Posts tagged as:

holiday

Well, hello there 2010

January 1, 2010

A lot of people have written extensively about how happy they are to bid good-bye to 2009. For me, it’s been a pretty good year. I’m not sorry to see it go, but only because I’m looking forward to carrying all that joy with me into 2010.
2009 was a year that saw the continuation of [...]

Tagged as: family, holiday, money, new year's resolutions, relationships, sex, witchcraft, writing

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Let there be light!

December 30, 2009

The solstice is a week behind us, but the cold days sure don’t seem longer or brighter yet. When the sun is out it’s too cold for me to want to go out and play in it. Dark comes too early too early. I feel it, the kids feel it.
My beloved mother noticed us feeling [...]

Tagged as: health, holiday

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Christmas Chocolates

December 28, 2009

Serena had chocolate for breakfast Christmas morning. We feed our children on an exclusive diet of chocolate kisses, coca-cola and rusty nails, so this morning wasn’t anything special.
Actually, of course, she sees candy pretty much only on holidays. Usually even then I try to curtail her consumption, but what would you do in the face [...]

Tagged as: holiday, serena

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Cookies for Santa

December 23, 2009

Rio has just figured out that Santa will be coming tomorrow night.
“We’ll have to put out a plate of cookies for him,” I said.
“Cookies? For Santa?”
“Yes. You put out cookies and milk for him. Santa likes cookies.”
“We get to eat the rest of the cookies, right? We don’t have to give them all to Santa?”
“uh…sure. [...]

Tagged as: holiday, rio

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Going to visit Santa

December 22, 2009

The children have built a car in the kitchen. They are driving to “the arctic” to visit Santa. Why?
“This is in olden times, before there were any pencils. We went into the woods to find some feathers and there weren’t any. Besides, when we went to the store to buy ink, all the stores were [...]

Tagged as: holiday

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The Glass Mouse

December 21, 2009

I’ll have a longer holiday post tomorrow. But in the meantime I give you the strangest story told around the Solstice fire this year. Listen carefully: the audio is terrible but worth it.

Tagged as: creative, holiday, rio, solstice

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All I Want For Christmas is January

December 13, 2009

I’m feeling pretty bah humbug this year. I’m tired, broke and grouchier about the weather than usual. The holiday season feels less like a joyful opportunity to reconnect and more like a train wreck of social, family and financial obligations.
But tis the season, so I’m bucking up and doing my frugal best to be festive. [...]

Tagged as: holiday, money

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Letters to Santa

December 8, 2009

We all still believe in Santa around here.
Yesterday, Rio made her first letter to Santa. It said:
A Dollhouse That Looks Like A Real House (this was my suggestion)
16 Barbie Dolls (this was not my suggestion)
Me 2 Barbie! Me Purple Barbie! (this was Serena’s suggestion)
In fact, I had thought Serena was asleep, but as Rio constructed [...]

Tagged as: holiday, money, parenting, princesses

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Still not Santa Claus

July 27, 2009

Rio is playing in the kitchen with a slightly older friend. Suddenly he says, “You know Santa Claus isn’t real.”
I wince, and try to hide my alarm. I’m not ready for this. I’m afraid she’ll get hurt. That bubble of innocence, that fierce belief in all things magic, that protects her from the world, right? [...]

Tagged as: holiday, magic, rio

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A Frugal Father's Day Gift

June 24, 2009

A few weeks ago, I was biking when I passed by a field where a lot of old guys* were playing soccer. I stopped my bike and asked a teenage girl who was watching the game what was going on.
“They just play here,” she said. I told her my husband loves soccer, because he grew [...]

Tagged as: family, frugality, holiday, money

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