Holidays are the Hardest - Missing Traditions

Pie Making

         I can’t find a reference to mom’s traditional pie making event. I suppose it could have started with her children.  I do recall having assisted with pies at least once in my childhood.  Kayla says she remembers a time when it was just her and Corey that did it with mom.  I don’t think I ever viewed it as an actual tradition until Ellen and Kimball were small.

            My mom made a huge assortment of pies on the Wednesday before  Thanksgiving each year.  The grandkids looked forward to assisting with rolling out the dough and filling the pie with whatever they chose. 

            We’d have apple pie, banana cream pies, coconut cream, chocolate cream, cherry, lemon meringue and of course, pumpkin.  More pies were added to the dinner each time new grandkids were added to the family.

            I don’t remember how often my boys had made pies with grandma.  At least twice – and they have fond memories.  And I have pictures of some of the pie making events.  Jaime may have been a baby when some of these were taken.  Neither Jenna nor I recall her ever having had the opportunity to assist with rolling out the dough or wearing an apron.

            It wasn’t long after Jenna was born when mom announced her last year for her annual pie making event.  Each year after that we ate pies that had been made in the bakery department of various stores.

            My boys had just recently commented on how much fun they had had making pies – and then Kayla had posted a message in facebook about the yesteryear tradition.  I got overly sentimental and cried for nearly a half hour.

            I miss the family that I grew up with. I miss so many traditions that we shared at one time.

 Hand Made Nativity

            When I was growing up, I loved “Dip n Drape” dolls.  I remember going with mom to look at pattarns and material for the project.  We settled on a nativity set as it was closed to the holidays.  I remember buying Styrofoam balls and cones and craft sticks and following directions.  I was in high school at the time.

            It was a good first project.  We had it on display just once a year – usually on top of the piano – where the entire thing fit nicely.  And many of the flaws were overlooked – like one wiseman who had the appearance of having a “stuck-up” personality.  And one wiseman who’s arms were heavier than his body – and was giving a present to lean on so that he did not appear as though he was trying to do push-ups.  And the baby Jesus became a permanent part of what Mary held in her arms – though it probably looked like she was dropping him.

            I had intended on making a manger – so that it would appear that she was placing him in.  I had intended to make camels and sheep – though realistically the seven pieces I had took up quite a bit of room both on display and then in storage.

            It boggles my mind that the set has been around since I was in high school – making it roughly thirty-five years old now.  Mom hadn’t taken it out the last few years that she lived at home.  And I took it back before we sold her house. 

Growing up, I never thought of our house as huge.  It was an average sized house.  It had three bedrooms, two baths, living room, kitchen and unfinished basement.

            Over the years my parents put in the money to have half of the basement finished and added a back room addition to the house.  The house included five bedrooms, three bathrooms, kitchen, living room, family room, game room, dining room, laundry room, storage room – not to mention it had an attic. 

            I’ve lived in two houses since I’ve been married.  The two houses combined did not have as much space as the house I grew up in.  So of course there is not nearly as much storage room

         I had put the nativity up last year.  I had to put the wisemen on a different area than the other four pieces.  Roland had suggested that I part with it last year.  I just didn’t have the heart to throw it away – though many of the dolls were beheaded.  I had planned on making it one more round.

We have even less room for it to be displayed than we had last year.  Plus I’ve been cleaning out my shed and either throwing out or donating a lot.  (12 yard bags and counting) but I still couldn’t bring myself to throw it out. 

         I knew if I donated the dolls to the thrift store, the majority (if not all) would get thrown away, and so I put it in the classifieds and someone picked it up less than an hour after I had posted for free.  She didn’t seem to mind the fact that many of the dolls needed to be repaired.   I hope it works for her and that it may be around for a few more years at least.  

  

Christmas Lights

I remember one year going with my sibs and mom to temple square.  It was Christmas night and the weather was really quite awesome.  We had gone downtown to see the lights.

This year the November was nice weather overall.  Cold, but bearable.  Excpet the last day.  It was cold and bleak and actual typical of so many November days that I can remember – although the last few years have seemed to make an exception.

