I probably could have made a little more effort to write a post here and there, however sporadic, but this busy season actually offered a good excuse to lay low for awhile. Snoodlings has always been a place where I’ve been open and honest. It’s been the place where I’ve worked through the hard stuff and shared what I’ve been learning about life. But I needed some time to take my introspection offline for awhile. I just needed a break from all the thinky thinks. It’s been a little longer hiatus than I’d anticipated, but that’s okay.

I’ve missed the outlet that writing these posts provides for me. I’ve especially missed my online community of friends. I plan to come back and be more consistent at some point in the future, but I know that with another big move looming ever closer, it will be awhile before I’m able to write regular posts here.

I’ve missed Snoodlings and I’ve especially missed those of you who trusted me with a few minutes of your time to read what I had to say. I hope to visit again with you sooner rather than later.

Until then,

Whimzie

Kelly’s family is very large and  in their family, Uncle Sam (That’s not a pseudonym. My children actually have their own Uncle Sam.) passes out all the presents with help from the children and everyone opens everything simultaneously. Keep in mind that we have two Amys; two Bens; an Ann, an Anna, and a Hannah; a Karlea and a Kelly; a Kara and a Karen, and a child with the last name “Lawson” and family members who have the last name “Lawson,” Did I mention that most of the kids helping to distribute the presents can’t read? So I’m never quite sure if I’m actually opening the present that was meant to go to me or who gave my children any of their presents or if they ended up with what they were intended to have.  Since we stay at Kelly’s mom’s when we’re there, I usually get a chance to see all of the gifts she received later in the evening after most everyone has gone home.

This year, one of the gifts we gave Kelly’s mom was a set of Amazing Grace products from Philosophy. I love Philosophy’s products and I especially love Amazing Grace. It has a very soft, clean smell. I gave the same gift set to my mom for her birthday and I thought my mother-in-law would like it, too. That’s why I was a little confused when after most of the rest of the family had left, she sat down beside me with one of the bottles and said simply, “Explain this, please.”

I was flummoxed.

“Well,” I said, “it’s a shower gel, lotion, and perfume that I really like and I thought maybe you’d like it, too.”

“Oh,” she said.

We talked for a few more minutes about fragrances and the like. I was only half-way listening because my mind was reeling wondering why the gift needed an explanation. As long as I’ve known her, and from what I hear, even before I came on the scene, my mother-in-law has worn Youth Dew by Estee’ Lauder. One of my brothers-in-law and his wife give her a new bottle every November for her birthday. Maybe, I thought, she was offended that I would give her a fragrance gift when everyone knew she already has a signature scent. Since the gift had already been given, I just made a mental note to stay away from fragrances as gifts in the future. They can be a very personal choice. The next day, however, she used the products and told us that she really thought she would enjoy them.

On the way home from Kentucky, I called my mom and she  asked me how everyone in Kentucky liked the gifts we’d given them. I told her that I wasn’t sure that I should have given my mother-in-law the Philosophy set. But honestly, after we talked, I really didn’t give it much more thought.

Until today.

Taken from somewhere on the Internet

My mom called me while I was out Christmas shopping and said, “I think I may know why Kelly’s mom responded the way she did about the Amazing Grace gift. Have you read the bottle?”

For those of you who aren’t familiar with the Philosophy products, each bottle has a “philosophical” paragraph or two imprinted on it. The paragraphs are usually feel-good kind of “touchy feely” words. Since I just happened to be shopping in a store that carries Philosophy products, I decided to wander over and read the Amazing Grace bottle.

In case you can’t read the small print on the bottle in the picture, let me include it for you here:

The natural aging process causes the soft tissues of our faces and bodies to begin to descend. Our eyebrows frown, our lids droop, our eyes appear hollow, our noses and ears larger, and our jawbone is less defined.  As for our breasts, bellies, and our buttocks, it’s no different. We can fight the process or we can yield to losing our bodies, gaining our souls, and finding our grace.

Lord, love a duck. I did NOT just give this to my mother-in-law. Drooping eyebrows, hollow eyes, big old nose and ears with a blurry jawbone? Did they just go there? Breasts, bellies, and buttocks?! Are you kidding me?!

