my wrestle with a root

Many of you know that we moved into a new house about two weeks ago. We love our new house. After we get a few more things (and to swap out some of our non-matching furniture), I might end up posting some pictures on here.

For now, though, I'll give you a small preview of our side yard (see below, but pay no attention to our dilapidated shed in the background). Our house was vacant for several months before we purchased it, and I've been trying to clean up the yard when the weather is decent. (And, miraculously, all of the snow and ice has melted since our Snowpocalpyse/Snowmageddon last week.) Today I tackled some of the dead grass and prickly vines in our side yard. There was one prickly vine whose root would not give way, no matter what I did. I pulled on that root (and dug a huge hole, trying to loosen the root) for a good thirty minutes. My legs and arms were trembling from exertion. And finally, finally, the root gave way to reveal my largest uprooting achievement. Ever. I was so proud, I made Sam hold the root (to give a sense of scale) and I took a picture:

This root was even larger than what is shown above; a couple of parts snapped off in the uprooting process. And yes, my son is wearing a Jack Sparrow hat, sweat pants, and puffy coat. Fashion does not suffer when we do yard work.

Christmastime!

As I was formulating this post in my mind, I realized that I write a lot of lists on this blog. I write down lists of things I accomplished, lists of things that I want to accomplish, lists of awesome things that I like, etc. Huh. I guess that's indicative of my personality. What can I say? I like lists and organization. And I suppose I measure the passing of my life through lists and accomplishments. In some ways, I guess my life is one big "To Do" list.

That being said, gear yourselves up for a list of the things that our little family has done this holiday season. Although we didn't feed reindeer or go to a Messiah sing-in this year, we still got to do a lot of fun things. And I think that we are finally ready for Christmas to come.

We kicked off our Christmas festivities this year at the Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI). We watched the Christmas ship parade outside the museum with our friends Meka and John. It was at this event that Sam got to meet Santa Claus (and where Sam also learned the non-committal response that the "mall Santa Claus" figures give to little children who ask for specific toys: "Well, I'll see what I can do!").

We went to Snowflake Lane a few weeks ago. It was fun, although we were standing by a self-conscious high school drummer who seemed a little inhibited. The drummers across the street seemed much more energetic and lively. Sam especially liked getting a peppermint Tootsie Pop from one of the drum line helpers (he was eating it when I took this photo).

We have gotten to visit with dear friends. This picture was taken on our recent trip to Texas. We visited some art museums (including an art exhibition on Caravaggio) and also visited my dear friend Katie.

Sam had a great time playing with Katie's little girl, Haylie. I'm vying for an arranged marriage between these two, but that might not even be necessary. Love is in the air, don't you think?

Last week we went to the Garden d'Lights at a nearby botanical garden (which we have visited before). However, this is the first time that we have seen a smoking dragon in the Japanese garden. Sam was pretty excited about this new feature.

On Monday J and I got to see the Northwest Boychoir perform in Saint Mark's Cathedral. It was a fantastic concert, and the acoustics were great. I especially liked hearing the boy sopranos - what a clear, beautiful sound! You can see a video clip of their performance last year on YouTube.

We decorated a gingerbread house last night. My Grandma S mailed Sam a cute little gingerbread kit that includes characters from Rudolph the Reindeer. I especially love the gumdrop Abominable Snowman!

As you can see, we've gotten to do a lot of fun things. I also wrote a family Christmas newsletter this year (for the first time!). Sam has written his letter to Santa, too. Yesterday I even made treats for some of our neighbors: peanut butter blossoms (notice how the linked recipe says that the cookies are a "beginner" skill level) and my friend Kelly's amazing fudge.

I don't think that there's too much more to do, in terms of Christmas activities. (We have plenty of other things to do around here, but that's a story for another day.) The presents have been bought and our visiting family members will begin to arrive tomorrow. I think Christmas can officially arrive. Merry Christmas, friends and family!

letter to Santa

Sam wrote (well, dictated) his first letter to Santa this past weekend. I though I'd copy the letter contents here, just in case Santa follows my blog:

December 2011

Dear Santa,

I want a green flashlight for Christmas, too. Merry Christmas to Santa. The blue Lightning McQueen for Sam. Green scissors for Sam (that I can cut by myself).

Thank you and please.

Sam

Christmas music

Keeping up with the theme of Christmas entertainment, I thought that I would also jot down some of the Christmas music that I especially love during this time of year.

I know that there are more songs to add to this list, but these are all of the ones I can think of at present. I’ll continually add to this list as I remember other wonderful Christmas songs (or become familiar with ones!).

• "White Christmas" sung by Bing Crosby (both the recorded version or the version from the beginning of the film).

• "Jingle Bells" sung by Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters

• "The Christmas Song" (also called “Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire”) sung by Mel Tormé. (In 1963, the Judy Garland Christmas Show featured a fun duet for this song with Garland and Tormé).

• "Baby It’s Cold Outside" sung by Dean Martin (although I really love the new version that was recently released by American Idol contestants Casey Abrahms and Haley Reinhardt).

• "Christmas Blues" sung by Dean Martin (I'm guessing that the linked video is from a Colgate Comedy Hour episode.)

• "Let it Snow" sung by Dean Martin

• "Zat You, Santy Claus?" sung by Louis Armstrong

• "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" sung by Judy Garland (as performed in "Meet Me in Saint Louis")

• "Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town," specifically a jazzy arrangement by Kirby Shaw (This is a nostalgic song for me, since I sang this song in high school with my two close friends, Katie and Heather.)

•"Happy Xmas: The War is Over" by John Lennon (The music video for this song seems especially relevant this year, with all of the troops coming home.)

