Marsbarn Designs...

then 9 becomes 10, and it all starts up again.

So, here we are.
The last day of the year.
I always feel like I should do something momentous on this day, but then it just becomes a day like any other.  

We do have plans to welcome the New Year at a neighbor's house tonight.  It's an East Coast Style party (translation, welcome in the year at 9 pm, when the ball drops in New York.), so we'll be home by 9:15.  

And then it will be 2010, which will mean a lot of muttering when I automatically write '09 on checks for the next two months. 

I have a friend who spends the first day of the year trying to do what she'd like to do all year long.

I'll be spending January 1st hosting a Rose Bowl party.

On the plus side, I would like to spend the next year with loved ones in our home and feeding people. But, I don't really relish the idea of watching football for the next year (even if it is the Ducks).  I guess I should throw some crafting and what-not in there.

I am planning on making two kinds of donuts for tomorrow morning, and I could totally wrap my mind (and stomach) around a year of donuts... of course after a year of fat fried bliss I wouldn't be able to heave myself off the couch to do a lot of anything else.

What are the plans for 2010?

Well, Sweetheart G will be ten.
Which means her childhood is more than half over, and I've been without a paycheck for a decade.
These thoughts (my eldest child growing up, and my absence from the workforce) are like little mosquitos that buzz in my ear and make me itch.

On the Crafting front, I have two auction projects, a commissioned queen sized quilt, and a pair of long over due quilts I need to sew.  The Etsy shops will reopen.  I have new fabrics to work with for dice bags, and a totally empty shop to fill.

I plan on continuing to welcome others to make art with me.  For my birthday, I want to have an art party, and I'd like to have a Valentine Collage event as well.  

Most of all, I want to slow down time a bit.  
These days just fly by, and my girls are growing so fast.
I want to do more Choosing with my time, and less just Doing because it needs to be done.

it was the only thing missing this Christmas

It has been a good Christmas holiday, but I've felt like something was missing.

 

Then, this happened.

Oh my heart went pitterpat and the entire house squeeled with excitement.

Yes, I know.  This is so little when compared to the snow that hit other parts of the country this winter, but really it was just what we wanted.

 

Isn't it lovely?

Oh we had such fun.

We had friends over for dinner last night, and between dinner and dessert we went for a walk in the snow filled nighttime.  It was lovely packable snow. The kind that crunches underfoot, and rolls up like carpeting into huge snow balls (perfect for snowmen).  It is melting quickly, and should all be gone by the end of the day.

This snow caught the weathermen by complete surprise.  They denied the possibility of snow, even after it was sticking to the ground.  The downside to this was that thousands of people were caught on the freeways in endless deadlock.  I was never so happy to be home where we could enjoy the spectacle.  

  
 
 

the quietest time of the year.

(photo borrowed from Big E.)

Ah..  the lull after Christmas.

There are things to be done, but gee.. I could (and probably will) just go back to bed for a bit. 

Between now and New Year's Day, we have few (if any) real plans.  I might work on a project or two, but they will be the purely fun, just-for-me type of projects.  Perhaps Big E and I will catch a movie and dinner, or maybe we'll just hang and do a whole big bunch of nuttin'.  

The man is home, the real holiday can begin.

Here we are, the day of the night before.
Big E is done with work until after the New Year begins.
(And yes, that was a big sigh of relief from me.)

 

Tonight we will celebrate with my family at my Mom's house with a cold dinner (cheeses, meats, crackers, shrimp, and other yummy stuff) before exchanging gifts.  This dinner is Big E, Sweetheart G's, and Little E's favorite meal of the year, so there will be much anticipation today.

Oh, and the rumor that I was up at midnight making marshmallows was totally over blown.  
I was putting the dishes to soak at midnight, the marshmallows had already been made.

And an update about Big E's coworker and friend who had the heart attack. They lifted the sedation enough that he responded to pain stimulation, opened his eyes, and wiggled his toes when asked.  Then he returned to unconsciousness.  Such small and huge things, these little signs.  Oh perspective can be such a wicked/gracious thing.

I'm so glad Big E is home for the holiday.

Just can't call it done.

I've finished the Must Do List.
So, I've moved on to the Wouldn't It Be Nice List.

The cookies are made and treat plates are being assembled for our neighbors and friends,
but I might just make one more batch of marshmallows.

I'm having trouble calling it Done on anything.
There just seems to be that one Last thing I could do
or make
or give 
or something.
Big E's vacation starts tomorrow, maybe I'll be done then.
Of course tomorrow is Christmas Eve, 
and there is a deadline (of sorts) the next day. 

 

It was the best part of my day

 Sweetheart G shared my Taekwon Do class with me today.

She had been adamant when I began taking classes in October that I could only do it if I left her alone in her class. But, when the holiday schedule at the studio opened up my class to families, and I asked (pretty please!) for her to join my class today, she agreed. 

I was so proud to have her with me.
It was absolutely the best part of my day.

I apparently managed not to totally embarrass her, because she said she'd join me again next Tuesday too.

it is one of the hazards

I should be in bed asleep.
But my mind is whirling about, and being up and productive is better than tossing and turning in bed.
Or so I tell myself.

Big E called home from work to tell me that a co-worker, whom we both know and like, had a heart attack in his home last night.  They are saying his wife had to do CPR on him while waiting for medical.  He is in the hospital now, but his prognosis isn't known.  

Officers face an increased risk of heart attack, but still... 
he's only 38.

Name that tune bit

Little e suffers from extreme car sickness.  We've found that listening to music on headphones really helps her comfort level, and reduces the need for The Bucket.  Our errands now have a somewhat comical Name That Tune dimension.  Big E and I sit in the front seat and listen Little e belt out (somewhat random) lyric bits and try to guess what the song might be.

For example: Particle Man by They Might Be Giants ala Little e:

"..'an"

"..'an"

"..'an"

"..'an"

"..'an"

"..'an"

"..man.."

"..man.."

"..man.."

"..article man."

It is all so good! (but a bit of snow would be divine!)

I have snow envy.

 

Last year's snow (all nineteen inches of it) made for a entry in The Best Christmas Ever cannon.  I keep hearing reports from the snowed-in sections of the country, and I wish we were part of it.

I love where I live, and the only thing that would make my adopted home city better would be yearly snow. Oh well.

So, I have six kinds of cookies ready to go, and a last batch of dough chilling in the fridge.  The question is, "Am I done?"  I just don't know.  I might make more candy. I'd like to make carmel corn, but Sweetheart G's braces make that unadvisable.  

It seems like so much right now, but I know once I start making the cookie gift plates (there will be about a dozen of them) the selection will vanish like our hopes of a white Christmas.  I'll just have to see how the whim grabs me once the cut out cookies are done.

I love, love, love that these are the thoughts on my mind.

It is a rare and precious thing not to be worrying about health, or money, or safety, and I am savoring it more than the sweets.

Oh yes, your father wore one once, at a party... in Jamaica.

Little e: Momma.

h.: Yes dear.

Little e: Momma, did Dad ever wear one of those things that covers here and doesn't cover there?

h.: Where and where?

Little e: It covers here (random wave over torso), but not here (equally random wave slightly to the left of first.)

h.: Do you mean a vest?

Little e: No. (full of scorn)

h.: Where did it cover?

(see earlier response).

h.: (in desperation) No, he didn't.

Little e: Yes, he did.  I saw a picture of it once.

(See the entrapment here?)

h.: Um.... (massive brain usage) Do you mean a toga?

Little e: Yes.  One of those.  Did Dad wear one?