The Search

One would think, ne, even assume, that in an abode that houses 4 girls, that a person could easily and readily lay hands on a PONY TAIL HOLDER!!!

But noooooooo. Not in this house. Not this person. Last night as I was quickly trying to sweep my 4 inches of overgrown gray and 4 inches of split fried ends into some semblance of a festive coife, I found myself in need of two pony tail holders.

I began my unhurried search in the bathroom drawers where such items are kept. NONE! Moving on, I searched all the girls dresser tops and ledges next to their beds. (This is a no brainer...they all take out their bands at night) NONE!
Next I moved on to the couch cushions. Everything gets dropped down there, and I have found several there in the past whilst cleaning. EMPTY! At this point I was getting a wee tad frantic, as my ride was coming shortly. I was also beginning to feel just the very tiniest bit of panic sweating beginning......not good with my freshly made-up mug! I rifled through back packs, old purses, junk drawers, and jewelry boxes! ZILCH, NOTHING...NADA! I began to miss the days of barbies and barbie cases, (whose very existence I cursed while that phase was here, and celebrated grandly when the last blond diva with too tiny shoes was gone)Barbies always had extra pony tail holders in their hair or being used to festoon their long ball gowns into skimpy club attire.

You know how it is when you can't find something that you want. How somewhere during the hunt it suddenly becomes a life necessity right up there with food, water and shelter? This is where my need for the afore mentioned hair ties had transitioned.

In a last ditch effort before I moved on to plan B, which may have included kitchen shears and a bowl, I went into the lone boys room. I dumped out his ginormous bucket of trains....and frantically sifted through the rubble.

In a house with 4 teenage girls, I find it curious that the place I scavenged up not one, but TWO pony tail holders, was the 7 year old boys room. The seven year old boy with a BUZZ CUT no less! You see, this estrogen overpowered kid is the McGyver of trains. While trying to load logs and steal on flat beds, he was having difficulty keeping his stacked product on the cars. He needed "ratcheted tie downs." to hold his loads. His mother told him they didn't make them for wooden toy trains, and he would have to just put fewer logs (crayons) on so that they would stay. NOPE! I remember the day he took me by the hand to show me his solution. "See those loads mom?" he said. "Ponytailers work just like bungees...now I'm all set to go eastbound to Chicago."

And now I'm all set to step out for the night.

The concert

I have been looking forward to this concert for weeks. It has become a tradition in our family, as we have choralaries in our midst. This season kick off concert is comprised of The Band, The Orchestra, and the all of The Choirs. Mingled together with ensembles, trios, duets and solos, the evening NEVER FAILS to set the mood for Christmas week for me.

This year the evening opened with an orchestra medley of sacred caroles. I was over the edge with "O Come, O Come Emmanuel". I was able to regain a modicum of composure for the next three or four numbers, but alas...The Drumline. Caught me totally by surprise. The auditorium was surrounded by 20 or so percussionists, snares, basses, xylaphones, and a myriad of others I can't name. The hair on my arms (and yes I admit, my legs as well) was standing on end. It was absolutely incredible, and I was an emotional mess. Savannah, sitting next to me, texted me, and called a DQ while she was laughing. My dad sitting on the end of the row had his hankie out. I'm afraid I may need to start bringing my own to such events.

Pushing me over the edge was Fiona's solo. She came out on the main floor, center, with a 40's style mic in front of her, and slowly and confidently began singing The Christmas Song. It was over the top. I have heard her sing often (duh, as we live in the same house) but this was amazing, and more chilling than the drum line....when she sang the last line ...merry Christmas tooo youu...she was looking right at me. I don't know if it was intentional, but it effectively pushed me over the edge. I am so incredibly proud of her. She has an amazing voice, effortless for her to sing anything.

The concert finished, and after coming home and winding down, I laid in bed thinking about how I have gotten caught up in the hustle and bustle of the season, and have not taken much time to slow down and just live and soak in the season. To be the season to the people around me.

Today I'm in. There is a huge blizzard, a snow day.....and the weekend and week ahead stretches before me with lots of time available to remember why we celebrate this time of year.

O Come, O Come Emmanuel....and Merry Christmas too you!

