an early christmas letter

for various reasons blogging hasn't been on the mind recently. either it's really not a good idea to be talking about people, or i might get into trouble for saying various things (yeah, like i can bring up church issues here). well, that and what i used to convert from really amusing blog posts have recently been rather constantly popping up in short, 3rd person sentences [curse you, facebook!]. ah, well.

the best idea i've come up with so far, which i actually started to write in my head while so not falling asleep the other evening, is a pre-pre-pre draft of my christmas letter. so, in the interest of actually having something to share, here we go....

*****

Christmas greetings and tidings of great joy to you all!

Well now that we've gotten that out of the way, this year has definitely brought with it some interesting occurances as opposed to the last few years of disappointment and mooching and... well, I didn't want to send Christmas letters.

In any case, hi! The best way to describe my current life is to recommend you watch some episodes of the Vicar of Dibley with less chocolate and more kittens. Geraldine in many ways sums up the life of a village vicar, and while my session isn't quite so colorful, I definitely find myself in many of the awkward pastoral positions.

But back to the beginning of the year's tale. I had been looking for a call for two years with depressing results. Not even the central offices could really believe that I had applied to 180 churches. I had this admittedly amazing system for documenting them. But finally when I set up my own web page I got noticed. Not long after initial phone interviews I was flown out here to Marshall, Missouri (we love company!) to preach and eventually to move. More on that in a bit.

A week after getting voted in by the congregation the world rather turned on its head such that I now write to you without my sibling. Carrie finally gave up her life-long struggle to... well... live, and in the space of 4 days the parents and i moved from conversations about how she might not make it into planning her funeral. Ever since then I have become increasingly more darkly humorous. Like in this current debate on health care? Well, I've decided that all hospice work, which is what my sister did for 20 years, will now be referred to as "death panels." Ok, maybe it's not actually funny, but often black humor isn't, no? Actually, according to my experience it also involves lots of naked people. Ok, maybe that's just the black humor in foreign films.

So, I hauled everything across the country. Well, it was actually a pleasure to have paid movers to do it for me. WIN! Now all my stuff is back together again after a year and a half of storage, and it is residing in an adorable little house from the 40s that didn't have a toilet when I moved it. It has a toilet now.

Unfortunately in the process of moving we had not realized that my Gwenda-kitty was diabetic and really couldn't go long periods of time without lots of water. She didn't drink in the car. So when the vet came back with the diagnosis of severe diabetic liver failure I sat with my kitty while she died in a very similar way to my sister just a month earlier. This time, however, my company was welcome whereas Carrie was more independent. (Than a CAT! ...I KNOW!)

I was going to get Gwendelyn a little kitten friend to keep her seemingly depressed (as opposed to just really sick) self company, and after she died I brought home from the expected litter anyhow. It has been good, if not scratchily painful, to have the company of little Cecil Wilburforce and Lucia Maria Medici. They are ridiculously cute, which is good because otherwise I might have to hurt them what with all the trouble they get into and waking me up at 5:30 every morning. They're worth it.

What else? Back in the day part of the familial letter was always something to the extent of "Kathryn is still quite interested in boys but remains single for now." Yeah. By the age of I think 14 that had been successfully edited out of the letter. Maybe now that might get back in by the end of this year? I'm about as sure as I was at the age of 14. In any case, some day I do really look forward to having a sleeping partner for many reasons such as a major upgrade in sleeping arrangements on family trips thus avoiding any future pullman flip-downs (cruise to Mexico in June) or sofa beds (family reunion in August). I'll curl up and sleep in a bed's corner for that.

New hobbies for the year consist of spinning yarn and working in the yard now that I actually have one. Apparently zinias like me. Who knew? Mowing the grass, however, can just continue being resented by me. It does admittedly go better with an electric mower than a push one, though. Ah, learning curves...

So life is sitting well. Finally I feel like I'm growing up a bit with the church work progressing well as we figure out each other and remind ourselves of how things can indeed work well in an orderly fashion. Next session meeting, though, I'm taking homemade brownies with sprinkles to try and help the mood, though. Then today again brought the question, "What do you want to teach at the local college in the spring?" Sweet. Yes, this is a small town without a coffee shop, but there are some advantages, and I'm finding a good place here.

Not nine hours into this new year on January 1st I received a speeding ticket on my way to watch the Rose Parade. At the time I though maybe that indicated that things would be moving a bit more rapidly this year. So far that has proven quite true. I make no forecasts on the rest of this year nor the next. At least life is remaining interesting.

My best to you and yours. Do keep me updated as you are able. It is nice to rejoin the world finally.

Grace and Peace,

Kathryn