So we’ve been pretty preoccupied these last few days. We’ll be back soon when we have a minute to reconnoiter.
Daughter #2 and her DH are heading back east today. Uncle Nate was a big hit.
Things will slow down a bit now. Everybody needs a rest.
Hope you enjoyed your Christmas long weekend!
We’re in the home stretch now!
I had the house pretty well cleaned up this weekend. Then the wee babes came over on Sunday night. The wee laddie likes to eat and blow raspberries at the same time, expressing whatever food is in his mouth all over the place! It is a neat trick and c’est la vie. The Christmas creche is fair game as well.
Although everything he sees goes into his mouth, he is so active he seems to burn off any and all calories. Case in point: the wee laddie climbed all the way up our stairs to the second floor.
Talk about Mt. Crumpit! I wish I had the core strength of our 16 lb. dynamo.
Little Lottiebelle takes a more measured approach to things. She is unimpressed by her brother’s antics and accomplishments.
Stairs? No way, José!
And I hear the wee babes went to see a certain jolly old elf…
They’re not afraid…
Well, this week I will wind things up at work and finish my to-do list and await the arrival of daughter #2 and Nate and daughter #1 on Friday. Woohoo!
P.S. I know you are impressed with my ability to screenshot Snapchat videos, right? I impress myself sometimes.
*Dr. Seuss
Well, here we are 12 days from Christmas. I have a pile of presents to wrap, but my cards are in the mail.
I have to wait until my girls are home before I can watch White Christmas, so I watched the 1951 A Christmas Carol with the wonderful Alastair Sim–definitely the best version of the classic by Charles Dickens–last night. It is a great movie and should be part of every pre-Christmas routine. I always choke up when they play “Barbara Allen.”
Tonight I might watch Mary Poppins (1964) and toast Dick Van Dyke, who was born on this day in 1925.
We went to see Mary Poppins for my little sister’s birthday, in 1964, a week before Christmas. We had dinner at the University Club and then went to the Fox Theater across the street. It was a Big Deal and I’m not sure why. But it was super fun and we all loved it. Have you watched this movie recently? It holds up and is definitely not just for children.
I thought this article in the WSJ was interesting. I mean, haven’t I been saying this for years? Didn’t I once, a few years ago, even email a high school classmate (not a close friend) whose picture I had seen in an alumni magazine, asking her where did she get that dress? It had sleeves! She wrote right back with the answer, saying, I know, right?
Designers should throw us old ladies a bone.
And, okay, I thought this was funny:
Enjoy your day!
It’s December and the pre-Christmas mayhem has begun, but I’m not letting any of that get to me. Nope. This year, I’m just going to enjoy everything. I might even start playing Christmas music today. There’s no big trick to maintaining the Christmas spirit. Just remind yourself of what’s most important — the birth of Jesus — and choose to celebrate that every day.
Keep it simple.
Don’t compete with the neighbors, and try not to get annoyed if they go overboard. Even so, no amount of neighborly love obligates you to help put up or take down their excessively ornate decorations.
Holiday Decorations in Dyker Heights, Brooklyn — Image by © Andria Patino/Corbis
If the light shines into your bedroom window and prevents you from falling asleep, it’s okay to ask them nicely to turn off the lights at midnight. You might mention that doing so will reduce the electric bill 🙂
Don’t stress over Christmas presents. It really IS the thought that counts. Most people just want to know they’re loved and that you think about them. They don’t expect you to come up with that one, perfect present every year. Ask yourself what gift would improve the other person’s life, and get that. Socks and a heartfelt card may be just the thing.
Cultivate repose. Find the time to read some poetry and contemplate the season. Let’s start with “December Stillness” from Siegfried Sassoon.
December stillness, teach me through your trees
That loom along the west, one with the land,
The veiled evangel of your mysteries.
While nightfall, sad and spacious, on the down
Deepens, and dusk embues me where I stand,
With grave diminishings of green and brown,
Speak, roofless Nature, your instinctive words;
And let me learn your secret from the sky,
Following a flock of steadfast-journeying birds
In lone remote migration beating by.
December stillness, crossed by twilight roads,
Teach me to travel far and bear my loads.
We all carry a load and have far to go, but if you remember what we’re celebrating, you’ll find your burden isn’t so heavy and the distance not so long.
I’m off to bake some banana bread to take to the “greening of the church” party this afternoon. Then I’ll do some Christmas shopping and some decorating around the house. Tomorrow we’ll go to church and to buy our Christmas tree. I think it’s going to be a lovely weekend!
It was a busy week. Daughter #2 came home and between going to work, trips to the NICU at the hospital and an ice storm, we managed to trim the big tree
and watch Miracle on 34th Street (1947) and Edward Scissorhands (1990). We even made several fires in the fireplace without the aid of our Eagle Scout who did come and help us wrangle the tree into the tree stand. Merci beaucoup.
