Blah, blah, blog!

T'was the night after Christmas...

...and all through the house...signs of a very blessed Christmas surround us!
Browsing through my photo upload of the past week, I would say we had a wonderful Christmas.

A few highlights:

• Attending and helping with class Christmas parties for ALL THREE kids! Even P went back to school for the class party. Her blue casts are filled with signatures from classmates and she did just fine back in the mix.
• Miss Martha's Christmas Victorian Tea Party. Twelve four year olds wore their Christmas best, focused on ettiquete and the the promise of Christ's love.  Perfect.
• Finding Christmas dresses for the girls in November was to be the ONLY thing I had planned ahead for.  That, and shopping via Amazon.com by 12/4
• My son eagerly wore his pinstrip suit for Christmas Eve dinner...SO HANDSOME! He borrowed his uncle's Bluetooth to complete the young Alex Keaton look.
• 13 pounds of king crab legs, 5 pounds of prawns, huge scallops and a vat of lobster risotto for Christmas Eve dinner at mom's.
• Driving around at night, with the windows down, heater on, kids and Bella bundled up in blankets in the backseat to look at Christmas lights. Our favorite was a house with a lightshow synchronized to a FM radio station playing Wizards of Winter by The Trans Siberian Orchestra.
• Coming home for hot cocoa and J insisting we download Wizards of Winter to his iPod (he fell asleep listening to it).
• Spending four days in a row with my husband.
• A 6 PM phone call on 12/24 from my neighbor Wendy, after getting a panicked call from another neighbor Denise, after she realized Santa's gifts didn't arrive at grandma's house in Pismo Beach in time. Wendy and I quickly went into Elf-Mode to write a problem-solving letter from Santa and emailed it to Denise.  Whew.
• Reading T'was the Night Before Christmas in our bed before sending our kids off to 'night 'night on Christmas Eve.
• J informing me that the story was written in 1846 by a doctor who wrote it to entertain his children on Christmas Eve.  Apparently, J read a Christmas Facts book.
• Going to bed at 12:30 AM on Christmas Eve, to be awoken at 3AM by violent Santa Ana winds...unable to sleep, but then hearing the kids start downstairs at 5:30 AM.
• Watching the kids find their stockings and gifts from Santa. J was all smiles as he found an authentic Green Bay Packers jersey, hardcover complete illustrated history and famous games DVD.
• My annual Christmas morning brunch with Company French Toast, Christmas Quiche, and Company Hash Browns and a full smoothie bar.
• Sending the kids with uncle and Fawna for a few hours Christmas Day so T and I could catch an matinee (we saw I Am Legend...very disturbing).
• Leftover dinner at mom's, exhausted kids and a nice glass of Red Truck wine while T reads the Packers book and I blog.

Happy Christmas!

Christmas Quiz

I grabbed this meme from Tommie's Blog.  Her DH has been serving in Iraq (second deployment) and he comes home in THREE DAYS!!!  I've really enjoyed reading Tommie's blog and her comments here. I admire her for so many things: ideas, her organizational skills, he dedication and her ability to keep her family and household together while her husband so bravely goes to work for freedom.  Thank you Tommie and Mr. Tommie. I'll be watching your countdown ticker on your blog and thinking of you when your family is finally all together in one space.  Now that, is a good Christmas homecoming!

As far as Christmas cheer over here, I thought I'd share my traditions through these questions.  Please copy and paste these into your blog and share your Christmas thoughts too!

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags?
I prefer gift wrap.  I like plain white paper with great ribbon.  Last year I found a black velvet floral on a gold mesh wide ribbon and it looked yummy on my apple green shimmer paper.  This year I'm wrapping in turquoise and I have yet to find "the" ribbon.  Costco has the best value in ribbon.  I should go.

2. Real tree or artificial?
Fake all the way baby!  I could give you some song and dance about the resources wasted on growing trees in Oregon and trucking them down to CA and the fire hazzard with our dry conditions and that is all true.  But my motivation is really the ability to put it up the day after Thanksgiving, plug it in (pre-lit) and not have to think about it again until it is time to come down.   

