Warming up

I really don't like water.
Well, I like to drink it, I just don't like to get in it. Unless the water's really hot. I especially like Jacuzzi tubs. I can take or leave the jets, it's the shape of the tub and the hot water you find in the tub that I like best.

One time, in Truckee, we were visiting William's family. Their house sits up on a ridge overlooking the Truckee River. It was winter with fresh snow on the ground and still falling, and a Jacuzzi tub on the back porch. That was the best, sitting there in the steamy hot water, watching the snow fall on us and the river below. Getting out of the tub was painful, but we had really big towels and we ran really fast. Plus, our skin was beet red from water at 120 degrees. That kept us warm for the four seconds it took to run to the door. Four seconds of pain that was well worth it.













At home when I get super cold, the only thing that warms me up is hot water. I run it so hot I could make tea. To get in it should scald me. In my mind, if I make the water hot enough to make me sweat, I'm pretty sure I'll stay warm for a couple of hours after I get out.

The one thing I don't like is air blowing on me when I'm getting out of hot water. It defeats the purpose. Cold air in general is tolerable, but blowing air is another matter. We have a ceiling fan in the bathroom that I NEVER use, even in the summer. I prefer to towel dry than encourage evaporation.

At Jean and Al's there's an exhaust fan in the bathroom ceiling. It's one of those that turns on when you flip on the light. I had forgotten how cold it can make you when getting out of the bath or shower. Today it reminded me of Truckee for some reason. I remembered using this bathroom years ago around the time I was expecting Luke. To keep from getting cold from that fan, I would turn off the light and use candles. I did that the night before I had Luke, and got all ready for going to the hospital early the next morning. It's funny how a little thing like a breeze triggers memories.

I wonder if Luke likes hot water?

Deprived

I have an iPhone. It's an original, 1st generation iPhone that I got as a going away gift when I left my school. I loved that job and didn't realize until I left how much they really loved me - the iPhone was quite expensive when it first came out. That was a pretty nifty gift.
I love having an iPhone. Although not the best camera, it takes decent pictures at a 640 x 480 resolution which looks great on the web, and makes a nice 4 x 6 print, too. I used that camera in Europe when my good one got stolen. I can carry pictures of my grandbabies with me without having to carry a pocket photo album. If I would just remember to put those pictures ON to the phone I'd be doing great.

I used my iPhone in China to talk on Skype for all my weekly meetings for work. That was great, just using the home network instead of Edge. The calls cost me nothing that way and sounded good.

Games for the iPhone are great fun. Like Scrabble, or Bejeweled. I especially like to play them after hours, in bed, when I can't go to sleep. Steve sometimes wakes up and asks me "What are you doing?" That makes me giggle, I guess he still isn't used to it.

My iPhone has gotten me unlost more times than I can count. It's better than my GPS because the maps are up-to-date. Even though there's no GPS in this phone (1st Gen), it does some sort of triangulation that works almost as good and it always figures out where I am (even when I can't) and gets me the heck out of there.

The only thing I don't like about my iPhone is that I can't get pictures via SMS. Yesterday my inlaws got photos of the new baby on their phones, but since my iPhone is lame in that area, I didn't get it. :-(

The newest generation of iPhone can do SMS and a lot more. But I don't need a new phone, this one is great, even without the SMS feature I really miss right now. But I want to see my new baby!

Is there no one with a camera AND Internet who can send me a photo via email? I don't think I can wait until Friday.

Fortuosity

It was fortuosity that Steve got to be in Tennessee for Alora's birth. I'm glad he was there, even if it didn't work out for me. He's getting to spend a lot of time with Ethan and Allie, hopefully time they'll always remember, like our kids remember fun times. He's even getting to teach them all about life with Papa, an important thing to know.

Today Steve took the kids for a walk in the woods. They love it outdoors, like he does. I'm not sure which of them likes it most. Tonight he's watching a film he got for Christmas. We've watched a lot of films over the years, most of them corny and melodramatic. We watch those films today and can't help recall those wonderful memories with the kids. Those films always made us laugh, and Steve was the best one about that. Today he's a happy man, enjoying every minute with his grandbabies, wishing he'd had more of these minutes with his own kids. I find myself wishing things like that all the time, too.

There have been other happy men in history. One of them was a man named Anthony Drexel Biddle. He was an eccentric millionaire in Philadelphia around 1916. His life was so unusual that Walt Disney made a film about him in 1967, calling it The Happiest Millionaire. Sadly, Mr. Disney died during the film's production, but it was one of his most successful live-action films (as opposed to those that were animated).

