ex(PR)essed

Well, it was never my intention to let a whole week go by without a single blog entry. This is such a wonderful time of the year for photo-taking and reflecting that nary a day should pass without something. But, alas, a week has passed and here I am. And, to make it even worse, I forgot my camera, so I can’t upload all the adorable pictures I wanted to share. Anyhow, in brief, here’s a short summation of the past week.

Last Thursday was sweet Emma’s fourth birthday. My faithful readers will remember that last year she proudly declared, “happy my birthday” throughout the evening (and Natalie took a series of scalp pictures). This year Emma was quick to remind me and Jeff that it was “her party.” We couldn’t have been happier to help her celebrate. She disappeared near the end of the party…apparently she just needed some alone time with her new ponies. She was busy playing by herself in her room when Jeff and I went up to say goodbye. Sweet, sweet girl.

Last Friday afternoon I drove north to Jamie’s for our annual Christmas extravaganza…a weekend of cookie-baking and crafting. It was also my first time to meet Silas so the anticipation was especially great! We allowed ourselves Friday night to just eat some Emeril’s soup (tradition), chat a bit about our baking plans, and admire Silas. Then, on Saturday, the extravaganza really began. We started baking around 10 a.m. and finished around 11 p.m.! 450 cookies, my friends! Sugar cookies, each individually frosted and sugared; spritz cookies…some red, some green, and some flavored with orange peel; chocolate-peppermint cookies that, sadly, required chilling and weren’t started until quite late on Saturday night (we were weary by the time they came out of the oven); and white chocolate cranberry cookies…you know, the ones everyone skips over on the cookie trays because they’re afraid of fruit. Jamie and I think they’re delicious though, and they look so festive, so we made them anyhow.

Sunday I got some fun snuggle time with Silas before church and then we enjoyed a relaxing afternoon of stamping. Silas was a perfect addition to our extravaganza…well behaved and very helpful! I can only imagine what fun he’ll be next year!

On Monday the mood changed a bit when I learned around lunchtime that my grandmother had passed away. I knew before I left for Jamie’s that she wasn’t recovering well from a bout with the flu, but I was hoping she would rally back to good health, as my grandfather had done many times. This is certainly one of those situations where you don’t want to see your loved one suffer even one more minute, but you can hardly stand the thought of life without them. It’s been a sad week for me in that regard. My grandma and I, as she liked to say, were “very good friends,” and we enjoyed many happy shopping trips, cajun catfish meals at Cracker Barrel, and walks around the family farm together. I will (already do) miss her very much.

I was reminded this week of the blessing of family. My brother came home from California, and it was so nice to see him. We spent time with my Aunt Barb, one of my favorite people. And, my cousin John, who I don’t see enough anymore, was around with his oldest daughter. Of course, I have the best parents, and they were a source of comfort and encouragement during what was certainly a difficult time for them as well. And, outside my immediate family, I felt much love and support from my church family. I am blessed. (Did I mention my sweet husband? He is wonderfully sensitive, gracious husband, and all the Bertrams adore him…especially me.)

So, now I’m wrapping up a rather disjointed week at work and looking ahead to two full weeks off! Tonight, Natalie and Emma are sleeping over…our first overnight with them and their first sleepover in several years. Oh boy! I have much merriment planned…cookie baking and decorating, painting, movie watching, and sleeping (hopefully!) under the Christmas tree. Then, tomorrow night, we’re hosting our small group for a Christmas open house. It will be great to reunite with those friends for a few hours; they were such an important part of our fall.

So, there’s the wrap-up, but, sadly, without photographs. I trust that each of you are well and wish you a wondefully joyous holiday season!

It’s raining…again. For the past two days, it has rained and rained. Normally, I don’t mind a rainy day. But, it’s rainy AND cold. And, I’m wearing a skirt. And my legs and feet have been wet off and on all day, and I’m weary of this chilly, soggy sensation.

So today, as I was running a few college-related errands at lunchtime, I couldn’t help but notice the irony of my grumpiness about the rain and the book on CD I’m currently listening to: “Johnstown Flood” by David McCullough.

I’m not entirely sure why this book captured my attention. I don’t read (or listen) to much non-fiction. I don’t have much of an inclination towards history. But, I am from western Pennsylvania, and my grandfather grew up just miles north of Johnstown. I visited Johnstown several times when I worked for the PA League of Cities and Municipalities and cheered on their revitalization as they attempted to recover from some very lean, depressing years. So, I guess, for those reasons, I found myself plucking this eight CD historical perspective off the shelf for my holiday listening enjoyment! (I’m traveling to Jamie’s tomorrow, and I like to make the most of my six hours in the car by listening to books on CD…)

I just popped CD #4 in, and, so far, I’m enjoying the book very much. At this point in the story, the dam has broken and the water is raging towards Johnstown. There are several train cars full of people sitting on tracks bound to be swallowed up by the flood waters, and few people in the city have evacuated their homes, so I’m now fully immersed in the drama of this tale. And, given the torrent of water that washed away a whole city, I guess I shouldn’t be too bitter about the steady rain that simply makes for less pleasurable errand-running!

