merry merry

another christmas day has come and gone. but this year was just as lovely as ever.

and while i don't have all my pictures ready to go (a Christmas cold is limiting my normal energy), here are some thoughts and memories from Christmas 2010.

Christmas Eve
I started the morning with a visit from 2 of our favorite neighbors, DJ & Amanda Dauphinee, who wanted some nice photos to give to their mom for Christmas. We had fun catching up and riding around Scituate looking for the perfect shot for some photos. After we got a few favorites edited and off to print, I got back to some last minute knitting. I probably could have called it quits but I just needed to get to a few finishing touches.

Around 5p Dan and I headed to the Stenbeck's for what's always a rockin Christmas Eve party! This year was especially nice because Aunt Lillian and her clan all joined us which was a first. The highlight of the event was the annual Yankee Swap. There was much fighting over a 12 pack of Magic Hat beer and a flash light sets. Always a hit! :) And for the second year in a row I managed to select Uncle Charlie's contribution- a book from the Scituate Historical Society and for the second year- Dan's cousin Fred took it! Too funny. But I got some champagne instead. Not a terrible consolation prize. Dan (purposely) picked an old wine bottle that had been melted down into a cutting board. When that was taken away, Dan was left with a Dunkin Donuts gift pack-- which Chris Litchfield smartly got in an after-swap trade, leaving Dan with the cutting board he wanted! So all's well that ends well.

The swap was followed by a heated game of Left Right Center. It came down to Larry and Amy but in true Left Right Center fashion the beginner won and Amy took away about $60! Merry Christmas!! :)

The real treat, however, was something we hadn't ever experienced- the much discussed Nana Card Game. Normally AnnaMay whisks her grandkids up to her apartment to play this much anticipated game, but this year they played right at Larry and Leslie's kitchen table. Nana deals out all the cards from one deck, and then keeps a second deck for herself. A few prizes are put on the table (supplied by Nana) and then whoever has the card she flips, gets to pick a prize. When all of the prizes are gone, the cards keep flipping and then prizes can be taken from your cousin or brother. And then it gets loud (hence Larry normally banishes the players from his house). It was really funny watching them fight over chapstick and flashlights!!! :) True family fun. What a great tradition!

Around 9p we headed to the Tighe's house for the second Christmas Eve bash. Mom was sick so it was sad not having her there, but of course Sue and Joe always put on a great party! Riley sang and danced, entertaining the crowd in Aunt Lillian's livingroom for about an hour! It was great seeing lots of old family friends and the kids we all grew up with.

Christmas Day

Dan and I enjoyed a little lazy time before getting up and out to see our families on Christmas Day. We loaded our car full of toys and other gifts and arrived at Matt & Krissy's around 10am. We had such a lovely morning with them and GJ. The kids loved their gifts from Santa- Willy playing with his new car and truck set with tracks and of course his new train Diesel, and Aila showing off her very own seat (a little armchair with her name on it).

Dan and Willy played a card game. Aila and I snuggled on the couch to watch Polar Express for a little bit. We ate pancakes, bacon, eggs (Aila ate all of that plus cereal, yogurt and english muffin as well lol).... We opened gifts a few a time... the cutest was Aila who was prancing around the livingroom in her gold lemay shoes, a cute argyle dress, and then her Christmas gift accessories- a purse from GJ, another purse from me, a knitted necklace, knitted and bangle bracelets, and a knit hat with a flower that I made for her. It was so funny!! :) Such a girly-girl, that one :)

One of the best parts of the day though was that Aila said "Auntie Jen" for the first time on Christmas Day! How special!

The morning flew by and before we knew it, it was nearly 2p and time to head to Mom and Dad's for Christmas part II :)


We had all the regulars for Christmas dinner- Mom, Dad, Jeff, Melissa and the kids, Karen, Steve & Isabella, Grammy, Aunt Milly and Uncle Richie. Grammy made sauce, and we had lasagna, macaroni, meatballs, eggs, sausage, eggplant and artichokes. Delicious! Grammy said grace before dinner while Riley was saying aloud "I don't know that prayer..." lol so she said her own after Grammy finished "Dear God. Thank you for this wonderful day and our family." SOOO stinkin cute! :)


After dinner we opened presents for what seemed like hours- taking a break for dessert and then getting back to it later. Riley was so cute opening all her gifts. She got a shopping cart full of fake food from Grammy and Pepere and then a stainless steel play cookware set from me- which of course she wanted to open right away... "Why do you need to open that? You have SO many toys open." To which she answered "I need the pots to COOK the food." Hello people! :) Hysterical.


