Michigan!

"Four of spades."

"Five."
"Six."
"Seven is dead."
"Jack of hearts."
"Queen."
"King. And Michigan!"

And that was my introduction to Michigan Rummy, which is apparently a Davies family tradition (who knew?!). They play it every Christmas Day night at Aunt Susie's house when the family gathers for their annual Christmas celebration.

This year Mom, Dad, Tim and I drove out to spend Christmas with Grandma. After a leisurely Christmas morning and afternoon, we headed over to Aunt Susie and Uncle Wayne's for Christmas dinner with "the cousins" (this includes all my dad's cousins on my grandma's side and their kids). As soon as everyone was finished eating, the rumblings started....

"Where are the folding chairs?"
"Who has the matches?"
"Is it still twenty matches for a penny?"
"Who else wants to play?"

Well-- I said-- I don't know how to play, but if you'll teach me, I'm in!

And they said "Sure."

And so, Tim and I learned how to play Michigan Rummy.

Now we are official members of the family. :)

Every seven months....

Well, I've been in Brooklyn for seven months now. So you know what that means.... it's time to move again! I hate packing as much as the next guy, but I am pretty excited about this move. Remember that apartment that we were so in love with but fell through? Well, I got an email earlier this week from the guy renting it out, and he said that the people who were supposed to take it went with a different apartment! So if we want it, he said, it's ours!

We want it!!!

So now we are in the midst of frantically filling out paperwork, looking for necessary documentation (Sorry what? You're supposed to keep your tax forms??? Who knew?!), and finding people to take our spots in our current apartment.

Which, really, is the reason for this post. Please pray that God will bring just the right people and work out the details of this whole move in just the right way. I told our third roommate tonight that we are moving out, and obviously it is a lot to take in. Please pray that God will bring her good roommates-- and soon. We are aiming for a January 15 move date, so it doesn't give much time!

I'm feeling slightly overwhelmed, but I'm also excited. I think God has gifted both Gretchen and me in the area of showing hospitality, and we are eager to have space to do so! And, this new apartment will be only about twenty blocks away from where Ellen lives now and where she and Steve will live when they get married in April!

Also, this means even more flexibility for having guests come stay. So start making your plans!!!!

(Thanks for praying!!)

SanTea Claus

Yes, I own a Mrs. Claus apron. What can I say, I used to be a teacher. And it was the perfect "prop" for those class Christmas parties.

And now that I work at a tea shop, I figured it was a good excuse to whip it out again.

I wore it once just after Thanksgiving, but I wasn't prepared for the reaction I got-- which was, shockingly, no reaction at all. Do they think I think this is normal attire? and I got self-conscious and put it back in my closet.

But now it's Christmas week, so I took it out again. The reactions this time around were much, much better. Today the reactions went like this--

"Oh my gosh! Look at you! You're adorable!"

"It's Santa!!!"

"Thanks for our tea, Santa!"

"Where does one get an outfit like this? Other than the North Pole, obviously..."

"Oh! Oh! That's just wonderful!"

And then my personal favorite of the day....

"Look, kids! It's San-TEA Claus!"

(I'm pretty sure that guy was a math teacher, judging from his sense of humor.)

Christmas Party Fail

It had such potential to be a good story. Gretchen and I bought tickets to go to the Transitions Christmas Party at the DUMBO (Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass) Loft space. (Transitions is the group for the 19-29 year-olds at Brooklyn Tabernacle). So we got all dolled up tonight and headed that direction.

Just as we were about to cross the street to the Loft, Gretchen slipped on ice and tore her brand new tights. And her knee (not as new as the tights, but slightly more valuable).

"At least it'll make a good story for your blog!" she quipped-- always a good sport.

Let's just say that was the highlight of our evening.

FAIL.

Stop the Rollercoaster; I wanna get off.

My mom used to tell me that if I didn't get so excited about things, maybe my life wouldn't feel like such a roller-coaster. Such highs. Such lows.

I used to counter her argument by telling her I didn't want to be a pessimist, that it was a good thing to expect a lot out of life.

But I've been suspecting lately that maybe she knew what she was talking about. If only I could find the balance of expecting great things and yet holding them loosely; hoping but not being crushed when things go differently than what I'd envisioned.

