Awkward & Awesome 11.30.12

Awkward:

Being offered Skittles by one of the guys who was with you down on the Georgia campaign, remembering you were trying to get back on your shrinkage plan, passing on the offer, and having him look terribly disappointed and withdraw the offer awkwardly. :[

Realizing if you had only stayed on your shrinkage plan when things got busy, you'd be rather slenderish now. Consequently, you aren't.

Laying in bed in the morning and trying to decide if you feel like taking a shower or if you'll be fine for another day.

Phone-banking after elections and having people yell at you.

Phone-banking after elections and having someone bark, bang pots and pans, scream that they're being murdered, yell, carry-on, and I know not what else and never ever hang up. (Sarah's story.)

Being in the middle of so many books at once you haven't any idea which one you ought to pick up when you finally have time to read.

Buying a 5 dollar book from the Christian bookstore to improve your sense of "modern" literature, only to find it's the most boring and poorly-written book on the face of the earth.

Being caught by church-people just as you're applying lip-gloss. I don't know why this is awkward, but it is.

Awesome:

Going to Busch Gardens as a family to the Christmas Town event for free! (True story! Happens today! <3)

Getting a Christmas tree as a family

Being paid to phone-bank and earning lotsa money over the course of 3 or 4 days

Posting something on FB that you had no idea would go as viral as it did

Discovering that your hair likes this winter weather and is acting beautiful, smooth, and curly almost every day

Peppermint bark

"Anything Goes"

Holiday Inn and Christmas in Connecticut

Fred Astaire's dancing. Oh. my. stars.

Candy Canes

Having a License

Fluffy kittens

In Defense of Walking in the Rain

"It is not easy to walk alone in the country without musing on something."

-Charles Dickens

I have long held a stance on the subject of Walks in Rain that takes an optimistic, hopeful, and rather fond view of them. Some people think otherwise. Why they think otherwise is beyond me, but it was only this last Sunday that I was talking with a fellow or two about my fondness for Walking in the Rain, and how everyone always thinks me daft. This afternoon after sitting on my botto for 5 hours making phone-calls for pay, I decided I needed a nice long one. I was accosted by dogs (including my own) in one direction so I switched tactics and decided to go the other way. Wise choice, that one. I ended up on a bleak, windswept, moorish sort of place and a chap passed me by. He pulled off further ahead, turned around, and came back.

         "Do you need a ride?" he asked in a hesitant, gentlemanly way as if uncertain whether he ought to have asked me, since I a young lady alone on a dreary road at dusk.

         He looked so earnest and discomfited I was not at all afraid. I laughed. "No--I'm out walking for fun!"

         "Seriously?" I've never heard a voice more incredulous. He acted rather as if I had boasted a plan for walking to the North Pole to meet Santa Claus.

        "Really! I love walks in the rain." I smiled broadly, conscious of the fact that I probably looked a mess with my hair whipping about and my skirt drenched.

        He took a breath and looked at me again. "....Okay...." and off he went, looking doubtful still.

This encounter made me laugh a deal, and set me to thinking of a good defense as to Why. Why do I like walks in the rain? Why should you? And so all the way home I talked to myself merry as you pleased and compiled the list you see here. 

In Defense of Walking in the Rain.

1. Things smell better in the rain.

Proof: Have you ever smelled wet woodsmoke? Or wet pines? Or simply wet autumn?

2.Adventures are more inclined to happen.

Proof: If you were walking in the sunshine, d'you reckon a chap would stop and ask if you needed a lift? Highly doubtful.

3. Everything seems more British in a rain.
Proof: Have you ever walked through a flat bit of Eastern Virginia in the winter sunlight? There's nothing less English than that. But give yourself a wild November rain and a few upland drafts and a bit of deserted road and you are transported to Wuthering Heights itself.

4. A walk in the rain improves the complexion.
Proof: Even Mr. Darcy himself was not impervious to the charms of a woman who had taken a three mile walk in misty moisty weather.

