Thursday Thoughts - I miss these naps

I used to have a magical power.  I was able to get Anastasia to sleep.  Or at least take naps.

Nap Time could be anywhere (Dec. 2016)

Weekends were made for naps.  When I would take care of Anastasia, and even sometimes when I wasn't, I was somehow able to convince her that it was time for a nap.  At home, we would sit together on the couch or she would lay on the couch.  And then I would tell her to close her eyes and I would close my eyes, and eventually we would both nap.  Her nap was usually much longer than mine.  But, there was always something very invigorating about even my short 10-20 minute nap while she took an hour (or longer) nap.

Eventually I was able to get her to nap in places that were not at home.  Like the picture above.  Or at church.  Or while walking around with her.  Home was always easier.  But, I did enjoy the times like the picture where we were somewhere else and she just went to sleep.

These are the naps that I miss though.

Now when I nap, it is like an hour or longer and I feel like I wasted part of my day.  Sometimes they are necessary naps, like when I have a migraine.  But since I usually only nap on the weekends, and my weekends are the time when I can relax and do fun things like knitting, crocheting, or reading.  So it is an hour less of doing that.

The naps I had with Anastasia were by far shorter.  They did what the long naps did...only with less time.  So I miss those naps.  And I miss the naps when Anastasia was small and was able to fit on my lap for a nap.  I miss being able to get her to nap too.

Merging is a New Journey - Candle Candle! (Happy Memories Part 5)

 

So many memories, so many topics one could discuss.  But thanks to the organist at PUMC (Thanks Stephen!!), I was able to focus in on a specific memory for this week.

The Advent Song!

For so many years, as I am sure other churches have done, after the Advent candle was lit each week, there was the singing of a verse (or more) of "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel."  However, when Pastor Dorsey was appointed to our church, she introduced us to The Advent Song (see image), found in The Faith We Sing page 2090.  Each week we would either sing the verse that went with the candle being lit, or we would sing the first verse week one, verses 1 and 2 on week two, and so on.

However, the refrain was sung every week, whether we sang one verse or more than one verse.  "Candle, candle, burning bright, shining in the cold winter night.  Candle, candle burning bright, fill our hearts with Christmas light."

It kind of gets stuck in your head.  But it is such a pretty song and it was a welcome change.  Not that "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel" is a bad song.  But it is nice to be able to use that as a hymn and have something else for candle lighting.

In our family, we call the song "Candle Candle" because one day when we were out to dinner or something, when Anastasia was little, she suddenly started randomly singing, "Caaandle, Caaandle..."

So yesterday, while we were doing virtual worship, the Advent reading was pre-recorded and the pastor lit the candles (3 of them).  And while that was going on, the Advent Song was playing.  I immediately sent a message to my sister:

CANDLE CANDLE

It was such a joy to hear that song again.  It has been a couple years since we last heard it.  But it brought back such great memories.  Of Advent.  Of the church at Christmas.  Of red ribbons and white ribbons.  Of greens.  Of filling the advent candles with oil.  Of lighting the candles.  Of taking pictures week after week to use the images of the candles lit for Facebook.  Of how pretty the church was at Christmas.  Of Chrismon ornaments, ones that were made a long time ago by my dad when he taught Sunday School and new when one was made in honor of Anastasia.  Of all the candles lit on Christmas Eve.  Of singing Advent and Christmas hymns.  Of celebrating Christ's birth.

CANDLE!  CANDLE!

Thursday Thoughts - A lot of times I get it WRONG

 I had several ideas come to my mind for today's Thursday Thoughts.  I thought about writing a post about 2020, but that will be more suitable in 3 weeks (December 31st).  I've already written about music a lot.  I'm trying to stay away from church-related posts to save those for my Monday series.

What a pretty sky... 11/19/2020

So I got to thinking how a lot of the time, I get things wrong.  Very wrong.  WAAAAY WRONG!

Don't worry.  The picture I shared isn't an example of getting things wrong.  I just like to share photos because, well, they make my copied blog posts look nicer!  And, I think that is a time when I got the picture pretty okay.  Maybe not right.  But definitely not wrong!

I mostly get things WAAAAY WRONG when it comes to people.

I have a hard time figuring out when I meet people if they are nice or not.  If they are possessive or not.  If they are mean or not.  If they are real or not.  And yes, if it is a guy, if they would be interested in me or not.

I have gotten it wrong a lot of the time.

A. LOT. OF. THE. TIME.

Which results in me hurting a lot of the time.

