Outside my window....there are exactly 9 degrees being blown around out there.  I know because I was out to take my husband to work and I never managed to run into any of them.  Stay warm people. 

I am thinking...I am glad that there are 12 days to Christmas.  I don't think I could take all this celebrating all at once.  Tonight we are off to our very dear friends to play games, laugh until our sides hurt, listen to MK play carols and Ryan and Matthew sing.  Family and the best of friends, this is what it is all about.

I am thankful for....a little person in the house to help make this Christmas season real for all of us.  There is really nothing like having a baby around to remind all of us why we are here and why we do what we do.

From the schoolroom...I am on my own this week.  Matthew is off so he can enjoy friends and family but mom must plow on in order to keep her average up.

From the kitchen....that's a good question.  I think I will put in my bid for scalloped potatoes and ham with the leftover ham from Christmas Eve.

I am wearing....jammies. It isn't my turn to take a shower yet.

I am creating...memories, lots of memories.  Memories of my family and happy times together.

I am going....to stay home and work on my school until it is time to pick up my husband from work and go visit with our friends.

I am reading....nothing for fun.  I have been using all my spare time (what is that?) to play with Layn, visit with the big dude, and soak in the time that we have together.

I am hoping....that each and every person stops and realizes what they have been blessed with. 

I am hearing....MK cleaning up the living room, Melissa on the phone finding out when she has to work this week, the wind whistling around the house and trying to claw its way in, and the hum of the water pump in the basement seeing to it that we all have enough water for showers, dishes, and the ever present laundry.

Around the house....it looks like Christmas.  The living room is littered with toys and various other items that were bestowed on family members.  The kitchen counters are stacked with the Christmas dishes and the table is decorated with greens and candles and the shelf on the server holds the remains of the gingerbread village.  The whole house has a very self-satisfied air about it.

One of my favorite things....sitting snuggled with my husband on Christams night after everyone else has gone to bed.  With a glass of wine in hand under the glow of the lights on the tree is the perfect way to remember the year gone by and anticipate the one approaching.

A few plans for the rest of the week...continue the celebration of the twelve days of Christmas.  My niece comes in late tonight, thursday we celebrate Mary-Kate's birthday with a skating party, another visit to friends later this week, and a very special dinner for the big guy and my niece at the end of the week before they leave.

Here is a picture thought that I am sharing with you...

MK trying on the fleece jacket that I made for her.  I am so glad that she likes it. 

MK and Melissa gave me Buzz Lightyear and Woody and my very own copy of Toy Story 3.  They are my favorite gifts.

Layn didn't get spoiled at all....not!

Matthew is outfitted for defending the truth, justice, and the American way.

Very Merry Christmas to all and may God shower his choicest blessing on everyone in the coming New Year.

All it takes is one big dude and a lot full of evergreens! Viola! Christmas tree!

We couldn't find our usual HUENORMOUS!!!!!! tree this year. 

Outside my window....it is trying to snow and the temp. it 19.  In the words of the famous Christmas song, "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!"  Actually it has looked a lot like Christmas outside around here for a couple of weeks now.  However it is beginning to look like Christmas inside too.

I am thinking....of things yet to do, Christmases past and of memories yet to be made.

I am thankful for...faith, life, and the love of a good man.

From the schoolroom...Matthew is officially on vacation.  I, alas am not.  In order to keep my 4.0 average up I must keep diligently studying and writing and being a good student.  One of my professors did give an early Christmas gift, no assignments this week.  Just 4 chapters to read.

From the kitchen....leftover beef stroganoff from yesterday.  I hear it was yummy! I'll have to think of something creative for the rest of the week.

I am wearing....blue nightshirt and pink jammy pants.  I should be dressed and ready for the day but I haven't gotten it all together yet.

I am creating....a short story for my creative writing class.

I am going.....nowhere today if I can help it.  I'm trying to think of a way to get someone else to go to the pharmacy for me.

I am reading... Come Be My Light: The Private Writings of the "Saint of Calcutta"

I am hoping....to finish the bulk of my required reading done today so that all I have to do is write for the rest of the week.

I am hearing...not a thing.  Melissa is somewhere getting ready for work, Layn is napping, MK is somewhere, and everyone else is gone for the day.

Around the house....everything feels as if the very walls are waiting with breath held for something big that is coming.  I call it the Christmas feeling. 

One of my favorite things....children and adults who haven't forgotten how to be children.

A few plans for the rest of the week....the usual plus a little bit more spiced with a great deal of anticipation, Christmas cheer, and family time together.

Here is a picture thought that I am sharing with you...

The big dude made it home safe and sound early Saturday morning.  I love the way that he slips into his place in the family as if he had only gone to the store for a jug of milk instead of being gone for months at a time.

Saturday morning Matthew was promoted to a purple belt at his karate studio. 

Yesterday the big dude and Layn settled down to do a little reading.  I like how the big one seems to have such a big influence on the little one (or is it the other way around?)

My poetry submission this week for my creative writing class and my peer reviews.

Posted by ann kraeger Thu Dec 16 13:47:58 2010.
Reply:
PAPA
Separated….
yet I still see you.
in fits and starts
glimpses like the frames of an old movie.

In the kitchen in Verona….
drinking a beer
kneeding a pizza dough
sashaying to a sweet jazz riff.

Separated….
yet I still smell you.
in whiffs and puffs
like walking past a row of sweet shops.

