Have yourself…

a merry little Christmas. Wishing you the best and brightest of this lovely season.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to put the finishing touches on a last minute angel costume (it just wouldn’t be Christmas without last minute sewing, would it?)

La la la

Why IS it that suddenly after Thanksgiving is over, it seems like Christmas is right here? I inevitably feel like I am merrily chugging along and then smash headlong into the holiday wall.

I put up my outdoor decorations up today, and I’m almost finished sewing the countdown calendar but I keep on thinking of things I have been meaning to get done (like Christmas cards, shopping and loads of other Christmas crafting). I would love to make more handmade gifts, but I am always searching for the right balance of things…. things I want to do because I enjoy them, but also taking into account that sometimes it’s just not worth the stress. Really, though, I think the problem is that it always seems too soon to get started on stuff before Thanksgiving, but then after the big dinner it seems like I’m behind!

The only good part is that by the 10th of December all my school stuff will be done… a concert, a jury and a few exams. We aren’t traveling this year and I’m so glad… I’ll be able to just veg and enjoy doing fun things with the dutchkid (who am I kidding, I’ll be doing all the things I haven’t gotten to yet!).

Christmas, Christmas

time for cheer. Time for lots of sewing near.

I’ve always wanted to do a Christmas countdown calendar for the dutchkid. We were traveling last year, so I never got the chance to make one. When I mentioned it to my mom, she said that I was welcome to take the one she still had from when I was a kid.  So I decided to revamp it a little bit, it originally had all red stockings, but I’ve added in some others.  I think it’s fun to have one that has a little history to it.

I’m not going to put lots of fancy things in it, really…. a chapstick, some candy, other little trinkets, but I hope she’ll have fun building up the anticipation for the big day.   I can’t believe thanksgiving is next week, although I’m looking forward to getting out the lights!

The Krispy Kreme phenomena (and whatever happened to Thanksgiving?)

Today, the dutchkid and the dh and I went to Krispy Kreme.  It’s so much fun to watch the doughnut assembly line where you can see the fat that’s about to clog your arteries.  But they are tasty.  I have never truly understood the southern obsession with them until we moved here.  In other places we’ve lived, people did crazy things like drive an hour or more to get to the nearest one.   I mean really, it is just a doughnut.  But now that we have one in town, I’ve had the experience of eating one hot off the assembly line.  Oh. my. word.  That’s why, right there.

However, this post is not really about Krispy Kreme.  Afterward we ran various errands, and let me just say it was great to hang out with my dh.  His grad school classes are mostly on weekends and so that cuts into our family time.  I forgot how much I like him when he’s not being grumpy about homework and papers.   The only thing to mar the nice morning was the fact that apparently, unbeknownst to me we have skipped Thanksgiving entirely and gone straight to Christmas.  I know it gets earlier every year, but this year seems worse than usual.

The Salvation Army bell ringers were out in force.  Not only was there Christmas merchandise already (I’ve gotten used to that part) but the outdoor shopping area we were walking in had all of their decorations up.  I’m talking Christmas trees, lights and lollipop lane.  To include the spot for pictures with Santa.  He’s already made one appearance.  Thanksgiving has long been my favorite holiday, so I’m pretty grumpy about the fact that it’s being glossed over.  When I complained about it my dh said, “It’s because no one buys anything for Thanksgiving.”  And you know what, I think he’s right.

Now I really do like Christmas, lest you mistake me for a scrooge.  I just wish that there were some way that I could keep the Christmas machine at bay until at least the day after Thanksgiving but I think that’s a lost cause.  I have decided, though, that this year I want for our family to start observing the season of advent.  I’m hoping that a focus other than on Santa and reindeer will help me maintain my good cheer.  Because otherwise come December I’m going to be jingle belled out.

Random photos of the Christmas carnage

Just a few pictures of Christmas morning. It was so much fun to have her actually understand the concept of opening the gifts, although she seemed to enjoy the ripping off of the paper more than realizing there were toys in there to be played with. I thought we had managed to keep the gifts to a minimum, except somehow now it seems like we really do have toys up to our eyeballs!

choo choo!

the dogs enjoying their present

the overstimulated toddler look

Jan Hagel

Today I hope to get my last batch of Jan Hagel baked. I meant to take pictures of the last batch I did earlier in the week but it was scarfed down, pronto. Since I mentioned it before, I keep getting hits from people looking for a recipe (and you asked for it as well, Beth) so I thought I would post it. It really is nothing more than a bar type sugar cookie. Without further ado:

Jan Hagel Cookies

• 1c. butter
• 1c. sugar
• 1 egg, separated
• 2c. flour
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• hagel, coconut, chopped nuts to sprinkle on top

Cream butter, sugar and egg yolk. Add flour, cinnamon and baking powder. Mix thoroughly. Pat down in cookie sheets until THIN. This is the key to good Jan Hagel, it should be thin enough to almost see through. Brush with egg white. Sprinkle with toppings. Bake at 350 for about 15-20 minutes. Watch it very carefully, you don’t want it to be too brown.

I usually do some with only chocolate hagel on top (Dutch chocolate sprinkles) and then some with coconut and nuts, which is my dh’s favorite. I suppose you could order hagel online. I have my mother send it to me because while you can find it everywhere in my hometown, it’s hard to come by here. This recipe came from my mother’s oldest sister.

Merry Christmas!

What I really want for Christmas

This one’s for you, baby sis. It’s been stuck in my head since you played it for me last year. Hope you’re staying warm. Merry Christmas!

Bah Humbug

Just got a card from someone we knew at our last duty station and it’s from the wife and child at a new address, no mention of the husband.

Nothing more depressing than realizing someone got divorced by the Christmas card. I feel like a complete heel for making such a poor effort to keep in touch with them that I was unaware of it and sent our card to them still as a family. Sigh.

The downhill slide

As of today, I don’t have any more big commitments before Christmas. It feels so good to be done.

The Christmas program went well both Saturday night and last night. Some glitches reared their ugly heads, but overall people seemed to have enjoyed it. The church was absolutely packed both performances. The little boy who played baby Jesus did wonderfully, he was mesmerized by the lights and the music. The dutchkid would never have been so cooperative at that age, particularly with a stranger. I remembered all the lyrics to my song and the only thing that happened to me was my head scarf slid off last night.

My Christmas shopping is done, my cards are out, the parties have been attended. My piano students are on Christmas break. This week I get to do the stuff I enjoy, like sitting around in my pjs, wrapping presents and baking my Jan Hagel. Ahhhh.

Jitters

Tonight is the first night of our Christmas program. I have been in productions of various kinds since Jr. High School (that’s what they called it back in the stone ages before it became “middle school”). You would think that I would be a seasoned veteran. But I still get nervous. I talked about it briefly before, I am playing Mary, and have to sing a solo. Just to make life interesting, the “Baby Jesus” is not a baby, but instead a year old toddler. The director wants me to hold him while I’m singing said solo. It went ok last night during the dress rehearsal, he’s surprisingly mellow (as all Baby Jesuses should be, I guess), but a little heavy. The unpredictability just adds to my nerves. Thankfully I’m not sick, although my poor dh has had this horrible cough all week.

I attend quite a small church, so it’s not unusual for things like this to seem very rough around the edges. It also means that I have to wear many hats. I have also been tapped to play a piano duet and got a call this morning from the children’s director asking if I would accompany the children on a few Christmas songs during the “pre-show”. ¡Ay, caramba!

I hope it’s a moving experience for those who attend. I’ve been trying very hard not to let my perfectionism get in the way of serving with a good attitude. Then even if I mess up, at least it will be making a joyful noise!