Even Another Different Covid Christmas in 2021: Typhoid Patty!

 Thanksgiving went very smoothly in Palm Springs. Most of Doug's family came down from the Bay Area, and we all mingled very happily together. All of us were vaccinated, but we ate at yet another relative's home.....some of whom were anti-vaxers, having our celebration outdoors just to be safe. 

Soon after everyone left we started getting into the Christmas spirit,

putting up lights, our advent wreath, my "wall tree", and our little makeshift manger scene.

But soon, Christmas became a whole other deal since the Omicron virus raised its stupid head. We decided instead, to cancel our plane reservations in order to reduce our risk of exposure, and drove up to the Bay Area, in tandem with son Matt and his daughter Ava, who had been visiting us for a couple of days. 

We stopped for the night in Bakersfield, and the next morning I was delighted to find a See's Candy store in town. One more thing to knock off my list of things to do. The line was uncomfortably long, and indoors, but everyone was masked and in a cheery, holiday mood, once we all inhaled the fine aroma of chocolate. We all started chatting together about our favorite pieces of candy we would include in our specially picked boxes, and all looked forward to the free pieces of candy we would receive at the end. The lady next to me in line had some sort of chronic lung condition, was coughing occasionally, and was very enthusiastic. I was happy she was masked because of Covid, but she alone impressed me when she ordered her boxes. She chose several pieces and then when they were almost full, she said to the masked, gloved and hair-netted See's lady, "Now just sprinkle the milk chocolate covered raisins all around to fill it in."    What?, I thought. then I realized...we're paying by the pound, not the piece! My boxes were all sealed, but next time....

 We listened to the news on the car radio, and as more and more Omicron cases were reported, our plans kept changing. What started out as a big family potluck on Christmas Eve at one of their homes, with all 5 of my husband's kids and the grandkids, and even my son flying in from New York, was evolving minute by minute. We had a Zoom meeting to get everyone's fears out on the table.

It was decided that we shouldn't all be inside in a house together eating, drinking, talking, laughing, and exchanging gifts.....so what to do? We talked to different ones on the phone as we drove. One family decided to bow out since they all had bad colds. Since it was scheduled to rain that day, it looked more and more like we were going to meet in a park under cover of pop-up tents, and order pizza for our Christmas Eve dinner. Ho Ho Ho! Sounds festive, eh? One son volunteered to bring a camp stove along to at least make the traditional hot mulled wine and hot cider, vowing to make this a special occasion no matter what.

We were supposed to stay with one of the families, but felt they wouldn't want to take any chances, so my sister, who we were already scheduled to spend Christmas morning with, along with my son, told us to come stay with her. Phew! Still on our drive up California, we got a call that my son's wife felt really ill and had just tested positive for Covid in New York! By the next morning, he decided he'd better not get on a plane after being exposed, and that they would just stay home and have Christmas together.

As we neared my sister's house, I told Doug that it would probably be reassuring to her and her husband if we used the Rapid Tests that we brought with us to show them that we were fine. Telling her of this plan, we asked that they leave the back door open so we could go directly to our room at the other end of the house. We'd see them in about 15 minutes. The house smelled wonderful, of something scrumptious cooking in the kitchen. 

The tests came two in a pack, and I did my test first, setting the little vial with its test strip in the one hole provided. In order to do Doug's test though, I picked up my vial and held it while his marinated the appropriate time, and set the alarms on our phones. I became antsy, the 10 minutes dragging on, and swirled the liquid around, tilting it a bit to see if I could see if a pink line was forming under the label. When my time was up, we said, "Drum roll!", and we're shocked to see that my test strip had a VERY pink line on it! "I'm positive! I can't believe it!", I said, "But I feel so good!" I sat on the side of the tub with my head in my hands worrying about what to do.

Doug's timer went off, and his had no sign of pink at all. Hmm. What to do? We had been joking that I would come out and announce that "I'm negative,......but the funny thing is, I'm pregnant!" That joke wouldn't work any more.

We came out and stood one room apart, hearing my niece say, "Here they come!" and "Uh-oh you're wearing masks!" We told them our news. My sister kept saying that she didn't believe the results. I got on the phone to try to get a Kaiser advice nurse to tell me where I could get a quick, official test, but was on hold for over a half an hour, finding out that the testing was being scheduled too far out and then wouldn't come back till another day.  By the time I reported back with my findings, still keeping my distance, my brother-in-law's sister was putting her jacket on, and announcing that she had to leave, (because of me), and my niece took her back to her hotel.

My sister suggested that I take another test, since I had two more, so we went back to the other end of the house to our room, and I re-read the instructions for the test. Hmm. It Did state that the vial must be kept still, so I swabbed the inside of my nose the appropriate way, put the vial in the holder, inserted the test strip as if I was a lab technician, and left the room to work on some of the gifts I had brought for people, adding some of the See's milk chocolate balls to some. When the timer went off, Doug and I stared at the strip together. No PINK! 

"We're FREE!!", we said, as we returned to the Christmas clad living room, holding a box of chocolates. "Evidently it was a false positive! Can we hug you now?"

Everything proceeded as planned then. Doug was pleased to find that the wonderful aroma we had smelled  when we arrived was a tender roast beef, and we visited and laughed and ate and drank, all happy to be together after all.

The next morning, Christmas Eve day, I thought I'd better use my last test, just to be able to reassure Doug's family. Very carefully, I repeated the steps, but was shocked to find a very faint pink line! The instructions stated that even if it was very light, it was counted as positive! "I feel fine though!", I repeated. My sister assured me that she could hardly see it, but I wondered about how Doug's family would react. We went ahead and the four of us ate breakfast together, choosing our fruit, yogurt and cereal, and little ginger scones, and making frothy warm milk for our coffee, comfortably sitting at the long table reading the two papers they have delivered. 

