Christmas Letdown. Yesterday my youngest had a meltdown when her sister left with a friend to Santa Fe. That’s when it dawned on her that Christmas was over. I know that feeling. It’s memorized in my bones.
After Christmas Sales. I always say, “Let’s wait til after Christmas to buy the pants, shoes, coat, etc., you wanted for Christmas; that way we’ll get ’em on sale.” Then I never hit the malls because I’m out of money, energy, or both.
Movies. I feel like I should be going to see a movie or several during the week between Christmas and New Year’s. Isn’t that what we’re supposed to do during this time? Who made up that rule? Hollywood?
Favorite Gift. Em can’t put down her Nintendo DS. I think it’s the stylus — makes her feel grown-up. I can’t put down the book Run by Ann Patchett. And the Jelly Bellies that were in my stocking. I’ve eaten all the ones that have anything-green in them.
Parties. We’re invited to a party on December 29. I keep thinking I’d better write it down. I don’t think I’ve ever been to a party on a day between December 26 – December 30. Oh, and Sal’s annual New Year’s Eve party. That one happens like clockwork.
Festival O’ Farts. One New Year’s Eve, Jim, Andrew, Mimbres Man, and I changed the sign of a gallery near our house to read Festival O’ Farts. It had read before then Festival Of Arts. The change lasted a few days.
Ski Biking. The night we changed the sign, we then went ski biking and sledding at Sandia Peak. The ski area was closed, but we climbed the mountain with our bikes and with sleds Andrew made from a truck bed liner. It was fun. We were crazy.
Resolutions Or Reflection? I’ve never done resolutions — I don’t want the expectation and guilt associated with them. But I am apt to reflect on what I’m committed to in 2008. I’m not sure I see the difference between the two, but I feel it.
Taking Down The Tree. It’s so pretty. I like to leave the lights on all day. I hate the thought of taking it down. (Hey, Jim just told Em that he’ll take the tree down after I go back to work. He must have sensed my reluctance. He’s witchy and kind that way.)
Memes. Smiler called this one a “hoopla” (actually, someone else renamed it a hoopla, but Smiler tagged me). Anyone can do it — QM, you game? Random things, having to do with the holidays. Twelve things, whatever you want. Random space.
Stevo had also tagged me for a “seven random things about you” meme (LINK). Smiler’s meme whoopla was for 12 random things having to do with Christmas. I opted to list 10 random things. I thought that was a good compromise between the two memes.
So, QM or anyone else who wants to do this, pick any number of random things between 7-12.
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ybonesy, and you want us to list the random things in the Comments, right?
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In the comments or in your own post — whichever you prefer. These are relaxed times 8) .
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Sometimes I miss being crazy. Then I realize that every now and then I still do something at least a little crazy. It keeps life interesting.
I’m more apt to reflect than make resolutions, too. I see the difference. 🙂
I enjoyed this. I got to learn a few more things about you.
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😮
I had no idea you were a vandal! Or a thrill-seeker. I know, now, that my first New Year’s resolution will be to pay more attention!
Merry late Christmas, btw!
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Christmas can either be a joyous time, or a time of sorrow.
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YB, I really enjoyed this post. So much to reflect upon. As LB just commented Christmas can be a joyous time or a time of sorrow. For me, this year has been a time for both, but mostly a joyous one. As for New Year’s resolutions, I also have steered clear of the the ones I know I will never keep. Last year though, my then 5 year old grandson & I made ours together. For every new gift we gave him that was kept at our house or our camp, he would pick an old toy of his from our home & it would be donated. Either to a local childrens home, a local church that opens their doors once monthly & gives away free to those in need, etc… The possibilities of where to donate are endless. He has always kept up his end of that resolution…D
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YB you are right about Christmas being a joyous or sorrowful time.
1. The birth of Christ so we can be forgiven no matter what we have done. Joyful
2. Giving presents and watching children’s happy faces receiving them. Joyful
3. The death of my parents Dec.23,1983 and Jan.9,1984 , so close together. Sad
4. Remembering and feeling their presence still with me because of # 1. Joyful
5. All the beautiful lights and pagents and spirits that fill the season. Joyful
6. Forgetting the bad and remembering the good times of the year gone by. Joyful and sad at times.
7. Thankful for family and friends still with us and missing ones passed on. JOyful and sad.
8. Looking forward to a better New Year with lots of hope and thankful to have a chance to right any wrongs I may have done anyone. Thankful
9. 10. 11. 12. to be continued !
