it's christmas eve, you guys

And while they were there the time came for her to give birth.  And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.  And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.  And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear.  And the angel said to them, "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people.  For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.  And this will be a sign to you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger."  And suddenly there was with the angel a great multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!"

source

and that's what christmas is all about, charlie brown.

i'd say if the decepticons come, we've got more problems than just breaking and entering

at preschool, and also at the church in general, we've got a lovely little security system that gets turned on every night and off again every morning, just like pretty much every other building ever.  this means we've got these guys hanging out in every room and hallway.

source

on our One and Only Day of School This Week, Boy noticed it hanging out in the corner, up above the closet the teachers use, and inquired about it.  now, of course, this was during snack so the attention of several children was drawn toward it.  they all Needed to Know.  so i explained to them about security systems, and how it's there to make sure no one comes into our school or church in the night when no one's supposed to be here and it helps keep our school safe when we aren't at school.

of course, if you aren't safe, there are Bad Guys.  so we had to then, of course, talk about how if Bad Guys ever did come in the security system would know and would call the police.  i told them it had never happened at our school and probably wouldn't, but you never know for sure so we've got the system just in case.  then they had to know what KIND of Bad Guys would come in.

would Bad Guys come and steal stuff?  (well, maybe)

would the Bad Guys beat anybody up? (probably not, as the place wouldn't have anyone else here!)

what if the decepticons came? (then the autobots would probably come too and they'd fix it)

what about vampires?  (it's only a problem if they sparkle)

what ARE vampires? (they aren't real, don't worry)

they all seemed to settle back down and be Less Concerned About Bad Guys when they heard vampires weren't real.  me?  i kinda wanted to go back to the decepticons.

part of me almost hopes they break in in the middle of the night.  but then i think about that, and realize that is a TERRIBLE plan.  terrible, i say.

apparently i need a rotary cutter. or Really Really Sharp Scissors.

so next july the girl i've been best friends with for the last two decades is getting married.

that's us.  we awesome.

and while my dear danielle is the oldest of four chil'ens, she is also the only girl.  she was not given any lovely little sisters (although i will say her brothers are Pretty Rockin').  and as she has no sisters, and i am the friend that has been there since the Dawn of Time, i was given the role of maid of honor.  so i get to assist with all things wedding related.  

i got to go dress shopping.

don't worry, she didn't buy any of these dresses.  her real one is a SECRET.

i get to get caught up on all the details before anyone outside their families (that i know of...).

i get to stand up front and hold a bouquet (two actually....gots ta hold the bride's during the ceremony, y'know).

i get to wrangle children (which is any different than any other day how?).

and most relevant to the moment, i get to Help Make Stuff.

the current project is the flowers.  we're making all the flowers out of fabric.  danielle's made (and by made i mean cut out) about a quarter of what needs to be cut.  she's halfway through the blue fabric she got.  this week i received the yellow fabric.  only thing about the yellow fabric....it's tulle.  i don't know if you've ever dealt with tulle before, but i have quickly learned that It Is The Devil.  for the first time ever, i've had to google how to cut something.  apparently when you work with tulle you need a flat surface, a rotary cutter (although if you fail to possess one of those for some ungodly reason then the internet SUPPOSES stupidly sharp scissors will work), a metal ruler, and a cutting board.

and all of that is fantastic.

EXCEPTING for the fact that i am not Desiring to Make a Tutu or a Veil or Anything Like That.  i want to make flowers.  and i have a template for them!

which has failed me.  for verily tulle is hard to trace things on, and harder still to cut intricate things out of.  i have progressed to giving up on that and making circles, because circles are much simpler, yes they are.

HOWEVER.

circles are still making my life hard.  tulle is stupid.  i don't love it anymore.  actually i don' think i ever did LOVE it.....i think i'm pretty ambivalent toward it, actually.  i think i'm ambivalent toward most fabrics.  i don't really care that much.  except now i care about tulle a lot.  because i have two yards of it, and i must make circles.  and some strips.  and experiment with it all.  and try to make it work somehow.

because i have to. 

am i dead? or am i not??

have a hint:  i'm not.

at least, i'm PRETTY sure i've survived thus far.

it's kind of hard to tell, to be honest.

