A Weekend In December

On Saturday-

Pea Pod
We had our groceries delivered early in the morning.  Have you ever heard of Pea Pod?  It's awesome to have your groceries brought to your door!

Bodypump
I was on rotation to teach Bodypump that morning, so I chose to do the latest release 91.  I've done that release several times with other instructors or at home, but it was the third or forth time I got to teach it.  I finally felt really, really comfortable with the material for once, so I had a lot of fun.

Bodycombat
With technical help from my husband, I put together my Bodycombat 61 assessment video, complete with an introduction stating my name, address, etc.  I am submitting it today.

Musical
A friend from church offered us three, free tickets to our church's musical Saturday evening, "The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe." So my husband took our two oldest girls while I stayed home with the baby Saturday night.

On Sunday-

Church
We went to church in the morning as usual. Here's a link to the sermon we heard yesterday, if you are interested.  After church, while I was talking to my friends, I found out many of them were going to be attending a Women's Advent Tea later that evening. They exerted some healthy peer pressure on me and I decided to go to the tea, too.

Shopping
But, first, I had to get lunch and do some shopping.  Even though we go to church every Sunday, we don't put a lot of emphasis on having nice clothes. (We would have to spend a lot more time at the stores and a lot more money on clothes if we did. I am not willing to do either of those things.)

Clothes
But we do try and dress up twice a year, usually on Christmas Eve and Easter.  I always save dresses and dress shoes and reuse them whenever I can, so this year, my two younger daughters are wearing dresses I have saved from previous Christmases.  We only wear the dresses for very special occasions on and around holidays, so they stay in beautiful and in near perfect condition.

But this year, I still had to find a Christmas dress and sweater for my oldest daughter and I needed the right size tights and Christmas shoes for my oldest and youngest daughters. I was grateful that I got all this nuanced shopping done in one place for very little expense on the same afternoon. That felt miraculous.  The Lord knows I don't relish shopping at all. (No offense to those who enjoy it, but I would almost rather clean my house or rake my lawn than shop for clothes.)

Advent Tea
Right when I got home from shopping, a friend who is also a neighbor surprised me by picking me up for the Advent tea. She stood at the door and said, "Hurry Up!" So I rode with her, which made the whole evening even better, actually. As I chatted with her on the way, I was grateful that I am involved in a church. Believe it or not, I can be quite an introvert and I am keenly aware that I would probably be alone most of the time if it weren't for my friends at church calling me to be social with them. "It's not good for man to be alone," God said. I was grateful for my friends being such eager friends to me this weekend, razzing me to go, giving me a ride, etc. I needed them, though I didn't realize it till I was with them.  I laughed so hard all evening.  People are definitely God's best invention.    

Hand Bells
There was a hand bell choir at the Advent tea and after their performance, they passed out some of the hand bells to let us try them. If you saw a circle around a word in your hymn book, that's when you were supposed to ring your bell. If you saw a line under a word, that's when you were supposed to stop the bell by placing it on your knee, etc. I can't read music, but I can read circles and lines easy enough, so I thought it was great fun.

Reading
I came home to a roaring fire in the fire place and after we put the kids to bed, I read from The Fellowship of the Ring for an hour or more, until I started nodding off. But it seemed wrong to abandon such a beautiful fire, no matter how tired I was. I didn't want to go back to my cold bedroom to sleep horizontally.

Sleeping
My husband agreed to pull our huge mattress off the bed, down the hall, and into the living room, so I could sleep all night in front of the fire. I helped him as much as I could. As much as I work out, I am still not as strong as my husband is by nature.  It's kind of unfair.

And don't get the wrong impression.  We weren't planning anything romantic in front of the fire. We have floor to ceiling windows in the living room and no curtains, so that would be impossible.  But, I was able to lay down with my feet toward the fire and a view of the flames as I dozed off.  Turns out that crackling fire is the best white noise next to rain.  And, in the night as I woke up and opened my eyes, I could see the moon moving across the sky, shining down on us.  It was like glancing at the clock to see how much of the night was left, only it was much more calming and natural.  I don't think my husband had the best night of sleep that way, so I don't imagine we will be doing that again soon. But I thought it was divine.