I wish I wish I wish...

But it just ain't so. Yesterday I went to a WIC appointment with the two little girls. (women, infants, children). (It is basically a nutrition program, government run, that provides kids under five with monthly allotments of basic foods like cheese and peanutbutter (or beans), juice, milk, and a bit of fresh produce.)(it is also for pregnant women)...

Well anyway, yesterday I took the girls, which is always fun for them. They get to see all the babies, and the little kids their size, and there is a bookcase there filled with children's books. So yesterday I went in with them, and one of the nice ladies who works there came up to me and asked if we were certifying me for a new pregnancy. I simply said no, I was just there for the little girls. Okay, she said. Wah. Why did she think that? Do I look pregnant? Part of me hopes she is a prophet, and I am pregnant and just don't know it yet. ha. I suppose one of these years I will give up hope...but for now, it is there! When I went to talk to one of the other ladies, after seeing all the babies there and having the one woman think I was pregnant, I brought up the subject of all the unwanted babies and children in this world, and how I wish there was a way to channel those precious ones to the ones who would cherish them (namely ME, ha).....she said it is very difficult sometimes to see the way some mothers are with their kids. They are poor, bothered, tired, in a hurry, bored, whatever...they take it out on the kids, talk to them so roughly. They themselves have probably not had any guidance, therefore they do not really know any better. So one of these ladies said, "Yesterday I finally said something to this one mom...she was just being so MEAN to her kids...so I reminded her that they are beautiful children, and such blessings....and she did NOT like this. But I thought to myself, Perhaps she will think about this later, and it will help her to think about how she is...." So I told the Lady that I sometimes struggle with saying things to moms, with trying to encourage them that is IS hard sometimes, but to hang in there...but it obviously isn't going to be well-recieved, they will just think I am nosy and crazy. She told me that sometimes just the example of living His will is a help to others.....and that I probably don't realize how much of an "living epistle" I am...

I was flattered. But God is good. I know darned well how I am, I know I have much sin to work with. So I didn't walk out of there adjusting my halo.

I matched socks last night. One laundry basket overflowing with matched socks, one 3/4 full of unmatched socks. But I am not finished yet, there are still many pairs still to be gotten together. So it is hopeful. Someday, I want to live in a world where there is zero divorce among the socks. Not even trial separation.

My Camille is up now, in her pink fuzzy jammies with green froggies all over them. The jammies, nor she, could be any cuter. She has a slight cold, and is more cuddly, but also more fussy than normal. She was inspired by seeing the babies at WIC yesterday, she has her baby in her stroller with an afghan covering the whole thing. Both the little girls were in doll-playing mode when we got home, they took out like five strollers.....I had little Timmy here, the four year old I was watching, and they just incorporated him into their play. Charlotte Claire was calling him, "Hon", and he was answering....

We are going to a baby shower for my niece on Saturday. She is expecting a little girl in February. Since I generally avoid the baby departments now after all these years, I do not have a stash of nice little things tucked into the purple pram that still graces my bedroom. (for the grandchildren, see...)So we were thinking of going shopping today and getting some cute little outfits for her. But it is snowing out like crazy. The district just to the south of us is closed today, and the district where Paul's work is located is closed. Caught right in another snow band...Lake Effect snow just streams down from the lake in these random swaths...then the winds shift a bit, and the whole stream of it goes up north a bit or south more.....when I brought Rosie out this morning, the new snow from last night was over my ankles by a few inches. Rosie thinks this is great fun. She romps around and jumps and eats the snow and jumps again...she still acts like a little puppy. After our little walk, I got the paper from the box, and went up onto the deck, closed the gate, let her off the leash, and shoveled a path.....she thinks the shovel is something to bark at and try to bite. rrr. Everything takes twice as long with Rosie around. Good thing I am used to it, after all these years of having little ones.

Sonja K. did not get on that school bus today. Today is a gym day for her at school, and she was wearing her boots and bringing her sneakers. She set them in the driveway, in a spot she cleared especially for them, and she has no idea how they got covered with snow, but she suspects Jonny did it. Well, she should have had them in her backpack, that is obvious to ME. But she is not me, lucky girl, and she refused to get on the bus because they are her only sneakers and they are soaked. They probably would have dried by gym time, but she didn't think they would. I think what really happened was that the bus was extremely late today, so she thought I perhaps wouldn't make them go. When we were on our vacation, one day the bus was twenty minutes late so Mirielle reasoned that if conditions were that bad, it wasn't smart to send them out in it.

It is good to be thankful for what we have, but I do wish that we were really really rich and could just turn the heat up to like 85 and roast in the warmth. I am still chilled from going out in that snow. My skirt got snowy, which melted, which means it is damp. I need to go change. And my coffee is almost gone, wah. This morning it would be nice to have a maid with a steaming coffee pot in her hand, saying, "More coffee, my lady?" like they say in Jamaica.

But it is not so. If I want more coffee, I have to get up and go get it.

It has been good to have Ashley here with us. She hasn't had an easy life, but she is not one to whine. On the contrary, she is a thankful person. She went with Mirielle to get things in order to go to college with her, yesterday. She has "moved" into her room, even though the carpet is not down yet. Ben's friend who is going to help us with that has hurt his knee, so for now she is sleeping on an air mattress, and can't really fill her room with her things.

The thing about January in central New York is that one knows that it will be months before one is really warm again. Sometimes we get a January thaw, but I am not talking about 50 degrees. Sometimes in February we get a really warm couple of days. I do remember sitting in the drive way getting some sun in seventy degree weather, while the kids played in the snow. I checked the forecast for the week, cold and snowy every single day. Next week colder and snowier than this week. I wish my hot tub was working.