All the "holiday" flap

A few of my Facebook friends have recently posted links to blog posts with titles like "Can we tone down the holidays, please?" and other things of that nature.

It's March, Easter is coming up, if you don't have kids in school you may wonder what the big deal is. So here it is... St. Patrick's Day. Once a day when you just made sure your child (ok me, I was that age) wore green when they walked out of the house so they don't get pinched? Now a holiday. Not a holiday in that kids are out of school, but a big celebration with green food, Leprechaun trap building, etc. Then there are the complaints of what some kids are handing out for Valentine's Day - fancy little bags of goodies instead of just a card. Take it back another few weeks to Christmas and everyone points to the "creepy" new tradition of Elf on the Shelf. Some have even started complaining about Advent calendars - which are not a new thing and I loved mine as a kid.

Well I have already blogged about the supposed "creepy" Elf on the Shelf. Basically we bought it and love it and don't find it creepy - which seems to be the key word people use who don't buy in. "It's creepy."

I am a big fan of holidays. Love them. In today's day and age with so much crummy news and things we need to shelter our kids from, I am all for embracing the fun and frivolty of a handful of days a year to celebrate random things.

We aren't really Irish, though the red hair tricks many. More Scandinavian and my red hair (hence my kids' as well) comes from my Swedish grandmother. But St. Patty's day? It's a hit here. The kids love corned beef, which I fix once a year on March 17th. They love building leprechaun traps and they get more elaborate every year. This year my son's was rigged with motion sensors - making things pretty interesting...

Fun. It's all it is.

We pick and choose with holidays. I get tired of all the freaking candy at holidays and my personal annoyance is when every holiday becomes a gift giving occasion. My kids get "presents" on their birthdays and Christmas. For Easter they will get small little things I don't think of as presents out of the dollar bins in their baskets - chalk, jump rope, a stuffed rabbit (for Skadi). For Valentine's Day, my daughter got a pink teddy bear, because she loves that stuff (and her chocolates still sit untouched). I don't have time to spend hours working on Valentine's, so my kids picked out the ones with a card and a piece of candy attached. And so far - neither the nearly 6 year old or 8 year old has complained at all. I like to think they know better.

Back to my point... the blog posts asking to scale back the holidays.

You don't like it? Don't do it! Quit succumbing to parental peer pressure and the assumption that if it is posted on Pinterest that "everyone" else is doing it and your child will feel left out if they don't have baggies of rainbow licorice and gold coins for St. Patty's Day. Your kids will deal.

St. Patty's day? I cooked dinner. My kids built their traps themselves (ok, dad couldn't resist in helping Skadi incorporate her ceiling fan into hers) as they have been doing since they were 3 years old in preschool with access to paper and tape. And that was that.

And you know what, if my children EVER complained that they don't get to do all the stuff their friends do they will get a stern lecture.

My son at chess club (over Christmas) told one of his friends about the underwear episode with our Elf, Mina. (Mina decorated the untrimmed tree with his underwear.) The boy told his mom in my presence and she looked at me, rolled her eyes (not in a horrible way, we have been acquainted for 1.5 years now through the boys) and said, "oh you are one of THOSE moms."

Yes, I am one of those moms who loves to have fun and do silly things with my kids that make them laugh and adds to their magic of the holidays. That when they are 28 will look back and laugh and say to me, "mom, do you remember when you, I mean the Elf, decorated the tree with my underwear?"

Yep, I am one of those moms.

Elf Calamities

Invariably, if you are going to do the Elf on the Shelf thing, you are going to have mishaps.

Like forgetting to move the Elf and the kids discovering her first. "That silly Elf tried to trick you guys (again?) and came back to the same spot!"

Or the day the housecleaner knocked her off her perch and left her sprawled on the floor. Horror! "Well I hope she forgives the housecleaner for touching her and doesn't give a bad report to Santa."

Or the day that daddy stepped on her.

Our elf was sound asleep on the dolly bed in Skadi's room on the floor next to Skadi's bed. She had survived the whole day there, I THOUGHT we were out of the woods.

AB was putting Skadi to sleep that night and at some point, got up, and stepped right on Mina!!

The world screeched to a halt as Skadi's eyes welled with tears, "DADDY! You hurt Mina. You touched her and will get a bad report and now she can't fly back to the North Pole and so Santa won't get our good reports. WAH!"

It didn't stop there. I heard about it for the next two days. Not only from the kids but AB as well.

"I don't care that it is cute she was in a little bed, she should NOT be on the floor or SOMETHING is bound to happen," and he was probably right.

But as it turned out Mina was none worse for the wear and flew to Santa that night and issued her good reports.

(Thank goodness AB didn't step on her face and smush it in or something catastrophic like that...)

What we did this Christmas season...

I didn't work. Well that much at least, just a few hours here and there.

We didn't bake much. So I am not much of a baker and I don't have much of a sweet tooth. We did do Christmas cookie cutouts. It's a tradition in my family to make my great grandmother's sugar cookie recipe that is so finicky, but so tasty. But no nanaimo bars or Gingerbread cookies that were on my list to do.

We didn't sit in front of the TV and watch the Christmas specials. We usually do, and I love them. So do my kids. But not this year. I did rent Elf one night and was happy that many of the jokes didn't go unnoticed by my son.

I didn't put up the Christmas village. I wanted to, but ran out of time.

We managed to get a few lights on the bushes outside, but no lights on our house.

I have barely put away the Thanksgiving decorations inside, Christmas interior decorations? Ha. We have a tree and the stockings were hung a few days ago.

The Advent calendar? Sorely neglected.

We haven't driven around our town and looked at the Christmas lights.

Our Christmas Eve and Day meals are barely planned. No prepwork started.

We didn't go caroling.

I didn't even take the time to find the Muppets Christmas cd.