Turns out it didn't rain that day, and since we would be outside in the park, it looked like our party with Doug's kids would happen. Just to be prudent, I sent a text out to all five kids about my false positive test fiasco, and confessed that the last one that morning was a very faint pink. We packed up our gifts and headed off to Berkeley to pick up son John. Grace had said that she would bring along the calendars I had made and had delivered to her house. While we waited in the car, for John to come out with his gifts, we received two notices, that the other two girls' families didn't want to take the chance of being around me. John and Matt still wanted to get together, so we drove a few miles back to get the calendars and leave off gifts, all masked up. Doug was sad to see his family's party dwindling by the minute and I started feeling like a pariah, calling myself "Typhoid Patty".

John had Christmas spirit enough for all of us, with his festive sweater on, and gifts, candy, and alcohol on board. Time was a'wasting though, and we discussed with Matt on the way to Alameda about changing our venue to the Cinema Grill, a restaurant only one block from his place, since it was getting chilly and would be dark before you know it. While we were waiting for his family to come out, we took advantage of the time and each had a swallow of the whiskey that had been brought to make hot toddies with in the park. We drank to a wonderful Christmas celebration.

John, Matt, his two kids and two grandkids walked with us to the restaurant where we were kindly seated outside with heat lamps to keep us warm.

The food was great, but soon after we got it, the rain started coming down! The wait staff graciously brought us inside, where we were just about the only customers, to finish up. 

After dinner, we walked in the rain back to our Prius, to open the back hatch, which someone said looked like Santa's sleigh. We exchanged gifts as quickly as we could, in the drizzle, and went on our way. We dropped off John again in Berkeley, and then drove back out to Lafayette to spend the night, wondering if we should just drive on back to Palm Springs in the morning and not take a chance on infecting anyone. But then Lorraine told me that her son promised to bring me another rapid self-test when he and his family arrived for her traditional Christmas morning brunch. 

As folks began to arrive, we decided that we would stay at our end of the house again, just in case, thinking we might just be delegated to stay there during the whole party. The sister-in-law had decided to forego the crowd that day and come by herself later in the afternoon for a less chancy late breakfast. The new test arrived, and I very carefully read and re-read the instructions. I could hear my little great-grandnieces had arrived and were happily running around with little toy puppies on leashes, squealing and laughing. While I timed the test with my iPhone, I kept putting the finishing touches on gifts for Lorraine's kids and grandkids.....should I be allowed to hand them out.

This seemed like a better quality test, and once again, we both looked at the results together. No pink line! No line at all! Brunch was starting to be served, and I came out waving my happy results, teary eyed. Everyone believed it, and we were welcomed at the happy table, our plates full of frittata, ham, fruit, and homemade cinnamon rolls. 

Next was the opening of gifts around the beautiful tree, and then in to the living room, each getting a red stocking full of thoughtful gifts from Lorraine and Bill.

My Christmas traditions had been met, but Doug still yearned for more time with his kids. We decided to drive back to the Bay Area and distribute the family calendars and a few more gifts to them. Met outside with masks on again, he got to get a little more family fix for himself.

While we were gone it was a good time for Lorraine's sister-in-law to have her lost meal, and we kept to our room till she was gone, to make her feel better. It was decided that we would stay one more day, and drive home when there should be less traffic, just resting after our ordeal. Once again the four of us sat around the table reading the papers, and eating yummy leftover frittata and ham for breakfast. 

Lorraine and I talked about how happy we were that the two of us decided to see each other this year, no matter what, and laughed that all of us had polished off both 1 pound boxes of chocolates. We've lost our other two sisters in the last few years, and we needed to hug and hear each other laugh. These days, you never know..... 

After a teary farewell, we decided to take the coastal route and headed for Doug's favorite spot for the night, Morro Bay. When we arrived, it turns out that all the power was out in the little town, and if there's no power in the seafood restaurants and hotels.....well.  We moved on down the road to San Luis Obispo, where we settled on eating at the Denny's that was next door. Not exactly what we had hoped for. In the morning, I looked online and found the Cowgirl Cafe for breakfast, just to make up for last night's dinner and see a little of the local color. This relaxing morning caused us to get off later than we had planned.

The entire drive along the coast had been gorgeous, emphasized by the fact that it had been so long since we had seen the ocean, but eventually you have to turn east to get to Palm Springs. That's when the rain started up, it began to get dark early, and we ran into the LA traffic. With the windshield wipers flapping as fast as they would go, we felt we were almost home. Our Prius was allowed in the fast lane, and after we passed the tall, familiar Morongo Hotel, suddenly the special lane veered off to the left, with tall berms on both sides. The rain was pelting down, and our lights couldn't see very far in front of us! I gripped the steering wheel tightly, and kept talking out loud about how nervous I was, like, "How long do you think this alleyway goes on? It's hard for me to see!", I'm sure giving Doug great confidence in my driving. He didn't help me by saying, "This is like we are a bullet going down the barrel of a rifle!"

Finally our terror was over, and we were let out into the normal stream of traffic, and saw the exit for Palm Springs. Thank you God!! We were so happy to see our solar Christmas lights welcoming us as we drove down our street, and went inside our little cottage-like trailer and turned on the heater. It was time to put on our jammies, have a celebratory drink, make a quick dinner, and turn on our usual SkyNews. Everything was back to normal. 

Here's to a "normal" and healthy New Year to all of you!

Yet Another Different Kind of Christmas:Thanks to the Coronavirus

Now this is the strangest holiday season I think that anyone may have experienced. At least most of the people in our lifetimes have not been through a plague, since the Spanish Flu Pandemic of 1918. It's taken us on a long, inconvenient and uncomfortable ride, and most folks are saying, "Come on now! Aren't we there yet?" 

