Sunrise and other things

Every morning, our son, Joshua, has to get up at 6:30am for school.

Yuck.

I know a lot of people all over the world get up a heck of a lot earlier but that is not my preference. I am NOT a morning person, nor have I ever been, nor will I probably ever be. Fortunately, I married a compassionate man who I willing to share the parental load. We take turns getting up with the boy while the other gets an extra hour or so of sleep.

The couch in the front room has become the nesting place while we wait for Josh to get himself in gear. The coolest part is that God knew this set-up would be taking place and arranged for a beautiful view of the sunrise while we wait. How very sweet of him. Here are some shots of this morning's beauty:







Nothing terribly earth-shattering, but I enjoyed it.

So it's five days until Christmas. There's a lot going on for us, as I'm sure there is for you as well. This past Sunday was my students' recital. Out of the 16 students I teach, 13 of them were able to participate in the recital. Everyone did very well and the recital itself went off without any major hitches.


I've finally realized that recitals are not necessarily about performing your piece perfectly. It's more about gaining the experience of playing in front of others and showcasing the skills you've gained since the LAST recital. The highlight of the event for me was getting to sing a duet with one of my older students, Jennifer. She was with me until about two years ago and is back now, her voice more mature and beautiful then ever. We sang "Mary, Did You Know?" It was nice.

The first Friday of the month, we had the Loonies Pajama Cookie Bake at my friend, Lynn's, house; an event that we have decided to make an annual thing. We all taught together last year and build ourselves a reputation of being a little too silly at times and were told we were "looney". So we have taken on the identity proudly and, even though none of us work together anymore (though we all managed to end up at the same church), we try to have our gatherings as often as possible.

The whole cookie bake thing was Lynn's idea. We all brought the ingredients to make a favorite treat and we helped each other make them. True to my Ohio roots, I brought the makings for Buckeyes. Jess did black bottoms, which is a Maryland thing. Lynnie had made oatmeal cookies and Jen did sugar cookies. Everything was good and fun and I really thank God for such awesome friends.

That's about it for now, I guess. We are looking forward to a relatively quiet Christmas here at home. Mom, Dad and Jen are driving in on the 28th to celebrate not only Christmas, but Mom and Dad's 32nd wedding anniversary as well. After that, our nephew, David, who is in the military, will be here for a few days. We're hosting a New Year's Eve party this year, so if you're not doing anything already to ring in 2007, consider doing it with us and some of our friends.

In any event, I pray you are well, readers. Be at peace, stay safe, eat lots of cookies and enjoy God's blessings this season!