Wait, what did you just sing?

We had an early Christmas celebration with Lil Bro, New Sis and Little Miss P last weekend.  Lil Bro works nights during the winter (there may not be snow falling out of the sky in CA but the ski resorts are making it and someone has to groom those slopes!), so New Sis and Little Miss P spent the weekend at the Tahoe house with us (Yo Momma, Papa Bear and I).

Little Miss P has the family singing gene and is often humming to herself.  At one point she was singing whatever song popped into her head at the given moment, even if it wasn't the one she was singing a second before.  Then she just started making up a song as she played.  It was very entertaining.

When I was in choir and leading the worship team at old church, one of the things we kept in our minds was the need to enunciate our words while singing.  I notice it all on the time on the radio.  I'll be singing along and suddenly realize the words I heard aren't really the words that are being sung...and I'm not really sure what the words are supposed to be.  Take for instance that song "You're my Sweetheart aka I belong with you, you belong with me."  The lyrics clearly say "You're my sweetheart", yet when listening I swear they say "home".  Doesn't make sense but that is what I hear...or don't hear.

So, this weekend, as Little Miss P was singing I had to stop and ask her to repeat what she was singing, twice because I wasn't really sure what I was hearing.  Now, whoever took "Jingle Bells" and rewrote the words to be "Christmas Bells, Christmas Bells, ring them all the day, tell the world that Jesus came to take our sins away!" (or some variation of that) is just messing with little kids heads.  Little Miss P sang the Christmas Bells version at her program a few weeks ago and clearly they are in her head...but so is Jingle Bells.

This is what she was singing:

"Christmas Bells, Christmas Bells,
ring them all the day.
Oh what fun it is to ride in a
Ho-Ho-Hopen sleigh."

Yes, she has mashed two lyrics together and came up some new lyrics herself...and for the record, I have no idea what a Ho-Ho-Hopen sleigh is and I don't want to know.

Merry Christmas!

Monday evening dots of randomness

• Little Miss P turned three this past weekend.  Of course Auntie B had to make cupcakes and cake pops.  She had the best look on her face as people were singing "Happy Birthday" to her.  She had a good day and ate three fishy cupcakes.  Hard to believe it's been three years since she was born!
• I am very, very grateful for Papa Bear.  Last night when I arrived home after the drive from Tahoe, I wished Papa Bear was home as the rat trap had been activated.  This evening as I dealt with the dead rodent, I was really grateful that Papa Bear usually deals with this stuff.  The rat trap will go un-baited until he gets home.
• There are certain things that get me riled up.  Men denying the validity of rape turns out to be one issue.  I have spent the whole day stewing and being pissed off about the whole "legitimacy of rape" comment by a certain Missouri Representative.  I hope the women of Missouri wake up and refuse to vote this man into office.
• Monday night TV really stinks.  I refuse to watch Bachelor Pad, The Closer went off the air and NCIS re-runs don't run on Monday nights because of WWE.  Maybe I should just go to bed.
• One of the office coordinators in my office building came into my office last week and asked for change.  Her car was running on fumes, she had no more money in the bank and was just trying to get home from work (there's so much more to this story).  I gave her $5 and I thought she was going to cry.  Later, talking with Papa Bear, it occurred to me that when you have nothing, you don't need much to be grateful or happy.  I think that's a lesson that those in political power need to learn.
• This morning as I was waiting for the bus, there was a college student doing a practice run before school starts on Wednesday.  I made sure to tell him not to get on the wrong bus and how to know which one was the right bus.  I will NOT be one of those bus people who don't help out newbies!
• And that ends the dots of randomness this Monday evening.  Have a good week!

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• I thought I was done...Tonight I declare war on ants.  The swarm that made it's presence known in the kitchen in less than an hour has been eliminated.  The dishes are washed, there is no food on the counter and honest to goodness I will kill every single ant that I see.  That is all

Sounds

There are certain sounds that I love.  Here are just a few: 

The sound of voices raised in harmonious song with or without accompaniment.

The sound of uncontrollable belly laughter either from children or adults.

The sound of snow falling on the ground in the still of the night.

The sound of guitars melding together in song.  (These Cd's are my favorite's.)

The sound of God's voice...that one has many different tones and textures...if sound can have textures.

And tonight, I heard another sound that made my heart melt.

A little voice calling out "Brittany, where are you?"

