I Celebrate the Day!

I've been itching to write about Christmas all day! However, mom enacted a laptop moratorium in order to keep our holiday merry and bright and our family as tightly knit as ever! (And I mean that quite literally...as mom, sis and I spent our afternoon knitting, purling & cabling away!)

I love Christmas! I really, truly do! I love twinkling lights, and colorfully wrapped boxes. I love Christmas music and Christmas movies. I love traditions and I love Santa...but mostly, I love Jesus!

I love the Reason for Christmas. I love that we celebrate the birth of the One who came to save us all. It's easy to get lost in the glitter and sparkle of the holiday season. It's easy to get caught up in the shopping shopping shopping and the getting getting getting. Sometimes it's even easy to get caught up in the giving. With all the distractions, it's easy to forget that all the giving and getting and shopping and decorating doesn't matter. Not in the least. We have already been given the greatest gift there is to give. It doesn't come in a colorfully wrapped box, it doesn't sparkle or twinkle. This gift isn't an apron and pie cookbook. It isn't a framed diploma. The gift is life. Eternal life. Life that we get to live because Jesus was born. Jesus was born to die. For us. To give us life.

So Merry Christmas, and here's to many more!

Things that suck:

1. When the not-at-all-a-jerk, Linus-esque guy you like doesn't like you back
2. Because he likes someone else
3. Who is your friend
4. And likes him, too

I'm just starting to wonder why is it always me? Or I guess the question should be 'why is it never me?'

Sometimes I wear make-up, sometimes I don't. Sometimes I painstakingly choose an outfit, sometimes I wear jeans and a sweatshirt. Sometimes I blow dry my hair, sometimes I stick it up in a ponytail. It doesn't seem make any difference either way.

I give up! That's my New Years resolution...giving up!

Chick Flicks and Disney Heroes!

This weekend I had a good old fashioned slumber party with some friends! We ended up watching Love, Actually (which is one chick flick I actually love!) and I really do feel like I should share the following paraphrased conversation...

KM: Wow, I never noticed before, but that guy is like the real-life version of Aladdin, maybe that's why I've always thought he was cute...because I love Aladdin!!

H: Oh my gosh, you're right...he is totally Aladdin!!

L: Aladdin is really cute for a cartoon character...but is it weird that the cartoon I always had a crush on was Robin Hood?

K: Yeah...I can see that!

H: Wait...wasn't he a fox?

L: Yeah he was!

(Then K high-fives L for her awesome taste in cartoon crushes!)

Then after much giggling and talking about boys we went to sleep.

After we woke up, lounged in jammies and finally got ready for the day we ended up going to see New Years Eve (aka the movie that every actor EVER has a part in)

It was pretty cute...the only part I really didn't like was the part where the rude teenagers sitting next to us were talking and not even trying to whisper.

One of my favorite actors, Matthew Broderick, had a tiny little cameo...which was made even better by the fact that his character's name was 'Mr. Buellerton'!!! Lea Michele (Glee) sang her little tush off, Ashton Kutcher played a version of himself, and there was a plot twist that I almost didn't see coming...

And the best part: Zefron!! I don't care how old I get, Zac Efron will always be dreamy!!

For the next 2 weeks...

I won't have to:

• tie shoes that aren't mine
• wipe a nose that isn't mine
• tell anyone to "go potty", or remind them to wash their hands afterwords
• sit in a tiny little chair
• say "put on your listening ears" or "use your words"
• make up answers to the question "why?"
• sing the 'wake up song', the 'clean up song' or the 'line up song'
• empty sand from my shoes or my pockets
• prepare snack

Or

• lay out nap mats

Because I'm on vacation!!! MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Stuff.

Most of us have too much of stuff. I have too much stuff. So much stuff that there is a storage unit full of my stuff.

Stuff from my apartment: Pots and pans, dishes, a microwave, a crockpot, furniture, lamps, silverware, shoes, pictures, blankets, odds and ends, gadgets and gizmos, whosits and whatsits...you name it!

I miss my stuff. I miss my knick-knacks, I miss my refrigerator magnets, I miss the chairs I fixed up, I miss my random assortment of framed pictures and allllllll the stuff from my Alice in Wonderland kitchen. And most of all I miss my mugs. Yes, I am quite attached to my mugs.

For some reason, it makes me a little sad when I open the cupboard to grab a coffee cup each morning and I only have 3 options. I've had the same 3 options for the last 7 months and I will continue to have the same 3 options until I can move out of my parents' house.

I am waiting very impatiently for the day I can unpack this box (and the two others just like it) and have multiple mug options. Until then I will have to settle for the 3 I have here.

