1. Yeah! Pope Francis won "Person of the Year" for Time Magazine. Does our Pope have a fan club, or what?
A few weeks ago, I had my extended family over for a post-Thanksgiving seafood party. (That how this landlocked West Virginian hosts an event now. "Oh, you are coming to my house? What a great excuse to buy a dozen blue crabs from my favorite foodie paradise!") My new Sister-in-law sat on my couch in front of my newly erected live Christmas Tree and said "I love Pope Francis!"
I'm an adult convert from the Protestant faith. I've had ten years of horrible conversations about Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict with every one of my extended family members. There was one memorable night when I was trying to defend the Pope during a fun night out with my sister at a DC bar when I finally decided "Enough Abigail! Shut up, already!" I can live my life with deference to some great holy men dressed up in white hats in Rome without seeking approval from my siblings or my parents.
So it truly felt surreal that my new Protestant sister, who has zero intentions of converting, talked so openly and positively about our new Pope. She really admires him. I kept waiting for my brother to jump in, or my mother or my father. Instead, everyone nodded their head in agreement. Surreal!
2. My favorite find on Cyber Monday this year is the Charlie Brown Christmas Tree.
I am in love with this image. It's so me.
3. We had a major snowstorm over the weekend. We went from bare ground to ten inches of snow! My kids are in heaven. Jon somehow taught three of them to snowboard well in two days. They are so athletic.
4. Of course, being the geeky Mom I instantly said "We need to be ready for Sochi!" I googled that the Olympic Trials for the US Snowboarding Team are happening this weekend. We will be watching at noon on Saturday! I think a pop quiz on the Shaun White is a good follow up to our homeschool focus on Nelson Mandela this past week.
5. Thanks to my friend Claire, I finally mastered the art of Sugar Cookie making. That's my favorite way take on intimidating new cooking challenges, with a friend. After years of epic fails, I scheduled a joint Sugar Cookie making party with Claire. She made the dough. I made the icing. We used this site for inspiration. Totally awesome! I now actually prefer the cookie making party, to the regular cookie exchange party in Advent. Hope this becomes a regular holiday tradition.
6. Today is St. Lucy's Feast Day and tomorrow is St. John of the Cross!
7. Hope everyone has a peaceful Advent Season!
