Yuletide

The children are nestled all snug in their beds. Jim is nestled all snug on the couch. Sugarplums are all consumed, stockings emptied, carols sung. It was a beautiful Christmas. One which I will describe to you after a brief trip back in time to last Saturday night, when Jim's sister and brother-in-law arrived from Ontario for a four day visit.

Or should I say, a four day eating tour of the Northwest. I am not sure why, when company comes, we feel obligated to eat like every meal is our last, but if you're feeling underweight, start making your plans to visit. We hit the schmancy brunch buffet, our friends' house for fake Christmas feasting, an Indonesian place, dinner out at a restaurant (grown-up restaurant!), dim sum, and hot pot. By the end of their visit they were begging for vegetables.

Jim hatched a scheme whereby instead of dropping our company at the bus station for their trip to Vancouver, we would rent a minivan and just drop them at Vancouver itself. So we got a hotel reservation and had a quick trip to the... I don't know what Vancouver's city nickname is. The awesome, neato city? The trip up there was silly in the sense that we relied completely on technology to guide us (modern technology, not the less-recent advances like cartography and printing on paper), and technology was all, whatever, you guys, I had somewhere else to be, and I didn't actually SAY I was going to be available on Wednesday. There was some bumbling, in the automotive sense. But we got there, saw my in-laws' in-laws (who were genuinely charming), and made it to our hotel in time to wander around Robson Street on a bustling Saturday night.

We got tourist Thai takeout, which wasn't bad, and ate in our hotel. The girls think every hotel is a combination of the Taj Mahal and Never-Never-Land. Naomi was excited about "breakfast service," which sounds even more snooty than room service, somehow. We spent the morning (post "breakfast service") in the super deluxe pool and hot tub. Now I am feeling sad, and missing that hot tub. Sigh. On the way back to the States, we made a way too quick stop at Granville Island to see if things were still hopping at the public market. Answer: yes!

Christmas Eve, I am sorry to say, there was some shopping. Not too much, and mostly groceries, but sorry, and thank you, retail workers. In the evening, we went to the children's service at church, which featured not only a living nativity, but also Muriel's first ever choir performance. I am happy to report that my stage mother routine was limited to instructing her not to suck her finger or pick her nose while on stage. And she nailed it! Singing good and loud, knowing all the words, no unfortunate actions with hands or dress. At one point two of her little choir mates were showing us their naked torsos. Fortunately Muriel was not influenced by them.

When we got home the girls put out Santa's cookies and went to sleep with remarkable alacrity, considering the number of church cookies apiece. Jim made us a late Christmas Eve dinner, non traditional in the sense that it was a seared ahi tuna salad, but traditional in the sense that it was super tasty and lit by tea lights in jars with glue-brushed wrapping paper on them. Blah blah, stockings, blah blah cinnamon roll dough, blah blah up way too late. But then... a Christmas miracle! Both girls slept in till SEVEN THIRTY! Sleep, the greatest gift of all!

We made it back to Christmas- I knew we could do it. Santa brought the girls what they asked for in their super cute letters to him- "glass" slippers, aka, those plastic sandals with the princesses on them. They are horrific (slippery, clonky, foot-deforming, and to me somehow emblematic of early female oppression training), and I am so grateful that Santa is around to bring presents that I could never in good conscience purchase and gift. I was gratified that they liked their cheesy bathrobes, a gift that cost me a good deal of time and frustration, because really, shouldn't there be a zillion kids' bathrobes around for Christmas purchase? Eh? I got Jim some practical garment-category gifts, some nougat (his kryptonite), and a carom board. He got me a beautiful necklace and an e-reader which I am not going to name because the last time I put the name of a gadget in here, I got a weird spam comment right away. If you are curious, it is the e-reader that is associated with a retailer that goes by the name of a big river somewhere that has lots of feisty crocs and whatnot. And so far I LOVE it. The e-reader, not the river. I am afraid of crocs.

