Not the best photo. I’m sure I’ll take better ones tomorrow. But we finally put up the FINISHED advent calendar tonight! Christina did the honors of placing the first ornament. I am so proud of this thing, all the years of planning and cutting and measuring and hand sewing and machine sewing and plain old learning how to sew at all. I need a better way to hang it, and need to take down the stuff behind it, but I’m very proud of it. I hope it brings us as much joy after making it as I had while making it. And the countdown to Christmas begins…
Tag: christmas
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March 2
Considering we started the day on the other side of the state, I did a lot today. Not the least of which was finishing another big piece of the advent calendar. I am finishing the day with overwhelming gratitude. For every time Robin smiled over the weekend, for Christina coming food shopping with me today, for Billy pulling together all our National Parks photos into frames to put on the dining room wall… and so many other things too.
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February 22
I went out with some friends and we laughed and ate Mexican food and it was so fun. I don’t have many friends here, and those I do have I don’t see very often, so nights like these mean a lot to me. Also today I made the last ornament for the advent calendar. It will surely be done in time for Christmas this year. Next step is to sew on buttons, then add the back and border, and then add dowels and it’s done! Four years of effort. Worth all the time that’s gone into it.
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January 16
Some days rush past without a moment to think about what’s happening. I feel like a frenzied cat, trying to make sure everything is taken care of for this weekend – connecting Billy with Christina’s friend for her sleepover, getting Christina’s costumes together for her dress rehearsal on Monday, showing Billy how to make a cinnamon bun with a center part in Christina’s hair, making sure dance waivers are signed and turned in, making sure Robin is packed, not to mention wrapping up at work all the way up to the last minute before dance and a day off tomorrow, dinner, shower… I do not have to do all these things. Billy is a capable human being willing to help. I absolutely have a control problem and I acknowledge that. Sometimes I forget to work on it. Hey, but I did delegate something at work at the last minute. That took something out of me, but I did it. Win!
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January 6
I finally stopped turning on our Christmas lights yesterday, even though it makes me a little sad. I love Christmas lights. It feels like Christmas only lasted 20 minutes this year. And when it ended, it just ended. We’ll at least have our tree until the weekend, anyway. Then I guess it’s time to move on and see what’s next.
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December 30
We played Trivial Pursuit tonight. Billy won, but Christina finished the game in a foul mood, promising never to play with me ever again. She got a lot of hard questions and I got a lot of easy ones, and I guess she didn’t see the difference. But then we played That Escalated Quickly, and we’re getting better at that game too. Some of the things we come up with – no, some of the things CHRISTINA comes up with – are incredibly entertaining. I’m glad we got so many games for Christmas. This kind of family time makes me so happy.
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December 29
We went to see Rosina and Dion for some beer and pizza. It’s always nice spending time with friends.
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December 27
We’ve been enjoying all the games we got for Christmas this year. A particular favorite has been Uno No Mercy, which really is brutal, but enormously fun in its extremism. We have a bunch more games to try out, and luckily no classes or practices to get in the way for at least a week.
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December 25
It was a pretty good day. Santa knows what’s up, y’all. There was a game of Poop involved. How could you go wrong with Poop? Dinner was amazing. Maybe not beautiful, but incredibly delicious. We made a turkey roulade with apples, sausage, and cornbread and a side of fried smashed potatoes. Colleen made a kale salad with cranberries and butternut squash that was incredible. Now it’s almost 8:30 and the day is catching up with me. I got about four hours of sleep on account of Christina waking up an hour after I went to bed, just as I was falling asleep. She woke up Pinot and gave him carrots in his crate, which got him worked up. He whined and barked until I finally took him out and dropped him in Christina’s arms as officially her problem. Within 15 minutes, he was running all over the house, barking. Apparently 2:30am is play time. He woke up Robin, and I probably should have just given up then. At some point I must have fallen asleep without realizing it, because I thought I got up to yell at the kids to go the fuck to bed and don’t get up until real, actual morning. They both said that didn’t actually happen, which I guess is good. They were also nice enough to let me sleep an extra 15 minutes after our agreed-upon 7:15am start time. All said and done, a good Christmas. Christmas is morphing for us right now, and it just goes to show that magic flows where it’s needed, in the way it’s needed, and while it’s not always what we expected, it’s still magic.
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December 24
We did a lot to celebrate Christmas Eve, but we forgot to read T’was the Night Before Christmas! Seems like everything worked out just fine all the same.
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December 22
We did our Christmas food shopping and Christmas baking today, and now there is officially nothing else to do until Christmas. And please god no more spending money. It is astonishing how much we spent on groceries. Dinner better be amazing on Christmas. At least the cookies are pretty good!
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December 21
Today was a lazy day of doing nothing, followed by the Run Santa Run 5k. The girls did the one-mile run (which we walked) and then I did the 5k. I beat my Thanksgiving time by almost five minutes. It was a chilly night (under 50 degrees!). My Santa jacket wouldn’t stay on and my pants kept falling down and I couldn’t fix either because I had my phone and car key in my hand. I ran with Monica, who goes much faster than I do. We hung in together for two miles, but I finally had to set her (and me) free. I think she’s a big part of the reason I finished with such an improved time. We did 60/30 splits, but her running pace during the 60s was over a minute per mile faster than my usual pace. I am so glad I did it, I’m so happy the girls did it, even though Christina was mad at me for not letting her bring her iPad and Robin was too cold to enjoy anything. I feel so good right now, like I can accomplish anything. I kind of already have.
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December 20
Finished all my elfing for the week and now there’s nothing left to do before Christmas except run a 5k, go food shopping, bake four cookie recipes, and cook a three-course Christmas dinner for eight people. I do not know what will occupy my time after December 25.
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December 18
We put up Christmas lights today and I almost died. Apparently I stepped on the home of some very angry ants. I have approximately 35 bites that occurred in a matter of seconds. I had such a violent reaction that I almost passed out right there on the front lawn. I am in so much pain, far worse than when I broke my ankle and needed nine pins and a plate to repair it. But… the house is beautiful. Also the moon got in on the action. Thank you, moon.
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December 17
We made a last-minute decision to build gingerbread houses. The girls, oddly enough, were the most successful. Billy’s house collapsed in an earthquake. Mine was structurally sound, but terribly boring. Robin made the bakery and Christina made the toy shop. I think both are beautiful.
Year in Photos 