What did we do this Christmas season so far?

This:

We have stood by our fire.

We have petted goats, sheep, horses, camels and donkeys.

We have pulled our clothes out of Sparkle's (the sheep) mouth.

We have kneeled on the ground with our foreheads in the hay.

We have begged and pleaded with our wriggly children to be still and quiet.

We haven't cooked dinner, instead eaten whatever the church prepared for us (which has been hit and miss!).

We have coached our children in some semblence of acting.

We have stood and kneeled in front of crowds of 800-2000 people a night.

I have watched my husband guide Mary and Joseph and wrangle a donkey into a pen.

I have had tears in my eyes seeing my daughter walk up and kiss the baby Jesus a few times a night.

I have nudged my kids' bedtimes to nearly 1.5 hours later than normal, with the hopes I can nudge them back.

I have been amazed at the tenacity of my children to willingly and with minimal whining, participate in 11 performances (so far).

I have hidden Lifesaver candies in my boots for those times when tenacity is waning.

I have watched new friendships form and a community be created by us strangers brought together to perform the Nativity for strangers.

We smell like farm animals and smoke.

I am amazed at how I remain moved at each of the 11 (so far) performances we have participated in.

I have prayed the camels be well behaved this year.

I have no regrets at surrendering my evenings of Christmas prep.

We hope that the beauty of the Living Nativity has brought a season of joy to those who have witnessed it.

Anyone seen my friend?

Her name is Sugar, she is about half an inch tall at most and white. I can't believe I have lost my sweet tooth.

They say that your tastes buds change every 7 years. I can track these changes in the somewhat recent past. For about seven years I could not eat shrimp. I despised shrimp. It tasted nasty and metallic to me. I kept trying it in hopes I was just getting bad shrimp, but nope. Shrimp just tasted horrid to me. And I had LOVED shrimp for years. I feared I was becoming allergic, so I quit eating it.

Shrimp has slowly, after about 7 years, come back into favor for me. I don't love it. But it doesn't taste horrid anymore.

The one that has been killing me the past two months is sweets.

I have lost my sweet tooth and I can't find her. My favorites are still ok, pumpkin pie and I can't refuse a cupcake. And it is hard to walk by those Spudnuts every Wednesday. And occasionally I cave.

But candy? Chocolate? Ice cream? Fudge? Cookies? Even brownies? Random fluffy desserts?

Eh.

But those meat pies I made the other day were amazing. As was the turnip potato gratin. And the ham and bean soup I made last Sunday. To.die.for.

I will do sugar cookies, because you HAVE to do sugar cookies for Christmas. It is a family rule.

And I still have a bit of affinity for anything with a little salt in it, so I will be doing a salted English toffee.

But what I really want for Christmas? A great seafood soup for Christmas eve (any suggestions?) and my husband's smoked grilled prime rib.

That's what I call good eats.

Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda...

I always used to wonder why airlines overbooked. I mean, really, who misses flights? Do that many people cancel at the last minute, or are there that many people who just forget, or just biff it all together?

Way back when my flying experience was close to nill, or amounted to a trip every few years (my family all lived nearby), flying was a BIG deal. Something I looked forward to in a way. The thought of not being 110% prepared never crossed my mind.

I suppose now that we fly a few times a year (Leif has redeemed frequent flier miles twice now), and I travel on occasion for work, flying isn't something I look forward to and is more commonplace. We know what we can take, we know how to negotiate airports with small children, flying just isn't something we get worked up about.

And now I know how a flight can get missed, because I did it.

See we were waiting in the long line at Delta the other day where a single person was manning the counter. We had checked in our 24 hours in advance and were there to check our loads of luggage (two car seats and three bags for the four of us). We stood in line about 20 minutes and finally got to check our bags.

AB, Leif and Skadi were on one confirmation and I was on another (with no bags) because I redeemed miles for my ticket. We get the luggage checked as I searched and searched for my ID.

I felt that pit in my stomach as I thought to the day before.

I had picked up the kids early and run to the bank to deposit two checks. I wanted more cash so that I could leave the housecleaner a tip. So I slipped my ID into the teller canister with my checks and deposit slip. My cash, ID and receipt came back in an envelope and two suckers as well for the kids. I tossed the envelope in my cup holder and unwrapped the lollipops for the screaming banshees occupying the back seat.

We got home and I scooped up the stuff and went in and finished getting us ready. I cleaned out my scary purse - getting rid of the crumbs in the depths and all the piles of change that I know can be a magnet for a rescreen.

That morning AB came down the stairs and announced, "well that was a near miss! I changed my pants and forgot my wallet was in the other pants!"

I rolled my eyes at him because that would have been JUST like him to lose his wallet on the day we were leaving.

We got in the car and left.

So when I felt that pit of my stomach at the Delta counter I knew exactly where my ID was. It had slipped out of the envelope in the car into my cup holder.

And we had taken AB's car to the airport and mine was at home.

T minus 45 minutes until lift off, could I make it? AB, Leif and Skadi headed through security hoping we could secure a bump (just in case) because that would mean a free ticket and a reprieve until the next flight in case I didn't make it back.

I ran to the car and jumped in and started driving while I should of how this could have happened.

I should have checked my purse when AB commented on nearly not having his ID. I never don't have my ID in my purse though, but why did I not check for it?

I had no problems zooming home at 5mph over the speed limit. I ran to my car and saw my ID and jumped back in. I pulled into the airport with 10 minutes to spare, I was going to make it.

Then the phone rang and AB announced I had 40 seconds. Actually "nevermind, they just closed the door. We missed our flight."

The tears came immediately. I missed our flight? AB had opted not to get on without me.

We made our way to the counter while AB did his best to argue that we would have made it had they not decided to leave early to no avail. We were supposed to all be through security by the time it indicated on the ticket and I hadn't made it.