Today and other things

This morning I got to be a "room aunt".  Not a "room mom".  It was easier to describe myself as a kind-of-aunt to Creative Guy to the mom's that asked "which one is your child?".  K had asked me to go in and help with the craft project this morning.  She is the "room mom" and was in charge of getting snacks to the class and coming up with one craft project.  They did spiders out of Styrofoam balls and pipe cleaners.  Totally awesome! (I forgot to take a picture but let me just say, for someone who says she isn't crafty, K was crafty...in a good way!)

Creative Guy (the blond boy), K, Rebecca and Grace

I happen to know Creative Guy's teacher.  I was a care provider at her son's daycare when he was Creative Guy's age...which was about 12 years ago.  Sigh.  Anyway, Creative Guy's teacher recruited me for the Bingo Table as opposed to helping with the spider craft (don't worry another Mom helped K).  It was fun to just hang out with them.  Creative Guy was excited that I was there too.  He looked at his friend Grace and said "Isn't it so exciting that Brittany is here?!".  Too cute.

In the afternoon I went to coffee with LN.  As we were talking something that has been kinda rolling around in my brain came to the surface.  While I'm waiting for a job to come along, I think I need to find a place to volunteer.  Helping in Creative Guy's classroom filled some time that I would have otherwise wasted away.  So as I look for a job, I'm going to look for a place to volunteer as well.

In other news, this coming weekend I am joining Miss P and family at Disney on Ice.  Which hopefully will NOT be my car sliding around on the black ice or snow that is promised to be on the pavement in the mountains this weekend but will actually be Lightening McQueen and Mickey Mouse gliding gracefully across an ice rink.  I'm looking forward to hanging out with Miss P and family!

In true aunt fashion, I can't resist sharing this picture of Miss P coloring her pumpkin.  She took this job seriously!

These days

This not having a job thing isn't a hardship.  At least not right now.

All last week was spent in Tahoe, pretty much doing nothing.  It took about 5 days for my mind to settle down, my soul to rejuvenate and my body to recoup.  Yo Momma had volunteered to babysit Miss P during the day, so around 7:30am she would arrive and the fun would begin.  Did I mention that she turned two?  Yeah.  The terrible two's are upon us.  The meltdowns were impressive.  They didn't work, but they were impressive.  She is kinda cute though.

Friday afternoon and unto the late night hours were spent slaving over the cake on your left.  Miss P's birthday party was Saturday and there had to be cake!  It went pretty quickly, despite having to mix color after color after color.  I'm contemplating taking a cake decorating class sometime soon.  It could be fun.

The weekend was filled with family, party, bike riding and friends.  Not to mention the book reading and quiet time.  Tough times.

The part I'm not enjoying, as much, is the time to think, ponder and wonder.  After 12 years of being constantly busy, this time to let down is reminding me of things I've left undone, unfinished, regrets and so much more.  It was much easier to ignore all of that when I was constantly planning for the next thing.  God and I are doing a lot of talking about days gone by.  Guess that's a good thing, right?

The part that I'm relieved about is the lack of worry about what's next.  Others are doing enough worrying for me!  :)  I'm enjoying the time to relax, be free of job stress and take in views like these every so often.

The week that was and the weeks to come

Last week I decided was going to be vacation week for me. I've been at the church for so long (10 years!) that I've accrued extra vacation time in addition to the days that I haven't taken in years past. Vacation time it was!

Monday, G.G. and I decided to head north and visit the newest member of the family, Little T as well as his cousins Bubba and Curious Guy. I played trucks with Bubba, cuddled Little T and flirted with Curious Guy...oh yeah and enjoyed the time with my cousins and aunt and uncle. Wednesday G.G. and I made the trek to Tahoe for Thanksgiving with the family. Snow had made it's arrival, leaving a couple of feet of around the house. I woke up on Thanksgiving Day thinking "it would be so much fun to make a sled run by the house". And then I remembered that I didn't really want to do that. Instead I hung out with Little Miss P. We took our picture together again. I'll have to find it and post it for the world to see!

Saturday G.G. and I went home, through the snow and the rain. As we were driving home, it occurred to me that besides the conversation in the car with G.G. about work, I hadn't really thought about work all week. I didn't pick up a single book that had to do with work. I even avoided the computer, only checking things a couple of times in the week. I didn't stress out about all the stuff going down and worry about how I'm going to make it come January if all the financial stuff goes the way it's looking like it's gonna go. I just entered into the moments and let the rest of life go by. It was lovely.

Of course, now that I'm back home, back at work, that reality is looming. But before all of that goes down, there's this trip to Mississippi** that is coming. And Christmas. And Train Guy's birthday. I started a list today of all that needs to be done between now and the 16th...it's a lot of stuff which will just continue to grow until that moment I get on a plane bound for Mississippi...which reminds me I need to add rides to the airport to that list.

