May the Rabbit of Easter bring you much of the chocolate

This is one of the funniest Easter stories I've ever heard. It's a little ritual to listen to it together every year.



Thanks to David Sedaris and This American Life for bringing it to us, and Happy Easter to you!

Keep Calm

The charming slogan on this print (a free online printable from Jessica at Craftily Ever After) has been my mantra over the last busy but fun days.  Those last few days before Christmas are always a rush, no matter how prepared I think I am.  But I am learning to roll with it, and I found myself humming and singing to myself as I baked and cleaned and wrapped and got everything ready for the festive onslaught.  And it call came off beautifully, a lovely Christmas with friends and family and good food and much laughter.

We have spent all day today in our jammies, reading, napping, playing new games, nibbling on leftovers. Perfect and relaxing.  Tomorrow, my objective is to get dressed.   Maybe I'll summon the energy.

Ho ho ho

Making a list (of things to do before the 25th)
Checking it twice (because I don't want to have to go back to the grocery store AGAIN)
Gonna find out who's naughty and nice (and boy, are they driving me crazy around here)
Santa Claus is coming to town (except Santa is a sore subject now that a certain teen has decided to be mad at us that we lied to her about Santa all those years)

But I'm taking a deep breath, gazing at the twinkly lights that make me feel happy and holidayish, and I'll keep moving.  As soon as we get to Dec. 24, the relaxing and fun REALLY starts.

Ho ho ho.

Worth A Thousand Words

Christmas, in a nutshell.  May yours be filled with twinkling lights, and delicious food, and sweet music, and happy memories, and loving friends and family.

Christmas Spirit

A family holiday

Christmas was really all about family this year.  It is every year, of course, but this year had some differences to it.

Most importantly, we met our new niece Boitumelo, pictured above in my arms displaying a new sweater on Christmas eve.  (Also pictured is my other wonderful sister in law Linda.)   Boitumelo (or "Itu" as she is rapidly becoming known) is from Lesotho and was adopted by my sister-in-law Doreen just before Thanksgiving.  Doreen and Boitumelo's story is a lovely one.  Doreen and  her son Dash traveled to Lesotho about 18 months ago to visit a family she'd lived with while she did volunteer work when she was in college.  They visited an orphanage while they were there, and at some point a woman passed Doreen this small, solemn girl who'd just arrived at the orphanage the day before with a severe and inexplicable wound on her face.  Boitumelo tucked her head into Doreen's neck and clutched at her clothing as if she never wanted to let go.  And that, says Doreen, was that.  She had an immediate sense of recognition of her as her daughter, and set about there and then to adopt her. The path was a complicated one with lots of stops and starts, but we are all so delighted that the story had a happy ending ...

Or should I say, beginning....  Boitumelo has now had her first family-filled, American Christmas and she's learned all about Santa (too scary to get close to), opening presents (great fun), giving presents (tolerable) and eating raspberries (a totally favorite thing.)  She is one strong, confident girl, as evidenced by her total acceptance of constant fawning by an entourage of 8 cousins who followed her and dangled toys in front of her to get her attention all evening long.  We were all charmed by Boitumelo and her presence made for a very joyful holiday. 

Although I was sad not to see my parents and siblings on Christmas day as we've done in past years, this year Roger and Caroline and I decided we needed a focused family Christmas.  It was quite wonderful to get up on Christmas morning, open presents and linger over breakfast without the feeling that I'd best be getting something cooked or mixed or thawed or otherwise prepared!  We set the rule that we would not turn on computers at all for the day -- Caroline and I adhered strictly to the rule, although Roger forgot and wandered off to google various things he needed to know.  And it was so lovely that we decided to take a few more computerless days.  Our friend Beth joined us for Christmas dinner (grilled shrimp, baked sweet potatoes, a raspberry jellow without which it is just not a holiday, artichokes, and the must-have family butter cookies for dessert.)  Easy and perfect, especially since it was all accompanied by champagne.