i'm a bit run down.  and maybe sick?  maybe not?  i in real and true actuality can't tell on that one.  i woke up on sunday and was all stuffed up and such.  and tired.  REALLY TIRED.  sunday was perhaps the worst possible day for me to feel that way.  i base that statement on the fact that sunday was the preschool's christmas program and our staff party.  i spent about 80% of the day trying really hard not to fall over.

let me tell you, it was TRICKY.  tricky, but worth it.

anyway, i've spent this ENTIRE WEEK crazy stuffed up and exhausted, with a slight sore throat that comes and goes and a couple instances of a mild headache.  so, i'm not sure if i'm actually sick or not.  it's really deLIGHTful fun.  except for how it isn't.

on TOP of all this we have our wonderfully BOISTEROUS group of 3 and 4 year old children.  they are just the most RESTFUL group of children i have ever encountered, and they have SUCH a calming influence on my life.

this is how they make me feel

although i SHOULD point out that as...INVIGORATING as they are, they DO have their upside as well.

FOR EXAMPLE.

--Girl ran up to me on the playground one day (like, RAN to me), exclaims, "miss stone, i just like you ALL DAY!!"  and runs away again immediately.

--Girl was one of several waiting for her coat to be zipped before we went outside, and when it was her turn she said "miss stone will you zip my coat?"  to which i replied, of course (then i zipped it and made the awesome "i'm-zipping-your-coat" sound i make).  Girl gets in line to go out and says, "you're so NICE, miss stone."  well, i DO try.

--Girl and Boy got into a hot debate not once, but twice, that ended in discussing the merits of Dora the Explorer.  both began when Girl declared she enjoyed a certain program (first star wars, second....spongebob, i think) and Boy declared that said program was HIGHLY inappropriate for their age group and here are some better programs that she should watch.  dora was always included.  Girl always informed Boy that she does, in fact, watch dora.  Girl was also lectured on love by Boy when she sang some unidentifiable piece of music, then informed me she heard it on her pink hello kitty radio and that she loves her hello kitty radio.  Boy was very quick to tell her that was wrong, because you don't love objects you love PEOPLE.  you can like objects, though.  Girl told him that no, she loved her radio.  Boy shot back that no, she liked her radio, because you could only love people, like your family, and that she loves her family more than her radio.  Girl told him she actually loves her radio more than her family, hah, noooo, that's not true.  they went in circles like that for a while.  it was fantastically entertaining.  (dunno if you can tell, but i LOVE when Boy lectures Girl.  it's AMAZING.  every.  time.)

--ummm........ummmmmmmmmmmm..................................UMMMM..............i'm sure there's other stuff.  i'm SURE of it.  i just can't think of any more at the moment.  because i'm still EXHAUSTED.  and really, this class is best compared to a giant game of chutes and ladders wherein, by a stroke of bad luck, you're more prone to chutes than ladders.  we've all had those games.  you know EXACTLY what i'm talking about.

where was i going with this post?  i don't really remember.....but i think that goes back to being exhausted and  on decongestants all week.  perhaps that was my point.....i'm still here, but kind of incredibly overwhelmed by life this year.  

this was long.  and probably unnecessary.

...........have this:

this photogenic little devil is named beans, and he lives in my house

yes, he's adorable.  let's leave it there.

in which there are pictures and stuff

remember that time i said i went to charlottesville?  and we totally went to a winery?  vineyard?  whatever your word of choice is?  and i told you i had pictures of some ruins on the property, right?  well, here you totally go!

this is the first sight of said ruins upon approaching them.  if you look at the left hand corner you can see the chairs that were set up for the wedding that was supposed to take place shortly.

 apparently good ol' thomas jefferson designed this place for his buddy who owned this particular piece of land but who's name i can't remember....OH.  i got it.  barbour.  that was his name.  last name, obviously.  first name?  probably james.  it feels right.

 anyway, eventually it Burned Down in a Great Fire that was caused by candles on a christmas tree and this house has thusly become a Cautionary Tale.  perhaps this is why they never restored it, but built a whole new house next to it...i don't know.

 this was from the back.  yes it was.

 i really, really would have liked to walk around inside it, but it was (almost) completely fenced off.  part of the fence had been laid down on the ground in the front so as not to interrupt the wedding ceremony.  definitely crossed that there line.  definitely did NOT wander around inside said line.  nope.

and a view of the vineyard itself from the ruins.  quite lovely, really.

oh, i forgot to tell you....the best part of the whole trip?  the b&b we stayed at was a Former House of Ill Repute.  this was exciting for indeed i had never spent the night in a whorehouse before.  and the best part of it being a former whorehouse?  the people in the room next to us were honeymooners.  we felt it was QUITE appropriate.  :)

calvin and harry

this is my dad.  and me. 

