It’s beginning to FEEL a lot like Christmas…

… and I am in the process of planning one of my favorite store visits of the holidays.  I have start by saying I hate to shop.  It is a necessary evil but not something I enjoy.  The big exception to that is grocery shopping.  I love finding the right ingredients for that special item to be made.

But, my favorite shopping trip of the holiday season is my trip to the book store.  It is more likely two or three book stores but still.  I always make sure that my kids have books under the tree.  I have to search as it is hard to find one that I think each will read.  The trip to the bookstore, though, intrigues me.  I like seeing what others are buying.  It doesn’t seem to matter that it is holiday shopping.  Book shopping seems to more leisurely than the hustle and bustle of regular shopping.

I can’t wait!!!

My Calendar’s Beginning to Look…

…. quite frankly, full!

I just got off the phone with a business owner that I do contract work for.  He was discussing items that are upcoming - sort of a warning in a good way.

In talking, I walked to my December calendar.  Wow!  I hope not much has to be fit in prior to Christmas itself and I know there is tons to add still.  There are very few days that are not full of ink.  Thursdays seem to be a bit more quiet than other days of the week but not great.  A few days directly prior to Christmas look okay but the rest of the month - I am having problems seeing the dates.

Volunteerism

I know that most adults get volunteerism.  We understand that the cost associated with hiring qualified individuals is greater than a lot of non-profit and some for profit organizations can afford.  The bigger question is, does our next generation understand.

Kids are forced to volunteer.  You can’t pass this class without volunteering x number of hours to one of y organizations.  You can’t be confirmed without service hours.  You need to track them.

Needless to say, this leaves a bad taste in the mouth of young people about volunteering.  What they need is to see examples.  What do you do to show your children - young adults and teens - that volunteering is extremely important?

I recently have taken on some new volunteering positions.  In the past I have been a catechist - which means I have shared my faith with the next generation.  This is really important to me since I am a convert to Roman Catholicism.  I have been a girl scout and tiger cub leader.  I have done various committee positions within PTA. 

My new volunteer positions are a bit more challenging and work intensive.

I am the membership chair for our school district’s Music Boosters.  I have set up tables at open houses and curriculum nights.  I have done spreadsheets so other officers and committee chairs know who wants to help with what program.  I have solicited donations to give away to members so that we can seduce people into joining.

I am the new treasurer for BC United Soccer Association.  This involves developing a budget,  helping team administrators collect money, and signing checks.  In other words,  I have to deal with another financial institution other than my own.  I also attend monthly board meetings which is just more time that I don’t know if I have.

And, my newest and possibly most intense volunteer position is regional director for the Southern Tier region of New York State Science Olympiad.   I am setting up a regional tournament.  This is very time consuming.  I am working on it now and the tournament is in March. 

I do not complain about all this extra “work” in my life.  It is a way to give back to organizations that have either been very important to me or very important to my children.  I enjoy the additional adult contact.  I love the organizations.  I love the volunteering.

I LOVE Winter!!!!

If I had to pick a favorite season, it would be autumn.  Fall is the reason I don’t think I could live in Florida or California (at least not the parts of California most of my family lives in now).  Fall is that time of year when we can have summer and winter temperatures.  I love it but coming in a close second is winter.

I love winter!!!  I like feeling more comfortable under the covers of my bed than on top of them.  I love wanting to put on boots for the day.  I love putting on colorful gloves and a matching hat to go run errands.

I spent two years living outside Lake Placid, New York.  I would probably move back to that area in a heartbeat.  It is gorgeous.  It is the epitome of a winter wonderland in the winter.

Another Great Sports Weekend

Okay, I have decidedly described myself as a sports fanatic many times. I am, though, not a big professional sports fan. I love World Cup Soccer and professional bicycling (though I have some questions about cycling nowadays).

This weekend, though, was almost perfect. I have spent the weekend watching my favorite college football team play. It was a tense game and went long, 3OTs, but my Mountaineers finally beat Rutgers. It was just good football. Not like you would see in professional ball.

Then, Saturday afternoon and Sunday afternoon came another favorite college sport. This one is near and dear to my heart as I was there at the beginning of the College Cup tournament. You see, my daughter plays Division 1 college soccer. Her college team played in the first round of the tournament this year for the first time ever. While they did not make it past the first round, it means I watched UNC and Notre Dame with more interest this year. Number one, one of my daughter’s former travel teammates is on the ND team. Number two, if not for a loss to Penn State on November 10th, her team might have been in Cary, North Carolina today for that game.

Daily Meditations

Every year I read a book called Simple Abundance, which is a book of daily meditations.  I find that as I read I get different things out of each reading at different times in my life.  These readings are not totally spiritual, though some are extremely spiritual.  The readings are about living as your authentic self.  There are readings about how to organize parts of your life, how to bring out the authentic you.

Usually, by December, my life has caught up with me and I am seldom reading.  This year I vowed that I would read each December entry as a way to keep myself focused. 

I was particularly taken by today’s entry entitled “Passionate Kisses.”  There is a quote at the beginning of each reading and today’s just made sense. 

“A kiss can be a comma, a question mark or an exclamation point.” - Mistinguett

I guess I never really thought that much about kissing but that makes perfect sense.  In the beginning of a relationship a kiss is like a question mark.  It is another in a series of inquiries to help you discover each other.  During the more “quiet” or more “mundane” ( and that is not really the word I want but I am having troubles coming up with the word I want), a kiss is like a comma.  And during those truly passionate, finding and defining moments, a kiss is definitely an exclamation point!