We chatted, we worked on a jigsaw puzzle, we played the Beatles Rock Band (ah, sore guitar fingers -- a new Christmas injury) and generally had a grand time.  Since the 25th, we've continued the trend with more jigsaw puzzling, game playing, napping, movie-watching, and lots and lots of reading.

So,  we are enjoying this peaceful interlude.  Tomorrow, I may start sewing something -- or maybe not.  We are seeing out 2009 in a quiet way, and it feels just right.

Sing Along, Part 2

Things are looking a bit more Christmas-y around here! Some decorations are out (I've been in a glittery silver mood lately), the tree is up and lit (ornaments yet to come) so I'm actually starting to feel festive. I've got my car stereo tuned to a holiday music station, so it's no wonder I'm humming Christmas songs to myself all day. Which has led to this:

Quilted Gifts (sing to the tune of "Jingle Bells")

Dashing to the store
For one more spool of thread.
I have all shades of blue,
but I need that perfect red.

The quilt is almost done,
The bobbin's running low.
I'll stitch another hour or two
And then it's good to go. Oh...

Quilted gifts, quilted gifts,
I started back in May
Sewing for the holidays,
To be done by Christmas day. Hey!

Quilted gifts, quilted gifts,
Next year won't be hard.
I'll cross off every project and
Instead give a gift card!

(And for those of you who have asked, you are free to sing my silly songs with your friends, mini-groups or guilds as you choose...And yes, your guilds may print them in newsletters as long as you give me credit! I'm amused that you like my goofy Quilty Holiday songs!)

Christmas Sing-Along

Sing along with me (to the tune of "Deck the Halls") -- c'mon, let me hear you!

Deck the halls with yards of fabric, Fa la la la la, la la la la!
I’ll avoid the Christmas traffic. Fa la la la la, la la la la!
Sewing gifts for one and all, Fa la la la la, la la la la!
I won’t have to hit the mall. Fa la la la la, la la la la!

My Bernina’s really humming, Fa la la la la, la la la la!
And the items just keep coming. Fa la la la la, la la la la!
My to-do list’s getting longer, Fa la la la la, la la la la!
I’ll just make the coffee stronger. Fa la la la la, la la la la.

Piecing quilts is so relaxing. Fa la la la la, la la la la!
Cutting bits is hardly taxing. Fa la la la la, la la la la!
Drifts of batting look like white snow, Fa la la la la, la la la la!
Only six more quilts to go. Fa la la la la, la la la la!

Christmas eve and I’m still sewing. Fa la la la la, la la la la.
Cookies and eggnog keep me going. Fa la la la la, la la la la.
Midnight comes and I’m still sitting, Fa la la la la, la la la la.
Next year I will take up knitting. Fa la la la la, la la la la.

It’s all worthwhile on Christmas morning. Fa la la la la, la la la la.
If only I could stop this yawning. Fa la la la la, la la la la.
Brother loves the quilt that’s red. Fa la la la la, la la la la.
(Please don’t use it as a dog bed.) Fa la la la la, la la la la.

Soon the year will start anew, Fa la la la la, la la la la.
I’ll start another quilt or two. Fa la la la la, la la la la.
Thread and fabric I’ll be buying. Fa la la la la, la la la la.
I’m addicted, there’s no lying. Fa la la la la, la la la la.

(Once you start putting your own words to holiday songs, you can't stop. Or is it just me?!)

Getting into a playful spirit

I don't know about you, but I'm having a hard time getting into a holiday mood. It's only just getting chilly here in Northern California, so the weather feels barely fallish, let alone wintery. And we are all absorbed in helping the student of the house wrap up her first semester of this new school-from-home situation and prepare for final exams. (Physics is traumatizing all of us around here, although we do joke about how we can now measure the speed of flight if Caroline hurls the physics text across the room.) For some reason, just keeping my head above the clutter of housework and daily business feels like plenty.

Yesterday, our neighbors across the street were out in force, blaring Christmas music through the neighborhood as they put out their vast assortment of holiday decorations. It should have added a fun and festive feeling, right? But I was annoyed at the blasting music outside when I'd hoped for a quiet morning, and I was feeling generally un-Christmasy, almost downright Scrooge-like.

