Merry Christmas

"It comes every year and will go on forever. And along with Christmas belong the keepsakes and the customs. Those humble, everyday things a mother clings to, and ponders, like Mary in the secret spaces of her heart."
~ Marjorie Holmes

It is approaching 3:00 o'clock on Christmas Eve, my favorite day of the year. The table is set for our red and white Canadian themed Christmas. The beets, carrots, parsnips and onions have been prepared for roasting. The brussel sprouts are washed and waiting to be steamed in orange juice and orange zest. All the gifts are wrapped in red and white paper and ribbons. And I am about to slip into a hot bath before I dress to greet our family for dinner. We are a small group again this year - just ten. Cath and Stan, Marg and Bob, Gail and Frank, and Nancy will join Merv, Jacob and I for our annual Christmas Eve dinner. I'm usually a bit stressed around this time but today, I am not. It feels easy this year. I decided to set the table last night which gave me an extra hour or so this morning.

I usually plan my table far in advance but this year I didn't even settle on the table gifts until the day before yesterday. I struggled to put my finger on something that would suit my red and white Canadian theme. In the end, I bought big fat, chocolate-filled candy canes and Tim Horton's gift cards. I used my Christmas china and crystal, red tablecloth and white poinsettia napkins and Gail sent a bouquet of white freesia and pine. The table looks pretty.

Though Jacob is grown, I find myself unable to let go of those Christmas traditions I started when he was small. So this afternoon I'll put Jacob's new pajamas on his bed and sometime late tonight when all the guests have gone I will put out Merv's and Jacob's stockings which I have already filled. Then I'll slip into my new Christmas pajamas, pour myself a glass of wine and watch It's a Wonderful Life for the fiftieth time. I love Christmas.

Purely Happy

Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.
- Buddha

Our Christmas trees have been up for two weeks now. The foyer has been decorated in the red and white of this year's Canadian Christmas theme. Santa is standing at the base of the stairs. But it wasn't until Jacob arrived just before six last night that it finally felt like Christmas. I wasn't sure I would be able to stop hugging him. He indulged me with great patience. Once I was finally able to let go, our conversation turned to the odors wafting from the kitchen. Jacob was salivating. Before heading out for a meeting at the clinic yesterday, I put a host of beef ribs in the slow cooker and left them to cook in a concoction of dark beer, chili sauce, beef broth and maple syrup. I made the recipe up on the fly. The result was yummy. When I got home, I made a huge pot of mashed potatoes and steamed some vegetables. I was putting the finishing touches on dinner when he arrived.

Though his hair is longer than mine, he still looks great. There are moments though, when I hardly recognize the man who is my child. He has a cool confidence about him that I haven't seen before. It becomes him.

Though I hated to ask him for a favor so close to his arrival, I found myself having to ask for his assistance with an IT problem we were having at the clinic. The problem required a fast intervention. "No problem", he said and so this afternoon we spent a half hour at WTCLS where he solved our problem in pretty short order. Our day together has been easy, the rhythm of our companionship comfortable. I almost forgot how much I enjoy his company. The house feels full. I am purely happy.

Two More Sleeps

“Human beings are the only creatures on earth that allow their children to come back home.” - Bill Cosby

Two more exams. Two more sleeps. Two more days. Jacob will be home on Wednesday. I haven't seen him for three weeks. I miss him so much that today I feel like I can hardly breathe. I've been counting the days for weeks now. He is counting the hours. Fifty-two hours. Feels like an eternity.

Tomorrow I will go to the grocery store and buy all his favorites. Wednesday morning I will start cooking up a storm. I plan to wait on him hand and foot the whole time he's home. Jonathan will be home on Saturday. Sara will be home next week but only for one night before she leaves for a family vacation so I won't see her until after Christmas. I don't know when my other kids will be home but I trust they will all converge on our house. So the next few weeks will bring a lot of work, noise and mess. I can hardly wait.

A Christmas Wish from a Left-Wing Pinko Kook

“So let us begin anew - remembering on both sides that civility is not a sign of weakness, and sincerity is always subject to proof.” - John Fitzgerald Kennedy

It is Christmastime - you know, a time of goodwill and peace. A time to embrace your neighbours and set aside the grievances of the past year. And I hope, a time to turn down the hateful rhetoric which is filling our air waves and newspaper columns each day of late. This left-wing pinko kook is making a plea for civility.

On Tuesday, Don Cherry, Canadian hockey broadcasting icon was the special guest of Rob Ford at Mr. Ford's mayoral inauguration. A lot of people were a bit surprised by Don Cherry as the choice of who would have the honour of hanging the chain of office around the new mayor's neck. Cherry isn't a resident of Toronto and while he fancies himself a political pundit, he has no expertise in the political arena. His clearly right-wing and often hateful statements have shocked and upset people across the country for years. The Globe and Mail and the Toronto Star both took positions that called upon Mr. Ford to choose someone who would bring dignity to the occasion, but Mr. Ford was not persuaded. Unless you have been living under a rock these past few days, you are aware of the hateful diatribe Mr. Cherry unleashed when he took the microphone to introduce Rob Ford. Calling the press, those who did not support Mr. Ford and those who have a different view of the needs of our city, a brunch of pinkos and left-wing kooks, Mr. Cherry helped to widen the chasm between city councillors on the left and those on the right. He caused deep offense to many of the city's citizenry, me included. How dare Don Cherry characterize me as a pinko kook because I disagree with him politically.

