Monday, January 31, 2011

Weird Food Week

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“When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, ‘Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.’” John 6:12

The weatherman says we’re fixing to get it!

Snow, snow and more snow! And our snowman from our last 4 inches hasn’t even completely melted just yet! Oh, the agony!

Anyway, I decided over the weekend that this was going to be weird food week because every week I spend $100 or more at the grocery store, and every week we still have those perpetual cans of beans and pasta sauce in the cabinet. And sometimes I even buy more beans and pasta sauce because they are my crutches at the grocery store. It is mental illness, I’m sure, but we’ll never starve to death!

Oh, and sour cream…

I bought another one today.

Since we’re gearing up for what may likely be the biggest snowfall of our winter, I ran to the store this morning like the rest of the winter-storm-warning-crazed people and purchased staple items like milk and bread just in case we never make it out of the house again!!! But for the most part, this week we will be using up food from our freezers and our pantry and other stashes around the house to see just what we keep, but never seem to eat. Wish us luck!

With that I leave you with: Freezer Find #1.


Plums from my grandma’s trees that she sent with my uncle several months ago. Plums that are so sour they can put any lemon to shame. Plums that will hopefully make nice jelly.

I’ll let you know later, as I forgot the pectin and have to go back to the grocery store again! Ha!

“[Jesus said] ‘Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.’” John 6:27

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Lucky

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Lucky…

Lucky to have been found in a field after someone dumped him.

Lucky to have survived by himself in the cold.

Lucky to have been picked up by someone who tried to take care of him.

Lucky to have been taken to the animal shelter.

Lucky to have been cared for by a helper of the shelter.

Lucky we came to the library early that day.

Lucky the librarian is the founder of the animal shelter.

Lucky she asked us to “foster” this puppy.

Lucky he was so cute my kids fell in love with him the first day.

Lucky he didn’t cry all night.

Lucky I clean up after him.

Lucky he thinks I’m his Momma.

Lucky my husband has funny conversations with him.

Lucky he likes cats and chickens.

Lucky he’s growing like a weed.

Lucky we’ve had him a month.

Lucky it looks like he’s not leaving.

Lucky I like his stinky breath.

Lucky the kids named him Lucky.

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Whacks, Scars, and Roads in California

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“We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.” 2 Peter 1:16


I don’t know anything about being Jewish. I’ve never had a Jewish friend. I’ve never known any Jewish families. I’ve not ever stepped foot inside a Jewish synagogue.

But, I do read. And the author of the most recent book I read was Jewish. She shared little tidbits about her faith along the way, although they weren’t really relevant to most of what the book was about.

One of the little tidbits she shared was the story of your bashert – your soul mate – that I liked very much and will paraphrase her telling it here.

Before your infant soul is sent down from Heaven to make you into the person you are to become, an angel meets with you and takes you on a mini-tour of what will be your life. One of the things the angel shows your infant soul is the person you will marry – your bashert. Then the angel strikes you under the nose, making that little valley between your nostrils and your top lip, and erases your infant soul’s memory of this tour. However, just enough of the memory remains so that later in your life, when you meet your bashert, you will recognize them.

I thought this was a very sweet way to explain to your children what that little dip under your nose was from. I also liked the thought of the angel whacking us. Good to think that there are angels like me in Heaven.

This pretty much ends my knowledge of all things Jewish.

I liked this story too, because it reminded me of a little thing my stepdad’s family did with the kids in the family.

When the kids were babies, someone (usually my stepdad’s brother) would say, “Show me where the Indian* shot you!”

And the kids would hold up their shirts and show them their bellybuttons.

*Remember, I’m Indian. Not trying to offend the Indians. Just a cute little story about the bellybutton, ok?  Don't kick me out of the tribe.

And that reminds me of a guy I used to work with, whose boy had seen pictures of the parents without his being in the picture because they were taken before he was born.

“Where was I when this picture was taken?” he would ask.

The guy I worked with told him, “California.”

The child eventually made up the story of how he lived and worked on roads in California before he was born to his current family. It helped him feel like he had a life of his own and hadn’t missed out on anything the family had done before he was born.

May all the stories we tell our children always be with the greatest intentions. May our crazy family traditions and stories expand their love for us, and for Jesus, the one whose stories are always true.

“Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.” Deuteronomy 11:18-19

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Homekeeper Journal 1/25/11

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Today's blog entry prompts in bold are provided by Sylvia over at http://www.christianhomekeeper.org/.  Check her out for good ideas each week and other people's entries with the same prompts. 

In my Kitchen today …..

so far I’ve eaten Wheat Thins and canned cheese. We all had the stomach yuck this past weekend and are slowly working our way back to the living, gastronomically speaking.

Proverbs 1:5 says: Let the wise hear and increase in learning, and the one who understands obtain guidance – What this means for me is …..

that even if you think you know everything there is to know, you’d better keep an ear out anyway. And even if you think you understand something fully, there might just be someone out there who could help you because they know just a little bit more.

Proverbs 17:10 tells me that “A rebuke goes deeper into a man of understanding than a hundred blows into a fool.” – So I know that …..

Ron White is right when he says, “You can’t fix stupid.”

Proverbs 17:27 says that “Whoever restrains his words has knowledge, and he who has a cool spirit is a man of understanding.” What this means for me as a woman of God is …….

Lord, don’t let me make an ugly scene out of anger or desperation that I cannot mop up later when I come to my senses. I like to say “I’m better on paper than I am in real life,” and this is most certainly true when I’m having a moment.

Proverbs 13:15 talks about favor – “Good understanding gains favor, but the way of the unfaithful is hard.” –

You have the choice to go it alone, but if you do, good luck. Don’t expect a bed of roses, and don’t expect to find favor with God while you’re out on your own limb.

And finally, Proverbs 20:5 tells me that “Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water, but a man of understanding will draw it out” – This is important for me because ……

My mom always said, “What’s in your heart will eventually fall out your mouth.” Usually those things that fall out of my mouth are in the shallow waters, but if you stick with me, you just might get to the heart of what I’m talking about.

Sunday, January 23, 2011

That's What I Get For Thinking

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“As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his folly.” Proverbs 26:11


Bet you didn’t know there were bible verses about vomit, did you?

I blame myself really. I’ve heard recently of several people I knew from school having babies (or even grandchildren! Yikes!) and got to thinking it might be nice to have another baby sometime. I opened my big fat mouth to my husband about this just before we went to sleep on Wednesday night. His standard answer: “I don’t know.”

Really, who knows? And if we’d known, would we still?

Two hours later, we’re both up with carpet cleaners in full force for an exploding child for about an hour. There went our uninterrupted sleep.

We spent Thursday nursing sick child back to health on a snow day with doses of sledding and light foods. He fell asleep on the couch at 7 pm by his own will and we wondered if he was going to be okay the next day. 24-hours was what all the moms on Facebook were saying about our affliction.

Friday was another “snow day” although it would only be considered a snow day to people in my neck of the country. No additional accumulation, roads were for the most part clear. We spent part of the day at a children’s museum, me reading, them playing.

Then Saturday rolled around and I woke up feeling like I’d swallowed a brick and it was stuck somewhere under my left set of ribs. We didn’t do a whole lot that day, but I ate at least a couple of times before… I checked into my office for the rest of the evening.

Throwing up has to be one of the most unpleasant bodily functions I can think of. It always takes me back to my pregnancy days because I was so good at it then. Even little things like the movement from the water in the shower would make me gag. Both times I lost 10 pounds during the first three months of my pregnancies. Don’t worry. I was back in the positive by the end, but really, the nausea never really went away.

So there it was. The ramification of even thinking of having another baby. Lost sleep. Tossing my cookies. Then I factored in diapers and milk and crying and decided “Am I nuts?” Needless to say, number three is back on hold and remains a figment of my imagination. And in my imagination, there’s no crying or pumping or diapers or puking.

Wishing you a full night’s rest this evening, with no horrible interruptions, and continued happy thoughts – imaginary or not.

“Even the land was defiled; so I punished it for its sin, and the land vomited out its inhabitants.” Leviticus 18:28



Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Homekeeper Journal 1/19/11

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Today's blog entry starters provided by Sylvia at the Christian Homekeeper Network.  Check out other blog posts at http://www.christianhomekeeper.org/.

In my homey kitchen …..

