November 2003 archive

November 26, 2003 9:49:03 AM

Whew! I get tired just thinking about my day yesterday. I took the day off from work and visited Leila's Kindergarten class. They had a Thanksgiving feast, and I wanted to go and help out and spend some time with Leila in her classroom. I arrived at eight am so that Ms. C and I could meet for our parent-teacher conference. After that I helped get the classroom set up and waited for the kids to arrive. It turned out that her teacher's aide and her student teacher were both out, so it was good that I could be there. I read books to the kids until it was time for 'morning meeting.' After morning meeting I took five of the kids down to the garden to cut some Rosemary sprigs to add to the flower arrangements. When we got back, we arranged the flowers into four vases to decorate the tables. The feast was fabulous and the parents came and the kids put on a play that they had written. We stayed after the feast was over and helped to clean up. Leila and I left a little bit early and Picked Daryll up from work.

WHen we got home I crawled upstairs and took a nap. I don't know how Mrs. C does it. Keeping those kids in check is like herding cats! They are like little Mexican jumping beans with ants in their pants. I zipped jackets, wiped noses, tied shoes and broke up little disputes all day. Despite being worn out by their antics, I did have a fabulous time. What a wonderful bunch of bright, eager, and energetic children they are. As I watched them bouncing around, it struck me what a precious time this is in their lives. I'm thankful that I have a four year reprieve before I get to do this all over again with Jordan.

November 24, 2003 2:36:19 PM

As I sit here, healthy, happy, fully employed, married to the most wonderful man on earth, mother of three beautiful, healthy daughters with a comfortable home surrounded on all sides by a loving family, I know that I am blessed. My heart is full to overflowing with gratitude and praise for the awesome God who has Kept me and will continue to keep me and my family in His loving embrace.

I am feeling relieved that this year I am not hosting Thanksgiving at our house as we did last year. This year I am baking a pear upside-down cake from O Magazine, per my husband's request, and I will make a salad and roasted vegetables--not really any more than I would cook for an evening meal. At dinner time, we will walk across the street to my in-laws and share dinner with the family. I had planned a trip to New York City to hang out with a girlfriend, but she had to cancel due to a family emergency. I plan to enjoy a chilled-out, long weekend with my family. Since I make most of the gifts I give, I won't be doing the crack-of-dawn day after Thanksgiving shopping spree that my sisters-in-law undertake every year. I will need to hit the fabric store becasue I do plan to make a couple of quilts for gifts and I neeed a few more fabrics and more batting. About five years ago I vowed not to get caught up in the materialistic frenzy of the holidays. I focus on quality over quantity and my goal is to glorify God through giving gifts to my family and friends, so there's no pressure at all. It's quite liberating and it allows me to embrace and enjoy this sacred season and truly celebrate the birth of my Lord and Savior.

Daryll and I went to a party and the home of some friends in Baltimore on Saturday night. We had a wonderful time catching up with some friends that I haven't seen in about three years. We played Pictionary and Scrabble and it inspired us to host our own Game Night at our home. We brought Jordan with us and she was a little charmer. She went from lap to lap cooing and jabbering in her funny little voice. She is such a friendly baby, and she made many friends and had a good time for herself.

November 19, 2003 1:15:02 PM

I've been so busy I haven't even had a moment to blog lately. I can't believe it's been nine days since my last entry. It's not like nothing's been going on. I just have not been taking the time to blog.

One of my coworkers' husband has cancer and she has been out taking care of him as he goes through his first round of chemo therapy this week. I pray for his healing and that she will feel supported as she tries to hold her family together in the midst of this crisis. So things have been busy and backed up at work.

Last Friday I had a wonderful experience. Toni Morrison was in town and she did a reading of her new novel, Love at Shiloh Baptist Church. She read for awhile and then signed books. I was blessed to be able to sit in the fourth row from the pulpit. The sanctuary holds 3,000 people, so I had a really good seat. I had to stand in a long line for almost an hour, but I got my book signed by Toni Morrison, herself. What joy.

Daryll and I took Jordan to the doctor for her 12 month check-up. She has only gained two pounds in the last four months, which was a little alarming to me. Otherwise, she is hale and hearty. The Dr. said that we can wean her form the bottle any time now. I think that she's not gaining because she drinks too much formula. So we'll cut down on bottles and encourage her to eat table food.

I almost fainted when I saw the nurse trying to draw blood from her arm and she could not locate a vein. Yikes! As my baby was howling from pain, I noticed that her top teeth have broken the gums. I'm just glad that she is happy and healthy and growing strong.

