Monday Recap

Last week I surprised myself by doing some office reorganization. And by taking (basically) an entire Friday of not thinking about work. It was much needed and certainly a surprise. Dan took the day off Friday and we spent the day being lazy in the morning, eating lunch at Panera (yum) and getting Christmas shopping done. Only things that we have left are our online purchases.

This weekend I registered our TiVo to stream our unlimited “play now” Netflix queue on our television. I love our Netflix account, but we get the “two at a time” option – not helpful when trying to watch a t.v. series. Which, if you are like me who thinks that the perk of owning a season or series of a tv show is being able to watch it all in a stretch, is annoying. Now we can watch anything that is “play instantly” on Netflix through our TiVo box. This has decreased my general productivity, but I am okay with it for the moment. We are working our way through the Office, as we have been latecomers to the show (only really watching the last two seasons).

We also had this little musical at church called Just Believe that consumed every moment I was not sleeping or watching the Office. I’m only exaggerating a little. I promise. There was also a baby shower thrown by some of my girls for another youth mentor. Very sweet night.

This week I am working on our second performance of our Christmas musical, Just Believe, (Tuesday night, 6:30), hopefully doing some good planning for January teaching series and finishing up wrapping our Christmas presents. And possibly making some lemon cookies. I’ve been in a baking-type mood lately. I’ll embrace it.

Right now I am…
Listening to my iPod on “albums: play all.” Mondays are quieter days in the office so I can crank it up a bit. I had the Beatles’ “Abbey Road” going, John Lennon’s “Acoustic” just came on. Good things.

Working on just finished up filing for some reimbursements. Got to start working on my youth newsletter for January/February

Stressed about I’ll be happy when Just Believe is over tomorrow. I’ve been coordinating the volunteers for these productions, which has given me the chance to get to know some other people, but is pretty intense. Other than that, Dan came down with a gnarly cold this weekend and he took a sick day today. I’m hoping I don’t get it, but my track record isn’t great.

Blessed by the musical was truly a wonderful thing. Also, I had dinner with several of my women youth pastor friends on Thursday. It was a wonderful night of fun, laughter and talk. Talking shop with people in the trenches is totally different than with another member of my staff. I am always realizing how unique this ministry situation is that I find myself in, and do feel blessed to be where I am today.

Final Randomocity the weather is driving me crazy. The high today is -1. Yesterday I got into my car twice to find frost on the inside of my windows (created by temperatures dropping so fast that they caused the warmish air left in my car to condense and freeze). Lovely.

Baby It's Cold Outside

What's Christmas without a song celebrating a man badgering a woman until she concedes to stay overnight, against her instincts? Too cynical for the season? Nevermind, this song is classified as a Christmas song, but really falls under the "cold weather music" mix a bit better. This revamping of the song with Selma Blair and Rainn Wilson (featured in a Gap commercial) is one of my favorite versions of the song that I've seen so far. The other is found below it. Enjoy!

The Night Santa Went Crazy

I was into Weird Al for about a month when I was in junior high. Amish Parasdise was playing on the radio and I was still too young to know what song he was spoofing. But, after that point my Weird Al intake dropped to about 'nil until I started dating Dan. He has several Weird Al cds that we both have loaded onto our iPods. Say what you may about the hair and weird antics - a litte Weird Al makes those trips up and down 35 between KC and Saint Paul a little bit quicker when we aren't interested by comedians, other music or podcasts. One song that I particularly like is this live version of "The Night Santa Went Crazy" it's like a version of "Grandma Got Ran Over By A Reindeer" that I can actually stomach. It's just bizzarre enough to make the list.

Dominick the Italian Donkey

Santa has a little friend, it's Dominick the Italian Christmas Donkey, la la la!

I'm just sayin' -- I had never heard this song until two years ago when the Christmas music station here in the Twin Cities played it one day. I admittedly don't listen to the radio very much, but I've found one other person who knew about the song (and that was last night!) so I think that this is one of the more rare gems of the Christmas music scene. Anyway, no music video, but a youtube version is attached below. Enjoy!

With the passing of Deanna's father, I was ushered into a new stage of adulthood. Frozen in time, grief comes haltingly. It took two days of busyness and hurry for the mourning to set in.

My tears creating new pools of incandescent passion on his back. The words of my mother upon moving out of our childhood home echoed through my mind. "I saw ghosts of little girls dancing." I wanted to take these specters and hold them tight. My ghost does not belong in that house. All of these changes seem to be crushing me.

"I don't want to grow up." Choked out through tears. "I don't want my parents to get old" and die, lay unspoken in the air, hanging there, mocking my grief. The comforting caress on my cheek would not hold back the tears.

"The privilege of growing older, is drinking deeply of life -- of the sorrow and the joy. God loved us too much to let us live forever in this broken state, that's why He took away the tree," my husband murmurs across the pillow, gently kissing my swollen eyes.

And so I grieve. Not just the passing of a good man, and not just the terrible blow my dear friend has been dealt but I grieve my deepening understanding that a moment in time as we know it exists as a gasp. There and then gone, taking us with it. I grieve, not that we cannot live forever in time --

"If you had never grown older, you never would have met me." Would the ghosts of those little girls care? Now that I have met you, have fallen in love with you, I am shouldered with the exquisite burden of caring.

--but that these changes are out of my control, that while hope and love are forever, something -- like snatches of time -- are not. Is this what eating the fruit was like? The sudden understanding of how dearly important things are to you and the simultaneous reality of how insignificant those things most dear really are. I mourned for those little dancing girls, frozen in time who will live forever. I will not, nor care to return to that place.

All I Want For Christmas Is You

I recently set one of my preset stations in the car to the Christmas music station here in the Twin Citites. There has been a lot of talk about now that Thanksgiving is over, it is safe to listen to Christmas music again. Which got me thinking which songs I would want to share with others -- special, obscure, etc. So, begin the blogging of the Christmas Soundtrack.

To begin things with a bang to put you in the Christmas mood, "All I Want For Christmas Is You." The Mariah Carey version will do fine in a pinch, but I'm linking to my favorite performance in my one of my favorite holiday movies: Love Actually. It's hopeful, it's fun and it's infectious. What a great way to start a mix.