Till He Appeared and the Soul Felt its Worth

I was going to save this song for last given that it's a Christmas classic in the true sense of the definition. But after spending the morning in church celebrating the life of my girlfriend Christine's dad who passed away last week and singing along to a number of my favorite hymns including both Ave Maria and Amazing Grace (which, circumstances notwithstanding, always bring me to tears), I thought it would be best to select a proper Christmas hymn today.

"Oh Holy Night" is also a favorite that I share with my mom which makes it even more special for me. While I'm not a fan of Celine Dion and almost went with the Tracy Chapman version, I opted for the traditional rendering. The words, if you take a moment to listen, are beyond compare.

Fall on your knees
Oh hear the angel voices
Oh night divine
Oh night when Christ was born

It makes me want to drop to the ground and thank God for such an amazing gift. Yes, the weary world rejoices!

Spirit in the Sky

Two nights ago, a bunch of kids from the neighborhood were hanging out in our tent -- best investment ever -- that the hubby put up in the side yard by the fire pit. They had the Coleman lantern in there and were playing Battleship and Stratego. I was relaxing in the house.

At some point, seven panic-stricken kids came flying up to our front porch. "There are noises outside the tent! It sounds like someone knocking all over the tent but when we look out, nothing is there." I, being the awesome parent that I am, ignored them. "I'm sure it's nothing." I assumed that, as kids do through ghost stories and such, they were just freaking each other out.

A few minutes later, Son #1 came home crying. He had run outside, tripped over a tent stake and scraped his elbow. Through his sobs he said, "While I was lying there, it was raining nickels." Huh? "Nickels were coming down from heaven." He opened his fist and, sure enough, there was a nickel nestled in his palm.

Son #2 nodded his confirmation, "It's true."

I gave him a big hug and said, "Well that's pretty cool. Raining nickels!"

What a beautiful vision for a kid to hold onto, I thought to myself, never really thinking more of it. And never, for whatever reason, linking the two episodes together.

The next day, a long poem appeared taped to the tent. It was written by Nicholas (Nick) Nickels who was asking if he could live in the tent and offering his coins as part of the rent.

Last night (and most of the day from what I've been told) was a frenzy of the same kids, back in the tent, trying to figure it out. "I think he's a spirit or an angel." "I ran into my teacher today and she said Nick's probably a leprechaun." "I'm scared, will you come in there with us?"

The mayhem quickly escalated when another little girl came from across the street and scared everyone -- some to tears. Everyone was trying to figure out what clues may have been left in the poem itself. "What's a pun?" "Hey, it says 'set up' for the tent -- I think we're being set up. That's a pun, right?"

This led to some super sleuthing and an attempt at a trial.

"Was it Mr. R?" Answer: No we don't have a) a color printer or b) any money.

"Mr. S, it was you, wasn't it? Your computer has this font on it!" Answer: No, I'm an accountant not a writer. I couldn't have made that poem up.

"An accountant? That means you count nickels!"

And so on and so on . . .

Last night, I fell asleep while Son #1 was still excitedly putting together his court case. "We don't have enough evidence to convict Mr. S. except the laptop."

This morning, Son #1 was up early. "Can I go out to the tent and see if Nick left another note?" Sure enough, there was another poem left on the tent and today's even contained a claim that Nick is, indeed, a spirit.

I must say, it's a pretty exciting end to the summer and one they may never forget.

Merry Christmas!

It all began at 6:38 a.m. and ended less than half an hour of mayhem later . . . Now we have a full day of PlayStation 2 fun ahead of us including Guitar Hero, DragonballZ, Godzilla Unleased, The Simpsons, Ace Combat 5 and, for me, Dance Dance Revolution! Yeah baby. Maybe 2008 will be the year of the DDR weight loss regimen. But first I have to eat and drink my way through continued holiday overindulgence on these Pottery Barn plates from Ruth!

I got sooooo many fabulous jewelry-related pressies from family members that I'm not sure which is my favorite. I now have my sixth (!) Annie Adams necklace and first bracelet from her collection. I also have a gorgeous aqua blue necklace from the Corning Museum of Glass and a set of clear acrylic jewelry (ring, necklace and bracelet) from Volpino embedded with dozens of tiny embedded Swarovski crystals that my sister purchased from my favorite consignment shop, Windsor Cottage. Oh, and I got a sweet Christmas-themed green glass beaded bracelet hand-painted with reindeer and candy canes from my neighbor, Liz.

I should be all set for the next 12 months, at least! Per usual, stunningly adorned . . .

Oh and I now have this gorgeous, chocolate brown Lug Puddle Jumper overnight and gym bag. I either need to begin working out or taking a lot of trips. Hmmm, which sounds more appealing?

I hope everyone has a blessed Merry Christmas, remembers our Savior on this day (and beyond) and makes out like a bandit, too.

In closing, and in stark contrast to the crass commercialism listed above, the impassioned refrain from the most beautiful Christmas song ever penned, Oh Holy Night:

Fall on your knees
Oh hear the angel voices
Oh night divine
Oh night when Christ was born