Happy Birthday to my little man

True reflection comes during the weirdest of times, sometimes unwarranted and sometimes brought about.  Three years ago, we held our child for the first time and everything as we knew changed in that split second.  Every goal, aspiration, every notion of the world and our purpose was transformed.  We held our son and fell in love.  A love so unlike any other feeling we had experienced before.

Happy Birthday!
Mommy and Daddy love you so much!

Freedom of Speech

If it's never our fault, we can't take responsibility for it. If we can't take responsibility for it, we'll always be its victim. 

Richard Bach

http://www.blingcheese.com/image/code/0/tape+mouth.htm

I want to introduce you to a good friend of mine, her name is Roxy MtJoy.  I met her in July 2007, during the time my beloved college turned coeducational.  Just 2 years prior, I had graduated from Randolph Macon Woman's College.  Through the entire lengthy process of  contesting this change, late night meetings, email chains, petition letters, etc.  there was a voice that stood out, she made sense, and she inspired many women to listen, her name...Roxy.  While I stood around sometimes tongue tied at the inexplicable sadness of it all, she seemed to find the right words to inspire and to comfort.  
Roxy has her own blog Foxy by Nature.  and frquently writes for Change.Org.  Which leads me to explain the purpose of this post, Freedom of Speech and tolerance or the lack of it.  I am inviting you to weigh in on a timeless debate:  What is actually protected speech?  Roxy explains it very eloquently in her January post Hate this.  I would really love feedback, your thoughts are welcomed here. I hope that you enjoy her articles as much as I.

Christmas Eve, Christmas Day - Santa came!

photo by Ron Bird

I need to let you in on a secret, Chip and I have been  recruited by Santa to help with Christmas packaging.  We were approached about two years ago after Christmas by an undercover elf and asked if we could assist.  Yeah, I know, you think I have gone bonkers.  "It was bound to happen!, "I could see it coming for a while", etc.  Believe what you want, but I know THERE ARE OTHERS OUT THERE! 

The story goes like so, Santa doesn't have enough helpers.  At the rate the population here on earth is multiplying, he can't keep up.  So, according to Guy "the elf", he recruits certain parents that still hold Christmas near and dear to their hearts and have spread the Christmas spirit in the past to help.  Chip and I thought about this mission and the responsibility it would require and gladly accepted.  You see, Guy informed us that the only "gift" he would give us is an improvement in our gift packaging ability.  We inquired if we could get super sonic speed or the ability to mute all noise but Guy "the elf" explained that because we were not elves per say we would not be bestowed these abilities.  Which as all my undercover comrades know makes for our mission to be VERY DANGEROUS.

I am not supposed to share this information with anyone and we might lose our privileges because I can't hold a secret.  But look at what we did on Christmas Eve:

I feel that Chip and I are getting better at it with every Christmas that has gone by.  Another great perk, we have started our own Christmas tradition!  Christmas eve is our time, even though we are helping Santa somewhere in the thick of it, we found the time to have some champagne and share the moment together.  Sooo, I know that I have let the cat out of the bag and that Santa and Guy "the elf" might be angry but I wanted to thank them for giving us a moment to slow down and count our many blessings and love each other.  This quiet and still moment helps us cope with this madness:

I am so looking forward to next year's Christmas.  Hopefully, we won't get fired.  I am counting on the human capacity for denial and disbelieving.  You will think this is a catchy blog post and that this is not possible.  But somewhere in our hearts we know that the magic of Christmas is our responsibility, that stressing over preparations, last minute rushing to buy more stuff and economic meltdowns should be put aside and we should focus on the true spirit of Christmas, we owe it to our children.

Winter wonderland - white Christmas?

This photo was taken about a week before Christmas, this is what you can see from my MIL back porch. 

There is nothing quite like waking up early in the morning to this.  Crisp air, the smell of freshly made coffee and the Christmas tree lite up.  I am not that old that I don't remember how fun it was to play in the snow and have hot chocolate but I much prefer my old age, sitting by a window and knitting while my husband flips through channels on the TV.  I am a homebody and love staying home during every season but snowy cold days are very special to me.

My son on the other hand thoroghly enjoys the outdoors, especially snowy cold days.  He is such a boys boy that it blows my mind.  He would stay outdoors in the snow for hours if I would let him.

By the way, we did get a white Christmas!