Christmas List

Does anyone else's Christmas list look like this?

1. Finish off Thanksgiving leftovers

2. Find a home for the pumpkin pie that was brought to your after-Thanksgiving party because it never got eaten at someone else's Thanksgiving the day before

3. Put up a Christmas wreath on the front door

4. Disagree with those who say "just decorate the front door" and convince your husband to go into the garage and pull down all the boxes of Christmas decorations

5. Spend all day creating Christmas cards online because your Groupon is about to expire

6. Forget how to spell the word "Christmas" because you've been staring at it all day making sure there are no spelling mistakes on your Christmas cards

7. Drink a large cup of coffee at 6pm because you're on your way to help with the Christmas choir and play rehearsal at church

8. Wish you had another cup of coffee halfway through rehearsal

9. Come home and eat the last 3/4" piece of baguette someone inconsiderately left in the bread bag

10. Keep your promise and blog before midnight

Hmmm... I didn't think so.

The Most Blogger-ful Time of the Year

Inspiration can come from anywhere.  Realizing that it's already December was the inspiration for me to continue my blogging tradition of frantically writing at the end of the year, just so I can "keep up" my blog (like "keeping up" the roots of your hair by wearing hats in between salon visits).  But I told my husband that, starting today, I WILL blog everyday until Christmas - I WILL.  Now I may be falsely assuming that there is still interest in my blog, but if I treat my audience like I treat my husband, I'll just go on and on whether anyone is paying attention or not.

So "Why the picture of the painted nails?", you ask?  (Herein begins the "writing with abandon".)  In keeping with the theme of "inspiration", I was recently inspired to retry new things, the first being to paint my nails.  For those of you unfamiliar, I haven't painted my fingernails for years.  Actually, decades.  No joke.  If my old mind serves me correctly, I think I last had my nails done when my oldest brother got married.  In 1997.  And they were acrylic, so waiting for those darn things to grow out and trying to pick them off was only part of why I never painted my nails again.  And now I am also a stay at home mom.  I have four sons.  I have no maid.  I love to cook.  But I tried to deny these facts and submit to the powers of Pinterest, so I had a friend buy me a bottle of OPI Roadhouse Blues (like the pic above).  The reason I had a friend buy it for me is because OPI is an expensive brand of nail polish and my friend is a hairstylist so she gets me discounts at the supply store and as I said I'm a stay at home mom so I try to be cheap without looking like it.  Anyway, I somehow found an extra hour in my day and actually painted my nails - base coat and top coat and all!  (I know, check me.)  I absolutely loved it, was so proud of myself for doing it, and felt so hip wearing dark nail polish!  (Hmmm, I think using the word "hip" just negated any coolness I just built up for myself.)  Well, as we all know, painting your nails doesn't take away life's responsibilities, so only two days later my nails looked like this:

I should have taken another pic after I finished the laundry that day, but if you can imagine nails with no polish on them whatsoever you've pretty much got the picture.  I was actually hoping to paint them again today:  I wanted the whole "New Look, New Blog" theme, but seeing as it's dinner time and I wanted to squeeze in this post before reheating Thanksgiving fare, painting my nails will have to wait - again.

And since the Christmas season has begun and I must somehow segue from nail polish to the birth of Jesus Christ, I am rebooting my blog with my FIRST EVER CHRISTMAS GIVEAWAY!  Just leave a comment telling me how often you paint your nails, and you'll be entered to win your very own bottle of OPI Roadhouse Blues!  I know you're thinking that I'm just going to give you the rest of my unused bottle, but I'm not.  (Winner will be announced on this post on Friday, 12/6.)

So readers, join me in raising a bottle of nail polish as we begin a new season of inspiration!  Here's to streams of thought, unaccomplishable Pinterest projects, and Baby Jesus!

Nontraditional Traditions

Before the end of 2012 I thought I'd try and squeeze in a SECOND blog entry during the year.  My excuse for lack of more blog entries is the usual:  having four sons.  I am constantly in search of new holiday traditions for their sake, to make their Christmas memories more meaningful.  Take my own traditions, for instance.  "Traditional"?  Maybe not.  "Meaningful"?  Absolutely.

I wear tights.  And I don't mean leggings (though my friend had an awkward situation where a woman she saw at the bank was wearing tights as if they were leggings, short shirt and all - but that's a different conversation all together).  I mean tights.  I used to wear stockings all the time when I was in sales and had to wear a suit, but that was 11 years and four children ago.  Now I just reserve the opportunity to once a year to treat my thighs and legs like ground pork and force them into cotton/polyester casings that make them look sausage-like.  All for the holidays.  This year I attempted to wear the patterned-type of tights, but seeing as it was ribbed I realized too late that the lines are supposed to go STRAIGHT down my legs, not all curvy around the thick parts.  Oh well, live and learn (as in "learn to wear a longer skirt next year").

Justin and I watch "While You Were Sleeping".  Yes, other more traditional Christmas movies are on the list, but we've been fans of this movie since we were dating.  The funny thing is, most people don't know about this Sandra Bullock film from 1995.  But its loveable main character and message about the importance of family actually make it our favorite movie of all time.  It's because of this movie that I want Justin to take me to Chicago someday.  It's also the reason that the words "Mary mashed them" always crack me up.

I call one of my brothers, or he calls me, not even on Christmas, and not even to greet each other.  We try to be the first to call the other upon legitimately hearing "Do They Know It's Christmas?" or "Last Christmas" (and by "legitimately" I mean hearing most of the song and actually paying attention to it).  We're both big fans of the 80s and we can't even let it go during the holidays.  I think we've been doing this since, well, the 80s.  The call goes something like:
"I heard the song."
"Cool.  Where are you?"
"At the bank." or "In the car."
... and that's pretty much it.  This might be one of my favorite Christmas traditions, but don't tell my brother I said that.

