Declaration: Dec 22 is Lazy Day

The kids and I had a really hard time getting out of bed this morning.  We all wanted to sleep a little more or at least lay around a while longer.  But there's work and school and schedules and we just have to keep going.

Dec 21 is the last day of school before winter break in our district.

Dec 22 has been declared Lazy Day in our household!

The only plan so far is that the kids and I will stay in bed as long as we want.

Dec 21, they will be up late.  We have our Christmas program at church.  Afterwards, it might be fun to go see some Christmas lights- there is a home near church that coordinates lights and music and there is a large display done every year at Reynolds (local business).

Dec 22, Jeff might have to get up for work.  Or maybe he'll schedule the day off, too.

Dec 21, I'll even prepare for the laziness of the next morning.  I'm going to stash breakfast foods in the bedroom- we'll treat ourselves to toaster pastries and cereal bars and maybe bread and peanut butter.  I'll make sure we all have our water bottles close by.

If a kid wakes up, they can read quietly in their bed.  Or they can come lay in my bed.  Once all kids have arrived in my bed, the TV will go on and they can lounge in bed and watch TV and eat some breakfast while I keep dozing.

We'll plan out movies to watch once we roll out of that warm and cozy cocoon.  I'll make sure we have popcorn and chips n salsa on hand.  We'll have frozen pizza for lunch.  We'll stay in our jammies all day.  We'll play in the playroom, in the living room.

If we feel like cleaning up, we will.  If we feel like getting dressed, we will.  But if we feel like wearing pajamas all day, watching TV all day, and laying around all day- we will!

Dec 22 is Lazy Day.  Do you need an official Declaration for it in your home?

6 Words: New Tradition

Nursing home caroling,

Chili at church.

Time Off

The great thing about having been so swamped over the summer is that I was left with vacation time to burn in December!

For the rest of this month, I only work 8 days.  I haven't worked a full 5 day week since the week before Thanksgiving and won't again until the week of January 9.

On the one hand, it adds to the stress of the job because work piles up and urgent things still have to get taken care of.

On the other hand, so many people take a lot of time off in December that the level of urgency has decreased since no one is around.

Here's a tidbit I saw this week- US employees don't use all their vacation each year to the tune of $34 billion of work time! 

Now maybe some people have an employer that gives enough unofficial benefits during the year that losing a couple of days of vacation is a fair trade.  But I'd guess that most jobs don't offer anything special enough to warrant not taking all of your permitted vacation time.

My time off includes 4 days that are without my kids.  That time will be used for some downtime, maybe seeing a movie, lunch dates, and housework and home organization projects, shopping, maybe get a massage.

My time off includes 6 non-holiday weekdays with my kids.  That time will be used for some holiday fun- visiting the Children's Museum for Jolly Days and Jingle Rails at Eiteljorg and Celebration Crossing at the Indiana State Museum.  I'd like to bundle up this Saturday and visit Conner Prairie - when we went last year (or was it the year before?), we learned so much about how Christmas became a holiday celebrated in the ways we now consider tradition!

Time off is important- even if that time ends up being busy.  Time away from work is a necessity- to disconnect from the mindframe of tasks and emails and conference calls and office politics.  Time to plug in to self and family- to laugh and cook and giggle and play and experience and snuggle and just be still.

What are you doing for time off this season?

My Magic Christmas

I originally posted this story on December 10, 2008. It's my intention to share it every year as it's an important part of my childhood.

I believe that Christmas is full of magic. Some of it comes from the things people do and some of it comes from angels, miracles, God, etc. My magic Christmas was full of both kinds of magic.

My mom and I struggled when I was a child. She was a single parent until I was 10. She was in dental school full time, working part time, we lived on student loans and her meager income. Lots of assistance from our church family. But not always an abundance of food. No extras for parties or presents or brand new clothes. Living in a safe neighborhood but not a great neighborhood. So Christmas was never a big deal. I wanted it to be. But there weren't traditions that we followed. We didn't have much family around so that wasn't an option. I remember traveling to spend a Christmas with my birth father's family one year. That would have been when I was 4 or 5. I have seen the pictures of the holidays with my grandparents in their home before they moved away (we lived in Lexington and they moved to Elizabethtown).

