The Restful Season

The start of Winter Break signals two weeks of time off for me.  I am ready for the rest and eager for some unscheduled time.  Yesterday afternoon was the first day of our Winter Break.  We don’t return to school until January 8.  Gift-shopping is compete.  Yesterday, I picked up the holiday ham and the other ingredients for our Christmas meals, saving only Costco for today.  

As the last of the sunlight faded away on Friday, T tucked under a blanket for a nap on the sofa.  In the quiet, I wrapped packages and happily considered the days ahead.  The coming two weeks will bring me hours of time to read and write, the chance for an afternoon nap, and plenty of unscheduled time.  During the school year, I work seven days a week.  December is always extra busy.  The break is a most-welcome development.  It’s a chance to rest, to reflect on my many blessings, and to enjoy the company of a boy who is closer and closer to leaving my nest.  The time off will remind me to rest and refresh; it will set me up for the remainder of the school year.  That’s a blessing indeed.  

Cookie Day

Baking cookies for my students is one of the holiday traditions I most enjoy.  I bake in advance of the annual day and freeze the fresh-baked cookies until I have have enough to supply all of the students in my classes with a treat.  This year, the whole of the 7th grade received homemade treats.  Frosted sugar cookies are the most labor intensive of the the lot; they are also the most popular cookie I make.  This year, the students ate acres of Christmas trees,

In addition to the frosted sugar cookies, there were chocolate peppermint cookies, molasses spice cookies, oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, and Tollhouse bars.  I share the treats with my students along with a sincere thank you to them for making my schooldays happy.  

I thank them for learning with me, for making me laugh, and reminding me that our future is in very good hands.  Then I get the pleasure of watching kids eat homemade cookies.  That’s happy!

Season Opener

One of the nicest things about our school is that many of JT’s friends began there when they were little boys.  JT and his fellow wrestler E became friends when they were four years old.  They’ve grown up together and their friendship is something they both value.  There’s something sweet about watching boys who once played in the sandbox together as they are now captains of their wrestling team.  It’s a sport that they both love. Their final wrestling season began on Monday and, as I often do, I sat in the bleachers with E’s mom, TS, who, like me, sometimes wonders how it was she became the mama of a wrestler.  

She and I are both moms of singletons, both women who waited to have children and now are thinking about all the changes that are coming to our world as we launch these boys into the world.  We talked before the match began and discovered that we are both treating this Senior year a year to live in the moment; to enjoy every minute of time these boys of ours are still living at home.

Then the wrestling began and we watched one another’s boys wrest out a victory after 6 long minutes on the mat.  They were hard-fought wins and we cheered the whole of the time.  It was exhausting to watch; it seemed like the seconds were ticking by extra slowly.  When it was over, TS looked at me and said, “maybe living in the moment is overrated.”

I laughed and in that second agreed. But I will be at every wrestling match that will have me, cheering like a lunatic and shouting things like, “hold him down” and “stuff the head!” as if I am bloodthirsty.  Because it’s wrestling and that’s what we do.

Snow Prints

On Friday evening, we had a few hours of snow, enough to leave two inches.  On Saturday morning, I set out to shovel the driveway so that I could run errands and I saw animal prints in the snow.

They looked so lovely in the morning quiet and I could imagine a wild animal seeking a welcoming shelter in my backyard.  T reminds me that it’s very likely one of the possums who snack on my garden; I think that’s quite likely.  But on Saturday I was charmed.  The stillness and quiet after snow has fallen is one of the loveliest gifts of the Winter season and even when there is shoveling to be done, I enjoy those moments after the storm.  

Winter’s cold is a welcome reminder to stop and rest.  The cold ensures that I’ll tuck under a cozy blanket with a steaming mug of tea, a good book, and the chance to renew.  That’s happy!

Pretty Packages

Christmas planning has headed into overdrive at Sassafras House.  Last night, I made two batches of cookies for my annual cookie day.  Every day, I find the time to wrap a package or two.  

That’s happy!

Package Central

I love wrapping presents and making crafts and I keep a dresser with craft and wrapping supplies in my dining room.  T named it my Etsy cabinet and the name stuck.  Come Christmas time even the inestimable Etsy cabinet can’t keep up with my gift wrapping ambitions.  Christmas wrapping requires more paper, extra ribbons, and an entire basket of gift tags.

