The Burrow

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...

By now, this is an annual tradition. Sing well, denizens, and keep shining your light. I give you, today, my all-time favorite Xmas carol,  courtesy of Walt Kelly and Pogo.  Sing loudly and lustily to the tune of  Deck the Halls..... Deck us all with Boston Charlie, Walla Walla, Wash., an' Kalamazoo! Nora's freezin' on the trolley, Swaller dollar cauliflower alley-garoo! Don't we know archaic barrel Lullaby Lilla Boy, Louisville Lou? Trolley Molly don't love Harold, Boola boola Pensacoola hullabaloo! Bark us all bow-wows of folly, Polly wolly cracker 'n' too-da-loo! Donkey Bonny brays a carol, Antelope Cantaloupe, 'lope with you! Hunky Dory's pop is lolly gaggin' on the wagon, Willy, folly go through! Chollie's collie barks at Barrow, Harum scarum five alarm bung-a-loo! Dunk us all in bowls of barley, Hinky dinky dink an' polly voo! Chilly Filly's name is Chollie, Chollie Filly's jolly chilly view halloo! ...

It's a meditative experience, after the first week or so.  I triple the recipe; the math works out perfectly.  There's no cutting sticks of butter or searching for the quarter teaspoon measuring tool.  It's all full cups and sticks and teaspoons, and that's very soothing.  I think before adding every ingredient, checking my arithmetic, stirring carefully.  I watch the yellow eggs turn ecru when the vanilla extract hits the bowl, and I remember my yellow organza formal - they crinkle in the same way. It's raining outside, the larder is stocked, there's no need to go outside... except maybe to visit with JannyLou next door. This is as close to the weather outside is frightful that Tucson gets; the Pandora Ella Fitzgerald Holiday Station is running white men from the 50's singing about snow, and I can't stop smiling. Perry Como's inoffensive voice reminds me that Rhonda was on The Perry Como Christmas Show every year we were in elementary school.  ...

2009: Merry Merry Christmas to You All!* I give you, today, my all-time favorite Xmas carol, courtesy of Walt Kelly and Pogo. Sing loudly and lustily to the tune of  Deck the Halls..... Deck us all with Boston Charlie, Walla Walla, Wash, an' Kalamazoo! Nora's freezin' on the trolley, Swaller dollar cauliflower alley-garoo! Don't we know archaic barrel Lullaby Lilla Boy, Louisville Lou? Trolley Molly don't love Harold, Boola boola Pensacoola hullabaloo! Bark us all bow-wows of folly, Polly wolly cracker 'n' too-da-loo! Donkey Bonny brays a carol, Antelope Cantaloupe, 'lope with you! Hunky Dory's pop is lolly gaggin' on the wagon, Willy, folly go through! Chollie's collie barks at Barrow, Harum scarum five alarm bung-a-loo! Dunk us all in bowls of barley, Hinky dinky dink an' polly voo! Chilly Filly's name is Chollie, Chollie Filly's jolly chilly view halloo! Bark us all bow-wows of folly, Double-bubble, toyl...

We were happy to share Little Cuter and SIR with his family, though we missed her reading The Night Before Christmas last night. Using pre-printed holiday boxes leaves a much neater living room on Christmas morning, although they present fewer opportunities for ridiculous wrapping by the boys of the family and thus fewer opportunities for giggles by the girl(s). Holiday breakfasts of multi-grain french toast and crispy bacon are things of the past.  My guys heated up a frozen pizza and were quite pleased with themselves.  G'ma enjoys gifting more than anyone I have ever known.  The 25 decorated candy canes for the caregivers at the pod castle were dispensed with such glee, such joy, such love and connection that I had a hard time not tearing up. Asking for something you'd like to see me wear results in a full day of "Doesn't she look great?!"   This is a prompt I will remember for next year and anon. Hoarding empty boxes for the might-someday-be-purchas...

I went with the big white poinsettias from Costco this year.   They were at the top of the rolling shelf and I got them down myself. That alone makes them gorgeous in my eyes. I took your advice and repurposed the ice bucket with the smashed lid into a plant holder. This amaryllis is from last year.  It has been living on the edge of the bathtub since the bloom faded last February. Just a little bit of water perked it right up.   The Santas are at the table, wondering where the food is. This see-saw Santa's left most of his reindeer behind.... just ask any 4 year old. I seem to be developing a small but significant collection of ugly reindeer I'm noticing a Santa theme this year. I'm feeling smug about buying a dozen red tapers at the grocery store when they were on sale for $1 each. It was lovely to have brand-new-just-what-I-needed-when-I-needed-it. As Santa's hangin' out above the big screen, I wish you ...

I'm hopeless when it comes to holiday shopping.  I am incapable of exercising restraint.  I see it. I want it. I buy it. I wrap it. I give it. I smile.  I like every single one of those steps.  The thought of holiday shopping starts a special kind of adrenaline coursing through my veins.  I miss it when I have to stop.  Let's parse each section, shall we? I see it.   The whole shopping experience has been bifurcated into going shopping and doing my shopping .  The first requires leaving home and interacting with live humans in public spaces.  The second requires electricity and connectivity and the ability to retype a credit card number and remember a security code.  I decided to go shopping this morning when the cleaning ladies arrived an hour early thereby cutting into my brownie baking time slot.  Tucson Mall is huge and confusing and noisy.  The parking lot has sneaky areas which are accessible by making a series of lef...

