Happy Christmas Eve!

"Even as an adult I find it difficult to sleep on Christmas Eve.
Yuletide excitement is a potent caffeine, no matter your age."
~Carrie Latet

Photo found here.

Happy Christmas Eve! We aren't going to have a white Christmas. I'm kind of sad about that. I like when Mother Nature dumps a ton of snow when I can just stay cozy and snuggled up inside. Oh well. I think some might be coming on Sunday. Fifty percent chance, they say. But really... are they ever right? Remember how a blizzard was coming? And then remember how it never came? Yeah...

I've spent the day sleeping in (until 8:15am), picking up a few last minute gifts before the crowds, getting my car washed (wahoo!), wrapping, and watching Anne of Green Gables (actually, Anne of Avonlea, since I finshed Anne of Green Gables yesterday). I can't believe how much time I have on my hands not worrying about writing any papers. I may even get to read a book or three in the next week or so. :)

When I got home from work yesterday, I was just wiped out, so I took a shower and put my hair back in braids. Maybe it was because of Anne, or maybe it was because I'd gotten used to my hair out of my eyes when I was sick (braids are a must when you're stuck in bed sick), or maybe it's just that I wanted to take advantage of the fact that my hair is getting really long, longer than its been in awhile. Whatever the reason, those braids have stayed with me today, even on my shopping trips. Christmas braids.

Not much of an appetite has returned yet. Still staying alive on chicken broth and saltines, with a few added things here and there. I'm a little nervous to reintroduce foods, since when I did earlier this week my system was definitely not happy with me. Hopefully, I'll be ready to eat some ham tomorrow night because that's what Mom's making. I requested it. Merry Christmas ham to me.

I love you all and hope you are having a pleasant Christmas Eve and that tomorrow will be even more relaxing. Take time to just sit and read, recline, and relax. I will be! And if you're feeling not so merry, try out some of my Operation Christmas Cheer tricks. And if that doesn't work, watch this kid (all the way to the end):

Merry Christmas!

Love,
me
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Operation Christmas Cheer.

"Christmas is for children. But it is for grownups too. Even if it is a headache, a chore, and nightmare, it is a period of necessary defrosting of chill and hide-bound hearts."
~Lenora Mattingly Weber

Photo found here.

So, in an effort to pull out of the depression from being sick and missing out on the fun part of life this week, I initiated Operation Christmas Cheer.

Step One: Finished my last paper of this semester. Finally.

Step Two: I pulled out the beautiful hand-carved nativity which I purchased in Oberammergau a couple of months ago. Really and truly, it may have the best looking carved nativity faces I've ever seen. I'll take a picture soon.

Step Three: I listened to this...

Step Four: And then I watched this...

Step Five: And then I listened to:
this,
and this,
and this,
and finally this.

Step Six: Went to sleep. Everything is always better after a good night's rest... except, apparently, my voice which still sounds like I could sing bass.
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Sick and Tired.

"If you treat a sick child like an adult and a sick adult like a child,
everything usually works out pretty well."
~Ruth Carlisle

Photo found here.

In the last three hours, I have eaten the following:
-ten saltine crackers
-one fruity popsicle (I'm not certain of the flavor--cherry grape?)
-one cup of ginger ale

I'm full. Yes, full.

In the previous 72 hours, I have eaten the following:
-four cups of ginger ale
-one full row of saltine crackers
-half a package of cooked Top Ramen (mostly the broth)
-eight M&Ms

Despite not being able to keep much of anything down for the last few days, I've been thinking about food a lot. Okay, so at first, the thought of food made me nauseated, but yesterday and today, I've wanted to eat more. Let's not talk about how I still can't... but here is proof: I've been pinning all the fun food recipes I've come across. Yummy, huh? (Click on the link. Pinterest is pretty cool.)