Daughter #2 graded 29 papers and the OM gassed up the cars.
We went to church yesterday, the fourth Sunday in Advent, and sang the rest of the advent hymns. The rector gave us all high fives for showing up. In fact, a lot of churches were closed because of the weather and very cold temperatures. This is a new thing. On Saturday night you see the names of church closings scrolling on the bottom of your television screen, just like school closings during the week. [Insert eye roll here.] Please.
Today we will go back to work for a few days and visit the hospital and get ready for daughter #1’s arrival on Friday. And we will “rejoice! rejoice!” because, you know, “Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel!”
Have a good week and stay calm.
*Hymn 57, Charles Wesley
How’s the Christmas shopping coming? Got those Christmas cards addressed?
Me neither.
But take heart. You know everything will come together and all will be well by Christmas.
Need a great gift idea? Here’s one from Mockingbird:
or this:
Who knew there was such a market for Episcopalian swag?
But let’s try to regain our perspective. Seriously, this woman was the real deal! She didn’t need a t-shirt to validate her way of life.
Hang in there.
(The t-shirts are available here.)
Well, the weekend is upon us. Sigh. I intend to check out our Grace Church Holiday Sale, go to a baby shower for daughter #3, and attend our Advent Lessons and Carols service. Maybe I will convince the OM to go with me to buy our Christmas trees…
In between the aforementioned fun activities, I plan to start watching Christmas movies. You know:
Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
The Bishop’s Wife (1947)
or maybe Edward Scissorhands (1990)
There are so many to choose from! Meanwhile, maybe I’ll get started on those Christmas cards!
BTW, don’t forget to set your DVR this month, because TCM is, of course, showing a lot of Christmas classics! Here’s the schedule.
And this Instagram made me laugh:
Enjoy your weekend!
“I hear that in many places something has happened to Christmas; that it is changing from a time of merriment and carefree gaiety to a holiday which is filled with tedium; that many people dread the day and the obligation to give Christmas presents is a nightmare to weary, bored souls; that the children of enlightened parents no longer believe in Santa Claus; that all in all, the effort to be happy and have pleasure makes many honest hearts grow dark with despair instead of beaming with good will and cheerfulness.”
–Julia Peterkin, “A Plantation Christmas,” 1934
Today is the first day of December. Let’s try not to get all stressed out.
Remember that Jesus is the reason for the season–not some unattainable perfection of decorating or entertaining. Relax. Pay attention. Have fun.
And listen to this:
I feel better. Don’t you?
Well, the holidays are officially over.
It was a busy long weekend. First I took down the little tree.
Then the mantle.
Then I moved on to the big tree.
Soon all that was left was a pile of pine needles, some of which will still be around next year when we put up the next tree.
In between we celebrated the New Year with friends and had the boy and daughter #3 over for dinner on New Year’s Day. We watched 3 Godfathers (1947), my favorite movie about the three wisemen, with them.
I also watched Bridge of Spies (2015)–pretty average–and A Walk In the Woods (2015)–pretty disappointing. I was hoping it would cheer me up, but considering it is based on a book by Bill Bryson, it was remarkably devoid of humor. Furthermore, Robert Redford is way too old and tired looking to play Bill Bryson, who wrote the book when he was 47. Redford is 79 and, despite what he may think, he looks it. His boyishly cut, dyed red hair looks ridiculous. Nick Nolte looks every one of his 74 years and more. Indeed, he appears to be at death’s door and like he wouldn’t make it 100 yards on the Appalachian Trail in real life. Cleary their backpacks were filled with bubble wrap.
There was a lot of great scenery, which I appreciated, and the music featured songs by the band Lord Huron. (My dual personality gave me one of their CDs for Christmas and I had coincidentally been listening to it a lot over the weekend during my clean up efforts. BTW the CD is really good.) But, boy, it could have been so much better if it had been cast differently.
Anyway, I am now ready to face the new year at work today. The holidays were great fun, and I will miss my girls. But it’s alright, Ma, it’s life, and life only.
*Bob Dylan. (Yes, I would have spelled it “all right”…)
“The nativity mystery “conceived from the Holy Spirit and born from the Virgin Mary,” means, that God became human, truly human out of his own grace. The miracle of the existence of Jesus, his “climbing down of God” is: Holy Spirit and Virgin Mary! Here is a human being, the Virgin Mary, and as he comes from God, Jesus comes also from this human being. Born of the Virgin Mary means a human origin for God. Jesus Christ is not only truly God, he is human like every one of us. He is human without limitation. He is not only similar to us, he is like us.”
–Karl Barth, Dogmatics in Outline
Merry Christmas!
dual personalities 