Cookie Baking

To fully capture this event, I would need some kind of podcast...because much of the atmosphere was created with sound...or din, whatever it is that includes talking over top of each other, singing together and outsinging each other....and laughing, at and with....the perfect combination. The slotted event was cookie making....with friends and food...and way too much estrogen for some people! ( I think this may be why Noah has taken to wearing his Comander Cody costume 24/7). The finished products were works of art, even with the vomit colored icing for the ginger cookies!


While nibbling on the finished products, and yes I said "products" plural, I discovered that all in all, the day was good. There was a moment or two though, I must admit, where I was standing there in the kitchen thinking....in the middle of all that life is right now, how is it that we can still find joy, that we can still laugh, that friendships can remain, when everything else leaves? I don't know how, and maybe I never will, but I am enormously thankful, because without the joy, there would be no hope, without the laughter there would be nothing but tears (or yelling and screaming), and without great friendships, life would be empty.

From Fat Albert, and JIm...to the dwarves cottage

To fully understand the magnitude of the tree debacle, it is necessary to post a shot of last years tree, affectionately known to us as "Fat Albert." We are big tree folk. Actually this final product of FA is a much trimmer version, produced after much pruning and trimming to get him into the corner and to keep the boughs a safe(ish) distance from the dangerously drying flames of the gas log. Anyhoo...as my earlier post stated, we had quite a day procuring this lovely tree, seen below being shortened up a bit, as we had overestimated the height and were about 2 feet too tall for our room. Fiona, the master of the saw, buzzed almost effortlessly through the trunk, cutting 21 inches off. Anyway....after getting him (Jim Murchie) down to a manageable height, Olivia and I hauled him into the house to his place of honor.

While Olivia was single-mindedly fastening the "Best Christmas Tree Stand Ever" to Jim's trunk, the rest of us waited expectantly for Jim to rise to his place of honor....wringing our hands wondering how much additional trimming would need to be done to nestle him into his spot.....

We took a quick break to enjoy a few snacks...we were all tired from the whole ordeal of sawing and stand positioning....and of course the hunger that mounts from all that gleeful anticipation....

.....and then....this! Imagine our surprise...and yes, I will admit, great disappointment when we realized that instead of a behemoth, we had misnamed our poor tree. In fact, our tree would be a perfect little addition to the seven dwarfs cottage. It looks like our tree from last year went to the Bariatric Center and joined the Y! And also had a vertebrae or two taken out....he has been renamed...Matt Roloff! It's so short we even had room on top this year for Santa...(a battle I lost..along with colored lights). The silver lining here is, we can sit in the chair and not get sap on our arms while watching Christmas movies! Joyeux Noel!

O''Tannenbaum

Today we set out on our yearly quest for the family tree. This year it was just Fiona, Elsa and I. It was bitter cold here today...snowy and beautiful...but BITTER COLD!

Usually we cut our tree on a huge 900 acre farm.

This year, we drove by a lot near my parents house that had some lovely trees. And by lovely, I mean, it would be lovely to not trek out in the BITTER COLD to hunt for a tree. We just popped out of the car, the men working the lot pulled the trees off of the ropes, stamped the snow off of them, and we mulled and pondered. It took about 10 minutes. Not including the time it took for the K of C guys to tie the bad boy to the roof of our car. (And I use the word "tie" loosely")

On the way home, Fiona's job was to "watch the tree". While I looked in the rear view mirror and watched cars swerve off the road anticipating my tree torpedoing thru their windshields. The thing seemed to have ADHD up there. It rolled to the left, right, front, back...you name it....but it stayed on.

Once home, I came in and laid down on the couch and promptly fell asleep. (what can I say except that the drive was harrowing) Eventually though, I ventured out to unlash it. After cutting the twine, I turned the stump end so that I could slide the bad boy over the edge of the van.....BIG MISTAKE...HUGE! I was nearly gored as the beast slid of its own volition off the roof of my van.

After all of that...I was unable to drag Jim, (that's what I have named the tree, Jim Murchie, after a behemoth of a man whom the tree looks amazingly like) into the house. He's well over 8 ft...actually more like 10...funny how they look so short and trim in the out of doors, and soooo much larger in the confines or your garage or home! (not Jim the man, but Jim the tree) Anyhooo....stay tuned...tomorrow will see Jim snugly in his spot of honor by the fireplace...decorated and twinkling Christmas cheer into our home...I cannot wait!