I never run out of quotes

At times the world can seem an unfriendly and sinister place, but believe us when we say that there is much more good in it than bad. All you have to do is look hard enough. And what might seem to be a series of unfortunate events may, in fact, be the first steps of a journey...

~Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events

You know the thing about chaos. It's fair.

Do you know what I know?

Said the night wind to the little lamb,
Do you see what I see?
Way up in the sky, little lamb?
Do you see what I see?

A star, a star, dancing in the night,
With a tail as big as a kite,
With a tail as big as a kite.

Said the little lamb to the shepherd boy,
Do you hear what I hear?
Ringing through the sky shepherd boy,
Do you hear what I hear?

A song, a song, high above the tree,
With a voice as big as the sea,
With a voice as big as the sea.

Said the shepherd boy to the mighty king,
Do you know what I know?
A child, a child, shivers in the cold,
Let us bring him silver and gold,
Let us bring him silver and gold.

Said the king to the people everywhere,
Listen to what I say,
Pray for peace people everywhere,
Listen to what I say.

The child, the child, sleeping in the night,
He will bring us goodness and light.
The child, the child, sleeping in the night,
He will bring us goodness and light.


I hope this Christmas season during all the hustle and bustle that you take a second and know what I know -that God is good, and that we are all blessed.

Once there were two women,
who barely knew each other.
One you don't know yet,
the other you call Mother.

Two different lives shaped to make yours one
One became your guiding star,
The other became your sun.

The first gave you life,
and the second taught you to live in it.
The first gave you a need for love,
And the second was there to give it.

One gave you emotions,
The other calmed your fears.
One saw your first sweet smile,
The other dried your tears.

One gave you up - it was all that she could do.
The other prayed for a child,
And God led her straight to you.

So, you ask me one day, heredity or environment
what are you the product of?

Neither, my darling, neither.

Just two different kinds of love.

-Anonymous

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Hope

We put up our Christmas tree tonight. We had just finished straightening the branches (it's an artificial tree and it's on it's last leg, more on that later), when I ran upstairs to find my favorite ornament. I found it - wrapped gently in paper and then again in bubble wrap, and stored in a box marked EXTREMELY FRAGILE. I took it out of the box and watched the lights from the tree reflect on its shiny surface. I'm not even sure who gave me this ornament - it might have been Document Solutions - a vendor I used for the 8 years or so I worked downtown, and who always bought their clients a unique ornament for Christmas. I really think it may have been my friend Tish, though, but I just can't say for sure.

It's a penguin. A cute little penguin, with an adorable round little belly, red shiny shoes and a red and white scarf. It's made out of a very fragile material -like glass, but much, much more fragile. It glitters and sparkles. Its cute little head is covered with some sort of gold-colored winter hat that is what I think of as a babushka. It's my little Russian penguin. Every year I hang it on the tree, and think of someone who might one day come from Russia... but now may come from somewhere much, much closer. Tonight as I hung my little penguin center stage of my tree, he sparkled more than ever. He sparkled with hope, sweet hope, the thing with feathers that we all know perches in the soul... and sings the tune without the words... and never stops... at all.