Greetings, friends, from beautiful, sunny Lincoln, Nebraska! We’ve traded in snow for 50 degree weather and it has made for a wonderful Christmas Day. I hope you all are enjoying family and friends, presents and lots of joy today.

Love to you all!

Today, like most other days, I am balancing pessimism and optimism.

I spent much of the afternoon baking and decorating sugar cookies to give to my neighbors. My brother Andrew was gracious enough (okay, maybe he was bored) to both keep me company and help bake and decorate, and at some point I realized that we were having a supposed idyllic moment that one often reads of on blogs: “Though the temperature outside hovered around 8 degrees, we were warm and cozy in the kitchen, baking batch upon batch of sugared Christmas cookies while listening to classic carols crooned by Bing and Ella.” The truth is that we had a decent time, Andrew always livens things up, but the idyllic kitchen scene didn’t hold true. I felt pressured to get the cookies done in time for Christmas Eve and had slept part of the morning away after staying up too late the night before. Instead of enjoying the warm coziness of the kitchen, I saw a mass of dough that was too dry, piles of dishes caked with sugar and eggs, and eventually, cookies that had far more in common with dog biscuits than the light, airy concoctions I was aiming for. At some point I began to lighten up and enjoy the process, and I realized that idyllic picture in my head is never entirely true. Someone may indeed have had a wonderful day of Christmas shopping—but they neglected to mention the frenzied last-minute shopper crowd, the bumper-to-bumper traffic and the frustration of not finding just the right color sweater in just the right size. Or another may have enjoyed a lovely service at church—but they chose not to remember the wiggly whispering toddler in the pew behind them, the overbearing perfume of the elder’s wife in front of them and the long-winded message given by the pastor.

I believe there is some sort of balance I need to find between the half-full and half-empty. I don’t want to see only a dirty stable filled with stinky animals on a breezy night in the rural town in Judea. I also don’t want to focus soley on the glorious star and the heralding heavenly host. I want to soak in the entire scene. The father and young mother, giving birth to a baby after a long trip back home to register for a census. The shepherds, keeping their sheep safe on a normal night, normal until angels appear in the sky, singing and praising God and pointing them toward Bethlehem. The magi, following that eastern star in order to worship at the feet of the one just born king of the Jews. Herod, furious that another might dare to challenge his authority. In my mind’s eye I want to see this scene in all its glory and earthiness. I want to understand Jesus Christ the son of God, Savior of the world, and Jesus Christ the son of Joseph, carpenter in the line of David. I want to rejoice in His birth and praise Him for taking away the sins of the world—for continuing to love me despite my persistant negativity. So I will. Rejoice, that is. I will eat my dry cookies, work in my dirty kitchen, and sing with joy for Christ has come. Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.

Happy 33rd Anniversary, Mom and Dad! You are a great example to us. We love you very much!

I understand that Lincoln needs a new convention center/arena to bring more business into the city. Obviously, Pershing Auditorium (where I witnessed DC Talk, the Harlem Globetrotters and my own high school graduation—not at the same time, however, but wouldn’t that have been fun?) is outdated and ill-equipped. My question is this: Why not tear down Pershing and build a new venue in its place? I’m concerned about the prospect of creating a new, unsightly, unwieldy convention center in our quaint historic Haymarket district. If the new structure could somehow fit in aesthetically with the bricked streets and train station, though, perhaps it would be a good idea.

What say you, Lincolnites?

I am a huge fan of The Amazing Race and faithfully stay home most every Tuesday night to catch the latest episode. Suffice to say that last night’s program (12/14) was quite disturbing in the emotional, verbal and physical abuse displayed. Jonathan is absolutely out of control in his treatment of his wife. My husband and I were horrified to see such abuse played out on my favorite CBS show. I think the producers are being neglectful if they allow Jonathan to continue with this behavior. Victoria is worthy of respect, love and peace and I would hope the producers of The Amazing Race help her find a more hopeful existence apart from Jonathan. Please do not air such abuse again.

Respectfully,
Rebecca L. Tredway

I don’t really have a Christmas break, but years and years of studenthood have created within me this expection for some sort of Christmas vacation. So what do I want to do this Christmas during my non-existent break? Watch movies! We don’t get out to the theaters very often these days but I’m just dying to go several times over Christmas, uh, break. There’s something magical about the big screen and popcorn and a room full of strangers all laughing or crying about the same moment. I love it.

