12/31/06: New Year's Eve

Happy Seventh Day of Christmas!

The Collect for today is the same as for Christmas Day -- this Collect is in use throughout the Octave (eight days), including Christmas and until a week past:

Almighty God, who hast given us thy only-begotten Son to take our nature upon him, and as at this time to be born of a pure virgin; Grant that we being regenerate, and made thy children by adoption and grace, may daily be renewed by thy Holy Spirit; through the same Lord Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the same Spirit ever, one God, world without end. Amen.

Tonight is also New Year's Eve. We invited friends in our small town, Luke and Sheri and their four children, to come spend the evening with us. Champagne for celebrating the New Year is ready for pouring, and both families will be providing fun snacks to eat while playing board games, etc.

Thinking back over this past year, I'm thankful for Keith, for our children and our ability to educate them at home, for extended family, for dear friends, for the blessing of two churches with two very different worship styles, both of which speak to my heart. I'm thankful for the opportunities of this year: speaking at retreat, quiet days of study, reading a few of my poems at Ad Lib, becoming closer friends with Judith and Kitty, writing more and feeling more sure about the quality of what I write.

Today we're shifting B out of the toddler bed and into the bottom bunk, J from the bottom bunk into the top bunk, and T into a "new to us" IKEA bed from our piano teacher that Keith picked up yesterday. So T will move into the play room while the other two will have the bedroom. E is directing the shifting of furniture and the cleaning of floors while I wash sheets. Keith has taken down the toddler bed that he built for E, and now he's setting up T's IKEA bed. We stopped by Target after church to buy B new sheets and a comforter -- a nice orangy red, his favorite -- and thanks to sales and a gift card, our only output was $13.

So now my "baby" is getting a big bed, and I feel OLD. Nice way to end the old year, eh?

Tonight we'll ring out the old year and ring in the new, and tomorrow I'll post some dreams and goals for 2007.

Happy New Year!