>Singing reindeer? Singing Santas? Look here.
(I must say, however, that the Nylons did it better.)
See if North Pole Village is resting after their big busy season.
Check out videos and maps of Santa’s travels, now that he’s gone round the world and back.
>Amigo, the great TV watcher and radio listener, heard that The Nylons were coming to our local Performing Arts Center, and suggested we get tickets. No, he insisted we get tickets! The only question was how many tickets we would need. Timing was right; La Petite came home from college that afternoon, so we went to the concert as a family. My family enjoys live music of just about any kind — bluegrass to blues to classical — so it was a real treat to attend this Christmas show together. A capella music is my favorite, so I held the Nylons to a high standard of performance.
The first Nylons’ first Christmas CD was an instant classic. I play it at school, we play it in the car, and it has the best version of “Carol of the Bells” that I’ve heard. (The Blenders’ version comes a close second.) I knew they had a new one out, so we bought a copy in the lobby on the way in to the show.
This is a group with real talent. No lip-synching allowed or needed; the singing was excellent. Their arrangements varied from the traditional (The Huron Carol) to the jazzy (God Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen) and included everything in between. Their performance was enthusiastic and energetic. La Petite whispered to me early on, “The old guy is more nimble than I am!” “The old guy” was Claude Morrison, the founder of the Nylons. He is an amazing singer and dancer. Whether he was showcasing his stunning falsetto or rich middle range, he led the group and blended harmonies seamlessly with the others.
I heard the Nylons’ Christmas Show a few years ago in another nearby town. Both shows were very well sung. This year’s show was more fun because the crowd was larger and very appreciative, and the Nylons responded to the energy. If they come through town again, I’ll be there. Merry Christmas to Claude and company. The Nylons have always been part of our holiday season; this year, they were even more.
This is a totally spontaneous review. I spent my own (family) money on the tickets and the CD, and believe me, it was worth every penny.
>Good intentions…well, you know the rest. I intended to have the Christmas cards done and mailed earlier this week. I know they won’t reach their recipients by Tuesday, but I do plan to get them written and mailed today.
Husband and I have never gone for the family picture style card. I enjoy seeing those, but we’ve just never taken the time to get them made. Our kids are old enough now that their growth and change isn’t dramatic from year to year, so it’s not as exciting to send a picture as it is when, say, kids are babies and preschoolers. We’re also frugal — okay, cheap — when it comes to items like Christmas cards. I like to buy them the day after Christmas when they’re marked down, store them in the attic, and then send them out a year later, secure in the knowledge that I’ve saved our family budget a few cents. Picture cards are no longer expensive, but the time investment is still significant.
If we spot a cute/humorous/just right card, we’ll send it. One year I sent out cards with Santa Claus scoring a touchdown. He wasn’t dressed in green and gold, but it worked for us. Family lore includes the time my mother found a card that made us all laugh. It had a lovely picture, musical instruments of some sort, with sheet music as background. The card proclaimed “Silent Night” in lovely script letters. A great card for a musician family, right?
Wrong. The sheet music wasn’t Silent Night; it was the Star Spangled Banner.
The end result: my mom bought a box of cards, and we sent them to people who would know the difference and enjoy it while also understand that we knew exactly what we were sending.
So family and friends, you’ll get my cards late (again) this year. But at least you can enjoy the stories.
Update: I ran out of cards after letter O in my address book. I went out to fill my minivan with gas pre-storm and decided to try the neighborhood Family Dollar stores. Success! I’ll get these sent out tonight.
>In the last few years, I taught in a building where the Secret Santa exchange was a work of art. Aside from the creative gift giving and the sneaky delivery systems, there were the emails.
Mrs. G. “Dear Santa: I have been very good. If you happen to come across a CD of Josh Groban singing ‘Oh, Holy Night’, I’d love to see it under my tree.”
Mrs. O. “Hey, Mrs. G., maybe Santa could send Josh in person to deliver!”
Mrs. H. “Do you think he’d take requests?”
Mrs. McQ. “Who’s Josh Groban?”
Well, we enlightened Mrs. McQ, but Mrs. G. didn’t get her CD. I hope she’s treated herself since then. Josh Groban is an amazing talent, and his Christmas CD will warm the Grinchiest heart.
But this year, I’m in a new school building. The Secret Santa exchange has been creative, but not as heated and suspenseful as I’ve experienced. However, my Santa is sneaky, and has my number, that’s for sure. He or She delivered (by way of a student) a 16 oz. Starbucks Breakfast Blend one Friday at the first bell, and it was still hot. That leaves out all the early birds who arrive long before school — like I do. And…I saw a matching cup sitting on the principal’s desk less than an hour after I got this one. Hmm.
Later that day, a co-worker showed me a Starbucks gift card and asked what kinds of things I liked from Starbucks. He’s not a coffee drinker, and he’d won the gift card as a door prize.
The following week I got a lovely metallic red cappuccino mug, also from Starbucks. Pretty, shiny, and smooth, just like the coffee I put in it.
Then came the sneakiness. I arrived late to a staff meeting (due to a PT appointment), and when I got back to my room, there was a gift bag with Starbucks Christmas Blend, whole bean (Mmmm) nestled within the tissues. This had not been on my desk twenty minutes earlier when I arrived. I think this rules out the principal, as she was running the meeting. My non-coffee drinking co-worker…well, I noticed he (and at least two others) had stepped out of the meeting for a few minutes at one time or another and then come back.
There’s no real evidence, though. I’m not sure who might be playing the Jolly Old Elf, but I know it’s someone with good taste. At least I can tell you the gifts taste pretty darn good!
