You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch

So I have a confession to make. It's kind of a big one, so you should probably sit down. Or if you're already sitting and are at work, be prepared to hold in that gasp. Here goes: Hi, I'm Cat, and I'm a grinch. Christmas is not my favorite holiday. In fact it's one of my least favorite. I don't find this time of year magical. It's more stressful for me. I don't dream of a white Christmas. And honestly I can't stand Christmas music. There I said it. I'm a grinch.

I love Christmas lights but I think they should go up the day after Thanksgiving and stay up until the end of February. I think they are the perfect bit of light in what is a terrible, dark, cold time of the year. But I don't put up a tree (gasp), I dislike the crowds at any shopping area, and I'm certainly not decking any halls. I make it a point to not make anyone else miserable at this time of year but honestly I'm really glad when it's done. I only feel a great relief the day after New Years.

I like wrapping presents but I like that any time of the year. I will watch Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Chuck Jones's The Grinch, but other than that I instantly change the channel whenever a Christmas show comes on. And the one radio station in town that started playing Christmas music 24/7 the day after Halloween was instantly banished from my pre-set stations.

I'm not sure why I dislike this holiday so much. Perhaps it's the fact that it happens in winter. I'm not a fan if you didn't know. But I don't honestly mind a good snow day, when I don't have to go anywhere. Or perhaps it's because Christmas is slowly eating away at Thanksgiving, my favorite holiday of the year. I hate that businesses are now opening on my favorite day. I liked at least one day of rest from our consumerism. Or perhaps my issue with Christmas is just that it has become unavoidable. I can't have a conversation lately without someone talking about their decorations, their most recent present buying trip, or their Christmas tree.

I feel a bit like a Scrooge but I just can't keep silent anymore. I have twenty more days of hearing nothing but Christmas. And I'll listen, and smile at your excitement. I like passion in any form. But don't look at me askance when I tell you that I don't have a tree up. That I haven't finished my shopping, or really started, and that I don't have my Pandora channel set to carols. I'll raise my glass of hot chocolate after the new year. Until then, I'll be the grinch in the corner, not liking Christmas a lot.

Holiday Rush Winding Down

I hope everyone is having a fantastic holiday season. I hope you have spent time with family, relaxed, eaten too much, played lots, and enjoyed all the little beauties of the season. I'm enjoying that the holiday rush is over and this week is really all about relaxing. I have three more days of work this week but it's been quiet and I'm using the time to do some catch-up. Nothing seems rushed at work. Heck, what am I talking about, no one seems to be at work. 

The weather is downright glorious. We are seeing forty degree days. New Years Eve they are predicting mid-fifties. We had a sprinkling of rain yesterday. I can walk outside in a sweatshirt and haven't had to wear my extra-warm wool socks in weeks. Normally this time of year we have a couple inches of snow on the ground and we consider ourselves lucky if the temperatures rise above freezing. I know a ton of people that bemoaned the lack of a white Christmas. I practically danced through the brown grass with my sack of presents on my back. I don't need icicles to feel the holiday spirit. 

I generally dislike the rush leading up to the holidays but this week might have to be one of my favorite times of the year. The week between Christmas and New Years is like an extended holiday, even with a bit of work thrown in. The frantic shopping, wrapping, baking, addressing... is done. Now it is time to just sit back and enjoy a slow relaxed week. I've been reading like crazy. I've finished three books on the last couple days. I'm starting my fourth as soon as this is done. I'll stay up a little later than my standard 10:30 bedtime. I might be a tad more tired at work tomorrow but I probably won't have too much to stress me out. Did I mention I love this week? I hope you are having a good one as well. 

Window Clings

I know that Halloween is long gone. In all honesty I can't really believe that November is almost over. Where did the fall go? I'm not yet ready for Christmas, despite the continual reminders that have been up in every store since the day after Halloween.

I've been saving the picture above to post on the blog. I found it on Lovely Listing the day after Halloween or so and just had to keep it. I don't normally put up window clings or do any major decorating for holidays. But these made me laugh. I would put up these clings. They're so whimsical and cute and odd. All the things I like.

It's images like this that make me think that I need to start a Pinterest account. A place that I could keep all the pictures that I want to save. Then I remember that's what the blog is for.

