Showing posts with label Santa. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Santa. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Thursday, December 17, 2009
'Tis the Season
I'm not quite sure why, but this holiday has been the most stressful one of my life. Planning out of town trips every weekend since Halloween probably wasn't a smart move, especially when you consider that there are only so many shopping days before Christmas, and lack of sleep equals a very cranky Lori. My gift list keeps expanding with people I forgot I needed to buy for. My credit card balance keeps growing. And so does my waistline as workouts fall lower and lower on my priority list.
In my quest to become the consummate Renaissance woman, I decided this week to balance my work budget during the day and bake like Martha Stewart by night. I've slept ten hours during the past 72, spending the rest of the time catching up on work and working on cookies. And trust me, I'd rather stare at spreadsheets all day than cut and ice cookies.
This morning I delivered dozens and dozens of treats to folks at work (after icing them at 3 a.m.), then decided to stop at McDonald's for breakfast, where the lady behind me obviously didn't understand the double drive-thru concept of taking turns, and proceeded to honk her horn repeatedly before rolling down her window to yell at me. Merry Christmas to you too, lady.
It seems that I'm not the only one cranky this month. I've had line cutters at Williams Sonoma, cranky operators at XM, and lots and lots of traffic. It's enough to make you not appreciate the season, and the reason we celebrate.
Not just because of the birth of our Lord and Savior, which is of course the most important, but the time spent with family and friends. So what if I don't have time to pack... I get to spend two whole weeks with people I seldom see, doing things I want to do, and not going any meetings. Sleeping in and eating and making small talk. Getting on each others' nerves.
This morning on TV they were discussing the end of the decade, and it occurred to me for the first time that, in a mere two weeks, we'll be ushering in the '10s.
So I started thinking about all that's happened in my life in the past 10 years and, instead of focusing on the tremendous loss we've had in our family, I started feeling grateful for all of the love.
Every year I make resolutions I don't keep. But on this New Year's Day, I commit to stop living my life in pursuit of the ideal, and start enjoying the interim. Because life is what happens when you're busy making other plans. It's the little things like obsessing over boys with your girlfriends whether you're 13 or 33. Snuggling with the kids in your life. Waiting for Santa. The cool people you meet that you may never see again.
And yeah, we'll all have broken hearts and credit card bills and love and loss, but that's the amazingly wonderful thing about living.
Even when you have jury duty and presents to buy and people to see.
In my quest to become the consummate Renaissance woman, I decided this week to balance my work budget during the day and bake like Martha Stewart by night. I've slept ten hours during the past 72, spending the rest of the time catching up on work and working on cookies. And trust me, I'd rather stare at spreadsheets all day than cut and ice cookies.
This morning I delivered dozens and dozens of treats to folks at work (after icing them at 3 a.m.), then decided to stop at McDonald's for breakfast, where the lady behind me obviously didn't understand the double drive-thru concept of taking turns, and proceeded to honk her horn repeatedly before rolling down her window to yell at me. Merry Christmas to you too, lady.
It seems that I'm not the only one cranky this month. I've had line cutters at Williams Sonoma, cranky operators at XM, and lots and lots of traffic. It's enough to make you not appreciate the season, and the reason we celebrate.
Not just because of the birth of our Lord and Savior, which is of course the most important, but the time spent with family and friends. So what if I don't have time to pack... I get to spend two whole weeks with people I seldom see, doing things I want to do, and not going any meetings. Sleeping in and eating and making small talk. Getting on each others' nerves.
This morning on TV they were discussing the end of the decade, and it occurred to me for the first time that, in a mere two weeks, we'll be ushering in the '10s.
So I started thinking about all that's happened in my life in the past 10 years and, instead of focusing on the tremendous loss we've had in our family, I started feeling grateful for all of the love.
Every year I make resolutions I don't keep. But on this New Year's Day, I commit to stop living my life in pursuit of the ideal, and start enjoying the interim. Because life is what happens when you're busy making other plans. It's the little things like obsessing over boys with your girlfriends whether you're 13 or 33. Snuggling with the kids in your life. Waiting for Santa. The cool people you meet that you may never see again.
And yeah, we'll all have broken hearts and credit card bills and love and loss, but that's the amazingly wonderful thing about living.
Even when you have jury duty and presents to buy and people to see.
Friday, December 21, 2007
Up on the housetop reindeer paws
While I remain happily child free, Christmas Eve always makes me long for a kid to share the Santa experience with. Luckily I have friends and family who include me in their Santa experience, therefore ruining my Kodak moment and turning it into lost sleep and toy lugging.
My vacation started yesterday, so I spent most of the day laying around like a slug. Then I got ready and headed to Central Arkansas for the evening's festivities. I fought with the traffic in west Little Rock to pick up a few gifts, but after circling the Barnes and Noble parking lot 14 times before finding a parking spot a mile away, I was pretty much void of holiday spirit.