            I was surprised at how warm the weather seemed yesterday – well, in comparison to Sunday.  Jenna and I started out with a beautiful morning.  I had dressed in layers, but had taken the top layer off as I headed back home.

            I had dressed in layers while picking her up.  I had stripped both layers down while waiting for school to end.  Both Jenna and I carried our coats to the bus stop.  But by the time we reached the crossover, we both had our coats back on.  It cools down quite drastically once the earth rotates away from the sun.

            Roland had given me a camera for Christmas last year – only he had given it to me before Thanksgiving so that I could take pictures and get a feel for it before Christmsa.  It was a nice camera.  A red Nikon which I liked a lot – that is until pushing the power button no longer did anything.  

It had died before Roland and I had taken to Jenna to Disneyland at the end of August.  I hadn’t had the camera an entire year.  That was truly upsetting.  

            I was hoping the battery was the problem, but I had the battery tested in addition to another working battery put in my camera.  I was told my best bet was to send it into the manufacturer – which I did.  I never heard back from them.

            The other night he produced another camera meant for Christmas.  This time a Sony W830 – which may take me a while to figure out.  I’ve had Sonys before, and I like them, but they have all died as well.  And I don’t expect this one will last much longer than the Nikon – though I welcome the opportunity to be proven wrong.

            I told Jenna that we should go downtown to see the lights.  December started out with quite pleasant weather and I though since it was so nice that we should go last night. I suggested to Roland that we go see the lights for family home evening.    I would have just taken Jenna on the train if he had not wanted to go. 

            Downtown was crowded with patrons who had come to see the lights and take pictures.  I really don’t have the hang of my camera.  It will be a while.  I did get a few okay pictures – among a bunch of duds.  Thank heaven for Photoshop, huh?

Some Things We Never Outgrow

            After Jenna learned to read, she was magnetized to Piggie and Gerald Books by Mo Willems. We read every single one.  We would take turns voicing Piggie and Gerald and we would act out their characters.  She enjoyed every minute.

            She reads chapter books now but will still spend time in the children’s section of the library and take a huge stack of books that Mo Willems has written and ask me to read with her. 

            She doesn’t check them out anymore.  We just read them at the library.  Last night we had plenty of time.  We had arrived at the library an hour and a half before the reading group would start.  She had at least two Piggie and Gerald books that we had never read before.  

            Reading group was short.  Ironically the book was long.  The Book of Legends –which I have mentioned here.    Part of the   “Ever After High” series that I doubt I will continue reading. 

 

            The book started off interesting enough.  It was fun. Clever language like “Castleteria” (cafeteria) and “hextbook” (textbook).  Initially I had checked it out for three weeks, but was unable to renew it before the group met in October.  So we went without for a couple of days before I could check it out again.

            Somewhere after 100 pages or so, the chapters seemed to drag.  I’m sure at least seven could have been cut out completely as they really had nothing to do with the story.  In addition to Apple White (Snow White’s daughter) and Raven Queen (Evil Queen’s daughter), other fairytale characters were introduced: Cedar Wood (Pinocchio’s daughter) Cerise Hood (Riding Hood’s daughter) Ashlynn Ella (Cinderella’s daughter) until the names became so overwhelming that unless the last name was attached to the character (which it usually was not) the names just sort of blended in and it was hard to remember who they all belonged to.

            I was on a mission to find out whether Raven would sign the book or not – hoping that she wouldn’t.  But both Jenna and I had become bored with getting there.  I wish I had skipped more chapters than I did.  It would have made it more enjoyable.  Last night we learned that there is also a cartoon and a line of dolls and an even bigger cast.  The whole thing is just a little compelling.

            The next book for us to read is Zita the Spacegirl by Ben Hatke.  We won’t meet again until January – but as it’s a comic book, I would imagine we’ll be done before Thanksgiving. 

            I didn’t know it was a comic book.  I would have had Roland take it with him this morning when he took her to the dentist.  He LOVES comic books.  He knows comic books (or graphic novel, I guess)  I now know more about comic books than I had ever hoped for.

