Happy Late Th!anksgivng

Thanksgiving...
I hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving yesterday.... as ususal, I didn't get this posted in time, and so it's a late wish, but it was born in my heart much sooner... the moment I think of those I love, I wish the best for them.
We stayed in town for the Holiday this year, mostly because Mike had to work the next morning at the insane hour of 4:30 A.M.... This world has changed so much, and the way the stores open on "Black Friday" while your Thanksgiving turkey is barely cooled off from the oven is, to me, a bit sad. I know the retail world and our economy are dependent on profits that seem to peak right about this time of year... I know people's lively hoods are important, I want them to have food on thier tables, clothes on their backs and a warm blanket and heat... all the stuff I want and appreciate for myself. But I don't see why we have to act like crazed beasts at 5 in the morning the day after we are supposedly giving thanks for our blessings. It's like there's never enough...bccause we always want more, better, the most, more than the next soul..more than our fair share, his and yours and mine, too...
Or maybe I'm wrong, maybe it's giving.... perhaps I need to reasses my thinking. Maybe it's because we want to give those we love the best, to show our love, our hearts for others. I'd like to think that..really... so maybe I'll try to believe that. I hope it's true, I REALLY DO...
So the day came, we were here, I was getting over some weird flu bug, and didn't have very much energy. I came home from work on Tuesday with this ailment, you do NOT want me to give you details... went in to see my doctor at 5:30 and she told me to stay home, and rest and try to rehydrate on Wednesday. Next morning I called my boss, leaving a message that I'd be out that day, and she called me back, very angry, to tell me that I would need a note from my doctor saying I was told to stay home on Wed. She was spitting mad and snarling at me about someone from my company seeing me at the store after I left, shopping. Yep, I was shopping. Since I had the car and had to drive myself home I stopped at the store ... I had to have something to settle my stomach, and no one was going to get it for me except me. So I was out having a great time, getting bread for toast, and ginger ale, and believe me, it was a party!!!!! I later had to go to the doctor and stopped to get my prescriptions, which was even more fun, as it took about 40 minutes of waiting and I really wanted to be in bed... or anywhere where I would be warm and comfy, not aching and shivering and wanting to cry and soooo.... yeah.... I confess, I was bad. I was trying to take care of myself... I would think that even though I wasn't at work, I deserve to have food and drink, when it was needed.
So I didn't feel much like doing anything yesterday, but since the family shouldn't have to suffer we accepted an invitation to our pastor's for dinner. It was great to have loving, good people to spend the evening with... our pastor and his family are so cool. They treat their guests like family, which what we are, in Christ... it's such an amazing blessing when people can come together and be close when you come from different places and backgrounds. We had fun, laughed, and enjoyed food that we all brought..and were thankful to God for our time together and all that we have..
At the same time, it was hard...not having the holiday with our families in Spokane... my son, daughters, and their children, and my in laws... how we miss them all. But thanks to God that we are all well and doing okay... have homes, and all we really need...I hope soon we can all be be together... I hope you are all with those you love..
God bless...
Shar

This is a post I have on my old blog from 2005, I found it and thought it might be something that would help me to remember how a real Christmas feels. I'm sort of rushed lately and the idea of the HOLIDAYS are a bit daunting. It's so easy to get caught up already in the business of making Christmas perfect, and spending like there is no tomorrow. So, please forgive me for getting a little ahead of myself and the season..

I can only try to go back and relive that moment and feelings I had.... try and put it into words again.... just to keep it for remembering...

We are members of a little Foursquare Church that has struggled for a while to grow, but we've made such dear friends there... we started this amazing tradition of putting on a Live Nativity each year.. this was a post that still makes me feel the undescibable sense of God's presence, the Love He has for us all...

Post Christmas, 2005..
Our Live Nativity was amazing again this year....I have to recall last year's little miracle first, though. It set the stage for every other year, because we knew God was with us...
It was raining, both nights, the drops of water glistening in the lights on the "stable". Hurriedly,everyone was preparing to start the little reeanactment of Jesus' entry as the perfect Son of God so many years ago. Just as the tiny "angels" came on the scene, the rain stopped. We held our collective breath as the story unfolded, watching in wonder as the words from John were spoken..... ancient, yet always fresh, telling the Christmas story. As the closing moments came, and we all moved inside for refreshments and fellowship, the skies opened up again with a hard rain.... and stopped again, the same way at each performance. How does one explain that???
This year we wanted to offer our neighbors a place to come and be reminded of God's Gift to us all again. It was 2 nights, with an enthusastic, smiling cast and supporters. Little kids playing angels "hovering" in white, Mike as a shepard, and Steve as a wise man, treasure in hand. The little pony making soft pony noises, as if he wanted to let us all know he was watching. Little "Baby Jesus", aka Justin, playing with a piece of straw from the ground, so sweet; he was perfect in the part. His little cheeks pink with the cold, and his chubby hands reaching out to explore the face of "Mary". The feeling of wonder as we again re-enacted the Nativity in the little "stable", erected on a grassy space (by our awesome resident carpainter, Don Sykes) in the church yard; an imaginary Bethlehem.. Imagining what it really must have been like to welcome the Christ Child that first Christmas. Nothing could touch that occurance, the angels and the worshipers all paying homage to the Son of God... Wish we could have all been there... Those of us who stood there in the chilly night smiled and felt His presence, felt a quiet joy. Thanks to all of you who were there.... Love to you....Mike, Steve, Mary, the Munoz's, the Barretts.. all our church family.
Christmas is over now, and I feel a tiny bit sad, but it was a time of love and closeness for me and mine.. I hope it was for you, also. If not, I pray this new year will bring you into a place where you can know God's presence and peace. He's always there to be born anew in our hearts and lives each moment.Love and God bless...
Shar

Day trip, shopping pleasures and a little melencholy...