Nothing exciting happening today since we eat our dinner at church on Wednesday night and I didn’t even cook the meal this week since we are ordering pizza! However, since there is ice and snow in the forecast for tonight and tomorrow, I’ve already made my symbolic “winter weather” trek to the grocery store this morning and I bought milk, bread, and the ingredients for potato soup for tomorrow, just in case the snow pans out.

My thoughts on being at home ……

I’ve done a lot of living to only be as old as I am. I’ve had many jobs before this stay-at-home gig and I’m sure this won’t be my last. I’ve cooked. I’ve checked groceries. I’ve worked fast food. I was a secretary for a sign business. I was a federal bank examiner. I did IT/BSA/Compliance and special projects requiring lots and lots of research in a bank. And now… here I am, sometimes wondering what I’ll do today. Oh, and occasionally I’m a substitute teacher.

I’m pretty sure I won’t be jetting off to Vegas anytime soon, or seeing the space shuttle take off, or spending three weeks in Washington DC, all on the government’s dime like I did in my previous life. I also know there won’t be any debit or credit entries in my immediate future. Sometimes I think about working the noon shift at a fast food restaurant just for the fun of it, but then I remember the smell of the grease. I think sometimes about checking the groceries, but then I think about that incessant “boop!”

So, I guess I’ll stick with the substituting until the days run out and then maybe complete some projects at home that I’ve been too chicken to start. And eventually I’ll work myself out of a job with the children, once they are able to pay their own bills. But then what? I say this is probably my retirement and when I go back I’ll probably work until I’m 100. Oh well, so long as there’s some per diem and mileage involved, I can probably handle it.

A constant habit I have of making my home comfortable is ….

Keeping the heat turned up, even when we’re gone. I’m working on this, but 90% of the time when I return home, I forget that I’ve turned the thermostat down and run around the house thinking I’m getting sick because I’m freezing to death, and it never occurring to me to turn up the heat. Duh!

If I could change the decor of my home ….

I’d completely start over. I’d like stained concrete floors (heated, of course) with carpet only in the bedrooms and an open living/dining/kitchen area with commercial grade appliances, a vaulted ceiling with exposed beams and an overall “lodge” type style/décor. I’d really like to have a commercial kitchen to work in so that I might work on a little catering business on the side, without living in the shadows of the health department. Someday, someday.

What I want my children/spouse/other family to remember about my home is …

Food – good and plenty of it. And welcoming, regardless of whether the toys are always picked up or not. I want my house to be the hangout when the kids are older and I never want them to feel like they couldn’t have friends over because the house wasn’t clean or something. So, I’m teaching them to clean house too. Another part of my Master Plan of working myself out of a job someday.

Home …

Good, bad, old or new, a house is only a home if there is a family there. No amount of decorating or cleaning or remodeling can change or replace the family who lives there. And in the words of my 8YO, “It’s good to be a family!”

Monday, January 17, 2011

Star Compliments

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“Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.” 1 Thessalonians 5:11


My Kindergartener was Star of the Week last week. This special designation entitled him to fill out a “My favorites” sheet, bring 5 pictures to share with the class, choose his center choice first, sit in a gold chair at carpet time, bring a special show-and-tell on Friday, and…. The epitome of Star-of-the-Week-dom – have the teacher trace his body on a large sheet of paper and receive a compliment from each child in the class, which the teacher writes on the paper.

I was there for the receiving of the compliments and he was SO PROUD!! He also acted a little embarrassed. Humility is nothing without a little shame. Anyway, here is his list of compliments as compiled by his Kindergarten class:

1. He is kind and runs really fast on the playground.

2. He plays nicely with me when we play Power Rangers.

3. I like the color of his hair.

4. He’s a very good friend.

5. He gives a lot of effort.

6. He plays nicely with me when we are playing Star Wars.

7. He is a fabulous friend.

8. He’s kind.

9. I like his eye color.

10. He’s really nice to people.

11. He’s really good at drawing.

12. He’s a very good hand writer.

13. He has enthusiasm (a robust vocabulary word)!

14. He is a very good boy and a very good runner.

15. I like his show-and-tell and he shares his toys.

16. I like him.

17. He plays with me and runs with me.

18. He is special and creative.

19. He plays with me nicely.

20. He’s a good Star of the Week.

21. He’s my best friend.

Each child also drew a picture to go along with their compliment that was bound into a book for my son to keep forever. He’s already looked at the book several times and made comments on all the pictures.

