Terrapin Station

Photo Roundup

 

The cat is clearly not happy about being in the middle of a dog sandwich, as evidenced by her DEVIL EYES.

 

Thanksgiving place setting.  Table made by my great-grandfather.  China from my step-great-grandmother.  Sterling from my grandmother Butler and her mother.  Turkey napkin rings from Aunt Betty.  Paper towel napkins from Bounty. 

 

This is what the day was really about.  Clockwise from right:  Dad, Sarah, Qualan, Marshall, Ken, Brandon, and Mom. 

What am I experiencing in my life, as Advent begins?

  

Creighton University has some excellent online Advent resources, including a new one:  "Beginning Advent."  The title is the title of this post.  It goes on to say,

So, what are we experiencing? That is the first Advent question. If we chew that question, then the Isaiah reading will sound so good to our ears. Are we the people “who walk in darkness” or have “thick clouds” over us? Is the way before us full of valleys and hills? Does it seem like we are in a desert? Are there wild beasts out there who are ready to devour us? Have we been guilty of some things we aren’t proud of? Have we lost touch with who we really want to be? Has our fidelity become a bit shabby? Then, Isaiah proclaims that our God is ready to come and save us. And, none of the things that I see as barriers even matter to God.

See also, "Experiencing Advent Deeply for Busy People."

 

 

Morning Quiet, Advent of advent

It was a shock to open the RevGals page this morning and see the Saturday Eleventh Hour Preacher Party.  "It's up a day early!" I thought, in a panic.

Nope.  I just lost a whole day yesterday in lazing about the house with my visiting parents.  Gorgeous rain in the night and through the morning...reading, napping, knitting and talking.  Leftovers and pie, something different for dinner so we still have MORE leftovers left now. 

We didn't set foot outside except to take the dogs out.  No shopping here.  Thanks be to God.  It was a Golden Friday.

I told Ken this morning that I am considering not buying ANYTHING between now and Christmas.

Actually I'm not averse to buying things, online probably...but shopping in a store?  Wow, I am SO AVERSE to that. 

The tragedies at Toys R Us in California and WalMart in Long Island fill me with horror...and remind me of the ONLY time I did early morning Black Friday shopping. 

Several years ago, Ken and I went to WalMart to get a specific item that the Kid had asked for.   People pushed, shoved, and generally acted like hyenas.  Running through the store.  A woman knocked off half of the clothes on a rack and ran on.  I stopped and picked them up, and knew I had to get out of there.  Never again.  Never again.  I never found my Christmas spirit again that year....I wanted to hide under the bed for all of December. 

Hope, as Songbird reminds us, is the thing with feathers, that perches in the soul.  My hope can be very fragile indeed.  Today I will be working in the office (sorting out after The Upheaval of New Flooring) and considering how to strengthen it. 

Thanksgivings and Clarion Calls

My parents are here! My mom was sick last night but is better now.

It's sunny and I'm having coffee.  9 am and I need to get off this computer soon...

I still have some cleaning and setup to do in the dining room (recently known as The Dump for Office Stuff) but it's sunny and pretty there and won't take long.

We have some Bradford pear trees down the street with nice color. Their fallen leaves will do well for decoration. The dogs and I will take a walk to get them soon.

Ken is home all day. No work on Thanksgiving this year!

I brought in the paper and put all the BLACK FRIDAY ads firmly in the recycle bin

I had a card from friend Jane yesterday. I am grateful for her.

I am grateful for you, you reading this.

I ran around yesterday saying, "Happy Thanksgiving!" to everyone.  I just love saying, "Happy Thanksgiving!" to people, because (I thought) everyone you meet, says it back. No one gets offended or doesn't celebrate it. No matter how much or how little they have, they celebrate Thanksgiving.

***************

But I realize, writing this, that the above is only true because the people I was meeting, at the university and the grocery store and church, are generally as fortunate as I am.  They have homes, they have families.  They have a way to celebrate.  

It is, in fact, NOT true. 

Last night at church, we collected baked goods for our local fire and police stations, to thank them for their service over the holiday.   We delivered 13 bushel baskets full.  We also collected canned goods to go to Christian Community Action during the holiday season.  

When I told my sister earlier on about the basket delivery, she challenged me: "Why are you taking food to the firemen on Thanksgiving, and not the poor people?"   

Um....because this is our tradition of probably 15 years?  It predates me at this church by a long time?  But then when I took my basket to the Lewisville Police station, I waited behind a man who was there to bail his friend out of jail (been there, done that).  He asked me, "Oh, are you bringing Thanksgiving food for the inmates?"  "Uh, no," I said, "for the staff."

Would they even LET me bring Thanksgiving food to people in jail?  Probably not! - little bitty files in loaves of homemade banana bread...but I wonder, I wonder.  Next year, I want us to take some extra baskets out.  Not sure where, who, how.  We shall see.

God, help us all to love and bless one another today.  Make me mindful of the needs of others.  Teach me to see needs in front of me, and give me the courage to find ways to address them.  Make me, my family, and my friends: your people in the world today. 