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alittlediddy- That was wonderful. You and my greatgrandson are my #9. You should have shared that with the family. He is such a joy. How odd we are both on the same area of Redravine at the same time.
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alittlediddy, that’s a great New Year’s resolution about having your grandson donate an old toy when receiving a new one. It reminds me of a story told to us on Christmas Day this year. We were having dinner at my friend, Gail’s. Another friend who is a teacher at prestigious local private school joined us.
We were talking about ways to make a difference while traveling to other countries. Gail’s partner is traveling to Nepal early next year and she’ll be stopping at an orphanage there. She asked about ways she might share her experiences with the kids at the private school.
Anyway, the teacher ended up telling a story about one of her young students. The student’s Mom taught her about having 3 jars for the money she earns from her allowance. The first jar is for savings. The second is for spending. And the third jar is to give away to others.
So every time she gets her allowance, she splits it between the three jars. And every year over the Holidays, the little girl chooses where she wants to donate her money that she will give away.
I thought that was such a moving story. She said the young girl talks about it elaborately and in great detail because the Mother has passed the value of giving down to her. It was a great conversation about the service of giving back. And that’s what you are teaching my nephew, too. 8)
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Mom, thanks for sharing your list. I like how you marked out joyful and sad. I always think of my grandparents (your parents) this time of year, too. And how they passed away so close to each other. It really was a sad couple of years there. I was in Montana then and remember driving up the Bitterroots and crying my eyes out.
I truly believe the ability to feel the sadness and loss also allows all of us to let in the joy that much deeper. I don’t know if it’s true. But I keep believing.
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ybonesy, I really enjoyed reading your post on the after Christmas blues. I felt a little sad yesterday, too. There is such a lull between Christmas and New Year’s. It’s like this white space, this kind of in limbo time. And then you know when New Year’s is over (especially here in the Midwest), we will be hunkering down for the coldest months of the year. And it gets real quiet and still.
Some things that struck me:
I don’t like to take down the tree or the lights either. When I lived in my apartment, I kept them up all the time.
I always miss the after Christmas Sales. I don’t know where the time goes. All I really want is a new calendar. But before I know it, whoosh, they are gone.
The Festival O’ Farts cracked me up. Especially since Mom and I were laughing on the phone today about what’s going to happen if I make a full batch of black-eyed peas and rice for New Year’s and there are only two of us to eat them!
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LB, I was talking to a friend about Christmas being a time of sorrow. She works in an office with many therapists and they don’t play Holiday music this time of year because it calls up hard memories for some. There is an upsurge in those seeking help and emotional support this time of year. Usually it’s a big time for recovery meetings to also add all day events and extra meetings for the recovery community, too.
And some people don’t have families to spend time with or are suffering from depression. I’ve had some down and out Christmas Eve’s before and it sure wasn’t fun. This year, I count my blessings. My Holidays have been filled with mostly Joy. But my heart goes out to those who are feeling the loss.
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Hi all. Just back from Santa Fe to see the great comments.
Robin, I’m not the least bit crazy any more. Well mostly not. And, sam, is a person technically a vandal when the crime is committed with tape that peels off easily (with likely little to no damage to the sign)?? BTW, the owners of the gallery shut down shop within a few months after our antics. I always wondered if the sign change had been the last straw — first, the community doesn’t shop at the gallery, then someone goes and messes with the sign!?!
LB, the strange thing is that for me, it’s always both. Never one or the other.
littleditty and QM – what great ways to instill the value of giving! I will explore the toy exchange idea tomorrow, in fact.
MOM – thanks for sharing your list here. I love how #8 includes the spirit of continually striving to do better, to do right. That says you’re not a person getting stuck in your ways. I want to be like you.