November 10, 2003 12:12:23 PM

My baby girl is one-year-old! We had a small birthday celebration at home for her and it was wonderful. Daryll let her grab handfuls of frosting on her birthday cake and she had a great time. She went from lap to lap giving kisses and hugs and charming everyone. She received clothes and toys and birthday cards with $1 bills. I will save them in her baby book.

Yesterday was my sister-in-law's birthday party. She had a big party to celebrate the fact that she graduated from Divintiy School, and was ordained as a Reverand in the A.M.E. Church. The party was lovely and we got to meet her wonderful friends. She had friends that she has stayed in touch with since first grade. As I sat listening to their stories of friendships that have lasted for more years than I have been alive, I wistfully wished that I could say the same. I have moved so many times in my life that no one could possibly keep up with me.

I must share a little testimony. It might seem small and insignificant, but it was just the encouragement I needed at the time.
Merging two households has not been easy for us financially. Before we got married when we were in pre-marital counseling, we agreed that we were not going to live beyond our means or finance our lifestyle on credit cards. Last year when we moved into this house, we did not have any living-room furniture, so our living-room has remained empty. We had cushions on the floor for us to sit on, but no real comfortable place for us all to sit comfortably and relax at the end of the day. We hesitated about inviting people over because we had no living-room. I have been praying about it and looking at our budget and realizing that its getting close to the holidays, and if we were to buy furniture now, that would blow the Christmas budget. We know that God knows what we need, so we have just been sort of watching and waiting for the right time. Last Sunday morning, I was watching Creflo Dollar Ministries on TV while I sat awake in bed with Jordan climbing all over me. They showed a snippet of the testimony of a man who had followed Rev. Dollar's teaching to pray the phrase, "I am expecting unexpected income." I thought, "it couldn't hurt." But I knew that I believe that God does bless those who earnestly seek him, so I added the phrase, "I am expecting unexpected income," to my prayers that day and the next day and went about my business. On Tuesday, Daryll called me from work and told me that a friend of his sister's was getting new living-room furniture and they needed to give away their old sofa and chaise lounge. I was stunned, but admittedly a bit skeptical at first. What if it was old, raggedy, smelly furniture? He said the we were obviously not obligated to take it, so he went on and rented a van and went over to check out the furniture. It turned out to be clean, beautiful furniture that was not that old in barely used condition. It is black and smoky gray with flecks of cranberry red that matches our cranberry red carpeting. It's comfortable and fits in our living room. What a blessing now. The chaise lounge is now Daryll's preferred napping spot, and every time I walk past it I say, "thank you, Jesus!" He knows what we need and he hears our prayers.

November 4, 2003 2:43:09 PM

Things have been a little hectic at work, and my home life is always full, so I have found that my time at the gym is a tiny little oasis of freedom for me. I look forward to working up a sweat and shedding the cares of the day and getting in a good workout. Yesterday the gym was crowded beyond belief. I have claustrophobia issues, so I tried to just breathe deeply and let it go. My walk home in the balmy evening was blissful and it ended up turning into a prayer walk. I am thankful that I am able to take these few minutes three days a week for myself.

This week we are getting ready for Jordan's first birthday. I am going to take her to get proessional pictures taken, so I have to get her a new little outfit. I think that we are going to get her a new baby doll of her own because she is fascinated by babies right now. She also loves books, and sometimes she just sits on the floor with a book in her lap, turning the pages and giggling and having a good time. She is starting to mimic sounds now. Yesterday she pointed at the baby on the box of diapers and said, "baby." Brianna got a big kick out of that and tried to et her to keep saying it. My baby is growing so quickly. Sometimes I just want to hold her and kiss her and squeeze those plump, sweet cheeks and never let her go.

On Saturday, I saw Leila sitting with Jordan, and she was spelling out every word in the book. She can't read yet, but she knows all of the letters of the alphabet, so she is constantly spelling out words and then asking what that word is. It's an exciting time because she is just on the verge of making the connection between the letters and the sounds they make and combining them in a meaningful way. I wish I knew more about how to properly teach her reading because she is primed and ready, and they are not really focusing on reading, and her teacher said that they are "carefully introducing each sound in a systematic way." It seems that at the rate they are going, my child won't read 'til the third grade! Anyway, I'm not pushing her, rather she is extremely eager and hungry to soak up as much as she can. I'd like to sieze this opportunity because I know that it doesn't last forever.

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