So mom and I were sometimes on our own for Christmas. We sometimes went to wherever the family was. And one year, we went to visit a family friend. A husband and wife with 3 boys of their own. The oldest was a year or so older than me and the middle son was a year or so younger than me. The youngest was a baby at the time. They had a nice house. A tri-level. The boys had oodles of cool things to play with. It was through this family that I learned of Doctor Who and He-Man and Star Wars (Jeff thanks them for this). Their Mom was warm and kind and smiling eyes. And gave amazing, wrap you up and make everything else disappear hugs. Dad was a scientific type and had a wicked little sense of humor that fantastically embarrassed his children. Not having a dad of my own at this point, I was absolutely in awe of this man. So we make the drive (they lived in Illinois, I think, so it was a long haul) with plans to spend several days with these friends. I don't remember most of the visit. I do remember Christmas Eve and Christmas morning.

I was used to being the kid who didn't have what everyone else had. I was used to masking my jealousy, my desires. I was used to protecting myself and my mom from my disappointment and hurt. So I was prepared for that.

The first part of the memory is Christmas Eve. We kids were sent off to bed after the live tree had been put up. Just the tree, bare. No lights, no decorations. The 3 of us (not including the baby) shared a room and spent a lot of time giggling and snorting and laughing and talking and getting told to hush and go to sleep, being threatened with a lack of Santa... you know the drill. I didn't believe in Santa anymore but kept my mouth shut for the sake of the younger of the 2 boys. As we goof off, we are watching out the window from time to time. It was a cold, clear, bright night. And there was a very bright star right outside the window. The adults told us it was the North Star, the same Star that the shepherds and Kings followed to find the stable... we goof off some more and look out the window... the star has moved to the other side of the window. From the right side to the left side. We holler for the adults... and get the "time passes, the earth rotates, blah, blah, blah" answer. So we keep talking and telling stories and look up again... IT MOVED BACK. Major freakout, adults don't believe us, mini-chaos ensues. The adults brush it off and tell us to get to sleep, they shut the blinds. It's the last I remember from that night. Sleep must have followed soon after. Or we ended up separated, who knows.

Then the morning comes. The oldest son is awake and excited and jumping around, running up and down the hallway, eager for everyone to wake so we can go downstairs and see the presents. No one had been downstairs yet (their family tradition was that the family goes down together). Remember... this is a tri-level home. So you come down from the bedrooms, into the living room, turn the corner to head down to the den... the kitchen overlooks it... we scramble into the kitchen to look over into the den...

Magic.

I had never seen anything so magnificent in my life. I still haven't. The tree was decorated and lit with tiny white lights. There was gold paper and decorations everywhere. There were stockings overflowing on the mantle of the fireplace. The presents... the pile at the bottom of the tree spilled out onto the surrounding floor and spread all the way down the length of the fireplace. I got very caught up in the moment. No one could see that sight and not get caught up in the magic. Overnight, the room went from a plain old den to a Christmas Wonderland. It was amazing.

Reality hit soon though. No matter how exciting it is to see a huge pile of presents... the disappointment of knowing they aren't YOUR presents does eventually sink in. So while the 2 boys went racing down the steps so they could start dividing out who got what present, I hung back and put on my mask to cover the disappointment. To steel myself for the watching of the boys opening their piles while I probably opened 1 or 2 gifts.

I came down the stairs with my mom. And there was a pile for me. A large pile. More than 1 or 2 presents. My mom had tears in her eyes... she didn't even know how much this family had done for us. There were envelopes in that tree... to this day, I don't know what all was in them but my assumption is gift certificates and cash for my mom. And I sat down and slowly began to open my gifts. So beautifully wrapped, with gold, glowing bows. I wanted the morning to last forever. I wanted the magic to stay with me forever. The boys tore through their openings, ripping through paper, tossing aside ribbons.

It was my magic Christmas. I don't remember most of what I got that year. I believe it was mostly clothing and practical things. But I was given a beautiful doll. Not a baby doll. But a blond haired doll with eyes that opened and closed and she wore a gorgeous brown velvet Victorian style dress with a matching hat and little black velvet shoes and tiny little white lace pantaloons. I never named her but I did keep her.



