A Long Winter's Nap

"Mamma in her 'kerchief, and I in my cap, had just settled down for a long winter's nap..."

Okay, so Margo doesn't wear a "kerchief" and I don't sleep in a cap. But boy did we catch up on some much needed rest this week!

On Friday and Saturday evenings, we hosted our church Christmas party at our home. Saturday brought a quiet, intimate group and we enjoyed actually getting to chat with folks. But Friday was a huge gathering with every room packed with folks. Margo had kept notes about how much food and drink we went through last year and scaled things up for this year's parties. However, on Friday night we blew through all the beverages and cups we had prepared for both nights (which meant unexpected shopping trips on Saturday along with a zillion other last-minute Christmas customers). All day Saturday we were feeling totally wiped out, yet we knew that we had a long way to go. Not only did we still have Saturday's event and Sunday-morning service to go through, but on Sunday afternoon our Hope Group surprised one of our members with a birthday party. ("Surprise" is the right word; she caught one glimpse of us all in her kitchen with hats, balloons, and a cake and she scrambled up stairs to hide!)

So we took Monday off. I mean totally off. No work. No phones. No e-mail (okay, okay... well, a little e-mail, but only on some essential matters). Other than an unexpected -- and really unpleasant -- need to negotiate an insurance matter over the phone, we basically zoned out for an entire day. I never even changed out of my PJs! We slept, we munched a bit, we played with the puppies, we watched a couple of movies, we ignored the dirty dishes... and it was wonderful! I even slept 10 hours Sunday night (my average is about 6.5), plus I took a nap Monday afternoon.

Now I feel totally refreshed and ready for Christmas, ready for guests joining us next week, ready to start a new message series, and ready for a New Year.