More of the Same, Waiting, Vaccine, Advent

My days have been pretty low-key. I finished getting presents for the Angel Tree and delivered those to the lady in charge. One of them didn't come in the mail yet, but I couldn't wait another 3 weeks for it, either, so I had James pick up the last things I needed while he was finishing up Christmas shopping on Monday. We also did our date then, since James has an activity with the young men tonight. He just got called as an advisor for the older boys.

I have been increasingly frustrated with waiting for packages to come. They are really inconsistent on when they show up. Some are here in 2 days (as promised), but a few are taking weeks to show up. Some are early, while others are ridiculously late and don't have any useful tracking information. I realize this is a first-world problem, but I can't help how anxious it makes me feel when things don't arrive when they said they would. None of the things in transit absolutely have to be here in time, but it's really frustrating not to know what's going on. It's just another small, annoying thing to add to a pretty annoying year.

I am really grateful that healthcare workers are starting to get the vaccine. Utah has said that teachers might get it before the end of the year. Though I'm glad for that, I worry every day that this is never really going to end. I'm also at the bottom of the list, pretty much, which means it could be summer before I can really relax. Just like with the packages, it's something I can't predict fully, and that bothers me. I have no control over this situation.

I felt inspired to make my own Christmas advent binder. I wanted one that would include all these things:

• specific prophecies about Jesus's birth (and when they happened)
• relevant verses from the Bible and Book of Mormon about the Christmas story
• everything in chronological order
• all of my favorite religious Christmas songs, not limited to the hymnal and Children's Songbook, including all of their verses
• everything in one place: the scriptures and songs all printed so I don't have to get out any additional books
• music pages facing each other so it's easier for the pianist. (Only songs with more than 2 pages will require a page flip!)

I am happy to say that after many hours of work, I have a mostly-complete product. I'm not going to share it this year because I want to go through all the scriptures and songs with my own family. I also would like to add cute pictures to the pages to make it more colorful. Next year, though, I plan on giving it as a gift for some family members and making the Drive files available to anyone who wants a copy. It's really nice to have family scriptures planned out for most of the month. It's also helped me study the Christmas story more in depth and appreciate all the wonderful music out there.