            Comics can be fun.  My favorite “comics” would be “Piggie and Gerald”

When Coolness Wears Off

The Sandy Starships Theater opened December 1980. It was a four-screen theater in a strip-mall in Sandy, Utah. The theater had a futuristic design, as if it were a spaceship, and even had a robot mascot. The Sandy 9 theatres became the dollar scene and patrons stood in line on the lit up “space station” floor waiting in line for the new releases that were shown at the Sandy Starships theater.

Starships closed after its 20-year lease expired in November 2000.  But long before it closed, the once hip full price theatre tapered off to dollar prices.  The coolness had worn off. The starship had lost its appeal before it was even a decade.  What was once prestige had earned “junkie”, “dirty” and “cheap”. The Starship failed though Sandy 9 remains.

There are several landmarks that seem aged and run down – either the land has shifted or our desires have.  We find something better, more satisfying, less costly – or perhaps it’s just the economy that rips us apart.

Recently Kayla posted to facebook the closing of Hollywood Connections – which I recently mentioned in this post.  Roland and Jenna had gone there to skate and then Jenna went upstairs to play the arcades.  The selection of prices was pathetic. 

When we left, Roland asked if I wanted to go miniature golfing.  It was almost 9:00 – I was getting tired.  Jenna had school in the morning.  I thought that we could return the following week.  Had I known that the facility would close in just four days, I would have gone ahead and played.

Kayla had expressed sadness over the loss.  She and Bill had gone there on their first date.  I am not surprised to see them close.  Their cliental has decreased drastically over the years – or so it appears.

The first couple of times we had taken Jenna, it was crowded.   We waited in line to get on the rides.  Even the theatres were doing better when we first moved to West Valley.  But over time, the crowds thinned out.  Not all of the rides were open.  The dragon coaster has been out of operation at least since September.  We know because it was Jenna’s favorite ride.  Vanished. 

Megaplex took away a lot, I would imagine.  It is the new hot thing - and I wonder if maybe one day it too will be a relic as people move on to another discovery, another coolness.  And all that we have will be memories.

Rambeling thoughts

We have not ridden the bus this week as Roland has taken a use-it-or-lose-it vacation.  He has been driving Jenna to school each morning.

He had wanted to go see a movie on Monday.  We went to the 12:00 showing and sat through the previews.

  The projector (or whatever device they use now) was not working correctly. 

We had a choice to wait for the 1:00 or return at a later time.  We learned that it was a three-hour movie. 

Three hour movie!  I didn’t want to sit through a three-hour movie! 

We couldn’t wait for the 1:00 showing because Jenna gets out of school at 3:20. 

But Roland still wanted to see it.  So we returned the next day. 

He kept telling me that the movie was only 2 hours and 49 minutes.  That’s more than three hours when sitting through 20 minutes worth of ads and previews.

The movie is LOOOOONNNG – I think there is much that could have been edited. 

I also thought the film crew could have used better lighting. 

I really didn’t enjoy it overall.

I did enjoy the ending.  Well, near the end anyway.

When Murph and Cooper both make the discovery of what had taken place

and what the ghost/poltergeist – whatever-it-was represents. 

I didn’t make it to the very very end.

I just couldn’t hold my liquids anymore.

Tonight we had our Relief Society dinner.

I was supposedly in charge – but I am a flake and would be so lost without the presidency

or my committee

It will be the last activity this year.

My committee and I will be off in December.

We’ll meet back up in January to create an agenda.

It is cold now.  Unlike last week when it was cool, but nice.

It did get cold when sun dropped out of the sky – or at least started to.

About 3:30 – 4:00 the air went from cool to cold.

Now the entire day is cold.

It’s no longer just jacket weather.

It is heavy coat cold.

I took a Zyrtec – though cold medicine might have been better.

I’m certain I caught a cold in the theatre.  It was like sitting in a refrigerator

For three hours!

I had on my sweatshirt, my hat and Roland’s coat.

I’m wondering what in the world is wrong with me that I was colder than him.

I haven’t been out to my sister’s house for two weeks now.  It seems longer.

I feel like I haven’t seen her or my niece or nephews forever.

