Finally a Real Snowstorm

There was snow this morning - about ten inches, I believe, over the last 24 hours. It was too treacherous this morning to take photos along the way, but there was this scene out my office window:
The honey on my desk looked particularly warm and sunny today:
And some day I'm going to bowl at the Student Center just for the $#@! of it:

Busy, Busy, Busy

We got a tree, ordered cards, decorated (actually, Girl-child did a lot of that).

It's pretty impossible to photograph a tree with lights in the dark, but you get the idea. The tree was purchased from the University Forestry Club - small and shapely and very reasonably priced:
Some favorite ornaments (sorry about the flash, Sweet Pea) ...

Thing One and Thing Two:
This is something Girl-child made in preschool, I think - small piece of felt, cotton ball stretched out, googly eyes and a mancala piece:
A Santa with a nose, but no eyes:
A sheep - Sue, I believe you're responsible for this?
Some old-fashioned and modern in the mix:
And cookies:
I made two batches of cookies so far, Boy-child helped prepare for sending my mother's cards and, would you believe, I finished the Wanida socks?

It's been especially fun since we weren't here last year. And best of all? It's supposed to start snowing tomorrow.

Secrets

Problems with the video? click on this link:

PostSecret: Confessions on Life, Death and God from Frank Warren on Vimeo.

The gal is right - If they divulge their secret on video, it's not a secret any more, is it?

Oda a los Calcetines de Pablo Neruda

(I'm not sure how it is possible that no one told me about this before - thank you Yarn Harlot)

Me trajo Mara Mori

un par de calcetines,

que tejió con sus manos de pastora,

dos calcetines suaves como liebres.

En ellos metí los pies

como en dos estuches

tejidos con hebras del

crepúsculo y pellejos de ovejas.

Violentos calcetines,

mis pies fueron dos pescados de lana,

dos largos tiburones

de azul ultramarino

atravesados por una trenza de oro,

dos gigantescos mirlos,

dos cañones;

mis pies fueron honrados de este modo

por estos celestiales calcetines.

Eran tan hermosos que por primera vez

mis pies me parecieron inaceptables,

como dos decrépitos bomberos,

bomberos indignos de aquel fuego bordado,

de aquellos luminosos calcetines.

Sin embargo, resistí la tentación

aguda de guardarlos como los colegiales

preservan las luciénagas,

como los eruditos coleccionan

documentos sagrados,

resistí el impulso furioso de ponerlas

en una jaula de oro y darles cada

día alpiste y pulpa de melón rosado.

Como descubridores que en la selva

entregan el rarísimo venado verde

al asador y se lo comen con remordimiento,

estiré los pies y me enfundé

los bellos calcetines, y luego los zapatos.

Y es esta la moral de mi Oda:

Dos veces es belleza la belleza,

y lo que es bueno es doblemente bueno,

cuando se trata de dos calcetines

de lana en el invierno.

~Pablo Neruda

Text with English is here

Art

Girl-child and I had an artistic outing today.

It included an illegal shot inside an exhibit with venetian blinds, lights and a drum kit:
The freshly painted cherry-spoon bridge:
Calder sculptures, which Girl-child loves:

I got a framed Basilica shot, which I've never done digitally:
And I visited an old favorite:
We even left our own artistic imprint on a much less beautiful corner of town:

House-Full

There's nothing like a house full of kids to lift your spirits. I woke up last night to discover that a friend of Girl-child's was sleeping here.

Having children around must be what keeps The Sandwich Generation going. I'm not sure what folks do when they have aging parents and no children; more time to take care of the parents, to be sure, but less opportunity to see the future.

We watched Coco Before Chanel yesterday, as I mentioned, which was interesting. I didn't know anything about her early life (only a little bit of the WWII part). I also love Audrey Tautou.

In the evening we watched Smoke Signals; I still can't quite figure out why. It came recommended by an unlikely source. I'm still thinking about it. The movie was ok, but not great.

The other night we watched What Have I Done to Deserve This? which was disappointingly dated. Oh well. I still love Almodovar.

And now the weekend begins.

Thanksgiving

So I made a comment that mentioned my surreal Thanksgiving which elicited a request for a posted explanation. I'm not sure I possess the necessary skills to describe my Thanksgiving, but I'll make an attempt. We'll start with Wednesday.

Boy-child was feeling sickly Tuesday and Wednesday. I was feeling unsympathetic as he is often ill.* By the time I got home from work Wednesday, it was obvious he had to be seen at clinic. Hour and a half wait. Strep throat. (I will mention at this point that I was relieved it wasn't mono). Meantime Girl-child was having a bit of a melt-down and getting no attention from me whatsoever. Thank goodness Nicole was here.

We were going to go to Chicago on Friday for funsies but Boy's illness put the kabosh on that, which Girl-child may never forgive him for. But I get ahead of myself.

Thursday morning Girl-child and I started out the day watching The Parade. She called it The Macy's Day Parade when she was little and it sort of stuck, even though I told her repeatedly that there is no such thing as Macy's Day. This was where normal Thanksgiving began and ended.

We then went to pick up Suzie and my mother to go out for lunch/dinner. We go to the Monte Carlo now because I can't get my mother in and out of my house. Too scary. Steps. To me this is the start of surreal; going to a restaurant for Thanksgiving dinner. Plus, there's no Pato, who is in Chile, and no Boy-child, who is home in bed. Just the girls. My mother, my auntie, Suzie (a close family friend), Girl-child and myself. When getting my mother she fell down in her room; it takes two professionals to get her up. I pretend to help so I can feel useful. (Note that this is why I don't try to get my mother in and out of my house.) At the restaurant we had an appetizer sampler, three people had pasta and two of us had shrimp. The food was good, we had fun conversation and on occasion my mother made random comments. At one point my mother had such a bad coughing fit that the hostess came over - concerned, I'm sure, that someone was going to keel over in her establishment on Thanksgiving. We drove around Lake of the Isles before dropping my mom off, and then we came back home and fed Boy. Sounds like a normal outing, but it's not a normal Thanksgiving outing, at least not to me.

My kids mentioned that holidays are depressing, which is so sad, but we did reminisce about some fun holidays we've had in the past. There was the time my nephew was home on leave from Iraq and the whipped cream exploded, leaving everyone and everything speckled with whipped cream. There was a Thanksgiving spent in Disneyland. Girl-child and I were in Paris one year. A few times we were in hotels and ordered pizza delivered for Thanksgiving. For some reason those were fun and not surreal.

Oh well.

Today, instead of going to Millennium Park and the Chicago Art Institute, we went to see Coco Before Chanel and had pizza at Fat Lorenzo's. No shopping. We arrived at the theater early and had some fun:

Doesn't sound so strange, but it was.

As I mentioned, it's rather difficult to describe.

* We have suggested Boy-child change a few things in his life so that he is sick less. Some of the things mentioned were, sleep more, eat something other than burgers (veggie burgers are still burgers), stop smoking and to exercise some control and maybe not make out with every girl he is attracted to.