What if...

Freezing. Did I fall asleep and wake up in January...February, maybe? This cold, gray weather seems a little early.

Warming up. Finally bought myself a pair of wool socks because I hadn't felt my toes in several days. Hello toes, nice to know you're still there.

Counting down. Christmas is just a week away!

Praying for safety. David is hunting today - a work thing. I personally think frozen fingers and triggers don't mix, but what do I know?

Remembering Tuesday! L7, I am blessed to surround myself with such an amazing group of women - our caroling may have been a little (lot) off key, but the rest of the night was right on! That's by far the most fun I have ever had unloading groceries.

Looking forward to the weekend.

I'm thinking my blog strategy for the time being will be "lightning round" style. Quick snippets. Little glimpses of what's going on around here...at least until life slows down enough to compose a complete paragraph.

Brrrrrr! It's cold! And wet. Nasty combination.

I am really enjoying Christmas carols this year. Usually, I tune into the two radio stations I can find not playing them, but this year we are listening to carols 'round the clock. I love hearing the kids sing along (getting most of the words wrong!). By observation, I think Lily's favorite is Silent Night and Luke's is Jingle Bell Rock.

Went to the urologist with David last week to follow up about his kidney stones. Nothing like seeing your husband manhandled - literally. Heeheehee.

Looking forward to Tuesday night with my favorite "book club"...or something like that!

We had a great Sunday. We stayed in PJs all day, I fried chicken for lunch, and we went to church as a family this evening. I love my family, and I love my church...and David loves fried chicken...family and church are a close second I'm sure! :)

Cinnamon rolls, my husband and the family dog were not exactly where I expected the "thankful" train of thought to stop last month. I had a few other things I wanted to mention - my kids, my church, my friends. But somewhere between a kidney stone and a miserable drive -this blog shuffled it's way from low on the list to last on the list.

The holiday week is a blurr of too much food and too little sleep, but through it all, thankfulness was never far. In an ER, at 4 a.m., you can't help but be thankful when you're husband, in excruciating pain, is given almost immediate treatment. You can't help but be thankful for clean medical facilities and health insurance. For drugs.

And though the kidney stone was the standout down side of the holiday, a not-so-close second was the miserable drive home on Sunday. Our ten hour drive became fourteen, and trust me, adding four hours to ten feels like you might as well add another ten. But again, the experience just provided more to be thankful for - we traveled fourteen hours in terrible traffic - and arrived home safely. It may not have been words of gratitude rolling off my tongue at 1:30 a.m. when the vehicle walls began closing in on me after more than 12 hours, but I was thankful none the less. The bright spot on the drive was Luke's attempt at describing his anxious anticipation of arriving home. I'm certain it won't translate as well in print as it did rolling off his precious tongue but he said: Whenever I walk in the door, I get a strange feeling...kinda excited. Think of your favorite thing - like swimming - that's how I feel, excited, like I'm swimming. I feel that way when I get home. Man, I love that fella. And my girl, well, she is my girl and her snarky response was, Ummm, so you're saying going home feels like swimming? Gotta be thankful for those two.