Guest Posting at Grace Table today -- Will you join me?

Have you heard about Grace Table? Grace Table is a new blog that focuses on hospitality and all the ways we can make room for others and for God in our homes and in our lives. I have really enjoyed reading this beautiful blog over the past few months, and this morning I am honored to be featured over there.

Thrilled even!

Excited!

Here's a little sneak peek . . .

*****

I recently redecorated the guest room in our home. It’s the first time we’ve had a real guest room, and the only reason we have it is because our oldest daughter graduated from college and moved out.

For good.

*gulp*

There’s a void here now.

A room sits empty.

So, with a little physical and financial effort, I have transformed that empty room into what we hope will be a space of refuge, retreat, and rest for those who need it. (In fact, it turned out so great that I might want to claim it for my own!)

Head on over to Grace Table to read the rest!

Top Five Things I've Been Doing Lately

Now that Downton Abbey season is over, I just can't seem to stop thinking in terms of Top Five lists. And since I've been keeping you more up-to-date with the Grantham clan than my own life, I thought I'd just spend a few minutes catching up.

How you doing? 

I know, it's a little hard to have a quick conversation here, but really, I'm interested. How are you doing? And what have you been doing during this long, dreary winter? 

[By the way, there's a comments section for the answers to those questions. You should try using it sometime. I usually try to respond to your comments, and I really do want to know how you're doing.]

Anyway, as I said earlier, it's been a while since I've caught you up on my life, so here, in no particular order, are the top five things I've been doing lately.

5. Arizona-ing

It's spring break at the college where I teach, but not at my daughter's high school, so I took a brief trip by myself to visit my parents in Arizona. 

This is my lovely mama and me enjoying 80 degree weather. And lunch. People say we look similar--what do you think?

4. Retreating

So I came home for about three days, and this weekend I'm heading out to a retreat with the Redbud Writer's Guild. Any time I have to talk about my writing causes a certain amount of angst for me, so, yes, I'm already nervous. 

Prayers appreciated.

3. Spring Breaking

I know, I've already mentioned that it's spring break, but seriously, how did we get here so fast? Next week when we return to school I'll only have seven weeks of classes left. Forever.

I think I might have mentioned before that last year was going to be my last year of teaching, but for those of you keeping score (and for those of you who may be confused), THIS year is absolutely, positively, my last year. I resigned last semester and will not be back at the college next year.

Yes, the emotions are all over the place on that one. More to come, I'm sure.

2. Yoga-ing

Over winter break, Caroline and I decided to try out a new-ish yoga studio in town since they were offering a free week and, well, hot yoga in winter. Am I right? We both loved it--in fact, we went four times in that first week! So now I'm learning (some would say practicing, but I'm still learning) how to do yoga. My family thinks I'm crazy because I want to talk about it all the time, but it's so much fun! It's only been two months, but I can tell that I'm getting so much stronger. 

This one may stick.

1. Warming

When I left for Arizona last Friday we had about a foot and a half of snow on the ground and the wind chill that morning was -6 degrees. (The day before, the wind chill was -12.) When I got home yesterday, it was in the 50s and the snow was almost gone. Rumor has it, we might see 60 over the weekend.

All I know is that my students are going to be SHOCKED when they come back next week.

In a good way.

*****

So there you have it, a basic update on my life. And now, because I care and because I really do want to know . . . HOW ARE YOU??

Comment below. *wink wink*

Oh, and one more thing. Be sure to come back next Monday because I'm hosting a good, old-fashioned giveaway. One I am sure you're not going to want to miss.

Top Five Lines from Downton Abbey S5:E9 ( or "in vino veritas")

Ah, friends. I’d say those Downton writers really know how to wrap up a season. And how to keep up salivating for more.

This week’s episode, the finale, was really fun, wasn’t it? So many lovely moments that just can’t fit into my Top Five. I’m thinking of Robert and Edith, Robert and Cora, Robert and Sybbie. I guess Robert is finally coming around and becoming the man he was in Season 1.

And then there was the moment with the Russian Princess. Oh my! Would you say she has a chip on her shoulder . . . or was she happy to see Violet again? That entire story line was a little bit perplexing to me this season. I’m kind of happy to see the Russians trot off to Paris where they can be miserable together.

But the Russians do bring me to my first favorite line of the night, which, of course, belongs to Violet.

[Note: I don’t always put them in order, but this week I am. Because I want to. And because my favorite line is definitely worth waiting for.]

5. So the Russians have left the building and Violet remains, yet again, alone. I was glad that she finally confessed her somewhat sordid background to Isobel—she came across as a very real person. She confesses something else to her BFF as well—that she’s a little sad to put her latest near-tryst with Prince Kuragin in the past.

“Sad?” Isobel asks.

To which Violet replies, 

“I will never again receive an immoral proposition from a man. 

Was I so wrong to savor it?”

The passage of time can be so cruel.

4. So the family travels quite a distance (we aren’t quite sure where—Scotland?) to visit the Sinderby clan in their much-larger-than-Downton rental house because, you know, they are family now. Sort of. And they have to make a show of it for Rose’s sake, I guess.

Or Robert just wants to get in on some premiere grouse shooting.

Anyway, while most of the house is gone, Mrs. Patmore creates a nice dinner for some of the staff because, “When the cat’s away, we mice might as well play a little.”

She’s invited just a few people to share in the special meal: Carson, Mrs. Hughes, herself, Mr. Bates, Mr. Molesley, and Daisy, to which Carson crinkles his bulbous nose and says, “Daisy? To wait on us, I assume.”

Mrs. Patmore quickly puts him in his place when she ever-so-calmly replies, 

“To wait on us, yes, and to eat with us. And if that thought’s too democratically overpowering, you can share what I’ve made for the housemaids."

Cudos to you, Mrs. Patmore!

3. While they are visiting the Sinderby’s, the Millenials decide to take a little walk so they can chat some distance away from the ears and sneers in the really big rental. Atticus divulges that he’s been offered a job in New York, and he and Rose seem all smiles about this. Tom talks about moving to Boston, which Mary continues to dismiss. Denial much?

Edith understands her sister better than Mary might think. “Poor Mary,” Edith mocks. “She hates to be left behind when everyone else is getting on with their lives.”

Not so fast, Edith. Mary once again comes out on top with her quick, albeit cruel, wit.

“It isn’t that. It’s just the thought of 

being left behind with you.”

Once again, Edith is left agape and everyone else just shrugs their shoulders as if to say, “That’s our Mary.”

2. My final two favorite lines from this episode are in a near dead heat—they were both great for different reasons. But my number one favorite line just squeaked in ahead of my number two favorite for reasons which you will see when you get there.

This favorite line was probably one of yours, too, because it was just so hilarious.

Bates and Thomas are cleaning the guns [side note: Baxter reveals that Thomas knows his way around a rifle and that his father was a good shot. Hmmm. Will this information be important somewhere down the road?], and Molesley offers his sympathy, yet again, to Bates for Anna still being in prison.

Bates feels helpless and claims, “I’d cut my arm off if I knew it would do any good.”

Thomas smirks, 

“Oh, I don’t think that would be sensible, Mr. Bates. 

We can’t have you wobbly at both ends.”

Oh my word! Just too funny.

Cringeworthy, but funny.

1. OK, you’ve probably already guessed my favorite line of the episode, and it gets this spot both because of the delivery and because of the scenario.

Dear Carson and Mrs. Hughes. We’ve seen this coming for some time now (remember them walking hand in hand into the sea at the end of season 7?), and finally our deepest Downton desires have been met.

While everyone else is upstairs drinking spiked punch and singing Christmas carols, Carson and Mrs. Hughes sneak downstairs. Carson explains that he has purchased the house in both of their names, despite the fact that Mrs. Hughes has already revealed to him that she’s destitute.

No matter. Carson wants her in on the deal. In fact, he wants her in on the rest of his life, as he so sweetly declares to her with tears in his eyes.

Mrs. Hughes pushes back. “Suppose you want to move away and change your life entirely. You don’t want to be stuck with me.”

“Well, that’s the point,” says Carson.

“What is?” Mrs. Hughes is starting to understand.

“I do want to be stuck with you.”

“I’m not convinced I can be hearing this right.” The puzzle pieces are beginning to fall into place.

Carson comes in for the kill: “You are if you think I’m asking you to marry me. . . . Well?”

“Well, you can knock me down with a feather.”

Isn’t that just lovely? But we’re not there yet. My favorite line is still coming, but I had to set the scene because it was just so sweet.

Finally Carson tells Mrs. Hughes to take as long as she likes because, “One thing I do know, I’m not marrying anyone else.”

She smiles and hands him a drink. Carson says, “What exactly are we celebrating?”

“We’re celebrating the fact that I can still get a proposal at my age.”

“And that’s . . . it?”

Now Carson looks pained; the distress on his face is obvious until Mrs. Hughes puts him out of his misery.

“Of course I’ll marry you, you old booby! 

I thought you’d never ask.”

And everyone in the room said, “Ahhhhhhh.”

We thought he’d never ask either!

*****

With that, Season 5 is a wrap. I’m sorry to see the fun of Downton Abbey come to an end, but does it ever? So many unanswered questions are left for us to ponder for the next nine months until a new season is born.

Will Atticus and Rose move to America?

Will Tom and Sybbie ever come back as he promised three times in this episode?