Home Again, Home Again

If you're wondering why I've been so quiet it's because I've been gone. Jeff and I left on Wednesday for St. Louis and just got back this evening. When we're out of town we only bring Jeff's computer, so I don't spend a lot of time online. Plus we were somewhat busy. You know...spending time with family. So no posts for most of the week. I was showing my blog to my mother-in-law and realized that I've only posted 100 times this year. Way too few. So I'll try to up the quantity. Quality...well...we'll see.

We drove down on Wednesday to spend the evening with Jeff's brother and his family. I spent a good chunk of the evening playing Hide and Seek with my nephew, and drinking wine and talking with my sister-in-law. It was a wonderful quiet night. The next day we spent most of the day with Jeff's younger brother's family and my in-laws watching the Lions again lose at football and playing with my new nephew. Then at dinnertime we headed over to Jeff's aunt's house for a rather spectacular feast. There were several cousins and their families and plenty of food and laughs. It was a wonderful evening. I was really full and Jeff was stuffed to bursting. We finished the night with more football and a glass of baileys to end the evening.

The next day was much quieter. I never go out for Black Friday and this year I had even less interest. The fact that shops are opening on Thursday now just makes me wonder about our values as a society. I wonder how long it will be before all stores are open on Thanksgiving. So needless to say, I was not heading out shopping on Friday. Instead we hung out with my in-laws for a very nice relaxing afternoon. I knit (I'm working on my scarf for the Special Olympics), helped cook (I have new recipe to share), and was generally lazy. That evening we headed back to the older brother's house for a dinner of appetizers, more wine than I care to admit, and board games. We played Apples to Apples and Discombobulation. I'm pretty sure everyone had a great time. At least there was a lot of laughing.

This morning we headed to a local restaurant for breakfast and then Jeff and I headed out on the road. It rained the whole way through Missouri. A cold continuous rain. But Jeff and I had some great conversations (as we always do in the car) and by the time we were home I was feeling energized. It was a fantastic weekend with family and fun. I only wish I had brought the camera. And now I'm excited to have some time at home. I'm ready to slow down.

Ghosts of Halloween Past

I've been going through some of my old pictures recently. Be warned. I'll probably post some of the older ones here. I'm a photo junkie, although I don't end up taking a ton of them myself. But I love when people send me old family photos. One of the ones I had in my album was the one below. Believe it or not, that's me, ready to head out for a fun night of trick-or-treating (although I looked stoned on candy already or maybe it was the wallpaper). I can't imagine how old I was. I'm terrible at guessing.

When I was younger, I went out dressed up a lot as cowboys or pirates or monsters. I was almost drawn to those type of action oriented characters. I also went out as an animal frequently. I remember an owl costume, a lion costume, and cat ears. I was never (to my knowledge) a princess, a fairy, or rockstar. I didn't do a lot of traditionally female costumes.

 I've been having a discussion with a friend of mine about how difficult it is to find women's Halloween costumes that aren't a bit slutty. It seems like every costume is for sexy nurses, sexy cops, sexy ladybugs, sexy librarians (which I pull off in my daily life ;-) ), sexy witches... everything sexy. A witch becomes a sexy witch. So now if I were to dress up, I would probably go in a man's costume. No one wants to be thrust that deeply into my cleavage.

But I have gone out in more traditionally female costumes as these pictures prove. These were Halloween parties that my sister threw back when Jeff and I were first married. The first year is me in the flapper dress, one of my favorite costumes. Jeff went as Jacob Marley (I love a man in a literary reference costume). The second year I was lazy and went in a Renaissance costume we had. My friend Josh is with us as Dracula, looking rather dashing for the undead. So I guess there are some costumes out there that don't stop at the crotch or show off "huge tracts of land". Maybe there is help for next year's Halloween.

Happy Thanksgiving

It's my favorite holiday of the year again. Thanksgiving is, for me, all about food and family and spending time. I'm heading over to my parent's house this evening for dinner and couldn't be more excited. I made my Frog Eye Salad this morning (see previous post) and am ready for tons of good food. My dad even made me a vegetarian dressing which was so incredibly sweet. I'll have to eat huge servings.

We're eating later this year than normal because my sister has to work most of the day. But after gorging ourselves on food we'll sit around and drink coffee and perhaps later play a game. Jeff is hoping to get everyone back here to the house to watch Pumpkin Chunkin' on the Discovery Channel tonight. An idea that also makes me happy.

