Leavin' on a jet plane

Yes, all my bags are indeed packed and I am ready to go.

We are leaving in about a half hour to go to the airport where we will be winging our merry way to Los Angeles. There we will party ourselves silly with many WDers, many of whom are very pretty. On Monday we will head towards Tucson to spend Christmas with my parents and...as we just found out a few nights ago...my sister and two nephews!!

Actually, the sister and nephews are returning before Christmas, as they have a father at home who would like to celebrate with them. The visit is a quickie, brought on by my oldest nephew's shocking realization that since Grandma and Grandpa were in Arizona instead of the Bay Area, he would not be seeing them for Christmas. This proved to be hugely unacceptable and a phone call later, the two Gs had decided to change their gift giving to include a plane ride. Ahhh, the power of a six year old! :-)

So, we are off! Off to sun and golf and drinking and parties and presents galore! But most importantly, I will be spending time with people who mean a lot to me, some of whom I have known all of my life or all of theirs, and some I will be meeting for the very first time. I am truly blessed.

May your holiday season shine brightly and may the new year bring you much joy!

Time keeps slippin' slippin' slippin'

In one week, Grant and I will be in Los Angeles!!!

I am very excited about our trip, but since we are leaving Friday night, we need to get a lot of things done today. Of course, I woke up this morning feeling somewhat stuffed up and not wanting to go anywhere, much less to a store full of Christmas shoppers. Ahh, the joy of it all!

I love Christmas. I just don't like to start my shopping until I am done with school. The last couple of weeks takes up an incredible amount of energy. The kids start bouncing off of walls with excitement, the teachers start counting down the days and there are a million assemblies interrupting actual teaching time. Managing all of that without everything melting down takes up nearly all of my energy, which doesn't leave a lot of desire to go shopping.

But off we will go. The list includes Holiday cards for my students, plus a little giftie to go with, a couple of presents that need to be bought before we leave ( much of our shopping is going to be in the States), some new tights and socks, and cat food.

Don't you wish you had my life? Of course, you do, don't deny it.

On another note: Mgan (aka Jenn) is coming to visit in February!!! It just goes to show that making a list and checking it twice is worth the time. Although in this case, I suspect Santa checked off the "naughty" column. The very naughty column. Hee.

Feeding an addiction

I just re-joined the Quality Paperback Bookclub. Because, let's face it: five overflowing bookcases of hardcover and softcover books just aren't enough for any household!

It's not like I have a whole lot of time for reading either. After all, I waste nearly all of the time I should be marking assignments for my students by hanging out on the WD, watching CSI or blogging. When exactly am I going to read?

Still....

I got the biography of John Adams, David Sedaris's new book, a new Tony Hillerman mystery, Way the Crow Flies by Ann-Marie MacDonald and Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them plus an omnibus edition of Madeleine L'Engel. All for less then $30 Can including shipping and handling! Eeek!!

If loving you is wrong, I don't wanna be right!

Just in case you were wondering....

My Christmas List
DVDs:
Buffy the Vampire Slayer seasons 5-7
Firefly
Lush (bath bombs and dusting powder)
Books:
The Runes of the Earth by Stephen Donaldson
The Journey of Crazy Horse by Joseph Marshall III
The Dark Tower by Stephen King
Turtleneck sweater
Slippers
full length yukata or kimono
Pretty sweater
Amazon wish list
Gift certificates: Pier 1, Amazon, Victorias Secret, Gap

Winter, traditions and tamales

It's official. Last night I put the down comforter on the bed. Winter is here.

Well, not technically. It's funny how our perception of the seasons rarely coincides with the actual date shown on calendars. My winter is two weeks earlier than the actual solstice;I am sure many other people have considered it to be winter for several weeks. I imagine that each of us have a moment when we say " it's winter" or summer or whatever. When I lived in San Francisco, the shift in season was usually signalled by the smell of woodburning fireplaces. The line between fall and winter is very blurred in the Bay Area, as it probably is in most mild climates. Especially since September and October were usually the loveliest months weather-wise, with bright sunny days and somewhat crisp nights. When the shift finally occurred and the days got chillier, you could smell the smoke in the air and that meant winter.

We are going away for the holidays this year. In years past, we have left on Christmas day or on the day after to go visit my family, but this year I suggested that we go before Christmas. This was largely because I wanted to take a side trip to Los Angeles to go hang out with some crazy internet people *waves to crazy internet people*, but also because my parents are in their eighties now, and it seemed important to spend the actual holiday with them. My sister informs me that my mother is excited past belief and making elaborate plans to celebrate. She has already discussed our Christmas dinner menu with me, although why I can't imagine. Our Christmas dinner is always roast beef with Yorkshire pudding, broccoli with hollandaise, creamed onions and various other side dishes. I suspect Mom is planning on making a trifle, which somehow she has convinced herself that our family loves. The truth is my sister hates trifle with a fiery passion, I like it fine as long as it doesn't replace PIE and my dad likes it a lot (or not, but when you have been married for over fifty years, you learn to pick your battles!). I will make sure there is lots of pie and peace will reign over the kingdom of Tucson.

Did I mention that we will be in Tucson? I am looking forward to the warmer weather and the mountains and shopping for pottery and jewelry. We will be playing golfseveral times and we may take a trip to the Chiricahuas, which are the mountains where Geronimo had his stronghold. I can't wait to see the desert decorations, I suspect we will see lots of luminarias. Luminarias are traditionally oiled paper bags with candles lit inside them. Nowadays, you can buy plastic versions of them and light them with Christmas lights. Grant and I brought some home and put them out in our yard last year. They were pretty with all the snow.

And tamales! I am going to eat tamales until I explode!!! Tamales is the Southwest tradition for Christmas. I feel it is vital that I embrace such traditions fully. *nods emphatically*

This has made me feel better. I have been feeling somewhat blue as the Christmas lights went up around the neighbourhood. We decided not to decorate, since we are leaving the week before Christmas, so seeing all the pretty lights made me jealous. But yesterday my wonderful husband bought me a potted Norfolk pine and we are going to decorate it tonight. That, combined with the prospect of tamales, has improved my spirits immensely.

Mmmmmm. Tamales....