Mt Baldy

To the snow!

Olaf

The Most Wonderful "th" of the Year

O, advent calendar. So beloved and yet so stingy, doling out your measly bits of chocolate one at a time. An entire day between chocolate bits? Liv struggles.

"Mom, what 'th' is it?"

"It's still the 17th, honey."

[Sharp intake of breath.] "I never ate my chocolate yet!"

"Oh, babe. You sure did."

We may or may not have done a little sneaking ahead. I like to think of sampling ahead on the advent calendar as looking hopefully into the future. Tomorrow might be a desolate day, but as of right now? It tastes good.

We had a pretty nice little Saturday on this, my favorite day of the year: the Winter Solstice. I'm usually a grinchy shopper this time of year. Inevitably there is something I can't get online and I have to venture into the crowds and be away from my family at a time when I'd rather be close to them. Lucky for me, I'm married to Bim, who fears no crowd--yea, who even enjoys the noise and activity of holiday shopping. His good mood is enough to cover all of us. And so this year we all went together. It was so fun to see the girls get excited about their little gifts. "Mom, look over there for a second! Don't look over here!" Usually I encourage them to make their own gifts at home, but they loved picking out some small things. This year, next to the clay snowmen and pictures of cigars (that was so last year), Bim and I look forward to opening our rolls of masking tape and Justin Bieber-singing teddy bears. Yes, anything you want!!! $5 limit.

After the shopping, which we blessedly contained to two hours, Bim took the kids to the Naples boat parade while I went home to get ready for friends to come over for hot chocolate, cider and grilled cheese sandwiches. I was supposed to join them at the parade but drove for an hour without finding any parking within several miles. All of Long Beach was out tonight! Someday all the kids will be big enough to ride our bikes--and that might be the next time we try the boat parade. 

Still, I'll remember today as being full of the best parts of Christmas despite being the shortest day of the year. We stuffed, stamped and mailed our cards, picked out fun paper to wrap the treasures we can't wait to give each other (hint: it's gonna be a weird cat Christmas), and sampled some of Trader Joe's finest sipping chocolate just how I like it, dark and bitter. The best part is, there's still time to spare. It's a smaller, slower Christmas this year, and I love it.

Santa 2013