Category Archives: holidays

>Such a sacrifice for the greater good

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>Actual conversation (more or less) with Husband

Me: Dear, I found this really easy recipe for Beer Bread. In fact, it’s called Beyond Easy Beer Bread. And if I bake it, well, may I use a bottle of your beer from the fridge or should I run out to Flanagan’s and pick up something less worthy?
Him: Uh — well —
Me: Don’t worry, I’ll understand if you’d rather I left the good stuff for actual drinking.
Him: Is any special kind recommended? Like, do light or dark beers work better?
Me: This recipe doesn’t really specify. Although it’s possible that a cheapy like Badd Light probably wouldn’t work as well.
Him: I meant… well, um, okay. (Nods)
Me: Are you sure?
Him: Yes. You can take a bottle (gulp) of my beer to bake beer bread.

Well, I did promise I wouldn’t take any of his favorite specialties like New Glarus Spotted Cow or Fat Squirrel. And maybe, just maybe, I’ll have to visit a couple of local brew-pubs to get some goodies for his birthday or Christmas. Because, you know, he’s making such a sacrifice for the good of his wife’s baking. And the family’s holiday eating. And all that.

And if everyone really likes it, and I need to make a double batch next time….

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>My name is Daisy, I dress like a dork, and it’s okay.

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>I admit it. Contrary to BlogHer advice from the fashionable Susan, I wear holiday themed clothing. I do. And I wear it to work.
Regular readers know that I am willing and able to sport the Green and Gold at home and in public, from head to toe.
As for the holiday themed clothing, we elementary teachers do wear “fun” clothes to school at times. I wore a sweatshirt with an appropriate message (“I do know all the answers, but I’m sworn to secrecy”) on opening day of state testing. Every year I dig out my December clothing to wear in between Packer games. My students enjoy it, and yes, so do I.
One of my coworkers walked into the lounge last year, turned off the lights, and shimmied to show us her light-up Christmas Tree necklace. When the lights came back on, she announced with glee, “Working in an elementary school give you an excuse to dress like a dork!” We all looked down at our chests, realized it was true, and laughed out loud.
My “clients” are nine and ten years old. My room decor, or my “workspace” decor, acknowledges the season without going wild. I do not have a tree, for example, but I have a few snowy pictures and December trivia posted at key spots in the room. By recognizing the topic on their minds (Santa! Presents! Snow! Cookies! Fun!) but not going overboard, I can keep the kids relatively calm during this somewhat-frenzied month. By dressing myself in the Holiday Spirit, I let them know that it’s okay to be excited, as long as they continue to work hard and keep learning.
Don’t worry, fashionistas, I don’t plan to post pictures.
Tomorrow, I plan to wear my Grinch pin on a basic sweater (budget cuts = cold classroom on Monday mornings). Maybe I’ll slip the black socks with shiny white snowmen into my black Mary Jane shoes. Subtle? Maybe not, but it works in my field.
And dorky or not, that’s good enough for me.

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>Every story, new or ancient…

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>The most memorable gifts are those that spark stories. The story might about the gift, the giver, or the recipient, but the story is the heart of it. Like fruitcake, it’s the piece that gets remembered, long after the holiday itself is gone.
Like fruitcake, the gift isn’t always fancy. One of my favorite Teacher Gifts was a gift card to a garden center in town. this student and his parents knew enough about that they went beyond the World’s Best Teacher coffee mug (which would’ve been nice, too) and addressed one of my favorite activities: digging in the dirt.
Many years ago, one of my dad’s idols (Bart Starr) published an autobiography. I stood in line for two hours to get it autographed, and it was worth every minute. My dad was notoriously hard to buy for, and this was perfect — and he let me read it when he was done.
A student gave me this cute little popsicle stick sculpture. I’ll always remember her when I see it because she finished gluing it together at the last minute in class…much like the way she did homework!
So you see, it really is the thought that counts. All the students who have given me coffee mugs or Green Bay Packer ornaments are in my memory because of the stories their gifts inspire. As my little snowman insisted (below), I did, indeed, have a very merry Christmas.


This post inspired by the Parent Bloggers Network and their Blog Blasts, and Excitations, a site designed to make gift giving fun and memorable for givers and receivers alike.

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>White Christmas? Blue Christmas? Green Christmas?

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>The tune that gets stuck in my head is the middle one, and it’s always an Elvis style voice, too. “I’ll have a bloooooo Christmas, without you…” sniff, sniff, sob…oh, the sadness of being left by his baby at the holidays!
But seriously, folks, people are already thinking about holiday shopping and some have already started. Um, yes, I have. And others have been thinking about how to make their Christmas more green this year. Leah at the Lean, Green Family asked commenters to share their own families green traditions at holiday time. I talked about getting the most out of wrapping paper in this post last year. There are other ways of being environmentally conscious on Christmas.
Shop online or combine shopping trips. Carbon Footprint may be the trendy phrase, but it’s true that using additional gas costs more money and expels more pollution into our airspace. Driving fewer miles is cost-effective and eco-conscious.
Shipping packages? Use paper from your home shredder instead of foam packing materials. If you’ve shredded it well enough, it won’t give away any personal information, and it makes a great cushion for gift boxes. It’s recyclable at the receiving end, too.
Here’s a unique story of reduce, reuse, and recycle of holiday materials. Our Christmas tree gets reused. No, it’s not a live tree that gets planted in the yard. It’s not artificial, either.
We have neighbors who hunt, fish, and remain outdoors and active year-round. In our neck of the woods, people go ice fishing and sturgeon spearing. The neighbors are part of a group that collects these trees as people put them out on the curb. The “used” trees will become a path, a guide line that marks a safer path across the ice on Lake Winnebago. By sticking to a track that has been tested for its thickness, spearers and ice fishermen can feel a little more secure as they travel to their shanties.
If our tree didn’t go out on the lake, the city crews would pick it up and feed it through their chipper, where it would eventually end up part of the park department’s mulch. The tree gives us pleasure, after which it can be put to another use, which pleases me, too.

