Merry Christmas

I have to admit that I am totally phoning Christmas in this year.  But even with the lack of enthusiasm I think our living room looks pretty festive, cozy and warm.  I love walking down the stairs and seeing this image complete with curled up happy cat on the sofa (cat two is on her rocking chair on the other side of the fireplace).  Please also note the Mistletoad hanging in the corner of the photo.  Not Christmas without a Mistletoad.

We really toned it down this year and there are quite a few things we didn't get around to putting up.  We did hang a swag of cedar all down the bannister and the entryway is decorated and there are a few decorations in the dining area but basically.... not so into it. 

I hope you all have a Merry Christmas and enjoy the peace, warmth and of the season.  Oh, and eggnog...enjoy that too!!

The Week Before Christmas

Here are some random bits and pieces from the last week.

Here are Mike and Amber decorating gingerbread houses over at our place last Tuesday.

The top picture below is the house that Kevin and I made. Yes, there is a cactus. Yes, there is also a snowman homicide and yes, the snowman is, in fact, quite happy to see you.
The Sunday before Christmas Kevin and I went downtown to see the professional gingerbread house displays. The theme this year was Christmas movies. Snoopy's doghouse was fabulous. I wish I had gotten a better picture of the inside of it. He even had a dog bowl full of kibble (cocoa puffs).

The best display was the one for "A Christmas Story". The leg lamp was made out of clear gummy bears, licorice and black jelly beans with red licorice sitting in for the red fringe on the lamp. There were little scenes from the movie in gum paste all around the bottom of the display and the whole thing was set on a gingerbread box that looked just like the one the leg lamp was delivered in. I am always amazed at people's creativity. How they come up with the concepts and the materials to use is a true talent.

After gingerbread houses we went out for my belated graduation dinner. Really the dinner was an excuse to open a great bottle of wine we had been saving. We went to my favorite restaurant, Eva, and had a tremendous meal. The wine was well worth the wait.

Just because I wanted to post these pictures: Our Christmas pig!

The Bon Star (It can never be the Macy's star) and the downtown tree. It isn't Christmas without the Bon Star. Every time I see it I think of how my sister once said she wanted to die. She wanted to be standing underneath that sucker and have it fall and pierce her skull. She has subsequently changed her mind.

And a picture that has nothing to do with Christmas but it is proof positive that I have now attended a football game. I somehow managed to get to my ripe old age without ever seeing any kind of football game; not high school, not college, not pro, not Canadian...nothing. It was actually kind of fun. I still don't give a rip about the actual game but I am glad we went.

By the way...only seven weeks until pitchers and catchers report for spring training and the real sports season can begin again.

Holiday Spirit

I love Christmas. I love everything about it. I look forward to it all year long. I am a Christmas whore. I get giddy and happy and insanely festive this time of year. Kevin even says I have a "Christmas smile" which is the biggest, most genuine, happiest smile of them all. However, I have not been feeling festive this year. I have even seriously contemplated boycotting Christmas; or at least as much as I can get away with . No cards, no baking, no socializing, no Christmas music and no more decorating aside from the ginormous living room tree already completely covered in ornaments ... and the smaller 6 ft. auxiliary tree decorated only in lights in the bedroom...and the one at my parents house...and the work tree...but that's it...no more!

But since I love Christmas so much I wasn't ready to let it go quite yet so I asked Kevin to take me to Leavenworth for the tree lighting for a graduation present. So off we went early Saturday morning determined to absorb all the Christmas fabulousness that there is to absorb. As an aside, poor Kevin needed a break too. The refrigerator died on Wednesday and he had to buy a new one (and it is beautiful...angels sing when you open this one up) and then we had a pipe burst in the garage on Friday night. Friday night was a combination of cleaning up the garage and busily making a cake for my father's birthday on Sunday. Good times.

Here are some pics of the day:

The last one is the frozen Wenatchee River. Brrrrrr!

Chestnuts were eaten. Wine was consumed. Lights were lit. It had moments of festive and it sure was pretty but the Christmas feeling wouldn't stick. I was ready to call it quits on the holiday until I finally got some well-needed rest last night and a night alone (by shutting myself in my office). Today the Christmas spirit is burbling and I feel the festiveness coming on. The baking and the socializing and the music and the cards and the lights are all back on. I couldn't be happier. I might even flash some Christmas smiles.

I hope everyone is enjoying their holiday season. It truly is the most wonderful time of the year.

Merry Christmas You Old Building and Loan!

It's back! I have the Christmas feeling again!!! Late in coming and sticking this year but apparently the best thing for my crabby self was to go to work today. Christmas spirit and good cheer was everywhere. Even with the lousy weather everyone was upbeat and friendly and full of warm Christmas wishes for all. A resident's wife that I helped back in May thought enough of my help that she brought a card and a 2 lb. box of See's chocolates for me. People wishing each other "Merry Christmas" in the halls as they leave for their holiday. Something about saying "Merry Christmas" to people just melts my little withered heart. It also helps that our family Christmas was postponed to Saturday so no one had to worry a bit about the weather tomorrow. I now have a three day Christmas Eve and can get out to the store on Friday and gets some things for Christmas dinner and for a little Christmas baking. Stretch out the joy!

