Yuletide Greetings

I really love Christmastime. I always have. Tonight we had a little soirée at my mom's. My sister and her boyfriend came up from Atlanta and are actually flying back on Christmas Day, so in order to celebrate with as many relatives as possible, this "Solstice" night was chosen to get folks together. It helped that there was a fire. And some booze. And a nephew who works part time at Honey Baked Ham and gets a discount.

JJ remarked that it was the best-attended gathering (though some were missing, and very missed, but no guilt intended as there are always problems with work and living a thousand miles away and whatnot) in a long time. He suggested that maybe we should always plan for our seasonal celebration of this time to be on this day as opposed to the the 24th and 25th when there are so many other obligations to be met. Maybe this will be a tradition that carries forward.

I was pleased to send out Cards this year, as last year it just didn't get done. And by cards I mean those photos of my kids that get sent out to all kinds of people that I may never speak to even once throughout the year. But that is the whole purpose of this post.

I remember growing up and being excited to open the cards that came in the mail. I just wanted to see the cards themselves. Was is Santa and the Elves? Was it a charming Manger scene? Didn't matter; I loved the cards. Sometimes they came with the letter of what the family had been up to. These I was never interested in as child. Even growing into adulthood, they've made me kinda iffy. One one hand, I never understood why a distant friend or relative would feel compelled to give the rundown of everything that has happened in the lives of the family for the previous year. On the other hand, yes, I can understand. And now I think I like these yearly updates!

As a, shall we say, younger person, my attitude was that if we cared enough about each other, we would communicate more frequently than a "Sally got an A in Math and Johnny made Varsity Football" letter once per annum. But now I know better. Now I understand. Now I believe I'm on the verge of writing such letters. And what's worse is I see how they matter.

Even now with the Internet and the Facebook and every other thing there is out there, I'm happy with the fact I sent out Christmas Pictures of my Kids. This year, I almost succumbed to the This-is-What-Has-Happened-The-Past-Year Letter. But, honestly, I didn't want to have to buy more ink for my printer. WIN! I've chosen to write one. And you can read it here below, later, should you chose.

I decided that for me, it is important to get those yearly greetings. It may be a simple sliver of connectedness. But it is connectedness nonetheless. I've had friends who have told me that they are at a loss as to what to do with the Christmas pics. One is a new father so we'll see what he chooses to do. Another admittedly trashes them, so she sometimes doesn't get one. About ten years ago I came up with the solution. I make collages of all the photos and we love to see to see how the young ones grow.




In sending out these Yuletide greetings I always feel a slight pinge of remorse. For not including a personal note, for not keeping up to date in a more personal and prompt way. But then I realize that it's the wonder of this this crazy cyberspace. No it's not great as seeing an old friend and not the same as a hug and a genuine wish for well. But it is something, now, ain't it?

No matter what your inclination, towards the holiday, your family, et cetera, as long as it's known that you love others and others love you, I think that's what this is all about.

Keep the peace. Wait. No. Don't keep it! Amplify it and send it out. I think this may be my Christmaspost. PEACE!

Friends and Family Near and Far:
This year has been quite a doozy. Had record snowfall and despite the fact that Dan has been plowing on and off the past few years, this wasn't one of them. I've spent the better part of the last fifteen years working at this bar and restaurant that suddenly locked it's doors one day. Aw shucks. For what it's worth, we kinda knew it was coming, but expected a bit more than, "Don't bother coming to work on Monday."
Thankfully, Dan is doing well with his new business, so we hope to get through this economic downturn.

In March I had an endoscopy to check for stomach cancer cause there's this genetic thing. So a week later I got a phone call call from the GI doc telling me he found cancer in my stomach and I need to schedule appointments with an oncologist and surgeon.
I am a stoic and a pro. In fact, I think I may be a professional stoic. So going into this I was very low key. The fact is my family has been dealing with this for many years. It's almost like, "Oh, another one of you, eh?" So I had my stomach surgically removed from my body in July of this year. Thanks for that because it didn't spread or anything and I didn't need chemo or the other nonsense. In fact I recuperated so well that I was able to accompany my mom when she drove out to the Midwest. Or at least I thought so.

Dan is still working hard building his business. While he's not ready to incorporate and hire a team of employees, he's making a respectable living, which is more than I can say for myself. He plans on plowing again this year, so let's hope for a lot of snow!

The kids are both in middle school now and doing well. Janelle is still somewhat active is sports and considering trying some theatre work. Sean spends too much time playing PS3, contemplating his genius and will need to find some new hobbies in the near future.

The dogs are cute but a bit of a pain and are always considered free to a good home.

"Merry Christmas to All. And to all a Good night!"

Bah Humbug ... Or not.

I'm deeply saddened by the realization that my Christmas Cookie Baking days may be behind me. Those who don't bake simply may not realize the amount of physical strength and energy that goes into hand-mixing the dough or the most tiring, rolling it out after it's been chilling in the fridge for twelve hours. I certainly never knew how physically demanding it is until this year. And I just don't seem to be able to do it. Halfway through a single batch of sugar cookies I felt I needed a nap. Not only that, I was certain that I would develop a hernia; which is actually quite likely, from what I understand, for at least a year or two post surgery.