We will decorate our tree very soon. And I will bring my doll down from her shelf in my bedroom. And I will remember that most magical of Christmases... when I learned about compassion and humanity and felt included and loved in a way I hadn't ever expected or anticipated. And I will continue to work to teach my daughter and my son that same lesson. To this day, I work to pay forward the kindnesses that were done for me and my mom. Especially at Christmastime. Because every child, every person deserves a Magic Christmas!

Slacker

I am such a slacker right now.

Not in general.  Just in blogging.  I miss being here.  I miss writing.  I miss having a life that felt balanced.  I was busy but I was managing just fine.

My weekend was busy.  Crazy busy.  Good stuff busy.  But no time to rest- which is the purpose of a weekend.

Friday night, I went to The Belfry (local community theatre) to see a show that Christy is in.  I enjoyed the show and really enjoyed seeing so many of my old theatre friends.  A friend in the cast was hosting that night's cast party so I was bale to crash and hang out with people.  I got home around 1:30.  Yikes!

Saturday, Christy came and picked me and Teagan up and we grabbed some breakfast and hit the road to drive about 40 minutes away to Plainfield High School for the annual Gingerbread Christmas craft show that we were introduced to last year.  It was fantastic and Teagan was an enjoyable addition to our trek.  In fact, we've decided it will be a tradition from now on that the three of us go to this event together and have lunch at the Black Swan Brewpub afterwards.

We were wiped out after that adventure.  Came home for a little down time- which involved a lot of doing stuff at home- and I was out for the evening again.  This time, sushi with a group of mom friends.  I had a fantastic evening!  Laughter, good news, good food.

Sunday- out the door at 8:40 to get to church on time.  Sing at first service, choir between services, sing at second service, luncheon at church to hear stories of the work done by our mission teams in Guatemala this past fall, home to unearth the totes of Christmas decorations so I can grab some ornaments to take to the ornament exchange party that's a fundraiser for our Women of Faith group that I'm co-leading.  Off to the party where I laugh and enjoy the company of some of my favorite women.

Then it's off to pick up the family, dinner, grocery store, home in time for the kids to go to bed, then downstairs to start the 2 AM Podcast live airing at 8.  We end up talking until about 9:30 and then hang out a bit after.

So at 10:00 on Sunday, I sat down on the couch and put my feet up and turned on Desperate Housewives and realized it was the first time I'd vegged out that weekend.  So I stayed there for about 30 minutes before heading to bed.

And somehow, in all that chaos, I couldn't find time to blog.

See?  Slacker.

Verizon's Samsung Galaxy Tab

I've had a most wonderful opportunity for the past several weeks to test out a Samsung Galaxy Tab from Verizon.  It's been really fun and I'm honestly really impressed with the technology.

Here's how I've used the tablet this past month:

- Flash cards for Teagan.  We have "old fashioned" flash cards that are part of her weekly homework.  But we found an app that made a game of flashcards- you get a score based on how quickly you answer and how accurate you are.  The family all took turns playing and Teagan really enjoyed using the app.

- Games for Zach.  He really enjoyed a fun memory game that was jungle themed.  Best of all, if you missed a match, the game farts at you.  He loved that.  He also really enjoyed a wild animal app with pictures of different animals and the app makes animal noises.

- We also discovered Zoodles.  It's a collection of games, books, videos, and drawing tools for kids.  You set up a login for each kid and Zoodles loads up specific stuff that is age appropriate.  Zoodles also has a Kid Mode so that your child is in the app and can't go into other things.  The videos and games seem to primarily come from PBS- lots of Curious George and Sesame Street for the younger set.  My kids love that they each have their own login.  And I like that I get a weekly email that tells me how long they used Zoodles, what activities they did, etc.

- Games for me.  I like to have games on my Smartphone.  There are times I just want some entertainment to kill time or as a little stress escape.  Angry Birds is a well known favorite.  I also enjoy Pretty Pet Salon and it is so much better on a tablet than on my smartphone.  And I found a new game that has become a serious addiction.  It's called Diversion.  Check it out- but be warned that you might want to lock yourself in a bathroom and play for 14 hours.

