2011 Christmas Letter

David was in charge of this year's Christmas letter. We discussed how the letter should be composed and we both decided it would be easiest to use an idea from our friends, the Steven's. So each family member contributed their input in the catagories of like, dislike, favorite moment, and looking forward to.

It was done in a nice table format, but I can't figure out how to load that table on blogger so you get what you get down below.


David Likes: my kids, fly fishing; Dislikes: wind; Favorite Moment: Yellowstone, Seattle to Portland Bike ride; Looking forward to: spring/summer

Heather Likes: running, blogging, reading; Dislikes: cold, decreased daylight hours; Favorite Moment: Disneyworld; Looking forward to: possible summer road trip

Katelyn Likes:singing, acting; Dislikes: homework, spiders; Favorite Moment: Disneyworld; Looking forward to: spring break in NY, Europe trip, College

Carson Likes: Ice cream; Dislikes:  injuries; Favorite Moment: DisneyWorld; Looking forward to: Driver's license

And the obligatory picture on the Christmas card was from everyone's favorite place, Disneyworld.

Blech, I'm Prodromal

I woke up yesterday with the tell-tale signs of an impending sickness of some sort.

I had a sore throat.

An empty-headed feeling (no snarky remarks about being blonde, thank you very much) even though my ears are plugged up.

A slight "sick to my stomach" feeling

And post-nasal drip. Yuck.

My mantra has been since yesterday morning "I will not get sick. I will not get sick."

So far so good, but I still have my symptoms.

Keeping my fingers crossed that nothing worse comes from these.

Reinforcing Stereotypes

The following is a re-cap of a recent conversation with Carson. He had spent the day at a wrestling tournament. His dad and I showed up in the late afternoon to watch the finals.

Carson: Oh, I have some change for you.

Parent: You only have coins left?

Other parent: Well, he went to breakfast with the team & then had to have lunch. What did you have for lunch?

Carson: Panda {ed. note: that would be Panda Express}.

Parent #2 : Um, how did you get to Panda Express?

Carson: Someone gave me a ride.

Parent #2: Who gave you a ride?

Carson: Brady and he's a really good driver.

Parent #1 (who once was a teen-age boy himself): What makes him a really good driver?

Carson: Well he does all these crazy maneuvers with professional skills. Like he backed out of the parking lot like at 35 miles an hour & turned us around to going forward just like professional driver.

Parent #2 (who never was a teen-age boy, but had brothers): I think we need to work on your definition of "good driver" because that doesn't sound like a good driver to me.

And there you have it...a conversation that reinforces the stereotype that teen-age boys engage testosterone and bravado way before they engage their brains.

Because It's Important

I ran across this YouTube video today on the Runner's World website. The message is about 9 minutes long, but the way it is delivered is very engaging and the message an important one.

It's amazing that just a simple 30 minute walk a day can have such a big impact on overall health. And it appears that it doesn't have to be 30 consecutive minutes. For those who work in an office behind a desk, there are other studies not presented here that demonstrate a 10 minute walk break every hour or so can increase productivity as well as improve health.

So when you see me walking the halls of the schools, I'm not off-task. I'm just trying to take care of myself.

Don't Dis Santa

When I was growing up, our Christmas lists to Santa weren't very long but they did include requests for gifts that might be a little bit out of mom and dad's price range. Santa was the one person we knew could fill that gap. I was so thankful for Santa.

Best Buy is running a series of commercials that I find rude and disrespectful.

It took me a couple of times viewing this commercial to figure out just what it was that bothered me so bad and then it finally hit me...the woman is basically telling Santa, "I don't need you." I find her attitude toward Santa arrogant, condescending, and ungrateful.

