goods and heroes

out with the old (and the colds and the strep . . .)

We are sort of limping away from 2008, thanks to a chorus line of illnesses that have besieged the two boys in the last five days, especially Ben who was walloped by strep, a stomach flu and a rocking ear infection. Oh and a boring old cold that just won't take a hike. I had many a grand plan for our two week break from school, visions of us checking out art and having winter hikes and baking cookies and bread. Instead, we have cuddled and huddled and napped (and cleaned up a wide variety of messes) and have dispensed a daily happy hour of antibiotics.

But you know, sometimes being trapped at home has its own advantages, fevers and vomiting not withstanding. For instance, all of those board games that Santa brought Sam? Well, we have actually been playing them. (Clue rocks!) And we've watched a bunch of goofy old cartoons (Popeye!) and a few new movies (I am completely enamored with The Golden Compass, which I haven't even finished yet.) And we have just been able to be accepting that things are a little off and break a few rules. One morning, after a long urpy night and very little sleep the only thing in the entire kitchen that seemed to appeal to Sam was cheese pizza. And so I yanked a Trader Joe's Quattro Fromaggio from the freezer and popped into the oven as if it were the most perfectly normal thing in the world to do. We all sat there mussy-haired and bleary-eyed and chomped quietly. And you know what, cheese pizza for breakfast isn't all that bad. It's hard to see your kids sick and I know it might be kind of boring to read about it here, but when you're all together and you're just kind of clinging to each other and silently rallying, well, it really does remind you that family is the most important thing. At least that's how it has been for me. The museums and the hikes and the baking will still be around in 2009 and I might just become a master of Clue.

Anyhow, I think we are out of the woods, I mean, Ben seems to be on the mend (he's happing now) and Ted and I actually slogged through it all without (knock on wood) catching some sort of bug. I am ready for a New Year, I could just kiss it. I am ready for a glass of bubbly. And I am not talking about ginger ale either. But I had a swell, gorgeous time in most of 2008 and for that I am very thanksful. Well, whatever your medicine, here's to 2009, cheers!

merry christmas!

a brief but happy tale in four pictures, hope you had a joyful day (and that Santa filled your stocking with goodies).

staying cozy

With temps hovering at 5 below yesterday, we did very, very little. The only major activity we did during the day was decorate our Christmas tree. We did it slowly and quietly and if you must know, in our pajamas, even though it was lunchtime. That's certainly my kind of a lazy, winter Sunday.

We plan on doing more of the same today (very little, and probably in pajamas) and getting ready for both Hannukah and Christmas celebrations. Anyhow, hope you are warm and toasty somewhere and getting ready for your own bunch of merry making.

how nice two is

Ben turned 2 today. And so we celebrated by singing happy birthday to him and watching him joyfully blow out the candles.

Just like Sam when was two, Ben was mostly interested in the frosting and pretty much ignored the cake part.

And after the cake he opened two presents. One was a set of clean-up tools from Magic Cabin (a dust mop, a broom etc.) just like the set he discovered over at my friend Sarah's house that he always, always plays with whenever we visit. But of course, his favorite present was his very own Elmo doll. Which he twirled around with and hugged happily.

And then he took a bath and ran around naked and hugged Elmo and bounced on the couch. (Hello chocolate frosting!) And now he is asleep. And I love that we are still in that stage where a birthday can be as simple as that. We will be having a little party on Friday with some friends and family but it won't deviate much from tonight's celebration. Except for the bath and the naked running around. But it will mostly be about singing Happy Birthday and blowing out candles and unwrapping a few presents. And hugging and twirling and frosting.

five buck luck

I gave myself the challenge to find gifts for my 20-something coworkers that were unique, a teensy bit stylish and yet also between the five to ten dollar range. Good luck, right? I was starting to think nothing would surface, and then I was checking out the "Under $25 Gift Guide" over at Design*Sponge and there were these vibrant, happy pencil cups from Thomas Paul. (I bought mine from the on-line shop Velocity Design out of Seattle but they now appear to be sold out--fear not, they also have them over at SeeJaneWork.)

