i'm dreaming of a white christmas (that's not happening...)

i live in north dakota.
it's currently december 22, 2011 in north dakota, a time of year when there should be a layer of snow.
growing up, i always thought north dakota had snow 7 months of the year since it was always too cold to melt once it fell.

i thought wrong.

i'm sitting and staring out a window at brown grass.
seriously.
brown grass in december, three days from christmas.

who would have EVER guessed that christmas up north would be sunny and snowless?

not me.
but it is.

i'm not complaining too much because this means that people can travel to and fro in order to attend christmas events.
my family is able to drive to north dakota so that i can host christmas.
which is awesome since i will have people at home when i leave and return from services (4 this weekend).

if only there were an inch or two to cover the brown grass.

and oddly enough, two years ago this is what i had to deal with.
each day i went to shake off the snow in order for the nativity to inflate.
this year, no worries (except for possible wind to blow it away).
it's like i live in the south or something where white christmases were rare.
oh wait, that is where all the snow is falling...

Post #201 - 12.01.11

as i type this post, i'm sitting in my office at one of the churches. it's super quiet cause no one is around at the moment.
but i'm liking the solitude and stillness so that i can take time to sort through various thoughts

1. it's december. my favorite month has passed (cause who doesn't like the month they were born?). last month had some awesome dates (nov 1 = 11.1.11 and nov 11 = 11.11.11) as well as a couple holidays (veterans day and thanksgiving). but now it's the last month of the year and i'm not sure how it came so quickly...nor do i know how i will keep my sanity in the midst of advent, christmas decorating, hosting a youth party, putting on an open house, three christmas eve services and one christmas morning service while baking the turkey and meal for the family since i'm hosting christmas. but i will get thourgh it and then it will suddenly be january and 2012 (hopefully not the last year for the world...)

2. it's sunny and mostly brown/green outside. i live in nd and yet we have barely any snow on the ground at the moment. we got a light dusting yesterday, but the sun and wind could quickly rid us of what little white we have. i'm just waiting for the giant snowpiles to build. and i know they will. the almanacs are predicting lots of snow, the meteorologists are calling it "la nina" (and astonishingly enough, this is the second year in a row) but i'm actually worried because of what nature is telling us:
- i heard about onions predicting a ton of snow for this month.
- i saw the giant muskrat homes (lodges) as they are building up high in anticipation of either lots of snow or lots of spring water or more likely both.

3. upcoming travel is keeping me excited. i hope to not make a big trip this month (three trips to south dakota last month was quite a bit...my car that i got on halloween already has added 4000 miles in the past four weeks). but i know in january i'll do some traveling. i have a first call theological education retreat, and i'll be taking time off for vacation (with a wedding thrown in) as well as attending luther's convo. and of course, i'm working on planning a big trip to wyoming and new york for graduations in may...my car should get more than enough miles on it. but it's worth it to see family and friends

4. christmas gift shopping. i love black friday because i love to watch people and to spend time with my sisters. this year i went home for thanksgiving, which meant i could make the 20-mile trip to mitchell. kayla and i drove up twice with just the two of us in the car (late night thursday and early morning friday) and we drove up with kendra, kiana and colten friday afternoon to watch the twilight movie. i bought mostly movies and nothing for my secret santa gift. i've been going to thrift stores for that... and thrift stores have awesome deals and a weird variety to make for an amazing gift!

5. i need to force myself to go shopping and pick up a new planner for the coming year. but i'm picky so i'm trying to find one that i simply love and will work best for me.

hello old man winter

it's been a while since i wore gloves
(yes, i wore them while at football games this fall cause it was in the 30s with strong winds and i was outside for hours)
perhaps i should say: since i needed to wear gloves if i was going to be outside for more than 10 min

i broke out the wool peacoat (it's a pretty purple) but have yet to succumb to the heavy duty coats still hanging in the closet, nor have i started wearing scarves
(in fact, this reminds me that i should look for and wash my scarves...)

i switched to close-toe and preferably boots for walking through snow
(i found my snowboots for subzero temps but haven't worn them yet)

i drove through snow drifts and on slippery roads and through whiteout conditions for the first time since april (yeah, that's 7 months...which is a long time in the dakotas, esp north dakota!)
of special note: nov 15 seems to be a late day for north dakota to have it's first winter weather advisory...especially since we had frost way back in mid-september

"weather-permitting" is a standard clause for all event planning over the next few months
(in fact, early tues afternoon consisted of cancelling tues afternoon activities so i could go home early)

11.1.11 11.11.11

if you are confused by the meaning of the numbers for the post title, don't be

they are simply dates (nov 1, 2011 and nov 11, 2011)

and i'm super sad and completely disappointed in myself that i totally missed blogging and writing those numbers as much as possible :(

here are some things i remember about those days:
11.1.11 (nov 1) - this was the day after i bought my new car and when i wrote a check for my very own car insurance (until then i was only on my parents'). also, this was all saints' day and i went to a lovely service in mchenry where our savior's lutheran invited people to light candles in memory of community members who had died in the past year
11.11.11 (nov 11) - veteran's day. i didn't do too much this day, but there was a baptism (#4 since i was ordained...same number as funerals i've done)

sirens

the siren has gone off twice this week:
- on tuesday morning (8:08 am to be precise), there was a fire somewhere (no word as to what happened)
- every wednesday at 6:00 pm (no, it's not to announce the supper hour but i'm thinking it's to make sure the kids at sports practice realize that church night has officially begun since no practice can go past 6 pm on wednesday)

i'm sane!

