I've skipped Thanksgiving

I have officially started the Christmas season. And, to be precise, my Christmas shopping was completed primarily in August, with the last gift being purchased in October. The Christmas cds are going out to my car tomorrow morning.

What has triggered this? It had something to do with the last blog I posted, the theme of which I blog about every year- that I dislike Thanksgiving food, and most of the experiences related to Thanksgiving. It also had something to do with this:



I wish I could have been there for this. Of all the public stunts you hear about- spontaneous pillow fights, freeze frame for five minutes in Grand Central Station, or people walking down the street dressed as zombies- this one is the most exciting.

I love the tradition that states that when King George II heard this, he was moved to stand to his feet, and thus the performers, orchestra and audience also had to stand. It in some ways gives validation to the chills I feel when I listen to this music. I would love to have been in that food court, and even if I were not originally a part of the planned event, I would have stood and joined the singing. Because who doesn't love a Broadway musical moment where the simplest act causes everyone around you to break out into song and dance?

Thanksgiving to do list

~ Stuff yourself with food that doesn't really taste good but which you eat anyway out of force of habit and caving to social expectations.
~ Enjoy the cranberries, they are the only food item that tastes good; if necessary, you can enjoy the cranberries even more if you make cranberry sangria.
~ Surround yourself with people who love you enough to try to run your life for you, yet who will also forget what you said about how you're doing 30 seconds after the conversation ends (gives you something to talk about at the next holiday).
~ Enjoy the select few who take a genuine interest in your life on days that are not holidays.
~ Watch a game involving men who are too sissy to play a game without substantial protective gear beyond shinguards.
~ Enjoy the humor of watching people make fools of themselves by yelling at players who have no physically possible way of hearing them.
~ Take comfort in Tequila.
~ Enjoy the looks on your blog readers' faces as they realize Tequila is the cat.

Kids...

I went to my volunteer job at the farm today, where my first session was helping Meredith, the speech pathologist. It was raining, and Meredith needed to bring a teaching tool into the barn from where it was sitting outside. The child we were working with was a stable, sturdy kid whom she felt she could trust to sit safely on the horse with only one side walker, so she walked away to go get the items she needed.

In the interim, the child was instructed to walk his horse around the arena and make the horse go in circles around the barrels- first one direction, then the other. To keep him attentive, I asked him questions about the task he needed to do.

"Do you remember how to make Dude go around the barrels?"
"Yes, like this." He began moving the reins lightly in either direction. "This is left, and this is right."
"Actually, its the other way around. That hand is left, and this hand is right."
"Well, my mommy says..." Stops to think. "My mommy says that THIS is left."

How can you tell a 5-year-old his mommy is wrong?

Common "Husband" Checklist

There's this stereotype going around. A good Christian woman should look for a husband with xyz qualities. Those qualities are usually backed up by obscure or not-so-obscure Bible verses.

(The following qualities have been gleaned from Bible verses found on a website listing wedding scripture readings, as well as observations of real people, and things I picked up here and there from some sermons on the topic.)

~ a man she feels made for. God created Eve because the right partner for man could not be found anywhere in the Garden of Eden. It was like God's creation was incomplete until she arrived on the scene.
~ a man she can stand next to. Despite being created as man's helper, she came from Adam's side. Not his foot or his back end. This is where I think each person being the other's biggest fan comes in. If one is the head and the other the foot, they cannot equally cheer each other on.
~ a man cut from the same cloth. Genesis says "Bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh." Perhaps this is why women are always looking for a guy who likes all the same things she likes.
~ a man with a plan. Men are born to lead. Not just lead women, but to rule the earth and to lead each other. Solomon wooed his girl by knowing exactly where he wanted to take her on a date and exactly what he wanted to do. She could take comfort in knowing that he was not just going to wing it and risk a flop of a date. He cares enough about her to put some time and effort into it.
~ a man who loves her and demonstrates in their relationship an image of God's relationship with all humans. For some reason, metaphor is big in the Bible, including using relationships as metaphors and teaching tools. On the flip side, this is her excuse to ask him to love her regardless of her flaws, and to die for her, not necessarily in a literal sense, but a sacrifice just the same. This gives her a ton of power and has great potential to distort the perfect image of the original part of the metaphor- God's relationship with all humans.
~ 1 Corinthians 13:4-7. Probably the most misrepresented verses in the Bible. Read the beginning and ending sentences of this paragraph. It is not about romantic love. But, women seem to look for men with all those qualities. To be honest, those are just qualities that make you not a jerk. If your guy lacks these qualities, he's a jerk.
~ a man who guides her spiritually and leads her in prayers and teaches a teen men's Bible study.
~ a man who pursues her. Jacob worked for Rachel's father and endured trickery from his future father-in-law for 14 years in order to finally get the girl he wanted. Hosea led Gomer to the desert and pursued her heart despite her unfaithfulness, as a way to live out yet another metaphor for God. Solomon clearly spent countless hours planning dates and writing poetry to capture her heart.
~ a beloved-lover relationship. You can be married to anyone. A relationship is special when you can say you are married to your beloved.
~ sparks that fly even after 50 years of marriage. That urge to "look nice" for your spouse even though they have seen you fart and burp and puke and all sorts of gross things in all the time you've been together.

I will come out and say it. Just because you can back it up with a verse in the Bible doesn't mean it is a quality you should look for in a husband. It could mean you are misinterpreting the Bible. Just because many churches say to look for a certain quality, doesn't mean you should take their advice. BUT, that doesn't mean that I believe all of the above qualities are crap either. Some are really good things to look for.

But with all the things Christians are supposed to be, combined with all the things Christian men are supposed to be, combined with all the things Christian husbands are supposed to be, isn't it somewhat naive to think that anyone could find a guy who matches all of those things?

I'm not sure the "ideal" husband is out there by everyone else's standards. And my standards? I haven't figured out what I'm looking for. Just a lot of qualities that are, "Oh yes, that sounds nice" as if I'm adding an optional adventure excursion onto the cost of my vacation package.

To be honest, I don't feel driven to figure out what I'm looking for. But I don't like floundering either.