Author: Jo Bird

MERRY CHRISTMAS

/ Jo Bird / Leave a comment

Hail the Heav’n born Prince of Peace
Hail the son of Righteousness
Light and Life to all he brings
Ris’n with healing in his wings

Mild he lays his glory by
Born that man no more may die
Born to raise the sons of Earth
Born to give them second birth

HARK the herald angels sing

GLORY TO THE NEWBORN KING

We Did It!

/ Jo Bird / 11 Comments

Misha and I ran our first 10k.
(Boise YMCA Christmas Run. Very festive!)

I have jumped on the jogging bandwagon. I read on blogs all the time about training for marathons, half marathons, 10k ad 5k runs. It’s practically trendy.

But now I can see why.

Setting a specific goal and accomplishing it brings so much satisfaction. It’s good for the soul. (Not to mention the added benefits of decreasing my risk for heart disease and diabetes.)

I recommend it. And as a side note- I was more nervous than I needed to be. I did reasonably well.

Nerves

/ Jo Bird / 3 Comments

I want to know the physiology of nervousness.

I want to know the biologic process that occurs when I think of something that I am anticipating with trepidation and it feels like someone reached into my gut and started clutching my stomach.

What causes that? What synapse exists between the mind and the stomach that relays the message “She’s having anxiety. SQUEEZE!”

I’ll be back tomorrow to let you know how things go.

sigh

/ Jo Bird / 5 Comments

Every year I hear about how to be less stressed during the holidays, and in my judgmental way I think to myself “People who are stressed during the holidays need to re-prioritize.”

Oops.

These things have a way of coming back and haunting me. I left for a week and when I came home Christmas was 12 days away.

STRESS!

I had such grand plans, high aspirations, big dreams. And now with each passing day some of my best intentions are crumbling by the wayside. And I am finding the holiday season less enjoyable because it is not living up to my expectations.

Now I will just judge those stressed out people not because their priorities are off, but because they didn’t plan well.

I’m glad I learned my lesson.

I underestimated you Spokane

/ Jo Bird / 10 Comments

Richard’s travel can be a gloomy cloud at times. But ever striving to be an optimist I am always looking for the silver lining. This week we found the silver lining in a company paid hotel room in Spokane where Richard was on business. Here are some of the highlights from the week, filled with pictures and details only a grandma will appreciate.

I have a vivid memory of driving with my dad up through the palouse in northern Idaho on our way to Coeur d’ Alene when I was a kid. We were listening to Enya and I was mesmerized by the rolling hills. It is a travel memory I relish.

I was blessed with another such experience on my drive up to Washington. We were in the Blue Mountains of Oregon and the boys were both sleeping. Richard was already in Spokane so I was driving alone and enjoying the quiet. (Yes, I took that picture while driving, but no one’s life was endangered.) I put in Tchaikovsky’s “Nutcracker” and this picture doesn’t do it justice of course, but the scenery was a winter wonderland. Christmas spirit indeed! It was heavenly. I wish you could have been with me Dad.

The hotel had a safari motif and the boys loved this wild chair.

Swimming in the hotel pool of course….It was also and educational vacation.

Our countless elevator rides gave Cameron many opportunities to identify numbers.

He loved pushing the buttons.

A giant red-flyer wagon. What fun!

They were as interested in the ducks and geese as they were in the slide.

Unfortunately where there are ducks and geese, there is duck and goose poop.

I did not enjoy cleaning that off little boy shoes.

Well by golly we will find a carosel in every city.

It has to be one of Cameron’s greatest pleasures in life. Room service! We only indulged in this luxury once, because room service is undoubtedly the most overpriced food there is. But it was really good, and really convenient.


Spokane, I am sorry I underestimated what you have to offer. We never lacked entertainment. Also included in our vacay: lazy mornings watching cartoons together, PF Changs, Mobius Children’s Museum, visit to Santa Claus at the mall, taking the boys to “Madagascar 2” at the theater, and what should have been a six hour drive back to Kuna that took 10 HOURS because of snowy roads.

Mid-Renovation

/ Jo Bird / 6 Comments

Some folks spend the Saturday after Thanksgiving decorating their house for Christmas. We usually do. But this year we spent that Saturday creating chaos.

I also managed to raise the stress-level around here by leaving the bathroom sink on and flooding the hallway. Really stupid mistake, but really good timing! Luckily it was part of the plan to replace that flooring.

Fortunately, our house has been repaired enough that yesterday we could get a Christmas tree. (After a quick lunch at DQ – Grill & Chill.)

This week the boys and I are road-trippin’ it up to Spokane to be with Richard. I am determined to be blog-free all week.

Much Anticipated

/ Jo Bird / 13 Comments

We really had a good time at Richard’s Christmas party. His boss, who has been somewhat of a mentor, is moving away and we were able to sit at the same table with him. He joked that he was worried about sharing a table with me because I might kill him for “making” Richard travel so much. I reassured him I had no hard feelings. It is always a little bit painful when really good people leave their place in my life.

Oh, and I received compliments on both the shoes and dress. SUCCESS!

Tonight is the Night

/ Jo Bird / 2 Comments

I chickened out last night and didn’t wear my new heels. BUT WAIT! There were two good reasons. (That’s for you Hall gang.)

1. The dress I got to go with the shoes (or vis-versa) has sequins and the photographer specifically asked that no one wear anything “sparkly” for the office picture.

2. Our office picture was at 3:00 and the dinner was at 5:30. I just didn’t feel prepared for a six hour heels marathon that included treking around Kathryn Albertson Park. (I’m just not that smooth yet.) In fact, a MALE coworker of mine told me the way I was walking made me look like I was in pain. And those shoes don’t even count as heels. Sigh.

But tonight I will go all out and I promise to take pictures. Meanwhile:

I was the benefactor of good Karma. My grateful heart came full circle when I found a plate of cookies on my porch the other day with these thank you cards from some girls at church. Thanks girls, it made my day!