This Ma Roasting By An Open Fire

One branch of the rescue mission that Pa works for is the ministry to women and children. The facility that houses these women and children is top-notch and classy, and restorative to the soul.

I am thinking of moving in.

Ha! Just kidding.

But anyway, apart from the building, the ministry itself is successful in creating true life change in the lives of these families. The director has a great vision for outreach and carries out the work of the mission with excellence.

So when an opportunity came up to help "deck their halls," I jumped at the chance.

Because they don't call me Becky Homecky for nothing.

And it was a night out with Other Adults.

Oh! And of course the privilege of interacting with the moms and their kids. And wouldn't you know, they were a lot like me. Only they were slightly more normal.

So I ended up in the family room, decorating the mantle.

And you can imagine my surprise when I was handed my decor, and it was fresh greenery and fresh holly and fresh ivy.

As if I even knew that "fresh" holly and ivy existed.

But the scratch marks on my hands are proof that it was real. So one gal said, "Yeah, I just plucked that off my tree before I came."

Mmmm-hmmmm. This ain't the Midwest, I can tell you that.

So this other gal said to me, "You know, I have never seen ivy with leaves shaped just like that!"

And I said, "I've never seen ivy that wasn't plastic!"



And after a couple of hours, the whole place was decorated. Then our group shared some cookies (and my infamous veggie tray) and Christmas stories with the ladies and their kids.

And I was glad to be a part. One of the many reasons why I Heart My City.

Family Volunteer Day

Because we are all about Free Fun, and Blowing Off Steam In Wide Open Spaces, we decided to celebrate Family Volunteer Day by cleaning up our neighborhood park.

We had considered helping to pack groceries at the local store, but visions of spilled eggs danced in my head.

But sticks, nope--there is no damage that can be done when two boys are asked to clean up a bunch of twigs.

Yeah, and I've got some oceanfront property in Ohio I'd like to sell ya, too.

Hey, look! It's the Zig! Looking normal! And cute!

And really, the kids didn't beat each other with the sticks. At least not that I knew of. I was on the other side of the park. (They were safe! They were with the Pa!)

Here they are, working together to carry a Really! Big! Stick!

I should also mention that in True Pacific Northwest Style, it started raining while we were at the park. No mind, though. We just stayed and did our work. When in Rome, do as the Romans do. We soaked it up.

This was right before the Zig fell and covered himself from head to toe with mud. Well, I've always wanted to do laundry Every Waking Moment Of My Life, so that just made my day.

It was great to be outside, smelling the evergreens, and feeling the "spring rain," as I like to call it.

Then we came back home and watched an hour or so of TV to recuperate. We gotta have balance, ya know.