In which the hours of the day do not add up to time enough to get stuff done

Crikey. Sure we've been having Christmas fun galore but so much for addressing the holiday cards, buying the gifts, baking the cookies and finding the fleecy boots I cleverly bought for the girls at a consignment shop last summer. Oh yeah, and work, too. Teaching...that little side-line I have going to bring in the big bucks.

Sometimes this time of year feels like a list of things to be checked off just to keep life moving forward: Decorate the house, check! Visit Santa, check! Have a holiday party, check! Write 25 report cards detailing the minutiae of fifth grade achievement, check! etc. And let's go on the record with this quick aside: I'm not dissing report cards but, seriously, I had to grade reverence and I've yet to figure out how to test that one. As my friend Cori said, "Isn't someone else supposed to grade that?" Life at the Catholic school and still I love it. Go figure.

So we went to see Santa on Saturday. Can I tell you how much I love that my girls asked for puzzles? Julia wants a 200 piece puzzle and Mimi would liken one featuring Peter Pan. As we were leaving, Mimi whispered in my ear, "Can we say I want a baby carrier for my doll, too?" So we slipped in that in as well. Thank God for the attainable Christmas list! Anyway, I love our Santa. We have seen the same guy every year since we started this ritual so he actually remembers the girls. So does the Mrs. Santa who works with him. We attend the Nordstrom Santa Breakfast benefiting Children's Hospital and they do a great job. For the first couple of years I know they kind of pretended to remember Julia and Mimi but our conversation this year convinced me this year there was actual recall. On the other hand, we are a sort of conspicuous family, what with Mark's stick up hair and all:)

We had a Christmas party on Sunday. I love to throw parties, tiny house and all. I get to cook for people who actually eat what I prepare and our house gets cleaned. Families come, the kids decorate cookies in the basement and then we all walk 2 blocks north to Olympic Manor to see how the neighborhood with a covenant requiring holiday lights lives up to its promises. Some thin blooded former California types bowed out, but most of us braved the below freezing temps for a stroll in the snow. Then, hallelujah Jesus, we had a snow delay this morning so we got the chance to sleep off Mark's drink of the season which he named the "Holiday Stimulus Package"--guaranteed to make you feel as warm and fuzzy as if you had been given billions of dollars from the government.

So if you don't get a Christmas card from me at least now you'll know why.