The Hit List -- Not That Kind, Silly

The year's end inspires a singular sort of melancholy. In wrapping up 2010, however, I'm feeling more like Dick Clark than Barbara Walters so I'll just list the hits in my best Top-40 Style.

10.Favorite New Habit: Spending Saturday mornings with Naomi in my bed reading books. One of us makes a plate of apples and cheese to munch on. I doze in and out of sleeping for another 40 minutes.

9.Favorite Phrase: Less is not more, more is more, and more and more is even better!

8.Garden Favorite: Fresh Salsa (properly pronounced: Sals-ahhhh!)

7.Work Favorite: I'm a goody-goody. Always have been. I'm the grown up version of the curly haired girl who sat in the front row and always raised her hand in class. The one who bobbles her head with glee when she provides the right answer. As I walked back to my cubicle after my performance appraisal this year, there was some head bobbling.

6.Parent Group Favorite: The Prescott Walk-a-ton. The very air around this event felt charged with positive energy. I'd say Naomi spoke of the occasion from Cloud 9, but she couldn't see Cloud 9 from how high she was. Plus the event raised a lot of money for the outdoor classroom a group of Prescott Parents have actively pursued.

5.Favorite Car Music: What's The Rumpus? by Gaelic Storm, though, depending on the weather, it might be Munich by Corine Bailey Rae.

4.Favorite Musical Surprise from Naomi: She came home from a weekend cowgirl camp singing this song. I thought my stomach might explode from laughing so hard.

3.Favorite Television Find: Warehouse 13 or The Closer for completely different reasons.

Warehouse 13 is good, geeky fun that I'm not embarrassed to watch with my kid.

The Closer is a show that started with a female lead character and (thankfully) has avoided the common pitfall of female lead shows. Commonly the interesting, competent, compelling female lead character gets sidelined for the "perfect man" search, or the "oh, work and family...it's just so hard!" story arc. I'm four seasons in and the female lead (beautifully portrayed by Kyra Sedgewick) is still the central character. Love it.

2.Favorite Board Game: Nab-It

1.Favorite Home Improvements:

• Wood floor restored to the upstairs bedroom of the house (January)
• Cabin has siding (September)
• Cabin has a deck (July)
  

What I Loved This Weekend

Trimming the Christmas tree with an 8-piece collection of clay ornaments Naomi made.

Our make-shift breakfast on Christmas morning of apples, cheese, cashews & coffee. Sitting around with Naomi & McK to play board games.

After singing some Christmas Carols with my grandmother, on the drive home, my mom took the occasion to appreciate out loud the joy this bunch of us can inspire in my grandmother. Whether Gracele remembers it or not it’s still there to be had (joy) if only for an instant. At ninety-one and this many years deep into dementia that can’t be said for everyone.

Each year my family reads something to each other. Something we read, or something we wrote this past year that resonates. It’s a tradition each member of my family opts in and out of on various years. Sometimes you don’t have time to find the passage you want to read, sometimes you can’t think of something appropriate. So it’s optional but also a tradition that means a great deal to me. This year my mom read from The Trial of Standing Bear, dad read a charming kid’s book, Jen read a section from You Go, Girl!, my brother read from his journal, and I read an excerpt from Elizabeth Gilbert.

Watching Naomi perform a four-song Christmas music and dance review for my family. Audience participation was encouraged. The performance was equal parts music-dance-cheer. She had an infectious level of enthusiastic merriment from which I still haven't recovered.

Chromatography

At the close of yesterday I realized the day's events were doused in a red dye of some sort. I'll tell you three stories about my encounters with the color red in no particular order.

1. Red Dress - There was a holiday occasion last night that resembled a lost sock drawer of old friends. People I know from different parts of my life who have moved away or into other circles around town. People who were back around for the holidays and we were generally congregating at Yia-Yia's last night for pizza and beer.

On any given day I am flush with love for these sorts of occasions. With this whole unbloggable life condition, though, I was a little nervous about going. A little known trick of mine came in handy, though: when I'm feeling a little insecure I'll make an unusually bold fashion choice.

Bodhi Imports sported a window display of exactly the bold outfitting required. The subtext of the dress read something like, "My life is f-ing great, no need to ask!" I promptly walked into the store, bought dress and wore it to Yia-Yia's. It was all good and, nope, nobody asked. Not even once.


2. Red Bottlecap - My relationship with Dr. Pepper is both long standing and extremely gratifying. Yesterday McK miracled me with this retro-Pepper. It's sweetened with real sugar rather than corn syrup. Ah, I'm speechless to describe such bliss.



