all that's past is prologue...

Between exams and Patrick having covid and me being stressed with work, it's been hard as hell to get ready for the holidays this year and I have been really sad with missing out on a lot of the fun and anticipation. Today we got to make up for it a little. We started out at our friends' Chip and Amy's (and Axel's!), which is a great holiday open house they throw every year. Great food (by Chowgirls and Marc Heu), interesting people from all of their connections, and a lovely vibe. Last year we stayed until the bitter end and the high end whiskey came out, but this year we were triple-booked. Next our friends Nancy and David were having an open house. Beatrix goes to school with their daughter, and the party was a mix of adults and teens. We stopped on the way at my aunt and uncle's so we could grab my Norwegian cousin's teens, so they could attend a party with American teens, and I think everyone had a good time. Then I headed out to my friend Marta's for a...

 Our Christmas tree this year is very elegant and pretty (it better be, trees this year cost a fortune!) As opposed to last year, which was very wide! In 2022 we actually remembered to put the top on (it's still gotta be around here somewhere): Pandemic tree that no one saw but us: All the way back to baby's first Christmas tree: ------ I keep on forgetting to mention in these posts that we will again be hosting "All Is Calm" this year — our Christmas Day tradition. Stop by any time between 1 and 5pm on Christmas Day for the most casual of open houses. We'll be hanging out reading, chatting with anyone who shows up, maybe working on a puzzle of playing games, we'll have some cocktails and leftovers and the like. Bring something to share if you like — or don't — it's the most anti-hype holiday event you'll be invited to this year!

Much as I have enjoyed the mild fall, up until last week I was beginning to lose hope that we would have a whole Christmas. So the forecast this week cheered me up, and it was right! As of two minutes ago: I mean, it will be a real PITA to shovel out four houses, especially with Patrick still hit hard by covid. But it sure makes everything look a lot more magical. It sure makes me miss this guy though. Christmas won't be the same without him:

Because of *all this* (waves arms around frantically), I was unable to get any coats in to my friend Lara's annual drive for the Odd Couple. But I did have one coat to donate, and donating to coat drives and toy drives is an important part of Christmas activities to me. So this morning, after I dropped off Beatrix for her chemistry exam, I finally made it into Cold Front for their coat drive. The coat drive goes until they close for their winter break on 12/22, so you still have time (they said they would probably collect again after they return on 1/17 as well, because "it will still be winter.") But if you go now you'll get $1 off any menu item, so I treated myself to one of the best eggnog lattes I have ever had (I also recommend the "Flannel.") --- Also, in an update to yesterday, making cookies (which Beatrix brought to school today) made me realize how dirty our oven was, so I devoted some time to cleaning it last night. I always forget to take "b...

What do you do when you are buried with work, your daughter is in finals, your husband has covid, and you are in no way ready for the holiday? You fake it 'til you make it! So here I bring you my first countdown to Christmas post — the cookies I made because we are low on chocolate desserts for Christmas Eve (plus Patrick's teapot of throat coat tea). There's a huge bowl of dough still in the fridge I have to bake and the oven badly needs cleaning, but here we are!

It's about this time every year that I freak out about Christmas. The tree is up but not decorated, nothing is wrapped (and there's plenty left to buy), there are not enough cookies, Beatrix is rolling into final exams, I'm sick (in what seems to be an unwelcome new holiday tradition), and it all seems like a ton of pressure. If you search "Christmas" on my blog, you'll find a lot of similar posts. Friends have advice - "Just pick one or two things that matter." "Trim back the decorations." "No one care about the cookie tray." I love that they care enough to say these things. But here's the thing. For my mom, Christmas was The Thing. She loved it; she loved decorating, going to holiday events, baking cookies, making lefse (ok maybe not so much), shopping, crafting, Toys for Tots, Christmas lights tours, luminary, cheesy Christmas specials, Dayton's 8th floor, poinsettias, holiday cocktails, parties, caroling (though she co...