Con:  I have wrinkles and a few freaking age spots.

Pro:  Knowledge that God sees me as he created me…  he sees me through a veil of his son’s blood and through that I am beautiful and perfect.

Con:   More people I know die.

Pro:  Knowledge that God is in control.  He knows what He is doing.  His grace is sufficient to carry me through and anyone else who calls on Him. 

Con:  I see more tragedy.

Pro:  See above.  His grace is SUFFICIENT.

Con:  I heard the words “inconclusive mammogram.”

Pro:  See above again.  His GRACE is sufficient.

Con:  Due to genetics passed down (thanks mom!) I have to have a colonoscopy next month.

Pro:  See above once again.  HIS grace is sufficient.

Con:  I have more people disappoint me.  Fall off the pedestal that I have put them on.

Pro:  Knowledge that God won’t disappoint me.  He won’t fall off of the pedestal I have Him on.  His love is pure and unconditional.  His grace IS sufficient.

I think I will add to this list as my days go on, but I have a feeling I know the pro to each con that comes my way.  His grace is sufficient for me….  His grace is sufficient FOR YOU.

Actually, that was part of the problem…  I wasnt productive.  Between trying to make the bus to get home from school – which made no sense since I am a 40-something who hasn’t been to that particular school since 1984 and trying to find a public bathroom in Myrtle Beach that had an enclosed stall (apparently my subconscious doesn’t think that there are enclosed stall public restrooms in Myrtle Beach) I am exhausted, but it has definitely given me fodder for blogging.

I have awakened every morning this week recreating my dreams in my head…  wondering why the heck I have dreamed such things.  I am sure there are some crazy Freudian reasons for my dreams that I don’t want to know, so DON’T tell me in the comments.  I do find that they never typically deviate from a few mundane plots. 

I am at the beach.  My moms beach house and there is some kind of natural disaster.  Last night, oddly enough, was a new plot.  This time instead of a tidal wave there were tornadoes.  Rarely do I dream of tornadoes so I am sure that is somehow related to the fact that my “Things” had been home so many days from school and it looks as though a tornado has hit my house and I feel helpless to fix things!  The tornado never hit moms house, thank goodness, but they certainly came too close for comfort.   

Usually there is a surge of water.  If things seem particularly out of control in my life the surge is bigger.  Sometimes I am in the house, sometimes I am on the porch.  Sometimes it is the house of the 1980′s other times it is the present structure of the house.  (It has gone through major transformations in the last 40 years.)  And sometimes I am on the beach.  Usually, if I am on the beach, the grade of the shore is very steep…  like I might slide right down into the water.  Sometimes there are things in the water…  a battleship, a house….  last night I think there was a putt putt course, but that memory has faded and I am not sure anymore.

I am at the private school where I attended second through ninth grade.  I am missing a math class.  I know it is a math class because I know Mrs. Whitman is in there and I am disappointing her because I am not where I am supposed to be.  Jan, the secretary and mainstay of the school,  is always there…  either in the office where she was in 1984 or her desk is in the hallway and she is keeping watch over the students.  It is always the Bob Haarlow years.  I am trying to find my locker in the bank of senior lockers…  I think that is because I always wanted to make it to the point that I had a locker in that last set of lockers.  I never did and I am not sure why it would be hard to find MY locker as there were only 19 of us and no locks on any of the lockers….  my last O’Neal locker was in the hall outside of the science lab.  And finally, I am always rushing to catch the bus.  I want the bus to be parked in the circle because I know I wont be left if it’s in the circle.  If it is parked down by the lower school Mrs. Bass might take off with out me.  I run down the hill…  the damn bus is at the lower school.  I never missed the bus in real life.  I don’t know why that is such a fear.  I guess when you live 45 minutes from where you attend school catching the bus should be a big deal…  I am sure Mom didn’t want to come pick me up and lose an hour and a half of her day to driving. 

Then I have another dream about this massive house.  I havent had it in a while so I will have to let you know about it the next time I have it.  All I know is that this house is enormous.  It belongs to my mom and it is filled with stuff – furniture, knick knacks, it even has a ballroom!  It also has a haunted room where if you go in you will die.  I try to avoid that room when in the house but there is always some reason I need to go in it. 