Mr. Biddle and Steve have a lot in common. They're both a little eccentric, both have a grand sense of humor, both love modern fighting techniques, and both want the best for their families. Unfortunately they don't have the millionaire thing in common, but I guess you can't have everything. I know it's only a film, and (being a musical comedy) probably not all that accurate, but it's still entertaining. I guess you just have to be strange, like us, to enjoy it. This was one of those films we enjoyed watching when our kids were little, and tonight, it's the one Ethan's getting to watch with Papa.

I couldn't resist including a couple of clips here. I hope you can stand it. It still makes me smile.

The best laid schemes

I had the scheme all worked out. When Amanda's baby girl finally decided to arrive this month, Papa (Steve) would take the kids and I'd go to the hospital with Amanda. I'd get to see my fourth grand-baby born.

Then I checked my airline calendar. Darn! What was I thinking?

There are rules about traveling that a person should observe. For instance: You should know the airline where you bought your tickets. That's helpful, especially for the check-in process.

Next, if you buy your tickets extra early, be sure to write the date of that trip down SOMEPLACE you'll be reminded of it now and then.

Or, how about knowing the DATE and DAY you are supposed to leave. That sounds like good advice. Better yet, check your ticket a couple of days ahead of time. Well, I guess you would IF you knew which airline you bought your tickets on, or the date and day you were supposed to leave, and hadn't forgotten about it.

I knew I had a trip in December. I thought it was on the 29th. So I didn't bother to check, thinking I'd just check in online the day of the trip. For some reason today, I thought maybe I should check a day early.

I'm not sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing because, on discovering I had to leave for the airport in 45 minutes, I also found out Amanda was in labor as we were driving to the airport and I was going to miss the whole thing.

Do we have any Kleenex?

After an hour on the road and on the phone trying to change my flight, I gave up. Maybe I should just turn around and forget about this trip. It might cost me my job but this baby will only be born once. !%*)(@&(&!!, I really didn't like this situation or the options.

In the end I made the trip. Had I turned around and gone back, I would have missed the birth, Amanda's labor was only 2 hours (if you don't count the last month of contractions). But I'd be home right now with Papa and Ethan, and would have gotten to hold the baby and see my own baby be a momma again.

This may have been the first time I chose work over one of my kids. I'm not proud of that. Being responsible isn't always very satisfying.

Who invented responsibility anyway, I'd like to have a long talk with that person.

Five minutes of flurries

When I went to bed last night, about 1 AM it was 54 degrees outside. "So much for snow on Christmas" I told Steve.

Boy was I was wrong.

Ethan wore his pajamas to bed inside out on Christmas Eve in hopes of snow, and it must have worked. Large snowflakes flurried around the house at about 9 AM, only for 5 minutes, but it was better than nothing.

Christmas morning brought heavy winds. Although it was 40 degrees outside, it felt like 20. Even the dog couldn't get in the house fast enough.

Christmas has always been about the kids. We enjoyed watching them open the gifts from Gramma and Grampa Coleman, and a few small ones from us.













Ethan got new Spiderman pajamas to wear inside-out plus some Spiderman gloves and hat. It's amazing how dressing like a superhero makes a boy willing to wear clothing items he otherwise won't have anything to do with. For Ethan, it was the beanie. He's never liked hats unless it's a cowboy hat, so his ears are always cold. But Spiderman changed all that.

And what is it about those old-fashioned toys, like the spinning tops? Kids still love those no matter what anyone tells you.













Baby Allie loved her doll. She alternated between feeding the baby bottle to her doll and to our dog, Andy, who she treats like a baby doll.













It was a lovely holiday. Thanks for the calls, gifts and warm wishes. We miss you all but are happy you also had a nice Christmas.

We even watched the Yule Log this year. It was only on TV for 3 hours in the morning, but we didn't miss it. We had a nearly perfect Christmas.

Wish List

When I was a child my mother never knew what gifts to get me, so required me to write a wish list. It was supposed to have on it things I really wanted but would never buy for myself. She would give it to my Grandmother, who always made sure I got my favorite things at birthdays and Christmases.

The first year I was married I made up my list, thinking that maybe my new husband would ask to see it.

He didn't.

I must say, I was more than a little disappointed. It's just the thing a girl learns when she's young and stupid, and hasn't yet let go of her childhood ways. Plus, I missed my Grandmother.