Add to it, today I woke up and found that for the first time in over a year I'm getting a cold. Raw throat, semi-stuffy nose. Loveliness. Guess all that rest and non-stress isn't good for my body...or maybe it was hanging out with all those kidd0's! Oh well, not gonna let it get me down. On with the show!

**For those that are curious, I'm $180 away from my goal for the Mississippi trip. If you can throw a couple of dollars into the hat, it would be greatly appreciated!

One year

It's hard to believe it but Little Miss P is One today. Upon our first meeting, I decided that we were going to take our picture together, one of those hold the camera as far out as possible and get your faces close together things. It's just a fun reminder of how she's growing and a fun way to be Auntie B!

She's been pretty good about looking at the camera...until this weekend. And then we got this...
And this...
And this...Oh well, it's still a picture together!

I think Little Miss P is pretty sweet...so do a lot of others including G.G. and Cousin Anthony.Happy 1st Birthday Little Miss P! You are loved!

Randomness

Today was the first day of VBS. We switched things up this year and moved our time from the afternoon to the morning. Part of the reasoning was that it gets really hot in the afternoon. God was either really listening and wanting to help or is laughing at us this week. It's probably the coolest (weather wise) August we've had ever. Not being a morning person, I can guarantee that Star$ is going to be getting a lot more business from me this week. It's not like helping at the street down the church where all I do is step in and do the music, this time I have to be "on" for 3 hours...in the morning...oh yes, coffee is needed even if it is all psychological.

I got to talk with Opinionated Friend today. She moved to Rome at the beginning of July and it's the first time we've had to really catch up. It's interesting to hear the experiences she's having and the things she's noticing about life in Europe vs. life in the U.S. A lot more happening in the world than we hear about over here.

Tuesday night Train Guy and Adventure Boy were over, along with Emi-Pie and Nat. It's so fun to have these kids in my life. At one point I came downstairs to find all four of them piled on my bed watching a movie...they had started off in different rooms because one wanted to watch one movie and all the others another. It was nice to listen to them giggle and laugh and have fun together...all the while enjoying the view from the deck with Meg and K. Grateful for friends and their kids.

Speaking of kids...Miss Payten, Train Guy and Adventure Boy got to meet for the first time at G.G.'s birthday. Adventure Boy stood by Miss Payten's playpen for a longtime, at one point he was singing softly to her. Heart melting moment. Love these kiddo's.At that same party, Shirley flirted a little with Papa Bear. I caught her in action. It's hard not to smile when Shirley is around.

Saturday night--Updated

And the house is quiet. Lil Bro, New Sis and Baby P were here this week. It was nice to have them around, even though life just kept moving along. They left this morning so it's a quiet house tonight. I have to say I already miss this face:But having a night to myself is good for this soul. I'm taking a my FINAL class for the Certificate in Youth Ministry I've been working on for a few years. It's a good class, but as I told K today, God always seems to push me towards classes that speak directly to whatever stage of life that I'm in at the moment. It wrecks me. Bad enough that it's school and I have to read text-like books and write papers and do presentations but the spiritual themes of these classes just push me to the edge. My emotions are right on the brink of spilling over.

So tonight, I'm taking the night off. I'm gonna read a book that is SO not about spirituality. I might watch a movie that makes me cry (Steel Magnolias or Life as a House always work) and I'm gonna enjoy the quiet. But I still miss this face.
UPDATED: Movie that actually made me cry: Armageddon. That scene where Bruce Willis' character says goodbye to his daughter...sobbed like crazy!

Whirlwind of emotions

Oh the last week! It's been a whirlwind of work, excitement, sadness, expectations, surprises and, well, just the ups and downs of life.

If you have been following the Mississippi Team blog, you know that we were able to help get a homeowner out of the trailer he's been living in, into his house. It was great moment to see the truck with furniture pull up and watch beds, a sofa and more head into the house.These pictures came over email and text messages of a party happening in California that I was missing to work in Mississippi (something that I have no regrets about at all) and then came the phone call that had the team in Mississippi hootin' and hollerin' loud enough to be heard in California, I'm sure.That's SuperSarah and R-girl with the local TV anchor...they were kind enough (along with Momma J) to represent me at the Award Ceremony!

This photo came with the caption "The Winner!"

