Back to Business

I can't say it's back to business "as usual" quite yet, since I have little to no desire left to reclaim the house from EVERYONE being home and making messes in every single space in the house.  *shrug  Oh well.

Today it's back to school, which of course includes early morning seminary for the older boys.  Much as I thought this was going to be my turn to sleep while the parents of the other carpool kid would drive, they got a late start heading home from their vacation.  Most of a day in the car caused the mom to have  swollen ankles and sore back.  SO -- I'm kickin' back into my 5AM schedule, not my 7AM schedule.  I'm just thrilled that the boys were BOTH already up and getting ready when I got up.  Some days they've shut off their alarm and fallen back asleep.  When I've just let the skip seminary, they were irritated they'd slept thru it ... FAR more irritated then a typical teenager you wake up at 5am.  So, my 7am schedule still consists of a quick 5am wake up to ensure they're up.  It's WELL worth it to know they enjoy attending seminary and getting a great spiritual start to their days.  I'm really thankful for that.  It's good for them, and I've gotten lucky enough to not have to deal with kids that fight to stay home and NOT go to seminary.  (please oh please let this pass on to the next 3 too.)

I know the kids are all going to have homework and we'll need to really buckle down to get back into our routine.  We all enjoyed having a "delayed" schedule of late nights, late mornings, and it certainly didn't hurt the amount of time spent playing games, cards, goofing off, playing the Wii, etc.  But the little boys missed their teachers and classmates, so I'm pretty sure they'll be happy when they arrive home today.

As much as Jason and I have LOVED the quiet in the house today, the "invasion" is about to begin.  Hopefully they'll all be ready to buckle down and get their homework done.  Hopefully I'll buckle down enough to get the tree taken down.  LOL.

Hello 2011. Pleased to meet Ya.

~ I rarely remember to take the time to sit and update this lovely family blog.

~ I rarely remember to take time to sit and do much of anything many days.

~ I don't make new year resolutions.
             (because . . . well, honestly, I don't like to be held that tightly to a certain day out of all 365 of them.  I mean, that leaves too much pressure when you hit a road bump, and WAY too much time till the next "first of the year" rolls around to not bother to get back to your goal(s). Nope, need to start things when the time is right, not just because the calendar is new.  But I DO so love getting a new calendar up on the wall.)

* * I'm not making a resolution, but I am making an attempt. * *

I've missed out on documenting SO many silly things, fun things, interesting thoughts, stories and events.  I used to be able to remember things like conversations ... word for word.  But now, I'm too busy, too tired, and just can't hold onto the things I'd like to remember.

I would like to see how 2011 goes for us.  There is so much uncertainty on the horizon, so I think if I can manage to blog it, then later have a journal/book printed up for our family, then that'll be a MUCH better way to hold on to the memories.  Besides, I've noticed that with Jason staying put, I don't take hardly ANY pictures anymore.  Now the older 3 kids all have cameras :o) as well as my own, and what better way to tell stories then with photos?  I hope this encourages that, and I can find my fun creative side again that used to always LOVE to journal about my day and take lots of silly or interesting photos.  Only difference now, is that I'm sharing with anyone that drops in to read all about it.

We're still trying to figure out how yet another year has flown by, but putting that aside, hopefully I can find a way to be motivated to at least have a way to look back and SEE how 2011 flys by, because we ALL know it will. 

Happy New Year !!!

“Merry Christmas, My Friend” by James M. Schmidt

I’ve always loved this poem, and heard the altered to soldier version on the radio the other day.  So, I looked up the origional, and found it, the story behind it, as well as the youtube clip to listen to the beautiful reading of the more military branch neutral version.  Enjoy my friends. Enjoy.

Merry Christmas, My Friend

By James M. Schmidt, a Marine Lance Corporal stationed in Washington, D.C., in 1986, as printed in ‘Leatherneck’ back in 1991:

Twas the night before Christmas, he lived all alone,
In a one bedroom house made of plaster & stone.

I had come down the chimney, with presents to give
and to see just who in this home did live

As I looked all about, a strange sight I did see,
no tinsel, no presents, not even a tree.
No stocking by the fire, just boots filled with sand.
On the wall hung pictures of a far distant land.