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>Signs of a Wisconsin Thanksgiving

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1. There’s a real turkey feather on the fireplace mantle (from MIL’s backyard).
2. My brother and my daughter are both wearing Packer gear (see below).
3. Appetizers include cheese, of course.
4. There’s a radio in the kitchen so the cooks don’t miss any of The Game (You knew that, I’m sure).
5. The lawn hasn’t been raked yet, but there’s a dusting of snow on the leaves.

The turkey was terrific. The pies were perfect. The Packers won. Really, who could ask for anything more?

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>Pillow Fight!

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It was pillow against the rabbit, and Buttercup won.
The vacuum cleaner wasn’t happy, either. It coughed and gagged and had to have a new bag installed before we could finish the job. This was, of course, in the midst of Thanksgiving preparations. Naturally, I put the turkey in the oven this morning and then started to clean up the rabbit’s nesting materials. Gee, doesn’t everybody do that on Thanksgiving before the guests arrive? Buttercup, silly bunny, played innocent.
“Who, me? I was napping up here on the couch the whole time.”

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>2007 Thanksgiving Menu at Chez OK

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>The menu is ready! We think it is, anyway.

Appetizers:
Pickles & Olives ; Husband and Amigo
French Onion Soup; Husband and Amigo

Main Course:
Turkey with Stuffing; Daisy

Sides:
Classic Mashed Potatoes; Husband
Mashed Potatoes a la Joie; La Petite
Sweet potatoes; Daisy
Gravy; Daisy
Steamed Asparagus Sesame; Husband
Packer Beans; Daisy and Amigo
1-2-3 Cranberry Sauce; Amigo
Cranberry Jell-O; Grandma’s famous recipe
Pumpkin & Cranberry Breads; Grandma’s famous recipes
Dinner Rolls; Daisy

Desserts:
Pumpkin Pies and Whipped Topping; Brother and Sister-in-Law
Apple Pie; Grandma and Husband

Beverages:
Wines; your Sommelier, husband
Soda (Various); hosts, others as preferred
Milk; Buttercup
Water; Peanut, Sadie
Coffee, Regular and Decaf; Daisy

Some beverages will be in La Petite’s small fridge
Grandma will bring four folding chairs.
We will eat at 3:00 or after the Packer game.
The Packer game will be broadcast on a radio in the kitchen so that the cooks don’t miss a play. (yeah, like you thought I’d make Thanksgiving dinner and miss a Packer game?!!)

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>Three, no, four reasons why I’m glad my kids are too old for toys

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>1. Dora with lead paint
2. Diego with lead paint.
3. SpongeBob Squarepants notebooks with traces of lead.
4. Winnie the Pooh, Thomas the Tank Engine, and who knows what else? — all contain lead.

I could go on, but what’s the point?

It’s the stuff of which late night jokes are made, when their writers are working, that is. Who would believe the sheer number of new recalls in the last six to twelve months? It’s been unbelievable. Simply unreal. No one can blame it on terrorism, either. At least no one at the White House has tried…yet.

My children are no longer children, thank goodness, so I didn’t have to find a way to explain why their favorite toys had to come out of the toy box or their favorite new notebook was better off under the sea. Mine are 15 and 20, and their holiday needs are, well, different from the wish lists of their younger cousins.

So in the spirit of the Twelve Days of Safe Shopping, here are twelve ways I’m considering to help get the lead out of our family’s holiday.

1. Read the boxes. The bags. The packaging.
2. Look for those magic words “non-toxic” on the label.
3. Watch the news.
4. Look for water soluble paints and dyes. Lead isn’t.
5. Give homemade gifts to family and close friends.
6. Know your sources (like Dale and Thomas Popcorn: Mmm. Fresh.)
7. Buy music. Support artists and musicians making their living.
8. Buy clothes.
9. Look for country of origin, buying closer to home whenever possible.
10. Buy fair trade.
11. Buy from local craft fairs and farmer’s markets.
12. Stop buying toys (I can do that; my “kids” are older).

I didn’t need to clean out a toy box with each new recall, but I did wonder about families who did. It had to be difficult to handle with children to young to understand the dangers.
Many sites can give you up to date information on recalls. Try these.
The League of Maternal Justice
Consumer’s Union (Not in My Cart! is their mantra.)
Consumer’s Union’s blog
And finally, if you’d like to join Consumers’ Union in making a difference, check this site, their Safe Shopper movement.
Parent Bloggers Network is chronicling many bloggers who are addressing this topic in today’s blog blast. Find them here.

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>The Post Holiday Letdown

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My school is one of the few that still allows kids to dress for Halloween. We call it Storybook Character Day, and we encourage students and staff to dress up. I have a Bah, Humbug! attitude toward Halloween costumes and lost learning time, but they talked me into it. I dressed as (did anyone guess this?) Minerva McGonagall from the Harry Potter series. With a simple black cape ($12 from Lillian Vernon), my hair in a bun, my reading glasses on my nose, and a name sticker that proclaimed, “Hello, my name is Minerva” I greeted the incoming students at the morning bell.

Down the hall are three very creative teachers. They dressed as a unit in black from head to toe, with….

Oh, a picture is worth a thousand words, or in this case, three. I present to you:

Three Blind Mice.

Extra Costume Credit goes to my darling son, Amigo, who loaned them an old cane so that they could make theirs look authentic.

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