Will Mary make Edith’s life even more miserable when she opens her eyes and realizes the truth about Marigold?

Will Isobel change her mind and realize that she just can’t live without Dickie Merton?

Will Thomas find a reason to use a gun?

And will Robert ever get a new dog, this time one with a more suitable name?

Until next year, good bye, Downton! And thanks.

Top Five Lines from Downton Abbey, S5:E8 (or We're On the Home Stretch)

Hello dear friends and faithful readers. We’re on the home stretch—next week is our last Downton Abbey episode of the season. I have to say that I look forward to Downton Abbey each January, partly because it makes the winter go a little faster. By the time eight episodes have aired we’re into March and I feel like spring will be just around the corner.

One can hope, can’t she?

For that and for so many other reasons (fun and hilarity being chief among them), I have to thank all those who have worked so hard to bring us Downton Abbey each week. In case you haven’t heard the news yet, next season will be the final season of DA. I guess there just aren’t enough country fairs or cricket matches left to keep the Grantham-Crawley clan busy. And Mary has dated pretty much every single male within a twenty-mile radius of the big house, so she’s done. Plus, Violet has drunk all the tea left in the county, so what else could be covered?

I guess we’ll find out during Season Six.

But for now, let’s talk about Season Five, Episode 7, which I loved this week because it tied up some loose strings (Hello, Susan and Shrimpy) and brought some other story lines together.

Except, wait. One measly little line about the prettiest dog on television who looks almost exactly like my dog? Seriously, I thought Isis deserved a fonder farewell than she was given.

But aside from the Isis snub, there really was a lot of good stuff going on this week. Wasn’t Rose such a beautiful, sweet bride?

On with my Top Five.

1. Have you noticed that every. single. week. someone says something about time marching on or the-times-they-are-a-changing or something like that? It’s like the writers want us to pick up some kind of theme or something.

This week was no exception with Mrs. Patmore’s glaringly obvious commentary on the shocking news that Grantham House in London wouldn’t be keeping full-time staff any longer. “Another clang in the march of time,” she muttered.

But I did like Mrs. Hughes’ reference, as she was trying to bring Carson, yet again, into the 20^th Century, telling him to just get over the fact that they will have to hire temporary staff to cover the big event in London: 

“The big parade’s passed by, Mr. Carson. We’re just trying to keep up as best we can.”

2. Speaking of Carson and Mrs. Hughes (will he still call her Mrs. Hughes after they’re married next season?) . . .  This week seemed to be all about coming to terms with the Jewish-ness of the Sinderby clan. Or is it Aldridge? Atticus’s last name was Aldridge, but his father is called Lord Sinderby, just like the Grantham-Crawley thing. It’s all so confusing.

Anyway, Carson and Mrs. H. are talking about wedding preparations, and Mrs. Hughes mentions that it “feels quite foreign” (hint, hint) to have the bridegroom’s parents entertain just before a marriage. (Why this would seem strange, I’m just not sure.) To which Carson replies that maybe “that sort” do things differently.

Cue eye roll here.

Mrs. H. gives him a hard time for that comment to which Carson replies, “I’m not prejudiced, Mrs. Hughes. There are many things you could accuse me of, but not that.”

After a poignant pause, Mrs. Hughes dishes it right back:

“How about . . . lack of self-knowledge?”

3. Oh that nasty Susan Flincher! I kind of think she’s a good villain, but she is totally nasty. She tried everything to break up her daughter’s marriage this week, although since she hadn’t even seen her daughter for at least a year and hadn’t kept up with her daughter’s life, and since she obviously doesn’t care about anyone but herself, I don’t know why she cared enough to go to the lengths she did. But nevertheless . . .

At one point during dinner, Susan asked her future in-law, Lady Sinderby, “Tell me, do you find it difficult these days to get staff?” Implying, of course, that Lady Sinderby’s lineage might make it difficult to find people to clean up after her, thereby lowering her rank in Susan’s pecking order.

I think, however, that Lady Sinderby can handle the new in-laws just fine, thankyouverymuch, because her retort was classic:

“Not really. But then, we’re Jewish so we pay well.”

4. You know I couldn’t let this episode go by without a delicious quote from Daisy. They say a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, and Daisy has gained just a little new knowledge, but the idea that she can learn new things has been freeing for Daisy, opening up a whole new world. 

She explained her feelings to Molesley and Miss Baxter as they walked back from an art museum.

“I feel as if I’ve been down a coal hole and someone’s opened the lid and brought me into the sunlight.”

Isn’t that just a perfect description? I still love you, Daisy!

5. Wasn’t it nice to see Robert and Cora getting along and having an actual connection this week? I was pleased to see it and wonder if the writers were trying to contrast their relationship with Susan and Shrimpy’s. Whatever the case, it was nice to see them not just getting along, but acting like they loved each other again.

My favorite scene between them (and, yes, I liked the scene at the end when Robert figures out that he has another granddaughter, but I liked this one better) was when Robert announces that he’s selling the Piero della Francesca painting. You know, the one Simon Bricker was supposedly ga-ga over and had to keep coming out to Downton to ogle.

Cora gets a little misty-eyed and asks Robert if he’s selling the painting because it reminds him too much of that nasty little episode with Mr. Bricker.

“Yes,” Robert admits. 

“But not in the way you think. Every time I look at it I am reminded that I didn’t trust you, and I feel so angry with myself that I want to be rid of it.”

Is that a spine you’re growing there, Robert?

Bonus: Toward the very end of the episode we get a brief glimpse into the relationship between Carson and Lady Mary, which we haven’t seen much of this season. We know from past seasons that the two have a deep affection for each other, kind of like an uncle/niece relationship. Mary confides in Carson that her love life is once again going nowhere fast and that she’s not sure she will ever find a man. Carson, possibly the only person in the house who actually thinks highly of Mary, reassures her:

“I am confident that you will triumph in the end.”

A bit of foreshadowing of next season, perhaps?

So we have one more week to go and my recaps will end for another year. Tell me, what has been the most memorable scene or storyline for you this season?

Reflecting on the IF:Gathering

So you guys know that I like to have fun on the blog. You know that I love Downton Abbey—it seems like that’s all I’ve written about lately. You know that I leave plenty of room here for laughter.

But those of you who know me in real life (or even on Facebook) know that I have a serious side. A side that thinks about the state of our world and the state of my soul. It’s important to me that the two—the world and my soul—are linked in some way. If what God is teaching me doesn’t translate into how I relate to the world around me, something’s wrong.

To be honest, that connection had been missing for me for a while. Oh yes, God has been teaching me things. I’m growing to love His word more and more as time goes on. I love what He’s showing me through His word and in my daily life.

But I guess I’ve wanted more. More conviction. More challenge. More change in my heart.

So when my friend Rebecca stopped by last fall and mentioned the IF:Gathering, and when this was something that had been on my heart for a while but had nobody to go with (I didn’t think anybody who lived here would even know what the IF:Gathering was), and when the day Rebecca stopped by just happened to be the day the tickets went on sale, and when we actually got through to their massively crashed server and we both got tickets . . . well . . . we pretty much knew that God wanted us to be there.

But my big question in the months leading up to IF was why God wanted me there. So I prayed to that end, asking God before I left that He would just show me why He wanted me to be in Austin over the first weekend in February.

More conviction. More challenge. More change in my heart.

The very first session answered my question. Jennie Allen spoke on a passage from Numbers 13 and 14 (OK, first of all, what women’s gathering has us look at a passage in NUMBERS?!). It’s the story of Joshua and Caleb who had scouted out the Promised Land as Moses had asked them to do and came back with a report that the land is filled with giants. All the people were scared and wanted to turn back, but Joshua and Caleb were convinced—utterly convinced—that God wanted them to enter the Promised Land and that He would provide a way for that to happen.

Jennie Allen told us that so often we’re like the people of Israel who keep asking the wrong questions. 

We ask: 

• Am I enough?
• Are we going to be safe?
• What is it going to cost?

 I’ve asked those questions too. I still do. It’s my default.

God says, “Write this.” And I ask, “Am I enough?”

God says, “Send your kids out.” And I ask, “Will they be safe?”

God says, “Do this for me.” And I ask, “What is it going to cost?”

Jennie explained that Joshua and Caleb were functioning from a different story line. They saw the big picture. They knew that the story is not about us—it’s about a God who can do ANYTHING.

With the very first message of the weekend, God showed me that I need to be asking better questions. Because the answer to all of my measly, small questions is undoubtedly no.

I am not enough.

Life is never safe.

It may cost you everything, even your life. (Just ask the 21 Egyptian Christians.)

But I answer to a God who can do anything. A God who promises never to leave me nor forsake me. A God who has complete authority over this crazy, mixed-up world. 

Toward the end of her talk, Jennie said this (I wrote it down): “We are at war and the prize is faith. And we let Satan have it all. the. time.”

I have to fight for my faith. Every day. Will I ask small questions? Or will I follow the leading of God who goes before me? Will I claim the prize of my faith or will I allow the Enemy of my soul to make my vision small?

You guys! This was just the first session! I had a lot more weekend to go, and you can trust me that God definitely answered my prayer and showed me why he wanted me there.

More conviction. More challenge. More change in my heart.

What will that look like in the future? Stay tuned. Let’s see what God does.

