December 27, 2013December 27, 2013 by clumpaday

Tangible Gifts

Clump #128: Deliver son’s bag of gifts.

Two of my son’s friends were leaving today to visit my son in Norway, and if that wasn’t gift enough, they agreed to bring a bag of gifts to him from us, including homemade cookies and peanut brittle.

Speaking of Christmas gifting, my older sister put together one of my favorite gifts given to me this year: a compilation of photos I took for this blog, set on a foam core board. Somehow the sight of it makes this whole experience more real. So often it seems like I send these posts and photos out to vanish in the air, but this is something concrete. Not only does my work look real, my very life seems more real.

We all went to see the movie, Frozen, tonight, and everyone enjoyed it. It’s a story involving two sisters who are very different, and their unbreakable bond.

What a gift to have the support of such a sister.

December 25, 2013 by clumpaday

True Abundance

Clump #127: Pack up paper recycling.

Through the magic of Google Hangout, our son in Norway was able to join in the Christmas morning present-opening. The creators of The Jetsons predicted this kind of technology! He kept us laughing by adding visual effects like an arctic setting …

and this birthday-boy-with-an-eye-patch look. When a really good present was revealed, he would play a round of applause. At other times, the sound of a toilet flushing. It wasn’t as good as having him here in person, but it sure helped!

I was talking to a friend recently who compared the lead-up to Christmas to a wedding. So true. You work and work, shopping, planning, wrapping, wrapping, and more wrapping … and then in a quick blur, it’s all over. Here’s a photo of the aftermath, ready for the recycling truck we hope will be here tomorrow:

We all wish for abundance …

But to me, the real abundance we crave is found in the song Silent Night.

“Son of God, love’s pure light.”

December 25, 2013December 25, 2013 by clumpaday

A Wonderful Life

Clump #126: Get the luminaries set out.

Another kind of a party took place this morning when most of our neighborhood gathered for the annual Christmas Eve setting out of luminaries. I had gotten the bags and candles … I thought we had enough sand, but needed to make a last-minute trip to the hardware store for more. Cookies and hot chocolate fortified the troops (left-over cookies from last night’s ladies’ soiree).

My older daughter, a dear friend, and I escaped the Christmas Eve to-do lists to visit Bedford Falls by way of the movie, It’s a Wonderful Life, at a theater.

By the time we got back, we discovered that the luminaries had been magically lit.

In the words of the angel Clarence, “Remember, George: no man is a failure who has friends.”

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

December 24, 2013 by clumpaday

Fear Not

Clump #125: Christmas and party cleaning.

I hosted a get together for the ladies of our small neighborhood tonight. As I was making preparations, mostly cleaning, I was conscious of how my mind would ping-pong. Everywhere I looked I saw something else I should be doing. The finger prints on the refrigerator … the cat hair on the couch … the layer of peanut brittle dust on the floor … (below, my husband, the amazing peanut brittle-maker:)

I get pre-party anxiety. It’s more than just having a lot to do in a limited amount of time, not to mention my current cookie and peanut brittle diet. I was feeling frazzled and frenzied and knew it was really another f-word: fear. What am I afraid of? These are nice people coming over. Yes, they are superior housekeepers, but I don’t really think they’d drum me out for my substandard skills.

I tried to repeat to myself that my state of mind is the most important element of the party … the vibe that is either welcoming and fun or frantic and exhausted. It’s a party … not a test.

Everyone seemed to have a good time, and with help from my daughters, the food and decor were great. The invitation was for wine and bring-your-favorite hors d’oeuvres. We had received a bottle of champagne as a gift, so I used it in a recipe I found online, from Williams-Sonoma. Very easy: one ounce pomegranate juice, a half ounce Grand Marnier; add champagne to fill glass, and garnish with a few pomegranate seeds. Festive and delicious!

With all of these Christmas preparations, this line has kept running through my head, speaking to my condition: “And the angel said to them, Fear not, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.”

December 23, 2013December 23, 2013 by clumpaday

Light, Not Heat

Clump #124: Fill window boxes; make sandwiches.

The following is a cautionary tale. I’ve been thinking of my son quite a lot these days. He’s in Norway for a year and, especially now with his sisters home, there’s an empty space where he should be. Our Quaker Meeting’s annual candlelit Christmas music program was this evening, and he has always participated with the other members of our musical clan. On the night of last year’s program, getting everyone out the door on time was a major challenge. The accumulated stress of the holidays combined with the “Where is everyone?!!“-frustration caused me to lose my temper. And then I thought I overheard our son say that I was “ruining Christmas.”

We somehow managed to get everyone into the car and to the program. I waited until after the festivities to tell our son that his comment had really cut me to the core. He told me that what he had actually said was, [about our lateness] “It’s not going to ruin Christmas.” Afterward, he wrote me a wonderful letter saying that he would never say such a thing; that I do so much for everyone at Christmas, etc.

