Holidailies: Silver and Gold

Silver and gold, silver and gold
Ev'ryone wishes for silver and gold
How do you measure its worth?
Just by the pleasure it gives here on earth

Way back in 1997 I held my first Chocolate and cookie making party. I still lived in my parents' house and a bunch of us squished into the den to play a board game because my sister had overtaken the family room adjacent to the kitchen. It was chaotic and awesome.

The following year I was living in the FIJI house and when I had the cookie party there, my "brothers" asked what kind of party I was having that required plastic sheets. Hilarity!

We moved the cookie party out to Chnanners' parents place for a few years and it seemed to snowball into this crazy awesome time. Over shared sprinkles and oven fresh cookies friendships became cemented and strengthened. In a time when life was throwing crazy curve balls, it helped me find the true meaning of family.

D and I had our first Christmas away from our families in Prince George and it was terrifying and lonesome and we were so lucky to be brought into someone else's family where we broke bread and shared in the warmth of their holiday sesason. But I missed my cookie party and the comradarie and chaos. I wondered if anyone else missed it.

As the years passed, other traditions grew and our family grew too and the cookie party crumbled a bit as other people and places took on importance. Friendships, too, fluctuated and spun closer and further, sometimes driven by distance, sometimes by effort.

And here we are, 14 years later, we've revived the cookie party for the kids that now run around our feet, the same friends sharing laughter, food and fun. I now have to make sure that every crumb is gluten free and safe but no one seems to notice as we snap pics of laughing babies and tease each other about decades of friendship. And as I look around and marvel about how things change, I realize that things also stay the same.

And that is gold

Silver and gold, silver and gold
Mean so much more when I see
Silver and gold decorations
On ev'ry Christmas tree

Holidailies: Last Christmas

"Last Christmas
I gave you my heart
But the very next day you gave it away
This year
To save me from tears
I'll give it to someone special"

Last December was a watershed time. I was filled with angst and uncertainty. I was hurting myself and feeling adrift in hopeless confusion. I didnt blogvery much for a whole year trying to regain my footing and find my way. There was so much to learn, so many difficulties to overcome...

"...A crowded room
Friends with tired eyes
I'm hiding from you
And your soul of ice
My god I thought you were
Someone to rely on
Me?
I guess I was a shoulder to cry on"

2011 was a time of momentous decisions and facing challenges and being brave. We bought a house, packed up our life and said many goodbyes. There were some tears but there were so many more moments of hopeful anticipation. Even with the diagnosis, the steep learning curve, the challenges of the commutes, we found strength.

And now Christmas finds us here, in our dream home, decked with ribbons and bows, and, most of all, with peace in our hearts at last.

Holidailies: Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer

"Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer" is one of my most abhored Christmas song selections that plays at this glorious time of year. It is trite, teeth-searingly chipper and sends somewhat of a bizzare message about family values.

"Grandma got runover by a reindeer
walking home from our house christmas eve
you could say theres no such thing as santa
but as for me and grandpa we believe
she'd been drinking too much egg nog
and we begged her not to go
but she forgot her medication
and she staggered out the door into the snow
when we found her the Christmas morning
at the scene of the attack
she had hoofprints on her fore head
and incriminating Clause marks on her back"

Nonetheless, on this day--the day I have to clean my house, bake a zillion cookies, set out scintillating and delicious food and host a party--my little 1 year old delight decided to go to sleep at FIVE IN THE MORNING (yes, stayed up ALL NIGHT LONG) and then wake up at 10 o'clock.

"...now the goose is on the table
and the pudding made of fig (ah!)
and the blue and silver candles
that would just have matched the hair in grandmas wig
i've warned all our friends and neighbours
better watch out for yourselves"

I feel like I've been run over by a reindeer.