Succession…what an exhausting group of people. Holy smokes. If this is a more realistic version of the uber-rich than Schitt’s Creek…they can keep their money. I am enjoying watching the backstabbing, beautiful locations, family drama, and pretty stellar acting…but it makes me appreciate not having to live life as a constant chess game.
As the mom of twenty-plusers, watching our kids learn my special somethings is a joy. Who is making sure they have the right tablecloths for a holiday meal, which one wants to make extra cookie boxes so nobody feels left out. I observe as they plan and do…their minds considering all options. I witness them hit roadblocks, the same roadblocks I have hit many times, and stand by to see how they will get around them. It is beautiful.
I feel very fortunate that those who will be succeeding me do not want to slit my throat to take down the Queen of Thanksgiving before I am ready to go. I guess not being worth billions has its perks. I hope to be gracious and appreciate the day when the torch is passed. There is something beautiful about aging…especially when there is no need for a bodyguard between you and your loved ones.
On to season two… what a sh*t show of greed. Ho ho ho.
Russian Tea Cakes, Chocolate Dipped Spice Cookies, Chocolate Ginger Bites, Lemon Meltaways, Magic Bars, Peppermint Brownies, Peppermint Chocolate Drops, and a Candy Cane Sugar Cookie. The Hot Chocolate Bombs were left out, we did a test and they were as big as the box, a true explosion. Joy.
‘Tis the season… for some the giving is everything, to others the getting is what it’s all about. Another season of doing what makes you happy. If you are a giver, bless your soul, go for it and enjoy. If you like to receive, I hope you do, and if you don’t…go treat yourself…you deserve it!
When we were little, Christmas involved lists to Santa, and the obligatory wait to see what was picked off the list by…the big man at the North Pole and the best uncle ever…my Uncle Bill. Sigh. To be fair, I am sure my Aunt Jean did the work, but it was Uncle Bill who walked in the front door with huge boxes announcing himself with a HO HO HO the always late Drewes are here! Katharine, where is my Katharine, were you waiting for me? Of course I was, we all were. When the Drewes family walked in the party started, we had been up since 6am, waiting 14 hours for them to arrive…and it was always grand. Once my way cool older cousin showed up in her pajamas, teenage angst in full bloom, dramatic and gorgeous with her long blonde hair and sock feet. Her brother would appear with a posse of friends to “help finish off” the dessert table and grab a beer…it was the 70s. My parents always welcomed everyone with open arms. We would unwrap doll bunkbeds, TossAcross, or U-Drive It…older cousins helping us put together the outrageous goodness we had seen on our Saturday morning tv marathons, now gracing our living room. To say it was joyous is an understatement, there were not obscene amounts of toys, but the ones we got were perfect.
The perfect gift.
I love finding it, keeping it a secret, and the look on people’s faces when opened. As a parent of twenty-somethings, watching my kids discover the gift of giving is a treat in itself. My Olivia is like her mama, she shops starting the day after Christmas, tucking away her finds in her closet, not resting until each person has a personal bit of goodness. Jacob is more of a last minute guy, more of a bullseye or a hmmm? He just gave a bullseye gift to the lady he loves, and oh my gosh, chills…there is nothing in the world better than that.
Miss Ella is loved by all who know her, she expects little and gives all she has…what do you give a person who isn’t into stuff, who finds joy in a seashell? What do you do for a 25th birthday in the middle of a pandemic?
You give…the lover of birds, the girl who wants experience it all, the one who sees the world so much more magnified and brilliant than others…a chance to fly.
This past weekend Jacob gave Ella a flying lesson…in the same type of plane her dad learned to fly at 15, the kind of plane he took her older brothers up for a spin in, a plane like the one she never got to experience…because her daddy passed way too soon.
So Ella did Ella…she dressed up like her dad, in a Hawaiian shirt, hat, and megawatt smile, she swallowed some great big fears…and she flew the plane. With Jacob as her passenger and a seasoned copilot beside her, she flew. And as only Ella can do, she described it as… like discovering another color…so new…indescribable.
He gave her perfection.
Sigh, my holiday season is fulfilled, nothing else needed, the rest is the cherry on top. To listen to these two kids describe their day together was magic. How I love a great gift story.
Spin and swirl…preparing for gatherings, visits, holidays…fun spins. Singing, cooking, decorating, working, buying the perfect little something for someone special, baking, moving furniture…spectacular spins.
Then it’s over…and the backward, uncomfortable and wobbly, what do I do now spin begins. It is dark. I never know if it will last a day or a month. I am off, a bit blue…it just is…it will end when ends. I try and find joy in the holiday cards and the plans ahead, but I know to just go on with life…and wait.
Growing up we had crazy high ceilings which meant a ridiculously tall tree covered in grandma’s “good” ornaments (swoon), some 70s plastic prism ornaments (hung low as bait for the cats to play, but not break), and plenty of homemade God’s eyes, glitter doves, and painted playdoh painted beauties. A mishmosh. Martha Stewart would have hated it, we loved it, perfection is overrated. Rumor is staff at Martha used to get an extra tree or two…and then with a saw, glue, and twine…make the “perfect” tree by adding branches. Insert eye roll here, I think they completely missed the point of A Charlie Brown Christmas.