If only.

A different kind of tired

Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
his understanding is unsearchable.
He gives power to the faint,
and to him who has no might he increases strength.
Even youths shall faint and be weary,
and young men shall fall exhausted;
but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint. (Isaiah 40:28-31)

Quite possibly my favorite Bible passage. I read it before heading out the door this morning. I bundled up, fought through the crowds for my spot on the subway, read my book while steadying myself against the spastic movements of the train, and then braced myself to face the cold air on my walk to work on the other end (I am still very thankful for my sleeping bag coat). As I walked the few blocks to the office (yes, I was working my grown-up job today), I just felt overwhelmed. Sad. Tired.

No reason, really. I am honestly in a much better place than I've been for a while. I am enjoying my life; I see God's hand on me in so many ways. But still I struggle to be joyful; I struggle to be content with how my life looks-- oh, so differently than I would have planned for myself. And I am so, so tired of struggling.

These verses came back to mind--

He does not faint nor grow weary. I'm glad of that, because I am faint and weary.
His understanding is unsearchable. Yes Lord, your ways are not my ways. But your ways are good.
He gives power to the faint. I am fighting to hope, and I am growing faint. I need your power.
To him who has no might he increases strength. I have nothing to offer; I need your strength.
Even youths shall faint; young men shall be exhausted. Yep, 29-year-old women, too!
But they who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength. God, I need your strength.
They shall mount up with wings like eagles. Really? When I feel like I can barely walk? You promise that I will soar like the eagles?
They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint. In your strength I can press on. You can give me strength-- not just for daily life-- but for the daily struggles as well, both internal and external.

I'm physically tired, yes. I'm fighting a headcold, too, which really doesn't help things. But I'm also a different kind of tired... I am tired of fighting for hope and fighting for joy and fighting against the fear that I'll never really attain them.

But I will run this race, and I will not grow weary. I will walk this path and I will not grow faint. Not because I have it all figured out, but because I don't. Because I know that my strength for the challenges doesn't come from me; it comes from God-- and I will wait on him and trust him to give me the strength I don't have by myself.

Santa's getting crabby...

I wrote a letter to Santa the other day. (I copied my family on it, just in case they were curious.)

I got this reply....

Dear Ms. Davies,

Thank you for your interest in the North Pole branch of Christmas Enterprises, Inc. We regret to inform you that due to global overpopulation and current economic pressures, we are no longer able to accept requests from applicants over twenty years of age. We truly wish that we could respond to all the letters we receive but present circumstances preclude this. We wish you success in finding other means of fulfilling your dreams. (Perhaps try the Easter Bunny?)

Wishing you a joyous holiday season.
Sincerely,
S. Claus

dictated but not read
/td

Does anyone else think it's suspicious that Santa's secretary has the same initials as my older brother?

Death of an umbrella

I used to laugh at people when their umbrellas blew inside out. They usually try to fix it, realize they're getting even wetter because they're standing still instead of moving towards shelter, and then throw it disgustedly in the next trash can they pass.

Yep, I used to laugh at those people.

Until I became one of them. Then it wasn't so funny anymore.

Maybe I'll ask for a windproof umbrella for Christmas....

Ferdinand has a baby brother!

When Melissa and I were roommates, we got a tree in our bedroom. We slept with that tree lit up every night. And it was magical. So I got a tree in my room again last year. This year my Brooklyn bedroom is maybe a quarter the size of my Philly bedroom (that's a generous guess), so there's not really floor space for a tree.

This has made me very, very sad. I've been trying to figure out a solution, but fortunately my friend Mark helped me out.

Behold: the smallest tree you ever did see.

You can kind of see the family resemblance to Ferdinand. But Ferdinand definitely got all the height.

The Secret Handshake

"You know you're training a new girl tomorrow, right?" Gretchen asked me last night.
Yup, Dottie posted the training schedule.
"Her name's Lauren; she seems really nice."
Yeah, I met her; she seemed really sweet.
"In fact, I kind of think she might be a Christian...."
Really?? What makes you think so?
"Well, she went to the same college as one of my friends, and I think it's a Christian school. And I'm pretty sure on her resume when she applied it said something about a Christian high school."
Oh man, that'd be awesome! I'll do some investigating tomorrow and see what I can find out!!

