Back to work I

Well, it's back to work. And there are babies here! I'm so blessed to be able to see moms and babies all the time. Meanwhile I'm looking for a definitive delineation of midwifery v medical models of care in childbirth. I found a nice succinct look at Robbie Davis-Floyd's analysis at

So what's with the menu hopping?

Good grief. I wasn't even hungry this morning when I woke up - funny how prime rib will do that to you - and now here I am looking at Holiday Menus on the Better Homes and Gardens site. Luckily the first one was an Elegant Duck Entertaining Menu, and I am not in the mood to entertain any ducks, no matter how elegant they may be! (This reminds me of Laurel's Parisian Poodle, walking down a rainy street in an elegant red coat....)

More anon...We are repairing wallpaper curls today.

New Christmas tradition - I'm not in charge

Ho ho - I think Epiphany is usually in a couple weeks but nevertheless I had one this past week. I've always stressed out to the max about the Christmas Eve service. Makes sense - it was my idea to have one at Christian Family Circle, and since I wanted it done "right" I had to be in charge of it myself. Truth to be told, in times past I probably would've been very glad to do EVERYTHING - write it, print it, play the piano, play the pastor's role, even immolate my wick as a candle.

Slowly but surely I've come to realize (hey, it only took about ten years....) that I Am Not in Charge of the World on Christmas Eve. Funny what a sense of relief that brings with it.

And lovely but true - some very nice surprises come with it. I was touched and delighted when Alice Benware volunteered to do a reading, and tickled after the service last night when she said, "I did it. And I wasn't even nervous."

My solo ("Some Children See Him") was good enough, even if I can't jazz it like James Taylor. And I managed not to yell at anybody or boil inside. Now that feels like Peace on Earth, Good Will towards Men.

On the home front, it was very nice to be able to ask the kids how they wanted to do Christmas. Hmm -- maybe I should ask David things once in a while, he always has good ideas. We will see how I can grow in that direction this year.

To all my faithful readers, Happy Christmas. May your day be Merry and Bright.

Welcome to My World

Well, since many of my favorite people have blogs, I thought I'd join the blogosphere and get my oh-so-important opinions out there! I hope it will also be a great way for the moms and babies I work with to quickly be able to link to all these great things I'm always telling them about. Maybe it will be a great way for me to find them when I need them, too!

My greatest goal: For somebody to read this besides my mother! (Thank you NPR for that little piece of information.....)