Month: December 2012

  • End of Year Sniffles

    All four of us are sick. It’s not the flu or anything major – just an annoying cold that has us all huddled around the tissue box, feeling a bit foggy in the head. The Mr. is a trooper – he never gives in to sickness. He’s been feeding us and making us tea and yesterday forced us to get dressed and go out for a meal, which was nice and tasty.

    Our son was the first to get sick – he and I spent a chunk of Christmas Eve morning trying to get him a strep test. We started at the CVS “Minute Clinic.” What a joke – we were 9th in line and told it would be about 3 hours until we were seen. Thankfully, I had seen on Facebook that our pediatrician’s office was open. I called over and he was seen, tested and medicated within 30 minutes, even though CVS is around the corner and the doctor’s office is not. 

    Now that our daughter has not only gotten sick, but CAUGHT IT FROM HER GROSS, ICKY, GERMY BROTHER WHO TOTALLY COUGHED ON HER ON PURPOSE JUST TO GET HER SICK BECAUSE HE IS A BOY AND HE’S GROSS AND HE’S ICKY AND UUUUUGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH…..she is more than a little cranky. Just now, I was trying to vacuum up all the pine needles from the Christmas tree (which the Mr. decided to take to the dump today, in the rain, with a head cold), when she appeared in my peripheral vision, clutching the TV remote from the playroom and whining up a storm about something. I turned off the vacuum and heard something about her wanting to be alone and headache and HE JUST WALKED RIGHT IN AND PLOPPED DOWN and blah, blah, blah. I stared in awe of her commitment to the whining and asked her brother to please just go in my bedroom and watch TV. He did. Back to vacuuming.

    It’s a lot of togetherness, this time of year. It’s extra togetherness when no one feels up to doing anything. Except the guy who straps a tree to the roof of the van just to get out of dodge. Ah ha! So that’s what he was thinking. winky

    Speaking of the Mr., he just got back and he’s armed with more medicine for the masses. I better go dose up.

     

  • Everything Eve

    What is it about the giddy anticipation of Christmas Eve? It’s always my favorite part of the extended Christmas celebration. And New Year’s Eve is infinitely more interesting than New Year’s Day, right? I think we should begin celebrating all holidays on the evening before they arrive. Just think how rockin’ a Columbus Day Eve party would be!

    So now Christmas has come and gone. Everyone in our household seems pleased with the gifts given and received. My favorite moment was seeing our son’s reaction to the gift his sister bought him – a football jersey that she saved her money to get for him. He squealed and ran at her, pummeling her with hugs, and she didn’t even push him away. Those moments are sweet, and too far between these days.

    Did I mention the 3 page persuasive essay our daughter wrote about why she should receive a new iPod? Seems that it worked, as Santa was convinced. When she opened the package, despite his slight jealousy, her brother said, “Well, she wrote a whole story about why she should get one, so she does deserve it!” HA! She also gave out a lot of very thoughtful gifts, some purchased with her own money, and some handmade. The boy made a fabulous gift for his sister (with Dad’s help), but wasn’t quite as organized about the gift planning as she was. Thankfully, he gives each gift with a snuggily hug, so that sweetens the deal.

    The Professors and kids joined us for the holiday, as did my mom. It was a very busy house, to say the least! And now it is quiet, and messy, and rainy outside. It’s a good recovery day, I suppose.

    Should I take out the trash, switch the laundry, or read a book? Hmmmm. Tough choice. ;)

  • I just remembered….

    When I was in our son’s classroom this week, I touched an Elf on the Freakin’ Shelf!!! I was rummaging in cabinets looking for something to spread frosting with, and he was wedged in the handles of one cabinet. I may have mumbled some grumpy bah humbug thing as I moved him out of the way. I don’t think anyone heard me. At least I hope they didn’t. When I put him back, I wasn’t very gentle. When it was my turn to read “T’was the Night Before Christmas,” to the kids on the carpet – the Elf Shelf book was resting on the ledge next to me. I glared at it as if it had no business being there. I have some elf related anger issues, for sure. Plus, that thing’s face is so freakin’ creepy! If that was waiting on my shelf every morning, I’d be freaked.

    Elf rant over.