"Pandemic fatigue" has set in, especially as the holidays are upon us. My husband and I made it through Thanksgiving with just the two of us with a roast duck. No kids or grandkids gathered around our table, so I made some yummy Tollhouse cookies without touching them or breathing on them, and handed them out to friends in our mobile park in ZipLoc bags. They were very thankful for the treats. We participated in a couple of Zoom calls from family and friends, which made us feel that we weren't alone, and we all texted photos of our meals and toasted each other on FaceTime. Thank God for Zoom and social media giving us a little feeling of togetherness.

I announced to my husband that "we need to put up lots of lights this year! Let's shine away 2020!" I ran to the laptop to order more solar Christmas lights from Amazon, since some years we've had lots of lights and a huge electric bill for December. This should do the trick. When they arrived, though, I found that some of the lights I ordered were classified as "fairy lights", very tiny, twinkly things, surprisingly bright for their size, but not quite right. I went back and ordered ones shaped like colorful snowflakes, in honor of the vintage 12-inch snowflake lights I used to string on the hedge each year. I checked the size on solar ones, and they were only about 1-1/4" wide, but they'd do. Then we ordered a nice, new 72 foot string of colorful solar lights for the "wall tree" that I've arranged on our living room wall for the last few years. As I kept on receiving the boxes in the mail, my husband said, "But didn't you just order some lights?" I told Doug that it was okay that I was ordering so many things, since we would be saving so much money every Christmas on electricity! Heck, we would even be doing our part to save the planet!

The lights went up pretty fast, and then the wall tree, with the traditional "Elf" movie playing in the background. It struck me as perfect, when I looked over at the TV and Will Ferrel, as Elf, said "You're very good at decorating that tree!"

I first arranged the lights, by using a string from the top to the bottom  as a guide line, and then zig-zagged them back and forth on nails, thankful that the 72 foot length worked out just fine! Next, I added the green foil garlands from the Dollar Store, and then layered on lots of favorite ornaments.

Everything automatically lit up the first night, at 5:03, as the sun went down, and now each evening it's getting a little sooner. Last night, the sky darkened at 5:00 PM, even, and on they came. 

It took me over a month to gather photos online of family members for the calendar I make each year,

and, being ever frugal, I figured out how to mail several of them directly to people with free shipping, saving a bunch on postage. Next was the task of finding age appropriate gifts for kids, mostly sent by Amazon, saving postage once again, but I refused mostly, to pay the $4.99 extra for a gift bag. Not realizing that my name wouldn't be on the outside of the box as the sender, only on the receipt inside, I told everyone, "If it is addressed just to the kids, don't open it, just put it under your tree." I imagine many trees are going to have lots of unwrapped cardboard boxes under them. Maybe we should stick a bow on top just to try to make it look a little more festive. 

I've never seen so many delivery vans, and now I notice UPS drivers in their brown uniforms and hats, sporting a blue surgical mask, driving U-Haul trucks. On Sundays you might spot a postal truck being driven around, since Amazon is renting them from the post office on a day they aren't usually used.

We feel really sorry for the local businesses and restaurants, especially here in California, where we are in such a lockdown. Our friend Kim and her family own the Mario's restaurant here in Palm Springs, and we try to get something to go a couple of times a week to support them. Besides, we miss going out to lunch. We're afraid that more small businesses will be closing before this whole thing is over. It's so sad.

When we went to Lowe's last week, most of their Christmas decorations were sold out. I just went in for birdseed, but I mean! Even outside where they sell their live Christmas trees, the pickings were slim, with only about 20 trees left. It was in the paper the other day that more people are staying at home and trying to brighten up their lives with a bigger than usual Christmas tree. I guess we aren't the only ones decorating a little early.

A couple of weeks ago, we had a short visit from one of Doug's kid's and her family. It was long planned that they and 2 other friends and their families would meet up in Phoenix for a week at an AIRBNB. Each family self-isolated for 2 weeks at home, and they packed all of their food so they wouldn't have to stop along the way. After their nice time of playing in the sun, they stopped by to see us, all wearing their masks. They texted that they would pick up burritos for everyone at Chipotle, and we sat out on the patio over 6 feet apart, So Christmas will be more Zooming with family, and this time it will be just us and a rack of lamb. 

It was hard, but everyone agreed to not come near us to visit, especially after we heard that a friend's wife passed away three days ago, after having family over for Thanksgiving. Most of the people at that party contracted Covid. This was both chilling and sad to hear, and a real wake-up call. 

So.... You know the drill. Don't forget to wear your mask when you go outside your house. Be "stand-offish" when you are around folks that aren't in your "bubble". Smile at people with your eyes, since they can't see your mouth.....and have the Merriest Christmas that you can. 

2021 HAS to be better, right?

Another Different Kind of Christmas: Thanksmas

We've had my husband's kids and our grandkids come down to visit us in Palm Springs for 4 of the 5 years we've been here. It's always been surprisingly chilly. The kids, being kids, still swam in the pool, just because it was there, and considered the big draw.

So we decided last year to change things up a little bit. Thanksgiving in Palm Springs is usually pretty warm, so why not celebrate Christmas early? We'd still have a nice turkey dinner, which we would all contribute to at the community hall in our mobile park. It would be Thanksgiving to everyone else, but to us..... it would be Christmas dinner.

So Doug and I started to prepare for the great event. To get in the mood, we put on our Amy Grant Christmas album in the car, and sang along, belting out, "It's lovely weather for a sleigh ride together with you!" And we took off to the stores to shop. We were happier than most, discovering that stores were decorated early and sold supplies for Christmas way before Halloween.

I worked on things in stages, making lists and crossing accomplishments off.....being rather proud of my obsessiveness. For days, I fussed over the calendar I make for the family every year. Each person has a photo of themself on and around their birthday, and a few are added in the blank spaces at the beginning and ending of each month. The top page of each month displays an array of photos of our travels, or places we visit near where we live. I must admit, it's a nice way to get people to look at photos of "what I did on my vacation" without tying them to the sofa with a big album on their lap. I imagine folks standing and brushing their teeth while gazing at the photos. Well, I do that some times....
My concentration gets so focused on the computer, for so long, that just as Doug is about to complain he's being neglected, Ta-Daa!! It's done! It's sent by computer to Shutterfly, and the hard copies are delivered in a nice orange box in just a few days.