On my way walking home from work (with detour for cheap 7-11 wine) the Christmas spirit made me feel a little like George Bailey. I felt like yelling out: "Merry Christmas convenience store! Merry Christmas faceless condos growing like a cancer in my fair city! Merry Christmas you old fabulous nursing home!! Merry Christmas all you people driving in the slush! Merry Christmas apartment building!"

Most importantly, a heartfelt "Merry Christmas" to all of my friends. As Clarence tells us every year on Christmas Eve (you all ARE watching aren't you): "No man is a failure who has friends".
I am truly lucky to have such wonderful friends and to have you all in my life. I hope your holidays are filled with much love and joy!

P.S. Don't worry. Snarkiness will resume shortly.

Blue Christmas

I love Christmas. I look forward to it every year and I can hardly wait to feel the excitement and the joy of the season. This year has been quite the opposite. No matter how hard I try I can't seem to sustain any sort of Christmas spirit. I decorated trees, visited reindeer, listened to music, did the luminaria walk at Green Lake, saw "The Nutcracker", made out Christmas cards, drank eggnog, wore my reindeer antlers, bought and wrapped packages and still . . . nothing. This happens to varying degrees some years but this year I blame Mother Nature.
I know some of you LOVE the snow but it has dampened the holiday spirits of most everyone I know. A little snow was pretty but a week and a half of ice and snow and not feeling like we can drive anywhere is enough. All I want for Christmas is 40 degrees and rain. Glorious, gray Seattle skies and rain. Wash this crap away.
Because of the weather we have cancelled my dad's birthday party twice. I had my traditional Christmas dinner and gift exchange with a good friend cancelled. My mother was to come up for a girl's night at Hotel Ann-Marie -- cancelled. Two different outings with two dear friends -- cancelled. Now there is a very real chance that we will be postponing our Christmas to this weekend because of the weather. UNCLE!!! UNCLE!!!
However, I know that shaking my fist at the sky and complaining won't change things so I am trying to look on the bright side.
I can't get out to visit my friends and family but at least I have wonderful friends and family I want to visit and who want to visit with me.
I can't get to the grocery store to get food for Christmas but at least I have the money to buy the food and am quite clearly not going hungry.
I might have to slog down sidewalks packed with at least four inches of ice but at least I have a good job to go to and really great co-workers.
I can't dump my garbage or recycling and it is piling up in my apartment because the city can't get here to empty our dumpsters but at least I have food, newspapers, magazines and (most importantly) Diet Coke to consume so I that I need the garbage service.
I can't get out to go anywhere but it has allowed me to spend a peaceful few days organizing the apartment, really unwinding and snuggling with the kitties.
I can't ramp up my running like I wanted to when school was over because the sidewalks are far too dangerous but I have my health so that running is even an option for me.
Thinking about this situation in these terms seems to make it a little bit better.
But Santa? 40 degrees and rain please.

Christmas Cocktails

One of the beautiful things about Christmas is that it is so heavy on tradition. There is something comforting about listening to the same songs, eating the same foods, and watching the same movies each holiday. It is nice to have new things thrown in as well but it is the traditions that really make it feel like Christmas.

Growing up one of our traditions was the Christmas Eve "Christmas Cocktail". We would all get our "cocktail", a.k.a. a Shirley Temple, and have our pictures taken while we felt very grown-up. It was just one more way of adding something to look forward to to the evening. These are a couple of pictures from all of our cute years.

I just might make a Christmas Cocktail for myself tonight. Of course, mine will be a Roy Rogers made with diet, caffeine-free Coke and I have no footy pajamas but the spirit will be the same.

Oy! Christmas Trees!

There are few things I love more in life than a Christmas tree. I light up like a little kid whenever I see one and I look forward a ridiculous amount to decorating mine every year. Last weekend I got the pleasure of setting up and decorating four different Christmas trees. Sadly, they aren't all mine but I do get to spend lots of quality time with them.
First, on Thanksgiving night, Kevin and I set up my little tree. Then my boss and I set up our tree and village at work the next day. It is much prettier now that we have covered the pictures with wrapping paper and big bows.

Friday night Kevin bought his first big Christmas tree. It is still pretty minimalist because he doesn't have many ornaments. I fully intend on fixing this.

Since the parent's health isn't so great these days I spent Saturday decorating their tree while Matt and Kevin put up their outside lights. Six of the 18 gallon tubs of ornaments later the tree was mostly done. There was at least another tub that we were missing but we ran out of time and energy. I come by my love of the anti-minimalist tree naturally. I hope you all enjoy decorating your trees. I, for one, am quite done for the year.