Then I had kids. When we started doing the Christmas thing with our children I wanted to make sure they didn't experience that silly, but painful event of being disappointed in marriage.

It occurred to me that the list thing was not a good idea. If I wanted to know what to get my children, I needed to know them very well and observe. I worked hard at watching their expressions as they saw something they really liked and wanted. A couple of them just wanted everything, that made things especially easy.

Then everyone grew up and moved far away. I really wanted to keep up with being able to listen to them concerning their wants and needs, but not seeing them often made that more difficult. So I gave in, and a couple of years ago we started up the Amazon wish lists.

I love Amazon. I sort of really like the wish list thing too. The thing is, not everyone has been good about keeping them up to date. Plus - SOME of the kids put lame things on their lists this year, making it even more difficult to really know what they'd like to have.

I'm not really sure what constitutes "lame" as an item for a wish list. Someone recently told me that my Amazon list was lame and I was shocked. After all, when I made my list, I put things on it I really wanted but knew I'd never buy for myself, just like my Grandmother ordered. I thought that's the way a wish list worked.

For example; when I was a kid, no one told me that putting green olives with pimentos on my list was stupid, so I did it every year.
This year Christmas isn't really about the gifts. It's just about remembering we love each other. Since we can't be together we like to send something as a reminder that we'd really like to be there with you.

That said, the gifts still need to be mentioned. If you receive a gift from me and/or Steve this year and wonder what the heck I was thinking, just remember - most of your wish lists this year sucked. Except mine, of course.

Incidentally, I always got the green olives. Every year there were two jars under the tree. Lame or not, it was what I wanted, and to this day one of my favorite gifts.

I hope you all know I love you in spite of my lame-o gifts. I know that's not supposed to be the focus of Christmas anyway but I just like to give you each something nice and know you'll be able to use it.
Thanks for not being so materially minded. That makes giving you gifts even more fun. Just try not to wince too much when you unwrap your presents.
Merry Christmas.

Christmas mouse

Today we went to Ethan's school, and watched his class sing some songs and have a party. One of the moms made this cutest mouse cookie. She used graham crackers for the cookie part but you could use anything. I thought they were a perfect Christmas treat.

The recipe usually calls for sliced almonds for ears but one of the children had an allergy so the lady who made these used corn flakes for the ears instead. All you really need is a creative mind and this recipe would be a hit. If you can tell from this picture, she used cherries that had the stems, which became the tail for our little Christmas mouse.

I found a little video on YouTube from a lady who makes these. Just another variation, and she makes it look super easy.

Fabulous Fables

My parents used to tell me the darndest stories. Like how my ears would fall off if I didn't wash behind them. Or how my feet would get huge if I told a fib (I guess that was worse than a big nose).

I told my own children similar tales. One of those was about how hiccups meant you were growing. Another was, if you swallowed a seed, a tree would grow in your stomach. These tales were not intended to be told as truths, just fun fables for kids.

Brothers and sisters also tell tales. Luke told Amanda that if she pulled the plug on the bathtub before she got out, she'd go down the drain with the water and we'd never see her again. That one haunted her for years. They all told Stephen he was Santa Claus, which led him to have the opinion that the men dressed up in red suits were stupid.

Fables are fun. They are also a foundation of our faith throughout life, as well as our fears. Such as, a belief in Santa Claus often helps children understand the concept of a Father God.

I don't make this stuff up, I just repeat it.

This past week, in our town, temperatures soared to 60 degrees on Monday. That's a little too warm for the holiday season, and Ethan went to school worried that it wasn't going to snow before Christmas. His teacher told him how to fix the problem.

"Wear your pajamas inside out when you go to bed, and when you wake up, there'll be snow."
Guess what Ethan did last night at bedtime.

The best part is when fables come true. When Ethan woke this morning there was frost on the ground and windows, and ice on the windshield. He was so excited, convinced it had everything to do with those inside-out pajamas. He's certain that he has to dress like that again tonight, and maybe every night until Christmas, in order to get snow.

If it weren't for fables Disney would never have made so much money. Each of us can recall a fable or two. Some we hate, but others make us smile to remember.

I still chuckle when I think about the day Michelle called me from college, incensed at me for not telling her that hiccups "DO NOT" make you grow.

I guess I forgot to mention, that too, was only a fable.

Angel or Star? or maybe a bird?

