Photo Story: Christmas with My Niece and Nephew

First, a silly face contest:

Logan was clearly the silly face champ, though Grace was certainly holding her own by the end.  I, well…I had my moments.

Silly Face was followed by a modeling session.  I can’t exactly remember how the bowl became a hat, but once it was, everyone just had to try it on:

Blue Steel doesn’t have anything on us.

Last, but not least, is more of Grace modeling.  This also happens to be shameless self-promotion.  I knitted a scarf for Grace this Christmas, and I was so pleased with how it turned out.  It is the perfect color, size, and material.  And she just looks adorable in it:

Even if she can’t keep her eyes open.

I had a fantastic time with those kids (so much so that I’m willing to post horrible photos of myself on my own blog to prove it). They definitely helped me remember the sheer joy of Christmas.

Thank goodness.

And a Squeeze to You, Too

Excuse me while I indulge in a bit of seasonal sentimentality.

***

The Hubs and I do not give hugs to each other.  We squeeze.

When I’m having a particularly down day, I’ll walk up to The Hubs and motion for a squeeze.  The Hubs will wrap his arms around me so tightly that I think I might just fold in two, and in the midst of that squeeze I feel entirely safe, protected, and supremely happy.

But squeezes are not reserved for unhappy occasions; rather they can also mark moments of – dare I say it? – bliss. Such was the case this Christmas morning.

Because we were met with unexpected luck, The Hubs and I were able to travel to The Bluegrass State last Saturday, three days earlier than intended.  Though this made for a hectic Friday (last minute shopping, packing, etc.), it has allowed us to have an uncommonly relaxing Christmas holiday.  There hasn’t been as much rushing to see as many people as possible.  Instead we’ve been able to sleep late, take Potter for walks, drive around town a bit, and just generally enjoy spending some time back in our hometown.

Our extended stay also meant, however, that we did not open our presents for each other in Tallahassee before hitting the road; Saturday just seemed too early to start the gift giving.  Instead, we woke up this morning and shared Christmas in bed – just The Hubs, Potter, and me.

We had chosen to keep gifts to each other minimal this year, limiting ourselves to a price-capped stocking and instead spending on everyone else.  But instead of tearing through the treat-filled socks, we took our time, expressing gratitude over each item we had thought to get one another.

[On a related and yet still mushy note, I am always amazed at The Hubs' ability to pick up on the little things I want, like the cookbook I've been salivating over for ages, a quick but fun read, some new knitting needles, and some good new music.] Once we had looked through our own stockings, we let Potter sniff his own out – laughing over the fact that he knew which stocking was his and just how many toys he had in there. 

All of this, of course, was followed by my favorite family tradition – the squeeze.  With Potter laying in between us (happily chewing on his naughty/nice stuffie), The Hubs offered a fierce Christmas squeeze, and I couldn’t help but think of all of the squeezes - whether the cause is joyful or sorrowful – that lie in store for my happy little family.

So whether you celebrate Christmas or Hanukkah or nothing at all, I hope you have had a good squeeze today, too.

***

And thus ends my indulgent sentimentality. Back soon with the road trip run down and new student complaints.

Get This

With Christmas exactly one week away, I thought I would offer some recommendations as my gift to you. [I know.  I'm so generous!  It's quite amazing actually.]  These are all things that I either want or already love, and I think you will, too.

Books

Though pretty much anything by David Sedaris is hilarious and worth your time, I want to recommend Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim for one story in particular, “Six to Eight Black Men.”  The story primarily talks about Christmas traditions in the Netherlands and, specifically, their version of Santa Clause.  I listened to it on cd while driving home last weekend, and I almost had to pull the car over I was laughing so hard.  The story may become a Christmas tradition for me, and should for you, too.  If you don’t have time to, you know, read, you can listen to it (with some strange images as the video) for free thanks to YouTube.  You can find it in three parts starting here, followed by part two and part three.

Surprised I picked this one aren’t you?  Okay, maybe not.  I think this is just a cool addition to the Harry Potter series.  I love that it’s presented as having been edited by Hermoine with footnotes by Dumbledore – the metafictional aspects are too cool for a book geek like me.

