MY BOGGY BLOG: find your way through the murk

Wild 'n Crazy Boy Night

Even though younger DS turned 10 in November, we put off his friend party until winter break. This way we can have a sleepover on a Wednesday night, which is also the 2-fer-1 night at Monster Den, a place where kids can go and play video games all together-- they have a room full of comfy couches and big TVs. This is the hot place to go for now for my boys. So we will go and I can take my laptop and write, or a book and read.

Afterwords, it is back to our place for more video games (we don't own a game system, having computer games instead, but some friends brought theirs over), Japanese animation movies, snacks, build your own ice cream sundaes (in lieu of cake), junk food and lots of testosterone energy.

Now it's time for me to get the pizzas out of the oven... how many frozen pizzas can 8 boys plus three extra family members eat? I bought 10 (they were cheap), and we'll see how many we go through!

How to Get a Free Xmas Tree*

1. Wait until the last possible moment to go out and try to buy a live tree, let's say, oh, the 23rd of December. Spend a good week in advance saying "we should go get a tree" ever few days.

2. Pile the kids in the car on one of the coldest days of December, temps below zero. Have visions of being one of those old-time families you read about in books who get their trees on Xmas Eve and decorate it that night. You know, with candles because electricity hadn't been invented yet.

3. Drive across town to your favorite Xmas tree lot. Let eyes get wide as you drive by the spot where it was a few days ago to see a totally empty lot.

4. Shrug shoulders then head back to your own neighborhood, where there are a few nurseries that sell Xmas trees.

5. Go to the first nursery and find two 18-inch live "trees" left, one of which a woman who lives in an apartment is buying, saying its perfect for her table top. Unfortunately, its not anywhere near perfect for your living room.

6. Drive to two more nurseries, both of which look as picked clean as the Cratchit's Christmas goose. Start to panic at the idea that there are no more trees left anywhere.

7. Have husband call the big Bachman's on Lyndale Avenue to see if they, huge as they are, have any trees. They do not.

8. In desperation, follow husband's suggestion to drive by the Salvation Army on Lake Street where your kids had a piano recital last Saturday. He had seen some bundled Xmas trees just lying in the parking lot by their door. Maybe one would still be there.

9. Amazingly enough, four trees all trussed up with netting are still lying in the lot. Husband gets out of the car to see if we can pay them money for one.

10. The building is all locked, but a man who seems to be with the Salvation Army says the trees are free and we can have one. Hallelujah!

11. Back at home, we untruss the tree, and it is a perfectly lovely tree. We pledge to make a donation to the Salvation Army and feel grateful for our gift of a tree.

*Directions not guaranteed.

Music, Parties, Pageants, What Else?

A very full weekend. The kind that makes Monday a recovery day, and the fact that the children are on Winter Break and still snoozing away at 8:30 am a good thing.

Friday night was driving across town to get our portrait taken with DH's sister, her family of 5, and DH's brother, all for MIL's surprise Christmas present. (She doesn't have a computer so the secret is safe here-- unless YOU call her up and tell her!). The last time we had a picture like this taken for her, our twins were two, I was newly pregnant with younger DS, and two of SIL's kids were not even a gleam in the eye. So now there were 11 of us in the picture, and I must say that Proex didn't do that great of a job with it. Younger DS was stadning on the end and in many of the pics he looks like he is standing in a shadow. Proex doesn't do anything digital with the photos, so there wasn't any of that "see the pics instantly on the computer and have them keep taking until we get one we like," like almost every other place has now. Instead we all went out to dinner (which was actually fun) and waited 90 minutes for the proofs. DH is going to try and do something with the prints and Photoshop to try and put together a picture we like.

Saturday was pageant rehearsal (more on pageant later)in the morning and piano recital at night. I like the way C., our piano teacher, does recitals. They are mostly informal with just the slightest touch of formal. The kids each play anywhere from 1-4 songs that they have memorized, some kids dress up and most do not. They bow when they are finished, and C. also always performs a piece, to show the kids that adults can perform too and that she understands personally how hard it is to get up there in front of everyone, and sometimes she makes mistakes, too. Afterwards, there's a party with treats we've all brought in and conversation-- festive.