I am getting tired.

That’s Pretty Good for 42 years

         I notice as I age, parts of me don’t seem willing to move as well and my balance seems to be thrown off.  Actually has been for quite some time.  Sometimes it’s like when you have your arms spread out to either side from your shoulders and you lift one foot while trying to close your eyes.  Go ahead and try it.  I’ve not met anyone yet that can make it to a full minute.

Two years ago I had an MRI as I thought I’d been having stroke related symptoms.  Nothing was found.  But today I keep dad’s walker quite near the bed and have used it at night just to balance myself while getting up.  I have not yet used it to assist my walking.

As of now I don’t feel any different as far as balance goes. I do seem to be experiencing a little more pain in different places – like just behind my left knee – when I twisted it while exiting a bus.  The pain comes and goes. 

The other day Jenna was balancing on the wall and got off when she realized it led to a dead end.  I jokingly told her that I had expected her to leap from one wall to the next.

“Do you want me to?” she asked.

“No,” I panicked hoping she wouldn’t try.  If she missed, she would have gotten hurt. 

So with the next set of walls she said, “Look mom.  I’m leaping” and stepped down – which wasn’t a leap.

We crossed a set of tracks and I tried to demonstrate to her what a leap looks like.  Came out more like a Bernstein Bear teachable moment, as I lost balance and crashed to the ground – feeling pain on scraped knees and forehead.  I felt blessed that I wasn’t bleeding from the ungraceful land.

Tears rolled down my cheeks because I hurt.  I was foolish to try something I hadn’t attempted for several years. Jenna did her best to cheer me up – which was actually not cheering me, but annoyed me the more she tried to cheer me.  She sounded like a broken record.

The next day she asked if I was okay.  My knees were tender still.  She didn’t want to offend me by having me relive the moment I tried to leap but lost my balance.  She said my fall looked rather cool – like I had attempted an awesome ninja roll.  Really?  That’s what it looked like?  It certainly did not feel that way.

Saturday Roland said that he would take her skating.  He said he would skate with her.  Maybe we could do it for family home evening on Monday – tonight.  And so after dinner, we went to Hollywood Connections and Roland purchased wristbands for him and Jenna.  Both had invited me to skate, but after my ungraceful leap/graceful fall, I was not about to add wheels to my already unbalanced frame.

Jenna uses the walker as she can’t seem to get the hang of gliding.  She looks like she does when she is riding her scooter.  Using her left leg to move her around.  

Roland started out hugging the walls.  He fell his second time around.  I told him to move his feet outward instead of in front.   He got pretty good and went around just a bit faster and away from the walls.  It was a lot of work for his body.  Not bad for an out-of-shape and over sixty-year old.  I don’t know how many times he went around.  I would guess at least ten.  He said he hadn’t been on roller skates since 1972.  Holy Cow!  He was 19 and I was still in elementary school!

 I had fun watching them. My legs hurt as though I had been out there with them.

Roland thinks he’s going to be sore tomorrow.  He knows he needs the exercise.  I exercise with Jenna everyday when I walk her to and from school.  And the wheels we use are on the bus and not on our feet.

Riding the Blazing Furnace

I don’t mind the change in the weather.  I welcome the cool air.  Even if it means I need to bundle up or dress in layers.  The thing I don’t like is having bus drivers blare the heat as though it’s his or her sole responsibility of heating the entire universe.

When I lived with my mom and was working downtown, I would get on the bus and start stripping down.  It was a good 30-40 minute ride.  Just before we got to second south, I’d layer up again.  But the distances I have from West Valley to my destination are so much shorter. It seems senseless to strip down.  At the same time it seems I will suffocate if I don’t remove something.

I sit next to the door as often as I can – though the back door doesn’t always open.  I’m getting familiar with which drivers are able to deal with a minimum amonut of heat and which ones have to have the heat cranked up as though Roland is the driver.  I try to avoid their routes just so I can breathe.

Returned to Standard

It was nice to have light this morning as Jenna and I walked to the bus stop.  I usually don’t see it until after Jenna and I have parted ways and I start heading back to catch a return bus to West Valley.

