Monthly Archives: December 2006

12.22.06
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It’s the most busiest time of the year…

Outdoor decorations – as good as they’re gonna get

Christmas Tree – assembled and lit, will be decorated on Sunday (our tradition)

The Halls – not yet decked, today’s project

Kid’s Bedrooms – 2 out of 3 decluttered, will I do the other one today?

Homemade chocolate candies – maybe tonight?

Gingerbread house – baked and ready for assembly…oh, except I only did one cutout of the side (need 2) and took all the extra dough and made cookies. So I guess one side will be cardboard. Bill is very disappointed in me.

Eggnog – we have a good supply of store-bought, but Bill wants to whip up some homemade grog today or Sunday. Need more bourbon.

Shopping – I thought I was done, but I need white candles for the Advent wreath and a gift for a baby shower to take to my MIL tomorrow who will deliver it next week. And need to get some bourbon.

Wrapping – half done.

Kids’ projects – everyone is done except for Fritz. Another project for today. Have I used up all the hours yet?

Menu planning – done, and shopping for that done at least. I’d say that I’d make my onion soup today ahead of time…but, I’m looking at my to-do list above and don’t think it’s gonna happen.

Pumpkin bread – baked.

Cookies – baked and all decorated, thanks to the kids. Boy, do they look yummy. Some have so many chocolate chips and mint candies on them, you can hardly tell they are sugar cookies.

Christmas cards – the last set went in the mail yesterday.

Guess it’s time to get moving!

12.21.06
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Only 4 more days…

Nothing much going on here: just baking, cleaning, decorating, shopping, wrapping…the usual Christmas prep.

Amy Welborn linked to an artcle she wrote last year which I thought was quite good:

The really traditional Christian remembrance of the Nativity is not about sweetness. It is about awe, fear, and trembling, and it is shot through with hints of suffering to come.

The Vatican lit the Christmas tree in St. Peter’s Square yesterday. Bill will finish assembling ours this morning. He adds the lights as he puts the faux fir together. New this year are chili pepper lights. One day, I think the specialty lights will take over the whole thing: we already have bubble light angels, bubble light snowmen, M&M guys, cars, holly & ivy, lanterns, others. All told, he’ll put over 2000 lights on the 7 foot tree. To say it’s bright is an understatement.

And another interesting read, this one from CNA: World still seeks true Savior, must avoid false prophets and shortcuts, Pope says.

“Does mankind in our own time still await the Savior?” the Pope asked. “It appears that many people consider God as foreign to their interests. They have no apparent need of Him, and live as if He did not exist or, worse still, as if He were an ‘obstacle’ to be removed in order to achieve self-fulfillment. Even among believers … are those who let themselves be attracted by alluring mirages and distracted by misleading doctrines that propose illusory shortcuts to happiness.”

“And yet,” he added, “with all their contradictions, their anguish and their dramas – or perhaps precisely because of them – men and women today seek a road of renewal, of salvation, they seek a Savior and await, sometimes without knowing it, the coming of Christ, man’s only true Redeemer.”

“Of course, false prophets continue to propose ‘low cost’ salvation, which always ends up delivering resounding disillusionment. Indeed, the history of the last 50 years provides an example of this search for a ‘low cost’ Savior and highlights all the consequent disillusionment.”

For this reason, the Pope concluded, Christians must, “with the testimony of their lives, propagate the truth of Christmas, which Christ brings to all men and women of good will. Born into poverty in the manger, Jesus came to offer everyone the joy and peace which alone can satisfy the needs of the human soul.”

12.20.06
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The Gift of the Magi

Last night I read The Gift of the Magi to the kids. I hadn’t read it since high school, and found it just as charming and sweet as I did then. Acts of love that are utterly, marvelously, hopelessly foolish delight me.

I think, though, that I understand why some English teachers in high schools and colleges are dumbing down their curriculum and studying only recent “literature” (in quotes because I am dubious that today’s fiction will stand the test of time). I don’t think there are many romantics in the under 40 crowd nowadays, and it really takes a romantic to understand this story.

In the story, Jim and Della are young – Jim is but 22. I think the average age of men getting married now is about 27 or 28. Today’s young adult might wonder why they were so silly as to marry so young. They have a cheap apartment they can barely afford – why not move in with parents or rent part of a decent house shared by various people with tenuous realtionships? And the best Della can do to help with household finances is to deal parsimoniously with the butcher? Get a job, lady!

Add to this modern practicality the reality of credit cards making scrimping for months to buy one special gift an obsolete concept. And with our “disposable” lifestyle of no-fault divorce, I wonder if the majority of young adults today have any experience with the tender love that seeks to please another no matter the sacrifice.

The magi, as you know, were wise men–wonderfully wise men–who brought gifts to the Babe in the manger. They invented the art of giving Christmas presents. Being wise, their gifts were no doubt wise ones, possibly bearing the privilege of exchange in case of duplication. And here I have lamely related to you the uneventful chronicle of two foolish children in a flat who most unwisely sacrificed for each other the greatest treasures of their house. But in a last word to the wise of these days let it be said that of all who give gifts these two were the wisest. O all who give and receive gifts, such as they are wisest. Everywhere they are wisest. They are the magi.