Top Five Lines from Downton Abbey, S5:E7

Well, Downton friends, I must confess that, as much as I love Downton Abbey, I think they are starting to jump the proverbial shark. This week was almost too much for me to bear what with not one, but TWO, awkward dinner parties, Mary acting like a spoiled tween, and Isis going to her grave. Too much, I tell you. Too much.

I did manage to pull out my Top Five lines, though, which I am going to rush through in order to put this episode behind us.

1. It seems to take an outsider to make the obvious come to light. At the First Awkward Dinner Party (heretofore referred to as the FADP)—the one in which the Sinderby’s meet the Grantham clan, the one that almost didn’t take place because, gee, a member of the family has just last night gone missing, but the one about which Rose bats her pretty lashes and begs, “Oh, please, pretty please, can we still have them come?”—that dinner party—Atticus and Rose are discussing Edith’s sudden disappearance.

Atticus (heretofore referred to as Captain Obvious) suggests that perhaps someone at the newspaper office—the newspaper that Edith had just inherited from the dead father of her child—might know something of Edith’s whereabouts.

(I’m pretty sure the servants downstairs had figured this one out ages ago, but, of course, they’re servants and nobody would bother to ask their opinion or to listen to it, even if they did have a clue where Edith went.)

Rose takes a moment for the lightbulb to click on and replies,

“Oh yes! How clever you are!”

But my favorite line in this scene is delivered next, by Atticus, who looks as if he’s not so sure he wants to tie his anchor to this family any more:

“Really? I thought it rather obvious.”

It was, Captain. It was.

2. Just so you know right up front, the rest of my favorite lines from this episode belong to Violet. Because I can’t bear to give any credit to Cora (“Cancer?! Oh, I hate that word!”) or to those horrible boys, Larry and Curly (“Dad, you’re marrying beneath you.), or even to Mary (“Edith’s gone? So what?”).

So Vi gets my pick this week because she’s just. so. good.

And speaking of Mary . . . Violet gives her a good dressing down after yet another flippant put-down of her gone-missing sister. This is a line I need to cross stitch onto a pillow:

“My dear, a lack of compassion can be as vulgar as an excess of tears.”

Yeah, that.

3. Now, a few of my readers (and only a few) might be offended by my next pick, but you know I had to include it because it was a line that almost made wine come flying out of my nose I laughed so hard. It happened so early in the episode you might have even missed it, but I doubt that.

Violet meets Rosamund at the train station (by the way, Vi was looking awfully spry in this episode, wasn’t she?) to discuss Edith’s whereabouts and what on earth they are going to do next. Finally they agree that they should bring Cora into their tangled web, and Rosamund naturally asks about Robert. Shouldn’t he have a right to know that he has an illegitimate granddaughter living just down the road from him but whom has now been stolen by his own daughter?

An idea which Violet quickly snubs.

“He’s a man. Man don’t have rights.”

Moving right along . . .

4. Violet certainly likes her tea, doesn’t she? Every week she’s in at least one tea scene, usually with Isobel or her Russian aristocrat (where was he this week anyway?) or with Cora. This week her tea date was with Mary who wants to know why her grandmamma is so glum. The two share a touching scene, actually, in which Violet confesses that she’s sad about losing her friend, Isobel.

So she really does have a heart!

Somewhere in the middle of this scene, however, Spratt comes in to declare that he’s had enough of the new maid, Dinker or Danker or Donker . . . whatever her name is. He can’t pronounce it either.

He’s had enough of her antics, her highbrow attitude, and her laziness, so he tells the Dowager that he can’t take it anymore. Naturally, Violet just brushes off Spratt’s concerns with a well-placed line:

“Typical Spratt. He’s as touchy as 

a beauty losing her looks.”

5. Finally, we’re at the Second Awkward Dinner Party (SADP), the one at which Crazy Larry and his equally offensive brother, Curly, are invited to the Big House to meet their future mother-in-law, Isobel. Why Lord Merton would think this is a good idea after the first time Crazy Larry was invited to the house is beyond me, but they give it a go.

Crazy Larry does his thing, which is telling everyone exactly what he thinks about his father marrying a middle-class woman, oh, and about Jews in the family, and about whatever else he feels like saying and damn anyone who tries to stop him. The family is aghast, the guests (Mable Lane Fox, Tony G., and Chucky Blake) are appalled yet snickering at the end of the table, and poor Isobel is left wondering whether she could even approach the altar with Lord Merton.

Our hero, Tom, comes to the rescue when he stands and yells, “Why don’t you just get out, you bastard?”

Cut to Vi and her sardonic wit:

“And suddenly we’ve slipped 

into a foreign tongue.”

With that, I will bid you adieu.

Have a happy week, dear friends! Pray for poor Isis! 

Top Five Lines from Downton Abbey, S5:E6 (Or "There's Something about Mary")

Before we begin today I have to remind you that the purpose of these posts is primarily for fun. I enjoy pulling out the funny, ironic, pithy, or profound lines from each episode of Downton Abbey because it’s fun for me and, I hope, for you, the reader.

I say this to explain, dear friends, why I will today avoid any lines having to do with one of the most heartbreaking storylines that has ever been told on this show. I will not be speaking of champagne or ice cream or new mummys or any such thing because it is just too much to take.

Just. too. much.

Oh Edith, what a mess you are in!

That said, let’s begin with Edith’s nemesis, her sister Mary.

1. There’s something about Mary this week and that is that she must, at all costs, be the center of attention. This week her sister is grieving and her cousin is enjoying a new relationship, both of which are taking the spotlight away from Mary, and Mary cannot take it. Not at all.

Early in the episode we find Mary and Anna talking together about Mary’s love life and the spiffy horse race she’s been invited to the following weekend. You can just see Mary’s wheels turning as she asks, ironically and without any sense of really meaning it: 

“Anna, do you think I’m looking 

rather . . . frumpy?”

Anna, of course, replies to the contrary because we know that Anna is getting paid to butter up her mistress no matter what. I wonder if underneath all of Anna’s sweetness she is really rolling her eyes at Mary’s very large ego.

Later, Mary does the dramatic and *gasp!* cuts her hair *gasp!* in an attempt to keep the attention squarely where it belongs—on her. She shows up to dinner in dramatic fashion to show off her new look. (Did anyone besides me harken back to when Sybil turned up to dinner with pants on in Season 1?)

Cora gushes, because her eldest daughter can do no wrong. Obvi. “Well, we really are living in the modern world!”

But Mary needs more approval than from merely her simpleminded mother, so she turns to Granny--“Granny, what do you think?”—who wastes no time telling Mary exactly what she thinks.

“Oh, it is you. I thought it was a man wearing your clothes.”

2. Edith, naturally, becomes upset that Mary has stolen her thunder yet again and in her grieving stupor she tells them all what she really thinks of them and leaves to take a tray in her room. (Atticus Aldridge doesn’t know what to think at this point, and Rose is simply too dumbfounded to be of much help to him.)

The family discusses whether they should even attend the riding event on Saturday, but Robert decides that maybe it will be good for Edith to have some time alone "to think." And here Violet brings us the relief we need:

“All this endless thinking. It’s very overrated. . . . I blame the war. Before 1914 nobody thought about anything at all.” 

 Amen, Sister.

3. Throughout this episode Robert tries to shun his wife for whatever did or didn’t happen between her and Simon Bricker. He punishes her endlessly by giving her the cold shoulder, even opting to *gasp!* sleep in his own room.

Can you imagine?!

Finally, Cora has had enough of Robert’s immature theatrics and delivers what may have been one of the best lines she’s given so far this season:

“Very well. If you can honestly say that you have never let a flirtation get out of hand since we were married, if you have never given a woman the wrong impression, by all means stay away. Otherwise, I expect you in my room tonight.”

It doesn't take much processing on Robert's part (Hello, Maid Jane!). He quickly casts aside the blankets and heads sheepishly into Cora’s room.

4. It’s the day of the big race and, once again, Mary throws the spotlight to herself by riding up on her big white horse. She’s dressed to the nines in order to lure both Charles Blake and Tony Gillingham (only to drop Tony into the arms of Mabel Lane Fox later, I’m sure).

Anyway, as she rides away on her horse, Isobel gushes, “I think she’s splendid.”

Always the practical one, Violet tells it like she sees it: 

“I think she’s cracked.”

Vi, I just think she’s manipulative (and some other choice words I can’t mention here).

5. OK, I’ve saved my favorite line of the night for last. You might have missed it, but it made me laugh out loud.

How sweet was Carson when he approached Mrs. Hughes about the possibility of their buying a property together? (Strictly business, of course.) And haven’t I been hinting at their getting together all season?

(You can pat me on the back and tell me I was right later.)

Anyway, Carson shuffles around a bit before saying, “Mrs. Hughes, may I make a suggestion that I think you’ll find a strange one but I ask that you consider nonetheless?”

To which, Mrs. Hughes replies, 

“Heavens! I’m all agog!” 

I think this phrase just might need to be introduced back into our vernacular because it so perfectly sums up so many situations.

You open the door to find unexpected overnight guests? “Heavens! I’m all agog!”

Your dog loses his lunch on your favorite rug? “Heavens! I’m all agog!”

Your daughter brings home a guy with tattoos covering every visible surface of his body? “Heavens! I’m all agog!”

It just seems to fit.

And with that, I’m going to call it another week of Top Five Lines.

So tell me, what were YOUR favorites this week? Leave me a comment and let's dish!