We were supposed to set the clocks back on Saturday night – but forgot.  We got up at our usual time on Sunday – thinking we had slept in, but hadn’t.  Jenna asked me what happened to all the clocks.

Hopefully this will be the last time we have to adjust our clocks and the majority of voters who want to do away with daylight savings times will get our way.

I do enjoy seeing where I’m going in the morning.  In December it will be dark again.

I notice there are trees that still haven't turned and just as many that are bare now.  Perhaps that will make for a longer fall like we had last year.

Paperboy by Vince Vawter

“Paperboy” takes place in the mid to late 50’s sometime after Elvis had made a name for himself and when Arkansas started integrating schools

The story takes place in Memphis and reads like a journal.  No commas, no quotations.  Very cleverly written, I think.

The summary of the story itself got my attention, but what really intrigued me was Rob Buyea’s recommendation.  I had posted a review on Buyea’s books here

Victor Vollmer has agreed to take his friend’s paper route for a month.  He enjoys throwing papers and is good at it.  His problem is with collecting money, for Victor has a stuttering problem and lacks the confidence in talking with people.

But he learns a lot and meets a few people that he may not have otherwise.  He records his thoughts and some conversation and little by little the reader can see the growth of this young man.

There doesn’t seem to be much of a plot until pretty much towards the end – after all the characters have been introduced.  He sums up the last chapter as Primrose had here in “Everything on a Waffle” and I love how he portrays who he is and who he’s met and how it’s made him grow (although he, himself, may not be aware of the growth that we see as a reader.)

My favorite quote is on page 217 as he’s wrapping up a brief description of his mother:

“I don’t know if it’s worse not being able to say words at all or being able to say them and not know what they mean”

It’s a very good book.  Easy reading.  Strong recommendations on my part.

Three Weeks Without Sugar

I remember seeing a story on the news about a class project featuring two rodents with different diets.  I was hoping to find the story online, but have given up my search.

I believe it was an elementary school, but don’t know what grade or from which state.  The class had voted the names of the rodents to be “Nut” and “Honey”.  Nut was given a healthy diet of lettuce, nuts and whatever else might be healthy while Nut was given sugars and starches.  The children were able to see Honey wilting away as she became skinnier and thinner – while Nut remained healthy and had gained weight.

I remember the newscasters making comment that they wondered if that might backfire for anyone having the desire to lose weight – to follow Honey’s diet.  Sadly, it was Nut who died first and not Honey.  I remember the newscaster trying hard to fight the smile as the story unfolded that Nut had choked on a healthy cracker.

I LOVE sugar – well, my mouth does.  I’ve never lost weight as Honey did.  I’ve suffered in other ways though.  The energy (if there’s any to start with) gets sucked out of me.  My blood stream seems to fail.  I could very well be diabetic.  The temporary satisfaction on my lips is not at all satisfying to the rest of my body.  So shortly after school started for Jenna, I decided to give up sugar.  Not completely.  I know it’s in my condiments and bread and some other things.  So it’s still there.  I have just refrained from eating candy bars and cookies and drinking sodas (because if I can’t have sugar in my soda, then there is really no point in drinking a disgusting beverage).  I have said “no” to so many things.  It’s been tough.  But it’s something I need to do cold turkey.

I was really good until last week when Roland and Jenna decided to make some peanut butter cookies.  They’re actually not my favorite and so I did not think I’d have that temptation – which I didn’t – for the cookies themselves.  Unfortunately, my error took place as the ingredients were being mixed into the bowl and Jenna had a theatre box of Junior Mints that she was popping into her mouth like it was popcorn.   

 Subconsciously I joined her.  After about six or so, I thought, “Oh, no!” and then thought, “Where did Jenna even get a theatre sized box of Junior Mints?”  I did stop eating them, but still – once the sugar enters my system, my tongue has an incredible desire for more. That is why I chose to go cold turkey – around the holidays nonetheless.  But you know what?  I can feel the difference when my body isn’t loaded with sugar. 

Haven’t lost my sweet tooth yet, but often do around the holidays.  Here’s hoping it will happen again this year.