Suzy Q Homemaker

• We survived a total of six Christmases without bloodshed, tears, or screaming (not counting Christmas Eve or the dress rehearsal)
• The boys declared this the “best Christmas ever”
• SNOW!!
• Jamie tried to sing “White Christmas” while I took a video of Scraps examining snow for the first time and he couldn’t get through it
• Under his breath, Aiden said, “He really is real” when I showed him and his brothers the picture of Santa we “caught”
• I’m going to San Diego!! *

*Really! I have airfare booked and everything.  I leave in less than two weeks!!  I also have some brand new purple Zumba clothes that I want to wear tonight but am not sure if I’ll just look like a total dork.

Discuss.

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Is it a Christmas miracle that I didn’t get sick with whatever stomach virus tore its way through my family like a disgusting hurricane?  I think so!

Is it a Christmas miracle that I have not put on my fancy coat over my nightgown and checked myself into a hotel for a few days without telling anyone?  I think so!

Oh, woops.  I just referenced the Ya Ya movie for the second time in the past week.  I’ve only watched it three times this year, so it’s not like I’m addicted to it.  Heck, I’ve lost count of the number of times we’ve watched available Harry Potter DVD movies, to the point that my friend called me out in church this morning for talking about Dumbledore and his magic wand microphone.

We have completed four out of five family gatherings, the last of which we will attend the afternoon of January the second.  Today’s Christmas was at my grandmother’s house; it is an event saturated with tradition:

• the obligatory “Ooo Ahhh” over each gift opened
• the chex mix
• the mandatory phone call from my transgender aunt from California

and my personal favorite:

• the end of the gathering when my grandmother pulls out a box full of the newest toys from the Oriental Trading Company

Wars have ensued over the toys, and they have almost always involved something that requires launching.  It started one year with a bingo game that turned into an overzealous tiddly wink battle.  Small children had to leave the room because there were chips flying at top speed across the table so fast that you could have lost your eye if you’d been in the wrong place at the wrong time.  Over the years, many things have been seen soaring across the room, from plastic frogs and balloon-powered helicopters, to ping pong type snow balls shot out of Santa Claus guns.

Unfortunately, we didn’t get toys that flew this year.  No, we got a box full of wind up mice and two battery-operated cats.  Only one of the mice traveled in a straight-ish line, and the others spun around in drunk circles.  Still fun, though.  The cats, on the other hand, were odd; one of them worked but sounded like a dog, and the other stopped working after a minute and then smelled like burnt rubber.  We turned it off before there were flames involved.  After all, we don’t need any more danger than there already is at Christmastime.

As we were climbing into bed last night, I said,

“I’m looking forward to going to bed tomorrow night.”

It’s an exhausting time of year for musicians everywhere.  We have cantatas to sing, concerts to rehearse, and our own families to take care of.  I only had one additional gig outside of the St. John Christmas Eve service, so I consider myself lucky.  Instrumentalists are never as lucky as singers, but that’s why they get paid the big bucks, right?

I never really know what’s in store for the Christmas Eve service until a couple of weeks before the big day, but I do know that it usually involves these things:

• A solo of some sort
• A chance to wear a diva dress
• A late and highly stressful dress rehearsal that runs well into the night of Christmas Eve Eve

This year is not much different, though I’m forgoing the diva dress because I’m performing a duet instead of a solo.  I am certainly not disappointed since only one of my diva dresses fit right now anyway.  Approximately three months of sick children and the subsequent eating of too much takeout have done a number on my already sagging postpartum waistline.  I have hopes of reclaiming my body, God willing, but I’m resorting to yoga pants and avoiding mirrors/photo opportunities.

I don’t know why I think that the final dress will be less stressful than previous years.  We didn’t have a major piece to learn this year, so I was really hoping that we would actually get out of rehearsal on time last night; rehearsal was scheduled to last until 9:30 p.m. but we didn’t leave until 10:00.  I owe that in part to the chamber choir rehearsal not going as well as it could have at 5:45, so we stayed “after school” to pound out the Poulenc “O Magnum Mysterium”.  Of course, at this point, everyone was exhausted and grumpy, ready to get home, and pretty much tired of being around one another.  It sounded ok, though, and I think that with some rethinking of formation, it’ll come out nicely.

Today, as I look forward to the Lessons & Carols, I also look forward to being a wreck at the end of the night.  I look forward to carrying our sleeping children into the house at 1:00 a.m.  I look forward to removing my makeup, donning some snuggly pajamas, and crashing into a dreamless sleep.

The best part about a Methodist Christmas Eve service that ends at midnight?

SLEEPING IN.

Don’t hate me because I like meat.  I was a vegetarian for nine years…and then I got pregnant with Corey.  I started craving beef jerky and the rest is history!  Whenever we get a Hickory Farms gift box for Christmas, I squeal with glee.  What is it about those packages of sausage and cheese that fill my heart with gladness?  I love mixing and matching all the different flavors, and my kids love stealing all the strawberry candies.

This year, Hickory Farms is partnering with Share Our Strength, a nonprofit organization that’s working to make sure no kid in America grows up hungry.  They will make a $5 donation for every Party Planner gift box sold until 12/10/09, up to $100,000.  Even if you don’t purchase the Party Planner, you have the option of donating $1 during the checkout process.

So, if you’re going to send me a Hickory Farms box this Christmas, make sure you get the Party Planner.