 

This is Junot Díaz’s first novel, and I haven’t read it yet.  But I have read Drown, his short story collection. Drown is not full of feel-good stories.  Rather they are gritty, thought-provoking stories.  I expect Oscar Wao to be along the same lines, and I can’t wait to read it – especially since Díaz is coming to FSU in the spring and Dave and I will be there to listen to him.

 Another book I haven’t read yet is Toni Morrison’s new novel, A Mercy.  Set two hundred years before Beloved, the books are loosely connected, telling the story of Sethe’s ancestors.  I am intrigued by the possibilities and can’t wait to have time to read it.

 

The third in Gregory Maguire’s Wicked series, A Lion Among Men tells the story of the Cowardly Lion. This is on top of my to-read-after-prelims list, especially since I’m hoping to see Wicked in Jacksonville in April.  

 

 

Movies

These are two of my favorite Christmas movies, both of which I think are grossly underrated and overlooked.  Give them a try:

Prancer tells the story of a little girl who finds a wounded reindeer.  The girl is largely ignored by her family and finds purpose in helping Prancer.  Try not to think of Cloris Leachman’s Dancing with the Stars escapades while you watch it – or ever really. No good can come from it. Prancer, on the other hand, offers lots of good.

This is one of my all-time favorite Santa Clause movies, second only to Tim Allen in The Santa Clause. And though Santa Clause: the Movie is clearly a movie made in the early 80s, I love how it begins with a story of the historical background of Santa Clause – that of a man who delivers little wooden toys to the children in his village.  Couple that with the amazing Dudley Moore as an elf named Patch and John Lithgow as the evil capitalist and you’ve got a movie that should definitely be considered a Christmas classic.

For the Home

 I am in love with the Serafina Floral Duvet from Pottery Barn.  How bold and colorful!  I think this bedding set could liven up any bedroom!

 

 

I’m kind of obsessed with aprons these days, and I pretty much love any apron (or anything at all, really) that Anthropologie has to offer.  But I especially love this Stockholm Floral Apron. Doesn’t it just make you want to whip up some fresh baked bread? They also have equally adorable kids’ aprons, so everyone can get in on the fun.

 

 

So there are just a few suggestions from my home to yours.  As great as these things are, I can’t wait to tell you about the gifts that I’m giving – but that will have to wait…at least a week.

Warm Feelings

I feel as though I’ve been cheated.  Tricked. Bamboozled.

But kind of in a good way?

I left Tallahassee last Friday to head North for my semi-annual Christmas shopping weekend with two of my closest friends, Amy and Beth. I had been looking forward to this weekend for months, longing for it, needing it. These girls know me in a way that no one in Tallahassee does (with the obvious exception of The Hubs).  They know me through and through, the real me. So I knew that visiting them would be the relaxing, fun-filled weekend that I so desperately needed.

And it was.

The excitement began when I drove into Amy’s home-state and was greeted by fields covered in snow…beautiful, white snow.  I was reminded that it really is almost Christmas, and I couldn’t help but crank up the holiday tunes all the way to Amy’s house.

We didn’t have any finite plans (except perhaps a visit to Anthropologie, which I was thrilled about) – just to shop and spend time with one another. Amy and I got to see Beth’s adorable baby bump for the first time (so exciting!), we enjoyed a scrumptious dinner at P.F. Chang’s, plenty of shopping, a trip to the movies (Four Christmases is dang funny).  But mostly we just hung out.  

The conversation never stopped.  It began without any of the awkwardness often associated with visiting friends you haven’t seen in months, or even years.  And it continued until I resignedly left on Sunday.

It was a good trip, and, despite a long and awkward drive home, I felt rejuvenated.

Unfortunately, the revitalization of the girls’ weekend was short lived when the trickery began Tuesday morning.

[We won't even talk about Monday, which was lost to the dreaded world of grading and averaging and responding to annoying student emails.]

