Do You Realize?

Calling All Tim Burton Fans...

Go out... RIGHT NOW... and see Sweeney Todd, if you haven't already. That's all for now. Discussion later.

Happy Holidays, Everyone!

We're flying to Georgia to visit my family, my mom and her new liver, on Thursday. I'll be blogging from there, though, hopefully.

Merry Christmahanakwanzaadanivus! Now we're all covered, right? Go have a great day!

Photo Hunt--Light

This week's theme is: Light. I took this photo just recently, during this holiday season. (BTW, it is the perfect centerpiece; the cranberries are still intact, not mushy, the evergreen is still ever green; still lovely after about 3 weeks.) I love the play of light from the floating candle. Happy holidays, all!

Children's Gift Giving for Dummies

Our strategy for buying our kids' Christmas gifts has been in the process of fine-tuning for a few years. We now have what I consider a pretty brilliant idea. It keeps yearlong consumerism to a minimum and the kids end up getting what they want at Christmas.

The strategy? you ask. It's simple: don't buy them everything they want all year long. If it's not birthday or Christmas or a cold day in hell, it's not likely we're out buying a video game just because one of our precious pumpkins just HAAAAAS to HAAAAVE it. They can save up their chore money for it... which poses a problem for them most times, because we actually require work for payment rendered.

So, come Christmas, we have a very good list of pickings from which to choose. It looks like we spoil our kids at Christmas sometimes, but it's because we neglect them the rest of the year. (Well, at least that would be their story.) We give them one large gift on their birthday, but we haven't done (or overdone) a birthday party since they were five. They get to choose where/what we eat on their birthday, and they get their one large gift.

On Christmas morning, our kids are usually overjoyed with their gifts, because they aren't inundated and oversaturated with crap all year long.

(We also adopt as many kids as we can from the Salvation Army Angel Tree, and we shop for them together, and then we volunteer our time to help distribute all the toys to the families. It's  a great way to help the kids realize how good we live life.)

In the Holiday Spirit(s)

Once upon a time, my husband & I would have never even thought about going to holiday parties. We're friendly people, you see, just not social people. This year we have/will attend three. Three different friends, three very different parties.

The first party we attended was a conservative affair, hosted by very conservative friends. Dressy, formal home, no babies/little kids, piano player, catered, a little wine & beer. Perfectly lovely. I even clean up pretty well & put on a good show of being civilized, and I never once goaded anyone into talking politics or religion. We love these friends (also our orthodontist... all three kids and hubby), and despite our huge differences of opinion regarding politics and religion, they've never made us feel uncomfortable when we talk about it. (We think maybe we are their only liberal friends, though.)

The second party we attended? Lots of boisterous adults, kids playing Guitar Hero, handmade (and bought) munchies, disco, and plenty of alcoholic cheer. No one thought twice about my letting Eldest have one drink even though she's underage (we're those "bad" parents who teach moderation and responsible use, not abstinence). I had waaaay too much alcohol (at last count, 8 Midori Sours, 3 Buttery Nipples, 2 vodka jello shots, and a glass of Muscato), and a lot of fun. The host, also a doctor, offered a thousand bucks to the first person to swim one pool length in their underwear. We are definitely not their only liberal friends.

The last gathering we'll attend (she would die before calling it a party) will be a Festivus celebration. In my friend's words, "when I care enough to do the very least." Complete with Festivus pole and food (and wine) from boxes, this party is always very laid-back and comfy. We can sit in the living room or in the floor & drink a glass of wine; we can dress up or dress down. It's all good. It won't be rowdy, and there will be plenty of intelligent conversations going on.

Here's to friends of all age, intelligence, religion, political affiliation, and sexual orientation. None of us would be who we are without them!

Woofday Wednesday--Marshmallow

Marshmallow has been with us for a little under a year. We found her in February running up a busy street with a television cable tied around her neck. That's how her "loving" owners kept her contained, by tying her up with a TV cable. She'd chewed through it and was running free, with no collar to be found. Eldest suggested her name because she's colored just like a toasted marshmallow.