2. Red Tins - We were invited to attend a Caroling Party later this week. Naomi and I often make a tuneful sort of noise so we were quick to accept the invitation.

This party allowed me to test-drive and ultimately deliver some recipes I'd been eyeing for a while. In two red tins I packaged up some Rosemary-Cashews and Cinnamon-Brushed-Almonds. Mmmmm.

_____
Currently Watching: The Closer (Season 3)
Recent Goodness: Homemade Caramels
Quote of My Day: "Carol big -- or stay home, baby!"
(The throw-down dare extended by kids hosting, with some help from their parents, the caroling party)

Inside the Mold

I resolved to cook up a big pot of Carrot-Cilantro soup before Christmas. I've always liked giving holiday gifts that come from my kitchen. So last night Naomi and I were in the aisles of the grocery store, goofing around, and stocking up on soup ingredients.

Naomi: You know what you should make instead of this soup, mom?
Me: What's that?
Naomi: Some really fancy Jello.
Me: Jello?
Naomi: Yeh. It's ~so~ tasty.
Me: Special holiday...Jello?
Naomi: I think people would really like it.
Me: You know...uh...it sounds weird, Naomi, but I'm not that good at making Jello.
Naomi: Well, we could find you a good recipe or something.
Me: Actually Jello is one of those foods I liked so much when I was a kid, and ate so much of it that I don't eat Jello so much anymore.
Naomi: Really? That's too bad, mommy.

Surfacing

Oh, blog, how I’ve missed you. The past couple of months have been preoccupied by an unbloggable life condition.

Even at its hardest, however, my life and surroundings offer up a series of moments of clarity. Actually that’s an understatement. The moments are more than just clear, they’re beautiful really.

I suppose restarting this blog-versation comes with an urge to reconnect some of the moments that dot the silence. Here goes.

...
The McK household took a trip to Mexico's Baja Peninsula in October. The blue sky, the sting of salt water. We spent a fabulous day on the beach in La Paz. Toured a ghost mining town. Found a Hotel California McK & I schemed about asking the desk clerk what time check out would be. Naomi had chocolate milkshakes for breakfast. She body surfed the ocean waves. I hope to carry with me always the melodious sound of her cackling with whoops and laughter as she tumbled out of the crested wave and washed up on the sand. Our Baja adventure coined the philosophy that, in Latino culture, less is not more – more is more – and more and more is even better.
...
With an assignment from school, Naomi had her first experience with the World Book Encyclopedia set. I was surprised, in an age of Wikipedia and Google, that the hardcover series would still hold such wonder. She was bedazzled. I remember the same sensation with the bound volumes of an encyclopedia. The creak of the binding, the way the world felt closer to me through these pages. Sitting at the small, South Branch library with Naomi and the World Book I was surprised how deeply the memory resonated.
...
I was driving to work in November and there was this thin layer of ice on the bare tree branches. The sunlight hit the icy surface and gave off this drippy sort of cold, wet glistening trick with the light. It was lovely. Reminded me of crying. The way things take on strange properties when I have tears in my eyes. The lens isn't just blurred but sometimes spins or melts or glistens. The fingers of each branch barely resembled their usual appearance.
...
I was driving Naomi home from school one night. After a long silence from the back seat, she gazed out the dark window and asked..."Do you think humans will ever have tails again? That would come in handy, I think."
...
The lovely Ms. Mo breezed through town over the Thanksgiving holiday. I had the good fortune to see her not just once but twice during her trip.
...
The fabulous Ms. B landed in Nebraska after her stint in the Peace Corps. We spent a lovely afternoon drinking tea and talking over books and life.
...
I’ve spent a series of delightful afternoons in the patient company of Ms. C.

Among heavy life-topics we had a spirited discussion about a word, “wearifully”, which was on a spelling list our children brought home from school. After a lot of debate and several dictionary references, Ms. C and I are convinced: wearifully is not a word. Both Naomi & Isabel can spell it because they’re dedicated students, however, it is not a word.
...
My dad has stopped by or otherwise orchestrated a couple of lively family dinners. Always a delight.
...
I took a lovely trip to Boulder last weekend to run the Colder-Boulder 5K. Browsed bookstores. Curled up in an enormous hotel bed. Took the restaurant hostess up on her offer to be seated at a “community table” one sunny morning. Talked about communism and world travel and women’s history with my table companion.
....
Even at its hardest it's a good life.