After almost finishing my Christmas shopping over the weekend, I planned to get the last couple of items on Tuesday and wrap everything (an activity I love) the rest of the day.  It felt great to have a day revolving around Christmas and  the presents I am already excited about giving…until the temperature started rising.

I quickly found myself rolling down the windows in my car, but soon that wasn’t even enough. I reluctantly turned the a/c on and pushed up my sleeves (which were only 3/4 length to begin with). By the time I returned home, I had broken a sweat and found no comfort in my by-then stifling apartment.  I opened all the windows and turned on the ceiling fans, and as a gentle breeze drifted through my house, my Christmas spirit drifted out.

The snow began to seem like a dream, heightened by my friends in Kentucky talking about their harsh weather and snow days. I looked to my right and saw my beautiful Christmas tree with the lopsided star and packages underneath.  But to my left was an open window, cooling down my apartment.

This isn’t Christmastime.  It’s some kind of trickery.  

And it already has me itching to head north again.

Thanksgiving 2008 Part 3: Trimming the Tree

Per tradition, the day after Thanksgiving is when The Hubs and I decorate our humble abode for Christmas.  Unfortunately, this year the weather forced the festivities to be split over two days.  It rained – crazy, downpour rain – from Thursday afternoon straight through Sunday afternoon (did you see the FSU football game?  Yeah, like that, without the depressing score.) making it very difficult to wind outdoor lights around the porch rail, let alone pick out a Christmas tree.

So Friday we put up the inside decorations (like this and this) and watched an obscene number of Christmas movies.  Then we took the first break in the rain Saturday morning to find our Christmas tree.  We picked out a beautiful Douglas fir, tied it onto the top of Hubs’ car, and prayed it wouldn’t slide off like it did last year. Luckily, the tree made it in one piece (thanks to Benny, the helpful tree-tier), and we brought it inside to let it dry off a bit.

After having pizza for dinner (another tradition, this one our tree-trimming meal), we started working on the tree.  The Hubs found himself in a few awkward positions:

Why did she put me in charge of the lights?

Potter watches The Hubs reenact a Christmas version of the Wicked Witch of the East’s last moments.

Then came the ornaments, including Potter’s inspection of the ornament that his Great-Grandmother Altmaier got him last year (it has his name on the back, too!).

And of course we added our traditional (jeez, we have a lot of traditions for the short time we’ve been married) new Hallmark ornament.

This was all topped off with the, well, tree topper.  It turns out that our tree is as stubborn as we are and simply refused to have a star sitting straight on top of it.  The Hubs got it pretty close, but it’s still a little crooked – which just adds character if you ask me.

All-in-all the trimming was a rousing success.  All that’s left now is to stack piles of presents beneath the tree.

Man, I love Christmas.

 

Thanksgiving 2008 Part 2: The Feast

This Thanksgiving was the first that The Hubs and I have spent without any family; we’ve always traveled home or had family come to us.  But because this year was just the two of us, we decided to make it a low-key holiday, beginning with the meal.

After deciding not to be concerned with fanciness and tradition, we only made those things we count as our very favorite holidays dishes.  For Hubs that included the turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and the apple pie.  I added cranberry sauce and broccoli and cheese casserole, as well as seconding the apple pie.

Cooking began Wednesday evening, when I made the pie and the cranberry sauce.  On Thursday I didn’t continue preparations until after the Turkey Trot – one of the perks of it just being Hubs and I was that there was no time table.  So I came home from the race, put the turkey in the oven, and got to work on all of the sides.

Everything turned out perfectly, though the turkey did give me a small headache.  I got the smallest turkey I could find – 8.5 pounds – since it was only for two people.  But because of the small amount of meat, it proved difficult to get an accurate temperature reading.  In the end, it turned out perfectly, but next time I won’t get a bird and smaller than 12 pounds – bring on the leftovers!

Though the meal (and the company) was fantastic, I have to say that I’m getting a little sick of turkey, broccoli and cheese casserole, and cranberry sauce – the leftovers I’ve been working on all weekend.  The apple pie, on the other hand, never gets old.

Interested in what happened after the meal?  Check tomorrow for the third and final installment: Trimming the Tree.