Giving Gifts to Both of Me

My mom says people generally have two versions of themselves: their ideal selves and their real selves. When it comes to cleaning out stuff, it's an important distinction. Take my cheeseboard, for example. No, really, take it. I don't want it anymore.

mmmm...cheese!

Because Ideal Self is quite the hostess. She entertains effortlessly and always has a wheel of brie in the fridge for an impromptu happy hour.  She even has a little cheese knife with a mouse shaped handle. Adorable! However Real Self has never once used this appetizer platter. Not that I don't like cheese. I love cheese. My friend Chrissy and I went to Milwaukee last summer and ate so much cheese. We also laughed like idiots trying to capture the perfect cheesy picture. Instead, it's the entertaining that's intimidating. Real Self would rather order pizzas than fashion a cheese platter. Real Self is usually in her pajamas watching Netflix on Friday nights.

I'm getting better at realizing the difference between Ideal Self and Real Self and it makes it easier to part with things that don't align with my lifestyle.  Last year I hosted a White Elephant gift exchange.  Traditionally, every guest brings an unwanted item but I had enough stuff to supply all the gifts myself. Some of these were probably teacher gifts. Others were from my dad, who is a notoriously interesting gift giver. (He once gave me a shower head for no apparent reason. Another time he gave me placemats with tractors on them. I actually kept those because they make me laugh.)

Adventure gift to a concert

Once Paul gave me a banjo for Christmas.  I took lessons for about a year hoping to live out the lyrics to one of my favorite songs, "My baby plays a guitar, I pick a banjo now." Alas, Real Self discovered playing the banjo is really hard. Maybe Old Crow Medicine Show could change the lyrics to more accurately say, "My baby plays a guitar, I dust my banjo now."  

I recognize that this makes it a challenge to give me presents. Paul has jokingly lamented that other husbands have it easy buying their wives jewelry, while I prefer a handmade coupon book of adventures. Real Self would much rather spend time WITH you than get a sweater FROM you. I struggle with gift giving too. While Ideal Self is a fantastic gift giver and wraps presents like Martha Stewart, Real Self hates shopping and usually relies on recycled gift bags to wrap everything. 

Speaking of music, 'tis the season for hearing holiday music on every radio sation. I've never been much of a Mariah Carey fan--I don't like glitter either but that's a different story--yet I find myself humming this song when I think about gift giving: 

I don't want a lot for Christmas
There is just one thing I need
I don't care about the presents
Underneath the Christmas tree

Here's where Ideal Self and Real Self agree. Neither of us want a lot of stuff for Christmas. We don't need the perfectly wrapped presents under the tree or a gourmet cheese platter. We both want to spend quality time with our family and our friends.  All we want for Christmas is YOU. 

Birthdays and Butterflies

“The butterfly effect is very interesting,” Pop Pop tells us as he heaps a serving of potatoes onto his plate.

“I’ve heard of that,” Jack chimes in. “It’s the idea that a butterfly flapping its wings could alter the path of a hurricane.” You just never know what the topic of conversation might be when you visit with Pop Pop and Grammy Carolyn. One day it’s quantum physics, the next day it’s baseball. Today is my birthday and, as I reflect on the past year and look ahead, I’ve been thinking about our conversation about the butterfly effect, in which small changes in initial conditions can lead to big and unpredictable results.

2017 is shaping up to be a year with quite a bit of wing fluttering. Katherine is learning to drive while Jack considers his college choices. I am hoping to complete my Endorsement in ESL this spring, so I could look for a new job teaching English Language Learners. Big Pa will start radiation to fight the cancer tumors in his body. Our niece is planning her wedding. It’s a lot. It’s exciting, and scary, and exhilarating to move into a year with so many milestones and unknowns on the horizon. It makes me teary-eyed with gratitude and sappy with nostalgia to reflect on how short, and precious, life is.  

That may be why the little book of “150 Love Notes” caught my eye as I was shopping for gifts at The Paper Source. I bought it as a birthday present to myself. One of my New Year’s Resolutions is to deliver these notes throughout this year to friends and family. To help them realize that, whether they know it or not, they fluttered their wings, and made a difference in my life. 

A little birthday fun at Mount Vernon. 

Facebook's Timeline of the Blizzard

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not advocating for you to get your news from Facebook. But, truth be told, you can learn a lot about the world and our reactions to it from scrolling through the posts of your friends. Take this weekend's blizzard, for instance. I'm no meteorologist, but I could accurately track the storm from the trends in my FB feed. Do any of these sound familiar...

Thursday: The Preparations
Lots of pictures of empty grocery aisles so apparently people bought tons of bread. I don't know who, because when these same people post pictures of their fully stocked refrigerators, they are lined with beer.