God's Unfailing Love

“GET UP HERE RIGHT NOW!!!”

I was screaming and physically shaking at the same time; my anger was just about to boil over.

Earlier in the day I had asked my daughter to clean up her room. We couldn’t see the floor because of all the books, papers, and discarded outfits lying on it, and I don’t know how she found a spot on her bed to lie down at night. Every square inch was covered with something.

I had had enough of the mess and ordered her to clean up her room. Immediately. She cheerfully agreed and promised me the job would be completed by the end of the day.

Later that afternoon I walked upstairs to find a clean room indeed. Not a trace of paper. Bed neatly made. Clothes put away.

Or so I thought, until I opened the door to the adjoining bathroom and began opening cupboards. The scene sent me right over the edge. . . .

****

Hey friends! I'm over at the Mothers of Daughters blog today, reflecting on God's unfailing love. Won't you join me there?

Two New Books from Mothers of Daughters Writers

Hey Mama? Are you tired?

Are you tired of being tired?

I was there. I was in a downward spiral as a mom when God set me on fire, literally.

One day as I was surrounded by little ones, sinking underneath the weight of feeling like I needed to have it all together but really, truly, NOT . . . God did something kind of risky and pretty darn scary to get my attention.

He set my sweater on fire. That's right. The edge of my big, baggy, '90s sweater got caught in the flame of my stove and caught on fire. It rapidly swept up my back and came very close to catching my hair on fire when I ran out the back door, threw off my sweater into the snow and stomped out the flames.

This was my wakeup call.

Shortly after that I sat down on the couch and cried out to God to save me from myself--from this life of thinking I needed to be perfect and yet failing so miserably as a mom. I suddenly realized that I couldn't do this job by myself--it was much too big for me.

If you can relate at all to the feeling of perfection, the disappointment with yourself as a parent, the frustration of wanting more, then this book is for you.

My friend, Stacey Thacker, whom I met at the Allume conference last October and who is the brainchild behind the Mothers of Daughters blog and her friend, Brooke BcGlothlin, who started the MOB Society (for mothers of sons), co-wrote this wonderful little book about allowing God to take over, even in the difficult job of motherhood.

I could relate to much of the book, even now, and it served as a good reminder that God is so much bigger than the mess of our lives. He wants to redeem us and to use us for His good, even in the hard days.

Why not order a copy for yourself today? Then go take a nap.

*****

The same weekend I met Stacey last October I also had the privilege of meeting sweet Wynter. And when I say sweet, I mean sweet! This girl blessed me so much that weekend--I can't even tell you how much.

Wynter has a heart for tweens, probably because she has four daughters. A few years ago, in fact, Wynter wanted some biblically-based resources for her daughters, but, finding nothing out there, she decided to publish a newsletter for tween girls called "For Girls Like You."

What started as a newsletter has grown into a real live book, which came out this week.

How I wish I had had a resource like this when my girls were growing up. I've told many friends with young daughters that the best thing that happened, spiritually, for one of my girls when she was in elementary school was having a little Bible study group that met once a week. I know they would have worked through this book if it had been available back then.

If you have a tween daughter, you MUST get this book. Give it to your girl. Study it together. Study it with her friends.

And let your tween girl know that she is truly loved by a great God.

***
Note: even though there are Amazon links in this post, I'm getting nothing for them. I just really love these women and want you to buy their books! 

Top Five Lines from Downton Abbey, S5:E5 (or: “Golly, what a night!”)

Sorry I’m a day late here, folks. I had to rush home from Florida through a snowstorm to watch this one, and, as Cora would say, Golly!, it was so worth it. What a fun episode.

My time is short today (it’s my daughter’s birthday!), so I have to write quickly, but there were a few funny lines that I just had to share.

1. Why don’t we just start at the end, shall we? Because Cora’s ironic understatement after Robert pummels Mr. Bricker, and deservedly so, just made me laugh.

(Side note: I loved Elizabeth McGovern in “She’s Having a Baby” and I feel some sense of loyalty to her because she’s from Evanston and all, but whoooo baby, she’s losing her luster as an actress with this role. Is she not the worst of the cast? Or am I really off base here?)

Anyway, you know the scene. You could have predicted the scene. Heck, you could have written the scene.

Robert comes home early to find Bricker making the moves on poor, neglected Cora. Cora rebuffs him, rightly, but just as she’s ordering him out of her room Robert shows up. (Good thing, too. Could we have had another Downton rape on our hands? We’ll never know.)

Robert hauls off and smacks Bricker with the force of a WWE smack-down. They tussle. Cora screams. Edith knocks.

“Everyone OK in there, Mummy?”

“Oh yes, dear, your father and I were just playing a silly game and knocked over a lamp.”

Let’s just stop here for a second, shall we? Married folk, tell me something. Have you ever played a “silly game” in the privacy of your own room? One that would require you to knock over a lamp? Hmmmmm? And if your kid came to the door to check on you would you actually admit it?

Oh good gracious.

Anyway, after Edith (a.k.a. “Puppet”) leaves and Bricker flees, Robert and Cora are left alone, staring at one another. Leave it to Cora to break the ice with an ill-timed, ill-delivered line:

“Golly, what a night.”

Robert sleeps in his own bed (gasp!), probably because he can’t bear his wife’s stupidity.

2. I still don’t understand why Violet is trying so hard to break up Isobel and Lord Merton, but she is, and she conspires with Dr. Clarkson to help get the job done.

In this scene, I just loved Violet’s sense of determination.

Clarkson asks her forthrightly, “Do you, perhaps, resent a change in position for Mrs. Crawley?”

To which Violet responds: “I do not understand your question. It baffles me.”

Bwahaha. Of course she understood his question. She understood it perfectly. But she brushes it off with such understated sophistication. It was great.

But I think Violet’s next line hit the nail on the head and perhaps harkened back to her own, we’re finding out, less-than-perfect marriage.

“Do you wish to see her live a life devoid of industry and moral worth?”

Isn’t that what psychologists call “transference”?

3. Anybody else cheer like the dickens when Tom kicked Sarah to the curb? Oh boy, that made me so happy. I only wish he hadn’t given her the satisfaction of a kiss. That was lame.

But Sarah doesn’t give up, still hounding Tom over his beliefs and how horrible the aristocracy is. Yadda, yadda, yadda.

Finally, Tom has had enough of it and tells her what’s really been on his mind the whole time:

“You despise the family, but I think you forget that my wife was one of them. My child IS one of them. So where does that leave me?”

Yeah, Sarah. You must have forgotten the whole reason Tom sticks around the big house—his kid. Oh, you didn’t know he had a kid? With Sybil? The one we all loved and adored? You could never take her place.

Just goes to show you that Tom’s next move was the best:

“Maybe we should call it a day before one of us gets hurt.” 

4. I’m not sure that Aunt Rosamund has ever gotten a Top Five favorite before, but this week she does. I just love how she gives it right back to her mother sometimes. Just goes to show that she learned from the best.

The scene was in the garden over, of course, a pot of tea. (Next week we should count how many pots of tea we spot in the show.) The two are sitting there talking in a roundabout way about Edith’s baby. Rosamund is taking it slow, not sure how much her mother knows about the situation, when Violet has had enough of the beating around the bush and says, “Rosamund, you are addressing your mother, not a committee of the Women’s Institute.”

But Rosamund has the perfect comeback: 

“I’m afraid you’ve read somewhere that rudeness in old age is amusing, which is quite wrong, you know.” 

Take THAT, Vi.

5. Still, Violet once again got the BEST line of the night, if not the entire series, when, toward the beginning of the episode, the Granthams are sitting around in the library discussing the nudist colony that will soon be opening in Essex. Rose is, of course, thrilled; Mary is, naturally, skeptical; and Violet is confused.

She’s just not so sure what all the fuss is about a new colony, but Robert then explains that it’s a colony “for people who want to take their clothes off.” (Cue disgusted face.)

“In Essex? Isn’t it terribly damp?”

Ah, Vi. You are smarter than you let on. And that’s why I love you.

*****

Gotta run, but please dish in the comments. I’d love to know your thoughts about this week’s episode and maybe some predictions about next week. Go!

*****

We sure do have fun over here, and I’d hate for you to miss a post, so why not sign up for email updates? You can do that easily just over there ------>. Thanks!

Re-post: Intentional Parenting Conclusion

A dear friend, a young mom with three little ones, has been a sweet encouragement to me over the past several years. I love getting together with her to "talk shop" (i.e. parenting). Last week she reminded me of this post that I wrote for her before her first child was born. Boy, has time ever flown!

Anyway, I re-read this post this week and thought I'd share it with you again. I love writing about parenting and I love writing to parents. On Facebook last week several friends asked me to write more about parenting, so I think that over the next few weeks I may be doing just that. Do you have any parenting issues you'd like to see addressed?

I hope you enjoy this re-post from 2010. And if you're interested in reading the rest of my Intentional Parenting Series, click here.


*****
Dear H:

This week you will receive a gift. A gift like none you’ve ever received. A gift more valuable than the most precious of jewels, more rewarding than the highest of degrees you could attain, more enthralling than your greatest love.

This week God will deliver to you a child. He is entrusting this gift to you and R because he knows you will take your responsibility seriously. He knows you will treat her with care. He knows you will love her deeply—you already do.

But He also knows that you will never love her as much as He does. He knows that, and He still gives us children—isn’t that amazing?

