Christmas 2011

My family hasn't all been together since June of 2010. I have been so excited to have both my boys home for Christmas this year. I knew that I couldn't totally relax and enjoy them until noon on Sunday when the Christmas Eve and Christmas Day services were over. We had a great vegan Christmas dinner cooked by Brett. We had Christmas crackers on the table thanks to our son who spent a year in England. So we all had to wear Christmas hats while we ate our lovely plant-based feast.

Then I got sick on Christmas night. I have been dragging around ever since. Brett has done much of the cooking. Thank goodness. I am not great at vegan fare.

I have rallied every now and then for a family excursion. We went to Fela! at the Ahmanson Tuesday night. Today I said I thought I could handle sitting on the beach in Laguna for a couple hours. We watched a seal body surf. That was an amazing sight.

Matt and I did one of my absolute favorite things in the whole world....we explored the tide pools.

But mostly I have been a slug....at least my family is all together.

Bucket List Fulfillment

I haven't written on my blog for too long. There have been so many deaths. I haven't felt much like writing. But Bryan whisked me away yesterday to fulfill a wish on my bucket list and I just have to write about it.

Since I was pregnant with Matthew I have wanted to attend an NFL game, preferably the Bears but any game would do. I didn't grow up in a family that watched football. I had zero interest in football and didn't understand the game. Then I got pregnant with Matt when Bryan and I were serving a yoked parish in Northern Indiana. I never experienced the healthy glow of pregnancy. I could barely keep any food down. I lost so much weight and became almost bedridden.

Bryan took over the duties of both churches and a sick wife. On Sundays he would preach at two churches and attend to church meetings and visit the sick. Then he would come home to an ill wife who had no interest in anything. To fight complete boredom I watched television. Without cable television I only had a few channels from which to choose. On Sundays that meant football. One Sunday Bryan came home and I greeted him with, "You will never believe how many yards Walter Payton rushed today." He said, "Who are you and what have you done with my wife?" A football fan was born.

Ever since that pregnancy I have wanted to attend a NFL game. So Bryan and I attended a night game between the Chargers and the Ravens. If the Ravens won the game they would be the top ranked team in the AFC. The Chargers beat them 34-14. It was a fun game to be cheering for the Chargers.

So in a stadium with 80,999 other people, I learned what real fan loyalty looks like. "Wow!" is all I can say. The young man in the seat beside me started out by saying, "I am just going to apologize up front. I am going to get very intense. Cuss words are going to fly out of my mouth and I have been drinking all day." It was a good warning. I told Bryan that I now know what testosterone smells like: Axe body spray and beer.

A football stadium is filled with evangelical Christians, raving fans, people willing to paint their chests team colors, corporations, the worst food ever made....

...and flags...

We stayed down here in San Diego for the night. Here is the view from our hotel room. I love San Diego!

We are on our way to pick up Matt from the airport after not seeing him for over 14 months. Seeing Matt again is also on my bucket list.