  • Silence

    At the beginning of the moment of silence honoring Newtown Elementary today, I was in the middle of sorting the orange Skittles out of a bag to use as penguin feet. I was in our son’s 3rd grade classroom, running a station at a winter party. We were making penguins out of Oreos and candy.

    When the principal announced the moment of silence, my heart sank and tears started to fill my eyes. The kids were quiet – but they were kids. Their faces gave away the silly thoughts in their heads. One boy “froze” in a penguin pose. They all looked around the room with seasonally appropriate sparkle in their eyes.

    They helped remind me that we all need to go on and allow the kids to be kids. That’s the only way. They need to feel safe and loved by having nothing to worry about except which moms will show up with frosting and sprinkles.

    When it was over, several kids commented on how quiet it had been. “Almost too quiet,” said one smart little boy.

    Sure enough, the silence ended with a more typical eruption of kid chaos. A balloon was being hit around the room, a game of Dreidel brought cheers, and sugary penguins made for excited kids at my table.

    The adults in this country need to step up and prevent another tragedy like what happened in CT last week. We need to take stock of what’s important and get to the root cause. The answer is not more guns. It can’t be.

    Every child deserves the best possible chance at peace and happiness. They’re counting on us to give it to them, along with a sugary frosted cookie.

  • Holiday Ramblings

    There is a wicker basket in our family room that is usually located elsewhere in the house. It’s move is part of the domino effect that happens when you try to insert an 8 foot Christmas tree into the normal living space. You know how it goes.

    I put the basket in a nook between the fireplace and bookshelves, where it would blend right in and hardly be noticed. Except that every 10 minutes or so, it lights up like a Christmas tree. For real.

    Packed away with the Christmas decorations are the kid holiday adornments – things like beads from New Years Eve, Santa hats, jingle bell necklaces, and reindeer antlers. They usually end up strewn around the house for the entire season, so I thought that basket would be a perfect place to stash them. Lo and behold, the kids actually listened to me and put their swag back in there after the holiday pep rally last week.

    But it seems that the light up reindeer antlers that flash are still feeling peppy. The switch won’t turn them off, and neither will every single member of the family venturing into the box and jiggling them around. (I know that from experience.)

    So in case the Santa countdown ornament isn’t enough to remind me of the impending holiday, the flashing wicker basket of pep will keep me on my elfin toes, I guess.

    Was that a random story? Yes, I do believe it was.

    Oh, and there they go again. Seriously! Once when I picked up the laptop and once when I’m down here on the 7th paragraph. Who’s got spirit, how ’bout you? Basket’s got spirit, yes you DOOOOO!

    I may be losing it a little bit.

    The Mr. had a tacky holiday sweater contest at work. The man is slightly motivated by competition shocked, so he took it kind of seriously. He enlisted the help of our design savvy daughter and her new sewing machine, and made a pretty hilariously tacky sweater for the occasion. He won the prize for “best homemade” tacky sweater. Aren’t you jealous?

    I dropped off a big load of stuff at Goodwill today. That was a good feeling — and a necessity if we’re going to incorporate all the new gifts that are arriving on the doorstep daily. GULP.

    The cards are all out, the neighborhood gifts have been made and distributed, the teacher gifts are almost all handed out, the presents are all bought, and some of the holiday meal(s) grocery shopping is done. That seems like good progress, I think.

    Next up, wrapping. I hate wrapping and I’m so bad at it that it looks like I do it with my toes. Thankfully, the Mr. is just as good at wrapping as he is at making handmade tacky garments. And so is his daughter. SCORE! Our son, on the other hand, seems to have inherited my lack of wrapping talent and subsequent addiction to Scotch tape as a remedy. Poor kid.

    I just discovered the latest package on the porch – it’s for our son from his aunt and uncle. It’s a very long, narrow box and contains something I deem to be unwrappable. I’m sure the Mr. could whip up some sort of fantastical packaging with flashing lights that would be just perfect……but he’s out of town and we need to get this wrapping show on the road. So I just taped the box shut again (Scotch tape RULZ!!!) and tied some green curling ribbon around it. SHAZAM! (Curling ribbon is about the only thing I can use properly. Except that every single time I put it back down on the table the end seems to get lost in the rest of the ribbon spool.)

    There goes the basket again…….