Rescheduling for the next day was going to run a hefty $842 per ticket for the next day and there were no mileage tickets. We briefly contemplated jumping in the car and driving, but were then presented with the option of rescheduling for Christmas morning at a modest fee. We took it.

And that... is how you miss a flight.

I spent a lot of time kicking myself, while alternating with knowing that things happen for a reason. There was a horrible storm in Colorado wreaking havoc with the roads we were to drive. Maybe we narrowly missed a car accident? My kids' noses were running like fountains - maybe we spared my immune compromised mom from illness? My mom wasn't feeling well after her chemo, maybe it was better that we scootched our trip two days on both the arrival and departing?

Things happen for a reason and I am choosing to believe that we were meant to spend Christmas eve in our home.

Skadi and I put the Christmas tree back up this morning and redecorated it (after Lucky had knocked it down a few days before). I have shrimp bisque on the stove simmering and fresh Dungeness to go steam. And a Christmas eve service to make it to with our friends - our local family.

And the kids are watching Santa make his way around the world knowing a stop at their house is planned. Last minute trip out for Santa gifts (Skadi declared a need for a train from Santa - apparently THIS is what she has been asking for at each Santa sitting) and stocking stuffers was a success. We will drag kids out of bed and put their stockings in their hands on the plane.

And we will be thankful for what we have and that we are on our way to be with our family.

Mina is back!

That’s right, Mina the elf made his/her return right after Thanksgiving.

I was quite impressed with Leif that he remembered the elf, remembered the routine AND the rules. I purposely hadn’t filled it in his/her name on the line in the book because I wondered if the same elf would return each year, or if the kids would latch onto a new elf being assigned.

When I suggested that it might not be our old elf, Leif latched onto this in a not so great way.

“It’s BOOK!” he cried. “Cate’s elf came to our house instead, I know it! I am going to tell her that her elf came to our house!!”

This had disaster written all over it and AB and I both sensed it simultaneously as we both jumped on the “you know, it looks like the same elf” and AB was busy saying, “I think it is Mina again!” (Thank you AB for remembering the dang elf’s name.)

We then all settled on agreeing that it was in fact Mina visiting us again and reviewed the rules (for the less rules inclined member of the house…) and Mina went about her way observing the kids’ every move and then flying all the way back to the North Pole every night to report to Santa.

There was the one day when Mina played a HUGE trick on the kids and went back to the EXACT SAME SPOT as she had been the morning prior.

And then there was the morning where Mina hid in a really, really hard spot for a 5 year old and he was certain that Mina was spending a little extra time up with Santa reporting how wonderful they had been the day before.

Mina has been helpful to me in more ways than just keeping the kids behaving slightly on the better than bad side. Leif normally comes and complains about every.single.thing that Skadi does that isn’t to his liking. Well lately he just goes and tells Mina so that she can pass it on to Santa. Wheee!

Skadi isn’t so good with the rules yet. One morning Mina was hiding in a particularly hard spot for Leif – like umm, right in front of his face as he went into the bathroom. He had given up finding her and here Skadi came running carrying Mina and squealing, “I FIND MONA! I FIND MONA!”

Yes, she calls her Mona.

Mina (or Mona) is a funny elf and hides in hilarious spots. Like hanging from Daddy’s dinner table chair. There was much concern all through dinner last night that Daddy might accidentally bump Mina and not get any Christmas presents. The kids both determined that there is no way that they want Mina to sit on their chairs as that is too big of a risk.

And then there are the crazy concerns:

Skadi: “What if Mona knocks the chair over? And it makes a loud noise? And she hurts herself? And she no come back?”
Leif: “OR she can’t fly back to tell Santa we were good!”

And the things I hadn’t really thought about:

Leif: “Mina is going to be so lonely when we go to Colorado! She won’t see us and what if she tells Santa we just went away!?”
Me: “Well maybe Mina will come to Colorado.”
Leif: “How will you pack her, you can’t touch her?”
Me: “Well maybe she will leave and fly there the same night.”
Leif: “But what if she can’t find us?”
Me: “We can make sure to tell her exactly where we will be.”
Leif: “How will she know where grandma and Bompa live?”
Me: “I will tell her the address.”

And then there is the just plain cute:

Skadi: “I want Mona hug me.”
Me: “We can’t touch Mina.”
Skadi: “I want a hug her.”
Me: “Well let me talk to her and see if she will accept a hug as nice.”
Skadi: “I love Mona.”

Truly this has become one of the funnest things to do around the holidays. I recommend the Elf on the Shelf – or even just buying a little elf and doing it yourself without the guidance (and commercialism) of the book.

Twas the night before Christmas...

And all through the house a couple creatures were stirring...

-AB is assembling a little red kitchen set right now. All 36 wooden pieces of it. I haven't heard one curse word yet, it must be Christmas!

-I noted that toy makers *might* have gotten the hint this year when I opened Skadi's so far favorite toy from Auntie V and family. The twist ties holding the items in perfect place were actually somewhat easier to remove than previous years. This took how long to figure out?

-Leif asked yesterday for a menorha (I had to check the spelling on that since I kept thinking I was typing something that would easily be interpreted as something else). I told him that yes, we could get a menorha for next year. I will be looking for one on clearance - do they sell those on clearance? Next year I will need to bone up on my Jewish traditions - I did take a class on this and all in college - and figure out what we are supposed to do with it. In the interest of cultural enlightenment for my kids and all.

-There is a little silver pole sticking up on the kitchen - AB is crusing along!

-I got a Christmas card from a long lost friend today that filled my heart with happiness for him as it had a picture of he and his fiance. And wow... I KNEW he would marry a gorgeous woman. I knew it. And a suit! My mowhawked leather jacket wearing high school best friend had a suit on. Nice suit at that...

