We landed safely in southeastern Washington on Christmas Eve. It was great to hug family, share a meal, toast wine. I felt especially excited to be Santa this year. Because Margot is at an age where wonder and excitement reign and I finally came to terms with my lying-to-my-kids-about-a-flying-gift-giving-man hangup.
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Margot picked two clementines and three carrots to leave for the reindeer and one peanut butter cookie for Santa. I went to fetch a glass to fetch a glass of milk and she told me she didn’t want Santa to have her milk. She said, “I really do think Santa will like that icky milk.” pointing to Ruby’s goat milk. “Mama, Santa loves goat milk a lot.”
I made a mess in the house, traipsing fire place ash and carrot chunks all over the floor. I filled stockings and finished up some gift-making. I had the hangup about Santa because of my own sadness when learning it was only his “spirit” that lives. I found comfort in my memories. My memories are of the magic and love. My memories are of excitement over the very idea that Santa had been in my living room and taken the time to write my brother and me a note, of laying in bed and watching my clock for hours, waiting until 6am when I could finally wake my parents.
So, Santa came to our Walla Walla stead and it was really fantastic.
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| Santa brought pajama pants for everyone. |
In the wee hours on Christmas morning Ruby, Alice and I drove the dark, damp streets of Walla Walla searching for butter and I also came to terms with a need I have: to make lists so that I can save myself the time and frustration of forgetting and having to punt. I wrote about it in this week’s mama digs, making a list, checking it twice.
30 Comments
LOVE the jammie pants & photo!….hope Santa knows I have been much more nice than naughty…..looking forward to our 2nd visit from Santa in January….HO HO HO!
xoxo, me
What a wonderful post. Great pic of the PJ pants! I remember learning the hard way to make lists and cross things off when I was in the early years of being a mama of more than 1. It seemed there wasn’t anything I couldn’t work around before then, but it became really valuable to me because it allowed me to savor the things that mattered most instead of constantly scrambling around all the time. Maybe it’s just one of those mama milestones so many of us have to go through? Most of my lists are still written on the backs of envelopes, but now I have a spot for them instead of digging them out of the recycling:) Happy New Year and Happy Listing!
i totally dig the jammies! did you or someone make them? or was the festival of patterns and colors a purchase? merry christmas and happy new year! thanx for the gift of sharing your blog. 🙂
,,,”dig” the jammie pants, i just knew you were creating something really warm, cozy and cute,,,enjoy your family, all the love and sipping great glasses of wine,,,early this year i journeyed to your blog and i’m a happy woman for it, thank you for the depth your read provides, for the wisdom tucked between the paragraphs, the recipes that never disappoint, and for that “lil” peek into your lovely family and world, as a wife mother, creator and really cool “chick”,,,here’s to 2011 and the “nuggets” that will follow!,,,
We have an entire chalkboard wall dedicated to to-do/make/bring/etc lists. If it’s not on the list, it doesn’t exist… at least not in my scatter brain. (Though truth be told, my husband is the real list master around here:)
Love your holiday card, love that you gave in to her wanting the “3” balloon, and love how you are celebratin’ the season!
Love your holiday card, love that you gave in to her wanting the “3” balloon, and love how you are celebratin’ the season!
Love your holiday card, love that you gave in to her wanting the “3” balloon, and love how you are celebratin’ the season!
Love your holiday card, love that you gave in to her wanting the “3” balloon, and love how you are celebratin’ the season!
Love your holiday card, love that you gave in to her wanting the “3” balloon, and love how you are celebratin’ the season!
Dude. Great post. Sorry, I left you a fraking novel over on mamalode.
Damn you and your inspirational self! LOL
Jammies are AWESOME!!
Look at that housepant party! Woohoo. Glad to see that you found more Unicorn poop on your toothbrush and dove in head first into the fun of creating more holiday memories for your girl.
Even though Alex wanted nothing to do with sitting on Santa’s lap, she did want to leave him a snack (her favorite dog-boned shaped butter cookies) and some food for the reindeer. Ben asked her Christmas morning as they looked at the carrot remains if she heard Santa and she said, “Yes, he made a big bump up there. I hear it.” We had to stifle our laughter.
Merry merry Dig.
-Jennifer from Annapolis
Loving all those pj bottoms-
sandy toe
Must know where that owl print came from! adorable jammies…
PJ PARTY!
Love it. And, girl, I’m so with you on lists. I am a list monster. If you use Gmail, there’s a Tasks list you can add to your Gmail view and then you can also view and add to it on your phone while you’re out looking for butter.
Just click Tasks in Gmail (under Mail and Contacts on the left) and it pops up in the bottom right.
xo
The tree is gorgeous. I kinda miss having a real tree but with my allergies I just can’t handle it, makes me sad a bit. I remember the times going to my grandparents where my Grandpa would go to the hill and find himself a tree, his Charlie Brown tree. Some years more than others it really did look like it too. I think he made it a quest to find one like that just to get a reaction out of my grandmother who made him put “his” tree up in the “cold storage room” aka the room that was shut off from the rest of the house and was like a meat locker in temp. wise.
Love the pj photo too!