• "Wonderful Christmas Time" by Paul McCartney & Wings

I also love traditional,

sacred Christmas music

that has been written

over the centuries.

Choral performances

are some of my favorites.

• Handel’s "Messiah" (One of my favorite soprano soloists for the Messiah is Emma Kirby. I love listening to her agile, clear voice sing "For He is Like a Refiner's Fire.")

• "Lo How a Rose Ere Blooming," especially when sung by Frederica von Stade in the Carnegie Christmas concert (see below).

• "Coventry Carol" ("Lullay, Lullay, Thou Little Tiny Child")

• "O Come, O Come Emmanuel"

• "The Angel Gabriel" (sometimes called "Gabriel's Message")

• Benjamin Britten’s "A Ceremony of Carols" (Some of my favorites are "Procession," "Wolcum Yole," "Spring Carol," "Balulalow," "Deo Gracias," and "There is No Rose.")

• "Whence is that Goodly Fragrance Flowing?" (or in French: "Quelle est cette odeur agréable?")

• Music from the 1991 Carnegie Christmas Concert with Frederica von Stade, Kathleen Battle, and Wynton Marsallis (I included a photo of Frederica and Kathleen at the top of this post). "The Twelve Days of Christmas" performance is one of my favorites. And I love "Gesu Bambino." And the "Christmas Songs" medley.

•I also love listening to fantastic Christmas music sung by boy choirs.

There are some great YouTube clips of the King's College Cambridge

choir singing, "Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day," "Sussex Carol,"

"Maria Sitzt am Rosenhag," "Coventry Carol,"

and "In the Bleak Mid Winter."

Okay. Now it’s your turn. What Christmas songs do you enjoy?

Image above: Giotto's Nativity from the Scrovegni Chapel (1305-1306).

Christmas movies

This Christmas season has been especially fun with Sam this year. Now he’s old enough to appreciate a lot of the Christmas movies that Jeremy and I enjoyed when we were young. J and I have a lot of fun showing him different Christmas shows, books, and holiday-related activities that enjoyed when we were younger. We’ve also tried some new activities too, like going to the “Snowflake Lane” presentation (with a drum line dressed up like toy soldiers).

Here are the children’s Christmas shows that we have introduced to Sam this year:

• The claymation Christmas movies, including Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman, and Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town.

• A Charlie Brown Christmas

• How Grinch Who Stole Christmas (see here and here)

• ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas (I don’t think I ever watched this show as a kid, but J watched it quite often.)

Sam especially loves How the Grinch Stole Christmas. We showed him the movie about the same time that we borrowed the Dr. Seuss book from J’s parents. Sam likes to reenact the Grinch’s movements while J reads the story. He especially likes to repeatedly pull down on an imaginary Max (see 5:32 of this clip), when the Grinch says, “It came without ribbons! It came without tags! It came without packages, boxes, or bags!” Oh, and he also likes to slither and slink around the Christmas tree like the Grinch (see 4:19 of this clip).

We also have had many-a-conversation about how the Grinch was able to lift the sleigh after his heart grew three sizes. I think Sam interprets the Grinch to be some kind of superhero.

I’ve enjoyed revisiting these children’s Christmas movies with Sam this year. It will be fun to introduce him to my own favorite Christmas shows, as he gets older. Two of my favorite Christmas shows are It’s a Wonderful Life and White Christmas. J grew up watching the musical Scrooge with his family; he always wants to watch that show before Christmas. (I know – it’s a shocker that my husband actually likes a musical.) He also likes to watch Edward Scissorhands sometime around the holiday season. So, I guess for us, Christmas isn’t complete unless we can celebrate with Jimmy Stewart, Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney, Albert Finney, and Johnny Depp.

What are your favorite Christmas movies (for the young and/or old)?

on aging

Marble statue of an old woman, 1st century AD (Roman). Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Over the past several weeks, I have gotten up early just about every weekday morning. I wake up between 6:00 and 6:30 (or "in the sixes," as my sister-in-law would say). And as I rush around and drive to work at such an unhuman hour (at least, an unhuman hour for me), I have felt the effects of gravity. My face seems to sag that early in the morning. My eyes look tired and droopy. I feel like I have jowls on my face (which, luckily, I really don't). Sometimes I wonder if wrinkles are sprouting on my face the moment that I look away from the mirror. I just feel old. And my body feels old. Sometimes I feel like I've aged four years in the past four months.

With my thirtieth birthday approaching next year, I can't help but think about aging. I've never really thought much about being old (or being middle aged), because, well, I've always been young. And now I've started to realize that I care about being young (and looking young), at least a little bit. Since when did I care about that kind of stuff? This is an interesting realization for me, especially since I feel like I'm rather casual when it comes to my appearance. Sure, I wear a little makeup, but I can't remember the last time I wore something like a mud mask.

I'm psychologically adjusting to the fact that I'm not that young anymore. Maybe I'm just youngish? Or maybe I'm not even that?

feedback to buoy me up

Sometimes I feel like I'm working my brains and heart out this quarter, all to no avail. Even though I have had a lot of frustrating and difficult moments this quarter (especially with my online class and plagiarists), this afternoon I felt like all of the anxiety and stress was worth it. In my inbox, I found this email from a student:

"I just wanted to let you know how much I like the online class. It is one of the most fascinating classes that I have ever taken. I think you are a great professor. You have not just taught me about the art itself, but also to appreciate the artwork even more. . . Honestly, if I would have had you as a professor earlier in my college life, I probably would have been an art major...Thank you for teaching me so much about the history of art, I will never look at artwork the same way."

This email means a lot to me. After all of the stress, drama, and anxiety that has surrounded the past few weeks - I feel like I've made a difference.