Having been down this road a time or three, I’ve thought long and hard about the adventure you’re about to take. Sure, you’ve been warned about the diapers, the laundry, the sleepless nights, but has anyone told you about those moments when you are so filled with love for your daughter that your heart just hurts? Or when you stare so deeply into your baby’s eyes that you feel like you can see into her soul? Or the worry that will fill you as you look at our fallen world and you wonder what kind of future there could possibly be for her?

H, you are in for a ride like none other.

So here’s my advice as you embark on this journey: be intentional. Every day, have a plan and seek to carry it out. Now, I know that sounds completely overwhelming, but it’s not. I can break it down into two simple steps—Intentional Love and Intentional Trust.

Intentional Love. You already love this little girl—everyone who knows you knows that. But there will be days, trust me, when she won’t be loveable. There will be days when you’ll want to put your comfort above hers—a little more sleep, a little more time, a little more . . .

But parenthood is never for us or about us. It’s about loving these gifts that God entrusts to us by putting their needs above our own. And by needs, I don’t mean the “stuff” of this world. What our kids need is discipline, responsibility, a sense of right and wrong. Jesus. Teaching these things takes time and energy, and you never, ever stop.

That is love.

Intentional Trust. It’s a funny thing, parenthood. God entrusts these children to us, knowing full well that we cannot do it on our own. He knows we are not equipped to do this job the way He intends, and yet He gives them to us anyway. Thankfully, He gives us His word and prayer—two mighty defenses that we need in order to conquer our daily battles.

And in return, we must give God our trust. I’ve written and spoken on this topic quite a bit, you know, but I believe with all my heart that God does not want us to live in fear. Yes, this world is scary. Yes, having kids in this world is scary. Yes, there is so much that could go wrong. And yet, God tells us, “Do not fear.”

One of my favorite verses is Joshua 1:9: “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

As you step out into the battlefield, fighting for this child every day—praying for her, defending her, loving her—trust in the One who gave her to you to walk beside you wherever you go. He has promised to do this, and you can trust Him.

So, do not fear, H. God is with you.

And you, and R, and your daughter are loved.

Top Five Lines from Downton Abbey, S5 :: E4

Are things beginning to heat up in Granthamland? This week’s episode left me with a lot of questions, not the least among them: DID ANNA KILL MR. GREENE??!!??

It wasn’t much, just a subtle hint toward the very end of the show, but there seemed to be something there to suggest that, perhaps, Anna herself might have traveled to London to do the deed. Interesting to think about, and logistically, it would make sense.

See, there's something I've been wondering about. I’ve taken the train from London to York, and I know that it’s about a four-hour train ride even in these modern times. Back in the early 1920s, it would have taken Bates probably eight hours or more to travel to London from York. That would mean he would have to hunt down Greene somewhere randomly on the streets of a huge city (even back then the population wasn't too much different than it is today--about 8 million people), push him in front of a bus, and then travel BACK to York all in the same day. From the very beginning I wondered how it could happen, but now I’m REALLY wondering.

So it’s all starting to come together. I’m dying to see what happens with Anna. (As an aside, I’ve noticed that she hasn’t had more than a few speaking lines in the first four episodes. Have they deliberately been keeping her on the sidelines, just waiting for her next big story line? Hmmmmm.)

Alright, so let’s move ahead. I’ve got to admit, this season, so far, hasn’t been my favorite. Oh sure, there are some intriguing characters and some fascinating plot possibilities, but mostly I think this season has been a little boring.

Is it just me?

This week we found Mr. Bricker still panting like a puppy about Cora, following her around with that stupid smile on his face. From Downton to London and now look! back to Downton again.

Hasn’t he ever heard of a camera? He could take a photograph of the picture and use that for his “research.” Good grief, I’m tired of this guy.

I think Robert is getting tired of him, too, but he just doesn’t know what to do about it.

1. Which brings me to my first favorite line. It’s at the dinner party. Or should I say THE Dinner Party. The one that will go down in infamy. I’ll get to more of that later, but at first, Robert is just ticked off that Mr. Bricker keeps showing such unabashed attention to his wife.

Or maybe he’s just ticked off that Cora is loving every minute of it.

So there’s Robert, sitting, as usual, next to his mother at the dinner table (it just occurred to me that he’s still such a little boy in so many ways—still living in his boyhood home and eating dinner next to his mother), complaining about the shenanigans taking place across the table from him: “He flatters her. He asks her opinion about everything.”

But it’s Violet’s response that I absolutely loved this week:

“Well, don’t you ask her opinion?”

Right on, Vi.

2. My second pick of the week goes to Robert. It’s just a subtle dig, but one that might have been spoken in my own home from time to time. It just made me laugh.

Mary is getting ready to head to London . . . again . . . and can’t stay home to discuss the Pipp’s Corner devlopement with Robert. 

“Not me. Aunt Rosamund’s taking me to a dress show.”

To which Robert replies, “It’s good to know you’ve got your priorities straight.”

3. I am absolutely loving how they have developed the relationship between Violet and Isobel this season. So many funny situations and hilarious banter between those two. They are like long-lost sisters, constantly sniping at each other.

Early in the episode Violet is waxing poetic over her past life with the Russian Count, but Isobel won’t let her off the hook.

Violet: Hope is a tease designed to prevent us accepting reality.

Isobel: Oh, you only say that to sound clever.

My happiness, though, came from Violet’s quick response: 

“I know. You should try it.”

I only wish I could be that quick on my feet.

4. Now, about that dinner party. THE Dinner Party.

Wasn’t that fun?! It was like being a fly on the wall at the world’s most awkward, hilarious, so-many-things-going-on dinner party. One you think you might like to attend, but you’re not really quite sure you could stomach it. So the writers of Downton gave us a front row seat without our having to eat treacle . . . or having to cower at the complete horror of it all.

Thank you, Mr. Fellowes! I found this scene delightful. I’ve watched it over and over.

Two favorite lines came out of THE Dinner Party for me. Actually, more than two, but I only have two spots left, so I’ll choose my favorites.

Oh, but first let me say that I think Sarah Bunting got exactly what she deserved. The woman just does not know when to stop! Tom had better not end up with her or he’ll spend the rest of his life in misery—she’ll be pick, pick, picking at him for not being “who he really is” for the rest of his life. UGH.

Have I mentioned that I can’t stand her? And NOT for her political leanings, whatever those may be. It’s all about her rudeness. She embarrassed her hosts. She embarrassed the servants. And, worst of all, she embarrassed our beloved Tom.

The only person not embarrassed was Sarah Bunting.

So, you know what happened. Robert has finally had enough of the challenges and the ridicule and the embarrassment. He orders Miss Bunting out of his home with what may be one of my favorite lines EVER on Downton Abbey:

“There is only one thing I would like, and that I would like passionately. That is for you to leave this house and never come back!”

You go, Robert. Finally, a spine.

5. Shortly after the party when things in the house have calmed down and everyone is retreating to their bedrooms, Tom meets Robert on the staircase and tries to apologize.

Thankfully, the two have made amends and can kind of chuckle over the situation.

Tom tells Robert, “She knows how to goad you.”

To which Robert replies, “With the precision of a surgeon.”

Ah, yes. And with that, Julian Fellowes precisely lands the knife.

Hopefully that will be the last we see of Miss Bunting.

*****

Bonus line!!

You thought I was done, didn't you? So did I, but when I went back to watch the episode for the third time, I realized that I couldn't not mention Daisy's sweet soliloquy. I almost hate to share it because it might make some of you feel warm, fuzzy feelings toward Miss Bunting, but I just have to. It was so sweet and so special, especially to those of us who try to impart knowledge for a living.

It was at the dinner party. THE Dinner Party. After Robert ordered Daisy and Miss Patmore upstairs to the dining room to ask whether Daisy's homework has gotten in the way of her "real" work. They agree that, no, Daisy is keeping up just fine, but then Daisy says this, which I loved:

"Well, I’m sorry if I’ve made trouble downstairs, but I must say this, My Lord. . . . Miss Bunting here has opened my eyes to a world of knowledge I knew nothing about. Maybe I’ll stay a cook all my life, but I have choices now, interests, facts at my fingertips, and I’d never have any of that if she hadn’t come here to teach me."

Ahhhh. I love Daisy.

*****

Now tell me, what did you think of this episode? What do you think of this season? What do you think of Sarah Bunting? Dish it up in the comments!

Two Yellow Cabs

I rode away in a yellow cab with a driver I couldn’t understand and windshield wipers pounding furiously at the driving rain. I worried that my flight wouldn’t be able to take off. I wondered what my people at home were doing. And I waved goodbye to my oldest child as she rode away in her own yellow cab that would take her in the opposite direction.

It didn’t seem right. A child is supposed to travel home from a trip with her parent, right? The parent’s job is to protect her and to see her safely home. Or so I thought.

But this weekend was a little different—our first weekend away since my oldest graduated, moved out, and got a new job that takes her to various places every week. Lately her home-away-from-home has been New York and, you know, it’s been waiting for me, and so has she, so I went.

For weeks we’d been planning our trip—which streets to shop, things to see, places to eat. Even though Kate works there most days, she doesn’t get to play tourist, so we were excited about exploring the big city together.

Those of you who have been around here for a while might remember that Kate and I and two of her friends explored New York together over Spring Break one year (we even met Meredith Viera!), but I hadn’t been there in four years, so it was fun to plan a new adventure.

