A request, a song, and a whole bunch of stories

First, a request:

My nephew James was born last Friday with a congenital heart defect. If you're the praying kind, will you include him in your prayers this week? He'll be undergoing open heart surgery on Thursday. Many thanks.

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Second, a song:

Years ago, I babysat the most adorable two year old boy ever. And he wanted to watch the Veggie Tales Christmas show at least twice in the span of just a few hours. That was my first introduction to the show, and I just recently remembered the silly song on that episode/video/what-have-you. Naturally, I had to watch it three times yesterday. On the third time, I made Jacob watch it with me. He judged and afterward said that we needed to listen to a real Christmas song. So he turned on Feliz Navidad. Pssh. Men.

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Third, a story (or two or five):

1. A week and a half ago, our pantry and refrigerator were embarrassingly empty. And for good reason: other than picking up some milk and a few snack foods, we hadn't gone grocery shopping in five weeks. Five! That has to be a new record. Granted, we were in Arizona for Thanksgiving, so that helped, but still. It was clear that we were going to have to go on a shopping trip of DOOM . . . doom . . .doom.

Now, in our nearly two years of being married, Jacob has concluded that a hungry Jennifer is a grumpy Jennifer during shopping trips. And since he's no fool, he conceded when I asked if we could use our coupons to Chick-fil-A for lunch before shopping. With our coupons, Jacob was able to purchase an adult-sized meal of his choice. And I got . . . a free kids' meal, with teeny tiny chicken nuggets. So teeny, that I made Jacob take a picture of me on his cell phone, looking all forlorn and distraught at my small meal.

Okay, so maybe they don't look that small in the picture. Just trust me on this one.

 But have no fear! We also received a free milk shake, which Jacob was so kind to let me have all to myself. The man knows I love milkshakes. So really, it was actually quite a satisfying lunch. And! The kids meal came with the children's classic short story, The Jolly Barnyard. You better believe I read it out loud to Jacob later that day, as well as conducted the guided reading questions located in the back. We had a very stimulating conversation about celebrations and gift giving and such. Be jealous.

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2. Once upon a time, there was a girl named Heather who found a sweatshirt in one of her apartments during her college days. This sweatshirt was outrageously yellow, and had a small Arizona State logo on the front. Never mind the fact that Heather never attended Arizona State; she wore that sweatshirt with pride.

Until she decided it was too ugly, that is. Then she ceremoniously gave it to her sister, Jennifer. (That's me.) Despite the fact that I, too, had never attended Arizona State, I continue to wear it all the time. (Once, my friend Cari told me that the first time I had worn it around her, she thought it was the ugliest sweatshirt of all time.) What's that? You want to see a picture? Very well.

Talk about yellow.

I wore this sweatshirt for years -- years! -- without incident. But just a few weeks ago, I wore it to Costco and I had a run-in that made me question if I should wear it at all. There we were, innocently approaching the baked goods section, when a middle-aged man called to me. "I was a Devil, too!" he announced. As he did so, he contorted his fingers into some foreign hand signal -- apparently the school sign. I panicked. Should I attempt to mimic the hand gesture? Should I say "Rock on, my brotha!"? In the end, I ended up laughing nervously and steering the shopping cart away as fast as possible, baked goods or no.

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3. When we were in Arizona for Thanksgiving, two of my oldest nieces were holding their twin 2-3 month old cousins. I asked them if they were excited to be moms when they grew up. Elizabeth (in first grade) said she didn't know if she was going to be a mom, but Karianna (in second grade) said that she was excited. Somebody asked how many babies she was going to have, and she responded "A hundred thousand!" Oh my! (She may have later amended the answer to just a thousand, but still.) She certainly is ambitious!

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4. The Clam Chowder Story: This story, as well as the following one, is from my collection of 25 stories of Christmas Cheer. Jacob and I read one a night from December 1st to Christmas Day. This one made me sob like nothing else last year. This year, I was able to control the waterworks a little better. Go read it!

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5. Mother's Christmas Mouse: This one made me sob like nothing else this year. Go read it! If you don't get misty-eyed, you have no soul.