Angels at work

Sometimes there are those moments in life when you know that God and special people who have joined him in the life ever-after are working through others. Tonight I had one of those moments.

Jer and I went uptown to have supper. (I was planning to order in but couldn't get them to answer the phone so I thought it easier to just go.) There were two families (neighbors) who were enjoying dinner together. One of the teenage kids had down-syndrome. Early in our evening, I observed him being very social, leading the group in prayer before dinner, and kidding with the father of the neighbor family. As we sat there, the other children, about 5, left to walk back to one of the homes but the young man stayed behind with his parents and the other couple.

Jer was still nibbling on this dino nuggets and I was just sitting there, when the young man came over to our table. Keep in mind that we were the only people in this little restaurant besides the staff. He shook my hand and I asked his name. He proudly responded "Brian". Then, I introduced him to Jer, who gave him a high five. He told me who the two couples were, "his family and neighbors" and also shared their names. I could tell his parents were a little embarassed so he returned to his table and we got ourselves ready to go. Jeremiah jumped out of our booth and ran to the door as I yelled, "hey, you need a coat on." Brian promptly got up from his chair and picked up my son's coat to help him put it on, even working diligently to zip it up. His mom from across the restaurant questioned if he would be able to zip it up, and I enthusiastically nodded when I watched him get it. She beamed with pride! I'm guessing he's not usually the best with zippers. Jeremiah told him "Thank you" and we proceeded to the counter to pay. Just before we left, Brian made sure that Jeremiah had his sippy cup in hand and I wished them a Merry Christmas and headed for the door before I burst in to tears.

Now, you may be saying, "OK, you emotional goon, it's just a nice kid with down syndrome who likes to be social," but for me this was my son getting the opportunity to interact with someone that I believe is VERY special!! I know that my life and view on some of the simple things is different because of my uncle Mark, who had downs and was often the entertainment and more for our family. Mark, in a public setting, would have walked right up to some lady in a restaurant just like Brian did. It reminded me that I want to be sure my son understands how special it can be to know people like Brian. I want him to understand the spirit that my uncle Mark lived with each and every day!

Tonight I felt my Uncle Mark working through Brian and I missed him so! I'm not sure if the angel was Brian or Mark but I know that it reminded me about the important things, especially at this time of year.

***Remember - my intentions were never to go to the restaurant in the first place. I wanted delivery, but now I feel like there was a reason they didn't answer the phone.

Motivation issues

I have SERIOUS motivation issues today. The weather makes me want to curl up , I felt like yesterday was Friday all day, and I can feel the holiday slow-down already occuring. I'm usually super-motivated and on-task when I work from home but I'm not feeling that today.

....must focus....must accomplish items today so that I can spend Monday and Tuesday organizing my office.

Back to work.

Set to stay in

We're getting walloped with a winter ice storm outside. I'm intending to work from home tomorrow but they way it looks right now, I may have to even slide my way to the sitters to do that. We have milk and bread and I'm just hoping that the lights stay on. Maybe being stuck at home will also help me get my Christmas letters stuffed.

In other updates, it sounds like JT has a scheduled departure time from D.C. Hopefully, if the weather cooperates, we should see him sometime on Saturday night. That means that we'll skip out on his company's holiday party. However, I'm going to keep my sitter for Saturday night so that I can accomplish a bit more holiday shopping that I thought JT might be able to do if he was home earlier.

OH and the BIG NEWS (at least for this week) - I'M DONE WITH MY CAPSTONE! I know I've kind of said that before but now I've presented to my client. I walked out of their office at 10 a.m. on Wednesday and I so badly wanted to go have a drink! I kept it G rated with a Caramel Vanilla Latte, but felt so much relief just to be done.

An update and the label

Here's the start of another week, which means that JT will be home in less than a week. It sounds like his install is going well and they should be able to leave by Friday, at the latest. I'll be very ready to greet him!!! Jer has been talking to him each night but he has still been asking for him.

I made a HUGE dent in my Christmas shopping this weekend. I had a well-executed plan and made 7 stops in about 4.5 hours. I rocked it and, for the most part, avoided extremely stressful crowds! We will just need to pick up a few things next weekend.

My in-laws were a great help this weekend and it was very nice to see them spending time with Jer. He was excited to have them here and hopefully by Wednesday or Thursday he will quit asking where they are!

