So yesterday I did finally get out of the house. I had a little shopping to do. Don't we all!? It's my goal to purchase at least one gift a day. Yesterday was a good day: I picked up three. Today without leaving home I bought three more. I love Amazon. Mike and I have a shopping day planned Monday, and I have to arrange times to take both Teddy and Lily on sprees. Although he announced last night that he's making his gifts this year. I think he may have been serious, yet I'll be shocked if he actually goes through with it and I'll probably laugh my you know what off if he gives the guys handmade cement planters and plants. This weekend she put her cache of church raffle tickets in bags containing items she thought would make good gifts: diamond earrings for me, Bucks tickets for her Dad and brother, and various gift certificates for various family members. She didn't win. Teddy put all his tickets on a $200 gift certificate for a Brazilian steak house because it had one of the highest values and because there were no tickets in the bag so highest reward and best odds. He planned to sell it for a little less than it was worth. He didn't win either. He always wins this raffle. She's got a soft heart and he has the heart of a capitalist. I love them both.
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When I was in elementary school, my dad's employer held a Secret Santa event every year. It was in the toy department of one of their stores fully stocked for the holidays and decked out too. Think Gimbels in Elf. It was sort of magical to my 7 year-old eyes. Little elves would take us through the pop-up shop and we'd pick out gifts. Most everything was a quarter. I always bought someone this little porcelain hand that had a clip on the index finger for attaching reminders. My brother bought my dad a soap on the rope every year. After we crossed everyone off our list and spent our $5, we got to gorge on Christmas cookies, watch Christmas movies and see Santa.
Santa was my dad's friend Jerry. I never figured it out until years later when he came to my aunt's to surprise my toddler cousin. He was dressed in the same costume. Jerry has a beard, but it's dark and impossible to disguise, and he's as skinny as a beanpole in the middle of a drought. No amount of padding could hide the fact that he was a bag of bones under the velvet and fur.
The funny thing I remember from that visit was that five-year-old GiGi looked at Santa with a skeptical eye while my 75 year-old Grandpa had a twinkle in his.
That costume is in my basement now and Jerry is in the hospital. Gina'a grown up and Grandpa's gone.
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When I was in elementary school, my dad's employer held a Secret Santa event every year. It was in the toy department of one of their stores fully stocked for the holidays and decked out too. Think Gimbels in Elf. It was sort of magical to my 7 year-old eyes. Little elves would take us through the pop-up shop and we'd pick out gifts. Most everything was a quarter. I always bought someone this little porcelain hand that had a clip on the index finger for attaching reminders. My brother bought my dad a soap on the rope every year. After we crossed everyone off our list and spent our $5, we got to gorge on Christmas cookies, watch Christmas movies and see Santa.
Santa was my dad's friend Jerry. I never figured it out until years later when he came to my aunt's to surprise my toddler cousin. He was dressed in the same costume. Jerry has a beard, but it's dark and impossible to disguise, and he's as skinny as a beanpole in the middle of a drought. No amount of padding could hide the fact that he was a bag of bones under the velvet and fur.
The funny thing I remember from that visit was that five-year-old GiGi looked at Santa with a skeptical eye while my 75 year-old Grandpa had a twinkle in his.
That costume is in my basement now and Jerry is in the hospital. Gina'a grown up and Grandpa's gone.
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I came home after shopping and got started baking. My guy needed Christmas cookies for a holiday party at work today. He asked me to just buy some, but I thought it would be so much more special to make some. I ended up cranking out five batches. I made my aunt's Kris Kringles (they taste so much better when she makes them), Lily's favorite Chinese Cookies that I've been making since the 70s, and three new recipes: a potato chip cookie that reminded Jess and I of Pecan Sandies, a chocolate chip cherry chunk cookie that was delicious with a cup of coffee this morning, and a cream cheese cookie that I think the squirrels will enjoy because they eat just about anything. I still have to make Buckeyes and Oreo Balls, which are Teddy's favorites, and the Pecan Pralines Mike likes. I always make a batch of gingerbread because...nostalgia. I imagine I'll add between two and ten other varieties between now and Christmas because...time. I plan to put together tins to take to housebound parishioners when we deliver poinsettias and communion on Saturday morning. Hopefully, none of them have nut allergies or diabetes. If so, they can feed them to their squirrels or neighbors.