I am always so proud to hear all the kids perform, everyone from the beginners to kids who can play quite complicated pieces. C.'s Beethoven piece was totally amazing, like hearing a concert pianist. It was 10 minutes long and very fast and energetic, and it boggles my mind to think how someone can memorize a whole piece like that. She said it took her one and a half months to learn. Wow!

Sunday was the church Christmas Pageant, which younger DS was in, being a "roller angel." Okay, so being Unitarians, we have a pretty funky little pageant, which is great. Kids can be angels, wise people, shepherds, or any animal of their choosing (this year had a unicorn and turtle included). The story is told by a narrator, with some small speaking parts for special roles. Since "angels are everywhere, and can come in all sorts of disguises," a team of Roller Angels appears to deliver the baby Jesus. Roller Angels are hip-looking angels on rollerblades or scooters wearing helmets, blowing whistles, and have the initials APS on their sleeves. The head angel has the baby in a Snuggli carrier, and Joseph says "it looks like UPS." Mary says, "no, it's the APS, Angel Parcel Service." Joseph signs for the delivery and so Jesus is delivered!

After the pageant, our church has holiday activities going in many of the classrooms, making crafts and such, and it is always very fun and chaotic. DH was in the dreidal room playing the game with the kids and dealing in chocolate candy. I was in charge of the "healthy snack potluck" which we also had going on to counteract hunger meltdowns or sugar overloads. Being in charge of a snack potluck sounds easier than it is, it turns out. Not only is there just managing the hordes of people who descend on the table, but people don't always donate ready-to-serve foods, so there was a lot of last-minute food prep and refilling bowls and other stuff going on. Quite chaotic.

Straight from church we went up to my sister L's house (way across town) for my nephew's birthday, 6 years old. I love getting to see and talk to the kids, all the excitement around a birthday party. Pizza and cake and ice cream. K. shares his birthday with our grandma, who died before he was born, so I always remember her as well.

From L's we went to DH's sister's, who lives nearby. They were having computer trouble, and DH was going to try and help them out. The ten minute problem of course took more like 2 hours to fix, oh well. So more visiting with relatives.

And then it was home to a fast-food dinner, after all this chaos. And home to find a call from one of DH's old friends. Another old friend of theirs had been killed in a car accident earlier that week, he informed us. I had only met the guy a few times but had only nice things to remember about him. So now that is another death for DH to deal with, poor guy. Too much of it lately.

If you've stuck it out this far, thanks for reading my long-winded Weekend Review!

Writers Give

... the best gifts! Last night was my women's writing group, which in the three years we've been meeting has grown from three of us to eight. We have mainly met on Tuesday mornings twice a month at various cafes, but since one of our members got a job with different hours, we now have one day meeting a month and one evening meeting. And this group is always great about celebrating birthdays and Christmas together. A pile of gifts ends up at the birthday person's feet, and we watch her open.

Since we're all writers, we of course understand the little thoughtful and useful and fun gifts that writers like to get. Cool new pens are oohed over, fancy journals that you might never buy for yourself because "I can always just use this spiral notebook" are very welcome and elicit sighs of contentment. And then the books that are chosen with your interests in mind, the books that the giver has enjoyed themselves-- in other words, very good reading material.

We are so easily pleased, we writers, but those who don't write tend not to understand us. So even as the birthday girl last night was opening her gifts, she said, "oh, I should probably say you all shouldn't do all this and spoil me, but the gifts are so great!" It's so nice to have a group where you feel really understood!

And So This Is Christmas

This is the first year, maybe ever, where I don't feel like we have to worry about money. DH has been working a regular and good-paying contract for over six months which has enabled us to catch up on long-time big bills incurred after he started his business and his Scrooge-like partner had a tight rein on the payroll. We barely just got by... and this is a sore spot for me in remembering the whole outcome of the business and how his partner (now gone) came out way ahead at our expense. But I digress...