(Since we were hosting several teenagers, I did NOT want a fridge full of alcohol, so we stocked up on a weekend's supply of Ramen noodles instead.  I didn't post that though. Eating Ramen noodles just didn't seem as fun as drinking beer.)

Friday: And Snow It Begins
Friday marks the beginning. Lots of pictures of the first few flakes, with clever hashtags like #snObama2016 and #snOMG. Also, lots of pictures of patio furniture. I've noticed a lot of my friends have some very nice sets. I'm hoping they all invite me over this summer to hang out on their patios.

Saturday: Pet Problems
We wake up to about 18 inches of the fluffy white stuff and the fluffy furry ones in our house remind us of reality. After some people make a large dent in the beer stocked fridge on Friday night, it wasn't on the agenda to wake up early to dig "Pee Paths" for our pets. And it keeps snowing! It buries our beloved patio furniture, our cars, our pee paths.

Time to dig a pee path.

Dude, where's my car?

Hmmm, do you mind if I don't pee today?

Sunday: Get Busy
It finally stops snowing and the sun comes out. Now we can shovel it. And shovel it. And shovel it. Apparently, we have enough energy after shoveling to also go sledding, eat a lot, and, relax by the fire. I've noticed, from admiring pictures of feet by the fire, that a lot of my friends with cute patio furniture also have very cute socks. Also, we are not too tired from shoveling to complain about Tom Brady.

Monday: Cabin Fever
In the land of social media, we have short attention spans. We're done with this blizzard. We've downloaded all our snowy pictures and we're tired of putting wet mittens in the drier. Today's feed is all about getting out...maybe shopping for some more cute socks....and placing bets on when we'll return back to school. For that news, I'm sure I'll hear about it first on Facebook!

 



Happy New Year!

For those keeping track, we may be the only family that didn't see the new Star Wars movie over the break. Despite that, it was an amazing two weeks, during which I did do ALL 16 things on my Christmas wish list, including an 11th hour game of Sorry with my family (Katherine won.)


pool sharks

 

Here are some other pictures from break...


My niece Danielle and Sean



hanging out with Aunt Sarah

great book!

Hey, teenagers! Pretend like you like each other and smile for the camera.

Wonder exhibit at Renwick Gallery...along with all the other tourists that weren't watching Star Wars

The bug room both fascinated and creeped me out.

Christmas Fun with Pop Pop and Gramy Carolyn

Tatum's stuffed animal now has the stuffing on the outside.



baking birthday bread

Happy New Year!

All I Want for Christmas

Our tree isn't up yet. My cards aren't mailed and my presents aren't wrapped.  But when I sit down this weekend to update my "to do" list, I find my mind wandering to two weeks from now--December 18, to be exact. The beginning of my two glorious weeks of Winter Break. It's not just that I won't be working--it's the brief reprieve for my whole family. No tests to study for, no homework to navigate, no after school activities to coordinate.

In addition to the visions of sugar plums dancing in my head (Kidding, why would I waste my holiday calories on a plum?) I have visions of our wonderful 16 days off and quality time spent with family and friends.


So here's my Christmas Wish List:

1. read a good book
2. game night
3. visit with friends
4. date with my handsome husband
5. stretch my muscles at yoga
6. watch a movie
7. explore a museum
8. ice skate
9. prepare a new recipe
10. score bargains shopping with the girls
11. shop the farmer's market
12. long winter hike with the dog
13. enjoy a play
14. try a new restaurant
15. finish 2015 photo book
16. celebrate Christmas with family

I confess, I'm not dreaming of a White Christmas. I'd rather save the storm for January when we can turn off the alarm, sleep in, and enjoy our snow day. This Christmas, I'm dreaming of time, and how I want to spend it with the people I love.

What a LOVE-ly weekend

A while back, I invited some friends over for dinner on Friday to celebrate Valentine's Day.   This week, reality hit.  What was I thinking?  My weeks generally look like this: Monday-begin the week with all good intentions.  Tuesday-realize it all fell apart and count the days until the weekend.  By Friday, my fridge is empty, my house is messy and my laundry is piled in dirty heaps.  I'm usually in my pajamas by 8pm.  

And for some strange reason, I thought this was a good night to have company?

Luckily, this week it snowed.  With two extra days to prepare, I managed to set the table, plan the menu and cook.   Our menu had a Valentine's theme which included I Love You Lemon Bars and Romantic Raspberry Squares.  Chrissy got in the spirit too with a heart shaped appetizer to start.   We had good food, good friends and good times.  What's not to LOVE about that?

 

 

Just Another Manic Snow Day

I've had The Bangles song stuck in my head all weekend.  And it's a long one--the weekend, not the song--since we got two more snow days.