We have taken the idea of a mishmosh tree a bit further in our love of quirky…as represented in this cluster of goodness…a COVID-19 (virus? cell? what are they called?), a pussy hat egg, hand-painted fun done with Girl Scouts, a felted robot (purchased), a felted flamingo (made), an action figure with a missing head turned into a gift to dad (perfection), a duck missing one flipper from Grandma and Grandpa, a wooden Dorothy purchased at a sample sale in the toy district for my first tree, and a favorite from my sister-in-law many moons ago…Judy Garland, get it, garland on the tree. Immediately memories of 15 girls giggling doing crafts on my porch, tree-trimming parties, relatives, and neighbors with more creativity than should be allowed in one body come to mind. My brain explodes with joy and longing…the switch is flipped.
I am spinning in the right direction again. My little guy and I danced to the Elf soundtrack this morning…the dog sported her Rudolph sweater making kids smile on their walk to school…I took deep breaths, the smell of snow in the air, smiling the whole way home.
I think this is less of a swoon and more of a public service announcement…and a reminder to myself. The gloriously beautiful family pictures, the perfect trees, the menorahs with smiling kids lighting candles…they are blips…when the spin stops long enough to get the shot…the crazy is not recorded. The spin into darkness so many feel this time of year (hello, winter solstice, the reason for all these bells and whistles) is real, and I think most of us feel it.
Here is a bit of love to those in a dark spin and a reminder to those in a swirly spin to enjoy every moment…you never know how long it will last.
Not easy… but worth it. I am thankful for the month being over and for the goodness that comes from recognizing how much I have to be thankful for. I hope to continue, quietly to myself. Noticing the good, both big and small. Remembering that with thanks comes happiness. I am thankful.
Today I am finding amazing amounts of joy knowing that Elf on the Shelf is no longer a part of my life. I might have a month of thankful Swoons to write…but I will not be hiding an elf around our home. Gone are the days of channeling every bit of creativity in my body to do something fun and original, feeling a bit guilty that I just never really cared enough to work hard at this new custom. We always fell short to the pinterest-insta-fb moms who must have spent a LOT of time coming up with new adorable things to do night after night.
Hanging from the shades like a rock climber, stirring a pot of hot chocolate, sorting the laundry in the basement…not us…we were low key elf stylists, our elves did not drive the car or shave…no accoutrements, they were just hidden around the house.
We failed at Elf on the Shelf and you know what?
Our kids survived.
I am ridiculously thankful that I have no elf hiding in my near future…I wish peace to those that still do.
Sammy, Lionel, Olivia, and Jacob… better known as SLOJ…grabbing the ABBA model of using first initials to create a band name.
I would have forgotten all about the Thanksgiving band SLOJ if it were not for a memory popping up on my husband’s fb account. Unfortunately, unlike ABBA, SLOJ lasted about 2 hours. They broke up due to school commitments…and having the collective attention span of…about 2 hours.
I love these moments. End of a celebration, vacation, reunion…the lovely period when most people have left, and you can just savor those still around. This bit of genius between cousins went like this, as noted in the fb post:
Jacob (orange shirt): We’ll be the biggest band of all time! Bigger than Oasis, who said they were bigger than the Beatles! Lionel: (red pants) And the Beatles said they were bigger than Jesus! Sam (hat): So we have to start small, and get bigger than Jesus.
Out of the mouths of babes…babes who have since turned into men…who are able to look back and appreciate the brilliance of an innocent moment. I am thankful for memories from others, things I would have forgotten if they had not found them special enough to save.
SLOJ…Olivia on drums, Sam on base, Jacob lead vocals, Lionel on guitar.
I am too tired to Swoon, which is ridiculous because I have lived 3 days of swoon-worthy experiences. I am thankful this month is almost over and I will once again swoon when I am feeling it…instead of it feeling like a chore. I am thankful for Swoons, I am thankful for you. I am thankful.
Boreg, Sarma, Bourma…. and a bunch of Armenian relatives going out of their way to celebrate and love up the matriarch of the family…bliss. I am thankful for caring and kind cousins and their kids.
the mini vacation from work…being together again…surviving the day two, back together again, family explosion of misunderstandings…baking many pies…shopping then shopping again…mourning those we have recently lost…mourning those who have been gone for a while…celebrating with extended family and friends in our midst…chatting over wine…baking with my Olivia…setting the table with my Jacob…watching mom cook her speciality items…reworking the menu yet again…visiting the NYBG train show…smelling cool air…a revolving door of people, thankfully all who believe in science and are multi vaccinated…preparing for tomorrow which will be over in a flash…
for all of this, and more…I am thankful.
Staten Island Ferry and Terminal at the NYBG Train Show
Swooning 