I wonder if anyone will get the meaning of the print?

The next task is the family Christmas ornament, with each person's name written on it. Usually, I can find these at the last minute, at Cost Plus, or Michael's, when everything for Christmas is half off, since  I have to buy over 20 of them. But no. All the ornaments that were available were beautiful, but at full
price, they were over my budget. But then, in Michael's, a huge craft store, they had wood cut "DIY" ornaments, Do It Yourself. Hmm. And.... they were only $1... And they were Half Off! I figured that I could get away with painting a red nose on the reindeer, and just minimal highlights on all the others. I bought a couple of colorful indelible markers, knowing that I had some acrylic paint and brushes at home. I decided to get up early in the morning and work on them. So at 6:30, I sat at the kitchen table with a nice cup of tea, sorting all the types of ornaments according to families, and sparsely painting something on each one. Well, THAT doesn't look very festive! I'll have to add more paint. But THAT should be sparkly, to reflect light from the tree! Another trip to the craft store was made to decide from their grand array of glitter paint, (which I didn't even know had been invented)! Only 2 more early mornings, and I finished, rather proud of myself.

Christmas presents hadn't even been thought of yet. Mainly they're for the grandkids, but so many of them are tweens and teens now, that it was suggested that they might like "cold, hard cash". So checks were in order, but we decided on an amount for each one including a smaller, more personal gift that was more fun to open up. Michael's proved once again to come through with creative things like special pens and journals for the older ones, and there were other arty projects, scientific discovery games and beads to string for the younger ones.

Doug offered to help me to wrap them all when I was ready. I had done a few, and was happy for the offer. He tackled the first box, and was wrestling with the paper and scissors at the same table as me. I quickly realized that he didn't have the gift wrapping gene. As I grimaced and squirmed in my chair, he caught it that I wasn't approving. He said, "I'm sure glad you're not my manager! I'm not meant for this menial type of job!". Grinning, he announced, "I need more of an executive position! I went to Yale, you know!"
Laughing, I came back with, " Well, I'm your manager, and we're shorthanded, so I'm working in the trenches with you.... but, (wanting to save my reputation as a pretty neat wrapper), "I think I'll promote you to the job of unpacking the gift bags, writing names on the tags, and then writing out the checks."
"Oh now that would be fine!", he said, "That's right up my alley!"
After that, manager and employee worked well together, giggling and bantering back and forth all evening.

Now that the gifts were pretty much done, the "Wall Tree" had to be tackled. I've hammered nails in to a wall in the shape of a Christmas tree for the last 4 years, and I've strung lights and green foil garlands around them, and then arranged the ornaments from them.
Last year, we came up with the idea to use a long string of solar Christmas lights for the tree. The small solar panel is parked outside our door, and goes along the floor a bit till it can be included in the tree. We anticipate each evening the exact moment that the sun will go down and the tree lights will come on. Every night they turn on a minute or so sooner.
I really wasn't looking forward to putting it up this year, since arranging the in and out formation of the "branches" is so difficult to plan out. By now, I have made so many nail holes in the wall, I can't copy from last year. (I vow to fill the holes and paint this wall in January. It's getting embarrassing, and no amount of framed paintings that hang there the rest of the year can hide them all.) The new idea is to put a string, like a plumb line, or guide line, hanging from a top nail, and coming down and out to the side, making a nice, crisp, sort of modernistic tree shape. Once again, I was happy, and once again, the lights all came out even, crisscrossing back and forth on the Thanksmas tree.
Here it was, only November 22, and we were ready for Christmas! Oh, er, Thanksmas! Family started arriving a couple of days before Thanksgiving, and it was cold and fiercely raining. There were complaints that it was supposed to be warm in Palm Springs. Then we saw that it was not only raining elsewhere, but snow storms, and something called a "bomb cyclone" was expected to happen along the northern California coast! That appeased everyone somewhat, and the kids ran off to the pool through the rain, accompanied by a couple of adults that watched from the nearby hot tub.

We cooked our turkey for the dinner at the hall, made gravy, and Doug prepared his traditional Danish red cabbage dish. Each of the "kids" prepared something to share, since there were 14 of us. After dinner, we decided that our Thanksmas celebration and gift opening would be the next morning, since we were all so full of pie and good cheer already. And the kids wanted to go to the pool again.

Next morning, we all gathered at our little place after breakfast, and the excitement of the grandkids deepened as we found seats for all 14 of us in what we call the "parlour", (where we parle). Presents were arranged in front of the tree by Sinjin, who appointed himself to be Santa's helper, handing them out to everyone.

The only trouble was, that the tree lights weren't on, since it wasn't dark outside..... It didn't look very festive at all. Suddenly, Doug's daughter, Grace, suggested "What if you cover over the solar panel so it thinks the sun has gone down?" Whoa! What a good idea!  Sinjin ran around looking for something to cover it with, and came up with a tile I had on the stove top to set spoons on. No sooner had he placed it, halleujah! The tree lit up!

Of course, Doug wanted us to do the other Danish tradition of dancing around the tree while singing carols. That was impossible, since we'd bump in to the wall, but we all sat in our places in the little room and sang a few songs, holding hands. It did the trick.

Finally, Sinjin got to hand out the "stocking bags". I used to fill stockings with treats and gifts, but decided to give the antique, handmade stockings to their owners, and just go with $1 store gift bags. Everyone munched on their chocolates as Santa's helper handed out our wrapped calendars. I heard him say to someone, "I think I know what this is.", with a smile. I was happy to see everyone opening theirs up and searching for familiar faces, probably especially for themselves. Someone said, "Patty, this is your best work!" That made it all worth while.