     

  • Toys in the Attic

    Last week, I blazed through our son’s room armed with 2 plastic bags. The big one was for trash and the small one was for items to donate. I rummaged through every drawer, cabinet, and bin in his room. As you can tell from the size of the bags chosen, I wasn’t expecting to find much in the way of treasure. He is a funny kid – he gets so excited over every little trinket from the dollar store, school prize box, birthday party goody bags, etc., but after the initial excitement, he just squirrels them away and forgets about them. There are very few things he saves for sentimental reasons, as opposed to reasons of laziness — the trash is apparently more effort than throwing broken, cheap, old things in a drawer.

    I emptied so much stuff out of his room, and he never even noticed. I purposely didn’t set up any new “organization” systems (HA!), because then he would know I had been in there. Pretty sneaky, Ma.

    Yesterday, I started going through our daughters bedside table. She is different — she has many sentimental things and lots of dolls, toys, etc., that she actually cares for and plays with on a regular basis. I was sensitive to that, and really just sought out trash – as in old erasers, crayon wrappers, price tags from clothes. Scarily enough, I needed a pretty big bag for that stuff alone.

    Today, I started in her closet. A much bigger task, and one I didn’t have enough time to complete before she got home. This turned out to be a good thing, because she got involved and was ready to part with a lot of stuff. More than I was, actually!

    Right up until this summer, our daughter was spending her savings on American Girl accessories. She has 3 of the dolls, and only one was a gift. I know American Girls are highly commercialized and considered a “designer brand,” sometimes with negative connotations. But our daughter has just loved those dolls, and learned a lot about saving and budgeting her money to get her doll fix. 

    When she told me that she wanted to put all the AG dolls and things in the attic, I was at a loss for words. I really didn’t expect that yet, although I did know that she has been playing with them less. My stomach got a bit of a knot in it, but I recognized that it was time. I suggested that she keep one special doll – the one that kind of looks like her – on a shelf in her closet so that we can still look at her and remember. She liked that idea. (Thank goodness or I would have put her on my own shelf!) (Ugh, and now I’m thinking about the Elf on the Freakin’ Shelf, because apparently Hallmark now owns the corner of my mind dedicated to shelving.)

    We packed away all the other dolls and accessories, AG and baby doll. And the dress up, much of which was mine when I was a little girl. GULP.

    Sure, it’s hard to see your baby grow up. But as we’ve all been reminded this week – it’s a gift to be able to experience it at all. 

  • In the Valley

    If you were to graph the delightfulness of December, I think it would have 2 peaks, with a valley in the middle. The first peak is in early December, when the holiday spirit is casually beginning, in the form of Peppermint Mochas at Starbucks, holiday music on the radio station you click by on occasion, and the enjoyment of other people’s Christmas lights when the sun sets earlier than would be ideal. The second peak occurs right after you have wrapped the last present and can finally chug some egg nog or hot cocoa and really enjoy family, friends, and good cheer. 

    We are in the valley, folks.

    Is it just me, or is this the week when all the panic begins to set in? I have done a lot of Christmas shopping, but have I done enough? What did I buy? Where did I put it? When is all the stuff I ordered online going to arrive? Will it make it in time? It’s time to drop off gifts for charity drives, teachers, and neighbors. (But first we have to make the gifts for the neighbors.) And, oh yeah – I ordered the cards, and they arrived, and they are lovely…..but they won’t actually get to the people who are supposed to get them if they stay in the Shutterfly box on my desk, will they? And what packages do I need to ship? Do I need stamps? Is there anyway to avoid the post office? Because I really, really, really despise the post office.

    There’s only 6 days of school left before break, and as you might imagine – my presence is required for many of those school hours. Today is our daughter’s birthday — she is 11 today. She asked me to bring her lunch and eat with her in the school cafeteria to celebrate today. I was happy to do it for her, but HOLY FREAKING CANNOLI is it loud in that place. It’s clear that the kids are already whipped up into a holiday frenzy, and as I mentioned…..still 6 days left. No wonder why the teachers are planning parties and movies and popcorn and such. After 30 minutes in that cafeteria, I wanted to poke my ear drums with blunt objects.

    Isn’t that just deeeelightful?

    Seriously, though — today’s delight is the sweet girl’s birthday. She is really growing up – turning into such a smart, funny, thoughtful young lady. Proud mama, here.

    Now back to my fretting.