-AB had perfect timing this evening as he headed to the garage to retrieve the kitchen (that still has 15 pieces lying on the floor over there - I could go help...) the garage door slammed as it always does at precisely the moment that Leif was listening for reindeer. Kudos for the perfect timing.

-I told Leif I hoped he gets everything he wishes for tomorrow. He won't - he has been asking for guns and I am not buying guns nor are they allowed in my house (squirt "guns" excepted). He responded to me that he hopes I get everything I wish for too. I already have sweet boy. (And I expect that my wish for good health for our friends in the coming year will be granted too.)

-AB announced he is on step 10 of 24. Those last steps are always quick... aren't they?

-I lost a present this year. Yep, lost it. I got Leif the absolute coolest YELLOW carabiner watch from Garnet Hill. I KNOW he will love it. Cannot find the thing to save my life. It either got tossed in one of the many boxes that will be broken down for recycling, or is still in my closet. In which case I am hoping we find it. It would just be ignored tomorrow in favor of the toys though - wouldn't it?

-Leif was testing Santa this evening. I used the line, "do I need to have a talk with Mina (the elf) - she is still at our house you know!" more often than I have probably used it in the last month. I don't know what came over my son. But I expect tomorrow it will be 10x worse, won't it? Don't answer that.

-Why are my hands so dry? Exactly how many times do I need to put lotion on them in one day.

-I hope my cinnamon rolls turn out. I have resorted to using yeast exactly once a year - for the most delicious cinnamon rolls ever on Christmas morning. And each year I am amazed at how easy the really are and how well they turn out and I resolve to make them more than once a year. But I never do.

-I took one for the team tonight. Leif counted out SEVEN carrots for the reindeer. I tried to get him to tell me which reindeer was getting gypped - who doesn't get a carrot? But he looked at my blankly. Anyways, I bit each carrot to leave just a bit on the plate so Leif could see remnants. I don't eat carrots - particularly uncooked carrots. They fall on my list (at least the bottom) of my three despised foods - watermelon, followed by cucumbers, collowed by carrots. Still I bit seven carrots and lived to tell the tale.

-Piece number 38 is MIA - I am on a mission. Be right back. (Apparently there are MORE than 36 pieces, I quizzed AB about this piece number a few times - until he got annoyed with me.)

-I am getting my coveted foot duvets for Christmas. A box came from Restoration Hardware today! (AB listened to me whine all last year about not having foot duvets from Restoration Hardware.)

-No luck on piece number 38. Not in the box.

-Santa is right now in Missoula, Montana! He is getting VERY close!

-"Santa may get here before I am done," AB announced.

-I suppose I could go read while AB finishes up since helping him and offering advice will not bring good cheer. Someone tell me that "Eat, Pray, Love" is really worth it, because the first few pages aren't drawing me in.

-Yes AB... she will REALLY love it.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a GOOD night.

The ice

We have had some serious snow and cold here the last week or so. And it just keeps going on and on, more snow and more cold.

I love it.

I hauled the kids and the dog out with two sleds in tow this afternoon and we had a great time even though I wondered if I was going to keel over a few times as I pulled them back to the house, both kids on one sled, carried the other sled, and hiked home (since we headed out on foot). Even with Skadi standing there shivering she kept saying, "more sled now". MUST get Leif's old snowsuit out of the attic for her.

I snapped some pictures this evening. Not of the snow. But of the ice. These are some giant icicles on our house that envelope our Christmas lights. Really cool effect.

Catching up

It's been awhile since I have felt my blogging mojo. I was worried it got up and went. But seems it was just a momentary lapse and I have a whole list of things to blog about now. My biggest obstacle is time.

Since we returned from Colorado I have been very busy with work (in a good way), getting ready for that big holiday that is lurking just around the corner and just trying to keep up with the daily grind. Oh and not to mention we have undertaken a new task... finding a new home to buy.

So while the Kraft Macaroni and Cheese cooks, Skadi sleeps, Leif and AB are outside shoveling snow (Leif is trying to sled down our driveway that has no slant to it), I will get on it.

I have found my love for this time of year again. I was worried I was going to have a funk of a holiday season. This has never really happened to me, but I was seeing how easily people could slip into this. Then Leif found his love for Christmas, Skadi started screaming "SANTA", and it started snowing. And snowing.

And it's snowing right now!

So first bit of news is that we were gently nudged off the fence with regards to buying a new house. It didn't take much pushing to get us moving since this is something we have wanted/needed for a long time. We have come to know the market in the area pretty well over the last almost a year or so as we frequent open houses and drive around dreaming. We have met a number of real estate agents and this last week we picked one. Or two actually. A husband-wife team with kids our kids ages who are really nice people. And they seem to get us and understand what we are looking for.

Thursday they came over to start the market analysis on our home and Friday we went out and looked at five houses with them. We hit one more yesterday.

After seeing six houses AB and I both agreed on what needs to be done.

We needed to make an offer on a Parade Home we visited in September.

Unfortunately for us our agent told us Friday night that the house was under contract and set to close on Monday.

It was probably good that we felt the strong sense of missing out and regret for not having moved on the house because it emphasized to us what we want in a house. And we may have stumbled upon the better alternative - a view lot in a local neighborhood owned by the builder of the Parade Home. It is a most awesome lot - an end lot on a "loop" where the only people accessing the loop will be the people living there. The houses "below" are a good grade down the hill and so nobody to impair the view.

Our agent is on the case and will hopefully get us information here soon that will help us decide if we are building. In the meantime we are listing the things we would change in the Parade Home - we have no need for a wet bar in the basement of the size they built - we would rather have another bedroom. AB is insisting the theater room stays, though he is finding other places to cut expenses as we are pretty sure the price tag is going to come in higher than that of the Parade Home given the view lot.