The "Nut Prize" was next on the agenda. That's another family tradition, where everyone gets a cup of chocolate pudding, and only 1 has a pecan secretly placed in it. Quickly, I cover the tops of all of them with whipped cream to disguise the winning cup, and they're served to everyone on a tray. There is quiet, while everyone carefully eats their way through the pudding, and then, Ava, 10 years old, happily announced, "I got it!" She had waited years for this. The prize this year was a fancy, rather adult coloring book about sea life and creatures, and she was pleased.

The kids stayed a couple of more days, occupying themselves with crafts, like these cute reindeer made from Palm tree bark that fell down during the storm. They now live happily on the side of our Palm tree out on the patio, and the birds like to sit on their antlers.

Rainy days kept everyone painting too.



One day, many of us went to the Living Desert, a local zoo that focuses on animals from desert climates. It was pretty cold that day too, but we bundled up  and braved the brisk 45 degree F. temps. Well, That's pretty brisk for Palm Springs!

 The next day, most of the family had long, tiring drives back to the Bay Area, through some snow over the Grapevine and then stalled traffic. The trip that would normally take about 8 hours, added up to 11 or 12. We're thinking they might be too discouraged to come back again next year. Maybe it will be our turn to go to them next Christmas.

Now it's back to just the two of us. It's such a relaxing feeling to know that we have Christmas done already, except for sending out gifts and cards to those who didn't celebrate early, as we did. When we were in CVS yesterday, I saw a woman grabbing about a dozen pairs of warm fuzzy socks and throwing them in her cart. She had kind of a frantic look on her face and a long list in her hand. Phew! Been there, done that.

So we still sit in the room with the tree in the evening and bet when the lights will come on. Only one night they didn't!  I thought, "Oh no! They're broken! I'll have to start the tree all over again!" It turns out though, that Doug had strung a few more lights over the front of the house, and he figured that it was so bright that the solar panel didn't know that the sun had gone down. He had an idea, and out came the little tile from the stove again to save the day. 

 

As soon as the tile was placed, on came the lights! Voila!

Hmm. but now we'll have to find something else to occupy ourselves with, instead of the betting-when-the-lights-will come-on game.

(Retirement concerns.....)



Oh wait! It's still almost Jesus' birthday! We can still wait in anticipation for the gift he continues to give us every year.

    Happy Christmas Everyone! Here's to a very calm New Year.

A Different Kind of Christmas: 2014

Some of you may have read the story I wrote last year called, Getting Ready for Christmas: The Tree. The zeal and Christmas spirit shown in that tale have been harder to come by this year. After stating how much I've loved Christmas in the big old house we've lived in for 33 years, it looks as though this will be the last one here.

Wonderful things have happened to us in the last 12 months though. Happy decisions were made..... lifestyle changing ones. There was no plan to make the changes we did. One thing just led to another, each opportunity seemed right, if not daring, in some folks eyes.

Last January we fell in love with and bought a retro 1955 trailer in Palm Springs, that had been added on to each side with a long room with vaulted ceilings. We decided it looked more like a beach cottage in the desert, and have pushed that idea, adding on to the seashells that were already abundant in the yard. There is also a patio facing the big mountain, where I've installed my potter's wheel. All this for less than the price of a new car!

Many of the residents in this over 55 park are artistic, as evidenced by the decor and the different types of gardens, some lush and tropical, but mostly desert plants. We/ve even planted an orange tree and a lime tree. Tlie lime tree is the happiest, sporting some cute little blossoms. Every year there's an influx of Canadians, Washingtonians and New Yorkers.... the "snowbirds" are happy to thaw out in the warm pool. This park has also been discovered by gays, and they, along with the youngish seniors have fun together at the wine tastings, ice cream socials, and pool parties. We've decided that we'd like to spend our winters in Palm Springs, but not the summers, since the temps could rise to as high as 115 degrees! As I write this, though, in early January, the night temps have been about 34 degrees and 50 or 60 during the day. Next week, is predicted to be more to our liking, at a civilized 79.

Before we left there in April, I noticed that the dizzy spells that I had had since February were happening more often. I ended up in the ER, where it was discovered that my heart was "pausing", or as I say, "stopping" for 5-6 seconds every time I had one of those spells. When we got home to Richmond, a cryo (freezing) surgery was planned, but not right away.

Our 2004 Prius had a few dents in it, and the air conditioner died, so Doug said "Hey, let's just go check out the new Plug-in Priuses."  I was dumbfounded, but agreeable, and we ended up getting a Plug-in, and sold the 2004 to his daughter.

The new Prius, of course, had it's maiden journey two weeks later to camp at Donner Lake, where we slept in it like a tent, just as we did in our lovely 2004 Prius all over the country. It was near Lake Tahoe, my old stomping grounds. It was beautiful, and brought back a lot of memories for me. Next thing I know, we were driving on to South Lake Tahoe, where I had been a blackjack and roulette dealer in the early 70's. We contacted a real estate agent, and ended up buying a condo there, which is rent-able during the winter months when we'd rather be in Palm Springs, and helping to pay for itself.

After all that, I had my surgery in September. The cardiologist said she was "delighted" with the outcome, since, she said that she doesn't always have the instant gratification of seeing the heart beat regularly while doing the surgery. We were too. I kept feeling my pulse afterward, and my heart was beating like a champ. Thank you Lord!

About now, folks are thinking we should give retirement lessons! The final piece of the puzzle is that we realized that we should rent out our house in the East Bay Area that I have lived in for 33 years, and save the bottom two rooms and bath for us to stay in when we're home to visit with family. At first it was hard for me to take.... to MOVE...and clean out all the places I had stored and stuffed so much memorabilia! Then I had an "aha!" experience! Most people move more often than 33 years. Well, at first it seemed daunting, and I was kind of frozen when it came to letting go of Anything. From then on it became a "freeing" experience. (I just realized that I used the words "Frozen" and "Let It Go" in the same sentence.)

