Purple Snowflakes

Ever compile a To Do list that just grows and grows and grows, and yet you still keep adding to it? I stopped today. If I added one more thing, one iota (a vocabulary word this week for my kids), the paper may have cried out in agony. That last little thing to do, probably something silly and insignificant, isn't really that pressing. Last week, Julia was gutsy enough to show photos of her house in action. Sometimes, I get that fake holiday spirit amidst the whirlwind of life and it is refreshing to see someone actually show the chaos.

Now that I am in the holiday spirit (only ten more days), here is a quick tour of what my holiday is like. The photos are there for those of you who think in pictures.



1) Our Christmas tree. Sure it is fake and a pre-lit strand of lights are burned out, but I treasure the ornaments on it more than anything. Betty's collection of Mary's Angels, Veronica's Mischievious Kittens, the Flyer's Star Trek and Batman , our university ornaments, and my what-ever-is-50%-off-at-Hallmark - love the disorder. Not so fond of the disorder in the dining room.

2) Yarn! Any excuse to splurge on yarn is my kind of holiday. I just got the All for Hemp 6 to make Eiffel and want to cast on so badly it kind of hurts.

3) Christmas cards. Granted I have been known to send out Valentine's cards instead, but I love reading the greetings and catching up with the letters.

4) Our frig. It has become a sort of catch-all for, well, everything. Postcard from Nick when he was in Cuba? My favorite photo of the Flyer with the girls circa 1992? Gus smiling in his carseat? Beaner and her brother? Really lame poetry? Just look on the frig.If you can't find it there, it can wait until Easter.

5) The ornament. Flip it over and it says 1972. That was the only Christmas with Clark. If this ornament ever breaks, there will never be enough glue to put my heart back together.

6) The pink tree. I admit it, I adore pink so a tree in this shade of Barbie Tart Pink is just my thing. Betty and Veronica dubbed it the knitting tree - hence the Noro "ornament" and yarn garland. Next year, proper knitted ornaments.

7) Joy. There isn't enough of it, people. I am guilty of it. Look into getting more joy.

8) The pets. This is Gilly; she has recently discovered that Livvie can't reach her under the tree. Smart kitty!

9) Cookie day. For the past several years, the girls and I have baked Christmas cookies. They wanted to add a gingerbread house to the mix this year, so we bought a tacky premade one and it turned out fab. They made the house, I stamped my cards. It was a win-win situation.

Enjoy the weekend! I have a feeling the real chaos has yet to begin.

Ava