Merry Christmas, Seasons Greetings, Happy Holidays!

Whatever your greeting of choice, whichever your religion, have a very merry Christmas.

I'm cooking cabbage rolls and making buns from scratch this morning. All to be taken over to my sister's house for Christmas dinner this afternoon. I've still go presents to wrap and I never did put my Christmas tree up. I don't think I will now. Mainly, I'm just too tired.

Christmas came in like a lion and is going out like a lamb, for me. In a couple of days I'm going to wonder how I missed it and I will miss it. I've been working so many hours I haven't done many of my traditional Christmas things. I didn't get a mall coffee and wander around like a tourist, looking at all the decorations. I didn't take a weekend trip away for my birthday weekend. I didn't put up my tree and fling lights around the house/ apartment. I also didn't get my Christmas cards sent out, well, only one of them which I hand delivered.

I did buy myself a new ornament for the tree. I did buy Christmas presents for all the family I will be seeing. This morning I'll wrap them all up. I did have at least one gingerbread coffee at Chapters bookstore. I did play in the snow. Lastly, I did my little happy winter ritual, which was also important to me.

So, I'm not totally missing Christmas and, if I'm not too worn out after working on Boxing Day, I can still pack into the mall and look at the decorations. Maybe Santa will still be there taking pictures with the kids. That's another tradition I've missed this year.

Merry Christmas, now dash away, dash away all!

I love Halloween. It's second only to Christmas for me. There is a spooky, daring spirit to Halloween. Not the opposite of Christmas spirit, just different.

I enjoy seeing the kids in their costumes and handing out candy. Even though we hardly get any kids coming on our street and it does get boring sitting there for three hours, waiting. Still, I like sitting there in the dark, trying not to eat the chocolate and looking out into the night sky, thinking, absorbing the spirit.

I like the air on Halloween night. When we were kids my brother and sisters and I would all go out together. Whatever we dressed up as, it didn't really matter. Once my Mom got to kid #4 the costumes melded until we were all hobos. She did make costumes for each of us when we were young. I remember a princess that I was. One year I wore a grass skirt and Hawaiian style shirt and won first prize for my costume at the community centre.

My sister kept her angel wings from a Halloween costume. She even wore them in a Christmas school play later. My brother went as a hockey player more than once, he actually was playing hockey at the time. I don't really remember the costumes, just the fun of getting ready, looking forward to getting out there and then being out there.

There was always something in the air on Halloween night. An element of risk. That seems the best way to pin it into one word. Halloween felt like something could happen. Something unexpected and daring. Not so much scary but certainly fresh and exilerating.

The night would end with my baby sister and myself home first. The other two would stay out until the last house closed up for the night. They walked all around the neighbourhood and would come in after 11:00 some Halloweens. I'm sure they had more fun than I did. But, being the big sister means you bring home the little sister. I didn't mind too much. By 9:00 I'd already had time to feel the charge of Halloween. At home I could look for spooky shows on TV or the radio.

Halloween is still fun. It's still an adventure every year. Always, there is that element of risk. When you go outside taking a deep breath of that night air. Scanning the shadows, to make sure something isn't lurking out there. That Jackolantern's grin seems just a bit more spooky. Are you sure you left it sitting just that way on the step? It couldn't have moved, could it?

No, surely not! Halloween is just a bit of fun, right? Don't let it scare you.

Go out and get spooked.

The baby shower is over. Last time it was a wedding shower. Both times they were disappointing in the lack of attendance or at least the courtesy of an RSVP. I guess to each person and RSVP doesn't seem that important, after all they are just one person. But, to the party giver/ host its very important and definitely peeves them off when half the expected guests don't show up.

Most of the no shows had called us. All of those were friends of my sister though. The ones that did not call or email were family. That's just plain rude really. We had made truckloads of sweets and sandwiches that we didn't need. All that time could have been spent on other things. I didn't even get time to shop much for a shower gift. In the end I gave her a few things I picked up along the shower trail.

That's the other shower thing I was going to write about. The putting on of the shower. All that planning and buying of basic party goods: throw away table ware, shower game prizes and the food and drink for the guests. It came to a few hundred dollars as far as I can tell. I lost count at a few points.