We are on pins and needles waiting and are hoping not to be disappointed.

All in all though, we are doing great here. We are looking forward to a wonderful Christmas with a great meal (providing we don't get snowed in and have to make do with what we have in the house). Ok and we wouldn't be snowed in - AB and I are quite versatile in the snow. However, we have been here when the town was shut down due to snow. AB is smoking a prime rib, which makes me drool just thinking about it. We will have broccollini (and the kids will rejoice in their favorite vegetable - seriously), mashed potatoes and gravy, rolls, some fabulous wine and Pioneer Woman's pumpkin cake (sans raisins of course) for dessert.

Wrapping my head around it all

This is going to be one of those random posts. I really intend to get back to posting somthing more than stream of consciousness posts soon here. (I have one in the works about my least favorite Christmas song that will thrill AB because he will no longer be the sole recipient of my heated vent....) But right now stream of consciousness is about where my head is. So bear with me through this post. Or click away because I don't have anything earth shattering or profound to report.

I think I could be emerging from my holiday funk. Something about singing "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" every night with Leif in the car has helped. And hearing Skadi squeal "SANTA" repeatedly on the way home helps too! I love that she points to the Christmas tree and proclaims, "pretty".

It has been a weird week and out of the ordinary things continue to pop up. Some good, some not so good.

High:
I have been nearly buried at work since returning on Thursday. Relief came on Monday at noon when my proposal was finally out of my hands. I have had a good start to FY09 with proposal writing. Four major proposals out to two agencies. All made the first cut. Two are pending thumbs up or down for funding and two are pending a second cut for full proposal - the despised format - 20 pages. If they both make it I will be seriously banging my head against the wall. All this aside from my big project that just doubled in size again. Loved hearing my client say, "I went ahead and doubled your project management budget, you are going to need it."

Low:
Skadi has seemed happy to return to school, if not a little "exuberant" about her return. As her teacher put it... "she is in a great mood, but for some reason thinks that everyone needs to be tackled, hit, pinched or bitten". Which sounds freakishly like her cousin who she spent a fair amount of time with in Colorado. I love my nephew... but wow is he rough. It would be terribly boring if everyone was raised the same, my way isn't the only way, but something is so not working there and I fear that the pending divorce isn't going to help the situation out at all. And I will leave that there.

High:
We got our family pictures! My SIL did a really fantastic job on them and I can't wait to get the prints we ordered.

Plain Weird:
I have really enjoyed recently reconnecting with old friends through Facebook and occasionally Classmates. Ever have one of those contacts though that just throws you for a loop? Yeah, I have had a few of those lately. Another statement I will just leave there - at least for right now.

High:
One funny episode today - I had my first "celebrity sighting". Ok, I am boosting myself up by calling it that. But I actually met a guy whose first statement to me while shaking my hand is, "I love your blog, we have a three year old son and..." I think I must have had the most bewildered look on my face when he told me this.

Low:
And some bad news came this evening when we have learned that one of our closest friends in the area has recently been diagnosed with a form of cancer. We are hoping and praying for a complete recovery.

High:
Leif has turned into a really pleasant little boy this December. I am quite sure it is Mina the Elf's oversight in our house and the slight mention of Santa's pending visit. But something has clicked with him and the kids is just tops.

Plain Weird:
That would be my husband's Christmas party Saturday night. The food was abysmally bad and apparently we missed the annual drunken brawl. Darn.

High:
One of my closest girlfriend's is pregnant with her second baby which just thrills me to pieces! New baby smell on its way next summer!

Low:
I had to go to management about one of my friends. Hate that. She was assigned a task by a client. She was reminded of the task by sector management. She was reminded about the task by line management. I pinged her a few weeks ago. Dropped the ball completely. Maybe even dropped off the face of the earth as I have not heard word one from her. I hated to do it, but I presented the issue to management and they are pursuing it. Ugh. I guess it is something I need to get used to as PM. I am not always the nice one.

High:
After Charter Communications completely messed up our phone service (low, btw) we should be up and running with our same home phone in a few days. Thank you Vonage.

I am starting to feel less overwhelmed by the holiday season. Controlling it and organizing it. It is within my grasp.

This week: Secret Santa gifts will go out and I will continue wrapping.
Saturday: Trip to hear the Polar Express read by a friend, pictures with Santa.
Sunday: Christmas cookie decorating. Nanaimo bars. Christmas cards finished.
Next week: Remainder of gifts mailed and cards will go out.

I think I have decided to take the week of Christmas off (unless those two proposals make the cut). My plan is to work on getting stuff done around the house, buy groceries for a Christmas feast, and take one day to devote it to spending with Leif. We are going to go see a movie and hang out together. When Skadi is older I will plan to do this with her too - one day for each kid completely devoted to them on their day. I can't wait!

All I want for Christmas

I am normally one of those happy go lucky holiday nutty people who can't get enough Christmas.
This year things seem a little off.

When I get in my car it is miles before I realize that I have been listening to XM Radio's ads instead of pushing the button to get the Christmas music. (Since for some stupid reason the temporary stations don't save and come on when you turn the car off and on again. Leif would have told me I said a bad word using "stupid" above.)

Our decorations went up this weekend.

AB hauled the tree out of the garage and set it up before we got home on Friday. We have decided to leave the 1990's and ditch the icicle lights in favor of a slightly more sleek look. I have had a thing for big colored lights for the house since I was a kid and my dad would put up our one string of big lights on the house (that would start burning out a week after installation). So AB went to Costco in search of my request. He found zip for lights and decorations there.

We hit Lowes after swimming lessons and found a single box of LED lights - already opened - for $19.95.

I don't think so.

