Is It Nap Time Yet? :)

SO, it has been two crazyfun, (I just felt like making that into one word.:)) sparkling green weeks! Man oh man! And I am sooo ready for a nap! :)

On the 11th I sang to #485 co-workers and “Thank You, God!” it went beautifully. (Phew! Can you believe I still get nervous about singing in front of people who have not heard me?)

San Diego Regional Center has a yearly holiday party/luncheon/show and in November the director—asked me to sing one of my two all time favorite songs—“Over The Rainbow”—and asked me to rewrite the words with him. We made it silly…about an ideal job at the regional center—where everyone is happy and smiling and we have case loads of #25. :)

My co-workers loved it and I have been hearing such sweet, kind and positive remarks since…. “I never knew!” “Where does that voice come from?” “You blew us away!” “You should have seen everyone at the front tables—They were staring up at you with their mouths and eyes wide open!” “You were the highlight!” “You better sing again next year!” :)

What fun it is to reveal another side of me to people that I work with every day and have this be so well received. “Thank you, God.” It’s a vulnerable thing for me, for some reason. I am not a performer. I am a singer and I sing from my heart and I usually only feel comfortable singing to children, or loved ones, or in a church—where I am singing about God or love or things that I believe in deeply. So, this was a real treat and a wonderful experience.

Since then,

I’ve attended a wonderful Christmas concert with my friend, Lavonne.

David tested for his orange belt–passed—and received it at a fun awards ceremony. His dad has joined him in karate as well—and he received his yellow belt!

We had our unit retreat from work and got to enjoy each other outside of the office.

We had our candle light service at our sweet, loving church—filled with fun caroling, candle lighting and the sharing of heartfelt stories. David appeared as Santa. Then he and his friend, Melanie, put on their glowing, red noses. And “Oh my gosh!”, I was in tears (from laughing so hard—and trying not to) as David, so sincerely, told everyone the story of Rudolph and how he did not think it was right that his dad did not just let Rudolph be who he was and made him cover up his nose….but his mom still loved him and Clarice—a girl reindeer did too. :) He shared many other details about the story as well--and questioned parts-- out loud-- along the way that he did not understand....like, "What made the little dolly a misfit anyway?" (Which I don't understand either...)

David’s dance school also put on “The Grinch”—and he and his friends performed a cool hip hop routine in it.

By the way, have you ever watched little three and four year old girls do ballet? It’s another experience that just brings up joy until it is bubbling out into laughter. They are all watching each other and kind of just doing their own thing—so beautifully and gracefully—as their teacher tries to guide them from the sidelines. It is incredibly funny and precious!

Then we attended Chris and Jen’s yearly Big Kahuna Christmas party! With jumpers, Santa, karaoke and lovely moments with people from our church.

We are soo blessed! Thank you, God! And I have not written one Christmas card and tomorrow is Christmas Eve! And there is much excitement brewing here—as David and I look forward to my brother, Peter, and his wife, Kelly, arriving tomorrow and Mom and Dad coming down on Christmas day.

I feel myself getting a second wind just in the nick of time. "Thank you, God!" My inner honey bun is kicking in and I can’t wait to spend the next few days with family!

And I’ve done my best with shopping and cleaning and I am now moving into “GOOD ENOUGH” mode…not my forte’ but, “Aaaaah, I’m ready for it!” :)

So, I hope that you are feeling loved and connected with loved ones and/or God—and that your heart is full of love and peace—and that you are having moments of joy amidst the business of this season—and that you are feeling gratitude for your blessed life and ready to relax into the next few days. Happy Holidays! :)

With Love,
Kathy

Thanksgiving

So, I hope you had a beautiful Thanksgiving and felt very blessed.

David’s Dada had offered to bring David and me to Las Vegas for a couple of days and I asked if we could create an adventure for David at Yosemite instead. David and I had never been there and I would choose being out in nature and in a beautiful place over Las Vegas any day. Luckily Werner jumped on the idea.

David is into the Discovery channel and on Friday nights we often watch a show named, “Man Vs Wild” and there is this guy named Bear who shares with us his crazy adventures out in the wilderness. David likes to act like Bear sometimes and have me video him pretending that he is in the wilds as well—while right here in our family room,:), so, he was pumped about Yosemite as well.

We headed out really early Thanksgiving morning—before the sun was up—and got to Yosemite View Lodge—right on the Merced River—(I just love the sound of a river, the ocean waves, or rain--while falling off to sleep! :)) in time to freshen up a bit and find our way to “The Lodge” where we had a wonderful Thanksgiving meal. (My favorite kind—where I don’t need to cook and put others’ lives in danger.) :)

After dinner, as we were walking outside, I saw someone who looked just like Santa. I whispered to David about this and the gentleman walked right up to David-- and while pointing at him with his cane—said, “I have my elves keeping an eye on you.” And David’s mouth dropped and his eyes popped open wide! :)

We never saw him after this moment….Very interesting…..:)

So, for three days we did lots of hiking, saw beautiful foliage, amazing redwoods (which David and I made sure to hug), lots of deer—babies and buck included—and coyotes.

At one point, we were hiking and I looked up to see this rather large animal, on a rock, up above us, looking directly at me. The “s” word came out of my mouth and I asked Werner and David to take a look and tell me if they thought this animal was a wolf. Werner said it was a big coyote and David reminded me that I had just sworn. :) I apologized, explaining that sometimes that happens when I get scared. :)

Yes, there is not an ounce of “Bear” in me. In fact, I really wanted to see some black bears—but while in our car—not while hiking. :)

David was teasing me about this and calling me a scaredy cat—and I announced boldly, “I am brave and mighty—hear me roar!” then I gave out a little meow—and he laughed and kept asking me to do this again and again over the weekend. :) (Thank goodness he is so easily entertained! :))

We took time throughout our little adventure to share with each other all that we are grateful for. We are incredibly blessed.

I am sure I will write more about gratitude another day—for it is one of my favorite subjects and daily practices—but for now—please know that if you are one of my friends or family members—I thought of you and thanked God for you lots on Thanksgiving. You are loved and appreciated deeply.

With Love,
Kathryn