But that's all a little depressing. The stomach flu is depressing. My back is killing me, having spent most of the last 72 hours in my bed. Having the stomach flu right after having a week-long cold is certainly not my idea of holiday fun. I missed singing Benjamin Britten's Saint Nicolas cantata in the Christmas concert with the Salt Lake Choral Artists. (That's a first. I've never missed a concert in three years.) That about makes me want to cry. I missed going this morning to the LDS Conference Center to hear the Mormon Tabernacle Choir's Christmas Concert with soloist, David Archuleta, and narrator, Michael York. I still am finishing up papers for one class, which have to be completed by tomorrow. I have not purchased one gift for Christmas. I have not done one Christmas-y thing yet this season. I'm kind of depressed. And lonely. And tired of lying in my bed with my twenty year old mattress that hurts my back. And tired of eating saltines. And tired of not feeling any Christmas spirit. Tired of having to go to work. Tired of having a messy room. Tired of writing papers. Just tired. And I don't even know what day it is. (And yes, I know that I have started four, now five, sentences with the word and, and I'm fine with that.)

So that's about it. Just tired. And sick. The bright side? I have a head start on losing holiday weight and the whole New Year's resolution. Five pounds in one day. Not bad. ;)

Here's to a better Christmas week.

(Confession: I just realized, I have done one thing Christmas-y this year... I watched the First Presidency Christmas Devotional broadcast. That was really nice, despite the fact that the backdrop looked like the blue-tiled Jeopardy board.)
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Random Saturday Night Thoughts.

"What we are today comes from our thoughts of yesterday, and our present thoughts build our life of tomorrow: Our life is the creation of our mind."
~Hindu Prince Gautama Siddharta

It's getting late and I have a few thoughts, as I am preparing for Sunday.

First, I'm so glad I have my Saturday mornings back. My last Saturday class was today and I drove out of that parking lot feeling free, despite the impending doom of multiple papers.

2. I haven't had much time to think about Christmas. It's soon. Christmas is coming, the geese are getting... FAT. Please put a penny in the... oldman'shat. Hmph. When you run those words together, you get shat. I'm not sure how I feel about that. But I'm going to leave it. After Wednesday when my last paper is due, I believe I will feel a load lifted and will be able to think more about Christmas and maybe even purchase some gifts.

3. Tonight, my roommate did something that previously proved impossible for me... she found my lost watch in the couch cushions! I swear I looked there, but apparently not hard enough. Thanks, Katie!

4. I'm fighting a wannabe cold, but thanks to mass doses of Vitamin B, C, & D, a fair amount of sleep, and my mad soup making skills, I'm holding my own in this fight. I dug around in my vegetable drawer and found a head of cabbage, some carrots, a little bit of celery, onions, and garlic. After chopping and sauteeing the onions and garlic in a little bit of olive oil, I poured in some recently purchased light chicken broth. Then I added some previous cooked/frozen chicken, some pepper, some "poultry seasoning", a touch of allspice, and two bay leaves... and voila, I had some really tasty vegetable drawer soup. Now I just wish I had some kale to add. I LOVE kale in soup. Healthy and beautifully bright green.

5. I babysat last night for our neighbor. I haven't babysat for real in years and I was very excited. Too bad she was asleep when I got there and never woke up. Here's to next time.

6. Tomorrow, I'm teaching Sharing Time in Primary. I'm supposed to be preparing right now. Gotta hurry. Church is at 8am now. Yep, bright and very early! Why, you ask? Oh because some guy decided to burn down one of the Church buildings in our stake back at the end of October. It was deemed unusable for six months, so our Stake Presidency has rearranged the meeting schedules in the remaining two buildings in our stake to accommodate the three displaced wards. So that means we have wards beginning at 8am, 10am, 12pm, and 2pm in our building and we got the lovely, coveted 8am slot. Actually 8am isn't that bad once you're up and there because you get home before noon, and that's always nice. As my mom always says, "The more you accomplish before noon, the better off things tend to go that day."

True true.

Okay, off to prepare my lesson and then GO TO SLEEP!

Oh and since, pictures make reading easier for some... feast on this beauty found here.

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Start Now.

Photo found here.

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Going to bed.

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When sitting down is really standing up.

Fifty-five years ago today, Rosa Parks sat down.

Let us not ever forget that one person can make a difference.

Isn't she beautiful?

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