I also turned in my final assignment for the semester yesterday afternoon and then proceeded to start holiday baking! Some of my co-workers' last day in the office before Christmas is Wednesday so I need to have treats ready to distribute by mid-week. I've been taking class, with no full break since May so the idea that I don't have homework to execute is almost surreal!

*****
Now on to a post I've had in my head for a while now. All over the internet there are different surveys that tell you which character of (fill in the blank) show or movie you are. More than once, I've joked with friends about which character from Steel Magnolias or Friends we are, but lately I've really started thinking about these labels of personality and character.

Take Friends for example - Monica is the anal retentive one, Joey is the "dumb" one, Ross is the brain, Phoebe is the weird one, etc.

So, I've led myself to ponder which personality I am amongst my groups of friends. Last week, I was almost the cheap one - simply by COMPLETE and TOTAL mistake of almost walking out on a check at a bar. Goodness knows I could be labeled the emotional one. Since having a kid, I could be the late one, but I think there are others that get that M.O. before me. These are the obvious ones to me but maybe there are some that I don't even realize. Those are the worst, in my opinion - unless they are good.

Now that I've made you wonder which one you would be, you can all go take those internet surveys. Have a great week!

Your bag?

On Wednesday night I had a dream that two of my family members and I won shopping sprees at Target. We had one hour to fill a reusable shopping bag with as much as we could put in it. Unfortunately, I had not planned well for my spree and wasn't sure what choices to make. For some reason, I finished my hour in the pharmaceutical part of the store. I guess I figured that was a good place to stock up on things that are costly and I would actually need. How very practical of me!

When I woke up from the dream, I was upset that I had not planned better for my trip through the store and started contemplating how I would strategize such an opportunity if it were real. What a way to keep from sleeping?!? I decided that I would probably head for electronics and housewares but would need to stick to items that would be somewhat small because I only had one bag.

What would you put in your bag?

Just as a note - I have NO IDEA where this dream was rooted in my conscience. Perhaps it's the plan of attack I've been developing for Saturday Christmas shopping.

Why does Google think I know French?

I use Google reader and so far have LOVED it. It saves so much time for me to check numerous blogs in one stop.

However, for the past 2 days, Google has been displaying menus, etc. in French. I reset it earlier today and it still thinks I'm French.

I just wish I could figure out how to look like a hot French chick.

Had a great weekend, probably should have accomplished more but I'm feeling OK with where I'm at. I'm hoping to wrap up my last paper before John's mom arrives on Thursday and then be able to get some holiday prep done while she can spend time with Jer. If that doesn't work, I'll be using some vacay time next week to shop and wrap up some projects. That reminds me that I need to order cards.

I do have to say that I really miss JT. I know he hasn't been gone that long and others are gone much longer, but the idea that I'm still in the first half of his travels is hard.

Here's hoping the week ahead is uneventful!

In a good place

I'm in a good place right now. Here are a few highlights.

Academically - I did turn in "THE" project on Sunday afternoon. WHOOOHOOO!! There were a few high-stressed moments in the final days of drafting it but I survived with sleep deprivation. It's been a long time since I was doing homework at 1 a.m. I give a presentation about it on Monday evening. Then, I have just one more paper to write to be done with the semester. I do have class a few more times in the next couple of weeks.

Hubby on road - John left yesterday for a project in Washington, D.C. He is scheduled to be back on Dec. 19 or 20. I'm not saying it's going to be a cake walk, but I do have some wonderful support to help me get through and, luckily, work doesn't look too bad for me. It will be weird and an adjustment to have him gone for so long. I think I'll really start to notice during that last week when I'm finally done with school.

Holiday prep - We put up our Christmas tree after I turned in my paper on Sunday. Although, it is yet to have ornaments on it. Hopefully, Jer and I can get to that this weekend. I'm chipping away at my shopping my hitting one store at a time at lunch. My MIL is coming next week and I'm hoping that I can get out to do some things then too. Cards may become New Year's or Valentine's greetings (maybe a little exaggeration) but they get out eventually.

Looking forward to a birthday party for a friend tonight, a holiday parade with Jer tomorrow night, some studying and hopefully reminding myself to take care of me this weekend.

I hope you have a great weekend too!