I was about ready to give up and suggest a return to 1990 for this year only - with a resolution to buy lights early next year when directly in front of me at the grocery store were boxes of big LED colored lights for $5. I cannot believe I bought our Christmas lights for the house at the grocery store of all places. But I stocked up because whenever we buy lights invariably one of us ends up heading back out for a second pass since we can't seem to add.

AB and Leif spent a fair amount of time outside this weekend putting lights up while I worked on the inside.

And worked.

And worked.

We have a problem. The formal dining room, turned play room is just not big enough for our 9' tall tree, other Christmas decorations AND my Christmas village (not to mention all the other stuff in there... buffet, fish tank, shelves with games, rocking chair, boxes of books and cases of wine).

And I just don't have anywhere else in the house to put stuff.

I thought about ditching the village this year. But the trip to Lowe's defeated that idea. Leif is freakishly excited about the village and even "bought by himself" a lobster boat to go with the set. He was adamant that he was buying the lobster boat for the whole family for the village. Hearing him declare this made me beam inside.

Of course the $9.95 came out of our checking account. Minor details.

So instead of the weekend of decorating being a time of joy and happiness, I felt rushed (feeling so behind this year) and frustrated by either the amount of stuff we have or the size of our house. Honestly, it is a little of both.

I cleared out the formal dining room/playroom and moved 50% of the toys (the Geotrax and the bookshelf of games stayed) into the living room and Skadi's room. Minor problems then ensued... I have no place to put Skadi's hamper. And my living room is covered with toys that have no other place to go.

Oh and the newly formed Christmas room? Packed. Boxes of books on one side of the room and the opposite corner has cases of wine in the other corner. Not that I am complaining - books and wine - two of my favorite things. But the lack of space is getting to me.

And where exactly am I supposed to put the containers that held the Christmas items? I suppose I could send them back up to the attic (AB says he needs to go up and retrieve our lighted reindeer he forgot up there), or put them in the garage (and relegate AB once again to driveway parking JUST when our garage was cleaned out), or leave them behind the couch.

Sigh.

What this weekend really did, aside from frustrate me, was to reinforce that notion that a new house is no longer just a luxury, but bordering on a necessity. We have a complete lack of storage space and are just plain running out of room.

All I want for Christmas is a new house.

"I want a pony."

We were driving home from the airport and had a conversation that went something like this:

Leif: "I want a fruit roll up."

NM: "We don't have a fruit roll up, wait till we get home, we will be there in minutes."

Leif: "I want a fruit roll up."

NM: "No Leif."

Leif: "I want a fruit roll up."

AB: "Yeah, well I want a pony." (Typical response.)

Leif: "You can't have a pony, nobody can."

NM: "Just like no one can have a fruit roll up right now."

Leif: "But Daddy wants a pony."

AB: "Yeah, so are you going to get me one for Christmas?"

Leif: "No, I already got you a big cup and painted it yellow."

Sigh.

I thought that once we made it past that 48 hours point, we were golden. But I guess I should be amazed that he kept the secret for two and a half weeks! I had figured he had forgotten about it.

Out of character

Yesterday AB and I went to Costco to pick up Skadi's Christmas present:





Of course we picked up some more stuff too. But we had a plan. I checked out the kitchen, agreed with AB that it was perfect - amazingly he was the one who had found it, after I had spent an hour or so one day on the internet finding every.single.little.kitchen out there.

So after seeing the kitchen and letting Skadi play a little with the sample kitchen, thus assuring us it was the right gift, I headed out to the car with the kids while my MIL and AB purchased it and got it loaded into his car, then we met up at our next destination.


AB informed me then that I should probably look at transferring money from savings into checking. I told him we had plenty of money in the checking account right now, the kitchen wouldn't be a big deal.

He said he spent a little more than the dollhouse.


"Well of course you did, we got diapers, a pizza, laundry detergent and a few other things," I said.


"No, I spent more than that," he said. I should have picked up on the vaguery, but when he cited the amount my jaw dropped.


Then he added, "so no snooping around the house either".


A little while later he mentioned that he had also picked up gifts for both my dad and stepdad there too.


I think my jaw may have dropped open further there. AB not only bought a gift for me more than the week before Christmas, but also for members of my own family? People I am normally stressing over buying for?


Who swooped in and stole my husband?


He did tell me not to snoop around our daughter's closet too much. My reply to him was of all the closets in the house, that is probably the worst one to pick to hide the gift.


"How about using the utility room closet with the vacuum cleaner in it," I said knowing he wouldn't miss my reference to the fact that I just don't vacuum, like ever.


"I already put something in there," he tells me, "so no snooping in there either."


So not just ONE gift but TWO!? Hmmm.... I am very curious.

Little boy obsessed

After getting the mail most evenings Leif is eager to pilfer the toy catalogs. He has a need to find something on every single page that he wants. He brings the catalog to me, points the item out, explains the virtues of this toy and then returns to browse the next page. All the while I nod my head, tell him to ask Santa and wonder in my head if he would actually play with it. For the most part, Leif isn't a big "toy" kid.

The other night Leif found the Lego catalog in the stack of mail and after a few minutes came back to me declaring, "I want everything in this catalog".

I reminded thim that was NOT happening, but he should look through it and figure out what he would like since unbeknownst to him, Legos are on the list from Mommy and Daddy this year.

He came back mesmerized by the Coast Guard Platform.

I agreed with him that was awfully neat.

Leif then spent much of Tuesday evening looking at that page in the Lego catalog. All through "dessert" (which was yogurt) he talked up the virtues of this set.

"And it has a helicopter, and a man, and you can lift your mans out of the water, and I think you can lift your boats out too!" The talk went on and on.

AB eyed it and agreed we had probably found the Lego set for Christmas and on Wednesday morning I found it online (available ONLY at the Lego store - no deals to be had on this baby thanks to its "Limited Availability") and ordered it.