In the living room of the old house….
Barbasol on your cheek
pipe tobacco scented with apples
motor oil and wood shavings on your hands.

Separated…..
yet I still hear you.
in whispers and snatches
like overhearing the conversations of other.

In the places in my mind….
“Men are basically evil”
“Is he going to help you get to heaven”
“I love you baby”

This poem was written about my father who is dying of cancer. It describes images and bits of memories that exist in my mind of him from my growing up years. Sometimes these memories are simply thoughts and sometimes they are as real as scents that I truly believe I can smell. Still other times I can close my eyes and actually see my father in the various places that we have been together. The words that he has spoken to me are as real to me and his voice as close as it was when he actually spoke those phrases to me. What I hope to convey with this poem was a sense of peace for myself first and foremost and then I wished to establish a concrete chronicle of him that can be passes on to my children and my grandchildren.
.

ADDED SUBTHREADS

Posted by Hiram Mariner Thu Dec 16 18:06:34 2010
Thread: Ann,

I love this for its great imagery. Just wonderful, I feel like I am there absorbing the sights, sounds and smells. It is extremely personal though, and I see it as a phenomenal gift to the family. It would be so wonderful printed, framed and hung in a very special place. It deserves to be read by those that know your father best and then those that should have known him.

Posted by Suz-Anne Miller Sat Dec 18 14:32:04 2010
Thread: I agree with Hiram. I love your imagery. I also feel the sense that although you love this man and have to deal with the separation you manage to enjoy the good memories without languishing in the sorrowful ones. Simply excellent.

Outside my window....it is an exceedingly gloomy day.  It rained all day yesterday so most of our snow is gone.  Fear not you snow fans! The weather predictors are calling for an excess of snow to fall in out little burgh this week so we should all have a nice clean covering of the white fluffy stuff by week's end.  Besides, the last snowfall was getting a little time worn and dirty from sanders and other such wear and tear.

I am thinking....that a bit of levity would be just the thing around here.  My husband would say that I am always thinking that.  I am the comic relief in this place and he is the seriousness. 

From the schoolroom....I will be flying solo for most of the day since Matthew has to work 10-2 today.  I will endeavor to carry the educational banner alone until he comes home to bear his half of the burden.

From the kitchen....there are leftovers aplenty for today and tomorrow shepherds pie is on the menu.  Yesterday I cooked a sumptuous meal of porkchops and applesauce, mashed butternut squash, mashed potatoes, peas, and chocolate cake.

I am wearing....clothing.

I am creating....words strung together to express coherant thought.

I am going....nowhere today.  I am letting all of my minions do that for me today.

I am reading....The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley for school and The Man Who Was Thursday by GK Chesterton for pleasure.

I am hoping....that the weather cooperates with the fact that the big guy has a long drive in front of him this weekend.  You know, "I'll be home for Christmas..." and all that stuff.

I am hearing...Melissa and Mk planning their day today.  They are taking the dogs to the vet for check ups then they are going to run a few errands.  Matthew wandering around in the other room getting ready to go to work.  Layn is asleep and Doug and Ian have left for work a long time ago.

Around the house....all the housework that is going to get done is done.  The laundry needs to be started and all else is neat and quiet.

One of my favorite things....a successfully adapted chocolate cake recipe and a pleasant evening spent with family.

A few plans for the rest of the week....finish up all the Christmas presants that I have left to make!   Maybe I will even get some wrapped.  Then I have the usual round of places to go, people to see, things to do and stuff to accomplish.

Here is a picture thought that I am sharing with you...

Over the weekend Mary-Kate and Melissa made more cookies than there should be in any one house.  Yesterday the sugar cookies got decorated.

Melissa concentrates very hard.  So much so that when I point the camera at her she doesn't even flinch.

Matthew likes to be unique.  He ended up changing a cowboy boot into a fashionable ladies boot.

Kim is blissfully unaware of all around her.  She simply has a plan and make sure that it happens.

Brett is a man with a mission.  He's going to get in there, decorate those cookies and get out.  He will leave no cookie undecorated, Sir!

Mary-Kate is the artist.  She flits from one cookie to the next waiting for the proper inspiration to strike her so that she will get each one "just right".

The grandmas are coming today for dinner so I decided to make a cake.  Melissa has discovered recently that Layn is extremely attracted to the Kitchen Aid stand mixer.  When you get it out and put it on the counter he cannot take his eyes off of it.

When the batter is in there and it is turned on all the way his eyes light up and he makes noises like he is urging it to go faster and faster.  That was one well-beaten cake batter 'cause we got such a kick out of watching Layn and the mixer.

After the batter is in the pan every boy has to have the privilege of tasting to make sure that it is good.  We wouldn't want either grandma to come and eat a cake that isn't good.

Judging by the way that he cleaned up the spatula and then his mom's fingers I'd say that I made a pretty good cake.

You can't teach them too young to lick the spoon clean.

I stepped outside the front door and snapped this picture.  Same aspect as yesterday's picture, no snow falling this time.  The round bale feeders are clear and you can see all the way across the field to state route 5.

This is standing outside the back door.  Where yesterday there was no way to see the valley or the field and woods beyond, today they are all quite clear.  It seems that the snow has stopped falling for the time being.  Maybe Ian will get to come home and get some much needed sleep.  His bed is waiting for him and all is in readiness.