    Last year, the kids had a week off before Christmas – because of the timing of the holiday. This year, they go to school right up until 12/21. This is good for gift acquisition and wrapping, but I am realizing now that I actually need to prepare for the hosting of family Christmas by the time they are out. That means a lot of food shopping and a crap load of baking. But first I have to bake a birthday cake for Saturday night. Then we get to cookies and bark and holiday treats.

    I guess it’s nice to know that the next peak of delightfulness is out there in the distance, and when it arrives, I will enjoy it fully. And there is no way that I can forget when Christmas will arrive, thanks to the Hallmark Countdown to Christmas ornament the kids got as a gift last year. Literally every single time our son walks past, he smacks the thing down on the cabinet where it resides (so that it will light up) and he announces, “It’s 11 days, 10 hours, 18 minutes, and 54 seconds until Christmas!!!” Next year, I should move that thing to a place where the boy spends less time. Like the shower.

    I made some homemade meatballs and tomato sauce for the birthday girl’s dinner tonight. That’s going to be tasty. Delightful, even.

    Another happiness making thing is that our son’s book report and accompanying project is finally done. Uuuuugggggghhhhhh that was a little bit painful. He’s a smart guy and read a complicated book. Then he had 2 minutes to present the plot, main characters, etc., to his class. He mostly had to memorize it. And he had to make a clay structure related to the book, too. Whereas his sister practically skips through the door when she has a creative project to work on — he draaaaagggggs his feet as if he is a clay structure himself. He made the most random “characters” from the book — all were identical, lifeless, and creepy. Then he made some cats. After listening to the summary of this book for days on end….I still don’t know why he made cats. He doesn’t seem to know, either. Ultimately, he had 2 clay structures — the main character and a piece of artwork that is central to the plot. But O.M.G. did it take a lot of nagging and rushed random clay making to get to that point.

    So, YAY, that’s done.

    The cafeteria induced headache is lingering, though. I’m pretty sure any respectable doctor would prescribe dark chocolate. Too bad I don’t have any. Got any you want to share? It is the holidays, you know.

     

     

  • Weekend Delight

    I got to rock these shoes with a silvery lace dress on Saturday night, at a very ritzy holiday party with the Mr.
    The party took place here:
    and in several ballrooms in the same locale. When we arrived via that grand staircase, I kept waiting for someone to announce me with a trumpet blare. Alas, this did not occur. We spent the night at the hotel, while the kids were safe and sound at home with their grandmother. Delightful, for sure.
    On Sunday, there was a delightful ending to a story that began the day before. On Saturday, the Mr. and our son were walking home from an outing in the neighborhood when the boy spotted something shiny in the grass on a nearby corner. (Little boys are amazing that way — they can see something shiny and desirable from a mile away, but cannot find their shoes when they are standing beside them in the hallway.)
    Upon closer investigation, my family members determined the shiny thing to be an iPod touch. It was in rough condition — soaking wet and covered by a case that had been chewed up by some other creature attracted to lost electronic devices.
    The guys brought the iPod home and put it in a bag filled with rice, to dry out the device before turning it on to check it for signs of life and owner identification. Our 9 year old boy, who has an iPod touch on his Christmas list, did not ask if he could keep the iPod. He knew that wouldn’t be right. 
    Sunday afternoon, the Mr. pressed the power button and the iPod came back to life. After a few minutes clicking around on the device, the Mr. e-mailed the owner and received a phone call back from the young man. He lives right around the corner and was quite pleased to get his iPod back, even without the case.
    Our son learned the outcome of the story when he came home from a friend’s house. He was pleased to hear that the owner got back his very own shiny thing. 
    pleased
  • Two more days of Delightful December

    My day began yesterday with my weekly volunteer gig delivering food to send home from school with needy kids over the weekend. It’s part of the routine, and not that big a deal to accomplish — but it always makes me happy to know I’m doing a little something to help the kids who need the food.

    Today, I did some less rewarding volunteer work at the kids’ school – just assembling some items for a science lab next week. However, while I was doing my thing, I got to chat with a new friend – someone who wasn’t at all involved at the school until I tricked invited her to fill a vacant role in the PTA. She’s a good egg and we had a few laughs at the expense of some goofy kids and pushy teachers.