3. When do you put up the tree?
Tree goes up the day after Thanksgiving. 

4. When do you take the tree down?
Tree comes down Christmas day.

5. Do you like egg nog? Is there bourbon involved?
My husband adores whiskey and egg nogg (in that order???). While I don't mind the flavor, I can think of a thousand other ways I'd prefer to spend those calories and fat grams.  Therefore, I avoid egg nogg.

6. Favorite gift received as a child?
The only specific gift I remember is a Barbie makeup/styling head I got when I was about 7.  All of my Christmas memories are magical, but they are more about the sights, smells, sounds and feelings rather than the stuff.

7. Do you have a nativity scene?
No. I should get one, but I'm not one for figurines of any kind.

8. Hardest person to buy for?
My dad!  No, my brother.  Actually they are all hard to buy for.  Dad doesn't like clothes or gadgets and doesn't need or want a lot of stuff.  My brother ALWAYS returns each and every gift I have ever given him. This year we are cutting all of that stress out and have declared no gifts for adults in our family.  So far, it has made my pre-holiday jobs so much easier!

9. Easiest person to buy for?
This year it has been my oldest daughter. She is into easy to buy for things: watercoloring, computer games, books, movies like Hairspray, HSM2.

10. Worst Christmas gift you ever received?
There are no bad gifts. Although my grandma has given some head-scratchers over the years.  One year I opened a half-used tube of "Fungoid" cream with my roll of quarters to be used for laundry at the sorority house.  I think she was concerned about communal showers at the house.

11. Mail or e-mail Christmas cards?
I have written newsletters for most of the past ten years.  Last year I had bad luck with broken printers, ink costs, and I finally paid a professional printer to copy my double-sided, graphic-heavy family newsletter.  By the time I paid postage on 130 letters I said "I will never do this again".  I was staying strong until all of the cards and letters started arriving here.  Now I feel guilty!  If I do anything this year, it will be an e-card with a link to a temporary Christmas blog.  I've already reserved the blog site through blogger.  But I have no office and I'm a creative nomad right now, remember?

12. Favorite Christmas Movie?
Christmas With the Cranks

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas?
The last few years, my mom and I grab peppermint mocha lattes from Starbucks on a Thursday evening in early December and hit the stores hard until about 11PM.  We look like packrats as we shove bags into the back of my car.  This year, we skipped all of that and T and I made careful lists and did about 90% of our shopping through Amazon.  Everything is delievered to his work address. Easiest. Thing. Ever.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present?
Only for our neighborhood White Elephant gift exchange.  I got a shot glass chess game last year and re-gifted it to another couple this year.  Unused.  Imagine that.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas?
My mom's seafood extravaganza!  This year it will be king crab, jumbo prawns, bacon wrapped sea scallops and a lobster risotto.  Yum!

16. Clear lights or colored on the tree?
Clear white lights. simple and classic. Besides, my tree is pre-lit, remember?

17. Favorite Christmas song?
Christmas in Hollis by Run D.M.C.
Christmas Wrapping by The Waitresses
The Chanuka Song by Adam Sandler
Carol of the Bells by En Vogue

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home?
Home.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeers?
Only if I sing them.

20. Angel on the tree top or a star?
Neither.  It is hot pink and turquoise glitter poinsettas bunched around the top of the tree, hiding the ribbons tied around the top branches.

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning?
All my life we have opened gifts on Christmas eve, however this year we are trying something different.  Christmas eve will focus on dinner and family. The kids will get ONE gift to open on Christmas eve from my parents (because they just can't help it). Christmas morning will be our gift opening main event this year.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of year?
Those Lexus December To Remember commericals.  They air them every single year. The same commericals.  And really...who is going to buy a Lexus and put a big red bow on it for Christmas????

23. What I love most about Christmas?
Watching the kids enjoy every magical thing: the baking, decorating, reading Christmas cards, listening to Christmas music, going to church with my five neighbor families, reading Christmas stories, writing their wish lists, letters to Santa, feeling their anticipation and watching their delight....I love it all!

Holiday sparkle

Twenty-one twenty days til Christmas! (I started this post yesterday).

