Is Anyone Else Feeling Lazy?

How did it get to be the 28th already? Whew... Not much motivation to do, well, anything around here. It's all I can do to get a load of laundry all the way to the dryer. Yesterday, I did get Jake's room totally cleaned. It was one of those cleanings that includes getting rid of too small clothes and outgrown toys. I want to hermetically seal the room so it will stay that way. I paid Emily $10 to help us, which was money well spent. Without her, I'd still be in there. Ask her to use her powers of organization in her own room? HA! As if!

Let's see, since we last chatted, we had a fun Christmas Eve at Aunt Betty and Uncle Bob's, an annual family tradition stretching 30 years. This year, Cliff Claven got to play Santa. Now that we no longer have believers in our house, he can do it without shattering any illusions. Some of the older kids at the gathering outed him, but not before he successfully read the Night Before Christmas and distributed the gifts. Doesn't he look cute in red and white fur?



As expected, the kids freaked when my dad gave them the Wii on Christmas morning. He comes over every year to open presents with us and eat pumpkin bread for breakfast. I'm so glad he does that, because the kids love having him here. This was a big electronic Christmas. I gave Cliff a home theater system, which he loves. He's already got it all installed. My refrain all day has been TURN IT DOWN. It's loud. Really loud. The kids got all kinds of stuff to go with the Wii, including Rock Band from my cousin Steve (who is Jake's godfather) and all the racquets, bats, swords, etc from my cousin Jean (Jake's godmother). They also got the tennis game from my brother George and his wife Holly. We also gave them a karaoke for their iPods, which I am secretly more excited about than they are! Cliff is freaking out about all the stuff that has to be connected to the game system center downstairs. His long weekend has been all about finding batteries, some assembly required, crawling around in the attic, and, for good measure, replacing the plumbing on the kitchen sink, which suddenly let go tonight in the midst of our Patriot's football gathering. (The Patriot's won, the Ravens and Jets lost, so the Pats are out of contention. Boo hoo! With an 11- 5 record no less! And Tom Brady got engaged, which I still can't talk about. Speaking of boo hoo! The kids reminded me that I'm married. Details.)

Holly outdid herself with Christmas dinner, which consisted of tenderloin and baked stuffed shrimp. I made my friend Cheryl's potatoes and they were a big hit. The day after Christmas, my annual "Boxer Day," in which I normally don't get dressed at all, was interrupted by a send off lunch for my dad who left for Florida at 1:30 am on the 27th and made it all the way from Rhode Island to southern North Carolina the first day. Yes, that would be 12 hours and more than 800 miles. He's a mad man. Either that or he's fleeing as fast and as far from his koo koo family as he can get. I suspect it's the latter.

Last night, Cliff and I had a fun night out with some new friends, and today we had football madness with my brother, sister-in-law and a bevy of cousins.

Anyone surprised that I'm not getting much writing done? I can't believe we're already down to one more week of vacation. I'll need a vacation to recover. Tomorrow I promised the kids a shopping trip to spend their gift cards because God knows they don't have enough stuff!

Hope everyone is enjoying the holidays! I need a nap!

Christmas Traditions

Another day of gloomy weather here in RI, and we're not even getting the snow that everyone else seems to be getting! I'm sick of rain and gray skies. Enough already! Once again, it is raining slush today, which will freeze later, making a huge mess.

Despite the rain and gloom, we are pressing forward with holiday preparations. One of my favorite of our family traditions is our annual trek to a local mall where the kids pick out a Hallmark ornament to add to their collections. The plan is that when they move to their own homes (Emily most likely at 18, Jake hopefully by 40), they will take those ornaments with them. This year, Emily picked a High School Musical "locker" that sings "We're All in This Together" when the door opens. The ornament reminded her of her stint as Ms. Darbus in HSM when she was in sixth grade. Jake chose an Ironman ornament, in honor of his favorite movie of 2008. Cliff Claven takes Emily to Indiana for a weekend every May, during which Jake and I usually go to a movie of his choice. Last year, I sort of suffered through Spiderman 3. This year, I was dazzled by Ironman, so I definitely approved of his ornament choice!

The ornament outing also includes a trip to the Olive Garden and pairing up with mom and dad to finish their shopping. With some variations, my original family used to take a similar trip every holiday season—to the same mall we go to now. Those trips are the ONLY time I can ever remember being with my father in a mall. My kids will be able to say the same thing about their father! Last night, we added a new twist to the tradition. As we were leaving the mall, the kids talked us into getting their pictures taken in a photo booth. After we paid $3 for four extremely goofy pictures that I will keep forever, they informed us that the photo booth is now part of the routine.

I hope they will remember these things we did together when they are grown up with families of their own. I suspect they will because they are already holding us to them. This year, we changed church parishes and both of them have already asked me if we will be going to our former church at 9 p.m. on Christmas Eve the way we have since we moved here six years ago. Yes, I assured them. St. Mary's is part of our Christmas tradition. We won't be changing it.

What are some of your favorite holiday traditions?