I'm sure I am reading much more into this 30 second commercial than Best Buy ever intended, but I thought it a shame that Best Buy thinks we have evolved into a society that is so willing to dismiss Santa. The women in the commercial states, "I guess I didn't leave any room for you." How sad that she would be unwilling to make room for any gifts Santa may have for her, and instead, gloat in her ability to provide for herself. To me, Santa is the personification of gift-giving, love, and service. I might be reaching a bit here, but if our society can say to Santa, "I don't have room for you", what are we saying about Christ, who is the literal ultimate gift-giver, Master of love and service?

What to Give?

I take my gift-giving very seriously. I spend a great deal of time carefully contemplating what would be a gift that would mean the most to the recipient. To me, being able to pick out a gift that is meaningful for the receiver is an expression of love.

But there are a couple of very special people in my life who cause me to scratch my head and wonder just what would be the most meaningful gift. They are at a stage in their lives where they don't need any more stuff and if they did need stuff, they certainly are in a favorable financial position so they could purchase what they want or hire someone to help them or even build/make it themselves.

Every Christmas I worry about what to give them. Today in the mail I received a brochure from World Vision, a Christian humanitarian organization that provides food, animals, medicine, etc. to children throughout the world. The brochure said a donation in someone's name would make a wonderful gift. I paused a moment to think about how I would feel if someone made a donation in my name and said that was their gift to me. I decided I would be OK with that. Then I wondered if that would be very presumptious of me to think that our parents would feel the same way and be OK if we made a donation in our their names & made that our gift to them.  What if they would rather we choose a different organization? Or what if there is something they really want and I somehow have overlooked it?

I've been thinking about this all day and, unfortunately, I am still far from knowing what to do. I ran it by David and he said, after quite a pause, "Hmm, that's odd."

Bother.

Did I Tell You?

• I am trying to run at least a mile every day (except Sunday) between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day. So far, so good.Thanks to my various running buddies who are willing to go out with me in the dark. Yes, and that includes Josie, too.
• I am almost done with all of the Christmas shopping. Brothers that live in distant states...your wives' presents have been shipped. Brother in MN, your daughter's present will be shipped this week.
• The first Christmas card of the season arrived today (Loved how you did your letter, Stevens family). I have not done any work on our card yet. I guess I better get busy.
• Carson is scheduled for shoulder surgery on December 22nd. I know, not the best timing, but it was the soonest he could get on the schedule. At least he will have a week at home to recuperate before he has to head back to school.
• I've already been in contact with the school nurse at the high school to get a medical 504 plan in place for Carson since his surgery will be on his right shoulder, he is right-handed, and he will be in an immobilizer for a few weeks. He will need someone to write for him.
• I'm pretty sure that there is something scheduled every night for the next two weeks. Don't worry...there is plenty of cereal in the pantry for dinner.
• Katelyn successfully managed to get her application in to BYU-Idaho by December 1st meeting the early registration deadline. There was a small miracle that occurred with this. On November 29th she finally went to the counseling center and asked the secretary what she needed to do to get her transcripts sent. Secretary told her all fines had to be paid. November 30th I went in to pay her fines & fill out transcript request. I asked the secretary if the transcripts were submitted electronically or mailed. She said they were mailed. I left feeling pretty frustrated  and fed-up with Katelyn for waiting so long. But when Katelyn got on her BYU-I account on December 2nd and it said that her application was complete and transcripts received, we all did a little happy dance. I think we were the recipients of a Christmas miracle.
• Katelyn has not applied to any other schools besides BYU-I and BYU. That causes me stress, but she doesn't seem too worried about it.
• I love snowmen, cookbooks, and Precious Moments ornaments and SugarTown. I have quite a collection of all these things. The cookbooks are on display all year in the beautiful barrister chest my father-in-law made for me. The snowmen and Precious Moments are Christmas decorations. I love it when they are on display at Christmas.
• Pandora radio Christmas station is playing when I am at work on my work computer. At home, we don't listen to much Christmas music. The car radio was turned to the Christmas station the day after Thanksgiving and there it will stay until it no longer plays Christmas music.

And this is what it would be like to have a phone conversation with me...random and rambling.