Anyhow, the pencil cups came in the mail on Friday (each with 4 coordinating pencils--who knew?) and I am so tickled with my purchase and simply thrilled that I got all five of my co-horts something simple but with a little bit of pluck for just about $25 total. In fact, I am feeling so good that I am going to also give each of them a little glistening, decadent chocolate buddha from the eccentric mother/daughter chocolate making team over at Bon Bon a few blocks from our house. I mean, I do need to support my local economy as well, no?  And make my co-horts happy. And I stayed within my budget so all is well and good on this gift-giving mission.

shopping thoughtfully, sort of

All right, it is 14 days/2 weeks/a fortnight until Christmas. And while I don't have the shopping quite done, I think I am getting close. I have had a very humbling, insanely finite budget to draw from this year (hello half time work on contract!) but I must say, this slimster budget has sort of forced me to be more thoughtful. And creative. Oh wait, don't think I have been crocheting mittens out of kite string or making candied pecans in charming old jelly jars (2 skills I would die to possess). No, but I have been sleuthing and thinking twice or even thrice about my recipient before I casually buy something and have been very, very good at buying locally here in my Andersonville neighborhood. (I am happy to say that I have not bought one thing yet from Target, Kmart, etc.) Hey, I am no angel, and I might very well have to hit Target for some stocking stuffing supplies. But maybe not.

Ted and I actually made an agreement this year that we would only get ourselves "experiences" rather than things for our big gifts since we have so much stuff. This has proven to be so much fun (and insanely less stressful) . . . and I am going to experiment with extending this to Sam--but don't freak, he will be getting a few mass produced, much hyped plastic boy toys from Santa. I am just leaving this procurement to Ted.  So in addition to stuffing his stocking with his favorite things, I am also giving him a small jar or can filled with a half dozen strips of paper or little coupons listing things he can cash in for us to do together, like taking a day off school for no good reason, going for chocolate chip pancakes with me at IHOP, making cookies before dinner, staying up late to watch a movie, that sort of thing.

That said, I still do love to troll around the blogs for gift ideas and links and all that. One that I am loving is Bloesem Kids. She has a gift guide for girls and boys, those that are eco-friendly and much more.

I actually bought Ben the totally cool (in my myopic toy buying vision) and charming little wooden and plush rocket ship space guy set you see here listed as #12. It was in my neighborhood at this completely rocking and happily (read: surprisingly) affordable new-ish shop called Green Genes. Eco-friendly toys and clothes for kids. Buying Ben these sort of lovely handmade wooden toys makes me feel like we are maybe sort of kind of balancing out the yick factor of all the plastic Chinese crap that Sam is ga-ga for these days. (Bakugan Night Vision Set! Haunted Vision Flip Wheels!) Plastic or wooden, plush or not, I can't wait to see Ben open up these goofy, spacey alien guys on Christmas morning. And I can't wait to play with them myself. With Ben of course. And I reckon Sam might even be into them as well.

back

Hi all:I didn't mean to disappear from blog-land for such a solid spell. Really.

I had grand plans to share so much of it with you via posts and photos. Only, that didn't happen. But it went something like this:

ThanksgivingMilwaukeeWorkWorkPackColoradoPuebloBoulderHome.

Something like that. Something like a blur, with happy moments involving indoor water parks, Kewpie burgers, cousin love, dogs and cats and an old swing on a tree, pancakes and green chile, late night sister talk, farm action and super simple things like the fuzzy delight of meeting a horse for the very first time.

And there were tough bits too with my mother being ill and my father and brother trying to keep it all together. The messiness, the constant moving, the dozens of ashtrays stacked next to a very big jar of mayonnaise, oxygen tanks standing like soldiers next to a broken old boom box, Ben's terminally crusty nose and the boring dread of unpleasant airline workers.

But now we are home. We are glad we experienced it all (well, most of it, I can handle the crusty noses and jerky flight attendants but I feel pretty powerless and sad about my mother's emphysema). Anyhow, we are glad to be back. I am hoping to have a couple of quiet cozy days to just take it all in and let some of it go.