The Perfect Pair of Boots

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Cookie Sunday

I like cookies. As a matter of fact, I really like cookies. Making them, not so much. I have made cookies before. Mostly the kind that are broken off of a prepackaged block and thrown in the oven.

On Sunday, I wanted to make cookies. And I had the kids join in the fun.

We kneaded the dough,

and after a quick run to Bed, Bath & Beyond to get a rolling pin which I didn't know was missing, we cut them out.

Next we baked, we waited, we frosted, and then the best part of all: We ate them. And when they were gone, we ate the leftover sprinkles, AKA: sugar, right out of the bowl.

That kit from Trader Joe's sure came in handy.

It had all the fixings necessary for a LAME-O like me to make semi-homemade cookies, right down to the cookie cutters....all for 3.99.

Speaking of lame, I went to a cookie exchange that same evening. I got all dressed up to attend this lovely holiday affair. There was food and drinks, games, friends, and fun. The only thing missing: cookies. At least from me.

I didn't bake any. I didn't take any. I didn't want any.

Thank you Ladies, but me and my elves have all the cookies we need at home.

Friday, December 10, 2010

Meet Alan

Alan is a seven-year-old boy that wears a size 6x, likes Tonka trucks, and Musical toys. I came across Alan at the mall one evening on a solo trip there. Out of all the kids, he's the one that caught my eye.

In my mind, Alan is Asian and chubby; probably pretty smart. Like you, I don't know Alan. If one day our paths cross, we'll walk by one another not knowing that our lives had intersected once before on the road leading to the Salvation Army's Giving Christmas Tree.

That this little card is my only tangible connection to Alan doesn't diminish the pleasure it gives me to have picked him.

Growing up, my mom would take a couple of names from the Christmas tree at church so we could help out a family in need. It's something that I remember fondly and look forward to each year.

In the past, the mom's group I belong to adopts a family. Instead we went with a "Keeping Kids Warm this Winter" theme and collected blankets, sleepers, hats, booties for kids of all ages. As usual, we had a little shindig yesterday morning to gather everything together. As much as I liked doing it, it didn't give anything for J to do like in years past where at least one of the families had a kid his age to whom he could get something. Giving away pajamas or sweaters to random kids doesn't affect him in any way, shape. or form. He cares nothing about pajamas or sweaters. He does, however, care about toys.

So I told him about Alan. I would be fibbing just a little if I said he was completely thrilled about the prospect. But not all hope was lost. During the purging of his mostly Happy-Meal-toy bin, he decided that Alan would be a good recipient for the ones he didn't want {sigh}. Once at Target he helped search for the items we did want for him -- Alan that is -- though I think it was more to be done with it and head over to the Toy Story aisle where he could salivate over stuff he wanted.

He managed to find something for M as well and then lent his assistance in choosing a bag for Alan's gift while he engaged me in an in-depth conversation about earthquakes. Before leaving we stopped at the snow globe area where he played for a bit.

Next up was the Dollar Store where he finally got something for himself: A new writing pad.

And so it turned out to be a nice evening after all.

Alan got his toys. J got his writing pad and a milk shake and fries at Mickey D's for being a good sport. And I got to make a deposit into the memory bank of a little boy that hopefully one day, when he's a man and has his own kids, will frequent often to make withdrawals from.

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Uh-Oh HO-HO

In my ongoing effort to tattoo the real meaning of Christmas into the brains of my children, I decided we would celebrate the feast of St. Nicholas.

This is totally new to me. As a matter of fact, I only learned about it the day before at Faith but it seemed like it was just the outlet I was looking for to tie it all in: Santa, Jesus, gifts.

This is the website that tells us all we ever wanted to know about the jolly guy. I'll admit that I didn't go there -- I had no time -- but the tidbits I learned at Faith told me just

enough to throw something together.

Apparently, he was a guy who gave gifts to the underprivileged people of his town, especially to the young women who had no dowry. He would come by their house and throw in three chunks of gold that always seemed to land by the fire; thus the legend of him coming down the chimney. In some countries they put their shoes out in hopes that he leaves a little something inside them, usually Mandarin oranges (three balls of gold), and gold coins.

And the story goes from there, the shoe thing became the stocking by the chimney thing.

