The Home Stretch

first posted December 17, 2018

Although Little Cuter and I shared a moment of Oh, dear, I haven't bought enough for them pre-Christmas panic, we were able to report that we'd resisted the temptation to shop.  She was waiting for one cousin to replace his not available in your size request; I was finished.  Or so I declared.

As always, there are more brownies to bake. 

There are thank you notes to write.  The dining room table still resembles Santa's Workshop on Dec. 26th, although it is hidden behind the 60% off plastic floral stems from Michael's.   I've given up on poinsettias, without much of a struggle.

My landscape looks more like Bethlehem, anyhow.  Trying to turn the desert into a Bavarian forest has not worked out for me.  I now eschew the too-tall-for-me-to-decorate-without-a-ladder fir tree entirely, choosing smaller,

 craftier,

kitschier,

table-top models 

Somewhere in the garage is a box of more ornaments.  Right now, I'm satisfied with these.  I can conjure up an image of Nannie's Santa dirigible, of our Hawaiian sand filled globe, of the silver bells I never polish before I put them away...... and the images are enough.  Decorating is much easier since I accepted the fact that whatever I put out I also had to put away.  I'm down to two big boxes of stuff, and that works fine for us.

The us is important.  It's my holiday by adoption, it's TBG's by birth.  I want to be certain that I touch all his tender spots; Grandpaw's sleigh bells hang from the back door.  Abadee and Abadooo,

 our first ever ornaments, one for each of our cars, live on the fireplace surround.

There are pillows and stuffed, musical, Santas on the furniture, and some trinkets on the mantle and the end table, but mostly, this year, I'm decorating in my mind rather than in my house.

I'm in the home stretch; I'm trying to enjoy every moment.

In Honor of This Same Event This Year

first posted  December 11, 2017                                       

Bring 48 and take home 48 cookies/brownies/clusters.

Chat with Amster's friends and associates.

Admire the growing children.

It was a perfect way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

Amster was prepared with the take home containers she found in her Xmas Storage Bin.

The array was varied.

Some were gluten free.

Some were "no nuts."

Many of them had sprinkles or peppermint bark.

The girls who made these gingerbread men were reluctant to part with them.

I shared their pain, until Mom told me that there were lots more of them at home.

Watching the young'uns pick through the frosted shapes, looking for the most.... sprinkles or icing or size.

There were grown up hands

reaching and walking in an orderly fashion around the table,

delicately placing goodies in containers.

And there were small faces filled with sweets.

It was two hours of laughter and conversation and calories.

I wondered how many cookies were considered too many cookies to eat at one time..

The moms said 2 or 3 or 4.

Mr. 14 said 25.

Mr. 12 said 50.

Is it any wonder that I love those boys?

Tomorrow, offices and schools and freezers will be filled with the goodies we didn't eat with our soda and prosecco today.  Tonight, we're all feeling grateful and full.

I love this time of year.

Wrapping It Up

Except for the three dozen brownies I will bake next Sunday for Amster's cookie exchange, this batch marks the last I need for Brownie List 2024.  

I'm waiting for two or three updated addresses, but the shipping is basically done.  Now I get to hand carry brownies to people I love.  

I have some shopping bags in the pre-packing stage.  I'm used to a carry on I can watch for the whole flight, but there was an upcharge for that and our checked baggage is free.  We can fill two suitcases with presents and clothes to leave behind so that future trips can be made with a bag that fits under the seat in front of you.  

The Prince Scholars start their vacation after school today.  Grandma's Garden is as well prepared as it can be with no one around to monitor the irrigation for the next two weeks.  

I'm going to go on vacation, too, reposting some of my favorite oldies and goodies.  

I've been at this since 2009; I'm sure there are some you've missed so I'm not feeling too guilty.  I'm considering it a holiday gift to myself.

Just another step in preparing for the future.

Nope, I Just Can't Do It

David Hogg wants a position of power within the DNC.   

Neither Joni Ernst nor ABC are showing much backbone lately.

The Detroit Lions are injured.  

Inauguration Day 2025 is also MLK Day.

That's a short list of the things I'm just not going to think about until 2025.  

Instead, I'm going to think about holidays past and enjoy holidays present and imagine holidays future.  

I'm going to smile at my wrapping supplies which are strewn over the dining room table and a kitchen counter.  

I will stockpile my ideas, and share them when I'm able.  But I'm going to concentrate on sweetness and light, on friends and relatives calling for long and lovely chats, on the text thank you from a phone number but no name (I'm glad you liked the brownies, whoever you are). 

All too soon things will be getting ugly.  There will come a time when I'll be able to engage.  That time is not now.