Back to Christmas.... I usually go shopping for the tree with someone, but Doug was in Home Depot, and I ventured out to see their trees in the parking lot. All the 7-8' Christmas trees were gone, and I had to resort to a 6-7' size. only a few were opened up, and it was cold out. I found one possibility, and then walked over to another section. When I spotted another family headed for my first tree. I was certainly at a disadvantage being by myself! I ran over and held on to my tree and looked at all sides, sort of claiming my territory. It was taller than me, (one of the criteria), and looked pretty good. Not perfect, but it would do. I could feel myself letting go of the perfection that I had always demanded.

My two kids couldn't make it from New York, a disappointment..... but all of Doug's kids and our 8 grandchildren helped bring the excitement of the season back to me. A couple of the grandkids helped put the ornaments on the tree, after I had painstakingly put on the lights. They were very good at hanging each one in it's appropriate place, the angels on top, the wise men and Jesus nearby, a section for birds, and for Santas, but as I looked for my first ornament, the little nutcracker, all we found was his head! So sad! It wasn't till the next day, that I found his body and carefully glued him back together.

We spent our Christmas Eve together, only on Dec. 20th, so everyone could come. We did the Danish dancing around the Christmas tree, opened stockings, exchanged gifts, and ate too much. It was beautiful! The next night, Doug and I invited some old friends (only 8 of us), to fondly remember past Christmases and to appreciate this last one here.

Having Christmas early was a boon for me, since I could take time to go through some things....setting some aside for a garage sale in the spring, making many trips to the recycling center and thrift shops to make donations, and giving things to friends. Thank God I have 3 places to furnish, so I can keep Some of the things that have memories, but are also useful.

One of the traditions has been to spend Christmas morning with one of my sisters and her family, so that brought back nice memories, and we got to see all of her growing family. Doug and I stayed later and sang songs with my sister on her ukelele, Doug on the piano and I on my guitar. There were lofty ideas of us starting a band....

What happens next Christmas, I can only estimate. Looking back at this last year I never would have believed all the unexpected changes in our lives. We'll just have to play it by ear. Celebrating Christmas in Palm Springs is a thought...... but that's a decision for another day.

I've Been Dreaming About Food Lately

In these last months of 2013, I've awoken with dreams in my head of different foods that I crave for the rest of the day. The only solution to getting them out of my mind is to let myself eat that food. The reason this becomes such a dramatic decision in my life, is that my husband and I have been "watching our weight" for over six years, counting calories and points.....sometimes losing. But for the last 6 months or so I've been watching my weight and my waistline increase. Therefore, denying myself baked goods has been a habit that I've accepted, and thought I didn't even care about.

Then came the dream about Angel Food Cake. At this point I don't even remember the dream, except that my Mom was baking the cake in her old kitchen from my childhood. As my alarm went off in the morning I could still smell the sweet aroma. The thought of the sponginess of the cake that I used to squeeze between my fingers when I was little became an obsession, and I bought a nice round one at the bakery. There was a farmers' market that day and they had the most luscious huge boysenberries and strawberries. I had a plan to satisfy my craving by sharing with grand kids that were scheduled to come over for a couple of hours.
Just when the first little one stated, "Grandma, I'm hungry!" I was ready with an answer... "Well, have you ever had Angel Food Cake?" She said," I Love Angel Food Cake!" "So do I!" Said the 3 year old, (even though I'm not sure he'd ever tasted it.)
I had already cut up the strawberries and stirred in some sugar, and they and the sugared boysenberries were put in separate red glass bowls. The kids helped me put it all on the table,  and it was a free-for-all as everyone had a slice of the plain, but luscious cake, covered with berries and covered with whipped cream squirted from a container. "I need more whipped cream on mine. I can still see a strawberry over here!" Seconds were had by some, and it was so satisfying, and not that bad for a lunch at Grandma's.

A few nights later I dreamt of my mother- and father-in-law, (Tutu and Grandpa), in their old apartment in Richmond, baking sugar cookies together. they made the best, lightest and most crispy sugar cookies ever. They made the dough, and then formed 1 inch balls with it, rolled the balls in a bowl of sugar, and squished the ball flat with the bottom of a glass that had also been dipped in sugar. Then they sprinkled even more sugar on top before baking. We all remember them working together as a friendly team in the kitchen. They were called "Helen Z's Sugar Cookies", and I used to have the recipe written in Tutu's handwriting, in my recipe file. Soon after breakfast, I was disappointed to not find it there, but found what was probably the same one in my "Joy of Cooking" book. (see Sugar Drop Cookies with Oil).
Once again giving in to my craving, I took a trip to Trader Joe's to buy some fresh flour and sugar. This was a real commitment to baking something. My mouth was starting to water at the thought of a cup of coffee with one of those cookies. Then I spotted semi-sweet chocolate chunks, a substitute for chocolate chips. I remember how everyone used to love my chocolate chip cookies that I made when I was a teenager. I vowed to make both of these cookies before the year is up.... only when there are plenty of people to share them with...... just so I could get my fill.
When I got home, it turned out that one granddaughter was visiting, so I thought I'd use this as a grandmotherly thing to do, and invited her to help me. Sometimes it seems that events like this can be rather nerve wracking for me. Standing on a chair next to the counter, the five year old kept insisting on pouring each measured ingredient into the bowl herself. I set the the bowl down in to the sink to minimize mess. She stirred the flour and made designs in it before slapping the spoon into it so it poofed all over. She proved to my amazement, though that she knew how to crack an egg. Her cookie dough balls kept growing in size and were re-dipped into the sugar extra times. When it came time to sprinkle the extra sugar on the cookies, I found some red and green colored sugar to make it look Christmasy. Before I knew it, the sprinkling turned out to be more of a "dump". I could hear myself being kind of anal about "we have to make sure that all this sugar doesn't stay on the pan... it might burn.... look I'll just brush it off". Bad Grandma. The first batch of cookies actually came out great. I felt I needed alone time though, so I had her hang some ornaments on the tree and do an art project while I kept cranking out more pan fulls.