Usually my cookie baking takes three days to complete. Not the entirety of those days; I've just found it easier to break up the jobs. Day one I make dough and then it goes into the fridge to chill, day two I spend rolling, pressing, shaping and baking. And then the third day is when all the decorating happens. This is the magical day they all become special. This year it took longer than that.

My personal favorite are what we call "Bell cookies" because they are in the shape of a bell. The cookie itself is chocolate mocha, just the slightiest hint of coffee flavor. They are actually a sandwich cookie with mint icing in the middle. Oreos? Pffft, how PLAIN! Finally I drizzle melted chocolate on top. These are a huge hit with many. You may even remember having had the opportunity to enjoy one of these at Christmas time because I would always bring a tray into work. Well, lucky you may have been, because I don't think I'll be able to make them anymore. I'm absolutely exhausted!

Before anyone tries to sell me on all the prepackaged dough items in the dairy section of the supermarket, save it. Now I don't want to disparage those who use them, but I'm a purist. I don't make pie with pre-made crust, and I certainly won't use the break-off-the-squares-and-bake dough. What's the point? It's not really homemade, so don't fool yourself. If I don't want to go through the trouble of making cookies, I'll just buy them pre made and I will be proud of it. None of this hiding behind, "Well I turned my oven on so technically--" No! That doesn't make them homemade. Sorry. Nice try though.

I guess I should be handing this tradition down to my kids. My son, of course, is like his father in that his only interest in cookie baking lies in the eating of them when they are, and often before they are even, finished. My daughter certainly expresses an interest in learning and helping but it isn't long before something shiny or it's audible equivalent beckons her away from the kitchen.

I suppose now after thinking this through, it's not that I can never again make cookies. It's just that I can't make my favorite ones. I'm going to have to find some new recipes that aren't as physically demanding as the ones I'm accustomed to making. I'll have to repurpose my rolling pins as well, hang them up as decoration or something. It seems to fall nicely into my overall new life theme of adapting. For so long I've been trying to mould the world around my will. But I now realize the need to bend a bit to the will of the universe. I'll just have to create new favorites that are more in step with my current capabilities.

And don't even get me started on the dog taking a mouthful of cooling cookies thereby sending the remains of an entire two dozen to the trash for fear his mouth somehow came in contact with them. While it would be nice to have animals that are trained not to do such things, it would be even nicer to have a kitchen that's properly equipped for such tasks as baking cookies or even making toast for that matter. The fact is, the dog is bigger than my kitchen. Anywhere within it that you put a rack of cookies to cool will pretty much be right in the face of a 125 pound dog.

On the upside, my sugar cookie icing turned out nicely this year which made for a better-looking cookie. In the past, the icing would be runny and drip over the edges. Not this time. They are Martha Stewart perfect. Ok, Martha Stewart lite perfect.

Let it be known thatI am still not finished. I have one more batch of dough to mix, bake and decorate. These are the Mirro press cookies of my childhood. Literally, I stole my mom's cookie press since she doesn't use it anymore. I've actually been using it on and off for years. But I remember that the last time tried to use it, the dough was oozing out from the edges. No matter. I am resolute in my endeavor and will beat the cookies into submission.

Awwwwww, My First Cold Since Surgery

That's so cute! Well I'm surprised it took so long, truth be told. I usually get one right around the sumer into fall change of seasons. But I only recently had my first occurrence of the common cold. I was worried that my usual methods of dealing with this nuisance would be hindered by not having a stomach but it wasn't so much the case. I'm not one to swallow fistfulls of pills or chug various other chemical symptom alleviators. Instead I opt for ingesting copious amounts of raw garlic, pineapple juice, soup (man, I LOVE soup!), and an odd assortment of herbal teas. This was a problem only because my intake of all of the above was held back by the whole "eat a little, drink a little" routine to which I'm now a slave.

I got through it well enough. Had to adapt some things, like put the two cloves of chopped raw garlic on one piece of toast rather than spread upon two. Ouch. That hurt. And I had to forgo the herbal tea I usually drink to help with the coughing that often marks the end of the illness. A warning on the box said not to use it "if you have inflammatory disorders of the GI tract and biliary ducts..." Now, I don't have any disorders, per se, but the fact that I'm missing a major component of the GI tract, and gastrectomy patients are known to have gall bladder issues, to the point that many surgeons recommend yanking it out while they're in there removing the stomach anyway, tells me I should wait until I'm able to talk to my doctor or others who have good recommendations, before proceeding with this folk remedy.

To prevent a digression into the many viscosities and hues of mucus, I'll end this now. Especially since I just took a few too many spoonfuls of homemade Dulce de leche (caramel) and am awaiting at least a mild case of Dumping Syndrome. Probable not a much better image than that of mucus. Sorry.