seriously

i just took an online screening test to see if i have any of the following issues: anxiety disorder, depression, alcoholism, bi-polar disorder, eating disorders, ptsd

each time i was told that my results are NOT consistent with the *insert-tragic-label-here* behavior

woo-hoo for me!

walking wounded

i'm a klutz and proud of it!
(except on the days when i'm hurt because i'm a klutz)

actually, i tend to have an uncanny sense of balance on most days. there are many times when i've almost tripped but manage to keep my balance and stay on my feet. i'm not usually a klutz, but it seems like once a month i end up with mysterious bruising that i may or may not remember how i wounded myself.
because some days i don't have a working balance.
and this whole weekend has been one mishap after another.

technically, two main mishaps.

1. i was walking up my back stairs coming in from the great outdoors when i tripped over the huge flying disk my 2.5-yr-old niece had propped up on the side of the stairs even though it somehow managed to get under my feet...and now i have an awesome bruise just below my left knee. it started swelling within 20 min, which is never a good sign.
[side note: my niece offered to help hold the ice pack on my leg, only to tell me a minute later that she "can't want it" (= doesn't want it) because it's cold]

2. closing my car door today and totally got my thumb slammed in it. it's bad enough when you catch a useless finger, but the thumb on my right hand is very important since i am right handed and so i am constantly being reminded of the pain since i use my thumb to type, to eat, to hold the tv remote...you get the idea

so now, at the close of the labor day weekend, i'm wounded and bruised and trying to remember to not apply pressure anywhere near my bruises

weird...

so it's completely weird to be a pastor, and there are some instances to be on the lookout for:
- being handed your certificate of ordination (it's like getting the signed diploma at graduation)
- entering a community to become one of the most recognizable people (where everyone knows your name but you don't know theirs)
- writing the cover article for the church newsletter (or in my case, parish newsletter) and signing your name with "pastor" or "reverend" before it
- fielding questions about what the differences between pastor and minister and preacher and reverend are (and being unable to really distinguish each one since in your world they all merge together)
- first time you sign a marriage license on the line designated for the official and not the witness and then realize a few days later that the couple is legally married because of your signature
- going to your denomination's rostered leader search and searching for yourself (extra points if you have more than 5 congregations listed behind your name like me)
- learning to savor any opportunity you get to not lead worship or preach (who knew that sitting in the back pew is so enjoyable?)
- feeling guilty for not having npr or christian music playing on the radio as you drive (seriously, i love my rock, pop and folk music)
- trying to think of creative ways to dress where only one piece of the ensemble is something clergy-y, from jewelry with crosses to collared clergy shirt to alb/stole (current favorite way to accessorize: layering necklaces where the cross is almost hidden...it's like Where's Waldo in my fashion)
- making sure that the Bible and communion kit are always in your purse and an appropriate change of clothes in the car (even when out of town on your day off just in case you get called in)

goodbye ugly curtains!

say it with me:
good-bye (f)ugly curtains!

and just to prove to you that they are worthy of being despised, here are pics:

valences over the windows in the living room/dining area...clash majorly with the rest of my decor 

(and even worse, when kayla took them down, the fabric literally was falling apart since they had been hanging for so long)

weird half-curtains are not permitted, especially not when they are doubled...or is it tripled? does the little flounce at the top count as a curtain? it's bad enough if there is only the top and bottom, but someone had the brilliant idea to add the middle one to make a three-tier disaster. 

ugh. doesn't matter it there is one, two or three of these on a single window. none of them are surviving...

soon to be up on windows: drapes and curtains that will coordinate with my furniture, rugs and wall decor.
pictures will follow when the redecoration has been completed (which will be by labor day weekend since i'm hosting a pampered chef open house)

calendar challenged

for those of you who know me, you may or may not realize that there are days when i don't look at the calendar.

as a pastor, this is not always a good option.
[there are times when it's nice because i can truly take a day off only when i have no set plans or am not looking ahead to what's coming]

i looked up at my desk in my church office a mere 10 minutes ago and saw that the calendar hanging there says "july" even though it's been august for 18 days...
and i have not yet gotten up to change it since i obviously haven't looked at it in almost three weeks.
i'm in no rush to change something that i never bother with anyway.

part of my challenge is that i like being able to remember events and activities without having to look at a calendar.
i like being able to tell you what all my upcoming plans are without having to consult a piece of paper or a planner or an online calendar.

i'm human.
and i mess up from time to time.

time slips past me when i'm not careful, and i hate when i miss out on something because i am calendar challenged.

i may not be able to change my love/hate relationship with calendars right this moment, but i'm still a work in progress.
and i have hope that there will be a week when i manage to remember everything i need to without forgetting anything.
but i'm not holding my breath.