This brings our total to 8 snow days, not counting all the delays.

There's a car under there somewhere.

I know people are going crazy.  They are lamenting the winter of their discontent and calling it the winter that ruined all the moms.  I'm not going to lie--I love it.  I don't think I've worked a 5 day work week since, oh, November? 


Even too much snow for the penguin?


Of course, I am past the stage of having little kids when I actually spent time with my children and entertained them all day.  Snow ball fights and baking projects and crafty ideas are exhausting, I know.  Now my children are teenagers and they mostly entertain themselves.  As long as I stock up on Doritos and hot chocolate before a storm, I'm good.

More Doritos, please.



Snow day sleepovers are the best!

So I've actually enjoyed some moments of sitting by the fire with a cup of coffee and a good book.  (Just finished The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd if you are looking for one.)  I have time to take my dog for long walks in the snow.  I go down to my basement and work out.  I have time to do my homework for my grad class.  I am cooking real dinners that consist of more than a box of spaghetti and a jar of sauce.   I am caught up on laundry....kidding.  With all the snow days, I even finished my 2012 yearly photo book.  (No, that is not a typo, and yes, I know what year it is.)

Yes, I know the world is cold and grey.  My front hall seems permanently full of dripping boots and soggy gloves.  We'll probably be in school until August at this rate.  I'm choosing to overlook all of this as I turn off the alarm clock again and master the art of making lemon bars. 

12 Highlights of Christmas

Today I'm packing up Christmas.  So long, nutcrackers.  Goodbye, ornaments.  See ya next year, snowmen.  Good riddance, Sid Vicious!  Before we dive into 2014, here are some memories of this Christmas:                     1. Baking with my children.  This year, Katherine and I made peanut brittle together and I taught Jack how to bake bread.  It was fun to spend some quality time with the kids and see them take pride in making gifts for others.      2. Reading.  Between wrapping, baking and shopping, I did find some time to sit by the fire and enjoy a novel!  My next grad class starts in a few weeks so I'm cramming in as much reading for pleasure as I can.           3. Christmas Eve with the Bealles.  Over the river and through the woods to Maryland we go.  We loved visiting with Dad and Carolyn's fun family and enjoying Carolyn's delicious cooking!         

4. Vacuuming.  This is not probably a highlight on most people's lists.  This year, we named our Christmas Tree "Sid Vicious."  With needles are sharp enough to draw blood, (trust me, I did the lights) he is fighting captivity by shedding about a million needles on my living room carpet daily.  I find the whole thing quite amusing, but Paul, who picked out the tree, said we are not allowed to laugh about good ol' Sid until at least next year. 

5. Christmas Morning.  I love sitting in the living room early in the morning before anyone else is awake.  I appreciate my twinkling lights in the quiet, peaceful, dark morning.                   

6. Presents!  Katherine gave me a peg game that she made in shop class.  Jack chose new hand towels for the bathroom that are the perfect color.  Paul surprised me (that is hard to do) with tickets to see a comedy show next month.  These are the gifts I love--thoughtful, heartfelt, creative.  These are the people I love.

7. Celebrating with the Kellys.  Cranberry pork tenderloin, mashed potatoes, brussels sprouts, citrus salad, cookies...mmmm.  We dusted off the china and crystal for Christmas dinner with the gang.      8. Running.  OK, too many cookies.  Also, in a moment of weakness, I was talked into signing up for a half marathon in March.  The training has officially begun!  9.  Sleeping.  Because I can, that's why. I don't even want to think about setting the alarm for 5 am again.  Not yet!

10. Annual Kelly Adventure.  Harold and Shirley are such good sports.  This year we went to see the National Christmas tree and checked out the train exhibit at the US Botanic Garden.  Can you tell which picture is the real Capitol building and which one is constructed from plants?                                         11. Movies.  A family movie that appeals to all four of us is a rare treat.  We all enjoyed The Secret Life of Walter Mitty this year in the comfort of the cushy reclining chairs of the theater.    

 12. My birthday!  I am so happy to be able to start my 43rd year with Kristin and family!  Dinner, games, laughs and cake.  I made a wish and blew out my candles but the truth is, it's already come true. 

 

 

Hope your Christmas was filled

with

 friends, family and fond memories

too.

 





Cousins

This fall we had a fun visit with the cousins.  It was during the government shutdown, so instead of visiting museums in DC, the kids had fun with general mayhem down in the basement.

 

Meanwhile Blossom "helped" Jack with his homework...

 

No fancy plans--just good company, general silliness and lots of ice cream...

 

and of course, plenty of cousin cuteness...

 

 

just the way we like it.  Come back soon!