Juggling Life

Full Confessional Friday

                May all your New Year’s dreams come true

The Holiday Card Photo 2010—Finally in the Mail!

Photo by Music Man—who is leaving sunny California in a couple of weeks for an amazing job in Seattle.

He is proof positive that even in these really difficult economic times a recent college grad (‘07) who has been willing to pay his dues by slaving away just for the experience (getting laid off from a succession of jobs without getting discouraged [okay, maybe a little discouraged, but still bouncing back each time]) can make it. We’re all really proud of him!

Sometimes it’s the little things . . .

. . . that make the best presents.

Social Butterfly was (obviously) thrilled with the Lil’ Wayne blanket Danger Boy gave her. MVP really loves the wallet his little sister gave him. I am thrilled that MVP, when perusing the bookshelves of the CSU Fort Collins bookstore recognized that yes, his mom is totally geeky enough to want to read, “Because of Race: How Americans Debate Harm and Opportunity in Our Schools.” Grownup Girl has had several days of almost constant use of the noise-cancelling headphones Mr. Fix-it chose for her and Danger Boy is both sleeping and lifting weights in the snazzy flannel lounge pants that GuG chose for him at Old Navy.

(The bonus to the lounge pants is the hysterical time had while the clerk was divesting the mannequin of the pants—it involved a sweater covering the mannequin’s ‘junk’ as two fascinated 6ish-year olds looked on and a wrestling match with the mannequin that ultimately involved the mannequin’s head rolling across the floor. Why yes, I did laugh until I cried.)

Also, GuG will be cooking me a delicious, nutritious meal weekly this summer. I know—I swooned.

What little thing delighted you on Christmas morning?

Doing the Relaxing Vacay Thing

• Having a full house
• Staying in bed until 10 a.m. reading—without guilt
• Renting & watching lots of movies—“Easy A” is one of the cleverest movies evah. “Going the Distance,” not so much
• Cooking & eating—farfalle with sage, butternut squash and pine nuts was so delish I’ve made it twice. It’s even better when Grownup Girl cooks—her steak tacos are legendary.
• Riding my new bike and taking walks at the lake
• Spending the day with my stepsister, Teeny, taking her to lunch for her birthday and trying a terrific new burger joint—grass-fed beef—yum—in a funky, hip part of town
• Actual first-run movies in the theater—“True Grit” and “127 Hours”—both excellent
• Worrying about various kids driving to and from the mountains for snowboarding (okay, that’s not relaxing for me, but I think they’re having fun)
• Rejoicing in the thought that there’s almost a whole week of this left

How’s your holiday going?

A Very Bad Blogoversary

On Christmas day three years ago I decided, after several months of reading blogs, and in a lull in the day’s festivities, to start my own blog. The only thing I would change would be to wait a day to start it—who has a Christmas Day blogoversary?!

This short post is just to acknowledge what a wonderful thing blogging has been for me—the writing, the reading and most of all the relationships. I have been so blessed to meet several bloggers in real life and I am really looking forward to BlogHer being in my town this summer—I hope to meet many of you. I’m planning a shindig for sure!

Enjoy your Christmas (if that’s what you celebrate) and, if not, enjoy a relaxing Saturday.

Thanks for being a part of this adventure with me.

Full Confessional Friday

                       Are you having a Happy Holiday?

The Christmas Letter: 2010

I will send this out with a New Year’s card—as soon as we take a photo!

Happy New Year!

We missed Christmas cards this year (no chance for a photo-op until Christmas Eve), but want to wish you a Happy 2011 and hope you enjoyed this holiday season.

There are so many goings-on that we thought we’d make a game out of catching you up. (Match the activity on the right with the family member on the left.)

MVP	Won the CIF DII Water Polo Championship
Grownup Girl	Substitute teaches 3 or 4 days a week
Mr. Fix-it	Rocks over 6 feet tall in a pair of heels
Social Butterfly	Is hoping she gets Veterinary Pharmacy as an elective next semester
Danger Boy	Snow boards more often than is fair to the rest us
Jenn Juggling	Spent 10 days a month on business trips—lots of Salt Lake City & Vegas
MVP	Is applying to colleges
Grownup Girl	Is getting a Master’s Degree in Instructional Leadership
Mr. Fix-it	Got a driver’s license
Social Butterfly	Aced a mid-term on aquatic insects
Danger Boy	Shared their home with a Brazilian exchange student for several months
Jenn Juggling	Drove through her first blizzard last winter
The Juggling Family	Made regular Friday night runs for “Wings and Things” to the delight of a houseful of 17-year old boys

Empty Nest Nirvana

This is the map on which my retired firefighter uncle and his wife keep track of their travels. Yes, they’ve been all the places where the pins are stuck and they have the photo albums to prove it.