With medals and badges, awards of all kind,
a sobering thought soon came to my mind.
For this house was different, unlike any I'd seen.
This was the home of a U.S. Marine.

I'd heard stories about them, I had to see more,
so I walked down the hall and pushed open the door.
And there he lay sleeping, silent, alone,
Curled up on the floor in his one-bedroom home.

He seemed so gentle, his face so serene,
Not how I pictured a U.S. Marine.
Was this the hero, of whom I’d just read?
Curled up in his poncho, a floor for his bed?

His head was clean-shaven, his weathered face tan.
I soon understood, this was more than a man.
For I realized the families that I saw that night,
owed their lives to these men, who were willing to fight.

Soon around the Nation, the children would play,
And grown-ups would celebrate on a bright Christmas day.
They all enjoyed freedom, each month and all year,
because of Marines like this one lying here.

I couldn’t help wonder how many lay alone,
on a cold Christmas Eve, in a land far from home.
Just the very thought brought a tear to my eye.
I dropped to my knees and I started to cry.

He must have awoken, for I heard a rough voice,
"Santa, don't cry, this life is my choice
I fight for freedom, I don't ask for more.
My life is my God, my country, my Corps."

With that he rolled over, drifted off into sleep,
I couldn't control it, I continued to weep.

I watched him for hours, so silent and still.
I noticed he shivered from the cold night's chill.
So I took off my jacket, the one made of red,
and covered this Marine from his toes to his head.

Then I put on his T-shirt of scarlet and gold,
with an eagle, globe and anchor emblazoned so bold.
And although it barely fit me, I began to swell with pride,
and for one shining moment, I was Marine Corps deep inside.

I didn't want to leave him so quiet in the night,
this guardian of honor so willing to fight.
But half asleep he rolled over, and in a voice clean and pure,
said "Carry on, Santa, it's Christmas Day, all secure."

One look at my watch and I knew he was right,
Merry Christmas my friend, Semper Fi and goodnight.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

ABOUT "MERRY CHRISTMAS, MY FRIEND"

(from gospelweb.net)  Thanks to Brett Kramer, who wrote us yesterday with the correct information, we have learned that the beautiful poem sent to us some years ago by one of our "web friends" is a modified copy of the original circulated on the internet for some years. The original poem's true author, James M. Schmidt, was a Lance Corporal stationed in Washington, D.C., when he wrote the poem back in 1986.

The true story of the poem, as told by Lance Corporal Schmidt: "While a Lance Corporal serving as Battalion Counter Sniper at the Marine Barracks 8th & I, Washington, DC, under Commandant P.X. Kelly and Battalion Commander D.J. Myers [in 1986], I wrote this poem to hang on the door of the Gym in the BEQ. When Colonel Myers came upon it, he read it and immediately had copies sent to each department at the Barracks and promptly dismissed the entire Battalion early for Christmas leave. The poem was placed that day in the Marine Corps Gazette, distributed worldwide and later submitted to Leatherneck Magazine."

Schmidt's original version, entitled "Merry Christmas, My Friend," was published in Leatherneck (Magazine of the Marines) in December 1991, a full two years before it was supposedly "written" by someone else on Christmas Eve 1993 (and had appeared in the Barracks publication Pass in Review four years before it was printed in Leatherneck).

As Leatherneck wrote of the poem's author in 2003: "Merry Christmas, My Friend" has been a holiday favorite among "leatherneckphiles" for nearly the time it takes to complete a Marine Corps career. Few, however, know who wrote it and when. Former Corporal James M. Schmidt, stationed at Marine Barracks, Washington, D.C., pounded it out 17 years ago on a typewriter while awaiting the commanding officer's Christmas holiday decorations inspection . . . while other leathernecks strung lights for the Barracks' annual Christmas decoration contest, Schmidt contributed his poem to his section."

Over the years the text of "Merry Christmas, My Friend" has been altered to change the Marine-specific wording into Army references (including the title: U.S. Marines do not refer to themselves as "soldiers") and to incorporate line-ending rhyme changes necessitated by those alterations.

Reports are that after leaving the Corps, Corporal Schmidt earned a law degree and now serves as an attorney in Los Angeles and is director of operations for a security consulting firm.

The following clip is a reading of “A Soldiers Silent Night” by a former Marine.  This is an altered version of the origional poem posted above.