In other words… He loved it!

Now you may not want to trace someone, or draw them a picture, but can you spare a compliment for someone you encounter today? It just might make their Monday.

“Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.” Proverbs 16:24

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Family Funnies

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Believe it or not, I have some colorful characters in my family. The partial purpose of this blog (although I'm not sure what the full purpose is) was for me to chronicle some familial stories. This purpose has been achieved, as I had a very good time of reading some of my posts from about 9 months ago (that I’d already forgotten some of) just last week. They were as funny as the day I’d written them. Anyway, we had a couple of family members over on Friday and the elder of the two who shall remain nameless told a couple of good ones, so I thought I’d write them down.

WARNING: These stories may not be suitable for prim and proper, but they are familial stories nonetheless, worthy of being passed down from generation to generation. Well, at least in MY family.

Anyway, we’ll call the two nameless relatives Dinky and Johannes, just for anonymity.

Story #1 – Dinky proceeds to tell us about his scar on the side of his face that runs from his ear down to his jaw bone. He says that in 1946 he was having a tooth pulled and the dentist was having a tough time getting it out. Dinky says the dentist had his knee up on Dinky’s shoulder and was just about to tear his head off. This left Dinky with a jaw that hung very crookedly off to the right of his face. The dentist said just to eat a lot of lettuce and that would help the jaw. Several days later, after lots of lettuce chewing, the jaw was not getting any better.

So, the left jaw begins to swell… and swell… and swell to a horrible size, and the parents of Dinky decide to take him to the Mayo Hospital 100 miles or so from their home. Dinky said they stuck something up on the roof of his mouth to reset the jaw and in the process they tore his mouth open three-quarters of an inch on either side at the corners. They also put a drain in his jaw and gave him 3,000 (I’m guessing a slight exaggeration) shots of penicillin in his rear.

Classic Dinky-ism: (pointing to my red tablecloth with white snowflakes) “This was my rear (only he didn’t say rear).” We’ll never look at that tablecloth the same again.

I was, of course, horrified by the barbaric medicine and circumstances. He said his dad was told that Dinky only had a 50/50 chance of living. Well, time came for him to get out of the hospital, but he was going to have to go back several times a week for treatment and checkups, so the family sent him home with the JANITOR of the hospital. He stayed in an extra room at the janitor’s house while recuperating.

This fascinated me, too. A terribly sick boy staying at the hospital janitor’s house for convalescent care. But I guess the hub came halfway around the world at 15, and didn’t speak the language…

Anyway, he said when he went to the clinic, there was a mother and daughter standing on the curb waiting for a cab, and the daughter screamed when she saw Dinky. He said he was just skin and bones. He was only 14 years old. I was just amazed by the whole story.

Long story, short, Dinky made a full recovery and that’s the story of the scar by his left ear. I’d always just thought it was a wrinkle. Dinky will be 80 this year.

Story #2 – Shorter, I promise, but it is funny and deserves to be saved. Dinky and Johannes are on a road trip recently and they stop in a local convenience store with a horribly nasty bathroom. They are both disgusted by the bathroom so much that they discuss its condition. Well, further on down the road, someone passes gas.

Dinky yells, “Pull over! Pull over!” as if there is some great emergency.

Driver of said vehicle pulls quickly over thinking something is horribly wrong.

Dinky proclaims, “Someone has poop on their shoes from THAT BATHROOM!”

I’ll be leaving out the bible verses for this entry, just because I’m thinking the nature of this post isn’t exactly reverent (not that many of my posts are!).

However, I thank God for giving me my family – the whole mess.

He knew I’d get a kick out of them!

Monday, January 10, 2011

Spin Cycle

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“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Matthew 6:34



Our first snow arrived this morning. Oh sure, a few miniscule flakes fell yesterday afternoon, but today it is visible to the naked eye. We’re projected to get an inch or two, but even that is more than enough for me. I am a winter weather hater.