I also tossed in the 4WD and jetski for good measure since Leif has loved jetskis the two times he has had occasion to ride them with AB.

Last night he confirmed my notion that this was a good choice when he spent the second night at dessert (once again yogurt) oogling over the same page in the catalog. He finished and with catalog in hand said, "I am going to go lay in bed and look at this for awhile". I steered him to the bathroom for tooth brushing.

While brushing his teeth he asked me how he could be sure Santa brought him that set? I reminded him all he could do was ask, there are no guarantees.

AB put him to bed and instead of selecting books to read, Leif brought the catalog to bed to "read".

I can't wait till Christmas morning and he opens this. I remember being about this age (just barely) and opening up my Lincoln Logs on Christmas morning. I was so excited and immediately sat down to build cabins. My mom recently sent my Lincoln Logs (and all the extra goodies that had migrated into the box 30 years ago - talk about a trip down memory lane). I still remember that Christmas morning like it was yesterday.

What gifts stand out in your mind?

He gets it from me...

Leif has apparently inherited my "overzealousness" for the holidays. I just finished singing the "12 Days of Christmas" book to him. (He picked it out.) Then he turned around and sang it to me. I loved it.

Leif: "On the first day of Christmas someone sent a package to me, mommy what is this again, an ostrich?"

NM: "It's a partridge, a smaller bird than an ostrich."

Leif: "Ok, they sent me a partridge and a pear. On the second day of Christmas someone sent a package to me..."

I seriously busted up at the "eight mooses probably for Halloween".

The topic of Christmas has come up this weekend because AB and I have been talking about what a good gift might be this year and the fact that I am chomping at the bit to get my shopping started. We tossed out ideas today on a gift/gifts for each other and the family.

A Wii was mentioned. Leif and I went to friends' house this weekend and played for a couple hours. I was surprised how he seemed to be picking it up by the end and that I had to pry the "remote-thingy" out of his hand. And I was also surprised how much fun I had.

We also mentioned an HD TV. AB talks about and oogles the TVs at Costco, but neither of us could bite it. Our TV watching has dropped off to nearly nill since AB works out of town, long hours and goes to bed right after the kids are out.

I think we have both fallen out of the habit. We are Tivo-ing Entourage (love that), Survivor, Grey's (though we missed the premier somehow) and I Tivo Amazing Race. We struggle to get through those. Oh but we did actually watch a whole movie this past weekend - Love in the Time of Cholera. And no it isn't that one with Ed Norton where the guy goes to treat cholera patients, brings his wife and she dies. That one sucked. AB and I, though both tired and sick from our colds, sat mesmerized and wow'd by the movie. It was awesome and I highly recommend it.

Ok, so we nixed the idea of an HD TV. I am still voting for waiting until our TV dies since we watch so little lately and I am not buying a new HD TV for Wall-E (DVD on order). AB is probably more of the opinion that we will get a new one when we move.

Tonight AB mentioned an idea... "we could go back to the waterpark for Christmas". Hmm... he might just be onto something there...

So before we should start talking about Christmas we should get through Halloween.

My love for Halloween is also something Leif gets from me. Today he told me that I could be a chef for Halloween if I wanted to. Think I can stretch it far enough to infer that he liked my cooking tonight? No, probably not.

Last year I told AB as he was tossing things up in the attic willy nilly-like to leave the Halloween stuff accessible as I know that there is no way he will want to retrieve my Halloween decorations when I want them. He never likes crawling into the attic when the time comes to do it, but he will. Today he admitted that he's pretty sure my Halloween decorations went into the attic even though I suggested the garage, "and do you really need them the first weekend of October?"

He will be retrieving them next weekend.

Leif is all hyped up over Halloween and every evening goes out on the back porch to practice "trick or treating". He's got it down - even the "smell my feet" part.

Tonight we were singing the song I invented, "This is Halloween, this is Halloween, Halloween night."

Ok, so I didn't invent it.

I just am prepping Leif for the day when I pull off of the shelf one of my favorite animated movies ever. I have also maybe encouraged him just a little in watching "What's This" on You Tube.

Still, when we were singing our "This is Halloween" song this evening, I was quite surprised when Leif took off singing, "I am the one hiding under your bed!"

My guess is someone at school is watching "The Nightmare Before Christmas". Still though, I will wait at least another year before sitting down on the couch with him in front of the movie.

Oh and I officially get my Star Wars Halloween. Leif has his Anakin Skywalker costume and Yoda fits Skadi perfectly. And they are both perfecting their Jedi skills with lightsabers recently released from long term time-out. (My bribery offer for agreeing to the Anakin costume over Boba Fett.)

Sanity anyone?

I am all for preparing in advance for Christmas. I make my lists early, I start shopping fairly early. By December I am usually done and can enjoy the parties.

Remember that house down the street that AB coveted? Well it sold and a nice family about our age moved in there.

And they put up their Christmas lights last weekend.

Icicle lights all over the house.

What is up with that?

Pooh pooh to the Who's

So a lot of sounding off on parenting boards lately is regarding lying.


Lying to your kids.


A very vocal minority (or I choose to believe they are in the minority) are accusing those of us who tell our kids about Santa of lying to our children. Perpetuating a falsehood... building up their hopes... not teaching our kids to give credit for gifts where credit is due... frightening them with tales of home invasion by some old, obese guy from the mall.

I was a die-hard Santa lover... and truth be told, I still am as can be seen on my Christmas tree with my collection of Santa ornaments. We love the Polar Express in our house. I appreciate the fact that it emphasizes belief and faith in the possibility of all things and even though Santa may not be a real, living person, Santa represents the spirit of giving and generosity. The subtleties of this are of course missed on a three year old, but will be appreciated by a nine year old, I have a feeling. The Grinch is one of my favorites as well that also teaches a valuable lesson that is often missed in contemporary television (was it Mickey Mouse Clubhouse where they had to rescue Santa to save Christmas? That annoyed me.) The Grinch reminds us that take away the boxes and bows, the trees and the stockings, the trimmings the trappings (what are trappings anyway?), and Christmas will come just the same. (And according to Leif, then we can carve the Horse Beast.)

