The Twelve Days of Christmas--and a Property Update

Our tree is still up, and we've had extended Christmas around here--as we should, being good liturgical Anglicans, until Epiphany begins on January 6.

First we had our own family Christmas on the 25th, as described in previous posts.

Then on the 26th (Boxing Day--an appropriate day to exhange packages), we had Papa Rooster's parents, his brother and sister-in-law and our little niece here all day.

We had one day to hit the after-Christmas sales, so the four older kids and I went out on the 27th on a marathon shopping trip to purchase winter raiment and footwear at clearance prices.

On Thursday the 28th, my parents arrived; we had Christmas with them on the 29th and had my in-laws over for dinner the same day. We relaxed with my folks on Saturday the 30th (actually, my mom cleared out much of my mending, while I dealt with some laundry in need of special treatment, but it was relaxing all the same).

We went to church and out to lunch with them on Sunday, saw them off, and then took a long drive to spend New Year's Eve with old friends.

New Year's Day I answered emails that had piled up, spent a little time reviewing my private blog/journal of prayers and learnings from the past year and started meditating on the New Year (post to follow soon, I hope). That evening we asked our kids to help us with family goals for the New Year, and got predictable responses. (Basically, they want us to go camping, play games together, and watch more family movies.)

This morning I called the other mom I homeschool with--we're both trying to stay on the same Sonlight day--and said I wasn't ready to start back today! I need a day or two to regroup and catch up...

...And prepare for the foot surgery I'm having on Friday. Actually both feet are involved, and I will have to keep them both elevated for a week or so. Ugh. (I'm having a bunion removed and a mild hammertoe corrected before it gets worse. Delightful.) I have put this off once already and am so tempted to do it again. There's never a good time for Mom to be out of commission!

So we're taking two more days off and starting back on Thursday. (And I'm thinking--we better take down the Christmas tree before Twelfth Night--sorry, tradition--unless Papa Rooster wants to do it all alone. What do you think, dear?) (He's my most faithful reader, but you'll never see him comment. He doesn't even rise to the bait in posts about him!)

In other news, we watched a lot of movies over Christmas, which I might get around to reviewing, post-surgery.

Also, Papa Rooster and his brother, who is a building inspector, as it happens, went up to Kenosha to inspect the property more thoroughly. The bad news is that all four buildings need new roofs and there are other repairs needed to the brickwork around all the windows. The good news is...that it could have been a lot worse, I'm thinking. Structurally, they seem to be okay.

We still need a lot more information, though. For example, has asbestos been removed or properly sealed? What about compliance with building codes? We suspect the property was probably grandfathered in on certain counts, being so old, but with a sale, surely compliance will be required.

We feel a little discouraged about it, but we're going to keep pushing forward on other fronts as well: building a church-planting team, casting the vision for the community or abbey/monastary piece, making the financial need known, researching the best way to set things up legally, looking into grants, etc. We are open to the idea that as we move forward, it may be that exploring the options for this property is what we need to do to prepare for a different opportunity that the Lord brings along. As our pastor once said, "Sometimes you have to go to Detroit to catch the flight to get to Cincinnati!" (Okay, maybe those weren't the cities. But you get the idea.)


Finally, I have to recommend this game. It's kind of like Taboo, only no words are off-limits and there's a hot potato twist. We spent a lot of time playing it--the older, non-electronic version which I found at a garage sale for fifty cents--with family and friends over the holidays. Any child old enough to read can participate without much need for strategy--and it's fun!