12.19.06
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Dear Santa

The last time I posted on my blog about something that I wanted, I got it. I was tickled pink that my friend Rachel bought me that Springerle mold. I also liked how that whole, “Ask, and you shall receive” thing worked. So, I figure, what the hay, I’ll try it again:

Buh-bum.. buh-bum…
Santa baby, just slip a sable under the tree, for me
Been an awful good girl
Santa baby so hurry down the chimney tonight

Santa baby, a ’54 convertible too, light blue,
I’ll wait up for you, dear
Santa baby, so hurry down the chimney tonight

Think of all the fun I’ve missed,
Think of all the fellows that I haven’t kissed
Next year I could be just as good
If you check off my christmas list

Santa baby, I want a yacht and really that’s not a lot
Been an angel all year
Santa baby, so hurry down the chimney tonight

Santa honey, one little thing I really need, the deed
To a platinum mine,
Santa baby, so hurry down the chimney tonight

Santa cutie, and fill my stocking with a duplex and cheques,
Sign your x on the line
Santa cutie, and hurry down the chimney tonight

Come and trim my chirstmas tree,
With some decorations bought at Tiffany’s
I really do believe in you,
Let’s see if you believe in me

Santa baby, forgot to mention one little thing, a ring,
I don’t mean on the phone,
Santa baby, so hurry down the chimney tonight

Hurry down the chimney tonight
Hurry, tonight.

12.18.06
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The Daily Eudemon

I haven’t mentioned it in a while: I enjoy Eric Scheske’s website. My husband only reads two blogs: mine and his. If he’s busy, he’ll skip mine.

This guy has the best daily post on the Internet, plus an assortment of other stuff that confirms his status as a most-righteous dude. If you’re not reading him, you’re a moron.

{Listen, everybody. I don’t normally call people morons. OK, I might, but only in my head and then I go to confession. I definitely do not call people “most-righteous dudes.” Please read Saturday’s Daily Eudemon post to understand those sentences.}

12.18.06
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Poster Child

I really thought Jenny would enjoy going to CCD like her big sister and brothers. So, I signed her up for the 3 year old program.

In the last few months, I have really tried to convince Jenny that she does NOT want to go to CCD, but she absolutely insists she must go. No, she does NOT want to stay home with Daddy and Petey and watch some hunting show with some female hostess – Dad’s bonding time with his third son. No, she really wants to go to CCD.

But she doesn’t want to go to her classroom. She wants to go with me. I’m the assistant in Billy’s 1st grade classroom which is right next to her classroom in what is fortunately an open layout. So, she begins the session in her area where they have the children coloring a picture, and when she’s done with that, she comes over and hangs out in our area. No, she doesn’t want to go listen to the stories in her area. No, she doesn’t want to go see what her friend Molly is doing in her area. She wants to stay with me.

She will go back for snack, though. Priorities: coloring and snack.

Today in CCD, they made these Christmas decorations. The photo was taken last week, since this isn’t the dress she wore today.
Side note on the dress: check it out. The latest in 1970s fashion!! My younger sister, Beth, and I had matching ones – this one was worn by first Beth and then by our younger sister, Barb. The one I wore was lost. I loved these dresses.
But it is a 1970s fashion. I am not making her wear this dress. I hung it in her closet and she chose to wear it. Honest.
Her face tells the true story of CCD – just how much she enjoys going. I really wish she would stay home and watch hunting shows with Dad. Isn’t she pathetic? She looks like a poster child for deprived children in some poor country.

Dear Compassionate Friend,
Just 30 cents a day – less than a cup of coffee – and this child could be fed, educated and given modern clothing to wear. Please consider a donation.
12.15.06
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Teething toddler

Little Petey has been in a foul mood fairly often in recent days. He’s 17 months old, and that is reason enough. But then he’s fighting a cold and to make things worse, he is cutting four molars at once.

Usually if I don’t manage to get a shower before he awakes, I can take him into my room and let him play. I don’t know what he does, because when I emerge ten minutes later I don’t see my personal items strewn about the room, but he manages to keep himself happy in that time. This is truly a blessing and quite unlike any of my other children who would spend most of the time while I was in the shower either scolding me or making a huge mess or both.

Yesterday, though, Pete had no desire to play happily while I took a shower. I even got down the hot rollers, something he rarely sees, but this “new toy” only made him mad. “How dare you try to distract me?” seemed to be his point. So instead of showering, we went downstairs and hung out until he was in a better mood.

I tried again. I intentionally ignored the hot rollers which were still on the floor from my previous attempt and showed him a hand-held mirror (often very popular with the kids). Nope. He tried to throw it and expressed to me by his writhing body that he was not interested in permitting me to take a shower. I put on my most stubborn expression and said quite firmly that at the very least I had to go to the bathroom. I placed him gently on the floor (not an easy thing to do with a toddler having a tantrum) and sat myself down. He marched over with an angry face, said “NO!“, and put his chubby hand over the toilet paper. “I’ll show you, Mom. I’ll make you drip dry! HA!” I couldn’t help but laugh.

Fortunately, his mood softened after a minute of us glaring at each other, alternating with me telling him he was being silly. He relinquinshed the toilet paper and went over to the hot rollers. And he amused himself for a nice long time.

Molars take a long time to come in. The top ones have been at it for several weeks now and still are only about half out. The bottom ones have only just popped a tiny corner out. So, perhaps by February he’ll be in a better mood!