We've always had an angel on top of our tree. I'd like to say it's because of the idea of being watched over by an angel, or that displaying an angel is some profound statement of faith, but none of that would be true. We have an angel because, years ago, a friend felt generous, and I've never seen a need to replace it.
When the kids were small we had a paper angel, I think we made it as a Christmas craft one year. I loved that angel but she was falling apart. One year, while we lived in Camarillo, a friend (Patty Bailey) gave us this corn husk angel for Christmas. Its simplicity is what makes it so beautiful, and the kids and I agreed to replace our paper angel with this. She's been with us now for over 20 years.

I usually notice the topper on people's trees. Sometimes I ask them why they choose what they do. One lady I knew had a bird on her tree. She was an adamant atheist, so no star of Bethlehem and no angel for her, thank you very much.

Don't ask unless you really want to know.

Michelle and William have a star on their tree. Michelle wanted an angel but in China you can't buy an angel anyplace. I bet it's illegal, but I don't really know. Stevie has a star on his tree. Annie says she likes the star best.

So, since I'm nosey, and I can't visit all your homes, what does everyone else like? If you have a reason, I'd like to know that, too (for real).

Santa Baby

Remember that old song, Santa Baby? Well it's recently taken on a new meaning for me.
Michelle's a big Christmas lover. If you remember me telling you, she had Christmas music playing in the labor and delivery room for 19 hours, and at home for another day or more. Christmas relaxes Michelle and makes her happy. Plus, she's always wanted a Christmas baby. Now she's got one.

I think it's partly because she loves Christmas so much and partly because she has such great memories of Stevie as Santa at Christmas. But whatever the reason, it's just cute.

And so is our Santa Baby.

Yesterday Michelle called me on Skype. I love Skype. China's a very long way away, but I got to see the baby in her festive outfit. I snapped these shots with my screen capture (hence, the blurriness). Isn't she just the jolliest little thing you've ever seen? (and no, that really is not a scowl, it's just her daddy's forehead)

You can see how much fun her momma is having dressing her up for the holidays.

I remember those days.

On the Fritz

Why is it, the minute you really need something to work, it won't.

The first year we bought our Cowley house, we planned a big Thanksgiving dinner. I boiled potatoes and got ready for the big meal. Then the garbage disposal stopped up. Steve fixed it, but the same thing happened the next holiday. That was when Dad got the BIG snake and fixed the plumbing for good.

Then there was the time I had to rush to school and submit my grades. That was before we went digital. It was also before William's truck had gas in the tank, and of course, I ran out on the way to school. I didn't smell so good when I got there, having spilled gasoline all over my slacks.

Or how about when it was 110 degrees outside and the refrigerator stopped working. I don't mean the icemaker - although that was part of it. I mean the entire fridge. Why does that always happen during a heat wave?

Now it's the heater. It's 16 degrees outside and my heater decided to go on the fritz. I should have known it would happen. It never gets this cold in middle Tennessee this early but, of course, this year it did. I have not been able to get the heater to work properly since Thanksgiving (there we go with THAT holiday again!).

Did I mention that the electric blanket also stopped working?

What the heck...?

Today the heater repair man came, so now the temp in the house is up past 55. Not that 55 is bad, when it's under freezing outdoors, but it's not exactly toasty either.

Good thing I had my fireplace. Andy knows where to stay warm - since he's no longer allowed in my bed.

Egg noggin'

All the talk about eggnog lately has me remembering.

When I was growing up in Michigan we couldn't get eggnog at will in any grocery store. So my dad and I made our own.

We just took milk, eggs, sugar and vanilla, plus a little nutmeg, and mixed it all up in a pitcher. We didn't really have measurements, we just mixed it until it tasted good. In those days no one thought about the dangers of raw eggs. We never cooked our liquid, the fresh flavor of the eggs and milk and sugar were wonderful.

Then my dad would go outside and find a nice clean spot where the snow had fallen and scoop up a great big bowl of the fluffy stuff. Actually he'd get two bowls because once you pour the liquid over the snow it begins to melt. Pouring our homemade mixture over the snow was what Dad and I called snowcream. We'd eat that stuff until we'd pop, because saving it just didn't work. It was something we could only have during the months snow fell in the downriver area.

I made this concoction with my kids in Tahoe when they were growing up. We had an abundance of deep, clean snow so we never ran out of eggnog in the winter. For years when I thought of eggnog, snowcream is what came to mind, not the thick stuff we buy in stores today. That stuff isn't bad, but it is definitely missing something.

Probably the snow.