5. It is the best way to enjoy bad weather.
Proof: You see, even the grouchiest grouches will admit that the chief charm of bad weather is getting out of it. Therefore, in order to get out of something you must first be in it. Thus a walk in the cold, nippy, wet weather heightens the pleasure of everything. If you do not enjoy the walk itself (I dare you!) you shall certainly enjoy your cozy dryness all the more having been wet a moment before. (I Rhymed, in case you didn't notice.)

6. It is a curious experiment in Diseases.
Proof: Everyone before the mid 20th century swore if you walked in the rain you'd die of pneumonia. I am proof (seventy times over) that such an oath is untrue.

7. Your brain works better in the rain.
Proof: ....I shall think of some presently. Ah! It enables you to write a post like this. {thankee, thankee}

8. It is a fabulous way to swim without any danger of drowning.
Proof: Have you ever drowned from walking through a mist? No? I am glad. Because then it would make reading this Defense rather awkward for both of us.

9. It is the best weather for thinking.
Proof: If you attempt to enjoy rainy weather indoors you are much too likely to fall into a dreamy state. If you are walking about, tromping through a gale on the high-road your chances of happening upon something Rather Clever are doubled, as you must have some measure of your wits about you in order to survive around those obnoxious little things called cars.

10. It is good stewardship.
Proof: "How?" you are asking. "How?" I shall tell you how. We all have bought an umbreller at some time or other, and if we never walk in the rain, tell me--what was the purpose of having bought an umbreller? Especially a rather nice rose-colored one that clashes with everything you wear? It would be rubbish. You'd far better have spent your umbreller-money on something else--like a ceramic goose. You'll never use that either, but at least it isn't the least bit pretty and doesn't deserve to be used.

So there you have it, dear Country People Who Stare At Me. I am not senile. I am far from bonkers. I am just a girl who happens to love a good walk in the rain, and thinks the art of doing so is not quite dead. This is my attempt at feeling Avenged.
               
Much Love,
        The Girl with the Rose-colored Umbreller

Oodles of holiday cheer. :)

Traditionally we kick off our "holiday" messes the day after Thanksgiving with a round of Black Friday shopping. This year Abigail joined us which was gobs of fun. She was a good sport. She doesn't like shopping, but she went with us. :) We joined up with others of our Peoples and had a good time of it. I didn't buy much--only a book I'm not liking and a cute belt--but I got to explore a store called Wet Seal and loved it! Some of their stuff is a little out there, but for the most part I had an odd, glorious sensation of "ME! SOMEONE UNDERSTANDS MY STYLE!" I was sorely tempted to buy a red beret/tam, but I didn't have enough money. Instead, Abigail and I bought matching belts. We also tried on "scandalous" dresses in JC Penny's, and though you might get a severe case of the giggles from seeing the pictures, I don't want them up here for everybody and his brother to see. ;) We shall keep this on the down-low.

This morning before Abigail and Daniel left for Warrenton to have a second Thanksgiving with her family, we went to Food Lion to pick out our Christmas tree.

Yes, I said Food Lion.

You can stop gawking. 

Food Lion has way better trees than anyone. Seriously. They're way high on the Chub-o-meter, which is important to me! I hate anemic trees. It's like: "You want to be a willow? Okay. Just don't expect me to choose you to stand in my living room all December." Haha!

Sharpening my teeth. Er. Candy cane. Yes. Candy cane. ;)

It's a tradition in our family to whet our candy-canes while choosing a tree. We sharpen them into impossible points and fear we'll pierce our tongue and then break the tips when we get too excited about the Chub-factor of a particular tree.

Mr. Man is growing up! </3

But he still sits in a high-chair and he still eats cucumbers with Great Relish.

Awwww. Such a kissable chap.

*starts humming certain lines from "Santa Baby" and wishing her brain wouldn't do that.*

After we got home it was terriblyterriblyterribly quite evident that we needed to clean our house before church. 

And while we were house-cleaning, we thought we'd better take down all our autumn decor....

....

