Yuletide Groove

Maybe this happens to every mama once their kids get big-the unChristmas spirit. The believing is gone, the magic subsides, and you’re left with a dusty, broken, and incredibly fake Christmas tree that no one wants to help you decorate.

 

Even you don’t know if you can muster the gumption to dig the thing out of the storage room.

 

IF you find it in your heart to just wrestle the tree up the stairs, you know for sure you do not have it in you for the rest of the yuletide paraphernalia you’ve accumulated.

And as long as we’re being truthful, you aren’t really sure if you ever really liked stuffed snowmen and ceramic replicas of Tiny Tim’s village OR if they just symbolized something greater.

 

The talk of “Something greater” always brings me here: nostalgic and wanton for those feety-pajamed little kids. A six year old would never allow this seasonal apathy.

 

Sadly (or not), finding a few more feety-pajamaed, giggly, tow-headed toddlers to play with is out of the question for us so I needed another route to find my spirit.

(Because the truth is, even these “reluctant to help”, non-believer big kids would balk if Christmas went ignored in this house.)

 

No joy would come of unstacking the 500 boxes of Christmas crap to get to that stupid tree, so I did what any resourceful person would do. Bought a new one; a fresh start for my holiday spirit.

 

Completely untraditional (and really cheap) tree that everyone, Big Mister included, thought was the dumbest and most unChristmas idea on the earth.

 

Behold…the chic, glittery, color coordinated key to getting my mojo back.

 

 

(flash)

 

(no flash)

 

 I spent the next few days, jazzed to get Christmas back.

I chalked some art for above the fireplace (thrilled!) and added nothing but a few pops of “red” at the request of the mister. No snowmen, no houses, no candy canes—nothing I didn’t love.

 

I do love a twist of the traditional, so I set about making small pieces of our family’s tradition visible; a little here, a little there.

 

Our stockings and my inheritance (a set of hand embroidered alphabet ornaments by my mom back in the 70’s that I was just given a few years ago) We used these as kids on our Christmas tree--I treasure every last letter.

 

 

The nerd girls that I've been whipping up, finally, have a place to live.

 

 

See? She's super happy to be living at the corner of Glittery & White.

 

 

And so is she...

 

 

It's a party under the tree over here...

 

Current Life Playlist

Sense a theme, do ya?

Another list? This is what I do when I find myself paralyzed by too much to do. I make lists, remind myself of the good things. Check them off.

Plus, I forgot how much music can be a positive mood enhancer (and transporter back in time.)

Give me a Steve Miller Band song and the smell of a leather jacket and hello, 17.

There are 10 songs I keep listening to when I should be "digging" in, instead I'm somewhere else entirely; wishing, remembering, plotting, and NOT digging in.

If you're here, too--and you share a love of singing at the top of your lungs-here it goes:

1. "Blessed" Brett Dennen

2. "Making Memories of Us" Keith Urban

3."Heavenly Day" Patty Griffin

4. "Ain't No Reason" Brett Dennen

5."Feels Like Home" Melissa Etheridge & Josh Kelley

6." Only Hope" Mandy Moore

7. "Fields of Gold" Eva Cassidy

8."Better Life" Keith Urban

9. "Free" Zac Brown Band

10. "The Sunshine Song" Jason Mraz

Big Mister and I just celebrated 17 years of marriage--- and we are adjusting to the fact that our nest will be empty soon. Our youngest finds us the least interesting people he's ever met so chooses any other option than spending his free time with us and his sister is on her second year of college life.

(So, to that, Big Mr. #8 & #9 remind me of you.)

Virtual Book Club

I'm thrilled there is a name for this madness: Bibliophile.Good. (bordering on Bibliomania.Bad.)

I analyze sales numbers and create financial stories at my big girl job. If you can't use your skills in real life what are they good for, right?

If I were to recap my current purchases to income ratio of books, 83.6% of my expendable income (this could be called my share of wallet) can be attributed to paper. Of this 83.6 %, 90.5% can be attributed to books. (The other is another little addiction I have--you've seen it here, and here. But still paper.)

I only wish that there was a way to ascertain the "really good" factor before I purchase. Only about 43% of my purchases can be labeled as a "re-read". Sometimes, you just can't trust the reviews; everything is "Stupendous! A must read!"  Yeah right. 

Because when I get into a book, I do NOTHING else. Laundry piles up, husband gets neglected, dinner choices reduce...and then I finish and am ticked because I wasted my life reading a not-so-good book that was supposed to have changed the literary world.

This darkness at 5 o'clock stuff makes me want to put on my pajamas the minute I get home and crawl into bed and read. Tis the season, I say.

So in my humble opinion: the list 'o books that will not leave you feeling unsatisfied. The books from my library that have the spines cracked and creased so much that they are barely legible.

"She's Come Undone" Wally Lamb

{Whenever I read this, the visual of Delores's grandma's house is in my own grandmother's hood.}

"A Fine Balance" Rohinton Mistry

{I love the culture shock of this novel, the imagery is raw, and the story is twisted, ugly, and incredibly entertaining.}

"Blackbird: A Childhood Lost & Found" Jennifer Lauck

{Another coming of age--now that I look @ this list, seems that I like these types of books.}

"I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" Maya Angelou

{Maya sure can spin a story.}

Anything by Amy Tan; The Kitchen God's Wife, The Joy Luck Club, The Bonesetter's Daughter

I love her voice--the way she writes rolling you backwards and forewards to weave her stories. They always include heavily accented English, and leaves you feeling a weird desire to offer something up to a god.

Anything by the real VC Andrews--skip anything after she died. Her ghost writer could never quite replicate the darkness. My personal favorite is the Casteel series.

"The Prince of Tides" Pat Conroy-a movie I've never seen but I love the book

"Sophie's Choice" William Styron-another movie I've never seen, but love the book

I'm currently reading....
"Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can't Stop Talking" Susan Cain
"Tell the Wolves I'm Home" Carol Rifka Brunt

I'm crossing my fingers these can go on the list. Or there's going to be a ton of undone laundry and one needy husband in this house.