chili for Christmas!

Oh, by the way, my mom is making chili for Christmas tomorrow...Woo Hoo!!!

She usually kills herself making ham and turkey and all kinds of things that my family doesn't eat. (Mom, I know you read this blog...we always feel bad but you know J and H are super picky...sorry). We LOVE her chili, so we're looking forward to starting a new tradition!

Christmas Eve traditions and reflections

It's Christmas Eve and my family is almost asleep. I hear J snoring in the bedroom, and H is trying to get to sleep. She's 14, so there are no "Santa" jobs to do now...it's all wrapped and under the tree. I took the stockings to my closet where I had stashed the stocking stuff. I put it all together and put the stuffed stockings on the hearth, where I'm praying the dog doesn't decide to explore before we get to them in the morning.

I'm so tired I can't believe I'm sitting here, but for some reason I can't make myself go to sleep yet. I've been thinking about how lucky we are. Tonight we had our Christmas Eve dinner with J's mom and her husband, J's dad and his wife, and my mom and dad. My Jewish in-laws are so cool that they always go to candlelight church with us, and then we come here for dinner. It's actually my favorite family time of the whole year. I know a lot of divorced families have troubles this time of year, but we're so fortunate that they can all be together and it's relaxing and enjoyable. H loves it...all her grandparents together in the same place.


Dinner was great. J didn't burn the tenderloin, and everyone pitched in to cook and help clean so it was very easy.

After all the hustle and bustle of getting everything ready for Christmas, it is SO nice to just sit back and enjoy family. Tomorrow will be fun, too. H is excited, not only for her presents, but to see people open the gifts she picked out and purchased all by herself.

Life's good, and I just want to say, for the record, that I appreciate it all.

"I'M A TERRIBLE MOTHER" moments...

I drove H to Target and Bed, Bath and Beyond today so that she could finish her Christmas shopping. She had something very specific in mind to get...wouldn't tell me what it was. She is SO excited about Christmas this year. I think it's because she has done all her own shopping, with her own money. She's starting to "get it"...you know, the feeling of wanting to watch people open the present she's selected for them. I hope everyone else does a better job than I did with the gift she gave me last year. She bought a little black handbag for me. It was actually very cute, and very much like the kind of bag I'd take at night. I thanked her profusely and carried it a couple of times when we went out together. But I have several black bags so it kind of got moved to the back of the rotation and when we moved last year and I was cleaning out my closets, I decided to get rid of a lot of things. Before giving anything away I would ask her if she wanted it. I saw the bag and, forgetting that she gave it to me, offered it to her. She never told me that she knew it was the bag she bought for me, until today. We were talking about how exciting it is to see people open the gifts we'd picked out, and she said, "I remember when you gave me the bag I bought for you." I looked over and there were tears in her eyes. I felt horrible. There were no words to make her feel any better. This is one of those, "I'M A TERRIBLE MOTHER" moments. I tried to explain how much it meant to me that she chose it for me, but the more I apologized, the worse it all seemed. She is such a loving, giving, sensitive young woman, and when I see her hurting it hurts me, too.

Why don't moms get sick days?

Anytime H gets sick, J gets it twice as bad.

She came home from school on Friday with a very slight fever, coughing, feeling crummy. By Saturday night she felt much better.

She's still coughing, but playing basketball and studying for exams just like normal.

J stayed in bed on Sunday, and didn't go to work until this afternoon. Still feels terrible.

I guess I should be glad they didn't pick up the stomach bug that's going around school.

I've been staying up late every night, trying to clean the house and get ready for holiday company, and the party we're having Saturday night. Luckily I have finished Christmas shopping. I'd kinda like to take a sick day and just sleep...

My Elf Name...what's yours?

