What happens to a dream deferred?  

 

Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore–
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over–
like a syrupy sweet?  

 

Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.  

 

Or does it explode?  

Z is on the verge of implosion, I’m sorry to say. Though its heart still flutters, I think it will yet go the way of all grounded hypothermic hummingbirds. Er, LH puts it so much better, I think.

Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.

Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow.

12/31/08 4pm Update: Official results–Z is dead because V ¹ G (where G represented our family accompanying Richard on an extended out-of-town assignment). V = X seems most likely (where X represents the reason as Richard himself not leaving) but V = Y (with Y representing Richard going without us) remains a slight possibility. A and K, therefore, may still occur, but they feel more remote than ever. Further ruminations to follow.

On the fifth day of Christmas, dear reader, my gift to you: a five o’clock post!  

On Christmas morning, Richard and I managed just over an hour of uninterrupted sleep, followed by nearly an hour of pushing our children’s ‘snooze buttons’. I’m grateful for how patient they are (excepting Anya, whose screams woke me up enough that I knew I could make it through the morning okay).

Stockings came first, naturally.

 Emma likes what she sees in her stocking so far, as Ephraim explores his (with a little help from me).

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 Duncan unwraps one of the candies from his stocking.

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Anya checks out her Dora the Explorer she pulled from her penguin stocking.

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Everyone gets the same basic stuffing: apple; kiwi; clementine; holiday versions of candies, usually hershey kisses and reese’s pb minis; birth year penny; pen; hot chocolate packet; chapstick; and a small wrapped gift or two. Instead of dividing up containers of nuts and ‘turkish delight’ for the stockings, we set them on the counter for all to snack on throughout the day.

Cheanna’s stocking goodies pile up next to her–she’s just finished unwrapping one of those personal gifts.

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(At this point, we usually stop for the morning meal. However, considering the delay we caused and the good behavior, we opted to wait until after present opening to head to the kitchen)

Over the years we’ve hit upon different things that make our morning less crazy, like using boxes (now laundry baskets) to hold each person’s gifts & stockings or having the recycling & garbage bins on hand for easier gift wrap & packaging disposal. I had a wild idea this time that worked so well it’s a sure thing for future Christmases–writing the thank-you notes immediately after opening that present (or set of family presents).

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Emma uses her new candy cane pen to write a thank-you note.

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Example: for our entire family we received a set of bells, a music cd, the new VeggieTales DVD, and Book of Mormon card games from “Grampy M & Granny D”. We opened that set of presents, one child wrote the thank-you card and everyone signed it. (people who were waiting cleared the gift wrap during this ‘down time’) After it was sealed in the envelope, we opened another set of family gifts and repeated the cycle.

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I’m visible in the lower left of this picture, notebook in hand. I’ve always recorded what we receive (& what we give) and because of this extended process, I stayed current and didn’t have to dig through baskets later for anything I might have missed. I also entered spaces for each gift and wrote down our own gifts *ahead of time*. Every part of the morning felt so much more relaxed!

I’m encouraged by the gradual improvement, and have a couple of ideas brewing for ’09.

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Now, dear reader, do not get the impression that we had anything less than a delightful and fun Christmas! The proof is in the pudding pictures.

Ephraim takes his turn at opening gifts–something he did very well this morning.

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Cheanna pours over the old copy of Sunday comics used to wrap one of the gifts from Grandpa Don & Cathleen. She excitedly noted that they were from her birth year.

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Elena bounces her new puffer ball.

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New puffy jackets for everyone–we might even get to use them in snow sometime!

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Anya’s new bilingual doll also makes animal noises. “Rahrrr!” says Cindy. “Rahhr!” says Anya.

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The first of many marshmallow fights with the new shooters we gave our family for Christmas. We plan to get some more, to allow more than four people want to play at a time! An older couple we know from church makes and sells them.

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The TeePee MegaMaze from Cathleen & Grandpa Don is a big hit. It’s also very big, so I’m glad it’s easy to take down & set up again when we need to do so.  

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And so it was that in the early afternoon we dined on stocking fruit & hot chocolate, little sausages and crème  brûlée french toast. We had a very merry Christmas and I plan on enjoying all twelve days, no matter how stressful.

They will be stressful, dear reader, no doubt, but that is another post for another day, perhaps the seventh or tenth. Or after Epiphany, even. We shall see.

