A little upset right now.

So Neile and I went down to our apartment office this afternoon in order to pick up a package from Neile’s folks. We get there and the door is locked. A sign on the door reads, “We will be closed at 2pm today.” We look at our watch…it is only 1:50. Lights are still on in the office so we knock. And we knock. And we even knock some more (with a little more force). No answer.

We know we can’t get the package tomorrow because they aren’t open on Sundays and of course they will be closed on Monday. We quick run back to our apartment and call them….still only 1:57…no answer. Neile left a message expressing our disappointment (frankly I am glad it was him leaving the message and not me as I might not have been as nice). Ughhh I am so angry and disappointed. Don’t worry, I know I will get over it, but still. They didn’t even tell us they would be closing 3 hours earlier than normal! Ughhh.

Weekend Fun

Disclaimer: after reading back through this I realized it is so much longer than I thought. So no hard feelings if you don’t get through it all. =)

I never did tell you about our weekend. Of course it started out as a normal weekend---except for the Christmas shopping and mailing of packages. But wait I am already getting ahead of myself…

Waking up on Saturday I knew we had a lot to do before going to our small group Christmas party that evening. We had to scrounge around and find some boxes so we could mail off some goodies and presents – you know so that everyone would get them before Christmas. We decide to drive to Neile’s office because he had the “perfect” box for us to use. He runs in and I stay in the car waiting…and waiting. Then I hear it. A strange grinding noise. I have no idea where it is coming from, but am not really that worried. I am much more interested in watching a woman across the parking lot play with her child. There is the noise again…a bit louder. This time the woman looks at me in the car. Hmmmm slightly self-conscious – did she see me watching her.

Ugghhhh that sound again except this time it sounds like a huge piece of ice is being pushed back and forth on top of our car. I sit there and look around to see at least 4 people staring at me and our car and me acting like nothing is going on at all. I just know that Neile will be out any second---afterall he was just going to grab a cardboard box and come back. What the heck was taking him so long!

This time when the sound started again I got out of the car to see if there was in fact an ice sheet on top of our car creating the horrible noise. No ice sheet. Okay I definitely need to tell Neile. I walk into the building and see him standing their chatting with his boss while I am out in the car that is about to explode!! No panicking in my voice though while I ever so calmly say, “Neile, your car is making a bad noise and you need to come out right away.” Well, this isn’t a big deal to him apparently since he just keeps CHATTING. (Well, I should forgive this since it is his boss….but I really did think his car was going to explode or something awful)

Well, when Neile gets into the car that horrible noise is gone. There is a noise, but not bad at all. That just figures. So we start driving…and get about 10 feet when that ever so lovely noise happens again. Yes! I am not crazy. The decision is quickly made that our packages can be late if necessary, we need to go home and change cars before this one breaks down completely. The plan…drop the car off at the shop on our way to the Christmas party.

Well, fast forward through long post office lines, shopping, insane traffic, present wrapping, food making, and we are off to the Christmas party.

I follow Neile in my car. Yes, I pretty much lost him after about a block of driving. Dumb lights. Not to worry because about 10 minutes later there is a slow down in traffic at a 3 way stop. Hmmmm…what could that be about? Oh dear, there is Neile running alongside his car and two guys (no clue who these angels are) pushing from the back. They end up pushing the car to a nearby church. From here we proceed to call the towing company (Thank goodness for AAA!). By now, the 6:00pm Christmas party has started and I still have a huge dish of potato casserole in my back seat. Oh well, it could always be worse right?!?

Well, towing man comes and takes us to the auto shop. Off we go to the Christmas party and it is only 7:45. Well, at least we made it to the gift exchange.

So that was Saturday. Sunday was a great and full day. We wake up a little early and roll some pineapple and water chestnuts in bacon for the Hawaiian potluck my family is having at noon. Pack up the gifts to celebrate Christmas #2 with my sister and her family for the afternoon and head to church. After church we go to my parents’ house. Let the eating commence! After eating some very interesting food and reminiscing about our time in Hawaii it is time for presents. Of course all of us are most excited about watching the crazy kids open their presents….and we were not disappointed as the hyperness ensued.

Neile and I had to make a quick exit from the Christmas celebration and head over to his office to go to a Hockey game with some of his coworkers. Yes, the Blackhawks won! Yes, we had box seats and lots of food! And yes, it was a super fun time.

What more is there to say…other than Neile and I were exhausted on Monday AND we still had a huge dish of potato casserole!

Who is that elf!

A friend of mine sent this to me and had me laughing so hard that I just had to do it myself! check me out

Sad Heart

I’ve been very sad lately. I hate being like this whenever it happens, but feel even worse that I could possibly be sad during the Christmas season when it is supposed to be about giving and loving and rejoicing.

I told Neile the other day that if I were given the chance to work in children’s ministry again next year I would not. This almost breaks my heart just to think it, but to get to the point where I actually say it to someone else…well I am at a loss.

I love children. I have been babysitting since I was 11 and volunteering in church since I knew that it was a possibility. I remember working with a small group of 1st graders my senior year of college and getting so excited to plan lessons for them or figure out a way for them to experience God more fully. I remember volunteering in the nursery (my favorite) for years and looking forward to seeing those babies all week long – in fact my whole body would get antsy with anticipation.

It was because of this – this never ending love of children, to see them grow, to nurture them, to show them God’s love through me – that I started thinking that perhaps I would consider working with kids as a job. Perhaps when my degree is completed I would actually work in children’s ministry (instead of just volunteering). Right now, I do not feel that way.

I have made a commitment to the 3 yr old class this year. And yes, the kids are amazing and I love them like I have loved all of the kids I’ve ever worked with. I do not go a single Sunday without laughing with a child or enjoying a conversation about their boo boos or birthdays or other adventures. I love singing with them, learning Bible verses together, reading stories, having dinosaur fights, and coloring. Mostly though, I just love the opportunity to watch them grow, to see it in their eyes when they’ve learned something new or the pride on their face when they’ve accomplished something that only “big people” can do.

However, I am now to the point of almost dreading Sunday mornings.

Christmas Celebration take 1

Although I know many people that have done this, I had never done it nor had I imagined I would, but this year has changed all of that.

I have now officially celebrated 1.5 Christmases with 2 more to go!

I say 1.5 because while we were in Seattle for Thanksgiving (which was a great trip overall) we all had the pleasure of receiving our Christmas stockings early. As my mom puts it, “who doesn’t love getting presents!” So while stockings are not a full blown Christmas celebration, it was the time for us to have a mini celebration with Neile’s whole family.

This past weekend we got together with Neile’s brother and his wife. They don’t live far from us (downtown) so even though we won’t be together on Christmas day we got to celebrate with them beforehand. Neile and I drove into the city to meet up with them and go to Christkindlmarket.

Fun times! If you haven’t ever been you should check it out – it’s here until December 24th. Seeing as I used to work about 2 or 3 blocks from this I had been before and seeing as Neile and his family are in love with Germany... well we just couldn’t resist going again. It was cold, but it could have been worse (that’s probably the case for most days in Chicago – always could’ve been worse!). Mostly I just enjoyed being downtown and seeing all of the lights, which I have missed out on in the last few years. Funny how mesmerizing all those pretty lights can be…