‘Tis the season

 

It’s that time of year again.  Time to decorate, bake cookies, wrap gifts, write cards (more writing people – buck up!), shoveling snow (depending on your locale, obviously), drinking hot chocolate, going to markets and awaiting the wonderful gifts this season has to offer. 

One of those gifts is the arrival of relatives long missed.  We are eagerly anticipating the arrival of a beloved member of the family and can’t wait until we’re able to do some of the aforementioned tasks together. 

Living with a toddler, however, I have FINALLY learned that telling of an arrival or event too far in advance spells disaster — ‘When is FILL IN THE NAME OF THE PERSON OR EVENT going to COME/ARRIVE/BE, Mama?’ to the 359th power! 

Another opportunity at this time of year is looking ahead to the next year along with reflecting on the one that is about to end.  Some sites feature opportunities to figure out what this year was all about and naming it at the end.  However, for me, it worked much better to name the year ahead of time and to try to live with my intention in the forefront of my mind, ideally, leading me toward my goal.

2010 for me was ‘change’.  We were at the end of figuring out if we were going to live with the family with which we had been blessed or if I was going to continue to bang my head against a proverbial (and decidedly infertile) wall.  I thought my husband’s job was going to provide for a move for us this past summer, but instead we were presented with a new opportunity for him which also allowed us to stay in our current home – quite a blessing as we love our neighbors and friends here.  I wanted to be prepared to embrace the change and shift the way I approached things.  And, now it seems we will be moving this summer, so I have continued to try to change what we keep and what we purge in terms of things. 

As I look ahead at 2011 I will utilize several sites to figure out what I would like to be intentional about in my thoughts and actions.  Iwill keep you updated as to what I choose. 

Have you picked a word to sum up your year? Care to share what it was/is?  Did it fit?

Spring?! Gimme a Break!!

Well, yesterday was Easter and we had about 5 inches of snow (the most we’ve had all season) so it hasn’t felt much like Spring around here.  Although I was reading the paper the other day and it carried a story from an LA reporter who was chomping at the bit to report about the horrendous escapades today’s college kids experience on “Spring Break”.  It was quite a large article and was, as expected, rather depressing focusing on how much kids drink and then don’t use good judgement (to put it mildly). 

Well, that got me thinking…what about alternatives to the booze and bods Spring Break?  Then I saw another article in a later edition of the paper (buried much deeper and not garnering as much space, unfortunately, but there nonetheless) about students working in New Orleans to help rebuild the city on their Spring Break. 

So, I decided to do a bit of research on alternatives for kids as well as adults.  One such adult has always stuck with me.  Catherine worked with me at a dot.com in the boom phase and used to take her weeks off at Camp Sunshine  http://studenttravel.about.com/od/springbreakvolunteers/qt/alternate_sprin.htm in GA.  I was so impressed with that.  And to further raise her stock in my estimation she married a wonderful guy we both worked with — Kudos to both Cat and Mat, but I digress!  

I found multiple listings when I queried “alternative Spring Break” and “volunteering vacations”.  Cheap tickets even has a section on their site.  Here’s hoping you, too, will be inspired to do something for someone else. 

http://studenttravel.about.com/od/springbreakvolunteers/qt/alternate_sprin.htm

http://www.charityguide.org/volunteer/vacations.htm

http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/Savinganddebt/Travelforless/P87894.asp

Enjoy the daffodils!

Snow

Well, we finally have gotten a bit of snow here.  It’s the pretty kind, not the get all messy and disrupt traffic kind.  The dog and baby are loving it.  They keep looking out the window with varied expressions on their faces.  Neither is too eager to go out into it however.  The warm living room is JUST fine, thank you!

A word of hope to those of you on the winter ravaged East Coast…our forsythia is in bloom.  Spring’s acomin’!!

We had winds earlier this week that were roaring and they do say March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb.  Do you think it goes out like that lamb many of us have on our Easter dinner table?  Just a thought. 

Trying to get a bunch of projects tied up here this week and we will be having a visitor next week.  So, don’t want the loose ends all over the house! 

Until next time, faithful readers…