Not that it will ever happen, but Mr. Cherry owes all the citizens of Toronto an apology. So does Mayor Ford. Though I do not have a public platform from which to espouse my views, I too have done some name calling of Mr. Cherry and Mr. Ford these past couple of days. All of my name choices have been related to anatomical actions and parts. And at the moments I used them, those names gave me a little release of my anger. But, of course, it did nothing to improve the situation.

I wish there was some way to call everyone together and hammer out an agreement that would result in some civility. We have real problems in this city, real challenges ahead. We need to talk. We need to work together. We need to find a better way. Enough of the hateful rhetoric. I'll try if they will.

Black Dora

Dogs are miracles with paws.
~Attributed to Susan Ariel Rainbow Kennedy

On the day I said goodbye to Dora I asked her to send us a little black version of herself for her humans to adopt when the time seemed right. I didn't want another small white pup because I didn't want to feel like we were replacing Dora. I believed from her vantage point in heaven, Dora could bring the right puppy into our lives - my role, of course, only as aunt; Brian and Geraldine as parents.

A couple of months after Dora passed, Geraldine decided she was ready. She wanted a new puppy. It had to be a rescue dog, had to be small, female and non-shedding and housebroken and it couldn't be either too young or too old or be suffering any serious health issues. Ger didn't know how to find this dog but knew the sources to do so are on the internet. Ger can't operate a computer. So the job of finding a dog fell to me.

There are hundreds of dogs looking for homes available for rescue within the Toronto region. I looked at about two hundred of them before showing a cute little pup named Sophie to Geraldine. Sophie was being fostered near Niagara Falls. Her foster mother, a cop, met Brian and Geraldine in Grimsby so they could meet her. Brian liked her a lot. Geraldine didn't feel a bond. For the next few days they agonized. Geraldine was worried that if they didn't take her, Sophie wouldn't find a home. Brian wanted her and Ger was ready to take her though she didn't feel the connection. I stepped in. Sophie would find a home. She wasn't the right one. So one Sunday evening I looked at another eight hundred dogs. Then I came upon a black version of Dora. She is two years old, healthy, handed over to a shelter by her owners who apparently had an allergic child. She is being sheltered in Northern Quebec though a Brampton based rescue agency is brokering her adoption. She's adorable. Oh, did I mention...her name is Dora.

Ger still couldn't decide. She was worried about Sophie. When she called the adoption agency about Sophie, she was told Sophie had been placed in a new home and was no longer available. Ger was free to adopt Dora without guilt. Adopting a rescue dog is an arduous process. There were application papers to file and contracts to sign. Most of the process was done on line which means of course, I did it. The fees were sent to the shelter in Quebec and the wait began. It took almost two weeks. On Thursday we got the word. Everything had been processed. The adoption was finalized.

Dora will make the long trek from Northern Quebec (about eleven hours away) to Toronto on December 20. She will be welcomed into the arms and hearts of her new humans. Ger will give her a warm bath and comfy bed. I can hardly wait to meet her.

Glitter and Glue

“The greatness of a craft consists firstly in how it brings comradeship to men.”
- Antoine de Saint-Exupery

A couple of days ago Cath sent me an email from Martha Stewart Crafts. It was a how-to-guide to make glittering seashell ornaments. Cath wanted them but wondered if the required skill was beyond her grasp. I had to laugh. Unless I was missing something, it looked to me like a simple craft of glitter and glue - sort of like a more sophisticated version of a kindergarten activity. I watched the video and sent Cath a note. I would pick up the glitter and look for seashells. And Cath would come over for the evening and together we would create glittering seashells, Martha Stewart style. I called Geraldine and asked if she wanted to join us.

So for two and a half hours last night, we drank wine and played. Watching Cath and Ger provided me with some of the best entertainment I've had in a long time. They had so much fun making their ornaments that I don't even mind that my kitchen floor is covered in fine glittering powder that I'll probably still be seeing evidence of next year.

After they left, I sent a text message to Jacob. I was less than happy to hear that he has picked up another bug. He starts writing exams on Monday. I admire how hard he has been working these last months but as predicted, his body was bound to revolt against too little rest and too little food. I offered to bring him home for the weekend but he insists he will muddle through. With less than two weeks until he is home for the holidays, I suppose we both will.

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas

Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful. ~Norman Vincent Peale

The start of the month of December means I can go full force in decorating for Christmas. A few items have been creeping into the decor for the last week but I somehow didn't feel I could really go all out before today. At some point this afternoon I will take the ladder into the back storage room and take down the pine garland so I can wrap the bannister. I'll also take a trip to Canadian Tire to buy some red lights for my red and white, Canadian Christmas theme this year. I have just about every other colour but not red. I'll take out my Christmas towels and all my angels and the big Santa. It's all very exciting.

Last year when I was putting all the decorations away, I lost my favorite pair of glasses. I had presumed they would turn up but they never did. I'm hoping that they'll show up in a box of Christmas decorations. In a week or two, Merv will go out and buy the trees. He'll probably wait until Jacob comes home on the 15th.

I'm extremely behind in my shopping this year. I've done the girls and my shelter family but I have nothing for Merv or Jacob, Stan or Bob. The men are hard. They don't need anything and don't seem to long for anything. We will give Jacob money, his favorite gift, but I still need to find some treasures to put under the tree for Christmas morning. Perhaps tomorrow I will make a trek out to the Tommy Bahama outlet store and see if I can find a deal on jeans. He likes Tommy jeans. I'll also keep my eyes out for a couple of great shirts. A trip to the liquor store is also in order. He likes branded beer glasses and there are usually some beer glass gift packs available at this time of the year. As for his dad, I haven't got a clue. Suggestions anyone?