I don’t know that I was even in the running, but my chances of becoming the favorite daughter-in-law this year are looking about as promising as this year’s Republican presidential nominee hopefuls.

So Ranger Rick Safety trip and word to the wise for your Christmas giving:  Read the fine print, people. Especially on the gifts that go to your mother-in-law.

By the way, Jen and Tara at shortyarns invited me over for a visit this week. They wanted me to write about Santa losing his sleigh on Christmas Eve. As someone who spent fifteen minutes looking for her keys this afternoon only to find them stuck in the front door keyhole, I felt I had something to say. As someone who has spent the last two days walking up and down through every store parking lot in town trying to remember where she parked the paid-for minivan, I felt well-equipped to write on this subject. To the guys who watch the parking lot surveillance cameras at Walmart and Target, you’re welcome. I’m glad I could amuse and entertain you with my parking lot wanderings.  Anyway, come on over and read this week’s entries. Jen wrote a very imaginative piece about Santa being outsourced by those little Elf on the Shelf guys.  It’s a fun site. Check it out!

For me, music helps to set the mood for Christmas. Even if my decorations aren’t completely up and my presents aren’t wrapped (or bought, for that matter), Bing Crosby singing “White Christmas” makes my days merry and bright (even though my Christmases are rarely white).

Speaking of Bing Crosby, our family has given the great crooner a new nickname. From now on he will be affectionately known in our house as “Big Crunchy.” He has my daughter to thank. See, last year for Christmas, Kelly gave me XM radio for the minivan. I’ve loved having it, especially since the holiday stations started up after Thanksgiving. The box isn’t that big, so from the back seats it can be hard to read the names of the artists and songs that are playing. This became most evident when my youngest hoped aloud the other day that we would hear more Big Crunchy Christmas songs. We had no idea who she was talking about until Bing and The Andrew Sisters started singing “The Twelve Days of Christmas” and she gladly exclaimed, “There he is! There’s Big Crunchy!” And so he shall be for the rest of our days.

She’s in second grade and she’s a very good reader, but she’s still stumped by some of the harder words, especially ones that aren’t in her native tongue. A few days ago she was looking at things I’d bought for one of the many white elephant gift exchanges I’ve participated in this season. For a couple of parties I bought Christmas CDs that were on sale at Walmart, a small Christmas candle, a bar of chocolate, and a Christmas mug that I filled with a bag of my spiced/Russian/Christmas tea mix. I stuck one of each in a bag with a card labeled “Holiday Spirit Picker Upper.” One of the CDs I bought was Andrea Bocelli’s “My Christmas” CD.

“Who’s Andrew Broccoli?” she wanted to know.

Close, sweetie, but not quite.

Maybe it’s a vision thing and I should take her to get her eyes checked. She was sitting across the table from me this weekend as I perused the latest ad from the Lifeway store. She noticed one of the books that was advertised on the cover and wondered aloud, “Heaven is for Roger? Who’s Roger?”

“That’s Heaven is for REAL, dear.”

“Oh!” she said, “I was going to say, that doesn’t seem right that it’s just for Roger.”

So maybe my tree isn’t decorated yet. (I told the kids that we’re going organic this year and that since green is the new black we may just be enjoying the tree in all its naked beauty. At which my boys said, “Eww! Naked!!”) But I have Big Crunchy playing in the background and my Christmas candle is burning. My family’s nestled safe in our nest and for this moment in time, life is good. I hope it’s good for you this very moment, too.

]]> http://snoodlings.com/2011/12/12/setting-the-mood-for-christmas-aka-big-crunchy-andrew-broccoli-and-roger/feed/ 12 whimzie http://snoodlings.com/2011/12/08/making-my-lists-checking-them-twice/ http://snoodlings.com/2011/12/08/making-my-lists-checking-them-twice/#comments Thu, 08 Dec 2011 15:51:11 +0000 whimzie https://whimzie.wordpress.com/?p=3107 Continue reading →]]> Sorry I’ve been missing in action the last couple of weeks! I’ve been trying to take my own advice about keeping the focus where it needs to be this season which means I’ve had less time to spend here at Snoodlings.