Because we put our shoes out on January 5 for the Epiphany, I decided to go the stocking route. And so,

"The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,

in hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there."

J hadn't written his letter to Santa yet, so I thought it would be a good idea to do so and leave it out for him; however, he stayed up doing God knows what and had no desire to do it before heading off to bed.

In the morning we had no time to see what St. Nick had brought. A good thing since there was not a thing, zip, nada, in those stockings yet :)

But by the time J came home from school, we were set. I told him to take a look to see if there was something in there. He wouldn't because "You can't look in your stockings until Christmas." I practically had to twist his arm to walk over there.

Inside they found a note from St. Nick himself in which he praises their "niceness" and points out their "naughtiness" and/or areas that need improvement. He asks them to work on those until his return on Christmas Eve.

He left a little something for each one of them....oranges, of course. An ornament for M, and little Santa chocolates for Jacob that melted because I decided to turn on the fireplace. Hey, it was cold. How was I supposed to know what was in those socks?

He also left J some window decals that for some twisted reason he remembers us buying at Target a couple of weeks ago. Hmm.

So let me get this straight: St. Nick pays a visit on December 6 in the wee hours of the morning to check things out. He picks up the Wish Lists; leaves some small tokens of his appreciation -- for what, I don't know. Poor guy didn't even get cookies this trip; he goes back to wherever he came from, Heaven, I guess; and then decides if the kid is worthy of a present?

Oh, I have so many unanswered questions.....Did he get here on a sleigh? With or without reindeer? Or is he, like J asked, "Magic because he's a saint"?

Is this really my story? Yup, and I'm sticking to it even if my kid thinks Santa is a thief who is trying to steal Mommy's thunder and take credit for his window decals.

I better get on that website and find some answers to my questions before they become J's. But not before making a"Don't read unless you've entered adulthood," label for this very entry.

30 Days of Thankful

Last November our family worked on a thankful turkey. It was a simple concept where each day we'd paste a feather encrypted that for which we were thankful onto the body of a turkey.

(Read about it here).

This year I had a similar project in mind. I thought we'd do a wreath full of thankful leaves. It was a great idea except that I didn't get the leaves cut out in time. And then a week into the month when my mom got sick and almost went into a diabetic coma, I just threw in the towel.

However, I was and still am very thankful -- for a lot.

So, in honor of the 30 days of November, here they are:

I am thankful for......

1. The unconditional love my children share with each other

2. A Saturday morning all to myself

3. Faith Formation at church where both J and I have the opportunity to learn more

about the religion that has guided me throughout my life

4. Dim sum with the family on a Thursday

5. The bruise on my mom's face because that means she hit her face and not

another more serious spot on her body

6. The strength God bestowed on my mom to be able to crawl to the phone and call my Tia after the fall off the bed that caused said bruise

7. My Tia and Tio

She for getting to my mom in a jiffy and driving her to the hospital, and he for staying with her after she was released.

8. The means and opportunity to leave a few days early to be with her and the peace

I felt listening to her snoring in the next room

9. My Comadre Roseanna who despite short notice, a late hour,

and a stitched up finger was able to pick me up from the airport

10. Sacramento

Because being there pulls me back into the idiosyncrasies of my heritage and all the beautiful traditions that keep me grounded and are a constant reminder of where I come from

11. Seeing my brother

12. The joy I felt seeing my Tia Eleanor walk into my childhood home and the fact

that it was full of family on a Tuesday afternoon

13. Finding my wedding band after it had been MIA for 8 days

14. My hubby, who carries more than just the weight of his daughter on those shoulders

He keeps us safe, provided for,

and laughing

15. The extended family God gave me

16. And the family that by His grace I was lucky enough to meet
and embrace as my own (see No. 9)
17. The wonderful food we ate at Thanksgiving
18. Two awesome days in San Francisco visiting with yet more family
19. The twinkle in My Tia Chona's eyes and the remission that put it there

20. My mom
I'll leave it at that -- to elaborate would take too long

21. Being reunited with my family after nine days of the genders being
divided in two different states

22. Wishes coming true
D's to indulge in crabs and an Anchor Steam in SF

and J's to ride a cable car

(Really thankful that I could stop him from jumping off and into the street to retrieve the stuff that spilled out of my purse....yeah, that's a story in itself all right)