The dollar store was a great place to find table ware and the odd (not too cheap looking) shower prize. We also made almost 30 stained glass paper butterflies with black construction paper (craft store had a better deal and better quality than the dollar store) and tissue paper. Some of the tissue paper came from past birthday parties and such. Reduce, reuse and recycle! Thanks to Martha Stewart for the butterfly template. The idea is not new but her template was simple and elegant. We actually saw them on her TV show one night and the rest is herstory.

Anyway, shower games, a phrase that strikes dread into the heart of the modern career type woman. Most shower games I looked at were far too silly and childish. The baby is the one who is a child, not the women coming to the shower. Sure, some people love that stuff, not me. So my game of choice was making quilt squares in a non-sewing way. Non-sewing for the guests at least. I went to the local Goodwill, we have a great one here, and I searched for a good quality sheet in a nice, light, genderless colour. I found a light beige one which was in good shape, clean and had not been the bottom (elastic) sheet. Then I bought permanent markers at Zellers, a Canadian department store chain not unlike WalMart. At the shower I cut/ ripped the sheet into squares and rounded up guests to contribute their writing and artsiness for the baby's quilt. Later I will sew all the squares together and add a border, etc. Everyone signed it at least. Some did more. We gave away a prize for the best one. The future big brother picked the winners. He surprised me by picking one which was a poem, no pictures.

I did something like this for her wedding shower several years ago. That time I also found a sheet but I bought it fresh from the department store. I used glitter markers that turned out to be mostly goopy. I got almost everyone to write something on the sheet. I think she still has that sheet but I doubt she uses it. Those markers were not a good thing. This time I made sure to use a plain ink version.

By the time we opened gifts it was time to get homeward bound. Somehow the time passed pretty fast once people began arriving. Funny cause I was sure it was going to drag on and I would be left with everyone looking at me to amuse them. Conversation and good food were enough though. We didn't get to any of the games I had in reserve.

So that was the baby shower. I've promised myself it will be the last one I will do. But, it did turn out ok so, who knows... maybe next sister I will do it all again after all. Luckily, I only have 2 sisters and a brother. There can't be many more showers lurking about after all.

What do you do with a group of women coming to your home, one of them your pregnant sister, the rest her friends and the odd female family members tossed in? Why, you throw a baby shower, make them play games children in kindergarten would scorn and feed them a lot of rich, sweet deserts. At least that's the plan.

I've been baking cheesecakes, cookies (tomorrow) and planning finger sandwiches and salads. We've looked at baby shower games on the Net. We made stained glass butterflies, as seen on Martha Stewart. Tonight I strung them all, they look good all 25 of them, together. We even had the elastic thread though I ran out of it by the time I was stringing the last two.

I think the shower games are my least favourite part of this thing. Either they are babyish or they require you to know the other women pretty darn well. I don't really know any of them. I'm just the worker bee on this one. My Mom and I, she's painting the bathroom tonight.

Oh well, by Sunday night it will all be over. Whatever didn't get dusted, washed or baked won't matter. The best thing will be eating that cheesecake. It turned out really great, mocha with chocolate chips. The other cheesecake is a fruit type, not my favourite.

Second best thing about the shower will be watching my sister be coerced into playing all those silly games I have lined up for her. Pictures are a must!

Here it is, Christmas Eve, there's almost a magic you can feel.

The Christmas tree glows with its electric lights and the ornaments add sparkle, romance and mystery. Outside the house there are lights up and down the street and on our own home too. The odd car goes by, people out at parties, doing last minute shopping or just out driving around admiring the lights and decorations.

Is Christmas Eve better than Christmas Day? Sure you open all those presents under the tree but then the mystery, the hopes and dreams are gone. Once you open them the magic slips away.

On Christmas Eve the snow glows in the moonlight, if there is any snow. The day looks kind of stark without snow. On Christmas Eve the snow or the darkness hide the stark winter landscape. I think having snow is better. Snow makes so many great things: snow balls, snow forts and snow flakes. Can you catch a snowflake on your tongue? They say each snowflake is different, there are no two exactly the same. With so many snowflakes it seems impossible for them to all be different. Each one just a frozen drop of water.

Merrry Christmas to you all!