  

i know what you're thinking.  who are those incredibly good looking people?  well, that just means you're not good at paying attention, because i just told you.  that be my father and i.

goodness.

anyway, you can forget about that for now.  because now i'm going to talk about myself.  and also harry.

i WOULD show you a picture of harry, but i can't really, because he isn't exactly...real.  i mean, i could show you this guy, 

more on him in a bit

or i could show you this guy,

no, he's not from glee.  i know nothing about glee.  i think i watched 4 episodes ever.  please don't try to talk to me about it.  please.

but really, none are quite right because they're both real people, outside of good ol' harry.

in case you haven't gotten it by now, i do, in fact, mean harry potter.

in my family, i am by far the biggest harry potter fan.  most of us read the books, and enjoyed them, but i'm (pretty much) the only one to watch a very potter musical, allllll of the potter puppet pal videos, and i'm CERTAINLY the only one who has, in fact, taken part in scholarly discussions about harry potter.  i have not convinced anyone else how awesome all of those things are.  well, mostly.

my father has been known to pull up potter puppet pal videos when bored.  which i believe is interesting because he's the only one who never read any of the books or watched any of the movies.*

his favorite?  

it's also my favorite.  mostly because i'm in full support of beach parties in london, and because i love harry's song.  my father also loves harry's song, even though this video is about 92% of what my father knows about harry potter.  this song is also why we're here right now.  my father was singing it tonight while we were all hanging out together, as a family.  following was the final version he came up with.

my name is harry potter i'm a hairy guy...

nananalala hair in my eye....

ahnanananana i was a baby......

POTTER POTTER POTTER POTTER!!!!**

......eh, i got the gist of it

and that is the relationship that my father and harry have.

*i do not watch the movies.  i saw the first two or three and managed to avoid the rest.  i hold LARGE grudges against daniel radcliffe and company, for they murdered the harry, ron, hermione, dumbledore, snape, etc that resided in my head, and i am still unable to forgive them for it.  i have also been able to hold onto my mental pictures of several lesser characters and settings by refusing to watch the movies.  this whole movies-killing-mental-pictures thing is why i am greatly opposed to books being made into movies.  it always ruins things for me.  always.  i could rant about this for MUCH longer, but i'll spare you.

**this part was, in fact, shouted.  yep.

this is kind of funny? mostly not really, i guess. sorry.

you guys.

this last week.....i did STUFF.

and some of it was even awesome!

FOR INSTANCE.

at this time last week my mother, sister, and i were loaded into my car headed down to spend the night with a couple friends of ours at a b&b in charlottesville, va.  friday night there consisted of Drinking Wine and Playing Apples to Apples, and was Much Fun.  saturday consisted of Awesome Breakfast, Farmer's Market, and General Wandering About, followed by a Trip to a Vineyard for a Wine Tasting and Tour, which was Also Awesome.  (i have pictures of some nifty ruins from the vineyard...whenever i get them loaded on my computer i'll show you some and tell you about them....for verily they were Awesome).

also preschool started this week.  it's been an interesting week.  the first day was short, which was kind of nice due to the cancelled meet the teacher, but was also kind of difficult because we HADN'T MET THE KIDS and had to jump right into everything, which is much easier, i suppose, for teachers of older grades. but preschool?  that ain't so awesome.

anyway.

our class is very boisterous and excited about life and enthusiastic about freaking EVERYTHING.  which is both awesome (they actually do stuff) and not awesome (LOUD).  i am not, at the end of the first week, sure how this year will go.  but!  go it will, and awesome it shall be (every year is Awesome in Its Own Way), and i will be desperately upset come may when they all leave me.  for this is how my life goes, and the life of every teacher.  you get a group of kids, you're all kind of awkward together for a bit while you get to know each other, eventually you get to know each other and while you come to love each other, you also come to reeeaaalllly need a margarita after school (that might just apply to teachers.....i don't know), and sometimes you reeeaaaalllllly want to throw things (again.......teachers only?).  but then eventually your year together ends, and you have to part ways, and it sucks all around (one little girl at the end of last year hugged me so hard and tight i had to tell her to let go because i couldn't breathe).  and then you have a summer apart to get over each other, and then you get a new group to love.