I don’t have much time set aside to spend here today, but I did have a few ideas I wanted to share with you today. Many of you are probably sitting in your completely decorated houses beside your beautifully decorated tree with all of your elegantly wrapped gifts underneath its branches, sipping homemade hot chocolate from a mug you made and fired yourself, munching on baked goods, and making your gift list for next year. Aren’t you something? Others of you may be struggling to catch up….like me.

Anyone who knows me knows that I’m no expert on getting it all together and keeping that way, but I have picked up a few tips along the way that have helped me. During this time of year, I am never far away from my Christmas notebook.

The notebook contains my kids’ wish lists, family members’ sizes, the list of what they’re actually getting, my grocery lists, my To Do lists, my price comparison lists, etc. Not only is this notebook helpful now, I keep my notebooks from year to year. They remind me of what presents I’ve given previously and also give me ideas for presents.

Another thing I keep in my purse this time of year:

I keep all of my Christmas receipts here. In case we need to exchange something, I have the receipts all in one place. They also help me keep track of my Christmas spending.

A few weeks ago at a meeting, a speaker gave us a list of great ways to make this time of year easier. I don’t have time to share all of them with you, but today I’ll tell you about the one that impacted me most.

Spend a few minutes and write down your top three priorities for this time of year. Then choose a personal “theme” for your holidays that reflects those priorities. Here are a few ideas:

Faith, Family, & Friends
Keep it Simple
Better Done than Perfect
An Old-Fashioned Christmas
Less is More
Unplugged for the Holidays
Time Together
Change it Up with New Traditions

I couldn’t pick just one, so I’m using “Faith, Family, & Friends,” and “Better Done than Perfect, Good Enough Will Do.” I want to have more time to spend with my family and friends so I don’t have to agonize over the perfect teacher and hostess gifts. I can pick up a dessert from a favorite bakery if I don’t have time to bake something from scratch. I don’t want the stress of getting everything done perfectly to take the focus from the meaning of this time of year. I want more time to reflect on God’s perfect gift and how I can live like someone who knows what it means to have received it.

So what theme would you choose for yourself? Do you use a Christmas notebook?

P.S. Sorry for the repeated notices about this post. I tried a new posting format today and I obviously need more practice!

Before we start our Wednesday discussion about keeping our holiday priorities straight and making them easier to navigate, I thought I’d show you a few pictures from our day. I took them with my phone (still having camera issues) so the quality isn’t great, but we’ll get through this.

The kids decided to take Krispy Kreme doughnuts to school to share with their friends yesterday. When we went to pick them up Monday afternoon, I asked the cashier if it was true that they gave away a free doughnut for every A on a report card. This was a fact, which was music to my A Honor Roll students’ ears! We left with 21 free glazed doughnuts. So on birthday eve, visions of sugar-coated goodness danced in their sweet little heads. We decided that we’d begin the day with a celebratory birthday doughnut so they could practice blowing out candles.

I’ll fast forward through the day to save time. We opened presents last night and they both seemed happy with their gifts.

.

The boys, however, were not happy to see that Grammy had bought their sister the Justin Bieber movie.

That was a speedy trip through the day. I didn’t linger long because I don’t have long to stay today and because thinking about the fact that my babies are eight sends me very close to the edge and I don’t have a lot of time to spend in an emotional state today.

So moving on…..

Let’s talk presents. This may be a more-than-one-week discussion.

I’ll start. I do not have all of my presents purchased. I am not one of those people who has all the presents bought and wrapped before Thanksgiving. In the past, you may have found me looking for last minute gifts on Christmas Eve, but that’s not usually the case anymore. I don’t mind shopping in the Christmas crowds, unless I’m looking for something specific that has already been purchased by every other person and I’m in panic mode.