However … between the time I misheard the comment and the nice resolution, I really had to admit to myself that a case could be made for my ruining Christmas. Trying too hard for everything to be right can really backfire.

Here’s one thing that helps me let go: relying on a favorite recipe that I don’t even have to think about. These sandwiches have become my go-to as a contribution for the reception after the music. I used three packs of King’s Hawaiian Sweet Rolls, cut open.

This is half of them. Slap mayo on one side, jellied cranberry sauce on the other. (I end up using the whole can.)

Add sliced turkey breast; a pound and a quarter. I’m a sandwich-making machine!

And then lettuce. (shot through rose-colored glasses?)

Pop them together, and they look like this:

I was told they were good. By the time I came for some, they were gone.

I was able to stick evergreens in our window boxes earlier today. Yesterday the soil was still frozen. I loved the name “Swag in a Bag,” from a local gardening club sale. The gardening ladies trim their trees, I get some inexpensive house decorations, and the club gets a little money. Win, win, win.

This is what one bag looked like with our little tree in the middle:

And with ribbon woven through the base, as the day darkened before 5:00:

But the good news is: we’re past the Winter Solstice! Hooray! Every day will be a little longer now.

And we can shed our own light, in the world and in our homes.

December 21, 2013 by clumpaday

Green Christmas

Clump #123: Put up pine rope for outside decoration.

The bad news is: I procrastinated buying and stringing up pine roping outside our house until today. The good news: at this late date it was forty percent off, not to mention that we’re suddenly experiencing springlike weather. I added some bright, shiny things to this wreath, otherwise it disappears on the black door.

Melting snow and a driveway with a bit of a drainage problem:

Speaking of melting snow, my younger daughter and I tried and failed to go to a sing-along version of the movie White Christmas today; it was sold out. Waaah. The movie is about characters who go to Vermont expecting a winter play land, but find a green landscape devoid of snow … and a little romance. Previously, when I wrote about the movie Holiday Inn, I learned that White Christmas was supposed to be kind of a remake of Holiday Inn, with the same male stars, Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire. Apparently Fred Astaire passed on the role, so they offered it to Donald O’Connor, who got injured before filming. Funny to think that Danny Kaye was the third choice, and hard to imagine anyone else in the role.

Vera-Ellen (who played Judy) was anorexic before there was a name or cure for it. It’s a bit painful to see her minuscule waist, like a living Barbie doll. No one thought there was something wrong? Ironic that so much dialog in the film revolves around what and how much Betty (Rosemary Clooney) should eat, forcing her to say, “Why is everyone so concerned about my eating habits?”

As one of four sisters, this scene has special meaning for me. “Sisters, sisters, there were never such devoted sisters…”

Here are some mysteries that someone who has seen the movie a quadrillion times might ponder: 1) The coffee pot, back-stage, suddenly apparates in Judy’s hand after she just put it down. 2) Why in heaven’s name doesn’t Betty tell Bob (Bing Crosby) what’s bothering her? All she can come up with is “I mean that you shouldn’t mix fairy tales with liverwurst and buttermilk.” 3) At the finale, when snow finally falls at just the perfect moment, the candles on the General’s cake relight themselves after he had just blown them out. 4) And the big mystery for all time: Who ever thought up the line, delivered by the blonde bombshell (“Mutual, I’m Shuah”), “Well, I like that! Without so much as a kiss my foot or haave an apple!” …

Okay, maybe I didn’t really need to see White Christmas for the quadrillion-and-oneth time …

I’ll sing along on my own. “Snow … snow … snow … snow … snow … where did you goooo?”

December 21, 2013 by clumpaday

Ribbons in the Sky

Clump #122: Return book and wrap, wrap, wrap.

Today I returned a friend’s book that I had unearthed during the pantry-clean. I also gave her the gift of a book I knew she wanted. Karma righted?

She had a lovely tree set up. After putting on the lights, she had found it was so beautiful that she didn’t want to mar it with ornaments. So that’s how it will stay for the season.

For me it was on to wrapping, wrapping, wrapping. (Note: this is an activity usually conducted in the wee hours of Christmas morning.)

I did take a few moments to look up. Taking photos for this blog has made me more aware of the sky and its constant changes. I keep thinking that the people who work at The Sistine Chapel might not look up at the ceiling as much as the visitors after a while; it could become commonplace.

We have commonplace treasure overhead, too.

December 19, 2013 by clumpaday

Deliveries and Doorways

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Holiday Preparations, Life, PA, Peanut Brittle, Photos, Strasburg
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Clump 121: Mail cards and packages.

Ah, I can breathe more easily now. Sending a bunch of presents and cards to their intended destinations is cathartic. What a clump!