and really, that is simultaneously the best and worst part about what i do.  the number of kids i get to love.  because it's also the number of kids i have to let go eventually.

the Lord told noah....

there's gonna be a floody floody!

and it's gonna be in rachel's Basement!

and in her Church!

which means Preschool gets Cancelled for Tomorrow!

and also in Many Parking Lots, flooding Many Cars!

and also in Several Roads, preventing Ease of Travel!

and it's gonna come on the heels of School Starting!  which came on the heels of a Hurricane!  which came on the heels of an Earthquake!  which came on the heels of the Death of One of the Dogs of the boys she nannys!  which means that they've been especially delightful as of late!  because they've both got specTACular coping mechanisms!

well, actually, the older one has a pretty good coping mechanism....he likes to talk things through.  the younger one gets kinda.......EMOTIONAL.  but he's 6.  whaddya want?

ANYWAY.

i was pretty excited for tomorrow, for truly it is meet the teacher day at school and i was all ready to meet my class, and the room is all set up because we made sure to have toys and everything out this afternoon before we left so that we could come in as late as possible tomorrow and have as little to do  before the kids showed up as possible, and it was AWESOME.  the room looked great, we had a good assortment of stuff out, and i was all READY FOR SCHOOL.  then i find out school is cancelled because the playground flooded in on BOTH sides.  on the preschool side and the sunday school side.

apparently this is an inappropriate environment for small children.  who knew?

i mean, we still are starting up on monday for realz (well, "monday".....my class doesn't go on mondays, so tuesday for me) and so we get to meet our kids then, but still......i've been so looking forward to this.  i do not like summer for many reasons, and a large one of those reasons is my lack of a class.  but i suppose it's not so bad, tuesday's only a couple days away, and if i can last the last few months, i can TOTALLY make it until tuesday.

true.  story.  i'm kind of awesome like that.

have a preemptive apology. which i think is also known as a disclaimer? this is only kind of a disclaimer. i think preemptive apology is more accurate.

that's me.  in my mom's maid of honor dress from my aunt's first wedding.  when i was in high school.  i was being a fairy.  without wings.  also?  picniked the HANG out of this thing.  you probably can't tell.

so, i've never had a blog before, so i don't really know how i'm supposed to start this.  i mean, i've read SEVERAL, and i've got a goodly sized list that i follow, so i'm pretty down with the blogs, and i still do not have a handle on the Proper Way to Start a Blog.  

i have a feeling it's supposed to start however you want it to start, and it should be Unique, like You the Author are.  but quite frankly?  i'm not good at the beginning of ANYTHING.  ESPECIALLY written things.

true story.

every paper i've ever written has been super awesome strong for the WHOOOLLLLLLLEE body.  the introduction and conclusion?  SUCKTASTIC.  also every voicemail i've ever left and email i've ever sent.  they all start and end awkwardly!

perhaps i was an awkward baby (allegedly i was actually really stupid happy and laughed all the time, or so says my mother)?  it seems like it would have been fitting.  of course, that would mean i'd also have to die really awkwardly...nuts.  i don't think i know any awkward ways to die.....that's probably good.  but also means i'll probably be really surprised whenever my Imminent Awkward Fatal Accident occurs.

                                                            

                                                             

also good for you to know?  while i have had several educators of mine tell me otherwise, i have not in the past nor do i in the current (present, now, whatEVER) think of myself as a writer.  mostly i just ramble.  mostly incoherently.  i once took a lit class where the professor i guess thought i was brilliant and gave me nothing lower than a 94 in the course of the semester, despite the fact i never spent more than an hour on anything for her and rarely turned in anything i thought made any sense.

also when i talk i usually just let words come out and hope they all work together.  that's also pretty much how i'm gonna swing this thing, i  think.  it works a lot better for me.  it'll likely leave you slightly confused and questioning your sanity.  i think i'm okay with that.  

SO!  to wrap up!  me=somewhat awkward and rambly.  you=probably on something, or a good friend of mine, possibly both, or else i don't know why you're here.

.................yes