Today I found a pretty cool website that has several Eggnog Recipes. There's a lot of dumb advertising but the recipes are good. The one called Easy Eggnog sounds like what Dad and I used to pour over our snow. It makes me want to go outside and scoop some up right now.

Too bad it doesn't snow enough here. I guess I'll have to settle for the grocery store stuff after all.
At least today, that's possible.

Rain, Rain

Rain, rain, here today
Making mud for Yogi's play
He jumps and romps when out I go
And makes a mess from head to toe.
Silly goats hide from the drops
Waiting till the splashing stops
Except for one, who stands outside
Getting soaked down to the hide.
Stupid goat just doesn't know
How cold she'll be when temps dip low.

City dog

Yesterday after work I got bored and started clicking that little link at the top of Blogger that says "Next Blog." As I clicked, maybe 40 or 50 times, I was surprised how the majority of those blogs were about pets - usually dogs.

I guess people like their pets. I do. All 14 of them.

Especially Andy.

Andy's never lived anyplace but Bellflower until last month, but you'd never know it. Being afraid of ducks, I wasn't sure how he'd take to the woods. This little video demonstrates his true feelings, even on a muddy path, in 38 degree weather. For a city dog I'd say he's doing just fine.

Oh yes, and you'll see how well he listens, too. He's such a good dog. :-)


We were just walking up the road then all of a sudden, Andy stopped. He raised his head, lifted his foot, then jumped right off the ridge and started chasing a rabbit. He just kept going until he heard me call.

Later, when he ran off into the woods (near the end of the video) he found a nice pile of something either dead or very, very stinky, and of course had to roll in it.

Why do dogs do that?

Andy got a bath when we got home. He stunk SO bad, I really had no choice. Such a good dog.

It's regional

A few years ago I visited New Orleans. I don't remember ever eating real Jambalaya until that week. Whatever I had eaten prior to that visit was NOT what they served in New Orleans. That was truly authentic food.

In Maine, markets serve a small, regional lobster. I blogged about it, having never eaten a whole lobster by myself before. It makes sense, I'm sure there isn't such an abundance of the crusty creatures that they can be shipped nationwide. It was nice to taste the local fare, and compare it to lobster I've had other places. Even without the shell.

There are dozens - maybe hundreds - of regional foods. I'm not talking here about the strange or unusual foods that are served as novelties, like deep fried pickles, but about everyday foods, eaten by normal people on a weekly or monthly basis.

For instance, if you're from California, you probably eat avocados. Being from the north, I could never figure out how to eat those hard green things, until I moved to California. We Michiganders ate normal foods, like Kielbasa. Everyone I know from Michigan has had Kielbasa, and most northerners love it. What is it, you ask? It's sausage, but not just any sausage, it's Polish sausage and the best sausage ever.

Since moving to Tennessee I'm getting to experience a whole new menu of foods. What's normal to the folks here is strange to a northern-westerner like me. I'll try anything once, but some of the foods here I really can't stomach. One of those is Pimento cheese. I'm not talking about the sort of cheese you've seen in blocks. This stuff is made at home, using grated cheddar or jack cheese, pimentos and mayonnaise. Then this concoction is spread between two pieces of bread (maybe 1/2" or more thick!) and served as a sandwich, or worse, in a big bowl by itself. You can even buy this stuff pre-made in a tub at the market. Maybe it's just me (being from the north), but that is just weird.













One good southern dish is catfish. My mom used to order catfish in Michigan but it was gross. That's because catfish is another regional dish, and only in the south do they make it right. Completely filleted, the fish is rolled in corn meal then deep fried in oil. It's always served with french fries (or baked potato), white beans, hush puppies and cole slaw - your choice - either vinegar or mayonnaise slaw. I prefer the vinegar.

Mae took me to eat catfish for my birthday last night at a local diner. People around here will drive many miles for good catfish, but lately the local diner, the Stagecoach Inn, serves fabulous catfish. I usually order it grilled instead of deep fried but last night I splurged! As we ate, Mae and I noticed that everyone who came into the diner ordered catfish. Not one person (that we saw) ordered another entree, at least while we were there.












I guess it's a good thing that foods are regional. It makes things interesting (and amusing). I know I'm laughed at for being weirded out by some of the foods here, but that's OK. People need something to laugh at. Even if it's me.

Fringe facts

Fringe.
Where did that word come from? It's one of those words that can be just about any part of speech - noun, verb, adjective. Its meaning is mostly associated with context, coupled with colloquialism.

There are fringe benefits, both social and financial.