And while we were taking down our autumn decor we thought, "Why not put up the Christmas stuff?"

....

And while we were putting up Christmas stuff I was like, "Why don't I make Gingerbread men?"

So the All of Us did both simultaneously, and I made a point to take pictures. So there. And my computer accepted them and was ultra-fast in uploading. So there.

The advent log.

**nostalgia**

Beginnings of corner decorating. Over the days I'll take some more pictures. Evening lighting in our house is dubious at best.

My pussy thought it a good idea to sit in a basket and oversee production of gingerbread men...

So of course I picked her up--basket and all--and hugged her...

....

And stole a kiss or two...

Aaaaaaand that's when the calamity happened. 

One of my helpers Whose Name Shall Be Omitted spilled a glass of water all over Gingerbread Town and be-sogged the inhabitants, upon which they unanimously fell apart. Literally. It was devastating.

Cricket sat there like...

"Really? Really? You did not just spill that water."

The Pirate looked on grimly...

THE HULK stared at me in pain as his leg toppled off.

This chap called for help....

So Captain America and the Black Widow came running to the rescue, The Hulk being incapacitated by his late injuries. We mourn his loss...there will be no recovery. Levi and I shared him. :P

 Captain America is getting rather plump of late.

Seriously. Have you ever tried to make a ginger-bread woman have an hour-glass figure? It's impossible. Literally impossible. Now she looks like a clown missing buttons. *le sigh*

Mid-calamity, I paused to bake some rolls...

(we were having a Thanksgiving Dinner re-play)

In the end, the Inhabitants who were not effected by the tsunami helped me set up a hospital where the victims could crumble in peace.

Look: He's crying. It was awful.

This one was brave throughout his injuries. 

But he's an old war veteran--see that scar by his eye? He won it in a tussle with the red fox and the little old woman and the little old man. But he couldn't out-run the tsunami this time. :(

It was not a terribly unhappy ending though, because some of the residents came our all right with all their limbs intact. :)

A good many of them, in fact.

And the Gingerbread Baby was saved, which is a mercy. 

Here are my companions in First Aid Rescue, Gingerbread creation, and taste-testing. They are good sorts, and I am blessed to call them mine. :)

Today my heart is warm...

My heart is full of thankfulness today. Today of all days. But laying aside a day just for giving thanks puts me in mind of the state my heart should be in every day. "So I'll stand with arms high and heart abandoned, in awe of the one who gave it all." Amen?

Today my heart is warm over the small things:

Pie-crust, golden and flaky for once

A pair of kittens

Walking--alone--in the moonlight

Nonsense

Sleep

Music--when there are no words to describe the matter.

The scent of cold pines through the darkness.

Hunters

And their dogs

Fresh venison

Boyish smiles

Blushes

Laughter

Books to read

Stories to write

Windows to stare out of

Cranberry sauce

Today my heart is warm over the large things:

Family. My family.

My dear sister-in-law-but-not-quite, Abigail.

Christian men and women who have gone down this road before and scattered their wisdom along the way....such a treasure.

Traditions

Salvation through grace--the end of me, the depths of Him.

Worship songs that pierce my soul and lift it up.

Prayer--on my knees--with a dear friend.

All my dear friends-my love to you always

They mystery of provision always-especially when it never works out on paper.

My life story.

This chapter of my life story.

Today my heart is warm. Warm with gratitude and happiness and the good cheer and hearty American-ness of this season. May your day be as warm and bright.

Don't Keep Calm!

In lieu of the fact that I am feeling starved of period dramas right now, and that Miss Laurie of Old-Fashioned Charm was having a Don't Keep Calm Contest, I thought I'd make up a few posters of my own for your amusement...

Quote from BBC's Pride & Prejudice

Quote from BBC's "Bleak House"

And of course a quote from Mr. Thornton of North & South. <3

You ought to enter!

"M-A...Em-ma...." //Conundrums//

There are some things in life (like algebra!) that have no answers. If you like math do not tell me that it does have an answer. It does not. At least, not one that I care about. But there are many other conundrums that I puzzle over now and again in my spare time...

