It’s Advent, the season of the Christian year when we prepare for the birth of Jesus. It’s one of my favorite of church seasons.

I had grand plans to go down to the basement yesterday morning and drag up the boxes of Advent and Christmas books and decorations.

But at 9:30, I was still in my pajamas, hadn’t had a chance to make my bed, and hadn’t yet taken a shower. When I managed to get both babies to sleep at the same time, I decided I’d better use what few minutes I had to get clean. Getting out the decorations could wait.

I told Jack and Jane to please come get me if the babies started crying, and then I jumped in the shower. When I turned off the water 15 minutes later, I heard not just crying but wailing. I grabbed my towel, wrapped it around me, and as I walked, dripping, to the bedroom, I asked Jack and Jane why they hadn’t come gotten me like I’d asked them to.

Sweet things, they’d tried to pat Luke’s bum and get him back to sleep so they wouldn’t have to interrupt my shower. Sweet, but no cigar.

I picked Luke up and popped him in the swing in the hope that he’d calm down long enough for me to dry off. He didn’t calm down.

Then Ben started crying.

That’s when I realized that the cats had yakked all over my bed.

I stood in the bedroom in my towel, my hair dripping down my back, with a baby yelling in the crib, another one yelling in the next room, and kitty vomit all over my sheets.

Some days are like that.

Needless to say, I still haven’t gotten the boxes of books and decorations out of the basement, but I will. Maybe tomorrow?

In the meantime, here are two lovely Advent resources for those of you who’d like to get past the kitty puke and embrace this season more deeply:

My friend Susan has created a joy-full Advent calendar with a simple activity for each day of Celtic Advent (which started back on November 15).

And over on her blog, Ann Voscamp has Jesse Tree Devotionals available for download.