A Thanksgiving Blessing

Caleb Allen Norvell

Son of Jon and Lydia Norvell

Born Thanksgiving Day, November 27, 2008

9:32 PM 6 lbs 14 oz 21 inches

More details about the big day to come!

A Big Day

So...the eagle has landed. Yup...today I turned in a paper that I have been working on since January. A paper that pretty much determines whether I graduate in May or if Dave and I have waisted close to $10,000 in the past three years. When I dropped off my 80 page child to my thesis committee this morning, I instantaneously felt relief. I can't describe it to you. It was like one minute I was stressed, the next I was over joyed. And then, in the car on the drive home, all my adrenaline stopped and my energy level crashed. A long afternoon nap followed my return home.

Something else significant happened today. Today I finished reading the entire Bible. Dave and I started a "read through the Bible in a year" plan in January, and actually stuck to it. Dave finished a few weeks ago, but I was a little behind so I finished today. How symbolic that today I finished two things that I began at the same time: my thesis and the Bible. I didn't plan it that way...I promise. But God did. I think he used this year to teach me many things, but one of them was to remind me that no matter what I am doing, even if it is writing a paper that no one will care about in a couple of weeks, He is with me. Right by my side, all the time. Never changing, unfailing, the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. I guess it is also a lesson in perservance. I perservered through my thesis as well as some of the books of the Bible ( Chronicles was never ending!). But how wonderful that I stuck to it. And that the Lord helped me through it. And ya know what...I think I actually learned something from both events :>).

To round off the day, Dave and I went out to celebrate a bit. We try to do a Christmas date every year, so this year Dave bought us tickets to A Christmas Carol in the Dallas Theatre District. I was fantastic! We had beyond excellent seats. Not only were we close to the front, but no one sat in the row in front of us either, so we had an unobstructed view. We also went to dinner at a restaurant I had been eager to try...Fireside Pies. It's this fun and cozy pizza place with amazing food. They serve everything family style, so needless to say we have leftovers for the next few days. It was a fun and festive night after an emotional and symbolic day that I will surely never forget.

Pushing a rock

So a looooooooooong time ago, when the show America's Funniest Home Videos first began, my family was a huge fan. We would watch all the time after dinner, or even during dinner. At this point in my life, we had a yellow Labrador named Jesse. Sweet and energetic dog, and a little OCD. She loved to get ahold of the old peanut butter buckets (we bought the huge industrial bucket from Sam's back then) and run with it in her mouth around the back yard. The funny thing was, she would hold it in such a way that it was covering her eyes...so she was literally running blind. But she didn't care. She was just happy to have her bucket.
Ok,back to AFHV. I remember specifically a video that came on one night. It was a lab who had found a rock in the back yard. Bigger than your average rock...about grapefruit size. It had a flat bottom, so the dog would start pushing it around the back yard with his nose. He went in circles all around the back yard pushing this rock with his nose. It was pretty funny. Bob Saget narrated the video and said something like about how dogs are easily entertained, and then as if he was the dogs thoughts, he said "pushing a rock, pushing a rock, pushing a rock, turn it around, turn it around, pushing a rock, pushing a rock, pushing a rock, turn it around." Of course Bob Saget imitating a dogs thoughts made the video even twice as funny. and, it was even more funny to our family because of how it was so similar to how Jesse acted with the peanut butter bucket. I remember my Dad sitting at the dinner table laughing so hard that his laugh became silent. Ya know....those laughs that are so deep down inside you just feel it, but it becomes inaudible.

So why and I telling you the rock story? Well folks, not to harp on the same issue, but I've been pushing a rock since January. Except my rock has become bigger and more heavy with time. I feel like this week, though, I will be turning that rock around for the last time. Yep...I am this close ------------- to being done. "Done" is such a wonderful word. And I promise, as soon as I am done, I will write about more interesting things on our blog then just my thesis. I had originally had a goal of turning it in yesterday, but due to some setbacks ( and my professor being in Mexico for a week) that has been pushed back to next Monday. So...t minus 7 days and counting. Until then, I'll just be pushing a rock.

Just a few tidbits...

I turned in a LARGE chunck of my thesis last week. It is "finished" in a very loose sense. I've written everything I know to write, but I am sure my proff is going to have some suggestions and changes for me to make. So, at this point it's the game of tag. I send something to him, he reads it and tells me to make changes. I make the changes, send it back to him, he reads it again and tells me to make more changes. Hopefully, this cycle won't go on for too long, but you never know :>).

The Christmas drinks are out in full force at Starbucks. This means that for the next two months we will always be busy. I forgot to enjoy the slow days while I had them these past few months (probably because I was too busy complaining about my job), and now we will be swamped till January. On Sunday nights I am usually home around 8:15. I didn't get home till almost 9 last night. It's amazing what a little peppermint syrup does for business at a coffee joint.

I couldn't fall asleep last night cause I kept thinking about decorating the house for Christmas. Dave and I are Christmas junkies. We love everything about it...yes...even some of the commercialization. I squealed like a little girl when I saw the first Hallmark Christmas commercial. When I was in elementary school, I can remember trying really hard to get ready for school super fast so that I could go down stairs and sit next to the Christmas tree for a while. I had this habit when I was little of singing anything and everything that came to mind, so I'd make up songs while I gazed at the tree and the presents. I also remember a few times that mom and dad would have this HUGE box under the tree and on the tag it would say that it was for all three of us children. When we opened it, inside were tons of individually wrapped gifts...just little stuff...with our names on it. So, we got to experience the euphoria of opening a huge box and then finding lots of little presents to open together. One year my parents did this right before school started and the box was chuck full of school supplies for our desks at home. That is a great memory I have. I also remember my dad playing the role of "santa" on Christmas morning. This is something I truly missed when I was older after my parents divorced. I love my mom to pieces, but nothing can replace my dad grabbing a present from under the tree, reading the tag aloud that said "to Dad, From Dad" and then him shaking his own hand and saying "well, thank you, Dad". Of course we all rolled on the floor laughing. I think what it all boils down to is that I love family. I love my family, Dave's family, and just being around family. Since the "holidays" are a time when family is always around, it makes me anticipate them even more.

and one last tidbit...this one involves Jazzercise. So, it's been about a month now since I started, and I think the slogan is holding true. Yesterday at church, two people told me I looked thinner. Come to find out this morning, I am! So...jazzercise is showing, and that makes me excited!

Halloween 2008

So once again, this year Dave and I participated in our churches annual Trunk or Treat. All the church members line up their cars, decorate their trunks, and invite the city to come trick or treat through our parking lot. Not only is it a safe alternative to traditional trick or treating, it is a HUGE outreach for our church. Probably the biggest one each year. Last year, we have 1500 people come through trunk or treat. Who knows how many came this year, but we had a ton of fun. We met with all the members of our Sunday School class so we could park together and had a blast. In the gym they set up all kinds of carnival games, so I helped with the Putt Putt game this year. Since we don't have kids, this is a fun time for Dave and I to indulge ourselves a bit and have fun with all the kiddos we know at church. Here is a picture of or trunk this year.



Not too decorative, but fun none the less. And, also because we don't have kids....Dexter was a silent victim to the traditions of Halloween....

Hope you had a fun and safe night!