Break from the routine

When did my kids learn to speak in complete sentences using phrases like "filled to the brim," "you just have to deal with it" and "tooth pickle"?  Children should come with a notification sound, rather like when you receive a new email, to let us slow poke folk know that their Play Dough minds just learned a new bit of vocabulary.  What a gift it is to this middling mama to hear those bits come from those erstwhile faces. 

Our #1 is downright reading now, which [SPOILER: her Christmas gift to me] means that she can pass out all of the presents from under the tree this year.  Allow me to connect the dots for you.  She can do the grunt work and I can remain tucked under some luciously fuzzy blanket with a warm mug of coffee and something sticky sweet.  'Tis my ideal Christmas breakfast.

Today marks the first day of the next two weeks of the holiday break from the routine.  A small part of me feels relieved that the boy is around for a few days and can help wrangle the crazy.  An equally small part of me is hyperventilating a bit that the crazy dial will be set on "constant" until the routine kicks in again.

I just mapped out my week in the kitchen and, let me assure you, there will be an absurd amount of bread making involved in various guises.  I'm thinking hard about capturing some of the anticipation of the season of Advent and revamping it for some of the doldrums weeks soon to come (I'm looking squarely at you, February); more on that will perhaps be forthcoming soon.

I just had my last class session for the year, and talk about a leap of faith when I left the full-time gig for the part-time anxiety, it worked.  We figure that on average I need to teach some combination of 10 classes a year, and this year, my first full and purposeful year into this venture, I was blessed with 11.  It was looking a bit questionable when I only had 4 completed through the first 1/2 of the year.  But we have been provided with enough, and that is the warmest God hug of all.  For all of my burgeoning anxieties, worry about money is far, far down the list.  And I don't take that lightly, not even remotely. 

Friends...blessings for each one of you this joyous week.