Wonderful holiday; Slumdog Millionaire

It was really a good one, in spite of all predictions. The kids were terrific. Hubbins and I had fun. Middle son came over for a visit, which was really nice. We stuffed ourselves with turkey – again – and stuffing – ditto – and then very delicious black & white New York-style cheesecake for dessert.

I made the cheesecake. Hubbins loves cheesecake, specifically New York style because of its firm texture. I try to make at least two a year, and I love to experiment with different new recipes. The black & white was a first for me, and it was incredible. What was even more incredible was the fact that I followed the recipe and it actually came out perfect.

A very good holiday.

Tonight, daughter went to her best friend’s house for the night. They practically own her over there, really. She’s there about 40% of the time she’s not occupied with school. Son was not happy about losing his playmate for the night. He’s at that age where he’s extremely clingy towards his sister, and she’s at that age where she’s starting to not want to be annoyed 24/7 by her brother. We got him down eventually, though.

Oh, and we saw Slumdog Millionaire.

Holy holy cow. I wanted to see that movie from the second all the hype started. I don’t know where I first heard about it. But every review from every corner of the world has said that Slumdog Millionaire was THE BEST MOVIE EVER MADE. Or at least close to that good.

Go see it. It is as good as the best movie you have ever seen. If not THE best movie you will ever see.

Oh, and I’m changing this last part… “fortunately” got to be a little restricting. So now, you get what I decide to put there.

TO-DO LIST: Smile at every single person you meet at the store tomorrow. Not just a pasted-on smile… really SMILE. Feel it. See what happens.

Beautiful, serene Christmas Eve

Shopping is finished, the kids are ready for bed, I’m sipping a cup of eggnog (the grownup kind), and we have a big night of giftwrapping ahead of us. We just started a new family tradition of watching National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation… the kids are old enough now, and they loved it. Then a little light websurfing, and a round of the Numa Numa song. And now the kids are watching the last bit of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. I’m thinking about how much work needs to be done yet – cleaning up the kitchen from two nights of dinners. And prepping the ingredients for dinner tomorrow (I prefer a Christmas Day dinner). I also need to try to figure out what we’re going to do with a wayward mouse caught earlier tonight.

I’d keep it if I could. At least until the weather thaws. It would die out there right now, and I’m not about to put it back out in the chicken coop where he trapped himself.

The snow just keeps coming down.

Yesterday I nearly killed myself shoveling the driveway and sidewalks. It was surprisingly fast-going, done very quickly compared to how long I thought it would take. But it took me hours to recover. I’m just not used to shoveling snow. :)

Looks like I’ll get a lot more practice over the next week. Unless I can feign inability well enough that Hubbins will feel sorry for me.

THOUGHT OF THE DAY: Fortunately, Christmas is nearly over, and we can focus on getting the New Year started right.

Snow and the holidays

I awoke this morning moments before Hubbins took off for work. I wanted to make sure that I told him to drive carefully – thinking that there was probably a black ice issue with the re-freeze overnight. He was already pulling out of the garage, so I managed to wave to him and give him the “I love you” sign. Then I took a look outside… wow. It looks like it snowed about four inches last night. It’s beautiful. :)

Then the trash truck drove past and I realized that our trash bin is nowhere in sight.

My goal is to wait as long as possible before having to go out and wrestle it through the snow and out onto (or near) the sidewalk. Wherever that is. Cold is just not my thing. I’m a desert rat, born and raised. But living here allows me to experience seasons, so it’s a trade-off. Normally, we have very little snow in the winter – but weather is getting weird these days. We may have a very white winter this year.

I’m not done shopping, though!

Hubbins has done the majority of the buying the last couple of days, since I’ve been feeling under the weather (haha). Santa’s bringing at least one of the things requested by son. Daughter doesn’t believe anymore, but Santa won’t forget her… need to keep up appearances. I think he got her socks or something. Token gift, you know. But there are two or three gifts still needing to be purchased, so hopefully I will have time this evening to go out and shop.

Yes, I’m crazy. Insane at times.

I suppose I could wait and shop around 9pm to avoid the crowds. Not that shopping late is a guarantee of stressless shopping… but it’s more likely that I’ll have at least a little more elbow room if I wait until then.

THOUGHT OF THE DAY: Fortunately, I learned how to drive in snow from a true Canadian. UNfortunately, half the people living here in Boise don’t know how to drive in snow.

Not a big fan of the holidays

I can’t wait until they’re done. Every year, I lose a little more affection for this season. Usually, it’s the time of year when we are really strapped for cash and can’t get the kids all the things we want to buy them. Or gifts for each other, or our parents. At least this year, we aren’t alone in being mostly broke. It’s something our 11-year-old seems to be cool with – she understands, even if she doesn’t really like the situation. But she’s seen people worse off than us, so she knows it could be worse. A girl who goes to our daughter’s school is a good example. She and her two siblings are being raised by their grandparents. The grandmother was working at a hospital, and was laid off two months ago. Grandfather is a disabled Vietnam vet. He helps get money to feed the kids by begging. He’s a good man, I’ve met him and helped him out with some groceries. I want to do so much more.

I have seen people advertising in the Craigslist “wanted” section for help in getting presents for their kids this year. People who didn’t get on the Salvation Army’s list before the deadline. People who lost their jobs – so many, it’s sad. I’m almost to the point of starting a new tradition of giving – eliminate Santa, and teach my kids that this is the holiday where we all buy things to give to those who have nothing.

Before anyone goes off on me about the “true meaning of Christmas” being about the birth of a savior – save your  breath. The birth occurred sometime in the summer. The star was a nova, science has figured out what it was and when it happened, and it was summer or close to summer. The “church” took it upon themselves to rob pagans of a very special celebration at the Winter Solstice. Yule included Children’s Day to honor our children, and to bring warmth, light and cheerfulness into the dark time of the year. I’m not sure what is demonic or satan-worshipping about that, so I’m stymied as to why the “church” stole the holiday. (I guess if you have kids who seem like devil spawn, then that would make sense.)

I used to love Christmas. It was easier to love when we had fewer bills and more money. It was even easier when I was a kid and didn’t have those stresses at all. But being an adult, being a parent, being far from family – all of those things conspire to change this holiday into a chore.

Okay, I’m done complaining.

(EDIT: http://www.shambhala.org/arts/fest/unconquered.html explains this season – I learned something once I read the whole page)

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: Fortunately, we all have a chance to make sure that our children learn something valuable about giving this time of year, so that poverty can be eliminated some day.