A Great Read

The books that made The Cuters laugh four decades ago are the backbone of the books I choose to read to today's Prince kindergarten kids.  Possibly my favorite picture book is this one:

Marvin is bemused and amused.  We are never told where he is or why he must go now!

There is only this finger, this emphatic, insistent finger, which no kid can resist imitating.

The finger is not unreasonable.  It offers Seussian alternatives, from the ridiculous cow

to the sublime Krunk Car.

My favorite is stamp yourself and go by mail.

The transfer of a pretend stamp from your palm to your forehead makes it seem just a bit more real, for a moment or two, before more suggestions and more bemusement and then the time had come, so Marvin went.

Why am I telling you a children's story?  I'll tell you.

This book was published in 1972, when Richard M Nixon was President.  He was not well loved, for those of you too young to remember.  Dr. Seuss was asked to write on the subject and instead of penning something new he used his pen and replaced Marvin K Mooney with Richard M Nixon.

I've always liked that story.  It feels delightfully subversive.  For years I would tell it to the teachers as the kids settled into their places on the rug.   Ruefully, once again I include the observation that one can use any President, as long as the rhythm works.  

I have an idea for a post about the past and the future and maybe a why, but I don't want to dwell in that space tonight.  

That's why I told the story.

all the graphics are from https://seuss.fandom.com/wiki/Marvin_K._Mooney

The Faces of America

 The Winter Concert in the cafeteria.  

It's Been A Busy Week

Having given up on the irrigation system, we took matters into our own hands in the Garden this week.

We filled all those green containers (and more) with garden soil, then planted radish seeds and basil seeds and a pot or two of yellow marigolds.  In a break from tradition, this year we used a permanent marker to label what's what.

While this Garden Leader managed to label without assistance, that was not always the case.

Short arms and an eager heart made for some interesting connections as the littlest one just needed what she needed right now.  No one was particularly concerned about her body inserting itself in their work space; they just backed away and let her reach.

The boy in the front is counting just how many seeds I poured into his palm.  There were two of them.  He pondered this for quite some time.

Until his jeans were soaked through, this one was making a river and a dam in the digging garden.`

My Swahili speaking friends at the hose bib were less than careful as they aimed the hose.  Their friend was wet, but he wasn't angry.  After all, those two giggle like no one else and it's hard to feel anything but joy when it starts.  

I asked them to teach me how to say good job in their language.  They laughed about my request for a long, long time.  They were laughing so hard they couldn't say the words.

There is a lot of joy in the garden.  Sometimes it's more obvious than others.

Oops

TBG just asked if this has ever happened before.

I don't think so.

Sorry I missed writing last night.  The Golden Gopher and The Beader came for a visit and I got distracted.  

There will be prose tomorrow.

Airline Tickets

I'm quivering.  I've spent a month deliberating and two weeks debating and finally today both Little Cuter and I finalized our plans for a family get together in Marin.... for Chanukkah and Christmas and New Year's and TBG's 75th birthday.  

My usual self would have purchased these tickets around Halloween.  My current self preferred to obsess and ignore and generally refuse to deal with the situation.  I'm not sure it would have made any difference.  The bargain price is the bargain price, it seems, and there are no discounts around our dates.

Figuring all that out, however, was anxiety provoking.  

United Airlines' website is user friendly up until it comes to figuring out how much you want to spend on choosing your seats and carrying on a bag.  After much perusal and an occasional swear word, I assured myself that while a bag in the overhead is forbidden, TBG and I each may check a suitcase.

It's been so long since I checked a bag that I'm not sure we still own bigger than carryon  suitcases.  This does solve the problem of getting the gifts where they need to go, though.  

Little Cuter had to manage a variety of competing interests before settling on their trip.  It turns out that it's just as expensive to fly from Chicago to SFO as it is to fly from Tucson.  I'm not sure how that manages to be true, but it is.  

I am also uncertain why United wants me to donate to their climate change initiative.  I cannot imagine they really need my $3.50 to effect change.  I declined their offer to participate in saving the planet.  I am sure I'll be able to live with myself.

And so we are all set for a family group hug..... even if it did take some wrangling to get it all accomplished.

I'm Following Your Advice

I'm spent.  

I baked and wrapped and wrote and printed and bubble wrapped and packing taped before I finally took both the giant IKEA bag and an equally humongous Crate and Barrel plastic bag to the Post Office where the Drop It In Here box was too full to open.

TBG ordered in and shared enough so that my I'm not really that hungry self was able to fuel the hangry person I become when unfed.

I need a bath and my pj's.  I'm going to believe you when you say that I should also take care of myself.

It's that or rant about the pumpkin brain's plan to revisit the Constitution.  

There will be lavender and peppermint along with the epsom salts to rid myself of thoughts like that.