I've finally managed to post a picture, I hope! These are my beautiful children and our precocious puppy. This is the picture I sent out with my Christmas cards this year. Thank goodness for digital cameras. How else could you tell if the picture was any good before you spent all that money on developing the film? Anyway, I hope you enjoy this photo. If only my children stayed this cleancut all the time! *grin* 

The Beatty Children and Pilot the puppy 

TIDINGS OF COMFORT AND JOY

I apologize to my (few) faithful readers. I have really had no time to read blogs or post anything lately. So if you've wondered where I've gone, I've just been immersed in the craziness that is December. Here are some happenings~

* Performed with the Cobb Symphony twice in the annual Christmas concerts.
* Participated in the Christmas Festival at my church which consisted of three concerts.
* Got a bad cold that lasted about a week.
* Was a substitute judge for District/All-State auditions while having a cold. That took all morning and afternoon and was on the same day as the first of the Christmas Festival performances.
* Hosted a dinner party for friends. This happened at the tail end of my cold and so I was rushed to get the house ready including making new window treatments for my dining room so it would look more like a dining room and less like a mess (translated school room).
* Online shopping, late night shopping, last minute shopping. I made so many purchases online one day that my credit card company flagged my account!
* Attended two Christmas parties.
* Tried to get some school done.
* Tried to get some laundry done. That's neverending as you know.
* Hosted another get together last night. We got together with several neighbors for the 2nd annual caroling around the neighborhood. This is my husband's deal but I had to pull together some food at the last minute. For the last couple days we couldn't find the songbooks which had all the songs neatly paperclipped or the quaint battery operated candlesticks that make us look a little like real carolers. So last night my husband comes home after a 1 1/2 hour commute (!!) and it's about 15 minutes before people arrive to go caroling. We still haven't found the songbooks or candles even with a $10 reward promised to eldest son if he found them. My husband goes up to the attic with 10 minutes to spare while I am praying to God that He would help us find them. Guess what? He found them amidst the jumble of boxes of kids' clothes. Does that sound familiar? Anyway, praise God, we found the songbooks and candles just in time and went out and had a great time serenading every house in the neighborhood. It was cold for Georgia so we were thankful there are only 35 houses in the neighborhood. Most everyone was home and all were excited to see and hear us. By the way, have you ever sung the second or third verses of Jingle Bells? They are funny, especially when you try to sing them for the first time in front of people.

Day or two ago
I thought I'd take a ride,
And soon Miss Fannie Bright
Was seated by my side.
The horse was lean and lank,
Misfortune seem'd his lot,
He got into a drifted bank,
And we, we got upsot.

Now the ground is white,
Go it while you're young;
Take the girls tonight,
And sing this sleighing song;
Just get a bob-tailed nag,
Two forty for his speed,
Then hitch him to an open sleigh,
And crack!you'll take the lead.

We came back to our house for food, hot cocoa and cider. It was a good time and something we'll do every year I think. My husband is going to label that box a lot more clearly this time I'm sure.

Today we won't be doing school because our oldest woke up with a fever and upset stomach. I'm actually thinking of cancelling tomorrow too since we were going to stop after that anyway. My parents are coming Friday which is also my mother's birthday so we'll try to make it special and not seem anything like Christmas. I need to wrap some more presents and do some more shopping but I think it's too late to do it online. Oh well, off to Wal-Mart I'll go.

Blessings to everyone who reads this humble little squib. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year if I don't end up posting until 2006!

FASHION INSECURITY

Should I feel embarrassed that I'm 33 and still am unsure of my personal style? Should this be that important to me? I'm not sure (uh oh, there's that insecurity again), but I just don't know how I want to dress lately. Add to this a new experience of what shall I call it...30-something spread, if you know what I mean...and I'm just lost. If I buy another pair of jeans and then wash them and they shrink up so they're too short or buy another pair of shoes that I regret buying 2 weeks later I think I'll scream. It bothers me that I've been getting into a habit lately of checking out everyone's wardrobe and constantly judging it compared to mine.

In the past two years I've met, online, some lovely, godly women who have adopted a mainly dresses wardrobe. Do I want to do the same? I've bought some jumpers and my husband has said that I look frumpy in them. I love this place but it is a little expensive to buy all the time. So how do I combine wanting to look feminine but tailored? Do I want to follow the trends like a lot of women I know in my church? I'd like to try something like this but I'm afraid I'll look frumpy and have to deal with the hassle of returning it.

So what do I do? Have any of you ladies out there had these troubles? Am I making too big a deal out of this? I think our appearance matters as Christians and as a whole it sends a message. We need to dress in a way that reverences Christ and is not ostentatious. So...any suggestions?