Eighth-Grade Girls’ Party

Goodnight went to a party yesterday.  All the girls in her class decided to get together for bowling and then pizza at the home of one of the girls.

It sounded like fun and I happily dropped her off at the bowling alley and headed home to get some things done.

After a few hours, my cell phone vibrated on the table and I answered it to hear Goodnight on the other end.  “HiGramCanYouCallMyCellCuzIWantToShowOffMyFunnyRingTone?ThanksBye!”  (She talks like that without taking a breath most of the time.)

I dialed her phone so she could show off her funny ring tone.  It’s actually GN’s voice saying something silly she had recorded.  She let it ring and ring.

When she finally answered, she said, “HiGramSorryIDidn’tPickUpRightAwayButTheVolumeWasTooLowCanYouCallMeAgainPLEEZThanksBye!”

I just shook my head, but secretly smiled.  Harmless. 

I dialed her phone again.  She let it ring and ring and ring.

When she finally answered, she said, “What’s up?”

She actually waited for an answer.  She had called me to ask me to call her. I had done that twice and then she asked me “What’s up?” and expected an answer!  I didn’t know the rules to her game, but I decided to play anyway . . . .

“OhHi HoneyNothin’MuchIsUpIWasJustBoredAndLonelyBecauseYou’reNotHereAndSinceYouAreTheCenterOf MyUniverseIThoughtIWouldCallToSeeIfYouAreHavingFunAndMissMeAsMuchAsIMissYou.”

“Funny, Gram!  Thanks for calling.  See you at 8:00.”

I just want to remember this eighth-grade girls’ party because there will likely be other parties later that will worry me much more . . . . unless GN calls me to ask me to call her back so she can show off her funny ringtones . . . . .

 

 

Thrift Shop Christmas Craft Rescue

 

What can I say?  Rescues should be humble. 

I saw the lonely Christmas craft kit and decided to give it a good home.  That’s all there is to it.  I rescued it yesterday, knit up the pattern last night and this morning the grateful project greeted Goodnight with an invitation to hot chocolate.

Besides . . . it goes with my holiday table runner. 

 

The kit came with directions to either knit or crochet the tea cozy.  I chose to knit mine, but there seems to be enough yarn left so that I might give myself some crocheting practice . . .

For the curious, the booklet says “Annie’s Hook and Needle Kit Club”.  I like it.

Is that Snow Fella wearing a Super Scarf??

Oh dear!  I have a feeling it will take me quite some time to recover from the chronic case of Super Scarf knitting that I’ve had for so long.  (Is it really something from which a knitter should expect a recovery, anyway?)  The thing is, it has opened my eyes to what may have formerly gone unnoticed.  I gave you an example from an old movie yesterday.  Today’s example is from a white board in a coffee shop.

Goodnight and I went out for a cup of tea this morning – lazy and relaxed.  We sat in a quiet room just off the service line in the shop.  We’d been there over an hour before I looked up at the white board and noticed the snowman someone had drawn.

At first, Super Snow Fella was just wearing a Super Scarf.

Okay, confession time.  The scarf didn’t actually have stripes when we got to the coffee shop, but they were easy enough to add by taking away a little blue color here and there . . . and there . . . and there.

Then, that Spunky Snow Guy decided to toss around a football and remind everyone of the big game.  I’m not saying who altered the snowman, but word has it that the coffee shop security camera captured an image of the pony-tailed artist at work. 

Our Super Snow Guy may not be at the “epicenter of awesome”* in Indianapolis, but some fabulous free entertainment will be there.  Check out the entertainment schedule slated for Super Bowl Village:  http://www.indianapolissuperbowl.com/super-bowl-village/.

Must scoot.  I’m gonna toss that snowman art-bandit into a swimming pool this afternoon!

 

*quote from the 2012 Super Bowl Village website link provided above

Is that a Super Scarf around Santa’s Neck???

Goodnight and I are in the middle of our Christmas Movie Marathon.  I love it.  Each movie brings back its own good memories – old and new.

Case in point: the delightful recent memory that came to mind while watching Mrs. Santa Claus starring Angela Lansbury and Charles Durning, a made for TV movie from 1996.  It was GN’s turn to pick the Christmas movie for marathon viewing and it was her choice for this morning.