It feels like the older I get, the harder it is to figure it all out.

I didn't have a ton of friends in school (any grade or level).  But the people I got to know who became my friends I could tell right away that they were true to how I encountered them.

But as I got older, it seemed to be harder to tell from first impressions.

There are notable exceptions.  My bestie Jess is like my twin.  We have so many of the same likes and dislikes.  Strangely enough through different means, we also have some of the same friendship circles.  And, back in times when it wasn't so strange to think about taking a train down to NYC, it was so nice to finally find someone who was like me...HATES TO RUSH TO THE TRAIN.  We both would rather have the time to eat something and then walk down and wait for the train to open so we have easy choice of seats then run through Grand Central and hope to find seats together going the right direction.

But, I was engaged to someone who I thought was nice, accepted me for who I was, and I would be happy with.  Totally did NOT see the possessive side where I couldn't do anything on my own and where I lost myself.  Also did not see the "I have to show off how smart I am and you are just so dumb" side either.

I liked someone who turned out to be really mean.  And here's the kicker.  It wasn't until just recently when I put things together and realized how mean this person was to me. 

Because, a lot of times I get it WRONG.

Unfortunately, however, that has put me in this very strange place as I am meeting more and more new people.  I like to think the best of people upon first meeting them.  And, I'd say about 99% of the time, that is the best way to go about it.  And so far, I have been right...at least as far as I can tell.  It's the 1% that I am worried about.

But I think the point is, sometimes we all get it wrong.  It just depends on how we handle it when we find out.  It is okay to be wrong because no one is right all the time. And I think I need to remind myself of that, because when I get it wrong, I really (REALLY) beat myself up over it.  Like the example above about the mean person.  I have really come down on myself for it, mostly because I didn't realize it sooner.

So...here's hoping that my discernment track record has improved (or will improve)...and while I will still get it wrong, maybe it won't be as often as it has in the past.

Merging is a New Journey - Happy Thoughts Part 4 (Souper Sunday!)

It's cold today.  And all during church yesterday so many different thoughts about today's blog entry went through my head.  But it was really cold today and it made me think, what is better on a cold day than a nice bowl of soup?  Which then got me remembering Souper Sunday.

Probably one of the last Souper Sunday Spreads

So, what is Souper Sunday?

For us, it was the first day of Sunday School after the summer break, typically the second Sunday of September.  Teachers and students were in early for their first day.  We would have worship service.  And then, as Methodists do, after service we would eat.  Oh, yes.  And for those who didn't like to come to service at 9:30am as we had been doing all summer, this was the day we went back to 11am service (Sunday School was at 9:30am).

We would have homemade soups, sandwiches (cut in halves or quarters), the best punch ever, and to end the meal, make-your-own sundaes.

It was a great time of fellowship.  Of course, good food.  And just a really fun day all around.

Over time, as with everything it seems, it got harder and harder to get kids (of any age) in Sunday School, volunteers to make soup, sandwiches, or pick up the sundae supplies from Stewart's.  So we had to ask ourselves, "Why are we doing this?"  Was it tradition?  Why had we always done it that way?  Had it lost its meaning?

As someone who participated first as a student returning to Sunday School, later as a teacher of Sunday School, and even as a congregation member, I obviously did have great times having this food after the worship service.  (Favorites being ANYONE who made an egg salad sandwich!)  So even though there were times we struggled to get help with the planning and the event itself (speaking as a former Worship chairperson who had to do the planning), I have more happy memories of this time than sad ones.

A good memory and a good event that eventually went away as things got smaller...but a memory I haven't thought about in a long time.  So I'm happy to have reflected on it today.

Thursday Thoughts - Peppermint Obsessed

 "Aunt Jenn, why do you like mint so much?" -Anastasia

A bag that stays with me

So, I have always loved mint flavors.  My favorite growing up was spearmint, and I still do like that.  But I have really grown to love peppermint.  And wintergreen is okay too.  If it is minty, I love it.  To the point where if I see something that is new and it is mint, I have to try it!

This time of year is great for me because there IS SO MUCH MINT!  Like everywhere there is mint!  Mint M&M's, Minty Candy Canes, Peppermint Bark, Peppermint Mocha coffee flavoring, mint-scented candles, Twisted Peppermint from Bath & Bodyworks, and I could go on and on.  While everyone obsesses over the Pumpkin Spice, I want to fast forward through that time and get right to the Peppermint.

