The same day as the tragedy unfolded in Newtown, CT, I got a phone call from an administrator at our children’s school. I received a voice mail complete with the statement that “nothing is wrong, don’t worry.” I appreciated that reassurance, even more so than I would have on any other day.

When I returned the call, I was delighted to find out that our daughter had been chosen as the recipient of the “Light of Hope” award for her school, which honors community service. I was overcome with emotion that day, as was most of the nation. I was thankful to have something so positive to think about amidst all that sadness.

Today, we spent several hours sitting in an auditorium in a local high school, where the county we live in was holding their annual Martin Luther King Celebration. Our daughter sat towards the front with the other children, each of them either a 5th, 8th, or 12th grader representing their school.

There were two speakers at the event, both of whom addressed the students directly. The first was the 68 year old daughter of a major civil rights activist from Birmingham, Alabama. She had been a school teacher for 30 years, and did a fantastic job of conveying to the audience what it was like to be a child during that tumultuous time in history. At one point, she asked all the 11 year olds to stand, which included our daughter. She told them, “When I was your age, a bomb was thrown at the church where I lived with my family on Christmas Eve. Do you know how it felt to lose all my toys?” When she was 12, her father was beaten and her mother was stabbed when they tried to take her and her siblings into a school that was dragging its feet on integration. This brave woman reminded the award recipients that they were being honored today for the light they have within them. She begged them not to let it get to their heads, but to use that light to be the best person they can be. She was charismatic and a joy to hear.

The second speaker was a boy who attends a high school in the community. As I told my kids, he wrote and spoke like a 50 year old man instead of like a 14 year old boy. He was inspirational and eloquent, wise beyond his years. As he stood and addressed the crowd, I’m sure I wasn’t the only person in the room thinking about how proud of him Martin Luther King, Jr., and President Barack Obama would be.

We missed seeing the Inauguration live, as the ceremony we attended was held at the same time. However, when we got home, our daughter and I sat down and watched the reading of the poem by Richard Blanco, the singing of the national anthem by Beyonce, and the swearing in of the President. By the time I got to the Inaugural Address, our daughter had been all “speeched out,” but she made me a fancy coffee drink to enjoy while I listened to Obama’s words. 

I am spoiled to be able to spend the day before my birthday watching my oldest child be honored in the way that she was today. As the awardees filed into the room, the master of ceremonies yelled out, “Look at our children! Look at our children!” I dare a mom to keep a dry eye under those circumstances! (Plus, it reminded me that it must be a whole lot more fun to go to a church run by the kinds of ministers who led this event today, as opposed to the Catholic Priests I remember from my youth. Seems like there would be a lot more “handclaps of praise” and a whole lot less guilt in the air.)

And since tomorrow is my birthday, you must all indulge me in my proud mama sappiness and not mock me in the comments below. HA! Gotcha!

Today was a snow day. I am purposely using the past tense, even though it’s only early afternoon, because on my front lawn right now are two peppermint swirl disc sleds surrounded by lots of ugly dead grass. Earlier this morning, those sleds were surrounded by snow, other sleds and boys of all ages trying to top one another with their daredevil sled moves.

It was a virtual winter wonderland of doofuses. Running starts, belly flops onto sleds….aimed towards purposeful head on collisions. Running onto two sleds side by side (aka “skis”), jumping with one foot on each, and ending up in an icy version of “the splits.” Sliding head first down a hill into the street….while the garbage truck was backing up. It is not comforting to me that the older the boy, the stupider the idea. My boy is the youngest, so lots to look forward to, I guess!

Thank goodness for our daughter, whose speed is less dare devil and more building tiny snowmen with the toddler next door. She even got chocolate covered jelly beans to use as what she called “eye candy.” Ha!

So it was a fun, laughter filled, snowy morning — and now it’s a very sunny, less snowy afternoon. The boys are outside playing football without coats and the girls are upstairs watching a movie and declaring its star to be “so cute – even in pause mode!”

I baked some cupcakes for a swim team bake sale. They smell good. Our son baked a big batch of chocolate chip cookies – partly for the swim team and partly for our own enjoyment. “You always cook for us, Mommy, so I want to make something for you now.” <3 Of course, he ate the first one out of the oven, but the sentiment was there.

My birthday is on Tuesday, at the end of a 4 day weekend. Sure there’s a swim meet in there somewhere….but there’s also a date night, some movies, an award ceremony for our daughter, maybe some presents or cards…..and oh yeah — cookies.

Since I waited until the 11th day of the new year to post, I thought I’d title it in a way that made that seem purposeful and important. So, Happy 111 to you and yours! (Did it work?)

Bubble Elementary gave the kids a full 2 weeks off from school, which means that this is the end of their first week back in business. It has been an overly full week, with winter swim season starting and lots of after school club meetings cramming into one week. Plus, it’s time to start stressing over next school year — scheduling meetings and open houses and info sessions and blah, blah, blah.

The schools here have reacted a bit to the widespread concerns about school safety. There are new signs posted, guide ropes, extra sign-in procedures, and very often armed police officers standing guard in the lobby. This would probably have concerned me more if it weren’t for the fact that the police officer I encountered is also a dad at the school. It was not strange to me, nor to the students, to see him standing there in full uniform. I guess that’s the best possible scenario if he has to be there.

I also noticed some changes when I made my weekly drop-off of backpack food from the food bank. I usually pull my van into the car loop, get buzzed into the school with no questions, and come and go a few times as I make my delivery. This time, the car loop was blocked entirely, so I parked and walked around, smartly grabbing my wallet on the way in for identification. This time I was buzzed in with a glare, so I stopped in the office to state my business. All went smoothly, and I totally understood. It’s just a little sobering to keep getting those reminders of what happened in CT and continues to happen all over the place.

This week, one of Professor Sister’s most promising students was shot with a semi-automatic weapon. She survived, but other members of her family did not. The weapon was from her own home. I won’t get into the specifics, but to suffice it to say that it is a horrible story and proof that gun violence is a tragic and widespread problem throughout this country. I certainly hope that Congress does something to address it and doesn’t continue to be influenced by the “accept no blame” NRA.

This post took a turn towards sober, huh? So much for the joy of 111. It’s a gloomy day here, I’m on my second head cold in a row, and I need to go back to Bubble Elementary for the third time today……so, sorry for putting a cloud over your 111. Tomorrow is supposed to be ridiculously global warmish here, so maybe that will make me feel more perky. 

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. 

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

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.

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.

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.

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 , 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…….

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. 

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.