So this year has a much easier feel to it, and we have the luxury of being able to give beyond ourselves. I want to give the kids a lesson in this, so I took them to Target yesterday and told them they each had $15 to spend on gifts for Toys for Tots. I wasn't exactly sure how they would react, but they really liked the idea and had fun picking out toys with other kids in mind. I have some brand-new Betsy-Tacy books to add to the pack as well. Another day we will bring our bag of loot over to the TV station which has a drop-off site with soldiers manning the donations.

I want this lesson to sink into them-- that giving to others feels good, that Christmas is not just about making lists and getting a pile of everything you want. And that we really don't need everything we want. That LOVE is what it's all about. Really.

I'm in Love with...

the Internet! What did we ever do before the Internet, before Google made it so easy to look up anything, any topic, any combination of words? Like the other day, after seeing A Christmas Carol where Scooge says to Bob Cratchit "we'll discuss your raise over a bowl of Smoking Bishop," I wondered what the hell Smoking Bishop was.

In the Old Days (the 80's... oh so long ago) I would have probably dismissed the idea because it would be too much work to find out. But if I really wanted to know, I might try fumbling through some encyclopedias, or calling a reference librarian who would spend at least 10 minutes trying to find the answer... if I could get through on the always busy phone lines.

But now, on Google, I know in 2 minutes that Smoking Bishop was a warm mulled wine drink made with oranges and grapefruit that have been baked until browned and added to wine with sugar and spices. In the 1800's, there were a host of drinks that had clerical names to them. I even found a recipe that I could make, if I so desired.

My kids already know the ease of looking up things on the Internet. My grandkids are never going to believe that there was ever a time when it wasn't easy, when you had to find some expert to look it up for you. And what will they have then that we don't even dream of now?

Busy Weekend!

A busy but satisfying weekend...Saturday had DH and older DS going off to a Lego League tournament for the whole day, in Lino Lakes. DS has been in Lego League for three years, and this year was the first time that they have placed in the top five and get to go onto State. Yay! I'm so glad these 8th graders, in their last year of LL, will have this experience.

I spent the day at home getting ready for friends to come over to dinner. After the day of cleaning (and getting kids to help, which is almost as much work as doing it yourself), shopping and cooking, DH and older DS came home and our company arrived (hi C & J!) and we had a delightful evening of conversation, laughter and stories. In the last few years, we have gotten away from having people over so much... life gets busy, the house gets ultra messy, we muck around in our depression... but a night like Saturday reminds me how important it is to do these things, and how pleasant. Like C said, in telling us about a revelation she had, "it's all about folks." So true-- our relationships our the Important Stuff of life.

Sunday was a run around of church in the morning, where we had a children's chapel (I help teach the 6th graders) centered on the made-up Unitarian holiday of Chalica (it's fairly new, like Kwanzaa, first time I'd heard of it was yesterday!).

Here's a quote about this from a website: Daylene Marshall, a UU seminary student, conceived of the Chalica Holiday. Daylene writes: “I believe we all need to be reminded of our beliefs and this is also a great opportunity to share our beliefs with others.” Each day of the holiday—a Monday in December through Sunday—represents a different UU principle. A chalice is lit each day and gifts are given and received. Gifts can be made, bought, verbal, written, acts, shared/personal celebrations. Each day represents a principle and the gifts are given. This is a lovely ritual to share with your children.

After church, it was a run up to my mom and dad's place in Andover to visit in celebration of my mom's 64th birthday last week. And then it was back home to relax a bit, eat some dinner and go off to see "A Christmas Carol" at the Guthrie.

We got free tickets thanks to Project Success, a organization which enables kids in certain city schools to get free tickets for their families to certain theatre productions they normally might not get a chance to see due to the cost. We have been blessed to see several wonderful performances through this program.

"A Christams Carol" is one of my all-time favorite stories. I love the message, the drama, the combination of ghosts and Christmas, the transformation of Scrooge, and Dickens' wonderfully quirky storytelling. The Guthrie always does a nice job with their performance, but this year was extra special because we had famous English actor Charles Keating as Scrooge, and he was fabulous! Was it the great acting or the place I'm at in my own emotional self-transformation that caused me to shed a few tears during the play? Probably both.

And now it's Monday... time to shake my head and figure out what I'm supposed to do. Easier said than done!