QM, perhaps when you post the ham hocks and black-eyed peas recipe, you can include any gas-reduction tricks. I know we have them for pinto beans. I mean, it’s still the musical fruit, but at least we minimize the trumpets and optimize the flutes, if you know what I mean 😉
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YB, I also am thinking about “The Festival O’ Farts”! What a great idea! (Several years ago at one of my company holiday parties that was held in a private room at a local sportman’s club, I noticed that we were surrounded by the heads of stuffed game everywhere. Hanging on the walls like fine works of art. I convinced an individual at our table to stick a dinner roll into the open mouth of a long gone wild boars head staring at me from the wall, mouth wide open.) So I am already planning a Festival O’ Farts at our camp this summer. Menu will be baked beans, pickled eggs & deviled eggs. Anyone interested is more than welcome to join us. I guess we will all just have to be careful which side of our body we warm by the campfire! D
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You are such a Gemini! But pickled and deviled eggs? You’ll be having a festival o deadly farts! Hey, but you can hand out prizes — most silent and deadly, one most resembling a barking spider, most cabbage-like, etc…
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YB, I have now added cabbage to the menu, but no matter, I think I would win all of the awards! D
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I admire your honesty, alittlediddy. I have seen clay jars that say “Mom’s Farts” on the outside; in fact, my mom got one as a gift once. Perhaps you should have your own. 8)
Cabbage farts are about the worst. But speaking of egg farts, as my friend D. can testify, one time her uncle walked in from the outside. He said, “Mmmm, eggs…” thinking his wife was in the kitchen cooking eggs. Then he realized it was his daughter who was sitting in the room smiling, who created the smell. I still remember the story, even though D. and her uncle told it to me ages ago.
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Ha! I just had a thought. This is not the usual holiday food talk…
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I know what you mean about the let down. I like your way of saying it – memorized in your bones. I guess they don’t call you ybonsey for nothing!
Our relatives just left today, and my husband and I both had the blues. Both our sons were out with friends, and we took solace in each other and the dogs.
i like the story of the changing of the sign, then the skiing. sounds like you have a lot of old friends in your city.
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just a note YB, a pinch of baking soda is suppose to help with the gas but why take away all the fun?
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yb, whatever those are, your square bullets are mighty fine.
Just Love em. They look environmentally inspired.
Festival of farts…whoever would have thought…you imp!
Mom, I have to add to your Sad / Happy Christmas list. I loved yours so much… these took flight right outta my head.
9. Happy (No…dog gone joyous): Paper Plates
10. Sad: Dirty Piles of my Mother’s China
11. Aneurysm: Dirty Piles of my Grandmother’s 1st issue, 1st
year Dessert Rose China.
QM, all those recipes are just plain teasers. I don’t even know how to turn my oven on! Maybe Liz can set up a website sellng homemade goodies to the Domestically Challenged 😉
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First of all Ybonesy, thank you for playing along. I enjoyed reading this and a few items gave me a good chuckle, not least of which the Festival O’ Farts.
let me make it very clear that I DID NOT name the stupid thing a “Hoopla” or a “Whoopla” or whatever. I think the change of name is ridiculous, and I should have ignored it all together, but I always want to be that good team player. Guess my sarcasm didn’t come through.
I agree about the usual post-Christmas blues and not wanting to take the tree down. I’ve always kept them till they were a fire hazard because they’re so pretty to look at and I actually get attached to the tree itself. Happens every time.
QuoinMonkey brought up the issues of people who are facing depression or recovery or who don’t have family to be with at this time of year and how they need extra support or therapy usually, and I can vouch for that, because that’s been my case for the last few years.
Both my parents are overseas and I am Bipolar and usually battling serious depression around the holidays. This year I’m on disability leave following a severe bout of clinical depression. Knowing I was already in a fragile place, I decided to do strictly nothing about Christmas this year and just keep doing what I like to do, which is spend my time online, and it worked like a charm. ANYTHING is an improvement on the suicidal depression that had become almost the norm during this season.
So post Christmas this year? Feels like a pretty good time to me, all things being relative of course. I’m glad I’m even here to talk about it as a matter of fact!
All the best.
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Hi Yb and everybody. Nice post, Yb – just right for this no man’s land between Christmas and New Year.
There are several subjects above:
farts: do you have our kids’ ditty stateside? –
Beans, beans, good for your heart;
the more you eat; the more you fart;
the more you fart; the better you feel –
so let’s have beans for every meal!
(if not, tell it to your kids once and you will ).
Random holiday things
1. the light increases – deep primitive relief
2. tree – I gather dead branches up on the common and we decorate it with baubles: live tree killing no can do.
3. Our local Big Issue seller (homeless) – makes me remember how fortunate I am
4. 1995 – I finished the Rainring cards on Christmas day.
