Christmas Anticipation

 Today I had a long list of to-dos to get ready for Christmas. I even got a couple of them done--the really important ones, fortunately.

The food has been purchased. I was also going to steam the British Christmas pudding I made, but working on the second important item distracted me so much that I never got around to it. Now I'll have to do it tomorrow. No matter. Tomorrow will not be very stressful in the food department as we've selected a variety of easy dishes to make. Unlike what happened at Thanksgiving, I won't be spending a solid five hours in the kitchen getting a meal prepared (with way too many leftovers). I'll use the slow cooker for the beans and mix up the potatoes in the morning to be popped in the oven for dinner in the evening. The ham only needs to be heated through, and the turkey breast is small and won't need a long cooking time. Easy. The rest of the food is being brought by others.

A long (long, long) time ago, I typed up copies of all the letters my mother had sent to me when I went to college and then on my mission. She wrote long and detailed letters about what was happening at home, which really helped me feel connected to my family. Today, I finally did a bit of formatting and then printed them all out and had them bound. It's very, very basic, but it was a way to get it done in time.

I am SO EXCITED to see the look on her face when she realizes what this is: 112 pages of what was, essentially, her diary, since she was so detailed about day-to-day happenings. There are even a couple very short letters from my dad, who is not a letter writer but whose letters were always hilarious. It's going to be AWESOME! I'll let you know how she reacts. Now that this part is done, I'll play more with the formatting and add some pictures and get the finished product printed into book form. I also found a few typos I missed as I read through the pages while I was supposed to be working on other things. I plan on making multiple copies of the book so that I can keep some for my siblings, my kids, and their children. I'll write a better, more thorough forward and include more details about my mom and dad and the ages of my siblings during the time period my mom wrote these letters, which were from August 1990 - May 1994. You know, back in the days when you had to send letters on paper with stamps. How archaic. 

We got a book of piano music for my dad: Ola Gjielo's Night album, which I own and love playing myself. The pieces are not difficult, but Gjeilo just has this way of making simple melodies sound beautifully complex. Dad's going to love it. I have mentioned that my dad plays at nearly a concert pianist level, haven't I? I grew up listening to him play all the classics, and every time I play those pieces (with a lot less finesse, of course), I have memories of him sitting at the piano, lost in his music. When I was young, I used to dance to his playing. He loved that. I'm really excited to share this album with him, which I know he'll appreciate. 

Yeah, we got the kids some presents. Something little that they'll each like. They have many, many Christmases ahead; but my parents aren't getting any younger, so I'm really excited to see their reactions.