…and the days leading up to it…

We were intentionally flexible with our Christmas traditions this year, anticipating the attention-needing details of ailments and imminent (not-so-small) changes. It was hard to let go of some of the things we’ve enjoyed in the past. Gifts for friends & neighbors fell by the wayside, we didn’t bake our own batches of goodies, we didn’t hit the various snowy events in the valley, we didn’t put up the big tree or outdoor lights, the menorah remained in its box, etc. Very low key advent season.

We read scriptures by candlelight after dinner, combining ideas from The Friend magazine with a countdown gift from the Relief Society (a taper candle with numbers painted down the side accompanied with verses describing different qualities found in Jesus Christ). We sang songs, sampling from both religious & fun carols, before blowing out the candle.

Christmas Eve dinner was deliciously the same: Clam Chowder (adapted from the Fanny Farmer New England recipe), crescent rolls, apple cider. Grandpa Don & Cathleen provided the gingerbread cookies for dessert (they mailed well).

After everyone changed into new pajamas, it was time to pose on the couch. Some poses were more photogenic than others…

Then I made an attempted timer shot with my phone’s camera. I opted not to crop, dear reader, so you could appreciate the fullness of my zoom deficiency.

One tradition we didn’t do away with this year, however, was the putting-off-wrapping-gifts-and-assembling-stocking-contents-until-the-last-minute. The four older children went to bed with almost no trouble; the younger two went to bed as easily as herding cats to nail ducks made of jello in a row on the wall. Eph finally fell asleep during Blue’s Big Holiday, and Anya passed out during the two o’clock hour. Richard and I enjoyed WGN’s yule log on TV, listening to the radio dramas while we wrestled with paper and tape, counted out fruits and candies. I didn’t have to raid anyone’s birth year piggy banks for coins, either, because in my purse I found one penny from each of the eight years we needed for the stockings. (Pretty amazing after a season of kettle-giving!)

Behold, our finished product!

This takes me back to our first Christmases here in Phoenix when all we had was a table top cloth tree I made at a super Saturday two months earlier. We just did the mini-trees this year, which, unfortunately, took quite a toddler beating by the time the 25th rolled around. (note the ornaments scattered around the bases)

Our own family gifts ended up on the other side of the rocking chair so we could form a nice circle on the floor in the morning. I should note, too, that in addition to wonderful presents from parents/grandparents, friends and siblings, we received a basket of gifts for the children from “secret givers” tonight. A delightful surprise!

So this, dear reader, takes you to shortly before 7am, the end of our Christmas Eve. It makes a nice resting point, don’t you think? I know rest sounds great to me…

Stay tuned Check back soon later for Christmas Day!

That was my total at the pump the other day. The low fuel indicator came on just as the we passed the mini-stack heading westbound on I-10, so we refueled Washington at a Circle-K downtown. Wow!

I had resigned myself earlier this year to increase my weekly budget line item for gasoline from $60 to $75. The plan was to fill up the vans on alternate weeks. Now I can keep both vans running on F for less than my original budget!!!

(For this potential trip I made two forecasts back in third quarter, one for $3 gas and one for $4. I never dreamed I would be paying less than one-half of the low estimate!!)

Take sleeping, for example. Maybe even writing a blog post! Er, compile one, anyway. I’m going to cheat and use bullet points, mwa ha ha ha ha. (my evil laugh sounds better at 3am than it should)

• »First piano recital for the four oldest children last Saturday. Pictures to follow
• »Appointment with internist last Friday led to lots of recommended tests, mostly blood work. Results to follow
• »We’ve one last administrative step to go before our family is cleared for departure to the Atlantic shoreline. Return³* to follow 
• »Educational assessments made yesterday, finally! Compliments to the students to follow followed
• »One can buy extra boxes at the Mesa LDS Cannery if one has, say, not kept all of the boxes in which to easily transport food storage, so that one may better safeguard precious #10 cans of potato pearls. At a very decent rate, I might add. More packing to follow
• »We finished watching John Adams (HBO miniseries) last night. Review giving it five stars to follow
• »Waking up to greet today as yesterday’s tomorrow. Happy productive day to follow (?)

³ around Presidents Day

* no, you didn’t miss others, three’s the only ALT character footnote I know at the moment