The house is really empty now. I told TBG that we had to get some more stuff out right away and he looked at me as if I'd grown another head and wondered why in the world I thought there was something wrong with the simplicity that was our un-decorated home. I am suffering from Decoration Deprivation. Though TBG volunteered, unsolicited, that the tree was beautiful and that I should feel free to leave it up as long as I pleased, the consensus seems to be that after Epiphany (I don't know what that is, but it seems to be important) your Christmas pillows are no longer adorable. Rather, they begin to speak to your need for clutter and your inability to clean up after yourself. So, I began to dismantle the house. This counter in the kitchen isn't used for anything (a design flaw to be rectified in my dreams). I figured the stuff I stashed there could live there for a looooong time. I never figured out how to water this kissing ball from Auntie M and family, and it...

I give you, today, my all-time favorite Xmas carol, courtesy of Walt Kelly and Pogo. Sing loudly and lustily to the tune of Deck the Halls..... Deck us all with Boston Charlie, Walla Walla, Wash., an' Kalamazoo! Nora's freezin' on the trolley, Swaller dollar cauliflower alley-garoo! Don't we know archaic barrel Lullaby Lilla Boy, Louisville Lou? Trolley Molly don't love Harold, Boola boola Pensacoola hullabaloo! Bark us all bow-wows of folly, Polly wolly cracker 'n' too-da-loo! Donkey Bonny brays a carol, Antelope Cantaloupe, 'lope with you! Hunky Dory's pop is lolly gaggin' on the wagon, Willy, folly go through! Chollie's collie barks at Barrow, Harum scarum five alarm bung-a-loo! Dunk us all in bowls of barley, Hinky dinky dink an' polly voo! Chilly Filly's name is Chollie, Chollie Filly's jolly chilly view halloo! Bark us all bow-wows of folly, Double-bubble, toyland trouble! Woof, woof, woo...

We were sitting on the steps in the main hallway of Annie's Washington abode, watching the 2 little girls play in their fantasy land, when he asked the question. Not "How does the seed get into the egg, Mom?" Nope, that one was just before the Fullerton exit on Lake Shore Drive in a raging snowstorm on barely plowed roads when we were already 15 minutes late and traffic wasn't moving. Peacefully watching the girls, the sunshine through the magnificent beveled windows making rainbows we were, I thought, busily counting, out of his 7 year old mouth came " Santa's not really real, is he, Mom?" He noted my pause, and, ever the Big Cuter, his face took a serious cast as he reassured me: "Don't worry. I won't tell her. She really believes he's real." What followed was a precise analysis, continent by continent, time zone by time zone, of the why-nots of Santa's voyage. He was quietly demolishing every possible rational explanation ...

I hiked in the rain today. Here in the desert we cherish days like this. This year was particularly dry. 6.06" may not seem like very many inches for normal rainfall to date , but since our actual rainfall to date has been a mere 2.86 " you can see why Paul Newman bi-cycling Katherine Ross on his handlebars while singing about raindrops falling on his head is not as ridiculous as it might seem. The rain felt wonderful. We all had appropriate attire, some more absurd than others. Our fearless leader was ensconced in the world's droopiest maroon poncho after her jacket's water-proofing-spray-on-goo had repelled its last raindrop .... we watched, fascinated, as the water was sucked into the fabric at an alarming rate. And we smiled. Especially as she picked up her frock/tunic/toga/sailcloth to trip lightly over the very very rocky but totally walkable trail. It really wasn't her fault that we missed the trail head she'd intended to take and it didn't r...

I'm in mid-brownie baking mode and my brain is fried. Every moment is consumed with melting and mixing and cutting and bagging and boxing and labeling then driving to the post office where I am a whiz at the very cool APC (Automated Postal Center) and then coming home and starting all over again. Coherent thoughts are few and far between. ******** The fact that I know the name of the self-serve machine in the lobby of the post office gives you some idea of how I've been spending my time lately. ************** My mind is filled with conversations. It's reminding me of putting books onto library shelves in a new house. The characters are adjusting to their new neighbors and I'm talking to the recipients and yes it's all a bit .... can I actually be thinking of using this word???..... surreal but is it possible that you might know what I mean? I'm choosing cards carefully and my box of bubble-wrap-on-a-roll is my new best friend and I'm grinning from ea...

The World Series should be over by now. Yom Kippur has come and gone and they're not even in the LCS (and how long did it take me to figure out what an LCS*is??) . It used to be that all the dads would congregate at the home of the closest congregant during the afternoon recess from prayer and watch the last few innings of the game. There was always a game on Yom Kippur, or so it seemed. Kids were never invited; women were not included. No way was I ever a participant. ******* Making plans for the Cuters to come home for Thanksgiving and Christmas. It's $200 more expensive for them to fly in after work/school releases them, but we'd pay double that for the pleasure of their company. TBG and I do just fine while they're off living their lives, but the house feels much more complete when they're around. We've moved so many times that it's not they're in their rooms and it's just like always . Rather, it's more they wanted to spend their time off wi...