Christmas Eve... Florida Style

It really doesn't feel like Christmas Eve here. Maybe it is because there aren't any Christmas decorations in our hotel room, no Christmas tree, no stockings hung with care. Maybe it is because it is currently 76 degrees outside when I am used to it being snowing. I don't know what the reason, but it doesn't feel like the Christmas season.

Sparky and I went back to Ellenton to the outlet mall again. It was wonderful. The day-before-Christmas sales were fabulous. Sparky got some more Oakly crap and I got some much needed shirts. My closet looks like a Goodwill store because well, I organize by color, but also because none of my shirts have any patterns at all. It is just a sea of bland boringness, so I only allowed myself to get shirts with patterns. And they were all at least 50% off. Yay!!
I also got a "sorry we left you at the kennel and didn't even spend Christmas with you or invite you to the wedding" present for Gaby, my dog. I found the fluffiest fuzziest blanket on earth and he will absolutely love it. I think it is a good idea for me to come back home bearing gifts because my mom and sister called me today after picking him up from the kennel. Gaby is refusing to look at any of them. I was hoping he was just refusing to look at my mom and sister because they picked him up. But he isn't looking at my dad either. In the car he even sat at my sister's feet on the floorboard, but he scooched himself over so he wasn't touching her. At all.
They have called me several more times since taking him home. So far he has pooped on my mom's rug as soon as he was brought back inside from going potty. He still won't look at any of them, and he is pouting on a rug in the kitchen. I can almost guarantee that he will no longer ignore them when it is time to go to bed. Right about the time my parents fall asleep he will start to cry to be let into their bedroom because he cannot sleep alone.

I got a great book the other day by Beth Moore called Believing God. So far it is really good. I am enjoying reading it because she isn't talking down to me, she is coming as a Christian woman who has sinned. I recommend getting it. It talks about faith and believing God. Not just believing in God, but believing and trusting God to lead your life. So the book suggests I do three things: 1. Practice raising my shield of faith (repeating 5 statements: God is who He says He is. God can do what He says He can do. I am who God says I am. I can do all things through Christ. God's Word is alive and active in me). 2. Increase my personal level of sanctification. (This means I need to choose something significant enough to affect everyday living over a designated period of time [chosen by God and me]. I have decided that I need to create a dedicated "quiet time" where I can read the Bible and study the Word of God.) 3. Journal Godstops. These are the glimpses we catch of God at work. stop in Godstop is an acronym for "savoring the observable presence." I think what I will do is just make a note at the bottom of my blog posts to record my Godstops for the day(s) I am blogging about.

Anyway, my goal is to begin waking up early in the moring (since I have been anyway while here in FL) and exercise. I then will set a timer (when I am back on a time schedule, right now that isn't important) and read my book and bible until it is time to get dressed and ready for the day. I cannot think of a better way to start the day than that. When I go back to gloomy Indiana I may have to put my sun lamp on a timer normally used by people when they go out of town to turn on their lamps to fool people into thinking they are home... you know what I'm talking about. Hopefully the sun lamp will work like the sun has been working here in my windows and I will be able to get up in the morning. We'll see! I even went to Target today and got some exercise DVDs so I don't have to wait to start this until I get back home. I begin bright and early tomorrow morning. Wish me luck!!! I'll need it.