What a weekend, busy and not so productive at home, but fun! My plans are almost always pretty unstatic..is that a word? I don't go many places out of my little comfort zone by myself.... I'm just not a great freeway driver after growing up in a place where there was so little need to use the interstate. Anyway, my plans to visit Snohomish didn't come to fruition... we had some things that took precedence over getting out of the house early... so it was after 1 when we actually got on our way..

We decided instead of the little town of Snohomish, we'd go to Bothell, and visit some places that were special to Steve, my hubby. He lived there as a young boy, and his grandparents lived there when we met. Now they are buried in a cemetary close by. We've been gathering family information for genealogy records, and one of the ways we're collecting photos of headstones of our ancestors.. grandparents, great grandparents, uncles, and my parents. So we took some photos of Steve's paternal grandfather and grandmother.

I never knew his grandmother, she passed away the year before we met. But I did breifly know his grandfather Allan, and really loved him. I only met him a few times really, but he was my husband's hero, and he was a fascinating man.... larger than life is an oft used phrase, but it was the perfect way to describe Grandpa. Steve still talks about him with such awe and love... so standing there while we cleaned off the headstone as best we could with no tools, I found my eyes stinging with tears and my throat aching... sadness and admiration, missing a man I really didn't have much opportunity to know well. Why do I always find myself in tears when I go to the cemetary.... even if the ones there were not my family? I was moved in the same way when last summer we visited the grave of my older brother. I never met him at all... he was born 3 years before I was, and died the same day. So why do I miss him? God only knows... and He understands even when no one else does, including myself.

After the cemetary and then driving by Steve's old house, snapping a couple of pictures there, and then seeing the place his grandparents had lived, we went to Country Village. It's a crafter and collector's dream... which made me suddenly feel so much lighter hearted. My poor spouse is not terribly excited about collecting country home deccor or crafting. But he knew I'd been dreaming of going through this wonderful group of shops, so there we were. I found some great little treasures to carry home and just had a lovely time. Funny how much the soul feels refreshed getting away from the city, and just relaxing in a warm, charming atmosphere. The place is very cute, with ducks and chickens walking around and a real box car next to the stream there, converted into a great antique shop. I'll post a couple of pictures, if I can get them to show up... I was really ready to come home when we realized it was time to head back..

We had promised to pick our youngest son from work, so we hurried to make it in time, and thankfully out timing was perfect. The hotdogs we'd bought for lunch had long since hit bottom... so dinner was in the forefront of our minds... California Pizza Kitchen was a very pleasant way to wrap up the day, and... well, a good time was had by all, as they say. They don't normally have chicken pameseana but the waitress cajoled the chef into whipping it up for me anyway... sooooo yummy!

I hope you all have had a weekend filled with laughter and family, and fun.. autumn is a perfect time to reflect on our blessings and enjoy the moments we have with our loved ones...

And it's so cool to have an extra hour of sleep...

My New Identity...Check it out!

My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is: Very Lady Sharleen the Talkative of Grasshopper in the Hole Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title

I've been trying to catch up on all the comments and wishes I found belatedly on my page on the day after Halloween. I'm even surprising myself at the amount of time it has taken to write a few lines and say thank you. So please bare with me. I find a new friend and get lost in her blog, her art, her thoughts. I drift in thought and get distracted. My cat tries to crawl up on my keyboard and I'm all discombobulated... doesn't take much, really. I attribute it to my job, and the wonderful skills I've developed in mulit tasking. I can no longer do one thing alone, to completion, without jumping around to some other distraction at least momentarily. But to be honest, that's kind of my inner hyperactive child coming out. Makes me remember hearing, just a few years ago in my Freshman English class, "Sharleen, please take your seat......Miss Culkin, are you visiting with your neighbor??...Sharleen, would you like to pariticpate in this class??" and so on and so forth...sigh..

Well, actually, I just find so many little details, and beautiful thoughts in each person's page, and I want to take the time to find the delightful facets of each person's hearts....so it may be yet a few days before I can answer. But I'm getting there... one tiny step at a time.

And at that, I need to go make some coffee and get ready for a busy day. I'm going to the town of Snohomish today, to spend time away from the big city of Seattle, and wander for extended period of time through shops that I usually only dream about and I will be like a 5 year old girl in a toy store... wish you were all coming with me!

Love and hugs... I'll tell you about it when I get back, maybe I'll get some photos!

Shar