Although I am sure these three nontraditional traditions will still top the list of 2013, there are a handful of things I hope NOT to add to that list.  Like "blogged just two times".  Or "can't do without 'Home Alone'".  Or "became fruitcake's #1 fan".

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

"And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth."  John 1:14

Top Ten 2012

Oh.wow.  I am 40 years old.  40 years, 1 month and 21 days old, to be exact.  And I realize I haven't posted since last year.  So, in my "first blog of the year" tradition, here is my Top Ten list:

Top Ten Reasons I Know I'm 40:

10.  I started receiving AARP applications in the mail.

9.  Getting enough fiber is high on my list of priorities.

8.  I love using the term "willy nilly".

7.  I save those plastic bread bags - you know, just in case.

6.  "Elated' is an understatement to describe how I feel each time my new issue of "Better Homes & Gardens" arrives.

5.  I wrote "butter" three times on the same grocery list.

4.  I also wrote "wheat flour" three times on the same grocery list.  On two different occasions.

3.  I started to re-use tea bags.

2.  When I reach down to pick something up, my body makes sounds which I don't mean it to.

1.   I don't look for grey hairs anymore.  They come and find me.

Christmas Traditions

Like most other homes that celebrate Christmas, I grew up with many holiday traditions. We didn't have lots of money or give or receive lots of presents when we were little, but my parents still managed to create memories that I will always cherish.

On Christmas Eve I would always be awakened by the sound of a running vacuum. Always. That would be my dad preparing 12 hours in advance for the yearly party we would host on the evening of December 24. Once mostly awake, I'd be directed to the Pledge and a rag since it was my duty to clean all the side tables, the coffee table, and pretty much anything with a flat surface so that our house would be dust-free for the party. Sadly, it wasn't till I was older that I realized my mother, who was born on Christmas Eve, would spend her entire birthday in the kitchen preparing the meals for our celebration with 40+ guests. We stopped the December 24th party when she got sick and never resumed it after she passed away, but I think it takes a humble mom to create a festive atmosphere for family and friends on a day that should have been spent celebrating her.

But my mom's humility was counteracted by my dad's antics when it came time to sing Christmas carols. All our party guests would cram into our little living room, which necessitated an open front door for fresh air's sake. The printed list of songs and lyrics would go around, and my dad's show would begin. You see, he felt that caroling time needed an emcee and, as the host of the party, he was the natural choice. I suppose singing these Christmas songs would have been pleasant if they were sung normally, but not so with my father. Things pretty much got out of hand when my mom received a "12 Days of Christmas" bell collection one year. Those bells became props for the song and groups of people (assigned by my dad) would take turns singing their "day" and ringing their bell. But no one could really sing days 4,3, or 2 on their own because my dad would always chime in. Always. Whereas normal people would sing it like this:

"4 calling birds, 3 French hens, 2 Turtledoves..."

my father would sing it like this:

"4 calling cards, 3 French toast, 2 turtlenecks..."

Now imagine those words being sung with a heavy Filipino accent. Now imagine a roar of laughter from the crowd. Now imagine that same show year after year. Yep, that's my dad.

So it's probably been at least 17 years since my family's last Christmas Eve party. I must admit that I miss all the food, the joyous gathering of family and friends, and my dad's unique way of singing carols. Maybe I'll consider starting similar traditions for my own family. I'll have to make due without my mom's bell collection or my dad's accent, but I do have a vacuum and lots of Pledge. And that's how great Christmas memories begin.

[See World Vision's "12 Blogs of Christmas"]

Recess

I admit that my kids don't get out as often as they should. As a mother of 4 boys, that means subjecting myself to a bunch of crazed kids bouncing off the walls and screaming as if each was separated from the other by a mile-long chasm.

So I finally decided to change up recess (actually, I decided to GIVE them recess, THEN I changed it up) and go old school. Nope, I didn't play an "80s mix tape". Instead, I grabbed some chalk, an all-purpose rubber ball, and took my two oldest boys outside.

They stood in wonder as I drew a really big square on the driveway and divided it into 4 equal squares. They looked at me as if I was some kind of alien when I declared "Let's play!" It only took a few times with the ball whizzing past for them to understand what they had to do to win - actually, to NOT LOSE against their mother. And despite an unmanned square, we had enough stamina to play for an entire hour.

It was 60 minutes of attacking, defending, and strategizing. It was also 3600 seconds of gloating, pouting, screaming and laughing. I was taken back to the kind of playground fun I had 30 years ago (ahem, yes 30 years). But this time, instead of being intimidated by my opponents, I was relishing each and every move. This game, which required no controllers, no batteries, and no screen, was proving to be a really enjoyable time for all of us. Even Jonah expressed his surprise when he said, "They actually invented this fun game BEFORE you were young??"

Now I don't recall being this sore after playing four square. But I suppose it's worth it, seeing as I've still got my "square skillz" and, now, two very special people to play with. Perhaps in the days to come we'll spend recess playing more of the old school stuff like handball or Chinese jump rope. Or, if I'm really sore, maybe recess will simply involve popping in that 80s mix tape and listening to songs - together.

Passing the Buck

Me: *big sigh*
Jonah: Yes, mom. We KNOW you have lots of stuff to keep you busy around here.
Me: Well, YOUR brothers aren't napping so it will make for a very interesting evening.
Jonah: Yes, for YOU and YOUR husband.

As if my *sigh* was a big long list of complaints.

As if it's Jonah's fault that Jack and Jed are playing in their rooms instead of sleeping.

As if Justin and I are in charge of taking care of everyone. Oh, wait...