5. Familly photos – they always came out at Christmas.
6. Absent family – dead, divorced, otherwise occupied.
7. surviving – like Smiler, I’ve had my share of Christmases alone, just knowing you have to be strong to get through until the rest of the world comes back.
The one about the little girl with the three jars really touched me. Sometimes, people make it seem so easy to be smart!
Best wishes for 2008 to all of us!
Write on!
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10 RANDOM HOLIDAY THINGS
1. GIFTS – One of my favorite Christmas gifts was a guitar, I can’t remember what year but I was thrilled to get it from my parents. My step-dad played and wanted me to have one. It seemed like a great luxury. I was just about to, or had just gone off to college and wanted to learn to play. I did learn and played a lot of Neil Young and Cat Stevens with my buddies at school.
2. LIGHTS – I had the Christmas lights in my old apartment (before moving in with Liz) up year round (for over 10 years). When I moved and took them down, Liz and I laughed at the little dark marks in the paint where each bulb had been. I guess you’ve figured out, the landlord didn’t paint the apartment in all that time either.
3. HOLIDAZZLE PARADE – For as long as I’ve been in Minnesota, I’ve never been to the Holidazzle Parade in downtown Minneapolis. Or if I went, I don’t remember it. We had wanted to go this year but then there was that blizzard and we didn’t brave going downtown. There were others that did though! That’s the hardiness of Minnesotans.
4. GIFTS II – My favorite gifts as a child were my gun, holster, and cowgirl outfit. I also liked my hairdresser doll, my brothers’ racecar and train sets, and my first blue Schwinn bike with training wheels.
5. HOLIDAY FIRES – I love sitting by a fire during the Holidays. We had a fireplace in Pennsylvania and I’d be the one clamoring for a fire. I feel peaceful around a fire. This year we had the Solstice fire outside. Then on Christmas Day, our friends christened their fireplace in their new home. It was the first time they had used it.
6. BLUE CHRISTMAS – I remember especially the year my mom had a “blue” Christmas. Blue is her favorite color and that year everything was themed blue: the Christmas lights, the wrapped front door for the decorating contest, the wrapping paper, the ribbon. I enjoyed the change. It was beautiful.
7. CHRISTMAS ALONE – I spent many Holidays alone in the 90’s. I lived alone and didn’t have a ton of friends. I had a Christmas tree the first few years alone in my apartment. But after that, I found it was too much trouble to decorate them alone. So I would put up lights (and leave them up), rent movies, do my art, listen to Christmas music. Those were the ways I spent Christmas.
8. WORST CHRISTMAS – The worst Christmas I ever had was when I was suffering from depression. Depression is so debilitating. It’s not just a mood you can get yourself out of. It’s chemical. There were also some very hard events happening in my life, one being the end of a relationship. That year (on both Thanksgiving and Christmas) I remember driving this circular route from Minneapolis up Highway 8 toward Wisconsin, then over to Stillwater, then back home. Along the way I’d imagine what everyone else was doing behind all their Christmas light displays. It would take me about an hour and a half. I’d have tears sometimes. But the driving would calm me. Driving is when I do some of my best thinking. That’s why I love trips cross-country.
9. GIFTS III – The best gift I can receive now is time with the people I love. Feeling connected to them, even over the miles. I talked to my family quite a bit over these Holidays. And many of them comment on red Ravine which is a joy for me. Surprising Mom on her 70th last November was one of the best gift-giving feelings I’ve ever had. It felt like Christmas. And I got to share that with my whole family.
10. CHRISTMAS TREES – In some traditions that honor the seasons, the Christmas tree is not thrown out, but saved over the year and burned as the first fuel in next year’s Winter Solstice fire. I love the idea of letting go of what has passed. And that the symbolism of the tree is passed down from ritual to ritual. Nothing is wasted.
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When we bought our house and moved in, guess what came with it? Lights strung out on the back roofline above the patio! We kept them on all summer and fall, and now we have lights through the holidays. We’ll probably keep them up. I don’t even think of them as Christmas lights.
QM, I’m with you on Holiday Fires. Yum.
stranger, we can’t bring ourselves to do cut trees, either, although I saw my uncle’s and aunt’s yesterday and it was adorable. I used to decorate a dead limb every year before we had kids. I loved the look of branches with lights and ornaments. If you do do (I said “do-do”) cut trees, the recycling is goodness.
stranger, we do have that particular diddy, with some word changes in the first verse:
“beans, beans, the musical fruit
the more you eat the more you toot.”