Christmas Elf Name


My Christmas Elf Name is







Get your Christmas Elf Name at JokesUnlimited.com

Messing up the Kitchen...but it's worth it

The Cookie Baking has begun! The first batch of peanut butter/cracker/chocolate cookies had to be made before I could do anything else. It's not really baking. It's just assembling and dipping and making a HUGE mess of the kitchen. But H and J absolutely love them and I only make them once a year. This year I also did a batch with chocolate graham crackers/marshmallow creme/white chocolate for H's friend who can't eat peanuts. (I know, it's so sad).

Then I made a batch of Karen's "World's best chocolate chip cookies". They really are great. And if you have a stand mixer, pretty easy. Actually easier and less mess than the non-baked peanut butter things I made first. Here's the recipe:

THE WORLD'S BEST CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

Ingredients:
2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1 packed cup light brown sugar
2 t-spoons vanilla extract
2 extra large eggs, room temperature
3 cups all purpose flour
1 t-spoon baking soda
1 t-spoon salt
24 oz. bag of milk chocolate (not semi-sweet) chips
2 cups chopped pecans

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In large bowl, beat together butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar with an electric mixer for 3 minutes. Add vanilla and eggs and beat until well blended.

2) In another bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Gradually beat flour mixture into butter mixture with a wooden spoon. Mix in chocolate and pecans. Mixture will be very hard to stir. (I have broken a couple of wooden spoons stirring it.)

3) Using 1/4 cup measuring cup, drop batter onto greased cookie sheets, allowing 3 inches between cookies. Bake 14 minutes. (I use a convection oven. Timing will probably be different in a regular oven.) Let cookies cool for a couple of minutes before removing them from the cookie sheets.

(I omitted the pecans per J's request, but if you like pecans they're great that way. I also added about a cup of butterscotch chips, and a few less chocolate chips.)

YUMMY!

painting a black dog continued...

Well, here's the next update to my painting of Rosie. I'm happier with this than I have been with the other things we've done in class. I still need to work on her whiskers and her nose is a little bit crooked, but I'm getting there!

Here's the original...

Jonas Brothers and Hannah Montana

To protect her privacy I can't show her face, but my beautiful niece got to meet her heroes at Miley Cyrus' birthday party concert/after party. She really likes Joe. After seeing this picture, I can see why!

And I don't know about you, but I think Billy Ray looks so much better without the Mullet!

No more Christmas Shopping

I forgot how much I love it when I finally finish my Christmas shopping. Although, this is a dangerous time. Now that I have everything I NEEDED to buy, I start picking up things that I don't need to buy. But this is now my favorite time of the season. I look forward to the mail every day. I really love getting Christmas and Holiday cards. Such a nice change from the bills and junk mail that usually fill our box. I do get a little bit upset with all the catalogs that we get. It's crazy. I think Bloomingdales , Saks, and Neiman Marcus send us the exact same catalogs every other day. So many trees being needlessly cut down for all that paper that just goes into the trash. It's really sad.

Anyway, now I can start baking cookies, finish decorating, and dig out my old Christmas CDs. I wish H didn't have exams coming up, because she has no time to play with me.

Today was my birthday. It was a great day. I went for an 8 mile run, (which I couldn't do a few months ago due to some phantom hip pain) then had lunch with J, and went shopping. He helped me pick out my last gift (anniversary present for my in-laws, who got married on Christmas Day), and then surprised me with a new watch.We looked at it, and loved it, but when I saw the price tag all I could think of was how many pairs of shoes I could get with that money. HE's the watch guy. I usually pick up a seiko or citizens or something like that and don't take very good care of it. He really wanted to get it for me but I didn't feel comfortable spending that kind of money. So he went back to the mall with H and surprised me with it at dinner. Now I have to learn to take care of it. Yikes.

Creation vs. evolution

A presidential candidate without a wishy-washy answer...how refreshing!



I don't know if Mike Huckabee is the best candidate, but I can tell you that I can't help but smile when I see this response to a question that has NOTHING to do with running a country.

Dancing the Hora...NOT

I woke up this morning with a lump on my hip, and it really hurts, which reminded me of the thing I tried to act like didn't happen last night.