I loved anticipating Santa as a kid. Even up until I was in my teens and we maintained the story for my youngest stepbrother I would still secretly wait to hear reindeer on the roof as I layed in bed. I want Leif and Skadi to experience that magic and wonder for as long as possible.

As a young child I saw the mixed signals but I either chose to ignore them or wrote them off. The Santa at my mom's employment, the local YMCA, actually being a friend of theirs I recognized. I remember telling my mom it was Jim, but in my mind, I knew he was just a representation of Santa, and I still waited for the real Santa. I even knew kids in school as early as kindergarten who didn't celbrate Christmas for religious reasons, yet their nonbelief of Santa, didn't cloud mine.

I was a late bloomer with regards to "the truth". My friend Jennifer told me to maintain the facade (she didn't use that word) for her little brother that year I would turn nine two weeks later. I nodded my head, forced back the tears and later cried that she confirmed that Santa was not real. But still I held out hope that just maybe...


Leif has friends who for various reasons don't celebrate Christmas. One of his friends is German and they celebrate the Ukranian holiday with St. Nicholas on Dec. 6th, a very similar concept to Santa really. And a tradition that his Montessori school also celebrated this year. My kids will undoubtably - and hopefully encounter lots of children of different faiths and beliefs in the next few years. It is my hope that Leif and Skadi will hold within them the spirit of Christmas and treasure Santa for as long as possible.


In our house Santa will bring one gift and fill stockings. The rest of the gifts are from mom and dad, grandma, grandpa, etc. I don't feel the need that some parents out there on the internet have cited, the need to have the real giver of gifts (namely them) be acknowledged. We will give one Santa gift (Leif gets Buzz and Skadi gets Raggedy Ann) and the stocking stuffers from Santa. My kids are gracious and it is more rewarding to me to see the joy in Leif's eyes over what SANTA brought then to be acknowledged for those gifts. And furthermore I question the parents who feel the need for their children to acknowledge THEM for their every gift as opposed to playing up the magic and wonder that is childhood.

Is it lying? I don't think so.

Finding the spirit

I am normally all *over* Christmas. And I suppose I appear at least to be all about Christmas this year. My house is decorated, tree has been up since a few days after Thanksgiving - though I still have to get AB to bring in the ladder to put the last few ornaments up top and the star up. The star, which is fine. But I want a pretty angel. A really pretty angel, not one with a contorted plastic face, but an elegant, classy looking angel. I have yet to find her after at least 8 years of looking... and when I finally find her I will likely pay whatever the asking price.

Presents are bought, but not wrapped. I will wrap one evening next week while everyone sleeps. I have one or two last minute things to grab, but for all intensive purposes I am done. And not to mention, I am thrilled about my purchases, some I just know are going to really be reveled in by the recipients. Buzz Lightyear is going to be a huge hit. As is the Halloween clearance kid sized, jet pack, wings and gloves that Leif has NO idea about. The camera will be a great present, and he is already talking about taking pictures of his new kitty with it.

Leif's annual Christmas ornaments are made and ready to be distributed to family.

But something hasn't quite clicked with me yet. And I don't know what it is.

Maybe it is the 65F weather earlier this week - even though we DID have snow last week. 65F is just wrong in December. (Tomorrow will be much more appropriate at 25F.) Or maybe it is that I am not stressing about holiday travel as we actually stay put this year. Maybe I am just too preoccupied with trying to maintain step with the rest of my family's life and schedule. Maybe it is the deluge of colds in my house. (Love this video - thanks Jo.) Maybe it is not having wrapped presents under the tree (which I am fearing a little... though so far Leif HAS left the two packages alone that arrived from my sister once I told him that he couldn't open his until Christmas). Maybe it is the bah humbug attitude of some family members. (Not my family of course, they are all the perfect Christmas revelers.)

Or maybe it was my lost Muppets Christmas cd.

I was going to burn a copy this morning since last year I uploaded it to the computer. I had been sorely missing Miss Piggy singing "FIVE GOLDEN RINGS!" and squealing "PIGGY pudding?" and Scooter replying, "no figgy pudding, it's made with figs... and bacon".

This morning I found it. I had scoured my cd case a few times already to no avail. But apparently it never made it back to the cd case last year and instead stayed out in the repository of regularly played music next to the cd player - despite it not being "regularly played" over the last year. (AB might have flung himself out a window.)

This morning we had a Muppets fest on the way into school and I am feeling better, a little more Christmas spirit.

Now if my son would quit yelling, "mommy please don't sing, I want to listen to the music" from the back seat.

Making Christmas, Making Christmas.

The shopping bug? It has hit.

Just over two years ago I bought on clearance some wonderful Pottery Barn silver garland. All five feet of one strand.

My tree is nine feet tall. (Yes, I like Christmas THAT much. AB is not sure he likes Christmas that much... all 200 lbs and three boxes of tree.)

Five feet of garland, nine foot tree. Five feet of garland, nine foot tree.

See where I am going here? Great, you are smarter than I was.

I love my pretty silver berry garland. I am tired of my Crate and Barrel star garland.

The last two years I have waited for someone to make a knock off (hello Target), but no one has.
I now like eBay too and look forward to receiving my additional 3 strands of garland so I can kick the star stuff to the street... well at least to the garage sale pile. (Where I can hopefully also convince AB to kick the icicle lights that are so 90's in exchange for something a little more classy. Since we will be home and all for Christmas this year.)