Day 18: Stocking

Stockings were the challenge today. I don't have a stocking at home, and I don't think there are any at work. But I do have a different kind of stocking.

stock·ing

ˈstäkiNG/

noun

noun: stocking; plural noun: stockings

1. a women's garment, typically made of translucent nylon or silk, that fits closely over the foot and is held up by garters or an elasticized strip at the upper thigh.

   synonyms:

   nylons, pantyhose, tights; More

   • short for Christmas stocking.
   • USarchaic

     a long sock worn by men.
   • a cylindrical bandage or other medical covering for the leg resembling a stocking, especially an elasticized support used in the treatment of disorders of the veins.
   • a white marking of the lower part of a horse's leg, extending as far as, or just beyond, the knee or hock.

   
   

Well I thought my stocking picture would count, but this just goes to prove that I'm not the walking dictionary. When I went to look up the definition in order to prove my picture would count, I found out it doesn't. So here's my picture of a long sock that I temporarily hung in my kitchen to take this picture. (I do own the kind of stocking described in the definition.)

Just focus on the super cute tea pots in the background. One of them I found at a yard sale and Miss Ellaneous just gave me the other one. My collection is up to four tea pots.

I'M IN A STORE, AND I'M SINGING!!!

Elf is the best Christmas movie, and you're a cotton headed ninny muggin if you don't think so.

If you haven't seen it, it's about an unusual elf that goes to NYC in search of his real father. As you might have imagined the cuisine and customs of NYC are just a bit different than the North Pole. Buddy the elf has to learn about being a human rather than an elf while also saving the spirit of Christmas. There's quite a bit of humor and even a bit of romance with Zooey Deschanel, playing a singing store worker.

This is one my favorite scenes when Buddy shows his newly found Dad how to eat breakfast. The meal includes leftover spaghetti, PopTarts, maple syrup, M&Ms, chocolate syrup, and all other sorts of sugar, none of which is in small proportions. Because you know elves must stick to the four main food groups: candy, candy canes, candy corns, and syrup.

To add to my bucket list is to ride the main elevator of the Empire State Building and push all of the buttons like a Christmas Tree!

Before I spoil the plot of the movie, I'm going to scedaddle out of here. I have a full list of things to do today: 

Day 15 and 16: Granny Eyre

Day 15: Decorations

If there's something I've learned about life it is to let go of perfection. Yesterday I didn't post because I forgot to get a picture of the decorations I wanted to post. Today I was going to skip it again because I forgot to snap a picture before I left home again. So this picture is not the picture I intended to post, but there's still a story.

This is a small decoration in my office that I made myself. The tutoring team was hosting a focus group for their volunteers and there were extra materials to make these. It's really a picture frame, but we decorated it to become a dry erase board. I keep this quote on my desk now to remind myself to just keep going.

Day 16: Favorite Christmas Song

This one also stumped me because I didn't know how to take a picture of a song. Then Captain said she was going to take a screenshot of a YouTube clip, possibly because she just figured out how to take screenshots on her phone. I've really been enjoying the lyrics feature on Spotify, so I took a picture of a favorite Christmas song on that music player. 

I won't say this is my absolute favorite because I'm not sure how to pick a favorite. This is one of my favorites. I like that it reminds me that even though sometimes I feel judged when I read the Bible that really Jesus came to the earth to bring joy. It also reminds me that I have to make room in my heart to let him in. It's just a happy song.

Day 14: Hot Drink

He's already made an appearance for the presents post, but here's my little friend doing his job.

My hot drink of choice today was Rooibus tea. It's light and slightly rooty tasting.

Doesn't he just look so peaceful there taking a dip in the hot liquid?

Day 13: Presents

Yesterday's challenge was presents, which was extremely fitting considering the TwentySomethings, fondly known as the Musketeers, gathered for a Christmas Party and Cookie Exchange. I left feeling so blessed because I received so many thoughtful gifts.

Wow. Slippers and a perfect sign. Tea related items and a first printing book by Jane Austen and some other lady. A much needed clock and chocolate! Twizzlers and turkey earrings. So many wonderful gifts.

One that I got particularly excited about was the sloth tea infuser.

In third grade, I recited a poem about a very slow sloth, which I have included below for your reading pleasure. Isn't it profound? I wish I still had the poster I drew to accompany my recitation.