Ok, so those are some of the things I worked on last night.  Again, I don’t wantpsychoanalysis so don’t tell me what the dreams mean.  Its fun getting them out there in black and white, you know?

Ironicly (or is it ironically?) after I posted this I found that wordpress is having a “Post a Day Challenge”  that, of course, I then immediately had to sign up for which means that I probably won’t post anymore blog posts for a year, but what the heck.  Maybe you should give it a try too!

My friends had a crawfish boil last night.  She posted that she was having one on her status, I posted back that I was jealous and today I had probably two pounds of crawfish and everything that goes with it delivered to my door.  Can you say MAGICAL???  And, my friends, that is what the Gribbins family is having for grub tonight.  I might go pick up a few pounds of snow crab legs to add in the mix as well.  Now, why was my husband complaining about the time I spend on facebook?

Anyway, absent of that state of mind I can tell you the technicalities of making the shrimp peppered with momisms along the way…

What you need…

Shrimp – If you live inland your best bet is to buy the flash frozen shrimp.  You don’t know how long those critters at the seafood counter have been out of the water.  The frozen shrimp were caught and frozen…  no sitting out lookin’ purty.

Water – use what you want…  tap water works just fine…  if you are at the beach all the better…  It may not be fit to drink, but it makes a darn fine shrimp boil.

Apple Cider vinegar – don’t even THINK about using that white vinegar stuff…  you will not have good results.   I really haven’t figured out what “white vinegar” is good for other than cleaning.

Old Bay seasoning – only Old Bay…  do not use some silly Old Bay knock off and think you are going to have shrimp worth eating.

Yes, that is all you need.  Please do not add to the recipe.  The best shrimp don’t NEED anything.  They had spent their sweet little lives hanging out in brine and readying themselves for this trip to the pot. Don’t make the mistake of spicing them up just because you think this is too plain.  It is not.

You can shell the shrimp or not.  My husband doesn’t like to have to shell his shrimp so I shelled two pounds last night.  Pour enough water in the pot to cover the shrimp – No, don’t put the shrimp in the pot to see how much water to put in – I don’t know how you know how much water you need, I am just telling you what Mom told me.  Make a good guess.  Then you add the apple cider vinegar.  Add it until the water changes color.  Again…  to what color, I am not sure.   It’s cooking by feel and it is what years of experience taught my mom and has hopefully taught me.  Next you add the Old Bay.  One, two, three dumps of Old Bay out of the big hole in the top of the canister.  “Dumps”  I am sure that is the Mom term for some specific measurement, however, I don’t know what measure that is. Let all of this come to a ROLLING boil…  Mom at this point is fixing herself a Jack and Ginger and sharing all her sage advice with her girls.  Once the water boils add the shrimp.  Boil until their little tails turn up to the top of the water.  Drain.  Put a pot lid on top of the shrimp in the colander and finish your Jack and Ginger.  Eat when you darn well please.  They will be good cold or hot.

Scott didn’t get any shrimp last night…  all three boys took the leftovers in their lunch today.

We can take comfort in this season where we celebrate the birth of Christ that she is now in a home that our Heavenly father has been creating for her.  It is hard to be without the ones that we love, but it is also very important that we remember that, if they believed in Jesus as their savior, they are in a place where Christmas is celebrated every day. 

So with Christmas only a day or two away and the stress of it weighing on my shoulders, I am trying to remember the reason for this wonderful season.  The number of presents under the tree are so unimportant even if it is what the kids are looking for.  They are not going to remember in June what they got for Christmas no matter how much thought is put into them, but what they will remember is being with the family and friends that love them.    I dont remember the presents that my father gave me when I was nine, but I do remember the love that I felt from him as we opened those gifts and hugged and got ready to welcome family into our home on Christmas morning for breakfast.  Those are the memories that I want my kids to be almost forty and remembering.  I want them to look back fondly on their childhood Christmases and desire to instill that same love for family in their kids.  I want them to always know that their family loved them and that love pales in comparison to the love of God for them.

So from the Gribbins family to yours…  May God bless you all this Christmas and fill your 2009 with love and joy.