The Twelve Days 'Til Christmas

Two days back, the FedEx delivery lady came to my door with a muddy hand, a grimace on her face and my package (which turned out to be the MOST uncomfortable pair of heels ever and were immediately boxed back up). I asked if she was OK, and she told me she'd fallen on the curb outside: "Could I use some paper towels?" I asked her to come in and use my bathroom to clean up and then I offered her cookies I'd just made. She took two and headed back out.

I told Tom that story when he asked about my day, and he said, "Em, I don't know many people who would do that." I was stunned; that simple interaction made my day better, and maybe it made the FedEx gal's day a bit better too.

In the holiday spirit,  I give you my version of the traditional carol, The Twelve Days of Christmas. There is zero pressure or snootiness here so please read with the utter sincerity in which I wrote it!

Sing along as you would to the tune the real thing! If you don't do Christmas, the message still stands!

On the first day til Christmas What you can do is this: Slip some coins in someone's nearly-expired meter.

On the second day til Christmas, What you can do is this: Compliment someone just because.

On the third day til Christmas, What you can do is this: Write a thank you note that's overdue.

On the fourth day til Christmas, What you can do is this: Tip an extra 10+% if service's good.

On the fifth day til Christmas, What you can do is this: Tell a friend how much you appreciate her. (or him!)

On the sixth day til Christmas, What you can do is this: Make some holiday cookies and pass them out.

On the seventh day til Christmas, What you can do is this: Donate to a cause in which you believe.

On the eighth day til Christmas, What you can do is this: Tell your family how much you love them so.

On the ninth day til Christmas, What you can do is this: Volunteer to help someone in need.

On the tenth day til Christmas, What you can do is this: Let someone who looks hurried go first.

On the eleventh day til Christmas, What you can do is this: Surprise your kids* with hot chocolate and a treat.

On the twelfth day that's Christmas, What you can do is this: Give big thanks for all that you have.

*If you don't have children, treat yourself or a friend to some hot chocolate and a treat. :)

Whole Foods One Day Deal, funny story, misc

Tomorrow's One Day Deal at participating Whole Foods is a good one: Parm (as in -igiano Reggiano), aged at least 24 months, will be on sale for $9.99/pound versus the usual $19.99/pound. Between friends, I'd buy a few wedges and just keep them in the back of your cheese drawer. This stuff saves forever and is good in SO many ways. I spent the day unsubscribing from various websites and listservs. Honestly, it's all just too much. I love the environment and 99% of animals, but I simply cannot save it and them all and so left several orgs whose emails, in truth, I never read. A real political junkie, I am, nonetheless, bored and disgusted as get-out with our Congress; they set and/or break records for inaction, self-absorption and complete ineptitude on a daily basis these days. So, a few of those groups lost me too. And seriously Angie's List?! Let me go! I don't want to get emails from you anymore. So, I set you as spam today because you refused to honor my request. Boo!

Earlier today, I finished up a big piece of writing- thrilling but bittersweet. When I completed my honors thesis senior year of college, I felt the same way: ecstatic to have it done and simultaneously aware of just how much I'd miss it.

Tonight we're having spaghetti alle vongole -T is making it for me!- and I gotsta be honest, I'm hitting the sack not long afterwards. Lots of cooking to do tomorrow!

As a parting gift, I leave you with a story from one of my best pals: her youngest child, a daughter, is equal parts precious and feisty. My friend and I often commiserate about all that is in store for us as parents of her sweet cha-cha and my Animal House-Oliver. In any case, during bathtime my friend asks her daughter, who is all up in her (own) private parts, "What are you doing?" Little one replies, "There are adventures in there!"

Ain't that the damn truth! Hah!

Ha-ha, Tuesday, I beat you this week!

Tuesday, Tuesday, after last week's trampling, you may have thought you had today in the bag. School was cancelled, Tom left for NY. The odds were good that it might be a tough slog. But, you lose. Although the boys woke up before 6 am (horrid) and the snow started melting about an hour after things looked positively picturesque, this gal (and her little crew) had a lovely day. When we all finally slugged out of bed, I made some insanely good bluberry-Meyer lemon muffins on which we all gorged. Then the snowman ("Jack, why the dowel?" "Uh, to hold the balls together, Mom." Such an engineer this young one!), Home Alone, etc. And, I must give credit where credit is due and thank the heavens for an afternoon babysitter. Conversations about butts, sibling bickering, a bloody lip and also a bloody nose did have me fairly beat by 2 pm. And then, cue heavenly music and rays of light, the sitter arrived. While she was here, I mostly ran errands and worked on a piece, but even going to the dry cleaners and standing in a long line at a department store were fun. It is clear that sometimes I simply need to be by myself. While queuing, I considered -for possibly the 185th time in my life- that I wish my last name started with 'van' or 'van der'. Seriously, that is the surname equivalent of Ministry versus Cabinet or Office of. Cool versus less so. I'm not sure T would cotton to the idea of adding adjusting our name in this way; he's so literal when it comes to heritage and such. Just because we have no Dutch ancestry AT ALL shouldn't mean we can't adopt a bit of a name. In my opinion.

How is it 8:16 pm already? Surely, you're thinking, I can't mean that bedtime is near. But that's precisely what I mean, and so the mint chocolate cookie recipe that is staring at me with hangdog eyes -please make me, pleeeaase- will have to wait yet another day. I'm almost done with a book -who can believe it?!- and need the sleep. #gettingold #notsleepingpast6inasmanyyearswilldothat

For dinner I made some pumpkin ravioli in a sage-brown butter sauce and also enjoyed a cup of yesterday's potage. Even better today. Dinner = delicious.

On a serious note, have you read the first two installments (yesterday and today) of the Invisible Child series headlining the New York Times this week? It is a terrific, moving, heartbreaking call to action. The featured child is an 11-year-old named Dasani who, for the past two years, has lived with her seven siblings and parents in a mouse-infested, rotting, 520-square-foot room in a shelter in Brooklyn. Wow, wow. Please make time to read the pieces if you can.