Archive for December, 2008

I think the following pictures need no explanation … at least not if you are a parent. Let me explain to those of you whose only worry at Christmas is whether or not you get enough drinks from the open bar at your company christmas party: The worries of christmas change a bit once you have kids . Oh, I am not going to get all smushy and get into the it’s all about seeing those eyes shine with cheer on christmas morn. That is a topic I can only tackle after I recover a bit more from the frenzy that is christmas day in our house.

No, I am talking about the frenzy on christmas eve. When the ‘little ones’ are in bed, after having dutifully baked and decorated cookies with mom and leaving a carpet of flour all over the kitchen, just to disappear into thin air as soon as the last cookie sheet has been taken out of the oven (call me mommy when they are cooled down so I can try one ….). After they wrote their little letter to Santa (Kid: Dear Santa. Don’t forget the Wii! Parent: Oh Shit, I knew I forgot something …). After they placed the best cookie, some grapes and cheese (Hey, Santa must get sick of all the sweet stuff) on the Santa plate and some carrots and water (reindeer have to eat, too) on the porch. After we assured them for the 13th time that Santa will be able to come to our house EVEN THOUGH WE DON’T HAVE A CHIMNEY ….. and after we checked for the last time Santa’s progress on th NORAD Santa Tracker.

AFTER all that, when daddy flops his butt on the couch with a bottle of beer  … and mommy sits her but on the floor to start wrapping the dozens of presents. THAT is when the REAL worry starts.

Do they both have the same amount of presents? Should I sneek a peak into Grandma’s present to make sure that it is not another copy of the ‘Prodigal Son’ or ‘How to raise the difficult child’ (not kidding, both have happened). Where did I put that gift I bought two months ago on sale? I know I put it somewhere …. safe ….. Shoot, out of tape… again. Where are the tags? Did I get the thing they wanted most? Do they actually deserve all of these gifts ……

Well, and then, after I fall exhausted and with papercuts everywhere in the comfy chair, I realize once again, that I can’t wait for morning to come and see their shiny faces all excited. Hey, what can I say. I love my little tykes. And the big one, too. Who, by the way, managed to surprise me after 13 years of marriage by gifting me some candles for christmas …. you would have to know that he has a surprising and incurable fear of candles in the house …. yet, I got two for christmas. Ah. Gotta love christmas.

Below then are some pix … before, after and during the christmas paper shred fest. Happy Holidays Everyone!

One of the things that never fails to amaze me about working with seniors is that they will be able to provide you with most every recipe, ingredient, song title, TV show anecdote, etc. you will ever need to recreate your childhood. Things that have long since been eliminated from any modern mom’s brain by the automatic ‘make room for more crazy day to day things I need to stuff my brain with to function on a daily basis’ stuff’delete mechanism . Things like the recipe for salt dough ornaments.

Just the other day I was reminiscing with one of my senior residents about those home made Christmas ornaments we used to make when I was little and how I lost the recipe to make them. And what do you know, the next day I found a lovely little card in my office mailbox with the handwritten recipe. These are the moments that remind me why I love what I do for a living.

So, for those of you out there who also have been hunting for the recipe (not that I couldn’t have just googled it … but that somehow doesn’t feel the same …..) here it is:

 Ingredients:

• 4 cups of flour
• 1 cup of salt
• 1 1/2 cups of hot water
• Rolling pin
• Cookie cutters or cardboard templates
• Ribbon or raffia
• Clear acrylic varnish
• Acrylic paints (optional)
• Small brushes
• Toothpick, pencil or straw for creating hole in top of ornament

Directions:

Combine the water and salt in a bowl. Stir to dissolve some of the salt. Add the flour. Knead to form a dough. Roll the dough out to about ¼-inch thickness on a lightly floured surface.

Cut out the shapes using cookie cutters or by tracing around a cardboard template with a knife.

Pierce a hole in the top for threading with ribbon later.

Place the ornaments on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake in a preheated 300-degree F oven until dry. This will take about 50 minutes to an hour. The thicker the ornament, the longer it will take.

Remove the ornaments from the oven and cool.

Once cool they can be painted if desired. Varnish the ornament to help keep out moisture so the piece will last longer.

Thread a piece of ribbon through the hole and hang! Makes about 70 3-inch ornaments.