Last night I went to eat at Sonny Williams Steak Room with my friends Brent and Dave. I gotta say, it was the best steak I've ever eaten, but for the $73 tab (just my part), it certainly should have been.
After dinner and a stop at Williams Sonoma and Pottery Barn, I headed to Maumelle to assist with Hester Christmas. See, Santa knew that the boys were not going to be home on Christmas morning, so he was kind enough to agree to visit their house four days early.
Before putting the boys to bed, Lonnie read the Christmas passage to them. Peyton calls it the "Baby Jesus" story.
The fun thing about the Christmas story is the great questions it brings. "What's a manger?" "What does census mean?" and, my personal favorite and question that makes me so thankful that I don't have kids, "What's a virgin?" Oops!
Just after 10 p.m. all three boys went to bed in the same room (since Jen kicked Brady out of his bed to give it to me). Sweet Brady not only left Santa cookies and chocolate milk, he straightened up the living room for Santa. Then he spent at least 30 minutes begging his brothers to be quiet so that Santa wouldn't pass their house.
At nearly 11 p.m., Santa's little helpers began their preparations. Carrying presents down from the attic. Putting up a tee-pee (Jen's job). And putting up Fat Heads in the boys' rooms while they were sleeping nearby. There's nothing like watching your cousin smooth out Peyton Manning's head while balancing on a train table with only the faint closet light to guide him.
Brady woke up about 6:30 a.m. (that makes five hours' sleep, for those of you keeping count) to exclaim excitedly that Santa had been there. He was so thrilled that Santa left him a huge Razorback helmet on his bedroom wall. Peyton, on the other hand, saw the monster truck by his stuff and said, "I didn't want that. Somebody tell Santa that I don't want that."
Santa brought Lonnie a new set of golf clubs. Hopefully they'll improve his game quite a bit.
Here's the damage after all the presents were opened.
After opening presents, Jennifer made a yummy breakfast for all of us. The boys were, of course, too excited to eat. And I made a haul, including a Williams Sonoma gift card, which will be used to purchase a new saute pan. Another thing off of my Christmas list! That, and Lonnie gave me last week's Sporting News, which has Tom Brady on the cover.
Happy holidays! I'm leaving tomorrow morning to head "home" for a few days. Then it's back to C-way to start packing to move. Jen has some great pics on her site if you're interested (including some of Lonnie the dork in a wrestling mask).
My vacation started yesterday, so I spent most of the day laying around like a slug. Then I got ready and headed to Central Arkansas for the evening's festivities. I fought with the traffic in west Little Rock to pick up a few gifts, but after circling the Barnes and Noble parking lot 14 times before finding a parking spot a mile away, I was pretty much void of holiday spirit.
Last night I went to eat at Sonny Williams Steak Room with my friends Brent and Dave. I gotta say, it was the best steak I've ever eaten, but for the $73 tab (just my part), it certainly should have been.
After dinner and a stop at Williams Sonoma and Pottery Barn, I headed to Maumelle to assist with Hester Christmas. See, Santa knew that the boys were not going to be home on Christmas morning, so he was kind enough to agree to visit their house four days early.
Before putting the boys to bed, Lonnie read the Christmas passage to them. Peyton calls it the "Baby Jesus" story.
The fun thing about the Christmas story is the great questions it brings. "What's a manger?" "What does census mean?" and, my personal favorite and question that makes me so thankful that I don't have kids, "What's a virgin?" Oops!
Just after 10 p.m. all three boys went to bed in the same room (since Jen kicked Brady out of his bed to give it to me). Sweet Brady not only left Santa cookies and chocolate milk, he straightened up the living room for Santa. Then he spent at least 30 minutes begging his brothers to be quiet so that Santa wouldn't pass their house.
At nearly 11 p.m., Santa's little helpers began their preparations. Carrying presents down from the attic. Putting up a tee-pee (Jen's job). And putting up Fat Heads in the boys' rooms while they were sleeping nearby. There's nothing like watching your cousin smooth out Peyton Manning's head while balancing on a train table with only the faint closet light to guide him.
Brady woke up about 6:30 a.m. (that makes five hours' sleep, for those of you keeping count) to exclaim excitedly that Santa had been there. He was so thrilled that Santa left him a huge Razorback helmet on his bedroom wall. Peyton, on the other hand, saw the monster truck by his stuff and said, "I didn't want that. Somebody tell Santa that I don't want that."
Santa brought Lonnie a new set of golf clubs. Hopefully they'll improve his game quite a bit.
Here's the damage after all the presents were opened.
After opening presents, Jennifer made a yummy breakfast for all of us. The boys were, of course, too excited to eat. And I made a haul, including a Williams Sonoma gift card, which will be used to purchase a new saute pan. Another thing off of my Christmas list! That, and Lonnie gave me last week's Sporting News, which has Tom Brady on the cover.
Happy holidays! I'm leaving tomorrow morning to head "home" for a few days. Then it's back to C-way to start packing to move. Jen has some great pics on her site if you're interested (including some of Lonnie the dork in a wrestling mask).
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