The 3 Amazing and Simultaneous Thoughts of Tara

In which our Lady of the Textbooks remembers her Degree. 

First, a note to my public.  I was too busy this weekend to blog, and will be for the next two weekends.  So, I propose that I get the weekends off from now on.  I love you all, but I like spending time with my family (and doing my church calling) more.

Second, to those members of my family who will not be seeing me at Christmas (that’s ALL of you), I wholeheartedly wish that I could be with you.  In my most bitter moments, I culture a loathing for the cancer within me (as well as Jon’s merciless job which will never grant him Christmas Eve off) that stops me from buying plane tickets.  I will miss the Dahle family nativity, the game playing, and the mountain climbing (ok, I might be lying on that last one).  I wish my child the opportunity to actually get to know her numerous cousins.  I wish I could gather in a warm and food-filled kitchen with my own side of the family and eat until we all become slightly diabetic.  All these things and more fill me with yearning. 

Third, the good news is that being stuck here also yields some good things.  For instance, a small group of ladies has asked me to lead a discussion tomorrow on the Blessed Virgin Mary in the visual arts.  It has been good to dust off my mental apparatus and dig into my art historical knowledge.  You’d think I knew more about my brain by now, but I discovered today that there are art-loving muscles in my head that have become atrophied from disuse.  My excuse is that the life of a mother leaves me little time and energy for art historical research.  But I think I am really just L.A.Z.Y.  Today these hidden muscles had a chance to come out and stretch (after a long and fulfilling nap, of course).  I only wish I had more time to preen them and prepare better for the discussion.  But like most things in my life now, I will have to wing it!