I love baking and I love fashion. Why are they fundamentally opposed to one another in the question of my waistline?

I do not understand what I do. What I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. (Rom. 7:15)

My first impressions of other people are more often than not spot-on...but everyone's first impressions of me are generally incorrect. What does this mean?

Though I'm not a Hunger Games fan, this did make me think very hard and wonder...

I am an extrovert, but I find it hard to approach a new person and strike up a conversation....Meyers-Brigg's mislabel, perhaps?

I blog about time-management and supplement the posts with pictures from Pinterest....the biggest and most fabulous time-sucker EVER! :P

We I always plan to stop procrastinating and get back on shrinkage....tomorrow. -.-

Which came first: the chicken or the egg?

Joanna and I when we get together and discuss our marriage-plots:

Hot chocolate or apple cider? Pity you can't combine the two like, say....hot chocolate and coffee!

Stop for gas or drive and hope the marker being on "empty" isn't a rule...more like a guideline.

Work on editing and pitching three stories at once? Can I? Should I? How?

Write and schedule Meditations of His Love posts well beforehand like the other normal girls, or wait till the bitterest of bitter ends?

Make the dash between two cars on the highway or edge in only after its entirely safe?

Will there be snow?

Time is love

When you're younger you take a lot of things for granted. Like snow in winter and sugar in tea and so many other things you saw and assumed would always be there before you learned about "global warming" {myth} and counting calories. {unfortunate fact.} But there are some surprises in growing up, and one of them I've stumbled over this year is the category of friends.

Being grown-up means busy schedules. It means you won't "bump into" each other as often. Through no fault of my own and through mutually hectic schedules, I haven't seen two of my dearest friends {Joanna and Maryanna} all summer. Okay. Haven't really seen them. And then one of these girls--a friend who knows my heart inside and out--begins a relationship with a guy I'd only heard shadow-things about and it struck me:

Friendships can't survive on accidentals. 

I can't wait for visits to happen and chats to occur. I can't assume that some time or other my schedule will clear and their schedule will clear and we'll have that heartfelt talk I've dreamed of for the last six months.

Relationships are built off of time spent.

Memories made.

Life shared.

But being grown up and having had a halcyon time of it the past six months, I felt out of touch with my sweet girls. I didn't know anything about the ins and outs of their lives lately. Though I had met this David-fellow, I hadn't even heard the whole scoop. I got most of my updates on the gals through a mutual friend who somehow has made time in her grown-up schedule for visiting. I felt like while I'd been focused on politics and family matters they'd gone and grown up and spun out of my reach. A dastardly feeling.

I am a growing fan of select country music and one of my favorite singers, Josh Turner, pegged this lesson in his song "Time is Love"...

But thankfully God--Who set up my summer and fall schedule and lead me down so many intriguing paths--in His mercy is on the look-out to protect friendships with these friends so when I spent the day helping out at one set of friends' farm and got a call from Joanna that she and Maryanna were going to be home by themselves all evening, I rushed to call Mama for permission to go visiting.

Mama said yes... and I got to spend four hours of uninterrupted conversation with these dear girls. Our time was punctuated by hearty laughter, numerous cups of P.G. Tips, a blush or two, a brief match-making splurge in which Joanna and I agreed on the case of spindly men and ourselves and added "short" to the list of no-gos, an animated discussion of Broadway musicals, and the occasional companionable silence spent down in the blue slate den with the pine wainscoting and the roaring wood-stove hard by. I haven't spent an evening like that in too long, and I came away so blessed. Our friendship was renewed and revived and refreshed as I'd always known it would be if only we had the sense to lay aside our craziness and simply be together.

Mare and Jo? I love you both so very much. Thanks for being patient with me while I figure out this whole grown-up thing.

Everyone else? Time is love. Never let it slip through your fingers and fade any relationship in your lives: God first, then your precious family, then the dear friends who know you better than you know yourself. Such things are what makes life worth living. Hold fast to them.

this daring life

What if it wasn't about getting married?