One of my earliest memories of winter weather was in first grade, I do believe. I had stayed the night at my Nanna’s house and my mom had to come and get me for school. It was icy out and why we were still having school, I don’t know. On the way past the cemetery on our way to school, our car began to spin.

Now I’m not talking like turned sideways and then we went on our merry way. I’m talking like spun around and around and around for what seemed like forever. I was in the front seat of our Toyota Corolla and I remember my mom telling me to put my seatbelt on. I was screaming, scratching at the dashboard like a cat in a tornado, but I managed to get my seatbelt on. I remember my mom taking the car out of gear (it was a standard) and turning off the engine.

And then, we came to an abrupt stop. We’d spun completely across four lanes of the conjoined highway and came to rest in the opposite ditch about a foot from a telephone pole. No harm done. But, as icy as it was, it was not safe to make a left-hand turn out of the ditch and across another couple of lanes of traffic, so we had to make a right-hand turn and go down and turn around, and cover the same stretch of road we’d just spun out of control on. I was totally freaked out!

This time, however, my mother traveled at a much slower speed and we made it through the Death Pass. I vowed then and there to never drive on ice, or snow, or in cold weather, etc.

Years later, when I worked for the government, I just happened to leave a bank a little too late in winter weather. I had to travel 53 miles to get home on nothing but packed snow, hilly lake roads, and freezing rain turning into glare ice. It was white knuckles all the way home that day, with several near misses, but the miracle of it all was I MADE IT! I kissed my kitchen floor when I fell from exhaustion into the house.

In all my years, I’d always assumed that if I were stranded somewhere in the winter weather, I would just pull over and die on the side of the road. But, I MADE IT. And now, each winter, when I’m faced with taking the kids to school (although they are much more likely to call off school now than back in my day, I’m convinced), or going to the store, or taking the kids to the local park to sled, I have the fact that I once made it 53 miles without dying in much worse conditions than I’m normally currently looking at.

And so, I suck it up, and put on my coveralls, my sock hat, and my snow boots, and I go wherever needs to be gotten to. Yes, you may see me going well below the posted speed limit on the highway. Yes, you may need to pass me. Yes, I may drive like an old lady.

But remember: I’m trying not to ruin it for my children.

“There is surely a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off.” Proverbs 23:15

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Do Not Call

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“Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.” Jeremiah 33:3

I teach Sunday School, and I think I’ve already told you that a few times, but I didn’t want you thinking I fell off the wagon or anything. I always have playtime for my Pre-K/Kindergarten class because I think “fellowship” is a big part of being Lutheran and I think the kids in church should have a chance to know each other, not just sit there and listen to me ramble on.

Plus, it occasionally provides for some decent entertainment.

Case in point: Last Sunday.

Three kids had come for my Sunday School class: my 6YO, and Jacob and Hannah, both 5. My 6YO and Jacob had built quite a picnic area out of the plastic and wooden fruit and Hannah was pretending like she didn’t know if she was invited to the picnic or not. She was “calling” them on one of the play phones. “Helllloooo???” she said several times into her end of the phone, “Am I invited to the picnic?”

My 6YO says, “Hey Jacob, your phone is ringing.”

Jacob says, “Oh, it’s just a telemarketer.”

Here’s hoping your calls are all solicited during 2011 and that you’re never mistaken for a telemarketer.

And that Jacob’s family gets on the Do Not Call List soon!

“Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear.” Isaiah 65:24

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Back from the Future

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“A gift opens the way for the giver, and ushers him into the presence of the great.” Proverbs 18:16


I remember when I was in grade school and everyone talked about the “future.” We all speculated on what it would look like: flying cars, video phones, and space food.

Space food is a novelty that is available at some science museums. Flying cars? Well, they aren’t anywhere to be found in my neck of the woods. Now this video phone thing…

Last year we sprung for DSL after it finally became available in our area. This has opened up the vast internet to our very fingertips. No longer do we wonder about things like what kind of caterpillar we’ve found? Or how many hours does a dog sleep in a day? We just go look it up. Takes the mystery out of life, really, unless Google for some reason fails you.

