Thursday, December 8, 2011

A Bit of a Blur

The last 10 days have been, to put it mildly, a bit of a blur.  No great wisdom here today folks, just a recap.  A look back.  A chance to see the events of the last days through a lens of "I made it!" versus, "Buckle up!"  And then, a bit of an announcement. 

30 pounds of turkey.  Including an appropriately sized feast of thanks.

250 ornaments.

19 Christmas trees...what, didn't you realize I have a thing for trees?

6 lit trees in the yard...at one point the middle one was only half lit, but it was early in the evening, and I often find myself only half lit at the start of a holiday evening...winkwink...it all worked out just fine.

 5 rehearsals for the Father.

1 new friend, a lovely lunch and 2 hours of calm before the storm...thank you friend. 

4 concerts, which you can tune into on your local PBS station closer to Christmas if you are so inclined...just sayin'...

3 cocktail parties hosted in our home after the concerts...maybe 75 people...or so...

100 pieces of stemware filled and washed, and refilled and rewashed...not sure how many bottles of champagne...lost count at 12.

2 unauthorized animals in the stable and 1 kitty in the manger.

1 snow storm.

13 days of house guests.

So many blessed people.  So many.


And this is just the beginning of our holiday numbers.  It's only the 8th of December! 



What am I sure of?  That it's not the number of things you cram in that matters at all.  It's the quality of each single thing.  If each one isn't important to someone, then it should be skipped.  Yes, that was a big turkey, but it fed us.  For several days.  Yes, I have a lot of trees, but I love every one of them and they make me smile every time I turn them on.  Yes, it made me crazy that there was one tree with two dark strings of bulbs, but I had a contingency plan.  Yes, it seemed counter productive to take a 2 hour lunch with a new friend just hours before hosting a party for 30 in my own home, but what the naysayers didn't realize was that I was getting myself ready to be the hostess.  Filling up my cup before I filled up everyone else's champagne flute.  Yes, 3 parties in 3 days is a lot, but I love it.  That's my contribution to the holiday concerts.  He makes the music, I make the merry.  We're a good team.  Yes, snow makes every bitter cold day more magical, and chills the champagne beautifully.

And yes, 7 gingersnaps and a glass of pinot grigio makes a perfect dinner when you're trying to clean out the fridge.







We have lots of days left in December and you will find me here, in theMiddleBit, regularly for the rest of this year.  But in the new year, I am going to focus on two new projects.  The first, a team effort with my sister, is a blog called The Shortest Distance, and you should look for me there.  I will be in the MiddleBit from time to time, but my weekly post will be there.  More about that exciting venture will be revealed as we get closer to our launch.

And the second?  A book.  Here's a tiny excerpt...

Introduction or Who the Hell Do I Think I am?
A memoir of parenting.  A motherhood memoir.  How can you write one when you’re not finished parenting yet?  Don’t you have to wait until you’re finished?  Until you can look back on all the experiences of your children and your mothering?  Until your daughters are women and you can sum it all up and assess what went well and what failed? 
Well I think that’s kind of like waiting until you know the football game is over and turning on the TV just in time to check the final score.  Who does that?  Not me, that’s for sure.  There’s a whole lot of awesome stuff to watch in the first half of the game that has a huge impact on that final score.  I am a fan of the game.  I want to watch to see who puts the first points on the board and who heads into the half down by 14.  And I'm a fan of mothers.  Mothers who are in the game.  I’m still in the first half of this game of motherhood.  There’s a whole lot of time left on the clock and I have no previous second half record that I can fall back on. 
This is the BFT era of my mothering.  Before Female Teenagers.  All of my friends that have grown daughters tell me there is no real way to be prepared for that, so I’m not going to worry about it yet.  A good coach will tell you not to focus on the final score when you are still in the first half…this is the mentality that drives a girl who has no special parenting training and already more to do that she can keep up with, to write a book on mothering.

Stay tuned...exciting things are happening here in The Middle.




2 comments:

  1. I'm here! Waiting!

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  2. I was thinking about this all day: how well suited we all are to our lives... while i would go apeshit bonkers if i had to host parties like that, you revel in it... I can't wait to find some seven lit trees someday, though... ! I look forward to your changes, lady, they seem large and yet intimate at the same time... like your parties? :)

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