Smiler, oops, I see you were not the originator of “hoopla.” You were so genuine in your embracing and sharing of the hoopla, so I assumed it was your invention. But, you know what they say about assuming. I kind of like memes, especially when they’re as spontaneous as this one turned out to be. I do thank you for tagging me. It was fun.
What day is it today? That’s another random thing. Losing Track of Days. Right about now is when I cling to the white space between Christmas and New Year’s. I’m starting to enjoy the nothingness of it. Staying in bed late. Writing. Cooking. No commitments. Ahhhh…
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C., I think the letdown is even more pronounced when you have relatives over and then they leave. I remember getting that letdown in summer, too, when my cousins and aunt and uncle drove away after a two-week visit. (Mom, on the other hand, was probably in her bedroom doing the Snoopy dance.)
MOM, thanks for the hint. Baking soda is a magical thing, isn’t it? BTW, I love blue ornaments. I’ve seen two blue trees this season that seemed to glow, they were so amazing.
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H – have you ever broken one of your grandmother’s 1st issue, 1st year Desert Rose pieces? Just the thought of handling them gives me a case of nerves! They must be gorgeous.
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H & yb, you know, Liz told me when she read your comments that the china she’s got boxed up is also Desert Rose and I think it’s from her grandmother. I’ll have to ask her where she got it.
H, how do you tell if it’s 1st issue, 1st year? Is there a mark or stamp? Or do you know from family history?
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yb, never broken one but my Sister gets this twinkle in her eye when I walk in to my Parent’s house and see those tiny little ice cream dishes on the table and know I will be the one washing them….they are so beautiful though, and very delicate. I just got a flashback of sitting in my Grandma’s mint green kitchen having some ice cream in them.
QM, yes to both. Family history (Grama Iula Violet) and the very, very old ones have a different stamp on the bottom and the color is a much more muted pink. They are actually much thinner than the newer ones. Have Liz get one out and check the label. You should be able to find out via internet fairly easily now days.
I used to be quite the book researcher years back. I actually have a very extensive collection of old pottery from the 1890’s to 1950’s from long searches at the swap meets and garage sales of long ago. Once Martha Stewart found them to as beautiful as I did…it was all over and the prices became ridiculous.
I may shoot some so you can see how wonderful they are. I had cabinets made to house them (earthquakes) and I sit in my big red chair in the livingroom and admire their simple beauty all the time.
I hope you all have a wonderful New Year’s. Get some rest. We’ve got 365 days of laughter, tears and dreams to keep up with and none of us is getting any younger!
😉 Heather
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ybonesy: I don’t think I’ve been thanked for tagging anyone so far! The pleasure was all mine. It makes for a fun read.
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[…] was right in there with ybonesy about how the space between Christmas and New Year’s can be challenging. And to tell you the truth, I was doing great yesterday. This morning I woke up to go to work […]
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Amen, don’t we all. Our minds have special chemicals that ink in important memories and their pathways, so we can find them easily and never forget.
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Heather, your description of the old, old pieces (muted pink and thin) is exactly how I imagined them. They must be beautiful. I picked Desert Rose for my pattern when I got married, and while they are now a bit too old-fashioned for my tastes (I’m mercurial), I still love them.
Ben, ain’t it the case. And that’s where we get those universal yet unique descriptions that turn up in the best memoirs.
Smiler, well then, double thanks. It was the perfect thing to post about during this white-noise time.
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QM – I didn’t know you liked to drive to think. You must have gotten that from me. I did that quiet often , especially when your stepfather and I were breaking up!! Some time I would end up in Philadelphia at a friends house in the middle of the night.
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Mom, yes, I used to go driving to sort things out. I remember that you used to do that, too. Something about the rumble of the car, the road, the movement was calming to me. Maybe like the way I used to be planted in a rocking chair all the time. 8)
H, I love your grandmother’s name, Grama Iula Violet. I told Liz about the china marks on the Desert Rose. Next time we have it out, we’ll take a look.
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[…] that awkward time between end of December Holidays and the New Year. And a hard year for many. I personally know people who were (and are) unemployed, those who have […]
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