I am a sloth

A sloth am I

I live in trees

But I can't fly

I do not run

I am so slow

But I am where

I want to go

-Jack Prelutsky

All of these gifts reminded me of a verse from Matthew 7:11 where Jesus said "So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him." God truly has given me a great gift of salvation. As much as I love all of these gifts that my friends have given me, I love God's gift even more. 

To end this post, I will leave you with a picture of Marvel, who was quite playful last night. He helped us unwrap presents, tried to eat game pieces (he was helping me win), and got all in our personal space. And then he was cute and laid on the couch and let us pet him. 

-Granny Eyre

P.S. I'm challenging Miss Ellaneous and Martha S. to get caught up on the picture challenge.

Day 11: Green

"The unexamined life is not worth living"

-Socrates

 Today calls for something green and I found my work journal which is green. This journal was given to me one of my first days here with no specific direction. I decided to start using to record my experiences as an AmeriCorps VISTA. It helps me process and reflect on my emotions in this job. As John Dewey said, "Reflection is the reconstruction and reorganization of experience which adds meaning to that experience." Without this journal recording the highs and lows, I could fall into the trap of just thinking this is an office job; I could forget that the work I am doing has meaning.

“What sort of diary should I like mine to be? Something loose-knit and yet not slovenly, so elastic that it will embrace anything, solemn, slight or beautiful, that comes into my mind. I should like it to resemble some deep old desk or capacious hold-all, in which one flings a mass of odds and ends without looking them through. I should like to come back, after a year or two, and find that the collection had sorted itself and refined itself and coalesced, as such deposits so mysteriously do, into a mould, transparent enough to reflect the light of our life, and yet steady, tranquil compounds with the aloofness of a work of art. The main requisite, I think, on reading my old volumes, is not to play the part of a censor, but to write as the mood comes or of anything whatever; since I was curious to find how I went for things put in haphazard, and found the significance to lie where I never saw it at the time.”
-Virginia Woolf

I don't really go back and read my notes and thoughts very often, but I do use tabs to mark pages where I worte something that could be useful in the future. I also don't have a particular purpose for the journal. Some days I throw in my to-do list for the next day. Some days I write a full page while others I write only a sentence or two. Some days are my emotions, and others are full of quotes and research. I try to reflect a little bit each day without feeling the need to record every detail of my day.

So there's my something green. Hopefully this journal helps me grow like a little green plant. (too cheesy?)

-Granny Eyre

Day 10: Christmas List

Day ten is a Christmas list, and there's nothing better than a list of gifts to give people. For as long as I can remember I have made one of these lists every year. Then, the other day I was reading an article in the doctor's office about how to teach your children to be givers. It suggested that after the kid write their wish list, encourage them to make a list of gifts they are going to give. Look at me! Being all smart and doing this for years!

So that's  my picture for the day. And Santa's Elves made sure to remove any evidence of what the gifts will actually be because Christmas presents should be a surprise.

Merry Christmas! I'm so excited to give the presents on Sunday.

Day Seven, Eight, and Nine: Playing Catch Up

So here's to catching up!

Day Seven: Shopping

One thing I am proud of this year is that I have successfully kept a budget all year. I have been keeping receipts each month and then at various points in the month, I clean out my wallet and enter the numbers into an Excel sheet. It helps me see where I am spending more money and how to do better the next month. It also keeps me more aware when I am spending money. So for shopping I thought I'd share a picture of the receipts that I need to clean out of my wallet from the past week or so. Christmas shopping mainly! (I don't always shop at Walmart by the way. Those are just the two on top.)

As I was downloading pictures from my phone I realized I really had another shopping picture there. I already shared it with you all, but there's another chance to shop this weekend. The Ceramics department is having their holiday sale. I just might make a stop over there on Saturday morning. I've technically finished all of my Christmas shopping, but it's never too early to start on birthdays for the year! Plus, I love ceramics. :)

Day Eight: Wrapping Paper

Another thing I am proud to say is that I have all of my presents wrapped. It helps that this year I have a place to keep them and I have space to spread out and wrap them. In the past there just hasn't been enough room in the dorm room to store many presents or to wrap them. Normally I use newspaper but since I bought wrapping paper this year for some reason, I wrapped them in wrapping paper. There is something nice about the uniformity of the gifts. To add a creative flare, I used puff paint to write everyone's name on the gifts.