I’m filing this under “totally cool idea.”

Our Evolution of Christmas Giving

My husband and I both come from the tradition of the “big present.” His mother grew up poor and part of a large family in rural North Dakota—she never got much for Christmas and she made sure the opposite was true for her kids. My mother, even when she was single and on welfare, somehow managed to provide at Christmas time.

My husband and I have been blessed to not struggle overly much financially and both of us (but especially my husband) love for Christmas morning to include at least one knock-your-socks-off present for each kid (and, honestly, usually for me as well). This year though, we’ve come to the place where that is just not going to happen.

It’s not because the kids aren’t still being materially blessed this holiday season—they are—but rather that the surprise component is not going to be there.

Social Butterfly really wanted a snowboard and bindings for Christmas. And that’s what she got—we gave them to her a week ago so she could use them on the snowboarding trip she’s on right now. I told her to be sure to text me a photo of herself having a good time that I can wrap up and put under the tree. MVP got an annual pass to several ski resorts in Colorado—the resorts opened in October, so he’s had his gift since then. Grownup Girl got a plane ticket home and Danger Boy got his letterman’s jacket in time for his water polo banquet (those of you with young kids that are athletes best start saving now; the sticker shock is not to be believed).

I was a bit bummed about the fact that while there will still be some gifts under the tree, the wow factor will not be present on Christmas morning.

But then Grownup Girl got home and we spent Sunday baking molasses cookies and watching football. Her close friend from forever came over, GuG made to-die-for carne asada tacos for dinner and the girls spent the evening crafting. On Monday we played scrabble and then did a little shopping. I laughed to the point of tears in Old Navy as GuG and the sales clerk wrestled pajama bottoms off of a mannequin.

Tuesday we pick MVP up at the airport and GuG has got a delicious stir-fry, which MVP loves, planned for dinner. Social Butterfly returns from her snowboarding trip at o’dark thirty Wednesday morning and Mr. Fix-it should be back from a business trip by Thursday at the latest. It looks like Music Man will be joining us for Christmas dinner.

I realize that now that it’s no longer our de facto way of being (together) that togetherness is the new Christmas wow factor.

I am no longer bummed.

How about you? What’s your wow factor this year?

The Holiday Homes Tour (and you can still leave your confession if you wish)

Jen on the Edge is hosting a holiday homes tour again this year. I am, due to laziness and an entrenched decorating routine (which means everything pretty much looks the same), using last year’s post. I’ll be around visiting this weekend—in between the baking and parties and airport runs (Saturday is when the older ones begin to return—and then the real fun begins).

 

I know these are the best years of my life. The ones before I had kids were great and the ones when they are grown up will have a lot to offer, but, really, I'm pretty sure the family-raising years will prove to be the highlight of my life.

I think maybe my kids like it around here for the most part. At least I think that was supposed to be the message they were sending me.

Stockings hung by the chimney with care? Check. Though the fireplace itself could use some updating from it's 1973 glory days. It's on the list.

Have you ever noticed how the oldest child often has the hand-crafted stocking that took forever to make and then you never had time to do another one after the first kid was born, so theirs are all store bought? My kids have.

                    Grownup Girl's Stocking

I like the transformation of the house for this time of year, so I put a lot of my regular stuff away and it becomes all about the Christmas. I have all of my mom's Christmas decor also, so I take special joy in having it all on display.

My mother was not religious, but she did appreciate a lovely nativity scene. I must thank my mother-in-law for the lovely wall hanging and the Hummel figurines.

Giant Carolers prepare to stomp small village. As soon as the song is over.

I have been eating candy canes (not these same ones) from this sleigh since my mother bought it at the Sav-On on Lincoln Blvd in Venice Beach in 1967.

This is one of my favorite decorations in the holiday season. I gift wrap the door leading from the kitchen to the garage and hang all the cards we get. As it gets closer to the 25th more cards come in until you can barely see the paper. Christmas letters? I love them all, even the braggy ones. I really want to know how you're doing and what your kids are up to!

The tree, of course, is the centerpiece. Ours is artificial and has been for several years. We came very close (firefighters battling flames in our backyard close) to losing our house in the Cedar Fire. Six weeks later, when it came time to get a tree, I had an anxiety attack at the idea of knowingly bringing a fire hazard into my home. Irrational probably, but the feeling was real.

           I made this for my mom in Girl Scouts when I was 8.

For all of us, so much of what makes decorating for Christmas special is the memories attached to each ornament, or nutcracker, or candlestick as well as the memories of the wonderful meals eaten off the special plates with the best silver.

Maybe that's the point of Christmas culturally (versus the religious reason); to make us stop at least once a year and think about the memories we have and the ones we'd like to make. And to make us reconnect with one another and with our extended families--it's not always easy, but I've always found it to be worthwhile.