A person's hair can be fringed: those bangs that are shaggy and hang in your eyes. My mother used to tell me to "trim my fringe." Looking back, I think it was an insult.

Of course, the Fox network has a television series called Fringe. I wonder why they picked that name?

There are animals with fringed body parts,

like the fringed-eared oryx


or the fringe-lipped bat (looks more like warts than fringe, IMHO).









A moth's wings get fringed through age, making flight more difficult.

Then there's the way we use the word "fringe" to mean perimeter, or boundary. Now I'm totally confused. No wonder people have trouble learning to speak English.

In my mind fringe is little more than a border, popular especially during the late 1960's and early 1970s. It's something you wear. Michelle bought me a sweater a few years ago with a row of fringe all the way around the bottom. I'm wearing it now. It totally looks like a hippie sweater.

If the shoe (or sweater) fits...













Sometimes "fringe" is used to mean unconventional. Hey -- I bet that's why the hippies all wore fringe - it was a political statement.

I'm starting to catch on!

All about boxes

When I was a kid I loved boxes. I'd get all these toys at Christmas and after everything was unwrapped, I'd jump in one of the boxes a toy was wrapped in, and start rolling around in it. My dad would laugh and say they should just stop buying me toys and give me a box. I was perfectly happy with that.

Boxes are the greatest things. They're almost as useful as duct tape.

With the right box you can:

**mail a package
**move
**hide your daily mail
**store magazines
**pick apples
**cover your electrical wiring
**pack your Christmas ornaments
**make a kitty bed
**carry food to a pot luck
**check out at Sam's club
**buy a month's worth of wine
**patch a hole in the wall
**cover a mouse trap
**teach your baby to sit up
**build a fort
**test paint colors
**recycle
**make yard sale signs
**keep a litter of puppies
**use as a step ladder
**serve tea
**pack away your fat clothes
**put your baby to bed

and probably dozens and dozens of other things.

I guess I've had a lot of experience with boxes, though not nearly enough. They really are magical.

Of course, you could use a laundry basket for many of these things, but somehow it just wouldn't be the same.

Happy __Day

Did it ever occur to you how many restaurants have their own version of a happy birthday song? I never really thought about it until yesterday, when I learned that the annual song nearly everyone sings, Happy Birthday to You, is still under copyright protection, even though it's original copyright was in 1935.

Yep, it's true. You can Snopes it if you like.

The copyright should have expired in 1991, but was extended many times, so that now it's not set to expire until 2030. In the meantime, the current owner, Time Warner, generates roughly $2 million in royalties for the silly song annually.

That's a number two followed by six zeros.

I doubt you're going to get fined or arrested for singing this song to your kids (but I could be wrong). However; chanting this ditty in public really is a copyright infringement. If a person or business is using this jolly jingle to generate revenue, like a restaurant, then singing it probably isn't such a good idea, unless they've purchased a special license granting them permission to use the song.

Wow.

I wonder if the Birthday Dirge is available. I could use a couple million.

Bless us all

Christmas ghosts haunt me.
When I was growing up my family had few traditions at Christmas. Relatives rarely came to visit, other than my grandparents. My mother didn't cook a big meal. We never played holiday music. But we always had a tree, and my dad would hang green garland across the living room ceiling, making the entire house look festive. Plus there were always holiday films.

When I began my family, I wanted my children to remember the holidays and enjoy them more than I did. I wanted them to look forward to the decorations, so I plastered them everywhere. I wanted the kids to know and love holiday music, so I played it all season long. I especially wanted them to love the old films, so we watched them weeks before Santa was scheduled to visit.

When it comes to holiday film watching we definitely have our own family favorites. Some of these are cartoons, like Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer (personal favorite) or Snoopy Christmas. A season can't go by that we don't watch White Christmas at least twice. Since 1985 we rarely forget George Bailey or The Bishop's Wife. Then there's the best Santa flick ever, The Santa Claus. And of course, our biggest holiday favorite of all, The Muppet Christmas Carol.

We start watching these films usually some time during Thanksgiving and don't stop until the New Year. I have to watch Muppet Christmas Carol at least two, preferably three times each season. Christmas makes me smile. Holiday traditions are a beautiful thing, no matter how silly or simple they might seem.

Traditions don't have to be elaborate. They don't have to cost much. They just need to be something fun you repeat together each year, to remember the past and also to create more happy memories for the future. It's the repetition that makes them tradition.