Anastasia, however, hates mint.  This came to light in a hilarious moment a few years ago when I was eating Mint M&M's.  She is very good at getting people to share with her, especially if it is a sweet treat.  So, I shared half a serving of my minty M&M's with her one night after dinner.  And you should have seen the face she was making as she was eating them.  I asked her, "Is everything okay?  Do you like them?"  She says, "Yeah..." while still making an awful face while eating them.  I say, "Are you sure?  You won't hurt my feelings if you don't like them."  Her response?  "No Aunt Jenn, I don't like them.  I don't think I like mint."  At the time she didn't know how to read, so if we didn't want her to bug us for something, we would tell her it was mint.  Package of cookies?  They are mint!  Candy?  It is minty!  She can read now so we can't do that.  But, she has also grown to like the smell of mint, but not really the taste.

But me?  I am a HUGE mint fan. I always have been and I am sure always will be.

However, it got me to think about why exactly I was a fan of mint, especially over the past couple years, of peppermint specifically.

Peppermint has a ton of uses and can be considered a remedy for many things.  Just do a Google search on "uses for peppermint" and you will find a lot.  For me, it helps a lot with my migraines...both making the pain slightly tolerable but more importantly, handling the nausea that comes with them.  It is also a soothing smell and relaxes me a bit when I am randomly nervous.  And, well, it just tastes good!

Mint just makes me happy.  And I don't know if that is a good enough answer for why I like mint so much.  But it is the answer that I have.

Merging is a New Journey - Happy Memories Part 3 (aka There is a tree!)

 So, first week of Advent in a new place.

Wasn't sure what to expect or how I would react since I have been known to be an emotional crazy person lately.  (Says the girl crying at organ postludes.)

Amazingly, I kept most of my emotions in check.  (Though I think some are starting to show more...in church and outside of church...)

Anyway...

UMC of Wappingers; Advent 2019

 
This is the view I have known for so many (many) years at Advent.  Well, mostly.  For those familiar with the Wappingers sanctuary at Advent and Christmas, you will know that usually in the right-hand side there was also a Chrismon Tree, which is absent here.  The huge tree (12 feet high) is missing because it became difficult to assemble for the few that remained.  So, last year, there was no tree.  I feel like the sanctuary still looked nice, but people missed the tree.  However, for those of us who were there, it would have been difficult to put together so while it was missed, it was something that did need to go based on person-power.

Fast forward to 2020.  I know, most people would want to fast forward through 2020.  But, we don't have that luxury.

PUMC: Advent 2020

There is a tree!  A statement I made that Anastasia keeps repeating.  And I think she is very glad to have a tree this year.  Plus it doesn't seem as massive as the tree we had.  (By the way, I took this photo and a few others between the service and the start of the State of the Church time so I didn't look like the crazy photo-taker when people were doing things up front.)

Advent continues on, whether there is a tree in the sanctuary or not.  But, I am glad to not have gotten the ton of scratches from fluffing artificial tree and garland branches.  Advent continues on, even with being in a new place for this season and potential changes in things coming.  I look forward to the remaining time of Advent, and I am trying not to be too anxious because that kind of defeats the purpose of waiting with Hope, Peace, Love, and Joy.

Thursday Thoughts - Thankfulness

 

A break between turkey prep and the rest of dinner prep - Thanksgiving 2020

Today is Thanksgiving.  And I thought for today's blog entry, I'd talk about some of the things I am thankful for.

• Being able to have such faith in God and knowing that I am loved no matter what.
  
• Family & friends - those near and far, those I have stayed connected with and those I have reconnected with.
• A roof over my head, food to eat, a bed to sleep in, places to sit, clothes to wear, a car to get to and from work, and so many other things like that.
• A job that remained steady even during the midst of the pandemic and bosses who I work well with and am grateful for every day.
• My pup Sparkle, though she doesn't let me rest in the evening and I spend more time outside in the cold with her than inside - especially in the fall/winter.
• My increasing cooking ability.
• My church family, as it started in 2020 and how it is now in 2020.
• The musicians at PUMC for igniting my love of music, especially organ music, once again.
• Feelings that make me happy and nervous at the same time.
• Laughing.
• Singing.
• Smiling.
• Being able to sit with a good book or a yarn project (crochet or knit).
• Getting out more for hikes/walks.
  
• And being able to share some of what I am thankful for in a blog post.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving...and though today is a day when some people typically focus on what they are thankful for, it is also something we should remember every day.