The move to DSL has also made it infinitely easier to upload pictures and email them to The Russian’s family. We’ve emailed and spoke on the phone to his mom and dad for years, but just started emailing his Uncle this past year. He likes to take pictures, and even though we speak different languages, I feel like we communicate through pictures. He would email me some, and I would return the favor.

Then he asked do we Skype? He had a Skype account and wondered if we did too?

Now I’d heard of Skype, probably back in its infant days when the calls were more like CB radio. Does anyone remember CB radio anymore? Daughter of a trucker, what can I say?

Anyway, I started thinking about Skype and consulting with others whom I knew used it. Seemed like a worthwhile endeavor, so I decided to buy The Russian a webcam for Christmas, procuring our spot in the Skype world.

I hooked it up, albeit wrong, on December 23, just to give it a go. I saw the Uncle was online, so I placed my first video call. I could hear them, but not see anything, and I could tell that they could see me, but not hear me. Thankfully they recognized me! Me and the kids made faces and waved and showed them little trinkets around our computer desk, all while they were laughing and carrying on, halfway around the world.

The next day, I changed a setting and got the microphone to work. With The Russian seated in the captain’s chair, we made our second video call from our computer, and lo and behold, their picture popped up too! It was the first “face-to-face” conversation The Russian had had with his Uncle in 16 years! His Aunt was there too, and about an hour and a half into the conversation, his Dad popped online and so we all did a conference video call. Truly stuff of the future, I would say!

Since Christmas, we’ve spoken to the Russian relatives at least a dozen times. We found out that my Hub’s great-grandma was actually Polish. We found out that his Aunt and Uncle have a wedding anniversary the day before ours (their 30th this year). We found out that a lot of language gaps can be bridged with gesturing and drawing pictures on paper even over the internet. And when all else fails, break out the “slovar” – that’s dictionary for you non-Ruskies-in-law.

Even though I now consider my appearance before answering my computer, these video calls always leave me with a big smile on my face, even if I don’t understand half of what was said.

And that, is the joy of giving perhaps the best gift I’ve ever selected in my life! I think I finally got it right for one person, just one time. I think this is a gift that the new might possibly never wear off of. And it is a gift that keeps on giving, until the webcam burns up.

Now, think how big God’s smile must be that he chose the perfect gift for all mankind!

“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” James 1:17

Monday, January 3, 2011

Lost: The Living Room Edition

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“Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Does she not light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it?” Luke 15:8




Have you ever lost something and it really drove you nuts that you couldn’t find it? Like, you just had it and now it’s gone, and you know it should be right here?

Around Thanksgiving, my rechargeable batteries for my camera were on their last leg, so I purchased a new package of eight, put two in the camera and promptly lost the other six. Kind of drove me nuts that I couldn’t find them. Anyway, I eventually had to go out and buy a 4-pack to limp by until I could find the lost package. Kind of excessive to have 12 rechargeable batteries, I know, since I can only charge four at a time.

Anyway, then the Christmas season rolls around and we drag all our treasured decorations out of the attic, making it ever more unlikely that even one lost item will ever be retrieved from the lost areas of our house.

I wrote previously about John the Baptist visiting our nativity this year (Read: Adventures of Baby Jesus #1). Well, wouldn’t you know it, John the Baptist went missing just several days before it was time to de-decorate the house. His manger was still there, as John was never properly glued to his hay. Probably wouldn’t have tolerated it in the first place, but the baby was missing! I’m thinking he was out looking for locusts and honey, but he was nowhere to be found.

We found an errant donkey underneath the wine cabinet (Note: only called “wine” cabinet since that was the constructor’s intent for this piece of furniture. We do not drink wine – straight bottles of Jack Daniels around here, but think we are closer to being wine snobs since we have a wine cabinet. Other more accurate names for this piece of furniture would be homework cabinet, fancy scissor housing cabinet, or Star Wars landing station. It was on sale at Big Lots, what can I say?), but still no John the Baptist.

I checked under the couch, using a wooden spoon to drag out all the spoils of the Kid War that had collected in the past six months. And there were my batteries! Yea!

John the Baptist was later found among the Hot Wheels. I think he was planning a bigger escape into the wilderness, for sure.

Hope you had a wonderful Christmas season and that 2011 doesn’t lose you!

“For the Son of Man came to see and to save what was lost.” Luke 19:10