Funny . . . I never noticed before, but near the very end of the movie, when Mrs. Santa Claus returns from some time away from the North Pole, she wraps a beautiful scarf around her husband’s neck before he is to take off on his journey around the world.

But wait! . . . . Oh no!!  Could it be?  Does she wrap him up in a 2012 Indianapolis Super Bowl Super Scarf???  

 

Not really.  The movie came out long before Indianapolis was even selected as the venue for the big football game in February of 2012, but I have had such a wonderful time with all the blue and white Super Scarf knitting I’ve done over the last year and a half that those blue and white knit stripes stuck out like a blinking billboard when she wrapped the scarf around Santa’s neck!  I think it has the approved shade of blue, too!!

Super Bowl 2012 is only 40 days away and the event schedule is online at: http://www.indianapolissuperbowl.com/event-calendar/ . 

In case you haven’t heard, this will be the first time that the NFL will allow fans to attend a Super Bowl Media Day.  Fans will also get to see the participating teams take their teams photos in their game day uniforms.  Fun!!!  Find more information at:  http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d5d822d4b35/article/fans-get-opportunity-to-go-behindthescenes-for-super-bowl-prep. 

I can’t say that Santa Claus will be there, but I know there will be over 12,295 blue and white Super Scarves wrapped around the necks of volunteers and hospitality employees who’ve participated in the Super Service initiative.  http://www.indianapolissuperbowl.com/super-service/.

Before I get back to my Christmas Movie Marathon, did you know that Charles Durning has appeared as Santa Claus five times, to date, in films or made-for-television movies?  I only have two of them so guess what I’ll be keeping my eyes open for at thrift shops in the upcoming months?  Yup!  Santa Claus!

Fa la la la lah!

Let it be Christmas

The house where I grew up is full today!

Gr8 is here.  Indybro and is wife have come to spend Christmas in Smalltownville.  Miracle is here and her older brother Young Man Total Sacrifice made the journey, too.  The bedrooms are all occupied and Gr8 is the Christmas Queen.

Miracle has two bunnies that could not be left alone for as long as she is going to be away, so Jack and Clever have taken up residence in – well – the center of it all.

Goodnight and I packed up some of our Christmas Movie Marathon films and brought them along for any and all to enjoy. 

We’ve patronized the local bakery (twice already) for our favorite Czechoslovakian buns. 

I seem to think of time in seconds, minutes, or hours.  Gr8 has a plant that knows, without benefit of calendar or clock, exactly when it’s Christmas and then . . . .

. . . . the Christmas Cactus blooms!

Pokoj a Radost

(Peace and Joy)

O Tannenbaum

I haven’t lit my Christmas tree.

There’s been too much to do.

But, Villageville, ten miles from . . . home

Has one I think will do.

The tree that glows within the park

Does more than give off light.

It marks my turn to Smalltownville

. . . where Mother waits tonight.

(The lights you see below the tree are street lights – to give you an idea of the tree’s height. )

The Post Man Brought me Passion and Laughter

There’s just something about going to the mail box and finding letters or Christmas cards from family and friends.  I’m old-fashioned enough to still write and send my own letters and enjoy receiving them as well.

I recently received Passion and Laughter in the mail from a long-time friend.

The Laughter worked immediately!  The Passion must have to . . . steep a while. 

But, what a lovely gift.  The timing of its arrival was perfect, too!  It came on the day I finished up my semester at the college and was looking forward to relaxing.

 

Goodnight is on break now too.  There is no snow here, so we’ll have to scrub the sledding goal until another time.  But I have to get that girl out on the ice.  The look of freedom and delight on her face is worth the price of her skates!

Must scoot!  I still have half a glove to knit before Christmas.

Whether it shows itself in a Cup of Christmas Tea or some other way, may your holiday be filled with just the right combination of Passion and Laughter:  Passion for Life, Love, Work, Family, Friends, or anything else, and enough Laughter to make it all . . . do-able!

Happy Holidays! 

The Mad Dash to the Christmas School Bus

Today is Goodnight’s last day of school before her holiday break.  I doubt very much that there will be a lot of ’education’ going on, but that’s fine with me today.  Her schedule is so rigid that there is little time to just chat with her peers.  Today should be more relaxing for her.