Sweet Natalie, the first child of my dear friends Robert and Allyson, made her debut as Mary last night at her preschool Christmas paegent. And, let me tell you, I was so proud to be there as a chief member of her fan club! Natalie is a wonderfully sweet, nurturing little girl, and she seemed perfectly authentic as Mary — unassuming, quiet, thoughtful, and obedient.

Overall, the paegent was…well, noisy! And a little chaotic. And a lot cute!

My favorite moment of the evening was when, just before the paegent started, Natalie was sitting on my lap and suddenly and very discretely reached over to hold her mom’s hand. She just needed that little bit of reassurance that her mom was right there to support her. It was a dear gesture.

And, though Natalie was the star of the show last night, it was certainly a joy to see Emma too! Unfortunately, she’s been a bit under the weather, so she wasn’t quite her normally joyous self. But, she managed a smile or two for me. Tomorrow night we get to see the girls again to celebrate Emma’s birthday!

As has become a Lorow family tradition, Jeff and I went to McCurdy’s Tree Farm this weekend to select and cut the perfect Lorow Family Christmas Tree. Because we have high ceilings, we search every year for a wonderfully tall, perfectly shaped tree, and usually we have been successful in landing the perfect Douglas Fir. This year, we searched and searched in the Douglas Firs and felt a bit disappointed. But, their neighbors, the Canaan Firs, seemed to have a nice selection, and eventually we opted for one of them.

There were many more Canaan firs, so it was difficult to walk completely around our tree. But, it was tall and full, and we liked it best of all.

We now know…it’s a lot of tree. We might have been just a wee bit overzealous in our selection of this tree. It’s easily 8-feet tall, and it’s so wide at the base that you have to scoot past it sideways. See…it even almost got the best of Jeff:

I suppose we could have opted for this beauty instead. Much more manageable.

Seriously, we love our tree…as unruly as it is. It is by far the most odorific tree we’ve ever owned, and I love that! More pictures to come of how it looks in Casa Lorow.

My favorite picture from the tree-cutting excusion:

Yesterday was the annual Ladies Christmas Tea at church. Each year, the ladies in my church go all out and transform our fellowship hall into a lovely hoilday scene…straight out of a Currier and Ives print. Then, they fill the tables with delicious treats, and laughter and merriment ring throughout the room. I always sit with my dear friends Allyson and Anita, and we enjoy sampling all the goodies, singing carols, and pausing for a moment to remember the true reason for this Christmas season.

Well, yesterday was really no different…at first. The room looked festive, the food was wonderful, and my friends were great. But after most of the ladies had left for home, I found myself in the kitchen up to my elbows in a sink of dirty dishes. And, truly, I couldn’t have been happier! While I washed dishes, a beautiful woman who unexpectedly recently lost her 39-year-old son worked on preparing communion for today’s service. Another lady who I barely know, dried the dishes I washed, and we giggled everytime she cracked a plastic cup while drying it. At the next sink over was a dear sister who attends our Spanish-speaking ministry, and she, too, was busy washing dishes with a partner. Our cute pastor’s wife popped in and out of the kitchen, bringing us more dishes and encouraging us in our efforts. And, I was humbled to stand there among all those lovely women, working side by side and feeling grateful for a church family that I adore. What a wonderful glimpse of the kingdom…ladies of all ages and background working together!

Yesterday at work, Jeff learned that the project team he’s been serving on for nearly a year will be required to work 10-hour days for an undetermined amount of time. Considering the other options — revoking his vacation or mandating 1/2 days on Saturdays — I guess we should be grateful for this option that seems to disrupt our lives the least. But, the truth be told, for the past two years and six months, I have relied heavily on Jeff to be my alarm clock in the morning. And now my alarm clock has to leave for work a full 20 minutes before I usually even get up. See my dilemna?

You see, I love to sleep. Almost every night when I turn off my light and pull the covers up under my chin, I comment, “I love sleeping.” Then, every morning when my slumber is disrupted, I mumble/whine, “I don’t want to get up.”

In keeping with my theory that more sleep is always better, I learned early in my marriage to completely tune out Jeff’s alarm clock. Now I never hear it. Within the last few months, I have even stopped being aware of him getting out of bed, starting the shower, or getting dressed. Now, my wake up trigger is the sound of his electric toothbrush or the weight of his body as he sits on the bed to put on his socks. This state of oblivion has allowed me a solid extra 30 minutes of sleep each morning. Priceless.

So, I guess now I’m faced with two options: get up 20 minutes earlier when Jeff leaves for work, or attempt to sleep those 20 minutes and risk totally oversleeping and being late to work.

