A week From Wednesday is Christmas Eve! OH! MY! GOODNESS!

Advent is almost at an end.  There just isn't enough time!  I really want to catch my breath!  The good thing is I thought today was tomorrow, and it's not, so I have one extra day!
Whew!

Time to make lists, I guess. 

Does it matter?  I probably won't get everything finished. 

Prioritize. 

1)  Breathe

2) Pray

3) Laugh

4) Do Not Cry

5) Stop

Things will happen as they will.  There are so many things I cannot control like the passage of time.  The passage of time has caught me unprepared.  Will there be less fun?  I don't know.  For me the important things of Christmas will be::

1) Midnight Mass

2) Family

3) Weather permitting, lighting luminarios in the driveway to lead the Christ child to our home

4) Eating our traditional dinner

5) Gathering around the tree to open our presents

6) Making memories

7) Taking pictures

These are my priorities.  Let the rest fall where they may.  I look forward to the holidays, not the holidaze. 

I am part Grinch, but the time for Grinchiness is almost over.  I think I should have been more Grinchy this year.  Focus on the New Born Babe, and it's okay to be a Grinch.

How's that for a segue?

This is a link to my latest article for Catholic365.com  It's called::

It's okay to be a Grinch When it Comes to Christmas!

At least I think so! 

After the Snow

From Church to Home.  This is what I saw, after the snow

Someone wrote her name in the snow.

The neighborhood was blanketed in a gentle blanket of snow.

The roads were much better today.  The snow had stopped falling.

The hill looked beautiful!!!

The road in the neighborhood was snow packed, so I had to be careful, but the sun shown on the crystal diamonds.

Snow frost!  The trees need no other decorations!

 The view from on top of the hill was amazing!

It's Amazing!  The plants are still green!

Listing Saturday:: November:: The month of Remembering and Thanksgiving

 

November

We remember.

We thank.

We gather.

We eat turkey.

We prepare for Christmas.

We celebrate.

We speak our memories.

We miss our loved ones who are gone.

We get cold.

We stay inside.

We shovel snow.

We wear long underwear.

We call our loved ones.

We attend church.

We look at old photos.

We cry a little.

We laugh a lot.

We play games.

We remember other holidays.

We gather with our extended family.

We give thanks.

So, I Joined a Popular Exchange on Lampworketc, and Accidentally put Myself into 2 Groups!

The idea behind "You Pick," which is now in it's 14th run,

is for each person to submit a photo and the rest of the people in the group draw inspiration from that photo and make a bead.

There are usually 16 people in a group, 

so, unless you make yourself a bead,

you make 15 beads for other people.

You receive 15 beads from your group.

Well, I accidentally signed up for two groups this time.

So, I will be making more beads than I expected.

However, this is a fun exchange.

It helps to inspire and develop creativity.

I am in both Group 1 and Group 3.

There are 16 people in Group 1 and 13 people in Group 3.

So, that's 29 beads to make, and I had better get started.

Here are the photos I am going to be inspired by this time.

Group 1

Group 3

This is going to be fun!

I Heart Macro! - Outside

I heart Macro!

Look what's in my garden.

 

Lush flowers

Verigated bush

An amazing weed!

Crabapples

A ripening sunflower

Simple roses

I heart Macro!

I Heart Macro! - a Macro Walk in the Park

This guy was hanging around when Pixie and I left Jenny's home.  I don't know what it is, and I don't care, but I do love the pattern on its wings.

 Pixie and I started out on this well worn path through the park.

We found this beautiful clover along the way, nestled in with ferns and vines.

This brown eyed Susan marks the beginning of the maturation of summer.

Then, as we left the depths of the park, we saw this fuzzy dandelion.

Beautiful!!

Back at Jenny's we saw this beautiful petunia growing in her neighbor's planter.

All in all, it was a beautiful walk!

Autumn Comes to Minnesota

It's Autumn.
It's Beautiful.
Take a look!
What do you think?




This is how it started.





















The leaves started to fall,
and
they were beautiful!


















These gorgeous apples
came into season.
Oh, they are so good!




















Even in the
cemeteries,
Autumn is showing..
Cemetery art
is
beautiful.




















The leaves are still falling,
but now
they are brown and crisp.
They crunch
under your feet.
They blow
in the
wind.

















Even now,
there are still
a lot of leaves
to enjoy
and rake.
Soon it will be winter,
but I have loved this
autumn.