    While at school, I snuck up behind our daughter and tickled the back of her neck while she was standing in line. Her response was so funny — she just sort of slowly turned around, almost afraid to see who in the school building felt the need to touch her like that. She was relieved to see that the creep was only her mom. laughing Shortly after that – I stuck my head in the cafeteria to wave to our son while he was eating lunch. He jumped out of his seat and waved at me to come over to his table where he was hanging with his dudes. He gave me a huge hug and encouraged me to stay and chat with his friends for a little while. (Do I not have the sweetest 9 year old boy ever?) We had lots to discuss, since our son is sporting his second black eye in two months, and the boy seated next to him was rockin’ a neon cast on his hand. The other boys were falling over themselves to tell me about black eyes, bumps, and broken bones they have had in their long, hard lives as boys in the Bubble. Pretty funny. Our son’s latest injury was thanks to a run-in with a tree in a dark backyard, during an unauthorized-by-mom football game.

    In less delightful news, I had a major spaz moment while working out this morning. I was in this Pilates class, contorting my body and using various devices to maximize the torture.

    I had a pilates “magic circle” (like the one above) squeezed between my ankles, with my legs straight and my feet at a 45 degree angle from the ground. My legs were shaking and my abs were working hard, because my head and neck were off the mat. Then the instructor said something about twisting, and I yanked on my head with my hands, which were supposed to be gently cradling the noggin. OUCH. I immediately felt a snap and thought I might not be able to get off the mat. Like, ever. (Taylor Swift — get OUT OF MY HEAD.) 

    I pushed myself up to a seated position, and there was nothing graceful about getting myself there. (Thankfully, everyone else in the room was too busy squeezing those rings between their own legs and likely took no notice of me.) I massaged and rolled my neck until I was able to move it again, though very stiffly.

    I asked the teacher for some suggested stretches after class and she said to push my chin against my chest with my finger. That looks weird AND hurts like hell. UGH.

    I did stop at the store on the way to my next stop (the school) to get some ibuprofen to relax the muscles, and some “natural smelling” Icy Hot to slather on myself. It smells better than Ben Gay, but not much. I’m going to smell quite sexy at the cocktail party I’m attending tomorrow night, eh?

    The weekend is here! Hope you have a fun one.

     

  • Delightful Day 5

    The paint on my banister is in fact what made me happy yesterday! And very, very, very tired. I spent all day climbing up and down the steps in various contorted positions trying not to drip paint on my face or our new carpet or the previously painted white trim. It is not easy to paint the side of the handrail that faces the wall. I’m just saying.

    Well, the hard work has paid off and I am in love with the new color scheme. Also with chalk paint. Have you heard of it? Basically, it’s paint with some sort of chalky substance mixed in (I used plaster of paris), making it unnecessary to sand or prime previously finished wood before painting. I despise sanding. I find priming redundant. So this was right up my alley! One more step left – to protect it with some polyurethane – but the end is in sight.

    Today, what made me happy was sushi for dinner, because I just didn’t feel like having a big dinner-making mess in the kitchen, on top of the painting supply mess, and the half-decorated for Christmas mess, and the lunchbox/backpack/homework/permission slip mess. So, yeah. Sushi. (Plus mac-n-cheese for the kids, which dirtied a pot and some measuring cups. Plus roasting pumpkin seeds from the 2 pie pumpkins I had to cook yesterday to clear off the mantel, making way for the holiday baubles. That dirtied 2 cookie sheets. Plus making lunch for school tomorrow, including hard boiled eggs, dirtying another pot.)

    I think I’m a failure at takeout.

    Other happy things today – catching up with Professor Sister on the phone. She’s a very, very busy lady these days. Our chats are fewer and farther between….but we’ll be together for Christmas, so that will be nice. And did I write about our extended family photo shoot with the Mr.’s side of the family the day after Thanksgiving? We all wore “jewel tones,” and let me tell you….listening to three brothers discuss their jewel tone wardrobes is quite hilarious. Anyway, we got to see the full gallery of photos tonight, and they are really quite lovely, jewel tones and all. I usually take our family portraits – even the ones I’m in, through the use of space age technology, kids – so it was nice to just be able to relax, and be in the moment. The photographer was quite talented, and we all had fun taking the pictures, too.

    Sheesh, things sure seem hunky dory around here when I’m forced to be delightful! At least I owned up to the layers of mess in the kitchen, right?