One other morning, I awoke thinking about a wonderful sweet bread that my manager used to bring in to share with everyone. I had spotted the Mexican bakery some time ago, where "Senorita Bread" is their specialty, The Star Bakery in San Pablo, CA. While out doing last minute things for Christmas, I told my husband I was having another craving. We agreed to get it over with and joined people in line waiting for the next batch to come out of the oven. The aroma was heavenly. Senorita Bread is sold in boxes, the smallest having 15 pieces. We decided that was enough for our household. Each piece of hot, soft, leavened white bread is covered with butter and sugar. I think there is even a piece of butter inside each little bread that continues to melt, making the tiny loaves at the bottom extra buttery and sugary. Oh, I love it so! There is a warning to each buyer that the bread is very hot, don't eat it in the car, since melted butter might get on your clothes. We heeded the warning and waited to share this luscious, vein-clogging treat at home. Just two or three for me, and I checked that temptation off my list.

Yesterday, we had a "little Christmas" for one of the families who were out of town and didn't get to open their gifts yet. I had yet to make my chocolate chunk cookies. Time was running out. It's already December 30, and I saw this as a good opportunity to let everyone get fat with me. The secret of my old recipe is that I use Crisco shortening instead of butter. The old Toll House recipe on the chocolate chip package back in the 60's called for that. Butter, which is now recommended, just doesn't do the trick, and everyone always liked mine best.
When everyone arrived, the house smelled wonderful, with the fresh cookies and the scent of the Christmas tree. The semi-sweet chocolate chunks were a treat, since they provided more dense chocolate. Then my husband said, how about giving your secret recipe away? I did, but I kind of wish I hadn't, since I swear I could read their minds about hydrogenated fats and preservatives. Oh well, we all agreed. They taste yummy, and we don't eat like this everyday.

So now I'm in training for the New Year of 2014. The "My Fitness Pal" app on my iPhone has been notified of my new weight. It's a nice app that helps you count calories and how much exercise you've done, and shares your progress with other friends that are using it. And, did I mention? It's free! I can hardly wait to input that we'll be going to our aquatic fitness class on Thursday!
Now that my cravings have been sated, I'm ready for my usual manic first week of the year. I'll pamper myself this year with good health and creativity. How about you?

Getting Ready For Christmas: The Christmas Tree

Back in December of 1966, when I was 16 years old, (I'll wait while you do the math...), I went to my friend Anne's house, and was in awe of her Christmas tree. Her mother was very much in to decorating for every season, but this tree was so covered with ornaments and lights that it was hard to think where you might put one more. You could hardly see the green of the tree! I vowed in my heart that day, that some day I would have a tree like that.
A year later, Anne and I were in a modern dance class together, and we were supposed to make up a dance with some other girls, with costumes on, as soldiers, to Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker music. Her mother came to our performance, and gave us each a wrapped gift of a toy soldier/Nutcracker ornament, who looked familiarly like us, in our blue tights, red tunics, and tall hats. I cherished this, and thought, "This is the first ornament for my tree!"

From then on, I made a plan to buy at least one lovely ornament each year. By the time I had moved out of my Mom's house and had my own tree to decorate, I didn't have that many ornaments of my own, and had to subsidize the tree with packages of shiny metallic ball ornaments. When I was pregnant with my daughter, I found a recipe for "salt dough" ornaments, that could be painted, baked and shellacked. They've lasted a surprisingly long time, and so far only the snowman has lost his carrot nose and one carefully made angel was chewed up by our dog and then spit out because of the saltiness. Both of my kids and I made more years later, trying to duplicate favorites, and even pressing a dog's paw into the dough for posterity.

The kids brought craftily made treasures home from school. The story of one my daughter made in preschool is told every year. She always gives the disclaimer that she was only 3, and no one told her what it was supposed to be or that it would be hanging. Her little felt snowman hangs usually in the back of the tree with his boots on his head and his hat on the bottom. .....Darling!

Wrapped candy canes are something else to fill in with, but not too near the bottom of the tree, since the aroma may be too tempting for dogs. One dog we had, had became quite adept at snatching a cane from the tree. We watched as she settled down with it between her paws, chewed the cellophane open and licked the lovely peppermint with her eyes closed, looking dreamy at the lusciousness of it all.

So then there's the purchase of the tree. A real tree! Some people go somewhere in the woods to chop down the perfect specimen. We did that one time, and my daughter ended up scrunched into the back of our VW Adventurewagen, unhappily with it for the long drive home. One of the local lots suffices since then. My son and I found that the choosing of the tree went much quicker when his sister went off to college. We may not have been quite as discerning, but we could be in and out with a nice, full tree within 15 minutes, giving each other a high five!

A few years later, I had a job as a department store "trimmer". During the year, we'd change displays, and dress the mannequins in the latest styles. As the holidays approached, we dressed the entire store up for Christmas, to be ready for the day after Thanksgiving. The trees that were throughout the store had to be adorned with new lights, usually about 8 strands per tree and they were carefully wrapped around each branch, reaching deep in toward the trunk, to make a 3D effect. The maliable branches were "fluffed" to put them into the shape of a perfect tree after being stored away all year. I still insist on doing my own lights on our tree at home. Each year I use about 8 or 9 strands of multicolored lights and a couple of strands of a solid color to use as a lit garland, swirling from top to bottom. One year I used clear white for the main lights with a swirl of red lights like a candy cane. This isn't advised, since folks wished they had sunglasses on if they sat in the room with the tree.

When putting on the lights, it's good to have some mood music, like Bing Crosby, or Amy Grant's Christmas album, or at my house my husband will play piano so I can sing as I decorate. It's a slow process though, so I recommend lighting a fire in the fireplace, sharing some eggnog with whiskey in it, and watching "It's a Wonderful Life" for entertainment.  It's fun to make sure to have the bell ornaments ready for the end when the angel gets his wings!