I am determined to ease myself into a relaxed holiday mood. The tree will come up this week, I think, and once that is done I know I'll feel more Christmasy. But for now, to cheer ourselves, we did something that always helps: we went to the animal shelter to cuddle the cats. There is nothing that'll make you smile faster than seeing the butt-wiggly, pouncey cuteness of an energetic kitten.



They really know how to live in the moment, kittens do.



They can find fun in the simplest things.



And they can play while lying down or sitting still.



I feel much better now.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone --

Our holiday feels a bit upside-down this year. Roger has traveled to Southern California to visit his mom, and I am home with a flu bug and missing a lovely holiday dinner with my folks and siblings. Caroline has stayed with me to keep me company and has been a good nursemaid while I've napped and watched the Macy's parade.

But even though we've not spent the day with friends and family, I know that I am surrounded, every day, every minute, by the love and warmth of wonderful family and good friends near and far.

So where ever you have spent the day, know that I am thankful for your friendship and support.

And, just so you know, I'm looking forward to a big piece of pumpkin pie when I feel better!

Thanks to all of you who headed over to flickr.com to try to comment on my team-mate's photo. I don't know what I was thinking to get into a photography survivor game at this time of the year, but it's been darn fun.

And by the way, if you want to get yourself in a festive mood, go over to flickr and search "holiday decorations" or some such thing. There are lots of people taking really pretty pictures of glowy holiday lights, ornaments, snow scenes, trees, and cookies. LOTS of Christmas cookies! It's enough to make you want to go bake.

I'm headed down to my parents' house for a night or two. They are conveniently located quite close to an excellent children's hospital and we have an appointment with a pediatric neurologist for specialized advice on the ongoing migraines.

At any rate, you won't see me blogging in the next day or two -- but my goal is to get some good information and then relax a bit to start enjoying the holiday season. Ooh! I see an eggnog latte in my future, too!

Merry Meme

I do enjoy a good meme -- so courtesy of Terry and Gerrie, here's one for the season:

Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Hot chocolate, made with real milk. (I can't stand that instant stuff made with water.) Although I do have to have an Eggnog Latte at Starbuck's each Christmastime.

Does Santa wrap presents or set them under the tree? Santa always wraps in plain red paper.

Colored lights on tree or white? Colored! It's more festive! But this year we have white and colored together, so it's VERY bright and sparkly.

When do you put your decorations up? Within the first two weeks of December. I like to get them up early as it helps to get me in the mood .... but it all depends on what else is going on. By Dec. 15, certainly.

What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)? A raspberry jello dish that is so filled with raspberries that it's not jell0-y at all. It's sort of like raspberries held together and it's refreshing and wonderful and a gorgeous red color.

When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? Truth? What truth? You mean that he doesn't do it all himself and has elves to help? Is there something someone's not telling me?

Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? When I was little, we opened one present on Christmas eve ... usually something from an aunt that turned out to be pajamas or some boring clothes thing. Now, we do Christmas eve at R's sister's house, and so presents on that side of the family are exchanged. Don't worry, there are more left for Christmas morning.

How do you decorate your Christmas tree? We have all different ornaments collected over the years, including wonderful ones made by Caroline in school. It's finished with strings of dark red wooden cranberries and strings of gold sparkly stars. C always puts a big ol' glittery gold star on top at the end.

Snow! Love it or Dread it? LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT. I miss living in a place where it snows. When I lived in New England, I was always the one wishing for one more big blizzard before spring. That's what comes from growing up in California.

Can you ice skate? Yes. Love that, too.

Do you remember your favorite gift? It's a tie, between gifts my grandmother gave me. One year, it was a beautiful dress with a flowery print that had ribbons in the print. And if you looked closely at the ribbons, you saw that the ribbons spelled "Barbie." I LOVED that dress. Another year, when I was older, my grandma gave my sister and me our own blankets for our beds. Weirdly adult (and probably in an effort to help my mom) but for some reason getting that seemed so atypical of a gift for a kid that I loved it. Mine was white with blue flowers on it. I still have it and use it on my daughter's bed!