We watched Pumpkin Chunkin' one year while on vacation and have been fascinated ever since. Imagine groups of people meeting out in a corn field to see how far they can shoot, fling, and throw pumpkins. There are air cannons, slingshots, trebuchets, and any other device you can think of. They shoot for distance but mostly it's just fun to see those pumpkins fly. Perhaps that will be our new Thanksgiving tradition. We'll see.

Some of the devices used for Pumpkin Chunkin'

Whatever you do for Thanksgiving, spend some time giving thanks. I know that I have a lot to be thankful for. I'm truly blessed. I hope you remember that you are too. Happy Thanksgiving all. Eat much and enjoy more.

Seedless

Another Halloween has come and gone and once again I have denied myself one of my favorite things. Not candy, which I've eaten way more than my share. Not costumes although it was one of the few years that we didn't have a party to attend. And not even trick-or-treaters, since we never get any of those at the townhouse. What I'm talking about is pumpkin seeds. I'm seedless again this year.

One of my favorite things about Halloween is pumpkin carving. I'm terrible at it but I love to create my happy smiling pumpkin heads for the front porch. But this year I didn't even buy a pumpkin much less carve it. No smiling or scary orange heads for the neighborhood kids to smash. And even worse, no seeds. Pumpkin seeds are one of the great pleasures of the fall. Almost better than pomegranates and you know how much I like those. I like to roast my pumpkin seeds with a bit of salt and cayenne for a touch of heat. Done right, they are one of the best snacks, addictive and good for you.

Two years ago, Jeff and I had some friends over to carve pumpkins. I had gone to the store and picked up six of them. We carved and laughed and drank wine and had a good time. After everything was cleaned up I washed the seeds and spread them out on paper towels on the kitchen table to dry. I promised some of the roasted seeds to our friends and they went home. I headed upstairs to change and came back down to find the cat sitting on the table amid the seeds, chewing on them. Needless to say I tossed the whole batch. No seeds that year.

Last year we went to my sister's place to carve pumpkins and answer the door for trick-or-treaters. It was a ton of fun and food and by the end I was so full that I went home without even taking any of the seeds. None that year. So this year I was determined that we would have another carving party and this time I would just roast the seeds without drying them. But I never got to the store. We never had the party. And I never made any seeds. I'm going seedless again this year. It just doesn't feel like Halloween. I'll have to pick up some old pumpkins and carve them up tomorrow. Do you think my neighbors would find Thanksgiving Jack-O-Lanterns odd?

Full Fourth

Fourth of July weekend came and went without any fireworks. It was raining so hard on Sunday night that we didn't even bother going out to see if the city was going to set them off. That's not to say that the weekend wasn't a blast. We had more fun (and it felt longer) than any weekend I can remember. It was just the less explosive type of fun.

The weekend started late Friday night when our friends Lon and Lisa arrived in town. It was late but we headed out for a quick bite of dinner only to find the noodle place we were planning to go to was closed for the night. Instead we headed next door for a surprisingly speedy pizza dinner. The kids did really well for being up so late and were great during dinner. After pizza we couldn't pass up the tasty gelato before heading back to the hotel to talk. We stayed up way past my bedtime (and I think theirs) talking but had a very nice time.

The next morning Jeff and I headed back to their hotel with the promise of finding a park to play in and then lunch. We didn't have to walk far to find a park though. While the youngest child took a mid-day nap, we took Lisa and their son Logan out for a walk around the pond near the hotel. What we didn't realized was that the pond was stocked with goldfish and filled with ducks. After one loop we were joined by the rest of the party and went around again. I'll talk about that walk a bit more in my other blog. Sorry no pictures. Then we headed out to lunch (noodle place was open this time) and then out to Raccoon River Park to play on the playground equipment. At about 3, Lon and Lisa continued on their way out of town and Jeff and I spent some time sitting on the patio soaking up the sun. That evening our neighbor came over and we spent a couple hours sitting out, drinking some good red wine, and talking. We hadn't seen Jeanne much since last fall and I was missing her. We talked and laughed and set up new drinks dates surrounding made up holidays (who needs an excuse to drink good whiskey?). It was incredibly relaxing although I will admit I had more red wine than I should have.

