Surrounded by Treasures: Things I would have been posting about if I posted here anymore

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Monday, December 15, 2008

Things I would have been posting about if I posted here anymore

I'm beginning to live my life in 140-character snippets. It's really bad of me. And I've just been very very busy -- too busy to blog, obviously, but not too busy to stare at Facebook for half an hour at a stretch. So I resolved that this time, instead of dorkily clicking around the Internet like a channel surfer on a Sunday afternoon, I would write something memorable that would succinctly yet cohesively update my loyal friends about what I've been doing and thinking.

Or, you know, maybe just post in my blog about a bunch of junk no one cares about.

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So, um. It snowed here. It was such a laugh, really. The National Weather Service (query: why oh why do I rely so heavily on their weather forecasts when they have repeatedly proven themselves to be untrustworthy? Is it the official-sounding name? You have to trust THE national weather SERVICE, right?) had been telling us for days and days about this cold storm that was coming in. And we did get a cold storm, but at one point the NWS was predicting TWENTY-ONE INCHES of snow out of it in 36 hours, and that simply did not happen. There are a lot of people who got more than we did, because we're not that high in elevation, but we only got two inches and then the rain we had all day today pretty much obliterated it. But the kids got in some fun sliding this morning before the rain got too bad. We were right; that hill is great for sledding.

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We took family pictures on Friday. I had prepared the family for this all week, but I still didn't want to take up too much of everyone's time (the kids especially are rather weary of having THE NIKON pointed at their faces, although they're good sports about it) so I only used three different locations around our yard and kept it under 100 shots. WHAT.

I really liked this pose (the kids are sitting on a low branch of their Fort Tree in the "forest"), but when I looked at the images on the computer, I discovered that the fill flash didn't do enough to overcome the tree shadows. We'll try this one another time at a different time of day, maybe with all four of us sitting on the branch just for fun.

This is the one that we got printed.

This one was LT's favorite. Have you noticed that LT is not so L anymore? (Those of you who didn't know what LT stands for probably just had a light bulb moment...). I liked the idea but it just ended up looking a little awkward. (Notably, at first glance it looks like I have one REALLY LONG leg.)

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Wednesday, we had a Bible study potluck/Christmas party here, complete with gift exchange. I was surprisingly sane about the whole thing. I have just learned to expect and accept that the first fifteen minutes after everyone arrives will be a little crazy and hectic, but that I don't need to ruin a whole day worrying about how things will go, because things will generally go fine. (As long as my mom is here, that is. MOMMY!) We completely rearranged our living room for the season (T's birthday party, the Bible study party, and Christmas all here, with 20 people at each) to allow for tables to be set up down the length of our "great room", and I really like it. It makes me want to host more things. OK, someone please shoot me now because obviously I've gone completely around the bend.

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I finally finished this semester's classes. GOOD RIDDANCE. Well, OK, they ended up not being as bad as they were at the beginning, and I found some things to like in both classes, but I can't deny that I'm still looking forward to Monday night algebra classes next semester as if they were chocolate factory tours with free samples. In Europe. All expenses paid. Plus incidentals. Seriously, though: no research papers, no navel-gazing, no "I language", no psychological developmental theories, just hours and hours of sweet precise equations with answers that are either right or wrong. B-L-I-S-S.

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Thank you everyone for the book recommendations. I have placed many, many holds at the library. Meanwhile I'm reading Elizabeth Berg short stories, which are just amazingly good. And I don't even have to take notes! Awesome.

Posted by Rachel on December 15, 2008 10:19 PM in the round of life

Comments

Love your photos. They did turn out beautifully. But WHO IS THAT GIANT KID? That's not LT!!!!!! Seriously, that is a handsome kid.

Posted by: mary at December 16, 2008 06:35 AM

I really love the family photos, but for most of them, no one is smiling. Why is that?

Posted by: Kate at December 17, 2008 06:27 PM

Kate: Good question. Really, I'd say we have about a 3/4 smile rate going on. The Ts smile small because, well, they just do. Both of them are smiling about as much as they ever do smile (unless they are actually laughing) in all three pictures, although LT looks a little pained in the middle one from the sun. It's a family joke with us about them, especially T, whose beard hides it sometimes: "I am smiling." They're very happy and even silly guys, they really are, they just have serious faces. I smile small (although I'm not smiling in the middle one) because I look like a dork when I smile big. And C is smiling at least a little in two of them -- must have been caught between smiles in the last one.

Or you could just call us American Gothic 2008, if that makes you feel better. :)

Posted by: Rachel at December 17, 2008 06:43 PM

Oh my gosh, the kids are SO GROWN UP! Sheesh.

Posted by: Kat with a K at December 18, 2008 02:02 PM

Great photos of a handsome family! Glad you're getting a break from classes. Take time to be absolutely, totally worthless...

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