"You have chosen... wisely."

At the end of the movie, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Dr. Jones must choose one of many goblets that could be considered the holy grail to save his father's life. After making his selection and drinking from it to test it out, the last Knight of the First Crusade tells Indy, "You have chosen... wisely."

I've thought a lot about this line over the past few days and say that I have been very blessed in my selection of a wife. Bethany is truly wonderful and I love her so much but this week she taught me a lesson about charity, love and compassion through her own examples.

It started Wednesday night after I got home from work. I was beginning to feel a sore throat coming on and there were still presents to wrap and my parents had just gotten in town and were going to be with us through the next four days. We got through everything we needed to but my health worsened as the night went on. Sometime after 1:00 a.m., we retired for the night. I woke up early the next morning with a burning sore throat and tried to make it through opening presents that morning. But after getting the kids set up with their toys, I returned to bed and tried to sleep but the pain from my throat was too much and so I laid awake for five hours. Bethany was fine to take care of the children and also my parents and occasionally came in to check on me. When I couldn't see any point in staying in bed awake, I made my way downstairs to where everyone else was and sat on the couch for a while.

Bethany was preparing dinner, dealing with issues with the kids and still entertaining my parents while I was off in the distance on the couch. She didn't once lose patience with the kids. She seemed to be having a pleasant conversation with my parents and dinner was coming along fine because it sure smelled good. I hadn't eaten all day because swallowing my own saliva was excruciating. So I returned to my bedroom for the night and laid awake most of the time until the next morning.

Bethany offered to take me to a nearby Instacare and sat with me for 2.5 hours until I could be seen by a doctor. She talked about so many things with me hoping to help me pass the time. After a few minutes with the doctor and a diagnosis of strep throat and an ear ache, she drove me to the pharmacy to fulfill the prescriptions. She also bought a Chloraseptic spray and encouraged me to use it before we got home. The directions on the bottle state that you should wait 15 seconds after spraying and spit out the rest. So she pulled over to the side of the road and let me do so. It was a little thing but she was willing to do whatever to help me be more comfortable and recover sooner.

Her support for and attentiveness to me were second to none. She seemed like she could do it all and she did. No doubt that kind of attitude came from her upbringing.

What a wonderful wife she is! I did choose wisely. I'm going to get her a medal.

Also, to clear up any confusion, my parents aren't the type to just lounge around and be a burden. They were pretty helpful. Maybe they should get a medal too.

 

The Happy Prince

I had some great young men advisors when I was growing up. There is one in particular who shared a Christmas story with us one Sunday. It was a short story entitled The Happy Prince. The story is about a gilded statue of a prince in the middle of a city. The statue has some jewels on it and many people in the city admire it. A self-centered swallow comes along as it is migrating south to Egypt for the winter and one night decides to nest at the statue. The statue of the prince talks to the swallow and convinces the swallow carry the ruby from his sword to an impoverished mother at a poor house. The swallow does so and returns to the statue for the night. The next day, he announces that he's leaving but the statue petitions the swallow to remain one more day and take a different jewel to someone else. This goes on for many days until all the jewels and the gold leafing are removed and distributed to the poor in the city. Finally, the swallow succumbs to the cold and just before dying, he kisses the prince on the lips and falls to his feet. The lead heart in the statue breaks.

I won't give away the ending. It's a great short story! If you are interested, I would recommend reading it. You can find the story of The Happy Prince here.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Tag

So I wandered around a few blogs of some friends last night and came across one that tagged all of the readers of the blog. What a cool idea! So I'm doing the same thing! If you're reading this, consider yourself tagged.

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags

Wrapping paper, definitely! I love wrapping presents in beautiful paper and decorative ribbons. It makes the gift look a bit more special.

2. Real tree or artificial?

Real tree... and I prefer it be FLOCKED! Christmas in Las Vegas was mildly cold and brown. I love the snow and having a bit of white on the tree reminds me of the few trips we made to Utah to visit grandparents during Christmas, which, for me, were the best Christmases of my childhood.

3. When do you put up the tree?

Usually within a couple of weeks after Thanksgiving

4. When do you take the tree down?

Sometime during the week after New Year's Day

5. Do you like eggnog?

ABSOLUTELY! Straight is great but I prefer to mix it with a bit of milk.

6. Favorite gift received as a child?

That's a toss up between a set of little 4x4 trucks with a styrofoam mountainous track or the set of laser tag guns and sensors.

7. Hardest person to buy for?

My parents. They don't really want much. They seem pretty content with what they've got.

8. Easiest person to buy for?

My boys. Wii games will always be a hit!

9. Do you have a nativity scene?

Yes. We have several. And they ALL go up around the house at Christmas!

10. Mail or e-mail Christmas cards?

Mail. It's more enjoyable to be able to put them up in the living room.

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received?

COAL! Just kidding. I can't think of one that was really bad.

12. Favorite Christmas Movie?

Another toss up. I'd say Santa Claus "The Movie", A Christmas Story, and Home Alone.

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas?

After Thanksgiving, but rarely on Black Friday

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present?

Not that I can remember

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas?

Cheeseball and crackers!

16. Favorite Christmas tradition?

Listening to my father-in-law narrate the Christmas story. He has some light Christmas music that plays in the background and it really sets a good tone for the evening.

17. Favorite Christmas song?

I like so many of them that I couldn't name just one.

18. Travel at Christmas or stay at home?

Stay at home. We get the house all decorated and warm and it's nice to be there for the actual day of celebration.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's?

There are the nine traditional reindeer, and a tenth if you include Olive, the other reindeer!

20. Angel on the tree top or a star?

When I was younger, I received a paper mache angel that we occasionally put at the top of the tree. But I'm fine with a star as well.

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning?

Christmas morning.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year?

It doesn't last long enough!

23. Favorite for Christmas dinner?

While I don't think I have ONE favorite thing, I happen to like some non-traditional items for Christmas dinner (in addition to the traditional), like black and green olives and deviled eggs.

24. What do you want for Christmas this year?

World peace! ;D -- If I can't have that, I'd settle with for a great day with my family and some snow!

25. How many days left until Christmas?

18 and counting!

I'm interested in your answers so put a comment on my blog so I know to go look! Thanks and Merry Christmas!