Author Archives: tracye1

About tracye1

A wee bit about me, Tracy. Married to my high school sweetie for a looooong time. Mama of 4 beautiful kiddos, now ADULTS!!!! This blog is a potpourri of posts. Some wax on about my Catholic faith, others family, some are just a “diary” of life updates. Life is a journey, taken one day at a time (sometimes one step at a time) and my blog is about my personal trek through life. Peace!

7 Christmas QTs

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Linking up at Jen’s Blog today so that she has some reading material while she is under the weather. Moms really aren’t allowed to get sick, so I am always baffled when we do. Baffled.

Hoping Christmas was lovely for you and if not perfect, hopefully you found some moments to hold tight to….like I did. Ours was a great Christmas, however, for the first time in our family, I felt a shift. The shift of teens in the house and only 1 of 4 still blessedly smitten with Santa, the Elf and the whole shabang. It was subtle, but it was there. Compound “the shift” with having done our family dinner with the in-laws on Christmas Eve and grandparents and step-dad having come and gone after breakfast, mom and sis out of town, and zero plans for anything EXCEPT relaxing and enjoying the day……I was in a constant state of post-Advent Zombie-ness (if there is such a thing). Aimless. Lost. Shuffling. A month of bustling and scurrying to and fro to a sudden halt……what does one DO with that? I mean, WTH?!?!? Clearly a 2014 goal needs to be getting comfortable with relaxation and learning to embrace that idea. Anyhoo, it WAS lovely…Advent was wonderful and we are so very blessed to be together and loved and healthy and happy; there is nothing to complain about, because it’s ALL good.

Traditiona Pioneer Woman cinnamon rolls for breakfast. So flippin' delish!

Traditional Pioneer Woman cinnamon rolls for breakfast. So flippin’ delish!

Our tree. Pre-present carnage. Simply the best morning light, I’m not sure what I will do after our tree is down….it’s an essential part of my morning coffee and Daily Readings.

The Hubs on video, videoing me taking a picture of him.

This kid. 16 and questioning everything, BUT….he opted for Midnight Mass with his brother and I versus 11 a.m. Christmas Mass with Dad and the girls. MM wore us all out. He and the cat caught a few winks after presents. Smart kid.

Next year she will be in Middle school. THIS year she put Zebra cakes on her list for Santa and he came through. That will never happen again. 10 is an awesome age, is it not?

Headbanz. Christmas games and camaraderie. Love these moments.

When I don’t have anyone coming for dinner, I don’t focus. I misread the brisket times and well…..Christmas dinner was scrambled eggs and toast and PIE! Christmas dinner was served on the 26th and a total winner. Worth the wait. We’ll call it a win, even though it was a day late!

That wraps it up for today. As usual, I am going to be rushing to get out the door in time for work, so enjoy the day!! P.S. for those of you without cable, may I suggest Chromecast? The Hubs got it figured out yesterday and SO. COOL.

Blessings!!

Saint Nick was Olive

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snatched the image from HERE

There’s a big debate on a newscaster who said that Santa Claus is white….yes, you can merely imagine the uproar over that one, because I’m suuuuuuuuure she had no idea that making a statement like that would start ANY racist discussions at all. I’m certain. Right? Besides, she said she was making a joke and people should lighten up, however…..the comment sure lit up the interwebz.

I am about to make a statement, however, that IS most likely true: Saint Nicholas was most probably olive, not so white. Born in the region of the southern coast of Turkey, he would most likely be olive-skinned. Logistically and realistically speaking. You can read more about him HERE. Since Santa Claus’ origin is often tied to St.Nick, it’s odd he’d be “white”, however….SC=fictional, St. Nicholas=real, feel free to make your own judgement.

Also, here’s another newsbreaker: Jesus Christ was of Middle Eastern descent, which would make him mocha/brown. Gasp. All we have to do is look at people born in the Middle East, typically they aren’t Nordic looking. Ammiright? Again, another odd idea that he’d be the only white man in a sea of not so white people.

While we are on the subject, let’s explore a few other characters:

Easter Bunny: unknown color of fur, would it change the basket of chocolate if we knew?

Tooth Fairy: unknown color of wings/outfit/hair, etc, does it change the reward per tooth if we had a color scheme?

Great Pumpkin: we can only assume orange, but in light of all these odd suggestions, I just don’t know.

In summary, does color REALLY matter? It shouldn’t. If it does, maybe we are focused on the wrong things. As for me, when I pray, I’m praying to the PERSON, not to the color. His promises surpass race, shouldn’t our responses to Him do likewise?

As for all the fictional folk everyone’s worried about, let’s remember; they aren’t real. This fighting over skin color of someone who is fictional? Well, that’s just weird.

Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you”, says the Lord, “They are plans for good and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”

Christmas Cookies and a Christmas Message

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Cookie monster heaven

Every year (almost) for the past 11(?) years, my former roommate, her mother-in-law and 2 sisters-in-law host a cookie exchange at Christmas. Although we only live about 30 minutes-ish from each other, this is our ONE time of year we get to visit and catch up. Ah, this busy life. Anyway, this cookie exchange is THE cookie exchange of cookie exchanges.

