[We go with the No-Theme Theme]

 

I'm out of stamps.

So I'm taking another break from signing cards and addressing envelopes.

It's January second. Need I state the obvious? That our family's Christmas greetings are very, very late this year?
(edit: i had started writing this yesterday. so now it's the third. sigh.)
Or how do I say it, now that "this" year is last year? oh dear.

I found out that when you order your cards at the last minute...
you get them at an even later last minute.
They were to come in on the Wednesday before Christmas.
But didn't until that Friday instead.

When I realized that even the most heroic of efforts wouldn't get them to your house on time,
I chilled. :) And I'm just working on them when I can.

I still have a stack to do.
Including a few for Canadian friends.
And American friends living in Canada. :)
I plan on finishing... soon. before... groundhog day. ;) maybe.

I have noticed a bit of a procrastination theme going on around here...


We have everything on our tree, going with the no-theme theme.
And blog posts it seems today too...
Doing the no theme theme, as I feel like writing a little about this and that.
One of my boys recently discovered his first chest hair... and named it Phil.
Did you know that my name is Owen? Owen Mom.
It is. No matter if she's asking a question or making a statement,
when Sarah's talking to me, she starts almost every sentence with Owen Mom.
It made me feel nuts... until I realized it's precious.
And probably till Phil finds himself standing in a crowd , she'll have outgrown the need to say it.
and I'll be longing to hear Owen Mom just one more time.



The keychain tree has a theme---places we've been.



I noticed a pink bikini and a one shouldered evening gown...
I believe that my daughter is living vicariously through the gingerbread women that she decorated. love her.
Somebody I know was only home from school for about 30 seconds before his mother asked him when and where he'd singed off his eyelashes. Jared's enjoying his welding class. And the fact that he alarmed his teacher... and offered a teachable moment for his peers.

Only medical tests will reveal if I truly suffered heart damage.
But after answering the phone one evening and hearing these words,
"This is Officer Carbaugh. Are you...  's mom?" I do know that my son owes me for my next hair color appt.
I should have seen it coming.
He's The Farmer's Son.
And he has ramped with everything else. bikes. scooters. skateboards.
Why not the family car?

There's been a stay-on-your-knees-in-prayer theme going on around here...


Do you see cooperation here? me neither. We have that theme too.

"Jacob's being so good," said a friend of mine that I ran into while shopping at Walmart.
He was quietly making hand motions as we were talktalktalking.
But... I recognized that he was saying "shut up" in sign language. 
Maybe good mothers don't laugh about things like that in front of their children,
but I've heard that the sane ones do. ;)
Seven year olds with older siblings know more than they should before they should.

It was the exact same friend that Jacob had stared at for awhile one time before loudly asking,
"Mom! How does she say so many words without breathing?!"
I had bought the older boys travel toiletry bags prefilled with body wash and deoderant. I didn't bother to read any labels...but they did. myword. What a hoot. The manufacturer is celebrating 10 years of what they call, "A weapon of mass attraction. Helping you to attract girls and win in the mating game since 2002..." so... what? it takes a fragrance? mating game? Seriously, so lame. And we laughed.

Because laughter's a great theme. coping mechanism. medicine. necessity. indeed.




And now it's January 3rd. I must go to the post office today. Must.

But first I'm determined to finish this post.
Trying to end the writing-but-not-finishing theme I've had going on.
I've been putting off changing that about me.
Which takes this about full circle, doesn't it?
That procrastination pattern. theme. right. :)


May you experience...
seeing hearing feeling tasting knowing
...HIS glory in your day.
Because it's a glorious theme.
"...The glory of the One and Only...
full of Grace and Truth." john 1:14

Okay. Off to the post office.
and then I have an item to return at Target on my way home.
I don't procrastinate with everything. Never a Target trip.
Perhaps I'll do a little but dangerous no-theme theme browsing.
Target's great for that. :)