Posts Tagged Christmas

For a couple of years, in what seems like such a long time ago, we went to see the Asheville Ballet perform The Nutcracker every year at Christmas.  Alex danced with them for two years as Fritz, and one year he doubled up as one of the Chinese, as well.  Faith danced with them one year, too, as one of the lovely party guests in the first scene.  What I actually remember most about that particular year is that I almost never got the hairpiece attached to Faith’s hair, because it was too short to pull into a bun that year, and that I ran into Andi McDowell in the hallway outside of the dressing rooms, and she asked me where she might find a water fountain.  Those were fun, whirlwind times, full of stress and chaos, but great memories, nonetheless.

Well, Alex has tendinitis and can’t do much dancing these days, but we all thought it would be wonderful to see the Nutcracker again, this time as mere spectators.  So, tonight we will go to see the Moscow Ballet’s performance of the Great Russian Nutcracker up in Asheville.  I don’t know for sure about the rest of my family, but I am looking forward to it soooo much!  I love the ballet.  This has been an unbelievable stressful year, and I love the thought of being able to “escape” from the reality of our crazy world, for just a couple of hours, to enjoy a delightful fantasy.

Soon, it will be a new year, that I pray will be significantly more promising that this past one has been.  But tonight, I will step inside a time machine, and travel back to a time when things were so much more lovely and magical!

I get this email every year, but I love it! In fact, I agree with it so much I’m posting it here. Enjoy!

HOLIDAY EATING TIPS

1. Avoid carrot sticks. Anyone who puts carrots on a holiday buffet table knows nothing of the Christmas spirit. In fact, if you see carrots, leave immediately. Go next door, where they’re serving rum balls.

2. Drink as much eggnog as you can. And quickly. Like fine single-malt scotch, it’s rare. In fact, it’s even rarer than single-malt scotch. You can’t find it any other time of year but now. So drink up! Who cares that it has 10,000 calories in every sip? It’s not as if you’re going to turn into an eggnog-alcoholic or something. It’s a treat. Enjoy it. Have one for me. Have two. It’s later than you think. It’s Christmas!

3. If something comes with gravy, use it. That’s the whole point of gravy. Gravy does not stand alone. Pour it on. Make a volcano out of your mashed potatoes. Fill it with gravy . Eat the volcano. Repeat.

4. As for mashed potatoes, always ask if they’re made with skim milk or whole milk. If it’s skim, pass. Why bother? It’s like buying a sports car with an automatic transmission.

5. Do not have a snack before going to a party in an effort to control your eating. The whole point of going to a Christmas party is to eat other people’s food for free. Lots of it. Hello?

6. Under no circumstances should you exercise between now and New Year’s. You can do that in January when you have nothing else to do. This is the time for long naps, which you’ll need after circling the buffet table while carrying a 10-pound plate of food and that vat of eggnog.

7. If you come across something really good at a buffet table, like frosted Christmas cookies in the shape and size of Santa, position yourself near them and don’t budge. Have as many as you can before becoming the center of attention. They’re like a beautiful pair of shoes. If you leave them behind, you’re never going to see them again.

8. Same for pies. Apple. Pumpkin. Mincemeat. Have a slice of each. Or if you don’t like mincemeat, have two apples and one pumpkin. Always have three. When else do you get to have more than one dessert? Labor Day?

9. Did someone mention fruitcake? Granted, it’s loaded with the mandatory celebratory calories, but avoid it at all cost. I mean, have some standards.

10. One final tip: If you don’t feel terrible when you leave the party or get up from the table, you haven’t been paying attention. Re-read tips; start over, but hurry, January is just around the corner.

I don’t  have anything in particular to say, really, just a lot of random thoughts I would like to share.  Starting with clothing.  Mom and I went Christmas shopping yesterday at the mall down in Greenville.  Our annual tradition is to find a really beautiful dress for Faith to wear for Christmas.  So, the hunt was on.  And on.  And on.  I am not a prude by any stretch of the imagination, and am very laid back about weird fashions, in general.  But I have reached the end of my tolerance on this.  “Skanky” is NOT a fashion.  It’s tacky, sleazy and I will not pay for it.  More importantly, my daughter doesn’t want to wear that sort of clothing, and even if she did, it ain’t happening!  Have you SEEN what they are selling to 11 year old girls????  Who decided that young girls were supposed to look like, ah, how shall I say this delicately. . . prostitutes???

We checked all the usual suspects: Dillards, Belk, etc.  We skipped Macy’s because they officially told their employees they were not allowed to wish anyone a Merry Christmas.  No more of my money for them.  I was getting really, really discouraged, when we finally ran across a store that still sells elegant, tasteful clothing.  Expensive, but worth it.  Thank God for Coldwater Creek!  We found some really lovely things there, and Faith is going to be so thrilled.  But not nearly as thrilled as Mom and I were to find decent clothing.

We found slinky shirts and scanty lingerie being passed off as formal gowns.  We found lots of clothing for the gang banger in your life.  We found some obscenely expensive t-shirts and ratty jeans.  I have to wonder what our world would be like if clothing companies, department stores, designers, etc. decided that they weren’t going to sell that sort of garbage anymore.  What if they decided to sell flattering, tasteful, simple clothing that made everyone look NICE?  Oops. . .sorry, I’ve slipped into my little fantasy again.  The same fantasy in which everyone spends an entire week saying only kind things to everyone they meet and the media only reports good, happy news.  Imagine with me what that would be like!!  Wow. . .

Okay, back on planet earth, I have some happy thoughts, too.  We helped out with a local organization’s Christmas gift distribution today.  The Storehouse here does an amazing job of taking care of folks in our community who are in need of food, clothing, whatever.  Lynn, the self-described “demented elf” is the lady who runs it, and she is nothing short of amazing.  Our 4-H club volunteered to help, along with lots of other homeschoolers and various others in our community.  There were literally thousands of gifts there!  It was heartwarming to me to see all the warmth and love there.  The kids were blown away by how many families were there because they couldn’t afford to buy presents for their children.  A real eye-opener, to be sure.

An added bonus was getting to see our old pastor and catch up with him for a bit.  He is a wonderful man, with a heart of gold and a warm loving spirit.  I got to see lots of other folks that I hadn’t seen in quite a while, and that was really nice.  With our upcoming move looming large, it’s a sweet blessing for me to get to visit with old friends before we leave.

And, no, we don’t know when we are planning to move.  Our house must sell first.  However, we have found a realtor that we really like: Janis Moore with Keller Williams.  She is sending a professional photographer to come take pictures of our home next week!  I am very hopeful.  Even in this economy, God can sell our house!

Tomorrow will find us back down in Greenville to do Christmas with my lifelong friend, Emily, and her family.  We pick a day every year to get together and exchange gifts and of course, eat!  We are all looking forward to that.  Then, on Sunday after Mass, our 4-H Club is going caroling.  Afterward, they are all coming over here for hot cocoa.

I have had a warm fuzzy feeling all day, and it was topped off tonight in the coolest way.  Faith and Alex each have a friend spending the night, and we hadn’t seen or heard any of them for quite a while.  I went up to check, assuming that the boys were probably playing video games, and that the girls were probably watching Christmas movies.  Nope.  All of them were playing a board game together, having a wonderful time!  And people ask me why we homeschool. . .

So, that’s it for my randomness tonight.  Now that my Adobe InDesign class is over I will have a bit more time for this blog.  I love it, but it has been really busy lately.  Peace, out.