As of lately....

We are:

• looking at houses.


• trying to decide if we can afford the houses we like.


• pretty sure we can't yet afford the houses we like.


• saving.


• watching a lot of NetFlix.


• loving having friends over for dinner and games.


• still using the car as our "talking place".


• consistent at Thursday night Bible study.


• seeing the occasional in-theater movie.


• eating out on Friday night, sometimes followed by an in-theater movie.


• working and trying to pretend that we like it.


• reminding ourselves that we should be grateful that we have jobs.


• ambivalent on the baby-issue.


• loving our church.


• getting a kick out of our fourth-grade Sunday school crew.


• trying to figure out what's next in our life.


• loving each other. No matter what's going on; always, always loving each other.

The Best Gift of All

Christmas is long behind me and now it's just January.

Not that there's anything wrong with January, but there's nothing all that right about it either. It's cold. It's gloomy. I'm back at work.

Not that I hate my job but I'd always rather be not working. Because, well, I'd always rather be playing.

The other problem with January is that all the cheerful Christmas decorations are put away and my house looks a little bereft. Clean and tidy, but bereft.

I finally completed a Christmas layout and, in passing, I tried out the new collage photo feature from Walmart and I'm a fan. I don't think it would work when ordering a bunch of random photos from different occasions but if you're ordering prints from one event, the collage is pretty cool!

I was looking at my completed layout, when I realized what the best Christmas gift of all had been: Mom didn't wear a wig, cap, or scarf for the entire evening.

Her hair's not growing back as quickly as she'd like and I know this is a source of frustration for her but I think she looks beautiful. And so very, very valuable, in the literal sense of the word, meaning "of value." We came so close to losing her. She had a fairly aggressive form of breast cancer and it was scary. But she's here, she's with us, she's in remission, she's healthy, and I will always be grateful.

And I'm so glad that she felt confident enough to be in photos without a head-covering. The hair that is slowly growing back on her precious head is prettier than any wig, cap, or scarf could ever be.

"The Holiday Season"

Well, we've had Thanksgiving



and now we're speeding toward Christmas so it is officially "The Holiday Season."

I'm starting a campaign to differentiate between "The Holiday Season" and Christmas. You see, at some point a religious holiday (Christmas) became a secular holiday. People call this secular holiday "Christmas" but I really wish they wouldn't. I'm lobbying to call it "The Holiday Season" and leave it at that.

"The Holiday Season" is about obligation. Participants are obliged to feel festive when they, in actuality, are stressed. They must decorate their house when it is just too cold to be standing on a ladder, clipping lights to the eaves. "The Holiday Season" celebrants must buy many, many presents to give to each other. They must bake, even if they are not people who like to bake. Or are good at baking. During "The Holiday Season", they must send out festive holiday cards to family, friends, and acquaintances. All of this could really be summed up as follows: "The Holiday Season" is about doing our bit for the economy. Toy stores, supermarkets, and the post office benefit greatly during "The Holiday Season."

And I am not begrudging the retailers this surge in profits! I like "The Holiday Season"! I bake treats and wrap gifts and trim a tree and send cards



and join in all the jolly holiday fun going on around me. I like it!

But I wish we wouldn't call it Christmas. I wish we could reserve "Christmas" for that one day in the year, arbitrarily assigned to December 25, when Christians remember the advent of the Christ child: He who came into the world to seek and to save the lost.

Yes, I am (mostly) enjoying "The Holiday Season". But my heart is longing for Christmas.

Fall Activities, Part 2

I can hear the rain dripping outside my window and it finally feels like fall might have arrived. I'm already envisioning myself in tights and boots and a sweater--fall fashion at its most cliched and best! I don't mind being a cliche as long as I'm a comfy cliche.

A couple of weeks ago, the Fabros Family made the trek out from Culver City to the rustic environs of the IE. Jon and I met them at Chipotle for a quick lunch and then we caravaned up to Riley's in Oak Glen for pumpkin and apple picking. That was a perfect fall day; so much so that the West Side Fabroses were too cold! I'd suggested dressing in layers but Robin didn't take me very seriously. So they all ended up wearing Jon's and my clothes: Edwin in Jon's jacket, Robin in Jon's snow jacket, Ali in Emma's jacket, Emma in my jacket. Good thing Jon always has spare jackets in his trunk! Even then, I thought Emma was going to turn into an ice princess from the "cold". It wasn't that cold but you know how it is with these effete L.A types.