>Margalit of What was I Thinking and Mid-Century Modern Moms made me laugh yesterday. Boston has been snowed in, big time, and she talked about the French Toast Alert system. I had to smile. According to Margalit,
“the three items grocery stores continually run out of when a big storm is
announced are bread, milk,
and eggs. What can you make with those three items? Why, French Toast!
Clever, it is not?”
She even has French Toast Alert t-shirts! She grinds her own coffee beans, too, but that’s another story.
I can identify with this philosophy because a) I live in Wisconsin; b) I stock up when a storm is threatening; c) I stock up when the flu season is threatening; and d) I like French toast. When the kids were young and we had very little money, I made French toast often. It was easy and it was cheap. Bread from the day-old bakery store, eggs (on sale if possible), and a little milk, and we had a meal. Breakfast, brunch, or lunch, the family liked it and it was a piece of cake to make. Er, sorry for the mixed metaphor.
My shopping list today also includes ingredients for my annual Gifts in a Jar. I plan to give my co-workers brownie or cookies mixes in canning jars, all nicely wrapped in a (re-used, of course) pretty gift bag. It’s more time-intensive than costly, and my co-teachers will all enjoy the sentiment and the gift itself.
In summary (I’m teaching essay format in Writers’ Workshop right now, can you tell?), the grocery list today will include bread, eggs, milk, and basic baking supplies. Whether the weather be fair or whether the weather be stormy, I’m ready.
>
>My students have sugarplums dancing in their heads instead of math facts. They’re dreaming of a white Christmas instead reading strategies. They’re more concerned about getting their snow pants and boots on quickly than finding their homework. If I were a Disney dwarf, I’d be Grumpy.
Maybe.
But it’s hard to be Grumpy when I’m setting myself up for my own holiday Zen, the simple mood-altering atmosphere that gets me in my own Teacher zone and helps me tolerate the Noise, Noise, Noise, Noise! — as the Grinch might put it.
Ingredients:
1 cup (okay, 16 oz., technically two cups) of hot liquid with caffeine
(can be Hazelnut, Peppermint Mocha, or simply the Folgers from the school office)
1 boom box on the table near my desk
1 set of fabulous and unique holiday music CDs
(And when I say unique, I mean it.)
Directions:
Sip lovely liquid.
Revel in taste and warmth.
Turn on lovely and unique tunes.
Take a deep breath (preferably over the mug of tasty fluid).
Then, and only then, turn on computer, check email, and begin to correct papers and finalize lesson plans.
Serves one teacher, well.
And if you’re looking for a little unique holiday music right now, in your cubicle or home office, try this.
The Twelve Days…and more
On a different “note,” my guest post is up at workitmom. You can find it here.
>La Petite came home for a busy weekend: her birthday celebration, Husband’s birthday celebration, her boyfriend’s sister’s graduation, and (drumroll, please) she’s going to the Green Bay Packer game on Sunday.
To understand just how big this is, you need to know a few things.
Well, said boyfriend made connections with his roommate’s girlfriend’s family. They own four tickets, and they’re only using two this weekend. He made them an offer, and they took it. He took a deep breath, called us, and asked if we could chip in. We said yes, absolutely. This kid is thoughtful, sweet, a major character, and he really cares about La Petite. In short, he’s family. If they break up, we might just keep him. (It’s okay, daughter, I’m kidding.)
So she came home Friday night to gather her green and gold and wrap a present for her dad. And as she walked in the door, she politely let me know, “Mom, I didn’t pack any clean clothes. Could you, like, start laundry tonight?”
Well, at least she’s old enough to bring up the laundry baskets and help.
>From the wellness coordinator at my place of employment (my comments are in italics):
1. If you eat a Christmas Cookie, fresh out of the oven, it has no calories because everyone knows that the first cookie is the test and thus calorie free. (Of course. If the baker can’t eat it, who can? Must test.)
2. If you drink a diet soda after eating your second cookie, it also has no calories because the diet soda cancels out the cookie calories. (But what about coffee?)
3. If a friend comes over while you are making your Christmas Cookies and needs to sample, you must sample with your friend. Because your friend’s first cookie is calories free, rule #1, yours is also. It would be rude to let your friend sample alone and being the friend that you are that makes your cookie calorie free. (Oh, heavens, I must be a good friend while baking.)
4. Any cookie calories consumed while walking around will fall to your feet and eventually fall off as you move. This is due to gravity and the density of the caloric mass. (Gravity does enough bad things to my body; this may balance it out. No pun intended.)
5. Any calories consumed during the frosting of the Christmas Cookies will be used up because it takes many calories to lick excess frosting from a knife without cutting your tongue. (Huh? I frost with a small rubber spatula.)
6. Cookies colored red or green have very few calories. Red ones have 3 and Green ones have 5 – one calorie for each letter. Make more red ones! (If they’re plain, does that mean they have five calories or none?)
7. If you eat cookies while watching “Miracle on 34th Street” these also have no calories because they are part of the entertainment package and not part of one’s personal fuel. (I prefer Charlie Brown Christmas. Does that count?)
8. As always, cookie pieces contain no calories because the process of breaking causes calorie leakage. (I thought it was called calorie evaporation. Well, if it works, great. Call it what you will.)
9. Any cookies consumed from someone else’s plate has no calories since the calories rightfully belong to the other person and will cling to their plate. (Have you honestly seen cookies left on another person’s plate? If so, you need a new recipe.) And finally…
10. Any cookies consumed while feeling stressed has no calories because cookies used for medicinal purposes NEVER have calories. It’s a rule! (Does this work for the accompanying beverages as well? I sense a double peppermint mocha on the horizon.)
Disclaimer – This is your humorous stress relief for today and cookies really do have calories!!(Oh, darn it, she would have to add this! Do not eat the rocker. Do not eat the rocker.) Happy Baking!