She's the largest dog we have, at 40 pounds, and she's so hyper that she's a handful lots of times. It's amazing how friendly she is, considering her former living situation. She was still a puppy when we found her, so when she gets bored, she chews stuff up. She ate the hammock in the back yard. Ate it right off the frame. She's not picky; she'll chew on wood, plastic, or metal alike.

My favorite thing about Marsha is that one blue eye and how she "talks" to you, in short little howls. When she was in heat (right after we found her, so we couldn't spay her right away), and still sometimes at night, she'll start a dog symphony with long, wolf-like howls. I love to hear that.

Love a stray; neuter & spay!

Meowy Monday--Sisters

We have 2 more kitties to talk about, but before I do, this week I wanted to share a couple photos of Sapphire & Circus . They are so sweet together sometimes, and at other times, they start out sweet but quickly dissolve into a kitty smackdown. One will start to give the other a bath, and... BOOM! It's on. They both have the most animated tails, too, so when they are duking it up, those monkey tails are going a mile a minute. Very amusing to watch. I cannot imagine having one of them without the other.

Love a stray;
neuter & spay!

Sunday Scribblings--Dance

My first poetic endeavor... possibly ever, unless you count grade school. It actually came quite easily once I sat down and quietly contemplated what's going on in our life right now.

We dance around it
The elephant in the room--
Invisibly ill.

Photo Hunt--Small

This week's theme is:  Small. These shots were taken in July 2006 in the Canyonlands in Utah. I think my husband may have actually shot the first one, because I think I am the one holding this little guy. I can't remember, since we all became friends with these guys during that week.

I took the second, and I believe it was Eldest who found him & picked him up...

...which was amazing, since this is where he was found. Look very, very hard, because he is very, very small, and he blends in quite well. (Clicking on the image to enlarge it may help.)

Living Green in the Chaos

What I have to say today is going to sound controversial to some, like an excuse to others, and still more are going to 'fess up and say, "Hey, she's right."

Living green is easier to do in a life that is not filled with chaos. Lives that stick pretty much to a day-to-day scripted routine. I can say this with every confidence, because I know from firsthand experience. When Youngest was relatively stable (for those just tuning in, he suffers from Childhood Bipolar Disorder, ADHD, and Overanxious Disorder), it was much easier to cook at home, shop for local and/or organic foods, avoid restaurants, think about how every object you come in contact with has already and will further impact the environment.

When my days are filled with doctors, therapists, appointments for the other kids, SATs, marching competitions, and on and on, things get trickier. The smaller eco-friendly habits are easier to keep up at home: canvas shopping bags, natural and plant-based cleaners and shampoos, letting the yellow mellow at home, etc. But the sad truth is that when I'm giving every ounce of my time and energy trying to just make sure our little world at home isn't going to fall apart at its unreinforced seams, I really find it impossible to think about every aspect of keeping the larger world in tip-top condition.

Yesterday, for example, we had a day in which we were going from 8a-8p. Youngest had to have blood drawn to check his medication levels, then a drive into The Big D to his psychiatrist for a double session. Middle had an after-school basketball game nearby, so it didn't make any sense to drive all the way home and back again, so we hung out for a couple of hours. Then Youngest had a session alone with the family therapist, then we headed home, where I had to proofread a paper for Eldest. In the middle of all that running and worrying, we ate two meals out. Had we been hungry for dinner, we would have had three. Even driving a Prius, that's a lot of driving (I average 200 miles per day).

Yesterday we made one of the most emotional decisions of our lives regarding Youngest's care. When my life is crumbling around me one block at a time, sometimes I really find it hard to think about and care about whether child slave labor picked the beans that made my Godiva truffle or my vanilla latte. Does that make me a bad person? Maybe.

But until my life begins to even remotely resemble normal, that's the way it is. Yeah, the truth hurts.