"You're not a girl" and other preschool gems

Preschoolers have so much to teach us adults. Their unique methods have taught me so many new things: I learned that police ociffers wear unicorns. I learned that Jesus probably didn't have a TV when he was born because the barn would make it dirty and there was no 'tricity in the stable. I learned that you can only call 911 if there's a mergency. And I learned that glue is way more fun when you put it on both sides of the paper. I have been educated about army mans, princesses, transformers and where babies come from (the baby store, of course...you can even pick out whichever one you want).

Today I learned a very important lesson...I'm a teacher. Not a girl.

We were sitting down for circle, and because I have some very...um...energetic boys in my class, I usually have them sit boy, girl, boy, girl to break up the...enthusiasm. Well, one little boy didn't want to sit by a girl. He promised to make good choices if I let him sit by his friends. He said he would be a good listener. I told him he could sit by a girl or he could come sit by me. He chose to sit by me...which was a good choice. He listened to the story, and I let him help me turn the pages. Later, I said to him "You didn't want to sit by a girl, but you sat by me. I'm a girl." His response? "No. You're not a girl. You're a teacher."

Yeah...that seems about right.

Someday My Prince Will Come...right?

The way I see things, there are basically two kinds of guys: Davids and Linuses. As in David and Linus Larrabee. Let me break it down for those of you who are not familiar with the 1954 Audrey Hepburn classic Sabrina.

Linus Larrabee, Sabrina Fairchild & David Larrabee

(Humphrey Bogart, Audrey Hepburn & William Holden)

~*~

Sabrina Fairchild is the daughter of a chauffeur. The Larrabees' chauffeur, to be exact. The Larrabees have two sons. Linus (Humphrey Bogart) and David (William Holden). Sabrina has always had a crush on David, because he's handsome and charming, but he never really noticed her until she went to Paris, learned to cook and got a make-over...then he's all over her, even though he is engaged (as part of a business deal). But David, being the cad that he is, asks his brother Linus to "keep an eye on Sabrina" so he can keep up the charade of his engagement...I don't want to spoil the ending, but you get the gist.

Guys like David are quite a catch, at least on the surface. They are captivating, handsome, and just all around dreamy. It is really hard to see a David for what he really is unless you're on the outside looking in. You're just so entranced by this charming fellow you've set your sights on. But underneath that enchanting exterior is a heart-breaker. Confidence turns into cockiness...charm turns to smarm...and even if you once held his interest, his attentions are now elsewhere. Davids are NOT nice guys.

Then there are the Linuses. In the movie, Linus was portrayed as a bit of a grump. Supposedly not as handsome as his brother (but let's face it...he was still Bogey!) Linus was more serious, and therefore, not as obvious of a choice. Linus is a nice, genuine guy. He doesn't use a phony facade. He doesn't really need to. His appeal is in his 'nice-guy-ness'. His real, not-for-show nice-guy-ness.

David might be charming, but Linus is the prince!

Almost every guy I have ever had a crush on has been a David. Davids are the reason I am bitter and cynical and sad. 'Evan' turned out to be a David (although, I kinda saw that one coming) 'Jon' was a David (The worst kind of David, too...the David that tries to make you think he's a Linus). The only Linuses that come to mind are my ex-boyfriend and the guy I think I might kind of like now.

But for reasons that I won't discuss over the internets, things obviously didn't work out with my ex...or he wouldn't be my ex

And things aren't really working out with this new guy...because I'm not a Sabrina. Or at least not a post-Paris/make-over Sabrina. I don't stand out as 'that girl'. In fact, I've actually been told that I'm 'just one of the guys' (after complaining that I wasn't being treated like a lady...but I'm gonna chalk that one up to the fact that my guy friends are mostly a bunch of Davids).

White Horse

I may be 25 years old...but I'm convinced that there is a teenager inside of me. And she listens to Taylor Swift!! My inner teenager relates to TSwizzle's music and feels as though these songs were written specifically for me. My outer adult realizes that this is ridiculous and is slightly ashamed to share an iTunes account with the younger version. I like her sassy 'I don't need you' songs, I like her fun, upbeat 'I have a crush on you' songs, and I like her 'I love you, but you love someone else' songs...like this one:

Are adults not allowed to have or express these feelings? Are teenage girls the only ones allowed to be sulky and moody (or sassy or upbeat or whatever) when it comes to boys? I guess by now, as an adult my life (which one would assume includes my 'love life') should be more together than this...

It's not

'Cause this ain't a fairytale

It's my life!