- Netflix.  Jeff downloaded the Netflix app on the tablet on Thanksgiving.  I wish I'd known to do that sooner.  Jeff has a Netflix account and we watch streaming movies and shows regularly.  With the app, I can  watch shows on the tablet.  I got caught up on season 2 of Parenthood, for example.  I watched it at home on our Xbox and could pause an episode and finish watching it on the tablet later.  I could pause it on the tablet and resume it at home through our Blu-Ray player or Xbox.  I'm totally hooked on having Netflix at my fingertips and want to get a list going of all the shows I want to get caught up on!

Bottom line is that the tablet is fun and impressive.  I got comments on it when I took it places.  I enjoyed, for example, going out to breakfast and being able to read news articles on MSNBC's app or Yahoo's app and not have to deal with a bulky newspaper.  And the guy at the table next to me struck up a conversation about it- he is considering a tablet for work.  He owns his own business and could use the apps and accessibility of a tablet for marketing, invoicing, and so on.

I'm not tech savvy enough to give you all the ins and outs and compare it to other devices.  I can tell you that my kids and I had fun with the camera, the apps, and the mobility of it.

So if you've got a techie on your list this Christmas or someone who travels often or someone who spends a lot of time waiting at kid events or an older person who could benefit from the lighting on the pages for easier reading - Verizon's Samsung Galaxy Tab might be the perfect gift!

Refining St. Nick

I've been blogging about Santa since 2008.  My questions about what to teach my kids arose when my 2 year old expressed concern that a strange man who had been watching her was now going to come into her home in the middle of the night while she was asleep.  Understandable concerns when you think about it.

In 2009, we chose our path to focus more on the legend of St. Nicholas and less on Santa Claus.  It went so well that it became our tradition for 2010.

And here we are approaching Christmas yet again and I am excited to focus on Saint Nick and the lesson of giving that he represents. 

Here's a little run down of our Christmas / St. Nick / Santa Claus traditions:

1. Just before Christmas Eve, Santa will send a note to the kids, asking them to buy some food for him to pick up and take to other families that are hungry. 

2. On Christmas Eve, we put out a box of food.  After the kids go to bed, I always go to church for the 11:00 service and I put the food in Pastor Jennifer's trunk - her parents work at the food pantry so it's an easy transfer from her to them to the food pantry.

3. Santa leaves 1 present for each kid and a stocking of fun goodies.  The kids are starting to think about what to ask for from Santa.

4.  Previously, Santa has asked the kids to donate toys to Goodwill or a group that needs these for kids.  It was our way of cleaning out toys we don't play with as we got new things at Christmas.  However, we're going through that process already so it won't be necessary by the time we get to Christmas.

5. We don't go overboard on our gifts to our kids.  They get so much from grandparents and extended family and they don't have needss that aren't met throughout the year.  We follow this little rhyme: "Something you want, something you need, something you wear, something you read."  Want is easy- Teagan wants more Barbie stuff, Zach wants superheroes.  Wear is easy- a bathrobe for Teagan, a new shirt or something for Zach.  Read is already done- picked up books at the Scholastic Book Fair at Teagan's school recently.  Need- for Teagan will be a bathrobe and Zach has expressed he wants peanuts for Christmas so that could fit into this category. 

6. One of my favorite traditions is our Christmas Eve.  We go to church for a family friendly service.  Then we come home and the kids open specific presents- new pajamas and a special ornament for that year.  Then bedtime- my favorite time of day (heehee).

As we go about our holiday shopping and fun events around town, we don't make a big effort to visit Santa at every place.  We generally pick one special event to see Santa and then any other sightings are by chance and from afar. 

So we do lie to the kids about Santa.  But we also teach that the traditions of Santa are to remember the kind and compassionate things that St. Nicholas did in the past.

At this year's State Fair, there was a celebration of Germany that was ongoing for the course of the Fair.  Most of the exhibit was meh... there were even things I found downright grating (like a fake piece of the Berlin wall that wasn't identified as being a replica so people were getting all emotional and excited to have their picture taken in front of it).  But when I saw the holiday area and I laid eyes on Saint Nicholas, I was like a kid.  I wanted to hug him!  And what's funny is that Saint Nicholas isn't something from my childhood in any way.  I just didn't like the commercialism of Christmas and sought out a way to bring meaning to the season for my kids.

What are your holiday traditions? How do you handle Santa in your home? What are your memories of Santa from when you were a kid?