Well, we LOOK like we are ready for Christmas around here.  I guess we could be if presents weren't a part of the equation.  Every single night T and I say we are going to hit Amazon and knock it all out. So far, we've been too tired to think clearly and discuss the books, games, and craft kits we have placed on our Amazon wish list for the kids.  Tonight. Promise.

We spend Christmas Eve at my mom's house. Every Christmas is magical. My mom works so hard to make every detail perfect. She has the most amazing tree: victorian themed with gold and burgundy ornaments. The ribbon curls perfectly down the tree, the cherub and violin ornaments have been collected and admired for years. Her designer tree is so carefully planned, that in years past, she has actually re-wrapped gifts that clash. Everything, down to the burgundy and gold gift wrap, is just right. Her house sparkles and smells like Christmas. I cannot imagine it any other way.

My house, on the other hand, is a little less coiffed and a lot more funky. Two years ago I ditched the traditional red and green and have been building my theme on hot pink and turquoise. My ornaments are inspired by jewels (some are big, obnoxious jewels) and I have tucked in lots of hot pink and turquoise glittered poinsettas in an effort to stay traditional.  I couldn't resist those sparkely high heel shoes and handbag for my entry table. I wish them came in hot pink, but red will do.  Oh, and I found a to-die-for red plush fur Christmas tree skirt, trimmed in black and tan leopard fur. Love that.

Good thing....because yesterday afternoon we decided to host our neighbors for a pre-holiday soiree on Saturday night.  I know, I know....but really it should be easy. I sent out a darling holiday-themed evite and instructed everyone to bring a heavy appetizer, a dessert, a cocktail, and a white elephant gift to exchange. We'll have cards, dice, and Trivial Pursuit Totally 80's Edition on hand to play. It is really a collaborative Christmas cocktail party. We had intended to organize a progressive Christmas cocktail party, but schedules got crazy and a lot of our friends can leave their kids at home (older kids and just down the street).  My mom so graciously offered to keep mine Saturday night for Christmas Train Cake Baking and Decorating, so we decided to host. Seriously, if we only have the 16 adults we've invited minus the 26 kids that belong to those parents....it will be a breeze. Fun too.

Speaking of Evites....what do you think about paperless holiday invitations and newsletters?  Sure, a custom invitation made by my own hands would have been nice, but seriously, then we wouldn't have a party because I couldn't get past step one. I've been writing holiday newsletters for ten years and last year I vowed to abandon the practice (ink, new printer (shot the old print heads), professional printing, and finally postage costs caused me to hang it up.  I've been toying with the idea of setting up an end-of-year family wrap up blog and sending an e-greeting with the blog link.  I'm certain I'll offend some of the traditionalists, but at this point it looks like it will be an electronic newsletter or nothing.

Beside, Kel won't be my friend anymore if I create more junk for the landfills....

Hooray for the Red, White & Blue!

We hosted our annual 4th of July block party yesterday with 8 other families on our cul-de-sac.  We invited six families from other streets, including my parents.  We blocked off the street, let the music play from the DJ booth and let the kids run wild among our pool, the huge inflated water slide, the dunk tank and the endless snow cone machine.

It was a typically hot day and we were grateful for the pool.  Dangerous though, if you just wanted to to stick your feet in....several people got pushed in just because they were in the vicinity, including my mom. She was a good sport.

There was a lot of dancing in the street this year.  The kids love to do the Cha Cha Slide.  A few grown ups do too.  A house-to-house conga line grew as people joined in as they got picked up.  A Limbo Line in the middle of the street awareded $20 to our 11 year old winner!


The horseshoe tournament this year was co-ed.  I teamed up with Erich and I even got a ringer (once).  All I can say is that this game is much harder than it looks and those shoes have a lot of bounce and can hurt if they come off the street and tumble.  I was paranoid of taking out a kid.  I missed the sand pit many times. Erich and I made it the the semi-final round and were eliminated.  Erich's wife Wendy and her partner Dave won the whole tournament and split the prize of $100 and four Angels tickets.


We ended the day with the requisite fireworks and patrotic music.  The kids stood to attention and we placed our hands over our hearts when the Star Spangled Banner was played.  Wendy reminded us in the pool that we all have to remember why we celebrate this holiday and that the fight for freedom still wages on.  She said, "We've got 20 year old guys over there dying while we sit in a pool drinking beer...."  We can't be grateful enough for the sacrifices our military families make for this country.  I do realize these sentiments may be best suited towards Veterans or Memorial Day, but I think it is important we stop and remember and give gratitude for the freedom to celebrate every day.