Now you may be wondering what this particular gift says. It says Merhap Birthmas Marcus. It's a combination of Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday. My younger brother's birthday is on December 24. I know, poor guy. Even worse, for some reason my family always opens gifts on Christmas Eve. He's a good sport about it though. I typically do not combine his presents, but since I bought him a rather expensive gift this year that comes in two pieces, I decided to combine them. He'll laugh at my word play. 

Day Nine; Peace

Peace seemed like such a hard challenge to find and capture in a photograph. Then a verse from Sunday morning's sermon at church came back to me. It's the start of a letter that Paul wrote to the church at Thessalonica. I've always admired Paul's letters and I wish we still wrote letters to each other like he did to his friends at various churches. Oftentimes Paul starts his letters with this phrase "Grace and peace to you". The pastor on Sunday pointed out that the word order is important to note. First we receive God's grace, which means that we receive forgiveness for disobedience or selfishness or whatever it is that we did even though we don't really deserve to be forgiven. Then we feel the peace that comes from receiving that grace. There is a calm after doing that. On Sunday I experienced that peace. I have been feeling for a while that I needed to officially join Bethel, the church I have been attending for five years. I kept making excuses as to why it was fine to just attend and not join. Sunday, I stopped making excuses and was obedient to God. I joined and I definitely felt peace. No longer was that decision eating at me. 

Well this has been a long post. I'll try not to get so far behind again. I've enjoyed reading all of your posts. I'm excited to see more glimpses into your lives. Farmer's Daughter, Captain, and I were talking last night that we should create our own photo challenge for another month. We were thinking we could each add six items to a list and we'd have 30 things to find. Maybe in a couple of months, we could do another challenge. For now, 

Granny Eyre.

Day Six: Christmas Lights

Once again, a day late.

You've already seen my Christmas tree lights. The only other Christmas lights in my house are the ones I impulse bought yesterday. I hung them over my sink. They are so bright that it looks like the apartment is completely lit from the outside. And they make me happy because I love white lights.

Reading all of your other posts have made me realize I haven't stopped to look at very many Christmas lights. I've already started letting the busyness of this season take over my heart. Right now I realize I need to slow down and breathe. I make a promise that one day this week I will go looking at Christmas lights.

In the meantime, I'm enjoying the words of this song by Jonny Diaz entitled Breathe.

Alarm clock screaming bare feet hit the floor
It’s off to the races everybody out the door
I’m feeling like I’m falling behind, it’s a crazy life
Ninety miles an hour going fast as I can
Trying to push a little harder trying to get the upper hand
So much to do in so little time, it’s a crazy life
It’s ready, set, go it’s another wild day
When the stress is on the rise in my heart I feel you say just

Breathe, just breathe
Come and rest at my feet
And be, just be
Chaos calls but all you really need
Is to just breathe

Third cup of joe just to get me through the day
Want to make the most of time but I feel it slip away
I wonder if there’s something more to this crazy life
I’m busy, busy, busy, and it’s no surprise to see
That I only have time for me, me, me
There’s gotta be something more to this crazy life
I’m hanging on tight to another wild day
When it starts to fall apart in my heart I hear you say just

Breathe, just breathe
Come and rest at my feet
And be, just be
Chaos calls but all you really need

Is to take it in fill your lungs
The peace of God that overcomes
Just breathe
So let your weary spirit rest
Lay down what’s good and find what’s best
Just breathe

Some Photos to Share

Three photos I will share from camp that I forgot to post. I don't have many photos and most of them are of the girls being silly in the kitchen and won't mean much to you. I'll try to do better about taking photos.

This is the dish space in the kitchen where I spend a lot of time. The sink on on the left is the swish sink where all the dishes go to get the food off first. Then they have to go through the wash, rinse, and sanitize sinks. I was timing the girls on their washing abilities. They got to 26 minutes for one meal with nine people doing dishes for close to 200 people. I stopped timing after that.

This is a stack that the girls were proud about doing. Basically the rule with stacking is that nothing can touch the metal. This was probably on a Sunday night based on how many dishes there are. Sunday is spaghetti night and those cooks use a lot of dishes. That's not the highest stack we've had this summer but it's still pretty impressive.

I've been looking for this kind of mug for a while now. It has a pocket for the tea bag to sit. I then decorated it with sharpie. I just need to stick it in the oven so the sharpie will bake on. I got it at Goodwill in Tennessee for $0.49. What a deal!