It IS a Wonderful Life!!

Ribbon, wide, with wire on the edges, can also be used as a garland. Yard length pieces of ribbon can look wispy, when they're bent and curled sort of like ribbon candy winding through the branches. Simple bows can be made as well to fill in spaces, from some other velvety or shiny wired ribbon to help them keep their shape and attached with more wire to the branches. All these decorations last from year to year, and more can be added each year.

Once folks know that you like Christmas ornaments, it's likely that you'll receive a few as gifts. When I remarried, I made a tradition of giving a "family" ornament to everyone in our new combined family each year. The grandchildren are starting to notice the same snowmen, sleds, and angels that they have on their own tree.

Back in the day when my kids were younger, we had a lot of pets. Among them at one point, we had a dove and two parakeets. Every year, as soon as we got our tree set up in the living room, the birds were let loose to play in it. One Christmas eve, the birds were let out by one of the kids, to fly into the decorated tree. One of the parakeets was excited to see a bayberry candle lit on the mantle, and zoomed over to sit on the edge of it. Everyone screamed at her, but it took her little bottom a couple of seconds to realize the heat. She flew off, unharmed, but the room smelled like burnt feathers.

The kids and I started a tradition of putting collections of baubles together on the tree. The angels always are delegated to "fly" around the top. There is usually an imperfection, or hole in the shape of the tree, so the birds populate that area. The 3 wise men and any characters from the Christmas story are close by the angels, but the Santas are given a lower spot, not to outdo Jesus, and of course the nutcrackers and soldiers (especially my first ornament) are pretty much in front. Stories have to be told about many of the cherished ones, like a few that were my Mom's, the little Russian Santa on skis that looks more tattered every year. Having designated places for certain things keeps guests more interested and they sometimes joke about where things should go, trying to get the "system" right. Little kids can hang things anywhere though, since after they leave I'll probably move them.: )

A new tradition has developed the last few years, that has become my daughter's favorite. She's been organizing a tree decorating party and inviting her friends. It really turned into a good party when my husband surprised everyone with cracked crab, champagne, eggnog and brandy. It's been a delicious tradition ever since, with some of the same friends coming each year. They all bring some goodies to share, and patiently listen to our stories of the ornaments while we watch Elf, or National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.

My husband brought with him and his family the angel we place on the top, and the Danish tradition of Dancing Around the Christmas Tree. Someone mentioned at Thanksgiving, that it's not really dancing. That's true, but on Christmas Eve, before the gifts are opened, the tree is painstakingly moved out from the corner and the family holds hands around it. Grandpa, (my husband), usually calls out the song we'll sing, and then we sort of walk/march around the tree singing "Silent Night". Next he calls out "Jingle Bells", and we turn and go the opposite direction, with teenagers' eyes rolling and the happy smiles of the little ones. One time he said, "Should we do another song?", and a granddaughter cried out, "How about Old MacDonald Had a Farm!". Therefore, smiling, we marched (danced) in the other direction to two verses.

So..... It's almost time to buy our tree. What color lights should I use for an accent garland? Should we put the tree in a different corner of the room? ........ Actually, I think since I've written those words, I'm blessed to have these little concerns in my life. God bless anyone who reads this please.....and a merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.

YO, WE GOT YER SNOWMAN

Quite a while back, when my kids were just 9 and 13 years old, it was Christmastime and we were decorating the house with lights outside. It was always in the back of our minds that some day ours would be a "destination" house.... one that folks would make sure they drove by every year to see the dazzling display. Something was missing though. We never had any figures or a manger scene, only lights. We didn't have much money- so when I saw a cute little wooden snow man on a stick at a hardware store- I bought him and we proudly stuck him in the planter on the porch. It was as if he were a seed, and from him many other decorations would come.
A few days later, it was pouring down rain, and we sat snugly in our warm house by the beautiful Christmas tree. The doorbell rang; but when I opened the door, no one was there. I looked down  the sidewalk each direction, and when I turned to go back in, I noticed a soggy piece of paper with graffiti-type scrawling in indelible ink: "YO,WE GOT YER SNOWMAN. TALK TO ANYONE AND WE MELT HIM.  DA PUNX".
Our little wooden snowman was indeed missing! I picked up the dripping note, looked across the street and up and down for the hooligan who was playing this trick on us, but nothing. Then I got a funny feeling that even if I couldn't see him, I was probably being watched, so I went inside to tell the kids, locking the front door behind me.
We went over together the usual suspects, thinking after all it was pretty funny. Whoever it was wanted us to figure it out, and then they'd give our beloved ornament back to us. Was it Michael across the street, or the nextdoor neighbor kids, or another friend of ours with a quirky sense of humor? I called around and the kids asked their friends and everyone sounded so innocent. After all the interrogation, no one confessed and we put the note away with the Christmas decorations. Every year we bring it out and recount the story as we decorate the tree. It never fails to get a laugh.

Three or four years later, my daughter went to a concert in San Francisco; and she got a ride home with one of the band members by his mom. As they drove up to our house, the guy said, "You live in THIS house?.... I stole a snowman from in front of it a few years ago!" Turns out that a band named, I think,  Devil Doll, used to live across the street from us and he hung out there. I'm not sure what prompted him to do the deed.
My daughter could hardly believe it! She told him he should come in to tell her mom, but he didn't want to. Instead, he accepted an invitation to a neighborhood Christmas party we were giving the next week.
During the party I was told that our thief had arrived; but by the time I got to the door to greet him, he had chickened out and left, evidently scared to meet me. I was disappointed. I guess he didn't realize what a hoot we got out of his crime every year. The Phantom did give us a new ending to the story though. He left behind a new wooden snowman that hangs on our mailbox every year.