I love Christmas. I love the ghosts that come with it. The music, the movies, the decorations, the food, all the smells and sounds, these are all a part of the happy holiday memory package, especially with my own husband and children.

Do you have a favorite movie, song or tradition?

This year, don't forget to make some memories. and "Expect the first ghost when the bell tolls one!"

Moon phase

Using my telescope is entertaining, especially when I can share that activity with my family. Stephen found the moon (that was harder than you might expect) and we were able to see shadows and craters like never before. Ethan was thrilled.
I don't really know all the phases of the moon by name. I remember years ago, while reading some book to the kids (who knows which one?) we learned the difference between waxing and waning. That made me feel like I knew something.

After everyone left from Thanksgiving I decided to watch the moon more closely with my scope.

I also decided to learn more about the actual names of the phases, so added a gadget to my iGoogle page (Moon Phase). I like this app because it tells the name, the percentage along with the date and time, and a nice little thumbnail of how the moon is supposed to look in that phase.

Of course, that's assuming there are no clouds.

CURRENT MOON moon cycles

It's also a factor if the outside temperature isn't so cold that your face sticks to the telescope. It looks a little different when the lens sticks to the side of your nose.

Internet advice

Every year my Bosch dishwasher goes on the fritz. For a while I stopped using it, since I didn't want to pay a repair man, especially when I have another dishwasher in the butler kitchen.
It never occurred to me, until yesterday, to use the Internet for self-help advice.

I love the Internet.

I found an online bulletin board with the same question I had: Why does my Bosch dishwasher get stuck on 1 minute and not drain? I also found an answer.
Simple fix, I am SO glad I didn't pay someone to do this. All I had to do was take out the filter, take out the lower panel and scoop the water out of the float valve area. I didn't even need any tools, just an empty butter tub, which I filled up with water a couple of times.

Apparently the Bosch (I won't buy another one) doesn't like to be used more than once a day, so when you do, water accumulates on the floor of the unit, causing the float valve to stick. Removing the water fixed the problem.










Last year when this happened I thought it was a dead mouse. I'm thinking now, that probably was not the problem.

Only Katie

Just remember, anything you say or do might be used against you during any holiday season.

Last night, Katie was tired. She claims she was so tired that, after lying down, she didn't want to get back up to brush her teeth.

Bad idea.

To alleviate the problem she put 3 sticks of gum in her mouth (I still can't figure out how she got the gum without getting up).



When Luke came in, he asked her what was in her mouth.

"Gum," she said, and kept lying there.

"You know you're going to have to get up eventually and spit that out, right?" Luke asked, pretty sure he was right.

We're talking about Katie here.

She shook her head. "Nope, you have to take it."

Kidding, right? Nope.

Open wide, Katie.

I'm Dreaming...

Some families have a traditional holiday. That's typical.

The Coleman family is really no different, in some ways. We cook the meal.













We have a turkey, eat a big dinner, talk way too much.














We put up the tree.













We play with the kids and watch the kids play with the dogs.


























We even watch movies. Not just any movie - it has to be White Christmas.














Other families, like ours, have rather unusual ways we spend our holiday time together.











Like the way we dispose of our turkey carcass.








Or the walks we take after supper.
























Or what we do after the sun goes down.






Yep. We're odd. That's what it's like to be a Coleman.

At least we have fun.

Touring Gaylord

I realize my episodes of being a tourist may not be entertaining to everyone. If not, you're free to skip today's entry.
This week I am a tourist in my own state, and my own metropolitan area (at least the closest one). Shari likes to visit spas; she tells me that Gaylord hotels have nice ones. I wouldn't know. I've never before visited any spa anywhere.

Nashville is home to Gaylord's oldest and most elaborate hotel, and I have to say, the spa there was fabulous. I didn't think I'd like all that pampering, but once in a while I could get used to it.

Afterward we walked around the hotel. It's enormous, with decorations that almost outdo Disney. The hotel is more like a city, with over 9 acres of gardens inside. The flowers were blooming, they had poinsettias everyplace, and lights hanging from the ceiling.



We spent 8 hours at the hotel, about half that at the spa and the other half just enjoying the decorations, and of course the food. We ate at the Old Hickory Steakhouse inside Gaylord. They have the best Creme Brule (the steak was good too).

Shari spent way too much money, but it was lovely, a week's worth of vacationing in a single day.

Self portrait on Ice

Thanksgiving week has begun. My sister arrived today and we decided to be total tourists.

