The Weather Outside Was Frightful...

actually, it was .... dum-dee-dum-delightful.

Christmas Eve we spent at M and S's home. The H family swept us into their warm family circle and Christmas Eve tradition. Brother B was visiting from Atlanta (he's the one wearing the red nose). We played fun games that M and S cooked up and ate a fabulous meatless lasagna (Thanks again, S, for the special no-peppers one for me!). Girl left the party early. She was so excited to see Umby Bumby and Aunt Lo that she fooled me into thinking she was napping. We learned later (the hard way) that she had NOT napped. Just after she left, the boys were washing their hands in the powder room and placed the used towel on top of the beautiful tea light holder on the bathroom sink. M remarked "if you smell smoke, don't worry, the fire is out". So, not much harm done except a charred and smoldering hand towel.

Christmas day was just about as non-boring. Boy was awake at 4:00am and then at 5:00am and I finally convinced him to sleep in until 6:15. He ran into our room to tell us that there was a gift under his bed .... "Santa must have dressed invisible and chucked it in there". He ran back out to roust his sister who discovered a giant stuffed "Uniqua" sitting on her chair. She and Umby Bumby were teasing each other calling it "My-Niqua". B and Ls arrived early and L (bless her in her beautiful skirt) gamely parked her self on Boy's floor to help him assemble the Viking ship.

We headed over to Lady and Smuff's for a bite of lunch. L and I sat at the kids table to keep the chaos in some semblence of order. Boy's stomach rebelled at my attempts at getting him to clean his plate. Sooo.......I was finished with my lunch rather early and cleaning up the boy and the table. After some great quality family time with the wonderfully generous family, we returned to our house to have dinner (and wine!) with B and L and we had a great evening of discussion and sharing.

Santa brought a video camera and a great sound system for my iPod. We are having fun using both of these fun gifts. Our greatest blessings of this Season were the moments spent with our wonderful family and friends. We love you ALL!

God/dess Bless us, everyone! -- Tiny Tim in Santa Susanna Repertory Theather production of Dicken's A Christmas Carol December 2005

Happy 2006! (Enjoy that extra second of 2005!)

~~Mama

Gratitude. Let's Have a Serving

This is Girl during a recent haircut. She let A curl her hair. I was at the office so A snapped this photo with her camera phone. My Beautiful Baby with Curls!

It's the height of the Silly Season here in Hollywierd; the week before the REAL insanity begins. Everyone is trying to outdo everyone else with the decorating. There are icicles galore and booty-shaking snowmen, moving deer, large globes with air blown "snow" inside, Santa and a million reindeer cavorting on rooftoops. Where Lady and Smuff live there is a "candy cane lane" where all the houses on the cul de sac decorate to the NINES each house with a theme (M&M's, salsa penguins, the Grinch, Disney, etc....) except for one, dark house in the middle. It is a reminder that not all celebrate the Season of Silliness in the same way.

Our family celebrates ALL of the light festivals, specifically the Winter Solstice and Christmas. At least we do in Spirit and are really working to do so in Wallet, too. It's so tough not getting caught up on all the craziness of the most DOMINANT "celebrations" of $MONEY$--Ka-CHING!!!
Everyone is crabby, rushed, stressed, overspent, overworked, overfed, over hung (take that in any way you want) and I wonder.....WHY do we always do this? So far, I haven't found any answer that makes any sense.

My mantra right now is "Gratitude". I got something about it in an email from my good friend Pat and it's been a wonderful, beautiful gift. Like a good shot of caffeine, it's a "feel good" substance, so I try to have a little bit every day. Today it is for the beauty of frost on the clay rooftiles and the smile on Girl's face as she says she's a "Steeler Girl". That is what the real meaning of the season is about--Peace On Earth and doing everything with a Grateful Heart, no matter what book you read or in whichever god/dess you Trust..

Last year we and three other families did an all night vigil on the Longest Night (Winter Solstice for those not familiar with the Ancient Feasts). The kids stayed awake up until they were delirious and passed out. The adults stayed awake all night and were just delirious. Just before dawn, it was time to hike up the hill and greet the Sun. It was fun and special, but I don't think we have it in us this year. We will spend special time with friends and family to remember really, what Winter is about--hibernating, being lazy and preparing for Spring to arrive--after a nice long nap.

But, we still have to get through the Silliness!!! I have been online shopping and everything got screwed up. After one whole day spent on the phone everything is fine now. I should have just STARTED on the phone. It seems that most sites were completely unprepared for the frenzy of the online shopping and out of stock for EVERYTHING. I'm glad that there wasn't THE one BIG HOT Furby-like toy this year. Though, trying to find a child's Easel seems to be a major hassle.

The kids are very excited for the arrival of the BIG RED ONE, and all his treasures. However, I doubt we will get Girl anywhere near him. Speaking of BIG GUYS....What is UP with Howard Stern? That is ALL I have been hearing about today. Is it seriously going to make Headline News if he decides to moonlight as Santa? There are definitely more important things to discuss other than him! Oops! The other "him" isn't talking.

It reminds me of the steriod controversy in MLB. It was the Feds way of saying "LOOK at this SHINY OBJECT over here to make you forget ALL ABOUT what we are (or aren't) DOING OVER THERE".

Okay, I'm babbling and wandering onto dangerous soapboxes. I thought I had all this interesting stuff to say, and actually I do. But, I fear it's only interesting to me. Though, my wee Irish-living bookworm friend and I could kill a few pints in such a discussion. As I sit here in front of the screen, I realize that most of what I have to say is probably a tad too liberal for most of my family, even though they all know that I am a Bleeding Heart, Tree-Hugging, Moon-Worshipping, Freaky Homeschooling Alternative Witchy Liberal Mom.

Let's just leave it at that.

Oh, Happy Christmas!--John Lennon

Holy Guacamole, Beginning Batman (--a great movie! and a subject for another day--), I can't believe I just quoted John Lennon--My Mom will be so proud!

~~Mama