A few years ago, we decided to try to limi the number of  our immediate family gifts to three. The three gift limit helps us from going overboard and it also reminds us of the wisemen’s visit to Jesus because they brought three gifts. We let the kids make a wish list and then Kelly and I sit down and decide on three gifts that we will give them and three gifts for Santa to give them. We also do stocking stuffers, which are just little, inexpensive gifts I’ve picked up along the year. If I don’t shop with a specific list in mind, I don’t know how to stop shopping and I always overbuy.

I have to buy for sixteen kids for Kelly’s family. This year, I bought the girls bracelets from a store in town that sells jewelry made by women in Africa. They make beads out of magazines and create beautiful pieces of jewelry with them. I’m also giving them each a ring I made from buttons. As soon as I finish making the rings, that is. I’d like to do a similar gift for the boys….something that I can either make or buy that will benefit someone else. Any ideas?

How many of you already all have of your gifts purchased? How many of you will still be purchasing on Christmas Eve? Do you all have a gift limit? Do you make lists or buy as you see something that catches your eye? Do you buy online or from the stores? Do you give homemade gifts? Any favorites that you’d like to tell us about?

Next time, I want to talk about ways to teach our children about giving back during this season. I have a few ideas but I can’t wait to hear yours!

Today’s prompt was “Remember.” Here’s what I wrote:

I wonder if this will be a permanent effect caused the events of two years ago.

I’d always heard it said that the holiday season is never easy again after someone you loved so much is no longer there to be a part. No new memories only old ones that still seem so very sharp in places.

But I choose to remember fondly. As so many things associated with my grief, the memories are bittersweet.

But some memories are mostly sweet.

Her texts yesterday and today have  reminded me of this.

“I got my first white chocolate peppermint mocha yesterday…..”

“I soaked a peppermint tea bag in my coffee for about two minutes….it was so good!!….Who needs Starbucks?!”

She is attached to so many memories that I hold so close to my heart. So many that are associated with this time of year.

Yes, I remember the bad, the ugly, the hard.

But I remember the friends who stood by. The friends who showed up before I even knew I needed them. The year I learned more about what friendship looks like than I’d ever known before.

And so I choose to remember…..

I think maybe my made-up stories became so closely linked to my memories of my dad that since he left, they’ve pretty much stopped. I don’t think I consciously tried to make them stop anymore then I made them happen in the first place. I don’t even think I realized they weren’t happening the way they used to until my friends Tara and Jennifer started a new project.

Both of my friendships with these ladies have grown in unconventional ways. Tara and my mom were in a small group together with several other ladies and we have several mutual friends, but have never spent a lot of time together in person. Neither have Jennifer and I. I’ve actually grown to know these ladies through their blogs (Jennifer had a blog where she challenged herself to write a poem every day!) and Facebook. But still, I certainly count these ladies as precious friends.

I’m not sure the hows and wherefores, but not long ago, Jennifer and Tara started a new blog called shortyarns.  Shortyarns, and I’m quoting from the website, “is a place for [writers] to hone their craft through weekly writing prompts.”  Every Monday, Jennifer and Tara offer a different story starter and encourage their readers to exercise their creative muscles and write.  Isn’t this one of the best ideas for a blog you’ve ever heard? I think ultimately, Jennifer and Tara want this to be a place for aspiring writers to hone their craft not only by disciplining themselves to write, but also by giving and receiving feedback from other writers about the posts.

I didn’t realize how much I’d missed making up stories until Jennifer and Tara asked me if I’d be willing to write a guest post for this week’s prompt. This was my assignment:

You and a friend have just finished a lovely meal at your favorite restaurant.

But things take a turn when you notice that the waiter has scribbled an unexpected—and startling—message on your bill.

Write this scene.

Ever since they asked me to participate, I’ve had so much fun trying to think of a story to go with the prompt! It has given my brain something to do (besides play Words with Friends) while I’m waiting to pick up my kids from school or while I’m driving to the grocery store. I’ve missed the feeling that comes from figuring out how to get a character from Point A to Point B. I had a great time getting to know characters who didn’t even exist until I thought them into being. It’s been fun. And therapeutic. And I’m so thankful that Jennifer and Tara invited me over to play.

