Catching up

Where does the time go?! I have a few things....

We're having a Holiday Art Sale and Open House! Lots of wonderful pottery, made by B (would you look at that gravy boat!?), and a few pieces of painted furniture, made by me. Plus, signed copies of my book and mulled wine and hot cider. See, I have been working! Aside from Starbucks I mean. I think I'm working harder now that I have since I owned the wine store. I work at Starbucks during the day, come home or teach my class, help Jay with homework, make dinner, and then paint furniture or write poems. E-mail me for directions if you're local and want the time, day and address.


And another thing....

I used to have a mini van. I was really proud of my mini van. It was roomy and fun and got good gas mileage. But, people made fun of the mini van. In a very general way, people make fun of mini vans. It's not "cool" to drive a mini van. It's like a frumpy car, the mini van. Well, I loved my mini van and I was still cool when I drove it. So there. Now, I'm running into the same type of stigma associated with the "Christmas letter." Yes, I write a Christmas letter. I do not expound on how wonderful my life is or how my son is a straight A student. I just catch people up. I send out 75 Christmas cards because I like to. Some are to friends of my parents who I've taken on the role of letter writer to (Yeah, an English teacher just wrote that sentence). I also have a dozen folks I only correspond with at Christmas...people I've known for a few decades and enjoy hearing from. If I had to write each person a letter saying the SAME FLIPPING THING, I'd be a wreck. So, I type up a good letter, make copies, and send them off, with a sentence or two of personal stuff. Am I being overly sensitive here? Anyway, I LOVE the Christmas letter. Here's an excerpt. And I include it because of Jay...

"Jay is ten now. He is playing lacrosse, learning the cello, and reading The Hardy Boys mystery books. Jay was elected class rep in his fifth grade class and is getting his first real taste of politics, and he’s still playing basketball on a regular basis. We have our share of arguments over homework, and exchanges about how many snacks are permissible in a single day, but he is a good boy and we have so much fun together. We spent several weeks in Kansas this summer, taking the train once, and driving while hauling a U-haul the other time. Blah blah blah"

It doesn't really say blah blah blah, I was just done with the excerpt. Now, this year, Jay read a copy of the letter before I sent it out. He REALLY got upset. I couldn't figure it out. Finally, he said, through tears, "take out that part about the arguing." Well, I didn't. It's MY letter. But I thought it was interesting how he wanted that part out of there. Boy, is he going to be mortified someday when he gets old enough to find my blog :)

And a final thing....

December 8th was the one year anniversary of my mom's death. It was an okay day really. I went back and read what was happening a year ago and I realized how relieved I felt when she finally went. How sad and alone I felt, but how much I wanted her to not be suffering anymore. I still think about her every day. I wish I dreamed about her more. Her death made me want to believe in that Sunday School kind of Heaven. The one where you meet all the people you loved again, looking the same as ever, all healed and complete. What a beautiful thought. I also have watched a few videos of her...from ten years ago when she was well and still vital. The mom I would see in that Sunday School Heaven. So, do this; take video. TAKE VIDEO. Or DVD I guess. But get the people you love on film. I still have her laugh and her voice. I have her holding Jay when he was one, and I have the day she filled the dishwasher with liquid dish soap instead of electric dish soap and it overflowed EVERYWHERE. That was when she was starting to get sick but we just didn't know. I have her in Kansas and Vegas and Phoenix, at Christmas and Easter. Because I took video, Jay, whose memory is more filled with the grandma with Alzheimer's, gets to remember her whole and complete. So if you can't decide what to get yourself for Christmas (because we ALL get ourselves something too), get a cheap video camera. It's so cool to hear her laugh, and it's so good to see her again.