I love lists! I guess it suits my personality. Whenever I hear of someone that doesn’t make lists, I can’t imagine why not or how they get anything done? My favorite method is at the beginning of a new year, I visit my favorite stationary or book store and pick out a notebook that I love and fits in my purse/bag. One that I can store all my day to day lists (to do’s, and grocery lists) , but I also put in my inspriations, sewing/ knitting goals / ideas, gardening plans, christmas ideas, etc. You get the idea… it becomes much more than just lists.. it becomes a glimpse of my life that year.. so fun to make and fun to review at the end of the year. I always make sure to keep it in my bag/ purse so it travels with me, and could care less if it gets worn or if it looks neat, just that it is chalk full of my lists. I tape things in, tear stuff out, doodle, let my daughter scribble in it when we are out and she needs some entertainment. The key is to make lists on something permanent, not temporary. It makes life so much calmer and of course, efficient. xo
I get it, all of it, right down to the description of the list all cock eyed and only me being able to understand any of it. I always feel so over whelmed to the point where I consider throwing in the towel on every single I am doing. Then I write the list, cross out a few things, add a few more, doodle my name while practicing writing it my the last name Diesel, as in what if I married Vin Diesel in another life, get up to try and find a recipe, realize I forgot the list and my re-usable shopping bags at home when I go to the store, call my husband, get him to read it to me, explain why it says Amy Diesel, get annoyed with him for asking why we are having zuchinni when I know he hates it, blah blah blah, until the list and the whole point of the list become totally obsolete and we end up forgetting our camera and mitts at home when we head out for the whole weekend of festivities and then we blame each other for all of it.
In the end, everything always gets done, just not in the manner and timely fashion I had expected or planned.
Maybe if I took list making a little more seriously, my life would go a lot smoother. Interesting.
Good luck on the lists, let me know if it works… maybe I’ll try it in a more efficient manner!
I am the Greatest List-Maker of All Time. Everyone gives me grief about it, but it works. 🙂
I have a special cute notebook that lives in the kitchen that is for all my lists, notes to myself, etc. When I write lists on scrap paper, I even then tape those lists into the notebook, because let’s face it, a lost list is like no list at all.
A most interesting question: “Why do I say yes to everything.” A good one to ponder. Saying ‘no’ has been a good thing for me to learn, but saying “yes”–oh, so many possibilities in that word. That said, lists are lifesavers. I even like to cross off the mundane things like “do dishes.”
Richard and I had to sit down make a list of our biggest stressors and decide which we could cross off for the rest of December. Otherwise we found ourselves stressing about all of it all the time. We found our Christmas spirit hiding in there. It was so good to let go and free that spirit by crossing off the list the things we just have no control over (really, that’s the whole list, but you get my drift). What suddenly became important was getting a tree, decorating it and having a fun day together in RL.
I take it your are having fun in Walla Walla. Say hi to everybody for us. I miss you. We’re enjoying Seattle immensely. N. says hello to everyone, too. Virginia comes back today.
Happy New Year, dear one. I hope we have more encounters in 2012 than we had in 2011.
,,,lists, i think they’re over-rated but so darn necessary, so i’m forced to make lists too and more often than not realize when i arrive at my destination where the list is suppose to serve a purpose i struggle to locate the list, and then i begin tapping into the list by memory and lately the memory hasn’t been serving me so well,,,like you i was out on christmas eve driving aimlessly only to realize all the markets had closed and the list it wasn’t useful after-all,,,just remember,,,it’s all good!,,,(smile)
Your christmas is nicely decor with bright lights,its really looking awesome…Kids are cute and naughty too…http://www.hometechnologyplanningguide.com/ Thanks!!!!
My kids are always asking, got your list, Mom? You bet I do. I make one each morning for the day.
I love lists. When I’m stressed out and feel I’m juggling too many things, I sit down with a spiral notebook and make “to do” lists. And it gives me a sense of order and control. I may never “do” what I write down, but listing it literally feels like I’ve plucked it out of the cluttery mess in my head and made it a legitimate spot on paper so I don’t have to worry about it any more. And omg, don’t get me started on longterm planning using loose, freehandy, stream-of-consciousness concept maps. Suddenly all of the “problems” and “goals” and “got to changes” and “want to do’s” are tied together in balloons and bubbles with wavy lines plugging them into the various nooks and crannies of family/career/health/dreams/etc. It is like taking a huge psychic breath and exhaling.
Loved this post – lists are fab in their place.
Well you’ve sparked the flame. It’s almost New Years and what better time to sharpen my pencil and crack out the spiral notebook.
does your cousin Elise happen to live in Portland and have a three legged golden retriever named Gi-Gi? Totally random, I know, but I met an Elise from Montana on Christmas Day…not a common name and place.
I love lists! I guess it suits my personality. Whenever I hear of someone that doesn’t make lists, I can’t imagine why not or how they get anything done? My favorite method is at the beginning of a new year, I visit my favorite stationary or book store and pick out a notebook that I love and fits in my purse/bag. One that I can store all my day to day lists (to do’s, and grocery lists) , but I also put in my inspriations, sewing/ knitting goals / ideas, gardening plans, christmas ideas, etc. You get the idea… it becomes much more than just lists.. it becomes a glimpse of my life that year.. so fun to make and fun to review at the end of the year. I always make sure to keep it in my bag/ purse so it travels with me, and could care less if it gets worn or if it looks neat, just that it is chalk full of my lists. I tape things in, tear stuff out, doodle, let my daughter scribble in it when we are out and she needs some entertainment. The key is to make lists on something permanent, not temporary. It makes life so much calmer and of course, efficient. xo
Our Santa ALWAYS brings pajamas!
{and I love him for it!}
Angie: I made the jammies using a simple, made-up pattern where I traced existing pants.
Holly: All fabric from Jo-Ann’s.
Lists! I LOVE lists! I hope you will learn to embrace The List! I make lists all the time and I even geek out with little boxes that I can check off when each task is complete. I always throw in a few easy ones like “check email” or “drink coffee” or “check the beer stash” so that I can easily accomplish a few of my chores and feel the deep satisfaction of checking those little boxes. And if I decide that something is too difficult to do, I simply scratch it out completely, ’cause hey, if I managed to check email, drink coffee, and ensure that the proper supply of beers exists, I feel that I’ve pretty much done my job. Pretty much.
Enjoy your lists. Maybe some special paper? Special list making paper makes it even more fun!