Facie’s Ramblings

This holiday season (for the record, I am referring to it as the holiday season because Christmas does not start until December 25 and it seems a little too narrow to refer to it as Advent), I am doing just what I said I would not. Well, I am doing what I said I would a few weeks ago, which is embracing the season . I listen to Christmas music every day in the car (mixed in with some sports radio, of course). I am trying my best to be extra pleasant to people while waiting in long lines. More often than usual, I let cars in traffic get in front of me. I have worn my various Santa hats (PSU, Steelers, red) several times , including yesterday during lunch duty. I bought a gift for the angel tree at church and have given a donation to the food bank. And I finished my Christmas cards before Thanksgiving and painstakingly waited to send them out until November 29 (just could not wait until December 1). The thing that I did not want to do was get caught up in the presents, which is exact...

Just because Thanksgiving is over does not mean we should stop counting our blessings and being grateful for what we have. But just as important, in my opinion, are having some compassion and doing the right things. When I picked Jordan up from school on Monday, she asked me if I saw the Christmas tree at church. I told her it was actually the Giving Tree, and that even though I did not have a job and money was tight, we could still pay our bills and were blessed. Therefore, we would be giving someone less fortunate a gift. I explained to Jordan that I chose a tag for an elderly woman who probably had no family. I went on to say that some people have little or no money and they probably wouldn't be getting any presents. Jordan then said she could give someone one of her toys. That thought made me smile (and brought a tear to my eye). After I picked out a tag from the Giving Tree last week, someone in my choir commented that people should not be studying the tags; they should just p...

I like to think of myself as a pretty good friend overall, and most of my friends would probably agree, at least insofar as the effort I make to maintain the friendship. But lately, I am considering trimming a few friendship tree branches. Over the last year or so, I had initiated a few (successful) play dates with a woman and her daughter who was in Jordan's class. Two weeks ago, I sent this woman, whom I now consider a friend, a note via Facebook to let her know Jordan and I would be at a certain park that weekend if she wanted to join us. She posted a comment on my "wall" saying they couldn't but that she did want to get together so how about the following week. We exchanged a few posts about dates, and the last post I sent was agreeing to the day she suggested. A few days later, the date came, and I called her house that morning to figure out when and where we should meet. I ended up leaving a message as she did not answer. An hour or so later, when I still had no...

One of our neighbors, Fran, passed away on Thursday. A few weeks ago, I ran across the street to ask his wife how he was doing (Fran had cancer). Betty said that hospice had come that day. My limited understanding of that service was that people used it at/near the end of life, so I assumed his time on this earth was ending soon. Still I did not know what I could do to help, so I simply hugged her and said I would pray for them. Bri and I did not know these people well. I first met Betty when Jordan was just a few days old and my mom was staying with us. I had just gotten out of the shower, and I heard my mom talking to a woman whose voice I did not recognize. I could not imagine why my mother let a stranger into our house. Fortunately, Betty seemed nice, and from that time on, Bri and I waved whenever we saw them. At Halloween, when I would take Jordan trick-or-treating, Betty and Fran always invited us in for a few minutes. And once when our power went out and I did not know how to g...