Anyway, hours and hours of sweet harmonious play (the sort that makes you feel like having kids wasn't a bad idea, as it turns out), lasagna for Christmas dinner, more cookies, another screening of "White Christmas," nice long chapter of Naomi's new chapter book, second Knuffle Bunny book (which Muriel got for Christmas), everyone asleep, dishwasher humming, third cup of tea, and here we are. I feel like the happiest, luckiest person around tonight. Merry Christmas, Friends!

You Know, Stuff

Let me begin by saying that I had a birthday a couple of weeks ago, and on the official card as well as several auxiliary cards, drawings, and signs, Naomi saw fit to refer to me by my first name. Happy Birthday, Jenny! Love, Naomi and Muriel. Hmm.

And speaking of stories that are now way out of date, I bring you, the Turkey Twilight Zone. Long ago now, Naomi's teacher sent home a big black and white turkey drawing with the words "Family Turkey Project" on it. The idea was that we were supposed to work together to decorate it and bring it in by a certain date. Naturally, on the night before the certain date, I scrambled around to put my oh-so-creative plans into action. I had them tear up red, brown, and yellow construction paper, I had them glue craft feathers on the tail. We found a googly eye to affix to the turkey head. We added a necklace of macaroni.

Naomi returned the turkey, and the next day we noticed that the turkeys were decorating the windows of the office. Neat! I went to find our masterpiece (which was totally janky compared to some of the super fly turkeys the other K families cooked up), and I found it. But then I wondered, who is this Timothy, and why is his name on our turkey?!


Oh wait, here's our turkey.


Holy crap! Timothy's mom, call me!! We are separated at birth! That, or you need to get those cameras you hid in our house out RIGHT NOW!

What other out of date stories can I come up with? In early November, I took Muriel to visit our friends in Chicago. So fun! It was great to remember what having a littler little was all about, as well as to spend some QT with Muriel. She did great on the trip, except for some inexplicable and very heartbreaking homesickness when we first got there. I believe, too, that it was good for her to be the big kid for a while. And really, it was wonderful to see our friends. Yea, friends!

We went to the Oregon coast for Thanksgiving. The Oregon coast is totally rad, I recommend it to anyone who likes stuff that is scenic and amazing. We even saw the Goonies house, whilst in Astoria, and it was, well, a bit anticlimactic. But yeah, the rest of it was pretty fantastic.

My parents came at the beginning of this month, and I over-scheduled the poor things. There was lots and lots of rushing from this awesome holiday experience to that. Sorry, Parents! But the kids were genuinely delighted to have their grandparents around, as was I.

OK, let's see. That big project that kicked me around from the end of summer and all through fall is FINISHED! At least, finished in the first part, version one is released kind of way. Woo to the hoo. Jim has now taken over as the harried, overworked one, but it's all good, because he is a. employed, b. working at a company that is on the upswing, and c. challenged like never before. Naomi is working hard at her job, which is being in Kindergarten, and Muriel is a productive citizen of preschool, like always.

Oh, Christmas Open House! These are the before pictures. No afters.







Yes, this is how they dressed for the party.

I am excited, enthused, delighted, gleeful, and jolly at the approach of Christmas. Jim's sister and brother-in-law are coming this weekend, and we can't wait to see them. Things, people, are good. Happy Holidays to everyone. Now I have to go find a replacement for the NY Jets Mr. Potatohead that I bought for my nephew but that is, alas, after all, out of stock. Wish me luck!

Nothing to See Here

So many things have happened, and I should be writing about them and uploading the appropriate photos, but it just feels like there are so many other important things to attend to these days. I gotta build up the muscle again, I think. In the mean time, here's a snap from our trip to the Seattle waterfront over the weekend. My parents came to visit, and I woefully overscheduled their dear selves, though they got through almost all of it without complaining. In this shot, just before or after a carousel ride, but definitely before a harbor cruise and locks tour on a big boat, Naomi and Muriel get to know the carved denizens of one of Seattle's tourist traps.


Anyway, back at it soon. So glad December is here, but wishing there was some way to prevent the short little days from whizzing by so fast. Any suggestions?