10 on Tuesday

I’ve seen a few blog friends do this, so I thought I’d give it a shot.
1. My heart is very heavy right now. A friend/neighbor couple just lost their baby. This morning I went to a funeral for her. I’ve never been to a baby’s funeral, and it was extremely difficult to digest the pain the parents must be going through. I have the luxury of forgetting about it for a few minutes, but their grief is continual. I need to think of ways to support them in this long grieving journey they’ll be going on.
2. I have been blessed beyond measure. I’ve had my lion’s share of misfortunes in this life, but nothing tragic like losing a child, parent or sibling. Whenever I’m feeling overwhelmingly blessed, I love to listen to this song.

3. It’s cold outside. Today we were tied for a record low set back in the 1860s. Makes me wonder how I ever handled living in South Dakota and Minnesota if I can barely handle these teen temps. One thing I know, I could not ever go back to winters like that. I did have to laugh at the roof of the Metrodome “ripping” due to the weight of the snow.

4. Sometimes I wonder if Ryan’s head is screwed on straight. Tonight he has a little performance at school. He told me this last night. Ok. That’s fine. I can do something with one day’s notice. This morning he tells me he needs a red shirt for his performance tonight. Hmmmm. Looks like the little procrastinator will be wearing a red t-shirt with Spiderman on it, or a red t-shirt with a cross and skull bones that says “Savannah” on it, or perhaps a red baseball jersey, or maybe even his brother’s red football jersey. Some might think I’m a mean mom for not running out to buy him one today. But, I’m real big on natural consequences. You “forget” to tell me you need something, you are “stuck” with what we’ve got. No biggie, right?
5.My eyes are so puffy that I can’t see out of them very well.
6. The boys’ big Christmas present this year is a trampoline. It was going to be a surprise (like most other Christmas gifts are), but the FedEx guy dropped it off right on the front porch and there was no way that they couldn’t see it when we were on the street driving home. We put it up last night but still have the net poles to put up. I’m excited that they’re so excited!

7. The Christmas Cookie candle is burning now. It smells heavenly. I should bake some cookies. But then they’ll just be sitting there calling my name all day and night long, so I’ll settle for the Christmas Cookie candle instead.
8. I feel kind of guilty. You know how every sport has pictures taken by “professional” photographers each and every season? I don’t buy them. I just take my camera and stand behind them and get the best shot I can. I feel like a total dweeb doing it. I wouldn’t mind paying someone if it were just a regular person, but it’s the same rip-off company that does it for all the sports and they take less than stellar pics and I just don’t want to pay for them, especially if they’re never all looking at the camera at the same time and they make them yell “MONEY” to get them to smile. What a run-on sentence that was!

9. I have all of my Christmas shopping done. I did most of it online. It hasn’t arrived yet, but it’s all bought. Yeah!
10. This is our first year ever not having a real Christmas tree. I was dreading buying a tree this year and doing it all myself. My husband is a restaurant general manager and is hardly home this time of year. I was bitter about it. Instead of continuing to be bitter, I bought us our first easy-as-pie-to-put-up fake tree. It’s not the same as a real one, but we still like it. It was so easy the boys could have done it themselves.

Have a happy Tuesday. Count your blessings!
Sarah:)