A Boring Little Christmas

I was at Target yesterday with The Athlete and the rest of the world. She was picking out hats to go with her new bright yellow dress coat. The Athlete is all about color.

She found a really cute navy blue beret that it was clear no one else in the eighth grade would wear and she had to have it. Also there was the T-shirt she found with a giant bluebird on the front wearing a glittery scarf.

So now she will know at least two of her presents that are going under the tree.

The Brainiac was in New York last week looking at a college and managed to do some damage at the mall. But no regrets. She spread the stuff out all over her bed and told me to go shopping. Now she will know ALL of her presents under the tree.

And I find myself missing the old Christmas. The one where my cart was filled with games and toys.

The one where I wasn't working and the week after Christmas was spent lounging about in my pjs and working at a giant puzzle or reading a book while the kids hopped about the neighborhood comparing presents and building snow forts with their friends.

There was always a kind of magic in that week and I would give anything to get it back for one more year.

So if you have it, if you are home with the kids the week after Christmas, savor it. Let the house get messy. Keep the tree up until New Years. Build a snowman and then make some hot chocolate.

And take lots of pictures to help you re-live the magic later on.

Happy Thanksgiving!

The Athlete making place settings like she does every year.


All the kids are here and this afternoon three of the S.O.s (Significant Others) will arrive for our Thanksgiving feast, which will be cooked primarily by The Entrepreneur and his sous chef, Mr. Nice Guy. I will be on the fringes, making pies, setting the tables and doing the clean up.

Later, I will post some pictures of our gathering.

Hope you all have a wonderful day spent with people you love!

Soul Song

Someone sent me a song the other day. Just popped off a link to a song that they saw performed on a talk show and wanted to share. Because this friend is thorough, he also included an earlier version of the song from more than 30 years ago. And that is the song I have fallen in love with.

I had never heard this song, but it is sung by one of my favorite artists. When I heard it, it was like a gift because it was something old but undiscovered, because of the perfect clarity and beauty of the artist's voice, and because the lyrics seemed like they were written just for me.

Sometimes the Brainiac or The Athlete will get hooked on a new song, and they play it over and over again on the kitchen computer until I want to kill myself.

That is what I am doing now with American Tune by Paul Simon. Pretty soon I will know all the words. I will find an old CD with it in the play list and listen to it over and over in my car, the way I do with my other favorites like Johnny Cash's Sunday Morning and Vice Gill's Key to Life. I will think of the genius of the words and the beautiful soulful way they were sung and how listening to it brought tears to my eyes.

I will realize the wonder of true talent and the benefit the rest of us get when someone who has it does what God intended and shares it with the world.

The Sleepover

Just a few snacks for the Crew

The other night The athlete had a sleepover. With four friends. Yes. That was a crazy idea. But Maggie and Maddie were already invited, and then Shannon and Allie decided to go ice skating too and if they got left out "their feelings would be hurt."

I couldn't say " no" to that. The Athlete is always worried about other people's feelings and that is sweet.

However. Skating was cancelled due to bad weather, and then The Entrepreneur and I faced a long Saturday night trapped in our house with five 14-year-old girls who were now bored.

He had a great idea: He decided to take them to the grocery store and buy them a cart full of junk food and then to the movie store for some Chick flicks.

They purchased two flavors of ice cream, waffle bowls and caramel sauce, chocolate sprinkles, Funyuns, Salt and Vinegar chips and a 12-pack of Sprite.

Apparently, the recession does not apply to sleepovers.

The next morning, I peeked in on them, sleeping sprawled all over The Athlete's bed and I missed the sleepovers of my youth. I bet that after we went to sleep they were prank calling (or texting) boys, playing truth or dare and revealing important secrets.

Next year is high school and everything will change. The rule at our house is no sleepovers past eighth grade, because of what we have already learned from three teenagers.

So I hope until then The Athlete will enjoy many more sleepovers.

I think the only thing better than being 14 is watching your child enjoy it while she mixes salt and vinegar chips with her ice cream.