There were a few days when I was SO tired and grumpy and trying really hard to be positive but failed miserably. Sigh. Dumb posts...
The hard part about serving in the mission field is that in one way or another a part of you is left behind. Before we left, I spoke to a group of youth and adults at another church about serving in Mississippi and told them that every single trip, no matter what, our hearts are broken over and over and over again. I wasn't making it up.

As much as we expect it, it still takes me by surprise. That feeling of utter helplessness, knowing that you can't fix what is really hurting on the inside of the people we meet. That no matter how hard we work all week, we won't get everything done. We rely on God to meet the needs of the people we meet, we share the love, hope and joy that we find in Jesus, we speak with love, hope and joy and we give a part of ourselves away each and every time.

And coming on the heels of that realization was also the realization that this really could be the end of this journey. The work has slowed way down, though there are still things to do. The future of taking teams to Mississippi is very much up in the air and that reality was intruding all week long. I feel like I'm beginning a grieving process.

Which is why Lil Bro got a text saying "send pics please!" He obliged and Little Miss Payten appeared on my phone throughout the week. Thanks Lil Bro! (If you can't read it on the pic Little Miss P is wearing her "First New Orleans T-shirt"...hee-hee!)

This yo-yo kind of weekwas capped off by a surprise this morning waiting for me in my office...there was a break in!

Mon-dots

• Train Guy and Adventure Boy spent the weekend with me. Two nights before they arrived, I was watching some show on TV and said to God as I feel asleep, if I ever get married and get pregnant, I want twins. I rescind that statement. I may even rescind the whole kids thing. NOT that Train Guy and Adventure Boy are wonderful, they are, I just like sleep way too much. My "mom radar" was in high gear all weekend. We had a great time, went to the big zoo, played, had movie night, did a project together and more. My warm fuzzy moment of the weekend was Sunday morning, as I was leaving for church and the boys were hanging in my bed watching cartoons. Yo Momma had volunteered to take them to church later, so I gathered my things and said "Goodbye, see you in an hour and a half, love you!" Adventure Boy looked at me said "love you too". Agh, heart melting!
• The lack of sleep will not stop me from having them spend the night again. It was fun and it was really good for K and N to get away. My next sleepover will be Miss Payten, if Lil Bro and New Sis are serious. It is fun to be with them and wonderful to send them home! :)
  
• The Olympics aren't helping with the whole sleep thing either. Why do they insist on putting the ice skating on late at night? My eyes feel gritty every morning.
• And speaking of Olympics, what is the deal with curling? I can not figure that sport out. I've been getting sucked in every morning as I get ready to leave. I think I know why they use the brooms and I FINALLY understood why they call it curling (that happened this morning) but what I don't get is how it's scored. I just don't get it.
• And for the record, I'm still not happy with the ice skating TV commentators. Whatever they have to say could wait until after the performance is done. I'm looking forward to the night where all the skaters perform just for the sake of performing just so I can watch them and listen to their music without interruptions.
  
• This afternoon I got a strange email. Local TV station person asking me to call them. I thought maybe it was false and then I got home and there was a message on the answering machine from the same person. Curious. Will keep you informed!
  

State travels

A week ago Sunday G.G. and I loaded up the car and headed for the snow covered mountains up North Our destination was a couple of days with Miss Payten. It was so good. She's getting big, is getting quite the personality and is such a happy baby. We laughed and giggled, ate and napped. It was lovely. We took our self-portraits again. I love this pic of G.G. and Payten. Love my Payten!

We got home on Tuesday night. I went to work on Wednesday and Thursday morning. On Thursday afternoon I hopped in another car and headed South with N, Grammie B, Train Guy and Adventure Boy. Our destination was the house of the mouse, D-Land. Friday Grammie B and I took the boys for their first experience of D-land. It rained. All.day.long. But it was fun! We rode Small World twice, visited Mickey in his movie barn, sang along with the birds in the Tiki Room and more. Goofy's house was a big hit.
Saturday K & N joined us for the day. Luckily the rain stayed away for the most of the day. The highlights of the day included Buzz Blasters, Autopia and Mr. Toad's Wild Ride...oh and Small World take three. :) Watching N in the Rocket Blasters with the boys was fun too!
Train Guy got to meet Mickey. Mickey was very impressed with Train Guy's fire jacket rain coat and showed Train Guy the fire bucket that Mickey kept close by just in case! It was cute.Adventure Boy met Minnie. K tells me it was the highlight of the day for him. (I had to leave early to fly home for Sunday and didn't get to see it myself.)I got to met Goofy...who was a little flirty. It was pretty funny. Never been hip-bumped by a Disney character before!A lot of traveling in a week but what a fun week to be Auntie B!