The supplies will stay here through Christmas Eve, making it easier for me to wrap packages whenever the mood strikes.  That’s happy!

Shoutout to Nebraska

Fifteen years ago this year, I moved from rural Nebraska to suburban New Jersey.      It was a welcome change, though I learned some things in those years on the plains.  For the 8 years that I lived in Nebraska, I especially learned to plan ahead.  I lived in a town of 5,000 and it had few retail options, none of them very good.  The nearest Target and decent grocery store were one stoplight and 35 miles away.  Items could be had in town, but typically at prices 20% more than I wished to pay.  I quickly learned to plan ahead and keep a pantry full of the staple items I wanted to have on hand.  

Fifteen years later, the habit has never left me and I was grateful on Monday night.  That evening, I came home and while supper was cooking I made an assortment of homemade gifts that I will give away during the holidays.  I mixed up a batch of salsa and filled Mason jars; I gave a stir to the homemade Irish cream I set up on Sunday; and I set the mixer to work to make the cheese mixture I will turn into homemade cheese balls.  Once whipped together, the ingredients are scooped into a sheet of plastic wrap and then shaped into a ball.  I got ready for this last step only to realize that I was out of plastic wrap.  Hopeful, I headed to my basement pantry.  There I found a brand new package of plastic wrap.  Hallelujah! I brought my plastic wrap upstairs, wrapped the cheese balls, and offered a thank you to those years I spent in Nebraska, where planning ahead was second nature.

When Moore is Less

Much to my horror, I believe that Roy Moore is going to win today’s election for an Alabama Senate seat.  It’s shameful and horrifying, disgraceful to the women whom he assaulted, and evidence that white supremacy,  mysogyny are routinely embraced in some corners of our nation.

I’ll wait until after the Moore victory to explain what went down.  Today, I’m going to focus my writing on how the Senate GOP will handle the Moore win.  I have a prediction.

I think that before he’s sworn in, Mitch McConnell will refer Moore to the Senate ethics committee who will ultimately rule that he’s not fit to serve.  The Senate will decline to swear Moore into the seat and instead ask the governor of Alabama, a Republican, to appoint a Senator to serve until an election can be held.

In this way, the GOP hopes to dodge the stain of Roy Moore while remaining damned sure that they hold the seat for their party when major votes on policy need to happen.  Keeping the seat red is essential to advancing the Republican agenda, especially the Tax Bill currently in conference committee.  That’s why Trump supported Moore; that’s why no other Republican leader with actual power had the courage to insist that Moore step down.  McConnell, Graham, and McCain declined to support Moore but that is not the same thing as working full-steam against him.  These leaders took a cowardly pass because they want to have power far more than they want anything else.

We’re going to mark this election as another moment when the Republican party demonstrated that their quest for power is far more important to them than their quest to lead; that the interests of the GOP comes before the nation interest.  This is a dangerous  thing for a political party and bad for the nation.  This is Donald Trump’s America.

Update, 12/12/17, 11:30 pm: Doug Jones won! Thanks to strong African-American voter turnout, Moore was defeated. As the returns were confirmed last night, I felt a powerful wave of emotion flow over me. This nation needed some good political news; I needed some good political news.  Thank you, Alabama!

Snow Day

Yesterday it snowed.  T and I baked treats for her work, caught up on Netflix, and otherwise enjoyed the quiet.  We’ve lots to show for our efforts and the relaxation was much needed.  The first snow of the season is a treat that I never grow tired of enjoying.  That’s happy!

Feathering My Nest

I love bedding…..cozy quilts, soft sheets, warm down comforters and pretty duvets make my heart sing.  I like variety in my bedding choices and I add or subtract options as the weather outside demands.  In the past week, the weather has turned colder, especially at night, and the forecast calls for nighttime temperatures in the teens by the middle of next week.

Time for the down comforter.

The last few nights have found me tucked under my down comforter and duvet, warm and cozy in my nest.  I love the feel of the heavy covers and the way the bed gradually warms thanks to the combination of down and body warmth.  I’ve slept deeply, snug against the cold, and well-rested come the morning.  

Thanks to some recent well-done NPR stories on homelessness in America, I’m aware that I am privileged enough to take the blessing of comfortable cozy bed for granted.  Each night as I slip into my nest, I am grateful that I have this safe and snug bed and home to enjoy.