LET THE GAMES BEGIN...

Liverpool Rummy started tonight, after our son in college finished his finals and came home today!!! We promised him we wouldn't ask him to play cards with us EVERY night of Christmas break...


And the game we all love...Sock Match! Someday we'll quit playing this game and just toss 'em!

PRACTICING HOSPITALITY (THE NIKE SERMON)...

Yes, I am still practicing! Don't know if I'll ever get it right, but I (and my husband, he's a great help) am working on it! Even when the house is fairly clean, and I set out my beautiful Christmas china my husband has been giving me for 27 years, I still have fears that perhaps 10 people is too tight a fit around our antique dining room set. I worry that that the meat is dry. Or the tea must have been too warm since the ice cubes melted so fast...so you see, even a 46 year old experienced mother of three still thinks about getting it right. So if you have any insecurities about hospitality, just get over it. There's the NIKE sermon: JUST DO IT!
Our brothers and sisters in Christ at the "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" Christmas party!
We didn't know who would be coming, but they all brought a dish and went to the church building first to pick up their house assignment. All the groups met back at the church building for dessert and "Dirty Santa" after the meal. It was a lot of fun and we did get to know one new couple!
Snowball salad! I'll share that one soon...this post is already putting me behind...

We repeated the same meal - actually we had some delicious leftovers for this group of college kids! We squeezed 12 around our table this time. I definitely think that 12 is the max we can do!!!
This reminds me of the passage in Luke 14:4 - Give to those who can't repay you...we love feeding our son and the kids he brings over just to give them a little dose of home cooking!

MY LATEST RESEARCH...

includes every link on THIS WEBSITE. For a while now, 16 years to be exact, I've been plucking gray hairs from my head, and highlighting my dull brown hair occasionally. I've never really taken the plunge and done an all-over color on my hair. Seems to me, though, the 2 things that fool people age-wise are fitness and hair color. If you keep your body fairly trim, in a healthy weight range, and have some kind of color besides gray or white on your hair, it's hard to tell if you're 40, 50, or 60 years old! So that's been my aim for a while - to fool everyone. But the time has come to stop plucking or I'm seriously going to start looking pretty thin...

I read an article in the paper over Thanksgiving weekend that had this incredible fact in it: The woman who started THIS WEBSITE had spent $52,000 over 2 decades coloring her hair. UNBELIEVABLE. So now that has me feeling guilty before I ever get started thinking about hair color. I've always been a natural kind of girl with minimum makeup and tried to dress in a way that would please God, so that plays a factor, too.

What do you guys think?

Should I try to do it myself to cut costs? (I've done my own highlights - probably obvious to you)

Do I do salon color just a few times a year ( to cut costs)?

Should I embrace the gray?

LETTING THE PARENTS IN ON THE FUN...

is the sign of a WISE teenager. When you invite Mom and Dad to the picture-taking pre-event, it makes us feel happy to be included. Especially after shelling out the dough for new clothes, flowers, etc!!! Maybe we'll feel like continuing to support you in your future endeavors.

What's more, we got a bonus tonight! We were invited to go eat dinner with this group before the winter formal - probably because none of them drive yet! But it was fun - 4 teens in a booth, and their 8 parents sharing a nearby table. A night for everyone to remember.

AND THE WEINER (NOD TO PW) IS...

My son and his lifelong friend just found out they won a video contest on ETHICS. Check it out and see if you have made any of these ethical slipups...

QUOTES FROM THE COACH...

It's been a while since I've been to a sports banquet. Four years, I think! My kids played lots of different sports growing up, but music has been what they've stuck with through high school. I hope they don't have any regrets about that. I certainly don't! You know all the studies...improved brain function, math skills, etc. Not to mention exposure to many different languages and nurturing their artistic side. But I have to say sports helps in many ways too. I went to my youngest's Cross Country banquet last week and LOVED the coach's style! He's been around here for 30 years. He retired from teaching, and now paints houses, quitting at 1 p.m. to continue coaching Cross Country /Track at EMHS. He was HILARIOUS to us parents - my son said they are so used to him that he's not funny anymore. But I love it that he doesn't mince words. Here are some

QUOTES FROM THE COACH:

While handing out certificates for the faster runners: "Here's one of our better runners, Congratulations."

For the slow runners: "Good improvement, good improvement."

"There's only 19 trophies and 53 of you guys. So I think you'll figure out not everybody's gonna get a trophy. If you want a trophy, then SUCK IT UP AND BE A MAN. Work harder next year and you'll get a trophy."

"If you don't work hard, your gluteus maximus is gonna get bigger."

"Go ahead and try basketball or football and maybe you'll be one of the chosen few. But if you show up for a meet we'll put you on the bus and let you run..."

GOOD STUFF - MANY LIFE LESSONS ARE BEING TAUGHT HERE!

I LOVE this guy! He led an awesome prayer before the banquet started, and obviously loves running if he's been doing this for 30 years - actually you might see him on a bicycle now, following his runners. He buys kids snacks if they need something after a race. He tells is like it is and encourages hard work. He is a great role model. We are really blessed to have this guy, and his young protege in our school!

CHERISH THE MOMENTS...

Yeah, yeah, I know what you're thinking...another post about a mom missing her college kids...while you are wishing there were less mess to pick up and wondering if they'll ever learn _____!

But I was just contemplating the word "MOMENT." That's what I've been thinking about more...living in the MOMENT, cherishing the MOMENT. It really is easier to enjoy life and be happy if we do this. There are NO PERFECT DAYS, and certainly NO PERFECT WEEKENDS. Only MOMENTS.

Having said that, we had a pretty good weekend here - with one home from college for Thanksgiving Break, and another one coming home soon. Went to see "Harry Potter" - but that certainly wasn't the moment I'm speaking of....really, it wasn't - with the person next to me who threw up in their popcorn sack during the movie....YUCK!

It wasn't the BOGO holiday drinks at Starbucks we had afterward, although it greatly pleased my coupon-loving heart to get 2 free drinks!

It was the time we spent in the yard Saturday afternoon. I had conned them into helping me put up the Christmas lights. Although not everyone did lights, there was leaf raking and tetherball playing and we were all out there together. I didn't get any wonderful family picture with everyone smiling, but here's a few scenes from my cherished MOMENT:

My lovely daugher raking leaves
My son and his friend playing tetherball
Wrapping trees with Christmas lights

That was my sweet MOMENT this weekend. I wish for all my friends many sweet MOMENTS!