Went to a bar mitzvah party...our friend's son. He was awesome, really. He sang his torah portion (or chanted or whatever it's called), and he had the most beautiful voice I've ever heard from a 13 year old boy. His parents gave wonderful speeches, acknowledging the elephant in the room but not letting it overshadow their son's big day (his Mom has cancer and they were happy she was here). J and I both were choking back tears.

Then at the party last night, he played his guitar and sang a few songs (which took a lot of guts) and he was great. Food was great, Disc Jockey was great, yada yada yada. H wasn't there, (he's in 7th grade, she's in 8th), but a lot of her friends and basketball teammates were. I always enjoy watching the kids. They get dressed up, and dance in little huddles on the dance floor, and then they finally break out into a slow dance/musical chairs kinda thing called "snowball". I was standing off to the side in my "cool mom" mode, just watching, when the "hora" started. Now, to a shiksa, that is the highlight of the night! It's so much fun. J never does it, I always do. Some of the bar mitzvah newbie kids kind of stand around, not sure exactly what to do, so I (still in "cool mom" mode) grab their hands and show them how to do the hora. Last night I was particularly enjoying myself because there was room to actually dance around in a circle, when all of a sudden I took a step and tripped over my own feet. "Cool Mom" slid on her butt across the floor! My friends said no one noticed, but I can't help but think that those 7th graders had to wonder who that weird lady was.

painting a black dog

Well, this is not finished, but I started trying to paint Rosie. I've wanted to try it for a long time, but was afraid, because it's really hard to paint shades of black with watercolor. Since blue is the underlying color when making black (ultramarine blue + burnt sienna), I started with that for the highlights. I've got to finish it, but I wanted to put it out there to show where I'm starting from. Hopefully I will quit before I mess it up too much.

Christmas Decorations are UP! H was very upset that I didn't use the old tree and the old decorations, but the colors just didn't work in the new house. I did go through the ornaments, and pulled out the ones that 1. matched and 2. were sentimental, and she will put those on this weekend. She wanted to do it this week, but she has so much homework and basketball games every night, so she has no time at all. I've laid them out on the couch, with the hangers, ready to put on the tree. Every time I pass by I have to restrain myself from grabbing them and doing them myself. She wants to do it, so I have to let her do it.

We did the tree, which is fake, because I wanted it to be up early and we'll be traveling after the holidays so I won't take it down until after the new year, and a new tree would just be so dry and flameable that we went fake. But I DID put up fresh garland on the staircase. I've never had a staircase to decorate, so that was nice. We put some shiny candlesticks and glittery candles and ornaments and netting on the table, the credenza, and some green mossy balls and red ornament balls on the big bowl on the coffee table, and wreaths on the doors, and that's about it. It looks nice, but not too much. H will put the Christmas Village upstairs (somewhere) this weekend.

They won their first basketball game of the middle school tournament tonight (43-17). H tied as leading scorer! That made up for the disappointing loss last night against a team that looked like they were 25 years old! They were so tall and talented and our girls just couldn't do anything right. They all came home upset and emotional and exhausted. Tonight was a good motivational victory. Hopefully they'll continue the streak tomorrow.

All girl's high school interview

H had her interview today for the all girl's high school. I went back and forth with what to tell her to prepare her for the interview and in the end, I decided just to tell her to be herself, shake the hand of the interviewer, say "yes ma'am and no ma'am", and try not to say "like" every other word. I think that was a good plan. She felt very confident and comfortable, and the interviewer had wonderful things to say about her after it was over. We still have mixed emotions about the whole thing. I think I'm very comfortable with her changing schools. I feel like a change would be good, but J still has reservations. He's so loyal and feels very comfortable where she is. We'll just wait and see whether she gets accepted and then deal with the decision at that time. H is leaning towards making the change.