We picked the perfect pumpkins and then hiked up and into the orchard to gather apples. Apple-picking devices were forbidden but we found an apple-picking pole and, well, it just would've seemed silly to leave it lying there and just jump up and down under the trees to try to grab an apple. I mean, really, we're all well under 6' tall and this was pretty late in the season; we didn't have a chance of getting any apples without using the apple-picker.

Before we left Riley's, we bought some apple desserts and then headed down the hill to our house for dinner and, oddly enough, Rock Band! Emma wanted to play and it was a fun way to end a fall day.

Fall Activities, Part 1

Every single September, we go to the fair. Why? We just do. Ann likes to say it's part of my birthday extravaganza but it's really not. My birthday and the fair both come around in September and that's that. Sure, Mom and Dad spring for admission and food and anything else for their darling daughters and the families of said darling daughters but that's not 'cause it's my birthday. Besides, technically? Mom and Dad spend more on Ann at the fair because, in addition to a husband (I have one of those), she brings two kids (I don't have any of those). Zac's still a baby so he's not yet in full fair mode but Luke is a "big kid" and we all adore Luke so he pretty much gets whatever he wants. Within reason. Kind of.



Next up? The pumpkin patch and apple orchard expedition.

Styling Fall

I looooooove fall! I just wish we actually had fall in Southern California. Because, let's face it, we really don't. The weather goes from freakishly hot to downright cold and rainy overnight. And then back again. And then forth again. And again and again and again until I wake up one morning and realize that it is plain and simply winter and I wonder where fall went. I usually have this epiphany in, oh, say, February.

But I love the idea of fall. Bright, crisp days. Sweaters, tights, and boots, but no need for a heavy coat. Orange, brown, camel, and denim. All those beautiful grays. Fall, in theory, seems perfect! So much richer than the pastels of spring. Not that I wear pastels. Have you seen my coloring?

I'm always lobbying to move to somewhere that has a beautiful fall but then my husband points out that the price you pay for a beautiful fall is a serious winter and that would probably kill us, as we are tried-and-true Southern California wimps.

Ah, well, a girl can dream.

I wear nice, heeled sandals to school when it's hot. You can tell that the weather is shifting if I've moved to anything with a closed toe. Besides a ballet flat, that is. I love ballet flats and wear them year-round. This page with these totally awesome Frye almond-toe t-straps was part of Dare 169 at Effer Dares. Shoes were my back-to-school indulgence this year. And this was also the year that I discovered Frye and now I'm a bit obsessed.

I also had an outfit featured in Academichic's Interview Symposium. Scroll down; I'm Submission Four. This is very much a classic fall work look for me, especially if I'll be in an IEP meeting, attending a conference, or sitting on an interview panel.

So, what's everyone else wearing this fall?

Missing Summer

Summer rocked but, then again, it almost always does. That's just how summer is. When you work on an academic calendar, you never outgrow the feeling of euphoria that is the very essence of summer. There's just so much time! Time to be lazy. Time to be busy. Time to have fun. Time to do house/yard work (yech). Time to visit family. Time to stay home. Yes, yes, this is all starting to sound like a poor imitation of Ecclesiastes.

One of the best things about summer is that there's more time for the random. During the school year, my days are pretty straightforward:

M-F: Get up (earrrrrrrly). Make breakfasts. Iron clothes. Get ready. Go to work. Work. Come home. Make dinner. Collapse in exhaustion on couch and watch mindless tv. Repeat.

Sa: Housework. Laundry. Try to squeeze in something fun.

Su: Church. Football. Get ready for Monday.

But during the summer, there's a lot of random going on. Double feature at the matinee price? Sure! Roach coach tour through L.A. midweek? Uh-huh! Spend the entire day reading a book? Why not! Open the front door to see my dog's doppelganger on the porch? Ok, weird. And random. But true.

Kind of makes me wonder how often the chocolate-lab-across-the-street breaks free and comes over to hang out on our porch during the school year!

I really love the random.