4th Sunday of Advent

Christmas sneaks up on me every year.  Working for a Church intensifies this ambush because bulletin printer deadlines begin hitting before Thanksgiving, so, I am always working three weeks ahead.  It completely boggles my sense of where I am in time.

Aside on "where I am in time" - ever since I can remember, I have visualized time as a circle.  Calendar months are laid out in this circle with January at 1 o'clockish and we move clockwise with December at high noon.  The days and weeks are in the same position as a calendar page, neat little grids.

Therefore, I see myself physically located at a spot on that wheel, but, the nature of the bulletin lady cycle has me working ahead in that circle.  Sometimes it is so confusing, if not for my wonderful co-workers and volunteers who proofread (in particular this week, Shelly for pulling my fat out of the fire and realizing BEFORE I sent it to the publisher that I'd put the weekly parish activities calendar for the week of Epiphany in the bulletin for the week of the Feast of the Holy Family - and she was the 3rd person to proof that particular bulletin!) our bulletin would be more comedy and less informative.

Had begun crocheting and knitting gifts early this year, only to end up at the last minute filling the Priority Mail boxes - - - realizing in cold panic that I'd forgotten to make anything for my 5 year old great nephew, Carter.  Thanks to my friend Karen S. who back in September shared a pattern she found http://crochetvolution.com/archives/spring-2012-archives/duck-pond-playset ... I was able to whip up a racecar track/pouch in an hour or so...(admittedly, the gauge was all wonky and the thing will likely never lie flat, but, he is 5 and we'll just say they are "mountains").

So, here I sit, on the 4th row of the calendar that is at the top of the wheel, I see Christmas only 3 days off and I am woefully unprepared, materially and spiritually.  I've vowed to stay OFF Facebook until after the holidays (have broken that vow a few times already), need to plan a meal and to finish the crochet project that I began for Jude last year.

Christ talked about folks who were busy with their lives and were unprepared for the coming of the Lord.  I've 3 days to do what the Church gave us 4 weeks for, prepare the way!  Better snap to it.