What is it in a person that enables them to make ultimate, or at least huge sacrifices in the name of some cause, or religion, or the greater good? I am thinking of really big things like giving up an unsuitable true love to become king (the opposite of whatshisface who abdicated), or give up a cherished dream to become a farmer and pastor in Goshen, or become a cloistered nun who never sees the world again? Or the guy who leaps onto a hand grenade sputtering on the floor in the middle of a crowded room?

I thought about writing a long post about Christmas. But no such luck for you guys; laziness won out. You will have to be content with a short random post about work and wait longer to hear about the interesting things we did in Georgia.

I have come up with a mind game to fill up free thought time as I ring up orders on my register. After taking each order I have to ask the customer to give me their first name so they can be paged when their order is ready. So I think about names. The number of different names I get is surprisingly low and most are very common. Sometimes I get Kates and Katies, sometimes there are several Eric's or Ryans, sometimes people spell their names for you, and often I have to get people to repeat to make sure it was really Joan and not Jane. One older lady named Polly and I have a happy little connection going on because I told her I loved her name and thought I might name one of my own children that someday. Today I got two women with guys names- Danny was one, can't remember the other.
Anyway, my mental game is very simple: everything I type in a name I think of a person I know with that name. Surprisingly, there are few times when I can't do that! Paul, Diane, Joan, Ryan, Mary, Terry, Katie, Margaret, Bob, Tom, Connie, and on and on.... I feel so rich! How many people have such a wide circle of friends, family, acquaintances, and distant far-off cousins? Today I suddenly realized that I didn't have to stop with thinking warm, fuzzy thoughts about them- I could pray for them! I can pray for the "Jan" standing in front of me, and I can pray for the Jan I know who lives next door to me. Cool!


change of subject


Speaking of distant far-off cousins, we just found one! My father's father was the youngest of three sons- his brothers were ten and twenty years older than he. They were not devoted Christians, and in fact the oldest, George is usually described as "George, the horrible man,..." He was an alchoholic and not a really pleasant person. But he did have one advantage over the others: every member of Grandpa's family tends to drop dead of heart-attacks before their time. George beat that particular gene by pickling his insides with liquor. One of Daddy's sisters actually asked her doctor what she could do to keep her heart healthy and he suggested following in the footsteps of good 'ole uncle George (and I kid you not). So if any of you find beer bottles stashed in the back of fridge, please remember why they are there. :-)

ANYWAY... getting back to the point... Due to religious and other differences, Grandpa didn't keep in close contact with his brothers, and didn't talk about them much to his children. For years now my aunts have been poking about in the dark corners of the internet, looking for cousins. This Christmas we found one!!! His name is William (my last name) and he is the son of the infamous George! That makes him Daddy's first cousin and my first cousin once removed! As soon as I found out I was so excited! I didn't realize I would feel so interested but it is different now that there is actually a flesh and blood relative. What if he looks like us? Does he sound like us? Walk like us? Is he a Christian? Does he have children? Etc. We do know that he was actually looking for us as well. We haven't e-mailed back yet, but are planning too- and maybe meet him sometime! Again, cool.

Okay, I want to read my book for awhile before bed. Goodnight.

Christmas

Just a quickie- Christmas break has been lovely! Mostly it has consisted of frequent naps at all times of day, frequent doses Christmas shopping, and a lovely chance to interact with my sisters! There is truly nothing like just doing whatever with three sisters (except maybe doing whatever with four sisters). We get each other's humor and can talk about anything and a blue moon.

(If it makes you feel any better Craig, since I was one of the guilty parties whining about your excessive break, I DID recognize the fact that it wouldn't be much of a break working at the bank for five and a half weeks.)

Last night we drove north of Atlanta to rendezvous with the Swedish girls coming to spend Christmas with us. We had a lovely time laughing and talking, looking at pictures, comparing Christmas traditions, and getting to know each other. Of course I already knew Emma from Israel, so we had plenty to talk about. Fun to have two more girls around for Christmas!

and a Merry Christmas to you all. Mom needs me to get off now so she can use the phone. :-)

The phone rang this morning while I was still in bed at 10 am. I listened to Grandma answer it, "Hello, this is Mrs. Anderson, how may I help you? ... Lisa?" I was out of bed like a shot!

Yes! I got to talk to Lisa in Jerusalem! She is doing well, is happy but still suffering from jet lag compounded by the tail end of a cold. Mostly she has been recovering at the apartment, and hasn't been out anywhere much yet.

SO GOOD to hear from her! The connection was horrid, but that was okay. I miss her so much and I wish I was there SO MUCH but it is just so good to have her there.

I got of the phone and howled. As I said to Grandma, Everything is good and right and just as it should be, but I reserve the right to cry anyway. :-)

Now I am going to go ride my fat brown pony named Llewie, and if he bucks me off I shall be very mad indeed.

Happy Sabbath to you all! It is truly a lovely one.

the right word?

I was in the kitchen at work the other day, washing dishes and listening to a couple coworkers talking. One of them had just gotten a new shirt with the company logo on it. When he ordered it there were no pictures to show color choices. He chose lime green. The shirt was truly astonishing and the other guy was teasing him about it. At the end of the conversation the owner of the shirt declared,

"This shirt is ravaging!" Good thing I had my back to him so he couldn't see me laughing. I am really not sure if he meant what he said, or he really meant ravishing. Either way he certainly charmed me! :-)