I’m always up for a new adventure, right?!

Just like four years ago, we covered a lot of ground—Fifth Avenue, Bloomingdales, Times Square, Ellis Island, East Village, and, my personal favorite, the Met. I even got to see where my grown-up daughter works—directly across the street from this building.

It was, at times, surreal to be walking with this grown up person, independent, who knew where the best restaurants were and how to hail a cab. And yet there were times that felt perfectly natural, back in our hotel, laughing and talking like the old days.

My mother's-heart practically burst all weekend--it was so good to be with her again.

Sunday morning brought a fitting sort of rain. The kind of rain that makes it impossible to walk down the street or take in the sights. The kind of rain that comes from thick clouds stretching for miles. The kind of rain that soaks not just your skin, but your heart.

We made the best of our Sunday: brunch on Houston Street, a few final hours hanging out at the hotel. We still had some time before my flight, so we decided to store our bags and take a cab to the Metropolitan Museum of Art (or, as New Yorker’s call it: The Met).

We only had a couple of hours there, but it was so worth it. Something about walking through a beautiful building taking in beautiful things made the ugly day outside just a little bit better. I wanted to walk slowly, to savor every painting and every moment, to slow down time so that I wouldn’t have to walk back outside to the rain and to goodbyes.

Our time ended much too soon, and Kate and I decided that we would have to make another trip to the Met someday. (We didn’t even see half of it, I’m sure.) Soon, we were back at our hotel, collecting bags, hailing cabs, and hugging each other tightly.

As I drove away, tears mingling with raindrops on my already-wet coat, I realized that the ground had shifted yet again in my parenting journey as two yellow cabs drove through the rainy streets of Manhattan in opposite directions.

Top Five Lines from Downton Abbey :: S5, E3

If last week’s theme was secrets, this week had a theme, too: brats.

Spoiled brats, to be more specific.

What’s gotten into everyone? Even the servants were acting like spoiled brats this week.

The only person not acting like a spoiled brat is the original spoiled brat herself: Rose. She was too busy trying to cheer up some Russian refugees.

I’ll be honest, I had a tough time coming up with five lines that actually stood out to me or made me laugh this week because throughout the episode I just kept shaking my head or yelling, “No! Don’t do it!” But I persevered and have come up with my Top Five Lines from the episode, or, to put it another way, Top Five Examples of Bratage in the Big House.

1. Let’s start with the most obvious, shall we?

Mary.

Oh Mary, Mary, Mary.

You seem to think that 1924 is actually 2014 what with your “modernized” value system and all. You act like it’s NBD that you went to Liverpool with a man who isn’t your husband, checked into adjoining rooms with him, slept with him for a week, and now are thinking of dumping him because you’re just not that into him.

And then you dare to patronize your grandmother when she tries to call you on it.

“Darling Granny, you know how much I value your advice.”

To which Granny responds as any knowing parent would: “Which means you intend to ignore it.”

Granny was right, you know, Mary. It is scandalous in 1924. And for some of us, your behavior is even scandalous in 2014.

2. Spratt the Brat.

Did you just love the scene with Spratt and The Dowager just after he came back from catching Mary in the act in Liverpool?

Spratt’s all: *shuffle, shuffle* I-didn’t-want-to-tell-you-anything-M’-Lady.

And Violet’s all: Well-then-get-on-with-you-I’d-like-some-tea-already.

And Spratt’s all: *shuffle, shuffle* I-didn’t-see-anything.

And Violet’s all: My-patience-is-wearing-thin-Spratt-what-is-on-your-mind?

And finally Spratt says: “I. Hope. Lady Mary. Enjoyed. Her. Time. In. Liverpool.”

*wink wink*

(Brat to the nth degree.)

But Violet recovers ever so quickly so as to avoid the townsfolk talking even more about her family than they already do.

You didn’t think anything vulgar was going on did you, Spratt? Nothing beneath the dignity of this house, certainly?

Whew! That sure shut him up.

Crisis averted.

3. Mrs. Patmore even gets into the bratty brigade this week. She stomps and stews over getting her precious Army-deserting nephew’s name onto a memorial. Any memorial. Somewhere. Anywhere.

And so she convinces Mrs. Hughes to talk to Carson about getting Artie’s name put on the local memorial, even though her nephew never set foot in their town.

When Mr. Carson refuses (as he should), Mrs. Patmore will take no sympathy from anyone because, as she says,

“Sympathy butters no parsnips.”

4. Mrs. Hughes took a swipe at being a brat this week as well. Even she gets mad at Mr. Carson for not being taken in by her big brown eyes and her jingling keychain, when he refuses her BFF’s request. And poor Daisy, eager learner that she is, gets caught in the crossfire.

“My advice, Daisy, is to go as far in life as God and luck allow.”

5. Robert.

What can I say? Robert is pretty much always a brat—he’s never really grown up—but this week brings him to a new bratty low.

When he suddenly wakes up and realizes that his wife has run off to London to visit an art museum with another man, he decides to delight Cora with his presence and jumps on the next train to London.

But his little plan backfires when Simon Bricker invites Cora to an impromptu dinner and she blushingly accepts. When she arrives at Rosamund’s townhouse, Cora is greeted by the original brat himself who berates her for not being available at his beck and call for the “surprise” visit (which, if you ask me, was nothing more than a check to make sure she wasn’t cheating on him).

He moans:

“I try to surprise my wife by coming to London . . .”

“I got a table at Claridges so we could make a night of it.”

“Don’t worry I cancelled everything when we got Mr. Bricker’s telegram.”

“Rosamund gave me your dinner and went to bed.” (Translation: I’m eating the dog’s food.)

Cora apologizes: I’m dreadfully sorry.

Robert: So you said.

Cora finally wakes up enough to say, “Wait. I don’t know that I’ve done anything wrong here.”

“No? I travel to London in order to give my wife a treat only to find out she’s out dining with another man.” 

("Oh, and by the way, what would an ART EXPERT want with you? You can barely tie your shoes by yourself, so I highly doubt that you know anything about art. Ugh. You disgust me.")

Now, I get it if you think Cora was being amazingly naïve in this situation. I’d even go so far as to agree with you. But right now we’re talking about the Brat Factor, and Robert’s got it in spades.

He always has.

***

So tell me, did you have any favorite moments from this episode? Leave me a comment!

***

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Top Five Lines from Downton Abbey :: S5, E2

Oh, beloved Downton. You did not disappoint. This week seemed to be centered on the secrets flying about the house—it’s hard to keep up with them all!

Edith and Marigold.

Mary and Lord Gillingham.

Miss Baxter and Thomas.

It’s amazing for people who live in such close quarters to really not have a clue about what’s going on in each other’s lives.

Well, except for Cora. She's pretty much always clueless.

Which brings me to my first favorite quote of the night.

1. Charles Blake brings his friend Simon Bricker to the Big House for an evening of merriment. Apparently Simon is doing some art history research and wants to see a painting by a famous artist that the Crawley-Grantham’s just “happen” to own.

I really think Blake tagged along so he could have his moment with Mary. But that’s not the point here.

Simon B. and Clueless, I mean Cora, are standing alone in a room with the painting and Simon puts on the full court press. He’s shameless! Cora doesn’t seem to get it, we think, until bedtime as she listens to Robert grouse about the evening (as he does pretty much any time company comes to visit).

This time Robert is in a tizzy over Tom and Sarah Bunting and the possibility that Tom would take Sibbie away from all of them. He huffs and puffs his way into bed and throws in this wonderful line for good measure:

“And tell your friend Bricker to stop flirting with Isis. There’s nothing more ill-bred than trying to steal the affections of someone else’s dog.”

Or wife.

2. The Wireless.

(Small side note: look in the lower right hand corner of this picture. That's Sibbie!)

Good grief! Could one small electrical appliance cause so much angst in one family? I know the telephone was a big deal, but this wireless situation makes one think the world is coming to an end.

I loved Daisy:

“Why is it called a wire-less when there are so many wires?”

But the best (in relation to the wireless) was, again, grumpy Gus, I mean Robert who said:

“It’s a fad. It won’t last.” 

Yeah, and that train line across Canada was a good investment, too.

3. I am really starting to love Miss Baxter. We haven’t gotten to know much about her, but we are starting to learn some things this season. I think she is a multi-dimensional character who not only has secrets . . . and a past . . . and some problems with Thomas . . . but she is also a changed person.

I think I’m also starting to like what they are doing with Molesley and Baxter. They kind of bring out the best in each other. Like how Molesley is starting to get a backbone and stand up to Thomas. And how Baxter is trying, in her own quiet way, to win his affections.

Their scene in the courtyard was precious as Molesley tried to work out how to think about Baxter in light of her recent jewel thief confession.

Baxter didn’t beg and plead with him to accept her, she just said in her very quiet way, 

“I would only say that I am not that person now.”

And left it at that. So classy.

4. Vi and Izzy were in rare form this week, weren’t they? I loved the scene when they were at tea at Lord What’s-His-Face’s house, cawing over the male/femaleness of each room. (What even IS that?! I’ve never heard of such a thing.)

Of course Isobel is an expert at interior decorating because she is an expert at All The Things. And Lord What’s-His-Face is all “I could use a guiding hand in that area (or any area you’d want to help guide me)” and Izzy just blushes and the two women exchange looks across the table.

