarity, continuity, for us both.

One of the things I’m missing is the Christmas music I got used to in Ukraine. This song (though another version, which I can’t find to play online) has been going through my head all week. I keep trying to change the radio station to find one playing it, but they are all playing American traditional music. It’s a song from a children’s cartoon series about a wolf and rabbit (and it may be an older folk song, I don’t know.) The version I heard on the radio all the time in Kyiv was a pop one done by the groups “The Leperchauns”. The music video for it was fun, too.

НОВОГОДНЯЯ ПЕСЕНКА. из мультфильма “Ну, погоди!”
Расскажи, Снегурочка, где была?
Расскажи-ка, милая, как дела?
За тобою бегала, Дед Мороз,
Пролила немало я горьких слёз!

Припев:
А ну-ка, давай-ка плясать выходи!
Нет, Дед Мороз! Нет, Дед Мороз!
Нет, Дед Мороз, погоди!
Ждёт моих подарочков ребятня,
И тебе достанется от меня!
Наконец сбываются все мечты,
Лучший мой подарочек, это – ты!

Припев:
А ну-ка, давай-ка плясать выходи!
Нет, Дед Мороз! Нет, Дед Мороз!
Нет, Дед Мороз, погоди!

Проигрыш.
Ну, Дед Мороз! Ну, Дед Мороз!
Ну, Дед Мороз, погоди!

I’m missing Ukraine.

I just read what Barbara Curtis shared about part of her life, and feel compelled to link to it here.

In fact, I met one just a few years ago when I was asked to speak at another ladies’ luncheon where as I greeted the women working in the kitchen I noticed a familiar face I couldn’t quite place.

“Remember me?” she said, smiling. I had to confess I didn’t know where I knew her from.

“Kimberly,” she said. “We worked for the phone company in Corte Madera in 1979.”

“Kimberly, I didn’t know you were a Christian!” I said. And then there was an embarrassed moment of silence, as we both realized that’s probably the last thing a Christian would want to hear. I mean, what if when we stand before our Creator there is a cloud of witnesses who became believers in spite of our neglect? I can almost hear them intoning the chorus: “I didn’t know you were a Christian.”

At this time of year, we are remembering the Incarnation, God becoming man, communicating His love and holyness in a way we can understand.

May the Lord use us in an incarnational way in the lives of those around us us.

So, I was looking for info on Nutcracker performances in our local paper online, when I came across this article. They didn’t provide a URL, but apparently the Web’s founder, Tim Berners-Lee, has finally started blogging.

Google provided the link (what would we do without google?):
timbl’s blog

(And on the Nutcracker–I was really hoping to take the boys to see the Nutcracker again this year, but can’t find any local performances between Christmas and New Year. *sigh* Didn’t realize it would be mainly presented in early/mid December. Next year.)

My Uncle Chuck and Aunt Gayle are from New Orleans. They were caught in Katrina. Here are their stories, as published in the Natchez Democrat:

Couple recounts stories of escape, reunion from aftermath: Gayle’s story

Couple recounts stories of escape, reunion from aftermath: Chuck’s story

I’ve got to add Considerable Grace (Tara Barthel) to my blogroll.

(Discovered via Pastor Jolly)

Well, besides noonie food for my babies.

You Are French Food

Snobby yet ubiquitous. People act like they understand you more than they actually do.

What Kind of Food Are You?

One of my favorite things in France was starting the day with strong cafe au lait and heavenly pastry.

(Via Hot Mexican Food Mama)

It’s in the low 70s. The pool water has been too cold for over a month. Yet, those crazy kids are swimming.

Okay, so we were playing around and I pushed them in. *eg*

But now they are swimming and freezing and having fun.

Gotta love winter in Florida.

7 But we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children. 8 So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us.

I Thessalonians 2:7-8

For the Single Guy in Your Family:
Chicks

For the melancholy Lit snob:
Poe Action Figure

For the Neighbor Who Is Has A Headache:
Happy Company Head Trip Tingler Massager

For the QF Family at Church:
Industrial Sized

For the Millionaire Who Has Everything:
He Doesn’t Have A Toilet in Africa
(Thanks, Marion!)