I had heard on the radio that traditionally December 19, today, is the post office’s busiest day of the year. Amazingly, when I finally arrived, there was no line. A Christmas miracle! The postman asked if I was sending anything fragile. I said just the peanut brittle … he (good-naturedly) threatened not to send out my packages, since I hadn’t brought him any.

It’s not really the holiday season in our house until my husband starts making his mother’s peanut brittle.

Before I got to the post office, on the way home from visiting my mom, I stopped in Strasburg and couldn’t help taking a few photos.

These were the same type of lovely boughs and berries that had been arranged so beautifully at Meeting on Sunday.

This was the porch of a shop … not someone’s home. I’ve gotten bold with my prying camera, but not that bold!

If you ever want creative house decorating ideas, Strasburg is the place to go.

This was a cute little reminder on the porch of the shop, a fitting holiday sentiment.

Thank you to you, my kind friends who make life good.

December 18, 2013December 18, 2013 by clumpaday

Gifting and Grinching

Clump #120: Assemble cards and packages.

I thought I’d be further along by now. I tried to get much of my holiday preparations finished in November, so the fact that I’m still at it this late in December is discouraging. One danger of starting early — but not finishing early — is that I’ve had holiday-to-do-list thoughts clouding my head for too long. I’m hoping to get to the post office tomorrow. I checked the USPS website, and it looks like Friday is the last day to send domestic mail, First Class, to arrive by the 24th, after which the level of priority and price go up.

I had bought these candles, below, at a holiday open house in November. The lady who sold them to me said she bought them for everyone she knew last Christmas. Something special that someone might not buy for themselves and can be used up, not adding too much to the gift recipient’s clutter. The beeswax candles on the left made someone very happy today, which made me happy. Getting to the good part!

One other holly-jolly happening was the arrival of my younger daughter, home from school. We watched the movie How the Grinch Stole Christmas together. One of the all-time greats.

And the perfect cure for creeping grinchiness.

We even watched the special features and learned that Dr. Seuss’s mother had wanted him to become a doctor, so when he chose a pen name he used Dr. and his mother’s maiden name, Seuss. He was voted “Least Likely to Succeed” by his classmates, because, “How could he make a living doodling?” There was some speculation that he was the Grinch; he lived in a house at the top of a tall hill and looked down at La Jolla, CA.

Christmas comes whether you are ready or not. I still haven’t found a way to reconcile the true meaning of Christmas with the real-life crush of too much to do/buy/clean/bake/send …

“It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled ’till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store. What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.”

–Dr. Seuss

December 17, 2013 by clumpaday

Wooden Sticks and Warriors

Clump #119: Finish shopping (?) and print Christmas newsletter.

As the bag says below, the printing of Ye Old Christmas Newsletter was, indeed, “easy” … after it was written, reviewed, edited, and returned to me by four other people. When I was at Staples I remembered to get some Ticonderoga pencils, “The World’s BEST PENCIL.” And maybe not the worlds BEST stocking stuffer, but certainly up there, in my book. I love giving practical gifts like socks, nice soap, lint removers … what a fun mom!

Seems like only yesterday that it was Thanksgiving and we were enjoying our friends’ bonfire. Where did the time go?! iI haven’t been sharpening too many pencils, but I have been doing a bit of procrastinating. Below, my younger daughter was throwing some old, decrepit matches, from the avalanching-cabinet-cleaning-clump, into the flames.

Appropriately, it was the same weekend we saw the movie The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. As an aside, I discovered many similarities between it and the Disney animated movie, Mulan. Finding this picture made it all the more clear.

Both are about strong female characters forced into battle, where brains win over brawn. In both movies the leads get dolled up in fancy dresses (Katniss in The Hunger Games gives new meaning to “a dress to die for”), designed for marriage, not by choice, but by expectation. The warrior-woman character in each film makes a stunning move at a moment when they turn their gaze upward, as opposed to the expected ground level.

Enough movie and culture analysis … let me just say that I feel like I won the battle of the present list today. I’m a mall and catalog warrior … hear me roar! Timely tip for those still in the heat of battle: I read that tomorrow, December 18, is a day when over 1,000 retailers will be offering no-cost shipping, guaranteed to arrive before Christmas day. More info at FreeShippingDay.com.

I think it’s important to give yourself a reward for clumps conquered. My recent guilty pleasure of choice is The Voice. And don’t think I haven’t drawn comparisons to The Hunger Games, a game played to the death, like the Romans feeding the Christians to the lions. (Coaches Adam Levine and Blake Shelton make the show.)

Tonight is the finale of season five. For anyone interested, here’s my prediction: 1st place: Tessanne Chin (right); 2nd place: Jaquie Lee (left); 3rd place: Will Champlin (center). Fingers crossed! Go Tessanne!

Clump A Day

postcards from the clogosphere

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