About 10:00 last night, as I was filling trash cans and clearing dishes, and watching my neighbors all pitch in to tear down EZ Ups and tables, the sound of Martina McBride was blasting down our street from huge speakers...."Let Freedom Ring....."

My favorite gift

Doesn't this just say it all? 
My sweet mom gave me this for Christmas.  It makes me smile every morning (and late afternoon).

Christmas magic

My neighbor Brian, summed it up Friday night as he surveyed the kids running around our house and up and down the cul-de-sac, adults talking and laughing and the Christmas music playing, "This is what Christmas is all about", he said.  Friday night, we hosted an impromptu gathering with several families from our neighborhood. It was loud and fun.  We asked everyone to bring a White Elephant Re-Gift for the exchange.  One gift per couple and one gift per child.  Now that was funny.

Saturday night, five of those families caravaned to church for a Christmas Eve (a day early) service.  Wonderful music, inspiring message, and feeling like part of the community as we sat with our friends was so different that feeling completely anonymous as we usually sit, two out of six thousand in our regular church service. It was a good time.

Sunday night we went to my moms house for her fabulous once-a-year seafood extravaganza.  She and my dad cooked up 15 pounds of giant scallops and prawns and a table full of delicious dishes.  We ate, we drank, and then we rolled ourselves into her living room to witness the very enthusiatic attack on the beautifully wrapped packages sitting under her perfect tree.

I don't really know how long we were in there.  Nor do I know how many huge trash bags of empty boxes, torn wrapping paper and lengths of ribbon we carried out during the course of the carnage.  I do know that T and left that night with a carload of gifts, scratching our heads, wondering how in the world this happened again this year.  It was supposed to be a simplified year.....less.....as in, not as much. 

My family decided in November that we were not going to exchange adult gifts at all this year. Keep it simple.  Let's focus on the kids. Everyone cheated.

J spent the first 23 days of December listening to each chapter of the Autobiography of Santa Claus.  Armed with facts, he went to work setting up an elaborate tray of treats to make Santa happy:  a Christmas mug, hot cocoa packet and candy cane.  A plate of four cookies and a chocolate candy, bowls of oats to refuel the reindeer.  A new package of goat cheese (we read that Nicolas grew up in a region near Turkey and this was a favorite treat from his childhood) and a note asking St. Nick if would please autograph J's copy of the book, which he also left out.

Christmas morning our three sleepy-eyed kids awoke at the crack of dawn and ran downstairs to explore.  I seriously wish I could freeze that moment in time and pull it out to experience the magic, belief and wonder.  Yeah, yeah, I know I sound like a Hallmark card, but it is true. They were SO happy.  So were we.

We hosted my family for Christmas brunch and watched the kids explain and demonstrate almost every gift.  I usually get my tree down and decorations put away on Christmas day.  Not this year.  I've been spending my time playing Barbies, babies, and trying to find homes for all of this stuff.  TODAY I will clean!

Merry Christmas!!

Christmas Card Conundrum

It has happened again.  Inspired by the 237 song Christmas playlist humming from my iPod and a nice glass of pinot noir, I put together a brilliant piece of prose on a colorful graphic background.  I was feeling pretty good about the whole thing.

Then the trouble began.  I ran out of ink.  My photo printer is an ink guzzler and way too expensive to print newsletters so, I defaulted to my HP printer.  Also out of ink, so I went to Staples and loaded up.  $108 on three types of ink (black, tri-color and photo) and a 150-count pack of glossy brochure paper later, I went home and prepared to print.

The printer stops feeding after the third sheet.  It creates bold text at random and some of the print is looking a little smeary.  A horrible clicking sound ensued.  Tech support suggested that the gears are stripped.