What’s the most important thing about the Holidays for you? Family and wonderful traditions that bring back great memories.

What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? Shortbread Christmas cookies.

What is your favorite tradition? Oh boy, that's a hard one. Filling the Christmas stockings. Watching White Christmas every year. We started a new one last year, which I loved: filling travel mugs with hot chocolate after dinner, and driving around town to look at the Christmas lights.

Which do you prefer, Giving or Receiving? Mostly giving -- but it's wonderful to be given something by someone who knows you so well that they know JUST what you'd like.

What is your favorite Christmas Song? "White Christmas."

Candy Canes! Yuck or Yum? I don't hate them, but I don't particularly like them. I like mint and chocolate together, though.

Ever recycled a Christmas present? Nope.

Good food, good book, good tree...

I'm sorry about the long gaps between posts, readers and friends...life around here is, well, complicated these days. But in keeping with the totally jumbled state of my mind and household right now, I thought I'd throw out some random stuff...

1. You may remember that I've had a love-hate (read: mostly hate) relationship with the job of putting up the Christmas tree in recent years. The idea of an artificial tree (absolutely anathema in my younger years) started sounded pretty good. Well, last year a good friend of mine bought an artificial tree from Balsam Hill, a company whose trees look pretty darn realistic. But she discovered that the tree was too big for her room, and too big for her (a petite single woman) to put up and down comfortably. So she offered it to us, and I jumped at it. I put it up on Monday (real pictures of it soon) which wasn't a total piece of cake but was easier and less sappy-prickly-frustrating inducing than wrestling with a real tree. (Mainly the problem was the inadequate instructions on connecting the various plugs to make the lights work. Now that I've done it once, it'll be way easier next time.)

So now we have the tree up (lit but otherwise undecorated at the moment) and we're having fun using the remote control to change the lights from clear, to colored, to all. Very exciting. As my mom would say, "small things amuse small minds."

2. If you want to read a good novel, check out "Love Walked In" by Marisa de los Santos. It's about love and mothers and daughters and creating the family you need. It's lovely and funny and beautifully written. I'm reading the sequel right now, "Belong to Me: A Novel'>Belong to Me," and I'm loving it too.
3. I've been turning to the crockpot to help me deal with food on these crazy days, and I made a really easy and delicious tortilla soup yesterday. Here's the recipe, in case you want to give it a try on a cold December day:

1 pound shredded, cooked chicken (or raw -- I cubed boneless chicken breasts and threw them in raw and they cooked while the soup cooked and were fine).

1 (15 ounce) can tomatoes (diced, or crushed, or whole peeled tomatoes, mashed -- whatever you have on hand)

1 (10 ounce) can enchilada sauce

1 medium onion, chopped

1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chile peppers

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 cups water

1 (14.5 ounce) can chicken broth

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon chili powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 bay leaf

1 (10 oz) package frozen corn

1 tablespoon chopped cilantro (I omitted this because I hate cilantro)

7 corn tortillas, vegetable oil (you can fry your own tortilla strips, but we just crumbled commercial tortilla chips into it and it was fine)

1. Place chicken, tomatoes, enchilada sauce, onion, green chiles, and garlic into a slow cooker. Pour in water and chicken broth, and season with cumin, chili powder, salt, pepper, and bay leaf. Stir in corn and cilantro. Cover, and cook on Low setting for 6 to 8 hours or on High setting for 3 to 4 hours.

2. If you opt to make your own tortilla strips, preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
Lightly brush both sides of tortillas with oil. Cut tortillas into strips, then spread on a baking sheet. Bake in preheated oven until crisp, about 10 to 15 minutes. To serve, sprinkle tortilla strips over soup.

--

It's a good time to make some soup, and settle in in front of the tree with a good book. Take time to relax! That's a good reminder for all of us at this time of year, yes?!

Better Late than Never

Um, Happy Autumn!

A Touch of Winter

We are back from our Easter trip to Lake Tahoe, where we had a grand time.

We dyed eggs, of course.

My BFF Beth came up and we enjoyed several long walks in the woods behind the house.