Finally, Violet chirps,

“Mrs. Crawley is never happier than when she has a chance to use her guiding hand.”

Now I’m blushing!

5. I wanted to end with Carson and Mrs. Hughes because, is it just me or do the writers seem to be hinting at a bit of a development between the two?

Early in the episode, Carson and Mrs. Hughes are talking about the War Memorial (is anyone besides me already sick of the Memorial story line?). Carson wants it on the cricket pitch, but Robert isn’t so easily convinced. He thinks the memorial should be placed in the center of town where everyone can see it and give a nod to their lost loved ones. (And also not mess with his cricket pitch.)

Mrs. Hughes agrees with Robert—the memorial should be more public. Carson, not so much, and he tells her in not so many words how disappointed he is with her. But Mrs. Hughes quietly responds, 

“Well, every relationship has its ups and downs.”

Hmmmmm?

Later, after the issue seems to be resolved and Robert has gotten his way again (spoiled brat), Carson attempts to make amends with Mrs. Hughes.

Carson: I don’t like it when we’re not on the same side.

Mrs. Hughes: We’re different people. We won’t always agree.

Carson: I know, but I don’t like it.

*sigh*

Personally, this week I liked the Downstairs crew a whole lot more than the Upstairs crew. Such sweet story lines going on Downstairs (Daisy learning arithmetic!). Such naughty ones Upstairs (Mary, I’m looking at you!).

Let’s see if those badly behaved bluebloods can get their acts together next week. Or maybe they’ll start some new secrets.

We’ll see . . .

*****

So what were YOUR favorite lines this week?

*****

Make sure you keep up with my Downton Abbey posts each week. You can sign up to get my posts emailed to you right over there ------------>.

Fabulous Friday Food - Roasted Rosemary Cashews (via Ina)

It's cold in these parts this week. Kids have missed school for two days (don't EVEN get me started), but they went back yesterday. Lots of thoughts about "cold days" floating around. Have you ever heard of such a thing?

It is, after all, winter in the Midwest. Isn't is supposed to be cold?

Whatever.

Whenever winter sets in I like to bake (oh, let's face it, I always like to bake), so on Thursday I baked up a batch of Honey Whole Wheat Bread because I'm having special guests here this weekend--a dear friend from college, her daughter, and her granddaughter (!). (A BABY in my house!) We devoured one loaf at dinner earlier this week, but hopefully we had a couple of loaves to share with our friends.

Since I redecorated my guest room this fall (OH MY WORD I JUST REALIZED THAT I NEVER SHOWED YOU MY GUEST ROOM RE-DO!!! Stay tuned . . .) we've had lots of guests, which I absolutely love. As a hospitality person, I'm happiest when my house is full.

And when my house is full, I like to have snacks on hand that are somewhat healthy and always delicious. That's what I bring you today.

I first saw Ina make these Rosemary Roasted Cashews on her show and knew immediately that I HAD to make them. I have made them several times since, and have, of course, tweaked the recipe to my own taste (primarily, I leave out the cayenne pepper and amped up the brown sugar and salt). Let me tell you, everyone who has tried these has loved them.

So, for your weekend, I give you a quick, easy snack to enjoy with guests or just with your family. Or while watching hockey. Or, perhaps, watching Downton Abbey. *wink wink*

The possibilities are endless.

You need to gather only five ingredients: cashews, rosemary, butter, brown sugar, and salt.

First, roast the cashews. Simply place them on a dry baking sheet and roast for about 10 minutes. Be sure to watch them so the cashews don't burn--you only want a golden brown, not a deep brown. Burned nuts are bitter, and we don't want that.

Next, chop the rosemary very fine (nobody wants to get a huge chunk of rosemary in their mouth).

Combine the rosemary, brown sugar, and salt in a bowl.

Add the melted butter and stir well to combine.

When the cashews are done, add them to the butter/sugar/rosemary mixture and stir very well.

If you have some lumps of brown sugar, keep stirring to break those up. I have also put the cashews back into the oven for about 2-3 minutes just to melt the sugar and combine everything.

Simply place the cashews in a bowl and enjoy!

And now, I'm going to prepare my cashews for this weekend. Hope you have a great one!

For a printable recipe click here.

One Word for 2015

Four years ago I chose my “One Word” for the first time. That word was Grace.

Two years ago I chose another word: Love.

Last year I didn’t bother. I was too busy or bogged down or burdened to even choose one word. What a waste—I could have used a word last year.

A few weeks ago while walking the dog I started thinking about choosing a word for 2015. So, as I often do while I’m walking the dog, I prayed about it: “Lord, what word would you have me think about in 2015?”

Almost immediately I felt God saying to me, “Shelly, just pursue me and I’ll take care of the rest.”

Whoa.

That doesn’t happen often, people. It’s not like God speaks audibly to me, like, ever, but He does sometimes impress something so clearly on my heart that I know it’s from Him. And this was one of those moments.

And then I put it away.

Because I wanted a cool word, a holy word, a word that would change my life. “Pursue” just didn’t feel like that word.

So last week, while walking, of course, I asked the Lord again (same scenario, take two): “What should my word be?”

Again, the impression felt so clear: Pursue me and I’ll take care of the rest.

I may be slow on the uptake sometimes, but I’m no dummy, so I gave in and decided right there on the corner of Cross and Union that my word would be Pursue.

As I’ve been thinking about this word, I've realized something. My last two words-of-the-year were nouns: concrete ways that I could give to others. Grace and Love were words that caused me to focus on the way I treat others, and these were necessary in my life at that time.

But this word, pursue, is a verb. It’s active, and it means “to chase after someone or something.”

(Of course it also means "to continue to annoy, afflict, or trouble." Hmmm. To cause a ruckus, perhaps?)

For me, the idea of chasing after someone or something is perfect for this year. I sense this word pushing me forward in two ways.

First, as I’ve already mentioned, I think the word will encourage me to pursue my relationship with God even more. It’s easy in this busy life to sometimes let that fall aside, but God has told me in His word that if I pursue Him, everything else will fall into place.

“Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

 Second, I hope this word will give me courage to pursue my writing goals this year. It reminds me that if I want to achieve something I can’t sit idly by and simply wait for my goals to happen--I have to pursue them.

And that’s why I love that I’ve chosen a verb. Verbs have to be active, moving, pushing ahead—it’s who they are—they are not static like nouns. Verbs are doers--movers and shakers--and that’s what I want to be this year.

So, onward we go into this new year. I hope to cause a ruckus.

Pursue.

So tell me, have you chosen a word for 2015? What is it?

Top Five Lines from Downton Abbey, S5:E1

Happy Monday, dear friends. And it IS a happy Monday today because Downton Abbey Season 5 premiered last night.

I’m still thinking about it, laughing to myself over all the antics and hilarious possibilities for the upcoming season. They certainly didn’t waste time getting to the good stuff, did they?

As always and because I just can’t help myself, I’m going to post my Top Five lines of each episode.

(If you’re not a Downton fan, just come back in a couple of days. Please?)

As I said, they didn’t waste time getting to the good stuff by continuing story lines that were left hanging last season (Mary and Lord Gillingham? Edith’s baby? Thomas’s harassment of Miss Baxter?) and starting some new, potentially interesting stories (James and Lady Anstruther? Sarah Bunting? Molesley and Baxter?).

And, of course there was Violet, Dowager Countess. Always the star of the show, in my opinion.

And while Violet may be the star (and recipient of all the best lines), my favorite character is still Daisy.

1. So let’s start with Daisy, shall we? Because she had a bit of an interesting development this week. 

Mrs. Patmore walks into the kitchen to find Daisy pouring over some accounting books and asks her what this is all about.

Daisy: I was rubbish at numbers in school.

Mrs. Patmore, laughing: Well all the best people were rubbish at numbers in school.

Thank you for confirming what I’ve always known, Mrs. Patmore.

2. Moving along, what is the deal with James and Lady Anstruther, whom we had never met until this week? James thinks he knows: she’s getting older and trying to recapture her youth with him. 

And I don’t think he thinks that’s all bad.

Talking with Thomas in the servants’ hall, he reveals a bit of his thoughts about the Lady A situation.

Barrow: Still, it’s pathetic for a Lady to be pining over a footman.

James: Excuse me, I think it shows very good taste.

Hubris will be your downfall, James.

3. Hands up if you like Sarah Bunting, especially Sarah Bunting with our beloved Tom.

I didn’t think so.

There’s just something about that woman that bothers me. I think it has to do with her smug, sanctimonious, self-righteous swagger. But that might just be me.

Anyway, she did get a great line last night (hopefully her last) in the pre-dinner scene in the drawing room. Rose, attempting to be a polite hostess, introduces her friend Kitty Colthurst to Sarah Bunting, mentioning that Sarah is a teacher (which, by the way, is the most polite way to introduce someone—tell an interesting fact about the people you are introducing. A free etiquette lesson for you.)

The exchange between the two women is hilarious—especially Sarah Bunting’s zinger at the end.

Kitty Colthurst: Oh golly, how clever! What do you teach?

Sarah Bunting: The usual things: writing, mathematics . . .

Kitty: Crikey! Writing’s always beyond me, and I wouldn’t know where to start with mathematics.

Sarah: Well then, you must marry a man rich enough to ensure you’ll never need to.

I guess that’s my problem with Sarah—her zingers may be funny, but they’re mostly cruel.

