Notes to Self...and whoever's listening

Ah, the first snow.  My nephew's joy eclipsed mine - by just a little bit.  He loves snow so much!  Listening to his squeal and then watching his eyes light up was sweet to watch.  Such beauty to behold - in him and the snow! As I drove to work, I was struck by how the seasons collided overnight.  Yesterday boasted leaves fluttering to the ground from nearly barren trees.  Today, those trees were lined in white and the fallen leaves were covered in a blanket of snow.  Seasons collided. This visual brought to mind Ecclesiastes 3:1-8: There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrai...

About a month and a half ago, we celebrated my nephew's 1/2 birthday.  Yep, I'm that crazy aunt who, six years ago, started making half cakes for the boys and celebrating them on their half birthdays.  The older nephew isn't a huge cake fan so his mom would often find a half of cherry pie at Walmart and we'd celebrate with that.  This year the day snuck up on us and we didn't make it to Walmart.  So while he was at soccer, his brother and I went up to the little neighborhood grocery store to see what we could find.  They had huge frozen pies that I would have to bake, but we had no choice.  I stuck it in the oven, put a pan below it to catch the drips and waited for him to get home. It all went well, we enjoyed the pie and celebrating him.  The End. Wait...just kidding... THAT day all ended well.  It wasn't until about a week or two later that a problem that began that night, but had gone undetected, made itself known. The pan that had b...