Reverse chronological order:

Our steep street is still not plowed, but if our van gets a running start at the bottom of the hill, we can get up it. So C and I will have a girl day together–haircuts, lunch, gift delivery and other elfin tasks. Say a prayer for R, who will be testing the Prius’s mettle.

E-mails in the church are hard. I understand the arguments against doing anything but basic announcements over e-mail, but when the issue is timely and the logistics of getting everyone together almost insurmountable, what else is there to do? But man, writing them is not for the faint of heart.

50% chance of freezing rain on Christmas Eve?! BOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

spending some quality time with my to-do list this evening, ratcheting down expectations given the reality of a first grader at home with me all week. The little old ladies will be delighted by her presence during home communion, right?

It’s our Sunday evening family basement picnic and we’re watching John Denver and the Muppets via BitTorrent! The quality ain’t great.

Beeswax “cookie cutter” candles

Rankin-Bass Rudolph: “This fog is thicker than peanut butter.” “You mean pea soup.” “You eat what you like, and I’ll eat what I like!” –Best. Line. Ever.

Would like to be asleep right now. Still, listening to the blessed trinity run from window to window and deliver color commentary is highly entertaining. An additional 10-16 inches predicted today.

My gamble of not yet finishing the sermon is looking like more and more of a safe bet… 14-22 inches projected. Which, taking into account the typical hype, means at least 8-10… and of course, its own logo on the news.

C: “I know about Santa but I still believe in him.” A reverent agnostic. Nice.

Our third child has been a little pokey with the talking–two older sisters, what’s the point?–but is finally busting out with sentences, such as this evening’s “poop byebye.”

Damn this Zicam lozenge tastes terrible.

off to the Carlyle with the Writing Revs–a Christmas tradition I look forward to every year.

How do you know when it’s time for a child to have a big-kid bed? J wakes up several times a night sometimes, wanting us to tuck him back in. An annoying phase that has nothing to do with the bed, or a sign that it’s time to move on?

1. A productive coaching conversation this morning, 2. Blowing through tons of items on the to-do list, 3. R listing me as the thing he’s most grateful for today during dinner, 4. A long-range planning meeting that was actually FUN and fruitful! This has been a good day.

“Real leaders ask hard questions and knock people out of comfort zones, then they manage the resulting distress.” Peter Steinke, my hero.

The Bus Stop Moms are back, this time loudly making plans for a Christmas party that not everyone has been invited to.

Christmas ornament with paper towel tube and pipe cleaners. Family Fun Magazine is the reason I make it through Mondays.

We had a tremendous turnout for our Tiny Church Christmas dinner. Good conversation, incredible food, lots of kids running around, carols, and crafts for the children. One big happy quirky family. Falalalala!

You have heard it said, “Nothing tastes as good as being thin feels.” But truly I say to you, “Clearly you’ve never eaten my husband’s cooking.”

After much wrangling with calendars, plus getting rained and snowed out a few times, am joining the resident gardener of Tiny Church to finally plant the bulbs given to me by Suburban Pres. In the nick of time, too–more ice forecasted tomorrow morning.

In lounge of Toyota dealer, working on sermon and listening to iPod so as to drown out Lifestyle Lift infomercial… for which not a single person in this room is the target demographic.

Could there be anything more useless and sad than an *instrumental* version of the Twelve Days of Christmas???

happy just thinking about the Texas ruby red grapefruit from this morning’s breakfast, gleaming in my bowl like a rose window.

Mel Torme’s song “Glow Worm” has a line, “Pay no attention if you’re shooed off; you know that you’re a pint-sized Rudolph”… which has to be the best rhyme in all of Christmas music.

Two year old J’s word for “Christmas tree” sounds just like a two year old C’s word for “trick or treat”: too-tee-tee.

Something about seeing a bunch of people standing at the door of the library, waiting for it to open, makes me very happy.

Something significant shifted in worship today… new pastor and congregation are connecting. Cool.

Was awakened by kids bursting into our room *while* whining. From zero to annoying in 2.9 seconds, a new record.

Dashing through the snow… to the Cathedral to hear Handel’s Messiah with R and mom.

I really hope this version of the Chieftains doing “Deck the Halls” was really recorded in a bustling Irish pub with clinking glasses and chattering in the background, and not just a studio trick as I suspect.

Just heard the world’s sleaziest version of “Baby It’s Cold Outside” on Pandora by Diane Reeves and Lou Rawls. The line “Say, what’s in this drink?” never stuck out so much, punctuated by hiccup. Gross. The Willie Nelson/Norah Jones version is so sweet and playful by contrast.

102.5 ~ And I ain’t talkin’ about the radio station, or Dewey Decimal.

While I’m reporting kid pronunciations: J says bulldozer “boh-buh-buh.” And a trip up the Beltway is BIG fun right now because they are plentiful. We went to the bus stop today and passed the trash truck AND someone walking a dog. That’s as good as it gets.

M calls them “lemontines.”

“Wow these Brussels sprouts are incredible.” Yet another culinary statement I have the joy of making, thanks to my husband.

called the doctor at 1:25 and snagged the last free appointment at 1:45. Score! Ears, throat and lungs clear. Flu and strep tests negative. Doc: “Eh, stock up on the Tylenol/Motrin.” We specialize in non-specific viruses here at the reverendhousehold.

Amazingly enough, we still have leftover Thanksgiving pie. Don’t worry, I’m on it.

Trying to fulfill one’s ministerial duties during December while caring full-time for a sick toddler is not for the faint of heart.

More found poetry, this time from the episode guide on the TV: “Mr. Rogers creates a calm safe place for preschoolers.”

Finally submitted the book proposal, and we are waiting for the Motrin to kick in on J’s 104.5 fever. Hmm… did I just bury the lead?

Kid illness + cruddy weather = Family Fun Magazine to the rescue

Has been asked for a snack no less than four times… WHILE preparing the snack.

People who dreamily claim to “miss those days” don’t remember them accurately.

R just suggested we wait until next weekend to decorate for Christmas. Does he even know me?

looking at the sermon again after a few days away. Uh-oh.

Kids with MaDear, dinner at Georgia Brown’s.

To remove product intact, insert a flat knife between the cranberry log and back of the can to release the vacuum seal, invert and shake. –a found poem for Thanksgiving.

finished a SFD of the sermon. Now to let it sit for a few days. Maybe it’ll improve on its own! A Thanksgiving miracle!

Going through old curriculum and finding some bizarre stuff. Ugh, what do you do with 20 year old Sunday School leaflets? And the less said about the New Testaments entitled “Good News America, God Loves You,” the better.

After many years of collecting Christmas music, I finally downloaded Handel’s Messiah… and singing the Hallelujah Chorus chokes me up whether I’m in a church or the kitchen. I’m a big sap.

just made a paper crane! I’ve never done that before.