I’d love for you to go and check out my story. I’m not inviting you to take a peek because I think it’s my best work, because, although I wish it were, it’s not. Hopefully my very best has yet to be written. Hopefully my stories will come back and I may even start writing them down again. Even if I write them down just for me. I think many of you will want to become regular visitors of shortyarns. Hopefully, some of you will even take some of the writing prompt challenges yourselves!

Here’s the beginning of my story:

We’d finished our meal but lingered a little longer over dessert, soaking up the laughter and conversation. It had been way too long since my friend and I had shared a chunk of uninterrupted time together. Our hearts and stomachs were full after an evening of good food and great conversation. I packed a few memories away to savor at home along with my take-home bag of leftovers. All too soon it was time to go and my friend signaled the waiter to bring our checks.

Anyway…..

It’s Wednesday, so we’re talking about the holidays and ways to make them more meaningful and less stressful. Today, let’s talk about Christmas decorations. Specifically, I want to know when do you put up your Christmas tree and deck your halls with bough of holly and such? I know most people consider it a cardinal sin to show any Christmas spirit until Thanksgiving is over. That’s the plan I’ve always tended to subscribe to, but this year, I’m thinking about starting earlier.

We celebrate Christmas with Kelly’s family over Thanksgiving in Kentucky. By the time we get back in town the weekend after Thanksgiving, our calendar is pretty much full with commitments. We say no to as many as we gracefully can in order to preserve family time and our sanity, but still we end up with quite a few obligations that we just need to fulfill for various reasons. I feel like as soon as we get back from Kentucky we hit the ground running and one of my favorite parts of the season, a Christmas-y house to enjoy, becomes more like a chore that I’m fitting into whatever spare minutes I can find in between activities.

Over the years I’ve accumulated a lot of Christmas decorations. I never feel like a have time before the holidays to clean out my boxes properly and by the time I’m putting everything back after Christmas, I’m just ready to get them packed so I can cross that chore off my list. This year, I would like to pull out a box at a time and decorate at a more leisurely pace.

I know some people think we rush Christmas and I hear people complain that the stores start pushing Christmas earlier and earlier, but I love the entire holiday season and I’m for any excuse to make it last a little bit longer! I love coming home to a house warmed by Christmas lights! I usually start listening to Christmas music around Halloween because I just can’t wait any longer,  so if I start pulling out my Christmas decorations a little earlier, I’ll really just be making my outside match my inside!

Here’s a quick holiday decoration storage tip for you: I am trying to make my decorations easier to find in my storage area by packing them in colored plastic storage bins that match the holiday. For example, all of my Halloween and fall decorations are in orange containers. This year I’m planning to change all of my Christmas storage bins over to red and green (Since they get moved every year or so, many of them are in desperate need of replacement!). I want to get a pink bin for my Valentine’s stuff.  The color coded bins make it easier to make sure I have all the decorations for that season. Just a suggestion.

So let’s discuss: When do you do your holiday decorating? Do you do a lot of decorating or just a tree?

While I try to remember, I’ll share my obligatory Halloween pictures.

He has wanted to dress up like something scary for years and years and I’ve always talked him to something else. This time I let him be scary. He had a blast. He stayed in character all night and didn’t speak.

We live on a street with only five houses and only four of them are occupied. This time last year we only had three children on our street, but now we’re up to five. After we took turns trick or treating at each others’ houses we made a caravan and rode over to the library and then another neighborhood nearby that has more houses….and people…and candy.

Here we are at the only street on the one house on our street without children. Before we moved in, it had been a long time since any children had lived on the street. I often wonder if they miss the quiet.

And here we are at the library.

Kelly’s boss lives in the neighborhood we visited. He was out of town so we taught the children how to vandalize by rolling a sign in his front yard with toilet paper. (We didn’t even use a quarter of a roll.) Unbeknownst to us, one of Kelly’s boss’s bosses was visiting the house next door and handing out candy to trick or treaters. He took a picture of the sign and emailed it Kelly’s boss. Kelly’s boss (and the boss’s boss) are great lovers of fun and everyone got a big kick out of it….except for our kids. They spent the rest of the evening wondering if Daddy’s boss was going to be mad at us. Apparently we aren’t raising delinquents…..yet.

