Xenia Kathryn

Winter cleaning. Does this happen to anyone else, or is it just me? Friday my MIL brought over her vacuum for us to borrow (I've been using a simple carpet sweeper for the past few months since our own vacuum went kaput). What was that book about "If you give a mouse a cookie...?" :D If you give XK a vacuum, she'll probably want to lift every single piece of furniture off of the carpet... then she'll realize she should probably reorganize a few things.. On it goes. All in all, I ended up completely re-organizing V.'s room (it was so cluttered and disorganized... I couldn't stand it any longer). Then my MIL helped me rearrange the living room so that when we get a Christmas tree in a few weeks, we'll have a nice spot for it in the front window.

There must be something about winter-- or maybe Advent, more accurately, that sets in my heart a sense of expectation. As chatter arises about "gifts" and wishlists, the possibility of MORE STUFF just seems a bit daunting--especially when it comes to toys, etc. So it's nice to take a weekend to haul out, donate, rotate, rearrange, dust, organize and reevaluate. Certainly this can also be said for the spiritual life as well. The Nativity fast is another blessed 40 days to redirect our lives towards our Lord.

This whole house-cleaning tirade also made me realize how much I already have, and how much I don't need even though I think I do. Like, I *thought* I could justify the purchase of a nice new toy storage unit. You know, complete with matching baskets and whanot. But I forced myself to use some other crates and bins instead, and really it looks just fine. Great, even. It's funny how the "answer" to our material dilemmas are usually right beneath our noses. OR at least that is true in my case.

This year my goal was to have all of my Christmas shopping completed by the time the fast began. Well, that didn't quite happen. My new goal is to be done by the end of November. We'll see! I'm also actually very excited to have some "homemade" projects in the works. As I mentioned in my last post, my latest realization is that "gifts (as in talents) are for giving." And so I've unearthed some forgotten gift-projects (seriously, like, some of these unfinished homemade gifts are 3 years old!) and I'm excited to start them up again. It's NEVER too late. What is it about creating gifts that is so fun? I love the process and thinking about the recipient and imaging their reaction/ appreciation (in a healthy way...hopefully that doesn't sound vain).

Oh, and no to overlook Thanksgiving... I'm so excited for that, too! I can't wait to see family from both Job and I's side, and spend time with everyone. It's funny how, when your a kid, Thanksgiving is kind of an "uneventful" holiday... you know, no gifts=no fun. But now it's really become one of my favorites, and not just because of the nice meal. This year I look forward to contributing a caeser salad and pumpkin pie to my parents' dinner :D Two things I certainly *know* how to make... unlike last year's disaster.

All in all, life here is very good. I sort of shudder in reading the last paragraph of my last post. Sounds like I'm saying, "Oh gee... I guess I'm just called to love my family... *YAWN* " Wow. What a complainer I am.


Thank you all for your kind remarks... they were very encouraging and I really appreciated them. And if anyone held back from commenting in my last post, due to the despicable odor of punitive complaining that it contained, then hey, I don't blame you one bit! Really!

Well, I need to get a few things pulled together for church tomorrow before I hit the hay. I hope you're all well! Enjoy something hot and soothing to drinkduring these increasingly cooler days.