GN went armed with presents for her BFF’s and teachers.

I had knit enough Candy Caddies for her to share with whomever she wanted.  The photo below is one I took last summer while I was knitting them.  They are filled with peppermint, spearmint, or cinnamon candies.

I also had knit enough Candy Cane Christmas Clutches for her to give to her BFF’s.  We tucked an envelope of hot cocoa mix and a candy cane flavored Tootsie Pop in each one.

Goodnight packed everything into her backpack, along with her lunch (which included a to-go version of (Home in a Cup’) and headed out the door to her bus stop.  When she opened the door, I heard her say, “OH NO!!!”  It was her bus, pulling up (much too) early to her bus stop.  I should report the driver for doing that and not waiting, but . . . he must have spotted her dashing to catch him because he pulled ’round the corner and stopped at the end of our driveway to pick her up.

I just thought I would share the ‘mad dash to the bus’ story because she can seem too angelic, sometimes, through the filtered words of my Grammy posts about her.  She’s a good girl, but she’s very . . . . . . . normal! 

I’ve been having trouble embedding links, so if anyone wants a look at the pattern for my Candy Caddies, check it out at:  http://goodnightgram.wordpress.com/2011/05/23/candy-caddies/

And for a condensed, poetic pattern for the Candy Cane Christmas Clutch, your can find the directions here:  http://goodnightgram.wordpress.com/2011/06/27/candy-cane-christmas-clutch-the-verse-of-the-purse/

Must scoot!  I am baking a holiday walnut cake that I think . . . just . . . might . . . find . . . its . . . way . . . to . . . Smalltownville . . . for Christmas!

Fa la la la lah! 

“Home in a Cup!”

Sometimes Goodnight writes my posts for me, unwittingly, with her gestures or comments.

Angel used to make Glorified Rice for Goodnight – frequently, so it seems.  Gr8 made it when I was a child.  I made it for Angel and Angel made it for Goodnight.  Goodnight loves to eat rice anyway, but Glorified Rice is a happy memory she has of her mother.  Sadly, I don’t make desserts very often, so she hasn’t thought about it in a long while.

I thought of it yesterday as I pulled my red Chevro-sleigh out of the college parking lot for the last time until my vacation ends.  I stopped at the grocery store and picked up what I needed to make a holiday version of GN’s favorite ‘Mama dessert,”  I bought both red AND green cherries, pistachios, and whipped cream.  Gn doesn’t care for pineapples.  I already had the rice and mini-marshmallows at home.

When I served dessert, she took one look and grinned from ear to ear, took a deep breath, exhaled it slowly and said, “Home in a Cup!  Thank-you, Grammy!”

Now . . . I’m not so sure that I’d call my stemware parfait glass with etched Christmas trees a ‘cup’, but . . . . well, that’s not the most important thing, is it?  GN’s gratitude for such simple things is a precious gift to me.

Christmas Movie Marathon

We’ve come to the end of the semester!!!!!  That means time off work for me and lots of family time in the upcoming weeks.

Mixed in with whatever else we do, Goodnight and I will be having a Christmas Movie Marathon.  I’ve been collecting Christmas movies.  I didn’t start out to have an official ‘collection’, but that’s what it has turned into – this year in particular. 

I found my favorites first, then looked online for lists of Christmas movies to see what else I could look for.  It’s been a great scavenger hunt for me.  Every time I stopped into a thrift store, I looked in the movie section for Christmas movies.  By the looks of things, I’ve had great luck!  Many were 2-bits, but most were less than a dollar.  Some are schmaltzy, but that works for me.  Some are weird, but mixed in with the schmaltzy ones, I can handle them too.

As of right now, I have managed to rescue 108 Christmas movies!  That should keep me out of trouble for most of my semester break, don’t you think?  I love it!  No work tomorrow, so I can stay up late with a movie on while happily tending to some Christmas knitting.

Speaking of Christmas movies, I was downtown St. Paul over the weekend and the Zamboni man was smoothing the ice on the outdoor skating rink that’s been set up in the same area where the parade scene from Jingle All the Way was filmed.  The same building is in both photos below.  Can you spot it way down the street in the parade scene photo?

          Zamboni man                                          Parade Scene

Let me know what your favorite Christmas movies are.

Fa la la la lah!