I wish I could stay and talk a little longer, but I’m expecting company today and my house looks like it’s had a bad virus that caused it to vomit its contents all over itself. The guest bathroom could double as a science experiment. And I still have three of my four meetings of the day yet to go.

Tomorrow I’m a chaperone for the fifth grade science trip to the museum and we’re leaving the school at 6:30. In the morning. That’s just this side of early, folks, especially when it’s darker and darker every morning these days. But it’s going to be a full and very fun day and we’ve been looking forward to this for awhile. Don’t forget that tomorrow will be another post in our series of posts to help us not feel overwhelmed during this busy season. And then on Thursday I will be a guest blogger on a brand new website that a couple of friends created called “shortyarns.” I can’t wait to tell you more about this site.

I hope that The Great Pumpkin found all of your pumpkin patches to be sincere and without hypocrisy and that you are enjoying this beautiful first day of the Thankful Season. I am thankful for you.

Step away from the chocolate and enjoy the rest of your day!

2. One of the items on today’s list is to figure out what I’m going to wear to the Cub Scout Halloween party tonight. Last year I went as The Carpool Queen. I didn’t actually dress like my friend Sus, The Carpool Queen. Instead, I wore sleep pants, a t-shirt, and my fuzzy pink bathrobe. I stuck a few Velcro curlers in my hear, smeared my mascara (even more than it already was) under my eyes, and carried a coffee mug and my keys. My kids made me a construction paper crown that said “Carpool Queen.” I went to the party excited to see what all the other parents were wearing. Boy, was I surprised to see that they weren’t wearing costumes. Good times.

But this time, many of the parents have assured me that they will indeed play along this year. So I’m looking for a costume. Here are the contenders:

One of these “Last-Minute  Costume Ideas” from Real Simple (I kind of like Fork in the Road and Pumpkin Pi)

A Bag of Jelly Beans

I wanted to be a Cereal Killer, but my mom thought that might be a little too much for a kids’ party

Or in honor of the showing of  It’s a Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown tonight, I could go as a Charlie Brown Ghost

What do you think? Any other brilliant ideas that I could throw together with stuff I already have around the house? I guess I could go as  a pirate or Encyclopedia Brown or Jack from Magic Treehouse since we have the “costumes” for that.

3. Unrelated to anything we’ve been talking about but just something I wanted to share, I’ve been trying to mix up my reading selections with some of the books I probably should have read by now but just never have. I decided to read some of the quintessential Southern writers. I decided to start with William Faulkner so I’ve been reading The Sound and the Fury. This book played a role in gaining William Faulkner the Nobel Prize in Literature. It is ranked sixth on Modern Library’s 100 Best English-Language Novels of the 20th Century.

I don’t get it. A few chapters in I Wikipedia-ed it just to figure out what in the world I was reading. I’m still not convinced that’s what this book is about. It’s kind of like in ninth grade when were reading The Great Gatsby. I loved the book and thought it was a great story, but when our teacher kept trying to get us to explain the significance of the green light and The Eye, I felt like such a dummy for not noticing in the first place.

Or take Bon Iver, for instance. No, seriously, you can have him. I’ve seen a lot of the hipsters reference him in their Tweets: “Contemplating the universe while listening to Bon Iver. Peace.” I’ve seen him show up in people’s Spotify notifications on Facebook. He’s supposed to be one of the hot new artists. But to me, and this is just one girl’s opinion, all of his sounds sing like he’s singing them in a key that’s one too high for him. I think I would like him better if he wasn’t trying to be more tenor-like than he is.

Sigh. I guess when you count Charlie Brown as one of your great life love’s you can’t expect to be one of the hipsters.

Am I alone here? Anything the kids are loving these days that you just don’t get?

Okay. I’m off to conquer my list. Hope you conquer yours today…and that it doesn’t fight back.

Don’t forget to check your local listings for tonight’s showing of It’s a Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown on ABC!