The last day of the year

What Rebecca likes in her water

Rocks

(the cold clear kind)

Merry Christmas

Tradition

Tradition dictates hamburgers for dinner.

Igloo

Freezing

Lar just scorched sugar in a pan, and the house reeks of char. He's opened all the windows, turned down the heat, and is running two fans full blast to air out the smoke. It's as cold as when the power goes out, but louder.

Home help

Alex has been so great about affixing stamps and address labels to my Christmas cards, it's like having a secretary. Too bad he can't pay bills and call the electrician, too!

The Christmas Wish/To Do List

Since this list is most unlikely to do anybody any good, least of all me, I post this as a list of dreams and desires, and possibly a checklist for leisurely days. If it helps you in your shopping, even better.

--A shredder
--A medieval calendar (castles, cathedrals, illumined manuscripts)
--Printed annual reports from the Portable Antiquities Scheme in Great Britain, which can be downloaded here. (I keep signing up but they never send me anything.)
--Pajamas which are not 10 years old and 5 sizes too big. (Remember those baggy years?)
--Clogs for dancing
--Closet shelves--after all, they're so close to done!
--Box of chocolate pecans--they're my power food!
--CDs by Loreena Mckinnett (who I have discovered only about 5 years since my sister told me I would like her) or "House of Church" by Patty Griffin
--a printer that doesn't accordion my printouts
--King's College Nine Lessons and Carols, and the "Dancing Day" carols by John Rutter

--Mending on the Sally bibs

--Dry cleaning my sweaters
--A new phone--oh, wait! Got that.

Last Year's Christmas List

Last year's list was a wish list--or was it? Check out how many of these things came through for me.

--a medieval calendar such as castles, cathedrals, cottages, or illuminated manuscripts (but not fake medieval castles!)

I found a lovely castle calendar. Most of the castles were even medieval! Must add to this year's list.
--new washcloths

Lots of lovely white washcloths from my mother, which still look almost new. Even better: Alex has learned to fold them (often in origami).
--a new sweater (cardigan?) to add variety to the blue/orange routine I've been in since a certain Ann Taylor shopping trip

My sisters guided me through the process of acquiring a red and pink sweater, plus two more sweaters in Chicago which were on sale and very useful on a day we all forgot our raincoats (you'd think, being from Seattle, we should have known better)
--Smartwool socks with no snowflakes on them

Laramie has continued to buy me Smartwool socks on occasion, so my collection grows.
--any Cambridge Singers CDs (except their "Best of"), especially Christmas music.

Not yet. On the other hand, I got industrious and copied the Christmas music I do have onto my IPod, so it's easier to listen to.
--a microwave that works with our venting system (our old microwave still operates, but the door doesn't open.)

Erik unscrewed the microwave so we could all look at it, Laramie showed me how to order the part, I ordered it, and Lar fixed it. Even better than buying one new! Additional bonus: I hired somebody to airseal the old venting system so it no longer spews steam into our attic.
--also a King's College Nine Lessons and Carols, and the "Dancing Day" carols by John Rutter

Still haven't bought it. On the other hand, I did hear Dancing Day carols in two Christmas concerts this year.
--a finished fence

One of the year's best accomplishments! I traded piano lessons for fence construction, so after Laramie finished the fence panels he and our friend put up the gate with trellis. It's beautiful. Of course, the men decided to put the latch on the inside of the gate, so it only took Rebecca about two weeks to learn to open it. But she can't yet get through my improvised climbing-rope-and-carabiner lock. Rebecca does not seem to have realized that she can still escape around the other side of the house.
--a new bedroom closet

Laramie designed a gorgeous rod and shelf system, and our friends helped with a lot of the painting and planning and arguing (apparently a necessary part of design). Our clothes hang in neat rows on thin, fuzzy hangers (recommended by a professional organizer). Still needs shelves, though.
--an organized storeroom

That one was a pipe dream. But at least I don't think the storeroom got much worse.
--the new Shannon Hale books (Forest Born, The Actor and the Housewife)

Andrea gave me the book Forest Born, which may have been the last Christmas gift purchase of the season. And now I can order The Actor, which I had forgotten about, from my libary. A happy occasion.
--help organizing my children's art scrapbook

It wasn't help that got me going on this one, but a scheduled project evening. I took all my papers over and stuffed them in page protectors in notebooks. Hurrah!
--my kitchen wired for sound (why do electricians keep bailing on me?)

Actually, it was only the one electrician, and he's still bailing on me. (Of course, I had to put the work on hold for attic work after our botched State Roofing job.) But I have made more phone calls, and hopefully will get this in early next year. Plus Lar got me a little sound system that can play an Ipod (which he also got me, and which I finally loaded with music) and sound files from a computer, so that's fun too.
--nylons

Bought some eventually.
--a year's supply of chocolate pecans (hey, it's for food storage!)

Got one, need another one
--a big whiteboard for the hall to put postcards and kid pictures on (but I ought to paint the hall first, and if I paint the hall we ought to paint the living room, but we shouldn't do that until we sand out cracks and fix the sheet rock...)

Mom gave me the white board, my friend helped me paint the hall (five times, because we kept having problems), and Mom put it up. I filled it with photos the first day. Now what do I do?

It looks like I did pretty well this year after all. Thanks everybody for last year's gifts and labor. What a relief it is to have so many of these taken care of!

If Mommy and Daddy were reading the same book

Katherine says it would be

Harry Popper and the Chamber of Penguins

I'm in charge

On the way to the post office, Alex grabs the stack of Christmas cards. "I'm in charge of the cards!"

Rebecca puts on her coat and finds cat playing cards in the pocket. "I'm in charge of the cat cards!"

Children's Choice

"What do you want for dinner?" I asked my kids, and started listing our leftovers. "Rice? Rice and curried chicken? Mashed potatoes? Mashed potatoes with cheese on top?"

"Mashed potatoes with Craisins and raisins," Alex answered.

So Alex had mashed potatoes with Craisins and raisins for dinner. Rebecca did too. Katherine made herself a peanut butter and honey sandwich. Laramie got out some honeycomb, so Alex scraped off a bunch and I piled it onto toast, which we topped with more Craisins and raisins. (And unlike many natural-food fanatics, I will cheerfully admit that yes, that treat was PACKED with sugar.)

Who says we don't cater to our children's whims?