What if it wasn't about waiting?

What if it wasn't about Till Then or Someday?

What if it was simply about embracing life in a bear-hug, hanging on with all you've got, and loving where you'd been placed?

These are questions that have surfaced and resurfaced in my mind and heart this past year as I've watched so many of my friends grow up, marry, pair off, and change. Those of us who aren't paired up with someone tend to think of ourselves as shelf-stock. When asked if we've got a guy we shake our heads, laugh patiently, and say: "Well, not yet."

But I'm sick of living in "yet."

We're all sick of living in "yet." It's as if we feel that our lives and our futures and everything we are is on hold till...then. If I am certain of one thing, it is that God does not mean for singleness to be a purgatory. I've said before that this isn't an endurance test. It's not a desert to go through till we reach the oasis of marriage on the other side. What if singleness is the oasis? What if we laid aside all our expectations of how our grown-up years ought to look and instead dwelt in the moment? In this moment.

Too often we Christian "singles" are in either of two camps:

Pining or Pinging

Pining for a husband (or wife, as the case may be), for the future we want, for something.
Pinging. Pinging off the walls with feministic (or arrogant) energy and self-reliance. With our own plans for our own future because obviously God doesn't have marriage in His plan for us--MOVING ON!

It's my firm belief that there is a joyful, vibrant middle-ground that Jesus has prepared for us and is waiting for us to find. After all, Paul of the Bible is full of praise for the single life. He even goes so far as to say that he wishes more people remained unmarried because--in his personal opinion--it was the better thing. Obviously he was not sitting there wailing for a wife.

So what is this middle ground? I'm not certain of all the details, but I am certain that it is there. It's a radical, daring idea....living your single years without looking for the "light at the end of the tunnel." I don't know how to do it yet. But I feel God moving in my heart in this way and it's terribly exciting. Daring. Adventurous. If I ever am to marry, I want to look back on this season of unmarried-ness without a single regret. I want to remember it as one of the finest parts of my life. I want to look back on it with fondness when I'm eighty-four and a widow.
After talking to many friends who are in this same season of life and waking up to the reality of this paradox of Pining or Pinging, I am curious and expectant. There's obviously something here. Something God is wanting to teach me, perhaps you, perhaps many unmarried young people around the world. So since I've sat up and taken notice, I've decided to keep track of the things the Lord shows me in this season. I'm writing them down in a rather schnazzy, bling-spangled journal to keep forever and always.

 I'm writing these lessons down as they come with the intention of sharing them with you. That is, if you'd like to hear them. Anyway, hold fast, dear people! This is a joyous, beautiful time of our lives! Don't fret it away. :) Enjoy this daring life while it has been given to you.

Masquerade...with pictures! So you'll love it.

It happened. It was wonderful. What, you ask? The amazing Masquerade Ball I fretted over for so long. I ended up painting my mask and forgot to get a picture. *Le Sigh* Oh well. Not that you were overly curious anyway. Since my dress was coppery-gold, I painted half my mask copper and the other half gold, bordered the eyes and edges with silver, and accented by gluing black sequins and red gems along the top. Wow. I really wish I did get a picture. Oh well. I wasn't in the car with the iPhone and that's that. Sarah had the iPhone this time and managed to get a couple pictures of her get-up. I painted "Fanny Dorrit" lips on her (a.k.a. "The Red Queen" lips) and when combined with her black dress and a little top-hat-head-band gave her a singular look. Very playing-card-ish. I liked it. :)

She made her mask out of fabric, then stiffened it and added lace and accents with fabric paint.

Daniel and Abigail went as "Zorro" and his Senorita.

You may ignore the fact that his mask was far too tight for his head. 

 I think she looked like a Spanish rose. :) 

Casey and I were consulting as to how much she looked like a mysterious, alluring, runaway bride when she was dancing The Triumph. (I'll elaborate on that favorite dance later.) Hee-hee, Abigail. Bet you didn't see that one coming, did you? Which, by the way, I was so glad to see you, Casey! :) For the rest of you who wouldn't know, I emailed Casey very late in the game...like two days before the dance...and she ended up being able to get things together and come! And a lovely thing she was too!