Sunday was a bit of a lazy day. After all the red wine on Saturday night I had problems sleeping. So after finally falling asleep at 5 a.m. I slept until almost noon. It was only when my parents called about lunch that I finally got out of bed. After lunch at a barbecue place we headed back to their house for a quiet afternoon of visiting and board games. We played a couple hilarious rounds of Apples to Apples (my current game obsession) and a couple rounds of Bananagrams (my mom's favorite). Jeff and I didn't leave there until 9 and by then it was pouring. We headed straight home, figuring that no one would be lighting off fireworks, and started a jigsaw puzzle. It's been years since I've done a puzzle and it was one of the things that Jeff and I did when we first started dating. We stayed up way too late working on it but ended up with some nice quiet relaxing time together.

Monday was a work holiday for me so we planned to eat breakfast out, a traditional weekend luxury. While waiting for our table we got a text. It was Lon and Lisa on their way back through the city wondering if we wanted a late lunch. We left the sit down breakfast and headed over to Caribou for a quick bite, then back to the house to do some cleaning. We were having a box springs delivered that afternoon so we needed to be home and have the bedroom ready when it arrived. When lunch ended up being at 2 we ran down to the mall to meet them and then had to hightail it home since our delivery window was from 3-5. Of course the bed didn't arrive until 4:30. The evening was spent working on our puzzle which we finished surprisingly quickly. We actually started and finished another 1000 piece that afternoon. By the end of the day my back was killing me from bending over the table. But the new box springs helped soothe that. All and all a great weekend, filled with friends and visiting. We never BBQed or watched fireworks, but it was still an amazing weekend. I feel refreshed.

Happy Thanksgiving

I spent the morning cooking and will be heading out shortly to have dinner with my family. Today, think of something that makes you happy, something that defines life for you. It could be a close family, a wonderful marriage, a job you love, a pet, or even something as simple as the chance to read. Find that something and say a little prayer of thanks for it. I'm not religious but prayers of thanks into the universe seem the best possible form of praise for this life we have. I love life and everyday am thankful for it. Today just a bit more so. So say a little prayer of thanks. And I hope you have a fantastic Thanksgiving.

Happy Fourth of July

Happy 4th all. 

I'm a day or so late mostly because I didn't feel like blogging yesterday. And since this holiday is all about freedom I figured I had the right to do so. :-)  

This was a bit of a strange holiday for me. I've spent almost the entire weekend indoors at home.I had an invitation to go out to the music festival in town (80/35) but really just wanted to be selfish with my time. I didn't even go out to watch fireworks which is bizarre for me since I love fireworks. What I did do was write and read and play and enjoy. The weekend felt like the right length for me without all the running around. I got a lot done and felt good about it. I baked bread and learned how to cook quinoa. I caught up entirely on laundry and read and reviewed multiple children's books. I played with the cat and spent good quality time with Jeff. It was a good weekend even without fireworks. 

Childfree Day

In the mid 1990s Leslie Lafeyette, the founder of the Childfree Network, put forward the idea of having a day to celebrate the childfree choice. Her idea is that the holiday would fall on the first Sunday of June, the mid point between Mother's Day and Father's Day. Although the Childfree Network itself is no longer around, the idea of a holiday has stayed. Well yesterday was World Childfree Day. It is another one of those odd little holidays that Jeff and I celebrate that most of the world doesn't.

And although I love the idea of a day to celebrate childfree people I do see one problem with the holiday, at least for Jeff and I. We celebrated the day the same way we do pretty much every day. Jeff stayed up way too late playing World of Warcraft the night before. I spent the morning hanging out in my local coffeehouse writing and drawing. We went out to lunch and then spent the afternoon reading or sitting outside enjoying the nice day. In the evening we scavenged together some dinner (each cooking our own meals) and then raided with the guild until very late. So in all honesty it was a pretty typical Sunday for us.

Jeff and I are blessed in that we have a lot of time to do whatever we want to do. I'm planning to start fencing lessons again soon. I have my writing which lately has been a priority. I'm also suddenly interested in baking and particularly cake decorating. And I have the time to try it. Jeff has the chance to quit work and go back to school because of our childfree status. He also gets plenty of play time in the process. It's a quiet life but one that I love. So while I can see the desire for a childfree holiday, I'm not necessarily sure I see the need. Everyday gets to be a holiday.