4. The pre-dinner event leads, naturally, to dinner, which turns out to be the most awkward dinner party in the history of dinner parties, thanks, of course, to Sarah Bunting (I’m starting to really not like that girl). In the meantime, Lady Anstruther slips a note into James’s pocket. Sarah and Isobel can’t keep their opinions to themselves. And everyone gets into a huge fight over the war.

All the while, Robert strives “to keep things light.” (I guess that’s what makes for a good dinner party—light talk, nothing controversial.)

For once, Violet comes to Robert’s aid and ends up with the funniest line of the night.

Violet: Now, if you could all put your swords away, perhaps we could finish our dinner in a civilized manner.

Isobel: But I admire it when young people stand up for their principles.

Violet: Principles are like prayers. Noble, of course, but awkward at a party.

5. The episode ends with what will surely go down in history as The Great Fire. 

Edith, in a fit of despair, throws her lover’s book into the fireplace. Somehow she falls asleep before she sees that some of the book has fallen onto the carpet in front of the fireplace, causing a huge fire.

Thomas, who had been skulking about in the hallway just to see if Jimmy and Lady A “needed anything,” smells smoke, rescues Edith, and saves Downton (and simultaneously his own you-know-what).

In the midst of all the fire havoc, Robert shouts out orders: “Get the sand buckets!” (Because I don’t know where they are.) “Tell everyone downstairs!” (Because God forbid I should have to do it.)

And my favorite line of all: “Save the dog!”

With that, I shall go try to rescue my own dog who, by the way, looks very much like Isis and who has been very naughty lately.

I can’t wait to see what they have for us next week. Until then . . .

Did you watch Episode 1 last night? What were your favorite moments?

*****

Photo Credits

2014 Recap

I spent most of the day on the couch yesterday, ringing in the New Year by catching up on blog reading. I love reading the reflections of other bloggers and getting a sense of how they felt their year went. Most were upbeat and cheerful, but for some reason I especially resonated with those like my friend Mary, who wrote a post titled, “When Your ‘Best Of’ List Comes UpEmpty.”

Some years don’t quite meet expectations.

Somehow it just feels right that I’m reflecting on 2014 two days late because that’s how the year felt to me—like I just couldn’t keep up.

With anything.

Every day left me collapsing into bed feeling like there was something left undone, and most days that feeling was spot on. There was always more to be done.

I’ll be honest, that’s a frustrating place to be, so when I read other bloggers recap their successful 2014s, I kind of cringe. My 2014 feels so inadequate, incomplete, small.

But really, it feels like this only when I compare myself to what other bloggers are doing—writing, speaking, publishing. I know better than to compare, but it’s all so public when its “out there” the way it is in the blogging world. Everyone knows what people want you to know, but they don’t know the thousands of other areas in which we may be struggling . . . or serving . . . and reading the successful recaps of others just makes my green-eyed jealousy monster come out.

Ugh.

2014, for me, was a year of serving behind the scenes, in a way. I didn’t have much time to write on my blog because I was busy in my “real life” in ways I had never been before. And when I think about my year in these terms, it doesn’t feel quite so inadequate, incomplete, or small.

So let me tell you about my year as it was NOT documented on the blog.

This year I . . .

•         taught kindergarten Sunday School, which was a blast and a half. Those kids!
•         spoke at three women’s retreats. I love doing that!
•         taught writing to college students for the umpteenth time. Again, a blast, and yet a humbling learning experience. Always.
•         explored Boston and Newport with Caroline. Seriously, I cannot stress how much these mother/daughter trips mean to me.
•          took Julia to England and loved every minute of it. Ditto on the above comment.
•      attended the Festival of Faith and Writing with Kate, which was an amazing weekend in every way.
•         spent two weeks with B in one of our favorite spots right next to a lake. Heavenly.
•         hosted a group of college students for Bible study every Tuesday night. They keep us young!
•         mentored a college student whom I care about deeply. Challenging, stretching, and rewarding in many ways.
•         watched my oldest graduate from college and move into her first apartment. No words can express how proud I am of her.
•         served on various committees and boards at church.

Truthfully, this isn’t even the complete list—I just had to stop because it kind of makes my head spin.

Sometime around May, I finally had had it with all the crazy. I desperately needed a change, to simplify some of my life in order to make room for what I really felt like I should be doing.

So I started listing.

I made one list of all of my current commitments and another list of what I really wanted to be doing.

B and I spent a lot of time talking through these lists when we were on vacation this summer, and we came up with some strategies to make some changes. But change of this sort doesn’t come quickly, and I’m still in the middle of untangling some knots in my schedule in order to make space for other priorities.

So what does that mean for 2015? For my blog? For my writing?

It means some changes need to take place. It means that I am working hard to create white space in my life so that I can tend to this blog and so that I can get to work doing the writing that I want to do.

It means that this coming semester is my last semester of teaching for a while. (I know, I said that last year, but this time I really mean it.)

It means that I’m going to try harder to stick to a writing schedule. You should see me around here at least twice a week, maybe three times a week during Downton Abbey season. *wink wink*

It means that I’m going to pursue other writing opportunities as well. I’ve already got a couple of guest posts lined up and am looking for more.

It means a shifting of priorities and commitments that feels a little awkward, but also good and right and necessary.

It means I could use your prayers as you think of me.

*****

So what did happen on the blog this year?

I took a look back to see what my most-viewed posts were and thought I’d share them with you.

Interestingly to me, my top post of the year was a Downton Abbey post that must have gotten passed around a LOT because it got so many more views than any other post this year: Top 5 Lines from Downton Abbey, S4:E5(that’s Season 4: Episode 5 for those of you who can’t decode my title).

Downton fans, take heart. You can be sure that my little fingers will by typing away during the first episode of Season 5 this Sunday and all throughout this season. Can’t wait!

In February of last year I did a little series called “The Spectacular Ordinary,” in which I looked for the small bits of amazing in every day. As I look back over that series, I realize that that was one of my favorite series of the year. I might have to do it again. Anyway, this post about Kate’s car accident seemed to resonate with a lot of people.

I have a lot to say about giving kids space and letting them take risks as appropriate. This series, “Reflecting on Risk,” touched a nerve with several of you.

If you’ve been around here for any amount of time, you know that I love to travel. This post, “Five Reasons I Travel with My Kids,” was very popular last year.

“How to Let Go of Regret,” was a post that landed in my Top 5 this year. It’s a lesson I need to preach to myself over and over again.

In the fall I resurrected my Fabulous Friday Food posts for a while (something I hope to do more of in the new year). My “World’s BestChili” was a favorite post and, according to your feedback, a new favorite chili recipe. Yea!

Finally, one of my most popular posts was also my favorite from the year. It was a heart wrenching post to write because it was personal to me, but, I felt, one that needed to be written. Interestingly, this happened before the grand jury decision and all of the ugliness of Ferguson took place. “The Ugly Truth about ‘Life’s Not Fair.’”

Friends, I cannot thank you enough for sticking with me this past year, especially for reading and commenting. You who read here are important to me, and I look forward to growing together in the year ahead.

*****

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Fabulous Friday Food :: Pumpkin Bread

For us, Thanksgiving is usually anything but traditional. See, we don't have family nearby, so for Thanksgiving we're on our own. We've tried having Thanksgiving at home with just the five of us, but something about just the five of us sitting around our dining room table makes me a little sad.

So over the years we've tried different things. We've gone to the big city a number of times for Thanksgiving dinner. We've even stayed in a hotel in the city a couple of times (it's actually more fun than it sounds!).

We've gone to friends' homes, which is also very nice, but a reminder yet again of how we don't have family close by.

Last year was probably our favorite Thanksgiving yet: we drove to Washington DC to visit Kate who was studying there for the semester. We rented a house through VRBO, which turned out to be perfect for us. We walked a ton, we saw the sights, and we went to one of our favorite DC restaurants, Founding Farmers, for Thanksgiving dinner. Oh my, YUM! Totally non-traditional (we did have turkey, though), but such a great memory. We still talk about it.

This year is a little different because we've decided to actually stay home for the first time in a long time. Since Kate doesn't live with us anymore and Caroline is away at school, we decided that a nice, quiet, traditional Thanksgiving at home might be just the thing we need this year. 

Today I decided to get a little head start on some baking for next week, so I whipped up a batch of our favorite pumpkin bread. This is a recipe I got from a friend of mine probably 25 years ago (crazy that I've been making this bread for that long)--it's really and truly the best pumpkin bread recipe I've ever tried. 

And easy? Yep. Totally easy. You probably have everything you need right in your pantry. 

So here we go. (This won't take long.)

Basically, cream the butter, sugar, eggs, pumpkin, and vanilla.

In a separate bowl, sift the dry ingredients.

Mix the two together until well blended. Add nuts or chocolate chips, if you want. 

Our family always wants chocolate chips.

Be sure you butter and flour the loaf pans before you add the batter. 

I don't know about you, but I seem to have a hard time getting loaves of sweet bread out of the pans.

Anyway, bake the small loaves for about 45 minutes (larger loaves take an hour). When they're done they will look beautiful, like this.

This bread would be great for a breakfast treat or on your Thanksgiving table. It's delicious and moist and tastes like fall. Whatever you do and whenever you serve it, be sure to enjoy your time with family and friends.

Happy Thanksgiving!

For a printable version of this recipe, click here.