Happy January!

I don't know about you all, but I was very busy in December so I decided to take a hiatus from blogging. (See the post regarding the Gingerbread Man Advent Calendar.) I am back now with a current plan to post Monday through Thursday. I'll be taking the weekends off because I try to spend it vegging with the heathens.

I don't have anything major lined up today but I really want to talk about my Christmas presents. Traditionally, I try not to be a materialist and I typically don't ask for things for Christmas because I'd much rather make sure the children get things they need or want from family members. If people ask what I want, I ask for things for the house because we always need something. In that vein, I received a set of silverware, washrags, pots and plastic cups all which were very much needed and appreciated. (I really like to drink from plastic cups because glasses make my water taste funny.)

The silverware was oddly very exciting to receive. I don't know about you people, but in my house there is some silverware troll who constantly runs off with all the damned spoons. A few months ago, I realized we were down to one spoon and no frigging forks after I'd prepared dinner. We had to rotate the spoon. HAHAHAHAHA (Of course, I went out and bought some cheap spoons and forks the next day, but it's disturbing to be caught with one spoon to eat. This isn't Little House on the Prairie, dammit.)

On to other things. There are two things I have wanted for a long time now. One is a Wii. I've wanted one since they first came out and never felt like I could justify making a large purchase like that.

The other is a KitchenAid mixer. I've wanted a KitchenAid for well over twelve years now and I had no actual qualms about making that purchase, I just never had the money to spend on it. Well, I say I've never had the money to spend on it, but I probably have at some point over the years.  I do have a minor martyr streak and have a hard time spending money on things that are just for me.

Well, my mommy and sister must love me bunches and bunches because they bought both of those for me this year. I don't know how they did it, but I know they did it because they felt like I needed a nice Christmas.

At first, I felt a good bit guilty because I didn't think it was something they could afford, but I pretty quickly came to the decision that what my family members can afford to spend on me is none of my business. Gift giving is a two part business. Not only does the giftee have the joy of receiving, but the gifter finds joy in giving to others. I know that if I give someone something, the last thing I want is someone asking me why or how I would spend so much money on them. I gave it because I want them to enjoy it. So I wrangled that out with myself before acting like an asshole full of shitty questions.


The kids and I are really enjoying the Wii and my sister has come over a couple of times to play Dance Dance Revolution with me.

My mixer (a Pro 600 in copper, by the way) sits on the danish buffet I scored from Freecycle last week. It's so pretty. (The mixer, not the buffet. The buffet is nice, but it's no KitchenAid.) I still pat it's big round copper head every time I pass by it. I made more buckeyes (them there Christmas balls) the day after Christmas just to see how it would do. It's so much easier. I think I'll have a lot more time to make even more balls next Christmas.

Also, DMan and his teacher gave me something incredibly special. A few weeks ago, the elementary school sent home these stupid fundraiser letters. Apparently, parents could buy a book of their children's work for the low, low price of $25. I was busy paying for Tuba Girl's trip to Disney (that was an awesome experience for her, BTW) so I didn't have $50 to put toward buying two books for two children when I see their work everyday.

I don't know how or what his teacher did, but apparently every child in her class received one of the books to wrap as a gift for a parent. When he dragged his gift for me out of his book bag on Christmas morning and I unwrapped  this book, I was truly surprised and touched. It's a very beautiful book and I can tell he put some work into the stories he created for it. I get the warm snuggles or some shit every time I think about it.

I also love home made presents, especially when I know the person put a lot of thought and meaning behind it. (I'm very prone to making them myself as funding is pretty low around here.) The boys' great grandmother on their father's side has a large family and very little money. If there was ever a woman who should start a blog about how to manage so much on so little, it should be Nanny. She knows more home remedies than I'll ever remember and is usually a good go-to person for sound advice. This year, she made books for all of her family members, including me. <3

For all the young children, she wrote down a story about a little squirrel she'd been telling her great grandchildren for several years, made copies, and bound them ribbon.

She did something similar for the adults. She wrote down several family recipes, had copies made, bound them in ribbon and wrote a dedication:

"This book is dedicated to all of my children, grandchildren, great grandchildren and all their husbands, wives, and mothers and fathers of their children."

(I fall under the "mothers and fathers of their children" part.) It's something else I will always cherish.

And finally, I have not received it yet, but my mom knits and crochets. Nearly every year, she makes each of us a blanket. My sister's was very complicated as it was set to look like piano keys so she hasn't had time to finish mine. And actually, mine is supposed to look like a sort of patchwork quilt and she said it's a good bit more involved than she'd originally anticipated. I must have a dozen or more afghans she's knitted for us over the years. She does very nice work and I'm very appreciative of them on nights when it randomly dips to below freezing around here.

I've decided I have to include a picture of my sister's piano key blanket:

It's pretty awesome. (The one underneath is something my mom made, too.) My sister has played piano since she was five or so and she is a music education teacher at one of the local elementary schools so she was rather amazed and awed by the blanket. Or afghan. Or whatever you call something that has been knitted. I wish I could knit but I'm a very impatient person and my entire life motto is "If you can't duct it, fuck it."

This was an entirely selfish post about me, me, me! Merry Late Christmas everyone! Or Happy Hannukah! Or Happy Holidays! Merry Kwanzaa! Or just Festivus! Sure, I'm late, but the spirit in which it was intended is all good.