It’s clear that this decision made by Jeff’s supervisors is having unintended consequences. Perhaps they’ll reconsider this craziness?

I got tagged by my blogging husband in some crazy “tag, you’re it!” scheme going on amongst bloggers. Apparently, I am supposed to share eight random things about myself, and then tag eight additional people and challenge them do the same. I suppose the result is that we’ll all know more about each other and, therefore, love one another even more? Let the loving begin:

1. There are some songs that I absolutely must turn up when they come on the radio: “Sweet Child of Mine,” by Guns-n-Roses; “Radar Love” by Golden Earring; “LaGrange” by ZZ Top; “More Than a Feeling” by Boston; and “Pressure” by Queen. I actually danced around the kitchen just last night to “Pressure.”

2. I don’t like talking on the phone. This will come as a particular surprise to my parents who spent a good 15 years trying to pry the phone out of my hands. Now, I would much rather email or Facebook than call someone. I especially hate talking on my cell phone. And, I have no patience for people who talk on their cell (or Bluetooth) all the time.

3. I hate numbers, and I have no memory for them. My salary? No idea. Price of my house? Not sure. Simple math? Give me a calculator, piece of paper, and plenty of time. Or, better yet, give me the option to call Jeff. He was on the math team, after all.

4. I disagree with my denomination’s stance on women in ministry. Sometimes this is hard for me to reconcile. But, I love my local church and the people in it.

5. I am tempted to have a Starbucks every day. Thankfully, I don’t pass one on my way to work or church. And, I’m conscious of the impact a Starbucks-a-day would have on my wallet and waistline.

6. I am frustrated by picky eaters.

7. I like attending Catholic mass. I grew up with a Catholic father and Catholic grandparents. I was raised in a Methodist church, but I certainly attended a fair share of masses. In college, I used to get up early for 7 a.m. mass on occassion. I like the tradition and liturgy. And, I love the space — stained glass, stations of the cross, candles, creaky pews, the dominant presence of the cross. I hope I never see a Catholic church modernized to look like a movie thea, er I mean megachurch.

8. I would rather have a variety of cheap jewelry than expensive, diamond-studded jewelry.

I’m not sure whether I’ll tag eight people or not. How about if I leave it like this: the first people who come to mind that I would want to tag are Berlea, Brandie, Dan, Erin, and Lisa. I’m not sure whether any of them regularly read my blog like I read their’s, but, if so, “Tag. You’re it!”

What a great Thanksgiving holiday! On Tuesday night, Jeff and I hosted his parents and brother Tim overnight. Then, my parents arrived Thursday afternoon for the Thanksgiving festivities. It was great to see both sets of parents without having to travel at all. Love that!

I really like hosting my parents for Thanksgiving. Before I got married, it was our tradition to have Thanksgiving in central Pennsylvania and then go antiquing on Black Friday. It was nice to re-visit that tradition this year.

When my parents come for Thanksgiving, the day ends up being very relaxing. This year, I got up around 9 a.m., leisurely drank my coffee and read the newspaper, puttered in the kitchen, and spent some time in Clifford (our big red chair) admiring all of Martha Stewart’s holiday wonderfulness.

The meal all came together wonderfully, and we enjoyed every bite! After dinner, mom and I jetted off to Michael’s — they were open from 6-9 p.m. Thanksgiving night. It really wasn’t terribly crowded, and we enjoyed shopping around and gathering bargains. We also bought some necessary supplies for our button trees (more to come on that later).

On Friday, we enjoyed our annual Thanksgiving antiquing trip with Jim and Amy VanZandt.

We met them in New Oxford where we spent the better part of the day shopping for bargains. Somehow, we managed to leave without this beauty, although we all agreed it would look fabulous over my mantle. I mean, who doesn’t love a bull painted on velvet?

The other disturbing sight from our day of shopping? (Book lovers…brace yourselves.)

In our group was a librarian, retired elementary school teacher, and six avid readers. It pained us to see these books so carelessly strewn outside. It was clear that some had been wet and most were horribly abused. It was almost too much for us to take, and we purposefully looked away when passing by the second time.

Saturday was comprised of more antiquing and shopping…and making a button tree! I had seen these adorable button trees on my favorite non-family-member’s blog: Ali Edwards. Mom and I decided to take a try at making our own button trees. Now…it wasn’t the easiest or the least frustrating craft that I’ve ever embarked on, but I coudln’t be happier with the result! I was so button-happy that I attempted a second one yesterday, so I now have a pair. Too cute.

Now another Thanksgiving has come and gone, and it’s onward to Christmas. Hard to believe that today is December 1! In the next 24 days, I have cards to write, cookies to bake, gifts to purchase and wrap, and a house to decorate. Whoa. I think we should all be given a mandatory sabbatical in the month of December…