I’ve been creating a short list of movies I’d like to see soon… which involves surfing around my old haunts like Movies.com and The Movie Box.net… which then reminded me to watch the teaser for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Has anyone else seen this? Huh. I do not in anyway consider myself a fan of Tim Burton films (that would be my husband), so it shouldn’t surprise me that I find the teaser a bit frightening. And Johnny Depp! So girly looking. I will try to withhold judgement until I see more, but this quick peek made me long for the Willy Wonka of old.

As a small child at a private Christian school I ruined Christmas for another student: I told her (gasp!) that Santa Claus does not exist.

I’m pretty sure this tragedy evoked the one and only phone call home from one of my schoolteachers. She told my mom to make me stop telling kids that Santa wasn’t real. I believe Mom told her that I was just speaking the truth. Ha!

As you can tell, I didn’t grow up believing in Santa. In our house, we Believed in a Savior who was born on Christmas Day—and I must say, we didn’t even Pretend in Santa. Now, I kind of like the idea of pretending in the magical fat guy who drives a reindeer sleigh and lives with elves in the North Pole. I’m not at all opposed to letting Livia pose with Mr. Claus for a pic this month (though we really don’t have the money to do it this year) or to decorating with cute Santa things around the house. But overall, I have no intentions of telling her Santa Claus is real.

Furthermore, it cracks me up when a kid (like me) can no longer hold the truth about the myth inside and whoops! tells the other kids. Sorry, Santa just isn’t real… But Merry Christmas anyhow!

*Here’s to Megan and her sanity in a house full of Santa-believers ;)

I love birthdays. If you look up ESFJ’s (my Meyers-Briggs personality type) you’ll find that we value traditions greatly. This explains my penchant for birthdays. All my life I’ve decorated with streamers, balloons and homemade banners, made certain gifts were purchased and wrapped, and celebrated friends and family member’s birthdays to the hilt.

Today a new tradition begins. On my 27th birthday, I’ve decided it’s ridiculous that adults don’t celebrate as children do, and I vow to (gasp!) TELL people when my birthday is!

“Hey, Rebecca! How are you today?”
“Good. IT’S MY BIRTHDAY!”

[answering machine picks up]”Rebecca, just wanted to leave you a message about that order…”
[snatching up the phone] “Hey! IT’S MY BIRTHDAY!”

“Rebecca, can you make it to the Building Committee Meeting tonight?”
“Probably not ‘cuz IT’S MY BIRTHDAY!”

So… Happy Birthday to Me. Thanks, Mom & Dad for doing all the work of birthing and raising your second-born. Thanks, Jeremy for loving me so darn much. Thanks, friends, for all the sweet birthday thoughts.

Given to me by my sister-in-law… What we’re listening to while decking the halls:

• Holidays Are Coming, Coca-Cola
• Christmas Time is Here, Charlie Brown Christmas Special
• Carol of the Bells I, Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir
• Do They Know It’s Christmas?, BandAid (Bono & Adam Clayton)
• Christmas Vacation Theme, Soundtrack
• Santa Claus is Coming to Town, Eric Clapton, et al
• Wonderful Christmas Time, Paul McCartney & Wings
• Bells Will Be Ringing, The Eagles
• Blue Christmas, Elvis Presley
• O Come All Ye Faithful, Faith Hill & Leann Rimes
• Where Are You Christmas?, Faith Hill
• Song for a Winter’s Night, Sarah McLachlan
• Silent Night (Gaelic), Enya
• Ding Dong Merrily, The Baltimore Consort
• Wassail Song, Robert Shaw & Chamber Singers
• The Christmas Song, Natalie Cole duet with Nat King Cole
• Winter Wonderland, Aretha Franklin
• I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm, Billie Holiday
• Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!, Frank Sinatra
• Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, Ella Fitzgerald
• Silver Bells, Bing Crosby
• Do You Hear What I Hear?, Bing Crosby
• O Holy Night, Vienna Boys Choir
• O Christmas Tree, Charlie Brown Christmas Special

Gail Buckner hits the nail on the head with this article about how possessions actually can’t buy you happiness. The line that drew me in? “Once the gifts have been torn open, are you left with an emotional hangover, a sense that, despite all your careful preparations, there’s still something missing.” Um, sometimes, yeah. It’s a good reminder to focus on keeping the important things important.