Savor the Moments

I love the post-Christmas week with children happily exploring new toys, no holiday stress or rush and the feeling that there is still some magic of Christmas lingering in the air. Alas, it is almost New Year's and I can no longer put off finding homes for the presents that have been conveniently stored under the tree since the big day.

There have been many memories created this week and lessons learned:

1) Sewing a strap to the donkey hat doesn't mean a thing if the child takes the hat off in the pew. She will make it to the altar only to be reminded of this and have to rush back retrieving said hat before she takes her rightful place in the stable.

2) Giving your husband the video game he has been drooling over doesn't mean much if the computer's mother board crashed on Christmas Eve. In this event have cool gifts for the children to keep him busy until the computer shop can get the part and fix it (fingers crossed that it happens soon)

3) Monitor Just Dance 2 song choices when Teen is choosing for Boy, it is just not nice to have an eleven-year-old dancing to "It's Raining Men"

4) Encourage childish joy, especially when it gives teens a chance to act like complete goofs.

5) Savor every moment...

I'm off to direct toy and decoration storage so I can be prepared for the teen invasion scheduled to occur on New Year's Eve...

Anticiaption and Great Joy

It is crunch time. The time when parents near and far are busily wrapping-up pun intended last minute items and preparations. Kids are positively humming with anticipation and cookie overload. Plus, if they aren't excited enough, you can always go to NORAD to track Santa who is busily delivering goodies to the the far East even as I type.

We will spend the day prepping for company and listening to Youngest count down the hours until her big debut as the donkey or Christmas Ass as her brother likes to remind us in the Christmas pageant at the family mass today. It will be hectic, busy, and best of all filled with family and friends. Church, with its simple adornments and well known readings, will offer the possibility to reflect on the real reason we celebrate this season with such gusto. A time of peace and hope. Followed promptly by a time of celebration.

Whether you celebrate this season in a church, the bosom of your family, or anywhere else I wish you great joy and many memories worth holding dear. Merry Christmas!

Juggling Act

Fate was peeking at my well-managed budget and planning this year, saw that I was far too calm, and thought to itself: "Ha, where is her challenge?"

In order to keep me on my toes, Fate gave me a car that stalled while I was driving down the street. Being extremely lucky the quick-thinking action hero I am, I threw it into neutral, started it and continued cruising with no one the wiser...except me. After a day spent rationalizing the stall incident, I relented after practicing my race car driver technique for the 3rd time and called my mechanic.

Having a car in the shop lead to a slew of thoughts not all of which involved anxiety attacks and crying in my beer Some I thought to share:

1) Sunnyville children are not meant to walk to school on the coldest morning of the year - their moms aren't either. Running into a friend at drop-off helps to get home more quickly and allows Boy's bike to be there for his return home, not that I would have stolen it...

2) When borrowing one of my sister's cars I was presented with a gas dilemma. What in the heck does "range=LOW" mean?? How can a car go from "range=36 miles" to "LOW" in 1/10 of a mile anyway??

3) Also in borrowed car, what in the heck are all these buttons and doohickeys for? It is a car, can't it just go? and with all these buttons and doohickeys WHY can't it tell me how far until I run out of gas??

4) Christmas shopping while talking to the mechanic about prices definitely brings out the bargain hunter in me. (Do they sell American Girl accessories at Goodwill?)

5) Hmm, is it too early to spike the eggnog?

6) God must have wanted me to be a clown, because He sure does expect me to juggle.

Now I'm off the the repair shop. In the event of mental collapse due to price shock, your comments will be a welcome pick-me-up.

Girls, Guns, and Bonding

It's Fatherhood Friday! It will be worth your time to click the link and read some great posts written by dads and moms at dadblogs. (of course you can read and comment here first)

Have you ever seen City Slickers? You remember, the movie about hilarious male-bonding? Well, in it there is a conversation when Billy Crystal talks about how he remembers baseball stats because that was something he shared with his dad. This never made a whole lot of sense to me. Intellectually I grasped the concept, but it just didn't resonate. As a result, I always assumed it was a gender thing. I mean, jeez, I talked to my dad all the time. We did things together, we even went to baseball games, and I didn't need to know stats, . So, for all these years it was labeled "guy thing" in my head. Until this Christmas.

This year the crowning gift from my husband was a 12gauge Winchester shotgun. (it's a country thing) I had been asking for one for 3 years, since I went skeet shooting with my dad in Michigan. (finally the stars aligned, Hubby got a great deal, and I got my gun complete with trigger lock) Admittedly I was a bit intimidated. It is one thing to hold a gun in a field designed for shooting and quite another to hold one in your living room.

After all the presents had been opened and once the kids were settled in with their gifts, I was able to call my dad to offer holiday wishes. The conversation turned to gifts and I was able to tell my dad about my new gun. It was at this point that a whole new world of conversation opened between us. There was more than the usual interest, there was excitement and speculation. He wanted to know the make and model, which hubby had told me so I could be somewhat "gun literate." We talked about gun models and styles, as well as all things shooting. My father, a business man from Chicago, shared a whole new person with me. One I had glimpsed when he "took his girls shooting" a few summers past. We now officially have conversation fodder that is exclusive of kids, work, and current events. A whole new ball game, and I don't have to learn any stats!