Of course, there was lots of snow fun.

Snowball throwing...

And snowball receiving.

We visited our regular beach to see how it looked in winter...

and we enjoyed hunting for rocks, as we always do.

All in all, it was a lovely time.

Easter Getaway

Happy Easter, everyone!

To celebrate, we are leaving springtime behind and heading up to Lake Tahoe and *snow* for a few days. We're being joined by some family friends (yay! Another kid to romp with Caroline in the snow when Roger and I get too cold and tired!) so that'll be very fun. We've packed up books and games and snuggly clothes and we will have a relaxing time.

And, keeping to my new non-fat, non-gallbladder lifestyle, I am enjoying marshmallow Peeps as my Easter treat!

May you all be surrounded by friends and family and sunshine and jellybeans and chocolate bunnies!

Be Green

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

In case it hasn't occurred to you, a margarita with a bit of extra lime and guacamole & chips make a lovely way to celebrate the holiday. They're green, so they count as Irish today, don't they? In any event, they're far superior to corned beef and cabbage to my mind.

I've not had much to post about here, immersed as I've been in work, work, housework, and more work. That's what I get lolling around for a week recovering from surgery. But I'm itching to get at some fabric, which is a good thing as deadlines are looming on various projects.

Have a lucky day!

Holiday Merriment

Christmas certainly flew by, and a grand time was had by all.

Christmas eve: Christmas songs played on a hammer dulcimer, Prosecco and pomegranate juice, velvety butternut squash soup, cold cracked crab dipped in melted butter, sourdough french bread, sampling of traditional Christmas cookies and chocolate bark, hunting for silly Christmas videos on Utube, and lots and lots of giggles...

Christmas morning: hot coffee, flying wrapping paper, cats jumping in and out among the holiday debris, Caroline's squeals of delight, Roger's laughter at unexpected gifts, apple cinnamon french toast, Gemma's confusion at which new toy to play with first, lots of pictures with the new camera...

Christmas evening: ham warming in the oven, mercury glass gleaming on the table, Joshilyn's "fat potato fat fat" in the works, happy arrivals of family members, the champagne cork popping, oohs and aahs over the traditional Christmas artichoke dip from Laura, more paper flying, happy exclamations over presents, new collars for Gemma and Katie, announcements of our charity donations in lieu of gifts (we're not so great at the "in lieu of" part), yummy dinner (ham, aforesaid fat potato fat fat, annual raspberry jello, spicey orange green beans, rolls), MMMMMMinty ice cream cake for dessert, a family round of Apples to Apples, more laughter, Caroline's glee at winning among all the grownups, comfy post-prandial couch-sitting.

A lovely, lovely holiday.

Followed by more flu in the household, causing Dec. 26 and 27 to pretty much vanish, but things are looking up.

Merry Christmas!

This Christmas, may you have...

a tree that doesn't fall over,



a delicious meal,



the joy of giving and receiving presents,



something bubbly to drink with friends,



warm hugs from loved ones,



greetings from friends and family,



and the peace of love in your heart.

Random Acts of Christmas

The other night, Roger took to bed early to head off a cold, and I suggested a surprise holiday outing to Caroline. We made up a batch of hot chocolate, filled our travel mugs, and ventured out for a drive around town to see the Christmas lights. We had a lovely time, pausing in front of each especially well-lit home to gaze in admiration and sip our cocoa.

One of our favorite sights in town is a metal sculpture of a horse grazing alongside a walking path. As we went by, Caroline said, "Mom, that horse needs a Christmas treat!" We looked at each other and grinned. Luckily, the grocery store was still open and we were able to pick out a wreath and bow to decorate him.

So, there we were, at 10:30 at night, giggling and adorning this steed with his own Christmas wreath. We dashed back to the warmth of the car to admire our handiwork -- he looks stunning and placidly happy now, we agreed.

I cruised by today to take a daylight picture.

I wonder how many folks will notice?

We had so much fun that Caroline and I decided that we will make that late night (well, late night for an 11 year old) city tour an annual event.

Spreading holiday cheer, one wreath at a time...