62. Christmas with my Boy

A quiet Christmas today.  We stayed home — my youngest son and me.

And it’s probably the last Christmas when he’ll live here.

And we played a game all afternoon — It happened to be a game I’d given him a couple years ago at Christmas and we hadn’t opened until now.  And we had a lot of fun playing it.  (He won.)

And we had a nice meal together, which I prepared yesterday.

And we opened gifts.

And we played Christmas music.

And we both did some reading.

And I was together with someone I love dearly.

61. Emmanuel

Emmanuel.  God with us.  That’s the amazing thing about Christmas.  God became one of us, and put aside His glory so we could better understand Who He is.

In Luke 7, after Jesus brought a widow’s son back to life, this happened:

They were all filled with awe and praised God.  “A great prophet has appeared among us,” they said.  “God has come to help his people.”

God has come to help His people.  Thank you, Lord.

59. My Son Finished College!

Yesterday, my youngest son finished his last Final Exam, and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in English and Computer Science.

Wow!

I am now the mother of two full-grown adult college graduates!

It was a lovely last drive to Williamsburg.  There were no traffic slowdowns, and it was so warm we had dinner outside, in Merchant’s Square of Colonial Williamsburg.  We talked all the way home.  Just a lovely day with my wonderful boy!

Where does the time go?

I am so proud and happy about the man he has turned out to be.

55. Thanksgiving

I’m so thankful for the Thanksgiving holiday!

A whole day set aside for giving thanks.  The awesome thing about Thanksgiving is it can be celebrated by people of every religion.  Even atheists can think of the other people in their lives to whom they can be grateful.

I also like the way Thanksgiving has traditionally become a time to celebrate the people in our lives whom we love.

A wise person has said that gratitude helps you live in the present.  When you’re being thankful, you’re not obsessing over or regretting the past.  You’re not worrying about the future.  You’re remembering that right now, this moment, you have something to be thankful for.

What a blessing!

50. My Oregon Trip

OregonCoast1

I just got back from a wonderful trip to Oregon.

I like to make this blog about *present* blessings, but I was not able to do much posting on my trip.  So I will first be thankful for the whole trip, that I was able to go and had a wonderful time.  My subsequent posts will get into specifics.

Overall — I got to take a week off work and go to Portland.  The excuse was a Young Adult Library Services Association Symposium.  But I stayed before and after the symposium to see various loved family members.

And it was a simply wonderful week.

44. KidLitCon 2015

I spent Friday and Saturday at KidLitCon in Baltimore!

KidLitCon is a yearly conference for children’s book bloggers.  The location rotates, so this year with it in driving distance — I had to go!  This was my fourth KidLitCon, and again it was such a treat to be with “my people” — people who love children’s books as much as I do!

37. Baby Smiles

I did a storytime today at the library.

A 4-month-old baby came with her mother.  She was alert and attentive — and smiled at me over and over again.

There is nothing on earth so happy-making as a Baby Smile.  I can’t help but smile just thinking about it.

33. Family Math Games at the Library

I’m doing a program once a month where I put out a whole lot of board games and card games that build math skills — and ask only that parents play with their kids.

Today, again, it was just beautiful.  25 people came.  Parents were clearly enjoying the time with their kids and kids were learning and having fun both.  And it just did my heart good to see it.

It’s a blessing for me to get to have a small part in touching families in this way.

31. Getting to be a Part of Changing Lives

Today a big blessing happened when I was working on the desk in the Virginia Room.

She wanted to know if Thomas Jefferson Library was the same library that had once been located in a townhouse in Jefferson Village Apartments.

I told her I’d call her back, and ended up finding the information quickly in a book on the history of the first 50 years of Fairfax County Public Library.

Yes, Thomas Jefferson library started in the back of a barber shop and moved to an apartment in Jefferson Village Apartments in 1954.  They used every part of the apartment.  There was a picture of bookshelves in the bathtub!  In 1962, they moved into a more traditional library building.

But the heart-warming part came when I called the lady back.  She said that library in Jefferson Village Apartments was a “life-saver” and made a huge difference in her life.  She started going on and on about what good work we do in libraries.  (I think she’s going to be arranging to give money to Thomas Jefferson Library.)  It was a nice little reminder that libraries change lives and sent me on the rest of my day smiling.