Though my personal favorite part of the gift exchange was when Gram threw one of my gifts at me (I think Dan spit out a little bit of his drink), and said "Open this!" Well, it was a hat in this beautiful turquoise yarn that I had also used for a scarf... A scarf she assumed I was keeping for myself- but later found out I was giving away as a Christmas gift. "So I had to make you a scarf to go with the hat before Christmas!" Now there's the Christmas spirit!!! :) hahaha. Gotta love Gram.


Dave came over and spent a couple hours with us which was so great! I almost didn't recognize him with his hair so short.


And so another lovely Christmas Day passed by. Good family and friends. Great food. The cutest kids! Lots of Christmas cheer.

The Christmas Spirit

I am, sadly, no longer a child.
I don't look forward to receiving gifts.
I don't even have a secret wish lists of things I'd desperately love to see my with my name on them under the tree.
I am not a spiritual or religious person.
In fact, I'm nearly certain I don't believe in a higher power.
And I don't believe in Santa Claus (at least not as a physical being).

So much negativity right? Actually its just the opposite. It does seem on paper that I'd be the type to write-off Christmas as an overblown Hallmark holiday, but of course if you knew me you'd know that's not true at all.

December is the month that makes all other months worth getting through. January through November mean work, commuting, chores, sickness, death, frustration-- and of course there is a lot of good along the way-- but as we get older it seems easy to get caught up in all of the negativity that makes each passing day just a little more difficult. And in the back of my head and deep in my heart I know there's one whole month where the world is transformed.

"All the lights and decorations, put up in anticipation of the joyous celebration that's on its way. We're counting the days til its time for Christmas day" - a line from probably my only favorite Celine Dion song.

Everything is prettier at Christmas time.
Wreaths, lights,
trees, ornaments and decorations that have been touched,
treasured and loved by generations gone by...
homes, streets, stores, parks, businesses
all dressed up and ready to party.

And of course this is the time of year we're most likely to get our first snow. A beautiful, clean coat of shimmery goodness to cover all that is dirty, disheveled and in need of repair.

I look forward to Christmas music. The classics which was just magic for the ears. Voices that just make me sigh with comfort and bring me back to a simpler time when life didn't revolve around computers, smart phones and master's degrees. Silly songs that we'd sing in the car as kids. Old Carpenters songs and Kenny & Dolly that we'd listen to while we decorated the tree...

But for me it is the intangible quality of Christmas spirit that is so intoxicating. Celebration of family and friends, appreciation for the good in the world, giving to others. Hope.

Take a peek at this video. Cheesy? Perhaps. But listen to the message...

I believe in Santa Claus. I believe there's always hope when all seems lost
I believe in Santa Claus, I'll tell you why I do
'Cause I believe that dreams and plans and wishes can come true
I believe in miracles, I believe in magic too
Oh I believe in Santa Claus and I believe in you




And courtesy of Josh Groban's outstanding voice, another of my can't-live-without- holiday songs:


Somedays we forget
To look around us
Somedays we can't see
The joy that surrounds us
So caught up inside ourselves
We take when we should give.

So for tonight we pray for
What we know can be.
And on this day we hope for
What we still can't see.
It's up to us to be the change
And even though we all can still do more
There's so much to be thankful for.

I know for many it can be easy to get caught up in the never-ending shopping and to-do lists we impose upon ourselves... but this year even more than ever before I feel like I am doing Christmas in a way that feels more true to myself. I started this fall by making a list of items I could hand make for the people I love. I've spent train commutes and international travel knitting a little bit of my joyous energy into items that I believe will be well suited for those who will receive them.

I've made lists but stress is not a bi-product of my notekeeping this year. As I come up with ideas and jot them down, I think so much about each of my loved ones and the many reasons I am so happy to have them in my life (a feeling that's definitely not a bi-product of mall shopping). I think about all the gifts that are exchanged each year, gifts that are unnecessary clutter bugs... and thankful to be contributing something more to my loved ones lives.

And so another holiday season is rushing past, but for once I feel like I've paused (on many occassions actually) to be fully present in it- the way I did as a child. No, I don't have the leisure time I did as a kid, but 45 minutes of listening to my "Christmas Favs" list on my ipod while daydreaming about new ideas for handmade adventures, or just sitting quietly and really listening to the words of my favorite songs gives me that part of Christmas back into my adult life.

Christmas is not a time nor a season,
but a state of mind.
To cherish peace and goodwill,
to be plenteous in mercy,
is to have the real spirit of Christmas.

~Calvin Coolidge

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and best wishes for a Happy New Year!

{I can't bear the thought of all the wasted paper that comes with Christmas cards, so please consider this my holiday greeting to you}