My roomie and I. We glow.

These ladies start in the summer with preparations, menus, taste testing and I believe—-even some cooking and freezing. Come December, they each invite scores of lady friends across the social circles of high school, church, work, neighbors and so on. It’s a FULL HOUSE and often many reunions are taking place.

Holy COW!!

Aside from the cookie swapping, there is a massive spread of various hors d’oeuvres, tea, water and coffee and prior to the number calling and cookie picking they do a little something as a reminder of the reason we celebrate Christmas: Jesus Christ. One year, there was a Worship dancer from Hawaii (a high school friend of one of the gals) who did a traditional Hawaiian dance to a wonderful contemporary Christian song, other years have been stories and small skits. Among this large and varied group, the message is clear: this get-together is a fellowship ministry for women sharing life with Christ as the centerpiece of this gathering.

The tale of the Three Trees. A must have for Advent and Christmas reading!!

Every year the family looks forward to the various cookies and recipes I bring home and I look forward to the time with my friend and her family and running into new and old friends. Next year, they’ll take a year off, however, my friend and I have already pencilled it in the calendar for dinner the first week of December 2014!!

#Affluenza: are you kidding me?

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It seems we’ve come to a whole new low in society, the final fruit of a generation of spoiled children and parents who (it would seem) have failed to set boundaries and actually parent their offspring.

If you aren’t familiar with the story of Ethan Couch in Texas and his attorney’s outrageously SUCCESSFUL plea of Affluenza as a defense in his drunk driving that left FOUR people dead, by all means click HERE or do your own Googling, there’s plenty of fodder. The gist of the story, as I see it, is that there are a group of young people (and for the minute, let’s leave affluence out of this) that steal beer, get drunk, drive and wind up killing 4 people and left 2 with serious injuries. This week the judge in the case sentenced Ethan to 10 years probation and a long-term treatment facility and NO JAIL TIME. Just chew on that a minute. It’s like grizzle, you simply cannot swallow that.

Parents, we have a DUTY to parent our children. Perhaps no one told us,or maybe we just weren’t listening/believing, but the sad fact is that parenting is the hardest flippin’ job EVERRRRRRRRRRRRR. From the time our sweet and precious bundle crosses the threshold of placenta to oxygen it is Game On. No joke. Sleepless nights and sleep-deprived parenting, potty training and 2-year-old defiance parenting, sibling rivalry and sharing parenting, school days and friendship parenting, tween angst and teen independence parenting, college life and young adult parenting and then…..then….then…..we can be friends. First we must parent. That, folks, is a marathon, so best fuel up!!!

Parenting means loving those kids and setting boundaries. Let’s clarify:

bound·a·ry

ˈbound(ə)rē/

noun

plural noun: boundaries

a line that marks the limits of an area; a dividing line.

Failure to set those boundaries leads to confusion when our kids are trying to figure it out for themselves. I’m not advocating helicopter parenting, however, I AM all for setting up expectations and explanations of WHY we set limits and the consequences and following through. The follow through is the hardest part and the most crucial, otherwise, where is the lesson learned? And lo, there are MANY, MANY lessons to be learned, and some a few times before the lesson is mastered.

Currently, our 8th grader has had a semester of slacking to the max in his math class. Now, it IS an 11th grade math class and we don’t expect an “A”; we DO expect effort. The effort has been lacking to the tune of a D/F which has resulted in some pretty uncomfortable consequences. Those consequences have resulted in 1)renewed focus, 2)more attentive and interactive child, 3)renewed vigor on task, 4)completed assignments, 5)increased understanding, 6) D/F to a C and 7)mature and tremendous communication among us and our son. It’s a challenge and sadly, we’ve done this last year and apparently we have short-term memory in this house at times and need to repeat lessons, however, as seen with our 10th grader….they DO learn, apply and adjust with much fruit to be shown. Like I said earlier, it’s flippin’ hard; parenting is hard.

In the words of Nike, JUST DO IT. and then do it again. and again. and again.

Otherwise, we will have more BS “Affluenza” nonsense diagnoses to deal with rather than just calling a spade a spade. If you mess up, there are consequences and if you REALLY mess up….there are REAL consequences.

Ethan (like MANY before him) made a terrible and tragic choice that dealt consequences that he will deal with mentally for the rest of his life. Sadly, his consequences aren’t much different from the coddling that led to his poor choices. Mamas and Papas, come on, let us ALL buckle down and hold our kids accountable for the choices they make, because Lord knows the mess we are in for when we don’t.

Galations 6:7-9

⁷Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.⁸For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. ⁹Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary.

When you’re up waaaaaaaay too early

making the trek

Trekking through life: Faith, family, friends and a whole lot of coffee!

Author Archives: tracye1

About tracye1

7 Christmas QTs

Saint Nick was Olive

Christmas Cookies and a Christmas Message

#Affluenza: are you kidding me?

When you’re up waaaaaaaay too early