Ready to celebrate the holidays at last! The shopping is done, presents wrapped, concerts played and now I can finally enjoy time with family and friends. While Christmas is anticipated with excitement and wonder, one of my favourite (UK spelling) celebrations of the season is Boxing Day, observed the day after Christmas.
We hold an annual Boxing Day party for those near & dear to us and share a potluck buffet, gifts for children, and a $10 or less gift exchange for "grown-ups". The main idea is to make it a fun and stress free afternoon for all involved.
OK, I know that aging is part of life and thought I had come to terms with the process, but big numbers are scary! What makes it much less scary is fun. . . and surprises!
Turns out I had lots of both this weekend starting with returning home from teaching on Friday evening to the sound of "Happy B-Day" coming from a wind-up music box in the kitchen. What I didn't know was who was playing it. My sister, Carolyn, from Seattle had secretly flown down the night before to be here for my special day. After that shock wore off, Geoff arrives home from "work" with my bro-in-law (I didn't know he had also flown down at that point) and with Chinese take-out. This was somewhat strange because I had been told we were going out to dinner in LA; turns out the continuing surprise plan was to go to IRIS (cirque du soleil) in Hollywood :~)
A great time was had by all but the next day, after lunch at Maniac Mike's Cafe at Cable Airport, I arrived home to another surprise; a houseful of family and friends. Turns out a party and BBQ was in the making and it went on 'til the cows came home. It was wonderful to spend time with so many people close to me and I was truly taken by surprise; twice!
It's been many years since we've done a proper road trip. This summer we needed to move Geoff's mom to a more intensive assisted living residence and so I suggested we drive and take our time along the way to see my sister in Seattle and weave our way back from Montana through Utah and Nevada.
3 weeks later we had many memories and photos to remember our Great Road Trip of 2012.
Wednesdays are my Art days. I go for my "art therapy" session (at least that's what I call it) in the mornings and Xandie goes in the afternoon. This came about because of the wonderful local artist, Lynn McCallion, who teaches a group of children in La Verne. The mothers became jealous and asked her to consider teaching a painting class for just moms. Voila!
3 days to go until the end of the 2011-12 school year!
Looking forward to a new master bath remodel this month, a quiet July at home next month, and a road trip sometime in August that will take us through Seattle and Great Falls.
I'll continue to teach a few students over the summer and attend my weekly painting class (love the time spent in an altered state). The garden is also beckoning; the front will need summer pruning and the back needs the back border to be completed. Also working on turning the defunct pond into a "wetlands" garden (sounds better than swamp or bog garden, Xandie says).
A new semester brings a new high school schedule for Xandie and so I am now rising 45 minutes earlier on school days. As I have learned over the years, I am not a "morning person" and so this is not an easy transition for me. After all the initial grumbling, I've decided to look for the silver lining in the cloud:
I get to watch the sunrise
I can now make a U-turn in the time restricted intersection by the high school
There is no line in the student drop-off zone
I have an extra hour (+/-) of quiet time in the a.m.
There are more birds visiting the feeder at this hour ("early bird catches the worm")
So, if I continue to search, I'm sure I'll find a few more "positives" in this getting up earlier routine. Like time for another cup of coffee?
Winter concert season is upon us and in full swing. Last weekend Xandie performed in her first youth orchestra concert since returning home from NZ and I have a Concert for Young People with the Claremont Symphony Orchestra this weekend. In two weeks time nearly 400 students from the Claremont School District elementary instrumental music program will be performing over two evenings at the intermediate school. It is an exciting but somewhat stressful time the music teachers! ~I always have both a sense of pride and relief when it's all over.