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When my brother and I outgrew the annual Secret Santa event, we started baking Christmas cookies as gifts. I got the idea when I came across my Mom's annual Electric Company cookie book. My grandma came up with the idea that we should spend a day in her catering kitchen baking. Never mind that said kitchen was in a Jewish temple. The massive ovens worked just the same and held 5 times as many. It was a brilliant idea because my mom was not a baker and she detested messes. Plus we got to spend time with Grandma Rose.
By the way, my grandma was devoutly Catholic, yet she made the best hamantaschen, latkes and noodle kugel.
The new cookies I tried are from this year's we Energies cookbook. They still print it. I still get it.
Grandma's gone 10 years tomorrow. This is my ninth Christmas without my Mom.
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When my brother and I outgrew the annual Secret Santa event, we started baking Christmas cookies as gifts. I got the idea when I came across my Mom's annual Electric Company cookie book. My grandma came up with the idea that we should spend a day in her catering kitchen baking. Never mind that said kitchen was in a Jewish temple. The massive ovens worked just the same and held 5 times as many. It was a brilliant idea because my mom was not a baker and she detested messes. Plus we got to spend time with Grandma Rose.
By the way, my grandma was devoutly Catholic, yet she made the best hamantaschen, latkes and noodle kugel.
The new cookies I tried are from this year's we Energies cookbook. They still print it. I still get it.
Grandma's gone 10 years tomorrow. This is my ninth Christmas without my Mom.
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Jess called to invite me out for a drink. I'm so tickled that she's using words like festive. It's not always in her lexicon even at this time of year so I wanted to say yes!, but I was covered in flour. She decided to come to Casa Wags instead. We had a most enjoyable and even festive happy hour. We played carols and chatted. Chatted about heavy stuff and light stuff too. Lily and Peanut hung out with us the whole eve. We played some games...had some laughs. Teddy came home from working out and started serenading us. I served her cookies hot out of the oven as an appetizer and a bowl of steamy soup for dinner. It was all good. And happy.
St. Nick visited over night. He filled the stocking for cats and kids. The cats love their 50 cent mice. They played so hard that they're crashed out right now. One cozy in bed and one precariously under the dining room tree. No matter how many times I shoo him off this console table, he sneaks back again. I give up, but heaven help us if he breaks a single one of my mom's ornaments. The kids were pleased with their loot too. He took candy to school and she took some new slime. Lily told me that she loves St. Nick maybe more than Santa. I love it too. there's no pressure and no competition. Every little thing delights because there are just a few favorites. My favorite are the ornaments they get in their stockings each year. They tell the story of their lives: of who they are, what they love, what they did. This year he found a camera and she received a cactus for the tree.
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Our stockings were never roomy enough to fit all the gifts St. Nick left. My Mom had a terrible time keeping surprises. Gifts are surprises. Anything she'd bought for Christmas by December 5th would be waiting for us December 6th. I know I get my tendency to go a little overboard with St. Nick from her, and I'm totally OK with it. So are my kids.
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Our stockings were never roomy enough to fit all the gifts St. Nick left. My Mom had a terrible time keeping surprises. Gifts are surprises. Anything she'd bought for Christmas by December 5th would be waiting for us December 6th. I know I get my tendency to go a little overboard with St. Nick from her, and I'm totally OK with it. So are my kids.
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I'm going to bundle up and get outside for some fresh air. I'll take a break from carols and listen to my book. Then later today I'll go to Lily's last basketball game of the season. It's at my old intermediate school. I haven't been back there in like 35 years. I'm oddly looking forward to it. I'm looking forward to this whole month too even as I am trying to sit with and savor the moments.
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