majesty among the mundane

tonight, i went to a candlelight christmas eve service. we worshiped with songs, what we've come to think of as "christmas carols", a bit of narrative about the birth of Jesus and the conditions surrounding his birth, and some sharing from the pastor. the theme was about how ordinary everything was that night - ordinary, everyday sheep; ordinary people; ordinary circumstances and setting. and yet, in the midst of the ordinary, something very extraordinary happened - God broke through and entered the this world as a baby. there was majesty in the middle of the very mundane. the pastor used this story from the washington post, pearls before breakfast, to illustrate the point.

i hope we all take time to sit at the feet of the Jesus that broke through the mundane and bleak to bring salvation to a messed-up and dark world. please don't let us miss out on Jesus, or diminish the significance of who he is, because we're too busy or otherwise preoccupied with ourselves and our own junk.

winter break

i am finally on winter break. the last week before break was super stressful - so stressful, that i developed a stye! i'm sure lack of sleep didn't help. i got into portland just past midnight yesterday, after a series of mini-delays, and i was greeted with cold and rain. oh, how i've missed this weather.



since being on break and at home is all about relaxing and doing fun things, i've started to learn how to sew. my first project - an eye pillow for my sty. wendy showed me how to make a heat therapy rice bag with a washable slip-cover. i can now independently make as many rice bags as i want. next up, craft apron for teaching use.

holiday program

sometimes i wish my classroom was like survivor...where kids are voted off the island.

we're in the middle of pulling together our winter holiday program. this afternoon, my class was part of the audience watching the kinder and 1st graders perform. they would not stay quiet - talking, playing around, and goofing off throughout the show. another teacher commented on how we should just equip each kid with a buzzer and send them a jolt when they're messing around. sigh.

after school, i took two of the girls to pinkberry in larchmont. one of the girls earned the most awards certificates in class, but couldn't go on the museum trip last weekend. as an alternative, i took her and a plus one for dessert. while we were walking to pinkberry, heidi spotted dr. karev from grey's anatomy. that ups my celeb sightings to...4?

last weekend, susan made a whole bunch of caramel/candied apples as favors for her birthday party. we have slowly been slicing up the leftovers and they are delicious. the sugar de-stresses me just enough.