What's for Dinner!?

  For dinner tomorrow I am serving:

• Free-range turkey, roasted

• Dressing (cubed, seasoned bread dressing with lots of onion & celery) (NOT in the bird!)

• Mashed potatoes

• Sweet potato casserole (yuck, but it's not for me)

• Shrimp fried rice (Trinidadian style, from a guest)

• Green bean casserole (yes, that one)

• Cranberry sauce, both jellied and homemade whole-berry

• Pumpkin pie

• Pecan praline pie

• French silk pie

• Coffee

• Tea

• Apple pie - not pie, but a liquor I made my own self with: apple cider, apple juice, sugar, cinnamon, and, er, Everclear.  It's 'lish. 

• Mints

• Alka-Seltzer

Come on over!  Dinner is at 2, with games to follow.

A New Creed

"A New Creed" - The United Church of Canada

We are not alone,
we live in God's world.
We believe in God:
who has created and is creating,
who has come in Jesus,
the Word made flesh,
to reconcile and make new,
who works in us and others
by the Spirit.
We trust in God.
We are called to be the Church:
to celebrate God's presence,
to live with respect in Creation,
to love and serve others,
to seek justice and resist evil,
to proclaim Jesus, crucified and risen,
our judge and our hope.
In life, in death, in life beyond death,
God is with us.
We are not alone.
Thanks be to God.

I love this!  Thanks to RevGal Sue for sharing it as part of the BookPals discussion over at RGBP. 

The advent of Advent

As e-mailed to a church women's group to which I belong: 

As the first Sunday of Advent approaches, fast on the heels of Thanksgiving and what they call “Black Friday,” I invite you to join me in thinking about how you might want to spend your Advent season. 

My take on it:  With the economy in its present horrible state and so many in need around the world, I am not very excited about buying a bunch of STUFF.  Frankly, I also HATE to shop.  Black Friday shopping is my idea of a nightmare’s nightmare, which makes it easy for me to participate in Buy Nothing Day and the Advent Conspiracy instead.  Now, if you are buying for kiddos or you just like that kind of thing, go with my blessing! 

But do remember that Advent is meant to be a season of expectation and preparation…not “full-on Christmas for a month!”  That’s why we won’t be singing Christmas carols at church during Advent.  That’s why we light the wreath…to mark the passing of time. 

In that spirit, I’d like to invite you to a Virtual Advent Retreat on Monday, December 1, hosted by the RevGalBlogPals blogring, of which I’m a member.  You need not be a member of the ring or have a blog to participate…feel free to use the prompts posted throughout the day for your own reflection.  Information is here:  RevGalBlogPals Virtual Advent Retreat.  The comments will have interesting reading, I am sure. 

In addition, there are MANY Advent resources on the World Wide Web.   I like this one at Anglicans Online for variety, suggestions for activities, and items which we may not often hear about, such as the O Antiphons, traditionally done in the last seven days of Advent.   

I wish you all a blessed and peaceful season. 

 

The email closed by inviting them to a party at my house.  I wish that all of you in blog-land could join us!  I look forward to Preparing the Way with you over the next month. 

Monday, Monday

I'm leading the book discussion over at RevGalBlogPals on Borg & Crossan's book The First Christmas.  Join us! 

In other news:  saw regular gas yesterday for $1.58, and diesel for $2.55.  Wow!

Still trying to put the house back in order - ha.  Good thing we have the holiday coming or it might stay awry for the next six months!!

My theme is Change

My department will be moving to a new building over the holidays.  Because they are going to tear the old building down. 

Here is the new building:

   

So the next few weeks will see great sorting and shredding  and packing.  We are to leave our things in boxes when we finish work on Dec. 23, and when we return on Jan. 5, the boxes and our furniture will be awaiting us in the new spaces.  (That is the plan!) 

Yesterday, we got new laminate flooring in our home office and hallway.  Here is the office, not yet put back together: 

 

Somehow it looks very cluttered in this picture already!...we are trying to NOT put everything that was in it, back in it. 

Here is most of the remainder of the office stuff: 

 

in the dining room.  Um, where I will be hosting dinner for 7 or more this Thursday.  No stress, there! 

Here are Josie and Boudreaux showing you how nice they look against the new floor:

   

or maybe it's how nice the floor looks against them; they need baths!!!

So, I'm hoping that this is the beginning of a grand and glorious tidying up and unstacking in my life. 

So far, it's the beginning of quite a backache... :) 

Facebook vs Blogs

I use Facebook some.  Check it occasionally.  It's a good way to know "whassup" with folks far and near. 

I'm interested that some of my blog-friends are finding FB more meets their "digital community needs" than blogging. 

Not me.  Blogs are where you find some of the really, really fine writing...not this blog necessarily, but many others.  What a loss I'll feel if some of my favorite writers turn away. 

Because I want to know more than "whassup."  I want to know, what are you thinking, writing, praying about?  What caught your eye today?  Show me a picture if you can!  Did you find a great piece of writing elsewhere?  Link to it!  Let me know. 

Share yourself with me.