I called the Staples copy center to inquire about printing service prices: .78 per sheet for plain paper or $1.08 for specialty papers.  I've managed to trim my Christmas card list to 105 addressees.  So with postage at .39, the ink and paper costs at $108 (whether they are used for this project or not, I've opened and used them) and printing services at $81.90, and oh, I forgot that I printed 75 photo cards last week to throw in.  This simple little checkbox on my Holiday To Do List is running me $253.85.  Sigh.  Oh, and this is before buying a replacement for the stripped-gear HP junker.  Make that a replacement printer and a scanner, since the HP is (was) a print-scan-copy job.  Sigh.

There is wisdom in those Costco photo cards with the pre-printed greeting.

Someone should pass a law...

...we need more Mothers Days.  Once a month would be good.

I had the most fantastic Mothers Day!  I think it had something to do with the fact that I didn't have to host a brunch this year.  Instead, my mom bought us tickets to attend a benefit dinner for the Cure on Saturday night.  It was held in a local home, by a group of Basque women.  I'm not sure if it is an organized service group, or just a group of committed friends.  It was a beautiful event, themed with ethnic dishes, a poolside dining room and a video presentation of the meal preparation. We talked, laughed, learned, drank wine and left with a DVD showing us how to make the food, a wisk, recipe cards and very full tummies.  I'm making two of the dishes for my family next weekend....it was THAT good!

This group of ladies raised $80,000 last year for the Cure.  Three Basque women are two-year survivors of breast cancer and all were diagnosed within two weeks of each other.  This benefit dinner is to raise money for the 3-Day walk coming up in July.  They are also hosting a tag sale....got to pull together some goods to donate.  I was so incredibly impressed with the entire event: the home was amazing, the food great, the cultural significance was cool, and the motivation for doing it all was powerful.  I'm so glad I went.  Thanks Mom!

Sunday morning, my sweet husband made breakfast and we asked the kids to pretend there was a door on my office and not to come in without knocking.  Good concept, but not very effective.  Oh well, I did manage to complete two layouts and organize my office a little.  T took the kids swimming while I cleaned out shelves and organized stuff and I finally put my suit on and sprayed down all of the patios and furniture.  Spring is here and I'm ready for some sun!

In the afternoon we went to my brother's home at the ranch for a late lunch. He and his girlfriend cooked up pollo asado, salad, zuccini and rice.  Yum!  We sat outside at long tables enjoying the afternoon sun and coastal breeze.  Yes, I do realize we are inland, but my mom has always sworn there is "an ocean breeze" that blows through those hills and I have to admit it is always present and is about 10 degrees cooler than my home 10 miles to the east.  The kids had a blast roaming the 10 acres and ran through the pastures for hours.  I wish I had remembered my camera.

I hope mommies everywhere had an equally restful day surrounded and pampered by those they love!

Bunny love

I really need to make good on my plans to create a "traditions" album and get some photos and notes in my scrapbook.  Every year it seems like I snap the same scenes: egg coloring, egg hunting, baskets and family dinner.  It all seems so routine without the stories that make each and every year so special. 

I've been up since 5:30 am trying to upload 310 images for printing to ScrapbookPictures.com .  I think I finally did it right.  My intention was to print only the "scrappable" photos and order enlargements for framing.  I was about ready to chuck the whole project because it is so hard to scroll through 310 images and be specific about print sizes when each page stalls in loading.  It's totally my fault for letting a year's worth of digital images pile up before I print.  I think I printed a batch in March of last year.  I've gotten REALLY bad about printing my images. 

My goal for today (after working out and grocery shopping, that is) is to finally save ALL of my images in iPhoto to disk and figure out how to print contact sheets/index prints to catalog the images in a nice neat binder.  Thousands of images with names like, "IMG_2834.jpg" will ensure that I will NEVER find what I want to reprint.  That is why I need the index/contact print.  I have no idea how to do this, so wish me luck!

I think Korie mentioned that I can save more to a DVD than I can CDR.  I know my Mac has a DVD burner....**embarrased to admit I've never used it**.  Early morning Easter baskets....new pool toys!

P and her new CD and game
J shot this one

Just a couple

My New Years resolution this year is simply to start earlier.  With everything.  Start earlier with my day, start earlier with Christmas, start earlier getting to bed.  Therefore, I have promised myself no more early morning blogging. 

But I have five more days until this really starts.  So here a just a couple of photos from Christmas.  More updates later!