Now observe that when that clever harlot, our natural reason… , takes a look at married life, she turns up her nose and says, “Alas, must I rock the baby, wash its diapers, make its bed, smell its stench, stay up nights with it, take care of it when it cries, heal its rashes and sores… ?

What then does Christian faith say to this? It opens its eyes, looks upon all these insignificant, distasteful, and despised duties in the Spirit, and is aware that they are all adorned with divine approval as with the costliest gold and jewels. It says, O God, because I am certain that thou hast created me as a man and hast from my body begotten this child, I also know for a certainty that it meets with thy perfect pleasure. I confess to thee that I am not worthy to rock the little babe or wash its diapers, or to be entrusted with the care of the child and its mother. How is it that I, without any merit, have come to this distinction of being certain that I am serving thy creature and thy most precious will? O how gladly will I do so, though the duties should be even more insignificant and despised. Neither frost nor heat, neither drudgery nor labor, will distress or dissuade me, for I am certain that it is thus pleasing in thy sight…

God, with all his angels and creatures is smiling–not because the father is washing diapers, but because he is doing so in Christian faith.

–Martin Luther

Last week we read of John Calvin’s breastfeeding advocacy. I’m beginning to wonder if this is going to turn into a series on Great Theologians and Attachment Parenting?

(Via Carol, via Cheryl.)

Bill Gates is using his charitable giving to fund some very interesting research. Some of it cool. Most of it pretty creepy.

“Mommy, do you remember when I was screaming my head off for moonie? When I was a baby? I was crying and screaming my head off, and then you gave me moonie.” –C5, who hasn’t breastfed in years. And who only screamed his head off when we were boarding planes.

I keep making my list and crossing it off, and then misplacing it. *blush* No, I don’t rank among the super-organized like the ladies at Organized Christmas or FlyLady. But the important parts of the holiday are coming together–the smell of baking, the sound of carols, doing the Jesse Tree, lighting advent candles. . .

Anyway, so I don’t lose my gift list again, I’m posting it here.

Grandparents M: Card and Photos
Grandparents B: Card and Photos
Grandparents R: Card and Photos
(Still need to choose photos and have them printed.)

My Family:
Dad: Bought (not posting it–Mom might see it!)
Mom: ???
MtnMama and family: Ordered, shipped (You can open it early! *grin* It’s for the whole family, but especially the kiddos.)
Johnny: ???

Hubby’s Family:
Pop: Book on CD, Ordered
Mom: Book, Chocolate, Surprise, Ordered/Bought
Mike and Shelly: Bread Dipping Spices and Olive Oil, Made/Bought
Their Kids: Christmas Traditions Box, Ordered/Bought
Amanda and Jonathan: ??? (Movie and Popcorn?)
Andrew: 1/2 bought

Kids’ Teachers:
Mrs. D: Post It Notes, Bought
Mrs. E: ???
Mrs. K: Chocolate, Bought
Miss S: Cosmetic Bag w/ Goodies, Bought

Other:
Dr J/Dr M: Bread Dipping Spices and Olive Oil, Made/Bought
Dee: Hippie Book/Tension Tamer Collection
Bev: Ukrainian Pysanky

Kiddos: (Not posting too many details, just in case.)

Each year we get one “big” gift for all of them, and then some individual gifts. Some of the past “big” gifts have been: a wooden chess set with child-hand sized pieces and the book “The Story of Chess,” an indoor wall anchored gym set, the Chronicles of Narnia book set and reading it aloud.

This year we have two big gift. The first is a certain board game that Hubby loves that he wants to teach the boys to play together as a family.

The second is a new costume storage bin and costumes. The boys love dress up and pretend play, and we encourage that. I found some great post-Halloween sales for costumes that seem very durable, and at 90% off, well, it made for lots of fun costume buying! Also we’ve ordering them these wooden items.

“Remember they are little.”
–Carol

“Remember they are space aliens.”
–Hubby

With beds made up in the bathroom, sipping cool chammomile tea, with occasional trips to vomit.

Update: So far it’s gone from R6 to C5 to T8. I was feeling yucky yesterday, but avoided throwing up. Ginger tea and toast feature prominently in our meal plans.