Here's info from a study of almost 5,000 alumnae from all girl's schools:

• 91% cited preparation for college and academic challenge as very good or excellent

• 88% would repeat the girls' school experience

• 83% perceived themselves to be better prepared for college than female counterparts from co-ed high schools

• 93% agreed that girls' schools provide greater leadership opportunities than co-ed schools; 80% had held leadership positions since graduating from high school

• 13% intended to major in math or science, significantly more than females and males nationally (2% and 10% respectively)

I just like the idea that the whole boy aspect is eliminated from the classroom. No distractions from the learning process. Plenty of time for that in college...


'

Oh Christmas tree...

Saw this and it reminded me I've got to set up my tree this weekend. Was at Mom's tonight and she is already all decorated. I used to look so forward to the whole decorating thing. Now it's just another item on the to do list. Wish life wasn't so hectic. (sigh)

High School basketball?

H was asked to move up to the High School basketball team. Her best friend already made the move up...(her school has a bball program that is in a building stage...lots of middle school players but not many high school). They basically needed more bodies. We've decided not to do it. While she would love to be with her friend, she is enjoying being one of the oldest players on the middle school team...likes being a leader. The Middle school team is also very good, and she's looking forward to being on a winning team, for a change.

I also don't care for the thought of her hanging around with high schoolers. While I'm sure they're good girls, it's just that high school aged girls are so much different. She has plenty of time to experience all that stuff on her own...I'd rather her stay with the girls her own age.

And last, but not least, if she plays high school as an 8th grader and transfers to another school next year, (a possibility), she might have to sit out a year, and she doesn't want that.

So, once we broke it down, it was a no-brainer decision. She'll stay on her current team.

But it was flattering.

Christmas Decorations...starting over!

Went up to the attic a couple of weeks ago to check out the Christmas decorations. Since we're in our new house, suddenly all my old stuff just seems, well, OLD.

For the last few years, I've just been hauling out all the old knick-knacks, wreaths, etc., and haven't really bought anything new, since we were in the midst of planning for the new house. So when I look at the miss-matched things in the attic I just can't bring myself to pull it out.

If I don't put out the Christmas Village, H will be very upset, so I might need to find a place for that, but I think this year I'm going to get some new stuff. I bought a new artificial tree, pre-lit (great idea, by the way...), since I like to put it up early and since we'll be traveling soon after Christmas, and a real tree would get way too dry and dangerous. But I will buy some real garland and wreaths and things for the staircase and front door, and a few re-usable things that better fit the new digs.



I already bought a new menorah for Hanukkah. This year Hanukkah is early, so it doesn't compete with Christmas at all. We only light candles, no gifts...there are plenty of those at Christmas. But I love the tradition and beauty of the lighting of the candles. J celebrated Christmas growing up, not Hanukkah (Christian stepfather), but I think it's important for H to see the traditions Judaism. It's her heritage.

My family will probably feel like we're not decorating enough, but if we start fresh then every year we can add a few things and I'm sure that before long we'll fill up the house. Of course, my taste will probably change by then and I'll have to do it over again.

Now I just have to find a place for the Christmas Village...

Today in watercolor class we did "printing"...we painted onto plexiglass, one color at a time, and pressed the watercolor paper onto it to "print" the painting twice. So the first painting has more color, and the second one less. I can officially tell you that I SUCKED at this exercise! Out of 20 people in the class, 17 people liked this process, and 3 (including me) did not. Next week we get to paint something we like. Hopefully it will be better than the vegetables and this.

Why is it that we give human characteristics to our dogs?

Rosie is walking around the house looking for Jake...

Why is it that we give human characteristics to our dogs? My Mother-in-law called and said that Jake missed Rosie.

After spending about 6 hours looking at each other like they weren't sure what they were looking at, the two black dogs played together like two 4 year olds. As long as what they did didn't interfere with the other one, they got along just fine. Rosie even gave up her prize seat on the ottoman. Jake pretty much lived up there, while Rosie seemed content to sleep on the hardwood floor.

They even shared the rawhide bone. Walked around the house with it in both their mouths at the same time!