Philoxenos

Because I’m not posting very much, I’m just kinda out of the groove. So here are a few random things that I’ve been thinking about.

1. If you google “Costco juice boxes” Philoxenos in the #1 search result! Important stuff being written about here, obviously.

2. Learned today that one of Handsome’s older brothers is moving from England back to Australia, which means that Handsome’s parents will have one son in New Zealand, America, England, and Australia.

3. Handsome and I just had our birthdays. Each year I make an Irish Cream Chocolate Cheesecake which is DIVINE. I’m guessing that if there is food in heaven this will definitely be on the menu. Although I’m thinking that worshiping at the feet of Jesus will have a much higher priority than eating cheesecake. Anyway. It was excellent, as always. I only make it once per year for a few reasons. 1) it’s expensive 2) I don’t even want to THINK about how many calories, fat grams, and carbohydrates might be in it and 3) it’s somewhat time consuming. I used up all of nap time on Saturday to make it. That’s a big sacrifice for me!

4.  We have been having a lot of people over for meals the last several weeks. Been averaging at least one family/group per week, often more than that if you count playdates and morning tea invites. We’re being very purposeful about issuing invitations. We want to make more friends, for starters, so we’re inviting people over that we want to get to know better. This has resulted in some great evenings. We often have folks over on Friday night which is our homemade pizza night. It’s more relaxed, not so much pressure about the food. Just good times. We’re also doing it because we want to live by example in our church. It seems that here in California it’s simply not as common to invite people over to your house. It’s more like - hey, let’s meet at such and such a restaurant. That’s fine and everything, but having people over to our home is much more conducive to building a stronger relationship. It’s also the best way for us to include our kids in hospitality.

5. I’ve recently made a new friend. We’ve known each other since September but only in the last couple of weeks have we gotten to know each other. She has a lot of unhappy things going on in her life at the moment, but she always looks so put together. I’ve noticed that from the beginning. She particularly pays attention to her jewelry. My jewelry consists of a wedding band (I’ve even stopped wearing my engagement ring because it gets dirty and it’s hard to clean) and a watch. I haven’t worn earrings in YEARS. I do have a couple of necklaces which I wear only occasionally. She came over last week and brought with her some jewelry that she wanted to give me. A few pieces that she likes but doesn’t wear anymore. She has encouraged me to wear jewelry even if I’m wearing a tshirt, put on a little makeup even if I’m just staying home with the kids. Not to impress anyone but more to lift up myself. And it works!

6.  Our son is nearly one year old. And I think that he is finally sleeping through the night. He slept this morning until 5 am then Handsome got him back to sleep until 5:45am at which time I got him up. He went to bed about 6:30 the night before so we decided that was pretty darned good. People, this has been one of the longest years of my life. I have never slept so little. EVER. Now if I get seven hours straight I can’t even go back to sleep! Who cares if it’s 4:30 in the morning. So this morning I got up and folded some clothes, had a great time reading my Bible and praying, enjoyed a cup of tea with Handsome. And it was only 6am!

I need to get the kitchen cleaned up before I head to bed by 9pm. BSF tomorrow so we’ve got an early start.

I’m in charge of a fellowship for our church that we’ve entitled Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner? It involves church members volunteering to be hosts or guests. Guests will arrive at the church at a specified time on the date chosen and will be given an address, but not the name of their host. They will drive to their destination and dinner will be provided for them by the host. The host also does not know who will be coming for dinner. It’s an effort to get people mixing together outside of their normal groups. It’s being well-received and sign-ups are going well.

Below is the first video in a series of three that Handsome and I made, with the help of a friend for the end bit, which have been playing each week at church.

Before I run out of steam I want to post a picture of my birthday present from Handsome.

If you click on the picture you can enlarge it to see it better. But you’ll notice that that the bottom is says Philoxenos, which is the name of my blog. It also has the literal translation in English above and the original Greek below. The colours even match the colours of my blog. They’re happy colours.

I was so impressed by this gift, which is framed and hanging in my kitchen. Handsome did a good job. Very thoughtful and really perfect for me at this time.

Tonight I’m doing the happy dance for two reasons.

1) Cutie, 2yo, has gone on the potty three times in the last two days completely  of her own accord. Woo hoo!! She was liberally rewarded with M&Ms, which were left over from Christmas. Handsome has taken her out, alone, which she thinks is so cool, to replenish the M&M supply and buy some special panties just for her. I wasn’t planning on potty training her until just before Easter. I had marked a week on the calendar so I would have no commitments outside the house. But sometimes, you just have to go with the flow.

2) And in some ways this one is even better because yesterday a 20 year old dream of mine came true. 20 years I have been waiting to become the owner of this:

Guess what I’m doing tonight after the kids are in bed?? Watching Anne!! I remember when I was growing up I used to go to the early church service on Sundays, followed by Sunday School, and then I’d go home (we lived on the church property in the parsonage) and turn on PBS and during the ask-for-money-athon they’d play the Anne movies. Anne and Gilbert meeting on the bridge after she thought he was getting married… *sigh*

Thank you to my in-laws for a very special birthday gift. I also bought a rolling pin and some baking sheets, which will get lots of use, but these movies… 20 years I’ve been waiting!!!