All I wanted for Christmas

Well, I asked for world peace, but I guess I'll settle for some Tinker Toys.

I did finish a major project, though. In the last few months, I've been hard at work with St. Fiacre, and there's a real possibility that we'll be getting our JNF book published shortly featuring the biographies of 10 Oklahoma heroes. Pretty exciting. I'm trying not to be too anxious to see the finished project.

I didn't get what I wanted for Christmas, but plans are in the works. My heart's desire was to get a new passport. Mine expired years ago after taking a really amazing trip to Israel and Egypt. Now I want to have one in case I ever get the chance to go somewhere overseas (Australia and New Zealand, I'm thinking) or need to make a quick getaway when Bush dissolves the Constitution and declares himself King of America. I have my application all filled out and have located the closest office to my home and I even pulled my old passport out of storage. All I need now is to figure out if it will serve as proof of residency or if I need to get a certified birth certificate (another $27 -- ugh!).

Funniest thing that happened during our Christmas break: Sport was practicing for his Christmas recital and he was barely concentrating, making all kinds of mistakes.

Aware of the kid's reputation for wowing the audience, SO told him, "You are going to lose your legacy."

"What, are you going to tear them off?" Sport asked in a huff.

Be careful what you wish for

I will have to remember this maxim the next time I start moaning and groaning about the dullness of our routine: Be careful what you wish for. While it is often rather boring, I prefer the routine to chaos. And what we've got this week is chaos.

Sunday evening was the beginning of the Great Ice Storm of 2007. Monday morning, 2:13 a.m. The power went out. By 7 that morning, our waterbed was feeling a bit chilly and the bedrooms were getting cold. Looking outside our front window, we found our beautiful Bradford Pear tree had been peeled into 4 pieces, just like a banana. We'd planted that tree 10 years ago when Sport was a baby. We were all rather sick at heart to see it splayed out in such an undignified way. It was blocking part of the road, part of our driveway, and some of the front door.

"We'll panic at noon if the power doesn't come up," I said to SO. We bundled up and went out to start cutting limbs. Next door, my sister-in-law and niece were trying to de-ice their cars. An occasional CRACK! would have us shouting, "Run!" as we dodged large branches snapping and falling from the top of their tree.

Down the street, an enormous branch of a sycamore tree was blocking the road. We joined a group of neighbors to help move it out of the way. That sucker was heavy! But it was nice to see neighbors working together toward a common purpose.

At 12 o'clock on the dot, I said to SO, "We'll panic if the power isn't on by 4." The boys played with their army men while the adults tried to read but all of us ended of falling asleep. Another branch fell, taking out our telephone line.

By 4, we started to panic. Actually, we started making long-term plans for the night. Our gas-lit fireplace would keep the library and tv room warm, so we closed off the rest of the house, dragged in the boys' mattresses, and gathered up blankets, candles, and flashlights. For dinner, we ate at a local diner, along with just about everyone else who had no power. Despite it all, we were in a festive mood. We even got a piece of chocolate pie to-go. The house was pitch black and we all were asleep by 7:30.

The next day, it was more of the same. SO and the boys headed out to his folks' house to hang out while I went into work at 10. This morning, with school cancelled once again, I grabbed the crock pot and ingredients so I could whip something up at work using the electrical outlets. It looks like we could be living this way for a week to ten days, although I'm praying the power will come back on tonight. Sleeping on the couch is hard on my spine!

We're lucky, though. We have hot water and so many friends have offered to take us in. At this point, we are still willing to rough it. I'm really rooting for those OG&E guys to make it to our neighborhood today.

5 things

In the last couple of weeks, these 5 things have made me happy.

1. Sunrise this morning, 7:05 a.m.: The clouds looked like cotton batting colored with a mix of magenta and pumpkin hues. I tried to imagine what that kind of sunrise would have looked like 100 years ago, without all the buildings, telephone poles, and highway bridges blocking the view.

2. Dinner at Louie's last night with SO: the fried cheese was delicious, we took our time, and no one interrupted us to tell us about video games or wrestlers. Every now and then, we just have to get out of our routine.

3. Botero exhibit at the art museum: I enjoyed seeing another perspective of the human form.

4. A box of flexible straws: My dear friend at work knows of my obsession with straws and she bought me an entire box!

5. A spontaneous hug and "I love you" from LegoGuy, and a competitive game of cards with Sport. He was killing us in a game of 21. He laughed so hard, he like to bust a gut.