December 9, 2010 1:20 p.m.

What to do?

When life slows down to a stop.  This is now the second day when we have no urgent activities to tend to, or places to go.   Yesterday, we had two activities cancelled, leaving us a day free of appointments.  So I packed up Christmas packages and brought them to the UPS Store. 

Otherwise, lessons are done for the year, packages are shipped, most Christmas cards are written and sent, and even my Precept Bible Study homework is done.  At times today, the children are challenged to figure out what to do next.  After all, we aren’t used to this.  There are fewer than five days a year, typically, when life slows down like this, especially on days when Daddy is at work.  it just feels so … strange.  I long for days like this all year, and then when it actually happens, I freeze, not knowing how best to spend the day. 

I actually have time to post to my blog.  How about that?  Now if I only had something meaningful to say.

Chips is reading library books and working out Christmas songs on the piano.  Sweet Girl is wrapping small gifts for her family – of items that she finds in her room and closet that we all might like. 

My big responsibility of the day is to stay home and be here to provide signatures when Fedex and UPS arrive with important packages.  This one came already: a new air rifle that Self-Reliant Man ordered to teach Chips marksmanship.

The other package we are waiting for contains my father’s stamp and coin collections.  My brothers decided some time ago that they be given to Chips, who showed an early interest in these things, and they have sat in my brother’s house since our father passed away.  They are arriving today, and Chips cannot wait to see them. 

We also put Sweet Girl’s hair in braids, hours ago, and they have gotten somewhat messy since, but I do like the way she looks.

Finally, here is a glimpse into my gift wrapping and packing, and Bible Study room.  It used to be a dining room, but now is more likely to serve any other purpose than that!

While I am posting photos, I did find a few more of interest.  Here is another photo from the weekend Christmas Pageant.

And yesterday morning, we had a crystal clear day that allowed us to see the SpaceX Falcon 9 Rocket make history yesterday.  It carried the Dragon space capsule into orbit yesterday and successfully splashed down into the Pacific Ocean yesterday.  It was the first commercial project of its kind. 

You can see the rocket as we saw it from our yard.   It is the small fiery spot in these photos.

So that’s been our past two days so far.  I am thankful to the Lord for peaceful and stress- free days!