Merry Christmas and Sensational Saturnalia

Any of my friends will tell you, because I've said it often myself, that I'm a recovering Catholic. I was raised Catholic, attending Catholic schools, and went to mass every week. (during school twice a week) At 16 I decided I wasn't going to church anymore. I just no longer believed. My mother persuaded me to continue until I was 18 and then she would never mention it again. I went until 18 and she has never said a word about it again. I love her for that.

So Christmas is an odd time for me. I love the festivities and the cheer of Christmas. I'm not huge on the commercial side of it but I do love wrapped gifts. I'm not a shopper but I actually like buying gifts for people. But the religous part of the whole holiday kind of escapes me. Over the years I've paid it less and less attention. I just love getting together with family and spending time.

So this year I'm focusing on what I do love about the season. Strangely it's the same thing that the pagans used to love about this time of year, the lengthening of days. Jeff and I joke that we are phototropic. We love the sun. And particularly love the warmth (Yes I still have no idea why I'm in the midwest in winter. Makes no sense to me). So the sun's return is a reason to celebrate. The ancient pagan religions of Rome celebrated Saturnalia to honor Saturn, the god of sowing. The holiday was to bring about the return of the sun and the return of agriculture. A statue of Saturn, which was bound throughout the year was untied. It was a seven day festival (Dec 17-23) that included visiting family, gift-giving (particularly gifts of candles), and decorating. In Rome it was a week of sheer debauchery: feasting, drinking, dancing, gifts, and merry-making.

Over the decades the worship of Saturnalia changed to Sol Invictus (meaning Unconquered Sun) which was celebrated on December 25th, which is the first day the lengthening of days can be noticed. Many of the traditions of Saturnalia moved to this new holiday including gift giving, decorating the greenery, and candles. When Christians began to rise in power they wanted to find a day to celebrate Jesus's birth. Since no one knew exactly when that was, the early Christian leaders set it for December 25th. They figured that since people were already celebrating, then it would be simpler to add new (more Christian) traditions in. This worked, slowing ending Saturnalia and Sol Invictus, and bringing about the modern ideas of Christmas.

So this Christmas, as I celebrate with family and friends, it will be the return of the sun (son, hmmm) that I am thinking of. My idea is that we are either moving away from summer or towards it. Tomorrow I celebrate that we are visibly moving towards it. Merry Christmas all. And Happy Saturnalia.

Holiday Parties Done Right

I've had a couple holiday parties this year. I had a work party which my boss provides for us. It was a lot of fun but my work group is not very close knit so I need a few drinks to get me through. I had a potluck party that I was hosting so that was a lot more stress and work than normal. We've had other parties that were mostly just sitting around talking. And those were fun. But my favorite party so far was the one last night. The one that took place entirely at my computer.

My guild for World of Warcraft has monthly meetings and they are always a lot of fun. But the holiday party was great. We got dressed up in our winter gear (for me just a hat so far) and played Hide and Seek. Jeff has always said that it is more fun to play games while talking. And this was definately the case. We started out in Shattrath gathered in a group. The officers of the guild were not there though. They were already hiding in each of the main cities. We had nine people stashed away in Ironforge, Stormwind, Darnassus, The Exodar, Dalaran, and Shattrath. They were all hidden by trees and they were all dancing. (that didn't always make them easier to find) The rule was we had to find all nine and open trade with them. Then they gave us a present. (and some nice gifts too. I got enough gems to socket my gear) The first three to complete the entire race got prizes. (Really nice prizes). Now I have to say that there are a lot of hiding places in those cities. I should know I scoured each of them last night. I even got to go to a city I'd never been to before (The Exodar).

I'll tell you that I didn't win. I didn't even come close but I had a ball. Guildies were running everywhere, chatting, and posting about our presents. The officers, if we ran past, would tease us until we found them. It was great. And easily the best holiday party I have had this year. I'm sure my sister who reads this will tease me (goodhumoredly) about how much of a geek I am but in a family that's motto is "embrace your nerdiness" it won't be too taken too seriously. And I still had a blast.

Happy Thanksgiving all

It's Thanksgiving. My favorite holiday. No commercialism, no high pressure shopping, just eating. One of my favorite things to do. I'll be away from my computer for the next four days visiting my in-laws in St. Louis. So no new posts for a bit. Everyone enjoy the time with your families. Relax, eat a lot, and we'll see you after the holidays. Happy Thanksgiving all.