Oh Sherry, Sherry, Sherry, and all you naughty cohorts at the city office. Mike, Kory, Rogierre...anyone else?? Because of you I have aging completely under control! Two Hot flash remedies, a face lift kit, roughage to keep me regular, a hot water bottle to warm my old bones at night... and love notes (with pictures) from Mike Rowe, from the show Dirty Jobs. Oh Baby...40 doesn't get any better than this!
i promise i will NOT hijack your blog ever again after this.
I believe I can say that my sister Stacy is just like me in this respect, otherwise she wouldn't have told me the other day that she HATES my blog...the way it looks. It took a lot of work to choose this back ground and now I'm offended! no...not really, it's pretty plain, so if you notice a change in the future it's because my painfully honest sister has picked out a paper background to match my "special" personality. :)It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response,
the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I'm on the phone
and ask to be taken to the store. Inside I'm thinking, 'Can't you see
I'm on the phone?' Obviously not; no one can see if I'm on the
phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head
in the corner, because no one can see me at all. I'm invisible;
"The invisible Mom."
Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more: Can you fix this?
Can you tie this? Can you open this? Some days I'm not a pair of hands;
I'm not even a human being. I'm a clock to ask, 'What time is it?' I'm a satellite guide to answer,
'What number is the Disney Channel?' I'm a car to order, 'Right around
5:30, please.' I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the
eyes that studied history and the mind that graduated summa cum laude
- but now they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be
seen again. She's going, she's going, and she's gone! One night, a
group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend
from England . Janice had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and
she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was sitting
there, looking around at the others all put together so well. It was
hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself as I looked down at my
out-of-style dress; it was the only thing I could find that was
clean. My unwashed hair was pulled up in a hair clip and I was afraid
I could actually smell peanut butter in it. I was feeling pretty
pathetic, when Janice turned to me with a beautifully wrapped
package, and said, 'I brought you this.' It was a book on the great
cathedrals of Europe . I wasn't exactly sure why she'd given it to me
until I read her inscription:
'To Charlotte , with admiration for the greatness of what you are
building when no one sees.'
In the days ahead I would read - no, devour - the book. And I would
discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after
which I could pattern my work: No one can say who built the great
cathedrals - we have no record of their names. These builders gave
their whole lives for a work they would never see finished. They made
great sacrifices and expected no credit. The passion of their
building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything.
A legendary story in the book told of a rich man who came to visit
the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a
tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man,
'Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that
will be covered by the roof? No one will ever see it.' And the
workman replied, 'Because God sees.'
I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was almost
as if I heard God whispering to me, 'I see you, Charlotte. I see
the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does.
No act of kindness you've done, no sequin you've sewn on, no cupcake
you've baked, is too small for me to notice and smile over. You are
building a great cathedral, but you can't see right now what it will
become.'
At times, my invisibility feels like an affliction. But it is not a
disease that is erasing my life. It is the cure for the disease of my
own self-centeredness. It is the antidote to my strong, stubborn
pride. I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As
one of the people who show up at a job that they will never see
finished, to work on something that their name will never be on. The
writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could
ever be built in our lifetime because there are so few people willing
to sacrifice to that degree.
When I really think about it, I don't want my son to tell the friend
he's bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, 'My Mom gets up at
4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a
turkey for three hours and presses all the linens for the table.'
That would mean I'd built a shrine or a monument to myself. I just
want him to want to come home. And then, if there is anything more to
say to his friend, to add, 'you're gonna love it there.'
As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if
we're doing it right. And one day, it is very possible that the world
will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that
has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible women.
My Mother in laws Hand Painted Santa's.
Clementines!
My Angels.
Do these to Snow People look familiar? I found this at a hotel Mike and I stayed at for our 5th anniversary. I loved it because they look like US!
I love my jars of Christmas Candy. Old fashion candy and thin ribbon candy. It all reminds me of going to my Aunt Marlene and Uncle Gordon's house for Christmas eve.
This one has a story. I don't generally have a story to tell about my ex husband but this is one I will always remember. (even if I don't tell it completely right.)
Jim had a deal with an interior designer/decorator in Burley, Idaho in the early 90's when he did wood floors out there. One time she paid him for a small job by letting me purchase whatever I wanted up to about $150.00 from her "front building" but not her "back building". I couldn't find a thing in the front building. Nothing looked interesting to me. So... I wandered into the back building just t see what was in there. And that's when I found this. I'm not a big shopper but when I find something I'm just IN LOVE with I really want it.
She was determined that I couldn't have it. Jim gave her the "stink eye" and reminded her of the many extra things he had done for her and her business that year and after about 15 minutes worth of "HELLFIRE AND BRIMSTONE"...I got my way. :) I was a happy girl.
Advent Calendar.
This is a tradition my mother started years ago. Her calendar was red velvet. Each drum has a scripture on the bottom to read, till you get to Christmas day, and by that time, you've read the Story of the birth of Christ.
I always enjoy looking at my Nativity's. Each one is very different and beautiful.
I don't know who started the frosting on the nose thing on this night but Emily, my new Activity Day partner was very patient with the girls. 