First we went shopping. Shari had a whole list of places to see and things to do, so we ended up at Gaylord, where there's an annual Ice Festival.

Inside the temperature is about 20 degrees. Maybe it was warmer but not much. They made us wear parkas, and all the decorations were made of ice. The ice was colored and each of the Snoopy characters were done perfectly. Even the little Charlie Brown tree was made of ice.

I can't play the tourist without taking my own portrait. Not too bad really, and you can sort of see some of the ice behind us.

Everything inside is made of ice, except the carpet and the lights. Even the slide was made of ice - and of course, I had to slide down it.

The only thing that was missing was having a drink inside, but since this is a family place, that was pretty much out of the question.

Afterward we managed to find our way to the Loveless Cafe, a famous southern food spot in the area.

Tea with me

I love tea. Actually, I enjoy any hot drink, even hot water when I'm desperate.

I drink tea every day, not just in the morning but pretty much all day long. Sometimes I can't decide which tea I want, so I have a few at once.

Today I had my usual: white tea and ginseng tea. I like to combine them (but don't tell the Chinese this) because white tea is so mild and ginseng is much stronger. There are health benefits for both, but I drink them together more for flavor than anything.

White tea is something I never liked before going to China. The white tea we get in the States is flavorless. But in China they sell fresh white tea. After all, white tea is a specialty not just of China but of a specific region and terrain there.

White tea is harvested from the same plant as green teas and even black teas (Camellia sinensis ), but is picked younger and processed less. There is no oxidation (or curing) in the preparation for white tea. That's what makes its health benefits higher. One study discovered that white tea has more anit-viral and anti-bacterial benefits than green teas as well as more theanine, a relaxation and mood enhancing amino acid.

When you make white tea there are usually these little specks in the tea that look like dust. Don't get rid of those, they are part of the tea and what make white tea unique. Those specks are the fleshy hairs of the tea leaves, a silvery down that comes from the bud and leaves. The best white teas have them.

White tea is scarcer than the other traditional teas, and a bit more expensive. Typically harvested in the spring, it keeps best in the freezer, to keep the leaves fresh and flavorful.

I also got a fruit tea in China. I've never heard of fruit tea before and didn't think I'd like it. It sort of looks like a bag of dried fruit and flowers. Actually, it IS a bag of dried fruit and flowers, along with white tea added.

I don't care for strong tea. I typically brew my tea for short periods, there's much more tea flavor and a lot less bitter residuals. This is true of both hot and cold teas. If I can't see through my tea I'd rather not drink it.

It's the same when I brew my fruit tea. I put the tea leaves into the pot, pour the water over them then immediately pour the first batch into another holding pot. That gives me more tea out of the same leaves.

Now you are invited to tea with me.

Baby dedication

The International Church in Shanghai is for internationals who live in the city. It's strictly English speaking, and although you don't have to show your passport to get in, it's not for Chinese citizens.

When I visited there the service was very good. Great music and a practical sermon. Michelle and William don't go too often but they had heard there would be a baby dedication day so they took little Bonnie for that. Aren't they lovely?












Today, Nov. 18, is little Bonnie's one month birthday. I can't believe it's been that long already.








More photos on Shanghai Noodles.

Swap shop

Last week I decided to buy a book. It was a book I've wanted for a while, but I didn't want to spend any more money.

I started looking at Amazon's used books. Those seemed reasonable. Books for $0.01 and up. Nice.

Then I happened on a website I hadn't seen before. It's called PaperBackSwap. When you sign up, you can post any books you own that you want to get rid of. I had a truckload of books from grad school I knew I'd never read again. I posted nearly 50 books my first day, and before the day was over, I'd "sold" twenty of them.













I wish this site was around when I bought these books. It would have saved me a lot of money back then.

On PaperBackSwap, when you "sell" a book, you agree to ship your book to the person requesting it. The cost to ship one book is about $2.75 at the post office, or you can use PBS printed postage, or even Stamps.com. At first I used the US Post Office.

So I paid money to let someone else own my books. Hmmm.

Here's the best part. For each book you "sell" you get a book credit. I'm always buying more books (which is why I have so many to get rid of). The PBS database is HUGE (at present there are 4,127,417 books available), so when you find a book you want, you "Order it" and the owner ships the book to you. That's when it costs you nothing. Brilliant.

I know it's going to pay off in the end, but that first day, selling twenty books, it was a little costly just to clear some shelf space.

The nice thing is, now I have room for new books. Twenty-seven of them to be precise.