I had it all figured out. I was going to ask where she went to college and then see where I could take the conversation from there. But things went a little differently than I'd planned....

"So do you work here full-time?" Lauren asked me while I was showing her around the barista station.
Sort of... I work here four days a week (which is technically full-time), but I also have another part-time job.
"Oh really? What's your other job?"
I work with inner city kids.
"You do?! That's so cool! Where is it?
It's a Christian mentoring program in Midtown...
"It's not.... I mean, it's far-fetched.... But it's not Kids With A Promise, is it?"
(My jaw dropped open.)
You've heard of it?!?!?!
"Oh my gosh! Yeah! I've been emailing with Carlos to see about being a mentor!"
ARE YOU SERIOUS?!?!?! How did you even know about it?
"I was visiting a church, and they mentioned it! I used to be part of a mentoring program in Atlanta, and I miss it."

Needless to say, we had lots to talk about. From mentoring programs to church hunting in New York City to working at Alice's. Oh yeah, and talking about how to make tea.... we did some of that too, I promise.

My friend Gelucc always used to say she felt like talking about church was a "secret handshake" between Christians. If you put it out there that you go to church, chances are that the other person will jump on it if they, too, are a Christian. I told Lauren that today-- told her about my mission to find out if she was a Christian, and told her how excited I was to find out that she "knew the secret handshake."

I'm excited to have another Christian on staff at Alice's. I'm excited that God sent me another little reminder that he's actively at work. And I'm excited to see what he's up to and what good things he's got planned-- for me, for Lauren, for Alice's.

The Glories of the Sleeping Bag Coat

I love winter. I love the excuse to snuggle under blankets, to drink hot chocolate, to play in the snow, to go snowboarding, to wear argyle sweaters.... the list goes on.

So yeah, I love winter. But I hate being cold. And that's not a winning combination. This past Saturday I went over to Steve's and ended up staying an extra two hours because I couldn't bring myself to go out in the cold again when I was just finally starting to thaw out!

That does it. I am not going to survive this winter with just this wool coat.

So I went coat shopping. And I made the Best Purchase of the Year.

I call it a "sleeping bag coat" because I think it's the adult equivalent to those fleece sleeping-bag things in strollers that you see all around the city. I can't crawl into one of those, so I will do the next best thing: I will wear a long down coat that keeps me just as warm! The best feature is this great collar that zips up really high. So on super cold days (like yesterday and today), you pull your hat down a little and the collar up a little, and the only thing exposed to the cold is your eyes. Genius!

Sure, I won't win any fashion awards. But I'm excited to enjoy winter from the warmth of my sleeping bag coat!

Ferdinand, the Christmas Tree

I have resisted the urge to post pictures on this blog, but I can't paint a word picture that would do justice to the newest roommate at our Brooklyn Digs.

Meet Ferdinand, who just got himself all dressed up for Christmas.

What is it about Christmas trees that just makes a house (or apartment, as the case may be) feel like a home?

Isn't he beautiful?

Settling In

They lit the tree by Lincoln Center this past Monday. That night was also Winter's Eve, apparently the largest holiday festival in New York City. They set up all these little booths along Broadway, from Columbus Circle to Lincoln Center where local restaurants sold their specialties for $1-$5 per item. You could get crabcakes for $3, pumpkin bisque for $1, Mexican hot chocolate for $2.... a wide variety of amazing goodies! There were decorations everywhere and live music along the way, and we stood shivering and listening to a great quintet singing Christmas and love songs.

But the best part of it? I went with a whole group of friends. First I met up with Hannah (one of my former students now at college in the city-- am I really that old?!) and one of her friends, then Teddy from Alice's and then Gretchen and Sue (also from Alice's). A couple minutes later Steve showed up, then Lorelei and then Andy. An hour later we ran into Brian and Laura. And then Ellen got off work and met up with us. We stood on the sidewalk talking as the stands started closing down, and all I could think was I have friends in New York!!

It's a wonderful feeling.

:)