Oh dear. I really do wish I'd got a picture of myself. 

But it probably wouldn't have turned out anyhow. 

Pictures of me seldom do. I'm just that way.

******

UPDATE

******

A dear person I know heard that I hadn't got any pictures and sent me pictures her mum had taken as I danced with her brother. Now you can see my mask. :)

Dancing with Wyatt Fairlead...

However, a friend of mine did get some pictures. (don't you love Facebook? It's like digital highway robbery.) Thanks, Stacey! I'll use some of those photos to fill you in... We got there late--an hour late--but the dancing hadn't begun. Hallelujah! Immediately upon our entry though, they did begin....and didn't end till nearly 11 p.m. YEAH! So. Much. Fun. More than I anticipated! Oh. And for the record, I love dancing indoors in November versus outdoors in July. It's just better for a harem of reasons.

Our callers were a brother-sister team: Stacey and Daniel Bradshaw.

Two of the hostess' gorgeous sisters and their dashing brother...

Michelle...

The gorgeous hostess, Miss Joanna T.

Pretty much the highlight of the evening was getting to meet my best friend's new fella: David. I came home from my SAT to find that she'd done gone and got a guy since I'd last seen her. 

Furthermore, a guy I'd hardly heard of, let alone met!

 I had to inspect him, of course. And he passed muster with flying colors. It helped that he was one of the best dancers there...

Maryanna and her darlin' at the front of the line as we begin the Grand March

The Virginia Reel. I love how color-coordinated this photo is. Purple was definitely "in". That's Anna right there on the left in her beautiful gown. She had her 13th b-day party Saturday as well! Oh yeah. And check out the mask--I painted that on her and you can hardly see she has glasses. I loved how it came out.

The Triumph. Such a hilarious dance. The girl ignores her partner and goes to the next fellow down and sashays with him, and her partner has to chase after her....

..

...and she dances saucily back up the line with the both of them before reeling down with her proper partner. This may very well be my favorite of the reels we dance. :)

Our own dear Tim was rather startling as The Phantom...

Another reel...

As if her first ball with her chap wasn't enough, Maryanna's evening was made by winning the "best female costume award" alongside this inventive fellow we fondly termed "two-face." :) Isn't she gorgeous? And isn't he hilarious?

Further questioned about his outfit, he admitted to having gone to several thrift-stores to find enough black and white pieces, and sewing them together himself. Two-piece shirt, tie, jacket, pants, and shoes. I'm glad he won. Such tenacity in a guy in the category of tailoring deserves an award. I know one lady took a lot of video of the dances, so if she ends up sending it to me, would you like me to post it? :) I was so pleased that the Bradshaw's freshened our classic dance-set with some new dances like "The Postie's Jig" (I know it now, Julia!!) "Oh Johnny, Oh" and "The Ship's Cook." I got to help teach the latter, and it actually worked out really well! I would recommend next time, however, not calling it. It's one of those dances that you just need to learn and then dance silently. :)

Like I said, we didn't finish with the last dance--the exhausting, wonderful, giddy "Snowball" reel--till close to 11. Then we stood about and talked for an hour at least before wandering home with Abigail, the Alexander boys, and ourselves. I wrenched my ankle in the last dance but wouldn't stop to molly-coddle it because I wanted to finish the last dance. It was a little sore upon coming home, but nothing too terrible. I iced it and all's well now. :) ....I was sore the next morning though, and my arms haven't recovered! :D Ahhhh me....I was so ready to dance! I hadn't had a good dose since early February! WAY too long, I say. It will go down as being one of the best dances I've been to. There was almost an even split of guys to girls. I got asked to dance every swingin' dance. With a guy. Which is a new record. So all in all I'd say it was a glorious time. Nothing like some good fun with amazing people!