holiday notes
Dec. 30th, 2003 11:22 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jinianGingerbread house:
My mom made our traditional gingerbread house, which turned out fine even though she forgot the eggs. The same two cousins as last year decorated it with Mom and me. Last year, we had a shark pond in the tinfoil front yard; this year, we had a sea monster named Henry (sour worms and an orange-slice head, with googly eyes made from tiny chocolate chips) and cannibal gummi bears (giant almond-roca logs, sliced-orange-slice flames, a spit made from toothpicks with a red bear impaled, and a lot of yellow bears celebrating). These are the same kids with whom I played the best game of Life ever, and they had wonderfully twisted Lego ideas, but somehow I was not totally expecting this. I'm glad they're retaining their silliness in adulthood.
I'm rather proud of my side of the gingerbread house, actually. It sported a lovely spiral sun witha variety of interesting rays. I'll have to see whether the digicam footage has any good shots to capture.
Much knitting:
One of Wim's birthday socks is totally done! I'm about halfway through the second one, which is going much more quickly now that I've worked out all the pattern alterations and seen how it goes together. Family gatherings where people sit around and talk are really good for finishing projects.
Presents:
I liked my name-drawing present!
Beautiful Cousin #2 (a.k.a. Pregnant Cousin) liked her present!
Wish lists are good!
I also got a candleholder. It is very nice I'm sure.
Wish lists need to be read!
Other presents:
Because I have very little money and we were disorganized, I took a peony (rescued from yard of Mom's deceased neighbor before they put the condos in) to Wim's mom. Little did I know, she loves peonies. Yay! I hope deer don't like to eat them.
Wim got me the Megatokyo blanket I didn't already have and the DVD of Spirited Away, which has cool extras on it. Very happy.
Live tree:
The little grand fir needed to go outdoors before it got too used to being warm, so we un-decorated it on Boxing Day and sent it out to Quilcene with my dad. Wim has told me several times about the row of trees of graduated size that his family had at their old place on Bainbridge, so I wanted our tree to go someplace it could live and get big and have successors planted nearby. Fortunately, his family's property at Quilcene is actually zoned for forestry, so they need trees. (I hope this one won't ever be logged, though.) Dad did not find Wim's mom at home, and we kept forgetting to tell her the tree was coming; she returned to find a mysterious tree in her yard and a note on a paper plate reading "sorry I missed you."
Family-out-law:
It's funny, I had been telling Wim that one of the things that makes me nervous about his family is that I feel like I don't matter somehow, that I'm not recognized for accomplishments. And then they got all impressed over the sock and the chemistry grade, so I was really happy and had a great time at his mom's. (His dad's event was perhaps a little less good than usual, but oh well.)
I don't really approve of the thing where the women of the family talk without the men, but I am forced to admit that I had a good conversation with Wim's mom and sister while both the men were out making stuff in the barn. Calling Wim's sister intimidating (which she is, jeez, massively accomplished and intelligent woman) in the context of reassurance seemed to result in getting hugged later. First time correlated to first time, anyway.
Chicken:
I roasted a chicken! It was my first time doing so, and I don't think either of my parents has done it either. It turned out very well. Hooray for Cook's.
Gigantic:
Erin and Wim and Deb and I watched the DVD of Gigantic on Sunday night. (Eli, if there is something you would have enjoyed less, let me know and we'll watch it next time you're away.) The movie is still a lot of fun and it has a big pile of good extras. And watching a movie with good pizza and cookies and friends is generally a pretty good time.
I watched the commentary track last night and wasn't so impressed, though. A few good laughs, but not worth sitting through the whole movie-length conversation.
Today my head is really bothering me. Maybe I can get in a nap before the vacationing Wim arises from bed.
My mom made our traditional gingerbread house, which turned out fine even though she forgot the eggs. The same two cousins as last year decorated it with Mom and me. Last year, we had a shark pond in the tinfoil front yard; this year, we had a sea monster named Henry (sour worms and an orange-slice head, with googly eyes made from tiny chocolate chips) and cannibal gummi bears (giant almond-roca logs, sliced-orange-slice flames, a spit made from toothpicks with a red bear impaled, and a lot of yellow bears celebrating). These are the same kids with whom I played the best game of Life ever, and they had wonderfully twisted Lego ideas, but somehow I was not totally expecting this. I'm glad they're retaining their silliness in adulthood.
I'm rather proud of my side of the gingerbread house, actually. It sported a lovely spiral sun witha variety of interesting rays. I'll have to see whether the digicam footage has any good shots to capture.
Much knitting:
One of Wim's birthday socks is totally done! I'm about halfway through the second one, which is going much more quickly now that I've worked out all the pattern alterations and seen how it goes together. Family gatherings where people sit around and talk are really good for finishing projects.
Presents:
I liked my name-drawing present!
Beautiful Cousin #2 (a.k.a. Pregnant Cousin) liked her present!
Wish lists are good!
I also got a candleholder. It is very nice I'm sure.
Wish lists need to be read!
Other presents:
Because I have very little money and we were disorganized, I took a peony (rescued from yard of Mom's deceased neighbor before they put the condos in) to Wim's mom. Little did I know, she loves peonies. Yay! I hope deer don't like to eat them.
Wim got me the Megatokyo blanket I didn't already have and the DVD of Spirited Away, which has cool extras on it. Very happy.
Live tree:
The little grand fir needed to go outdoors before it got too used to being warm, so we un-decorated it on Boxing Day and sent it out to Quilcene with my dad. Wim has told me several times about the row of trees of graduated size that his family had at their old place on Bainbridge, so I wanted our tree to go someplace it could live and get big and have successors planted nearby. Fortunately, his family's property at Quilcene is actually zoned for forestry, so they need trees. (I hope this one won't ever be logged, though.) Dad did not find Wim's mom at home, and we kept forgetting to tell her the tree was coming; she returned to find a mysterious tree in her yard and a note on a paper plate reading "sorry I missed you."
Family-out-law:
It's funny, I had been telling Wim that one of the things that makes me nervous about his family is that I feel like I don't matter somehow, that I'm not recognized for accomplishments. And then they got all impressed over the sock and the chemistry grade, so I was really happy and had a great time at his mom's. (His dad's event was perhaps a little less good than usual, but oh well.)
I don't really approve of the thing where the women of the family talk without the men, but I am forced to admit that I had a good conversation with Wim's mom and sister while both the men were out making stuff in the barn. Calling Wim's sister intimidating (which she is, jeez, massively accomplished and intelligent woman) in the context of reassurance seemed to result in getting hugged later. First time correlated to first time, anyway.
Chicken:
I roasted a chicken! It was my first time doing so, and I don't think either of my parents has done it either. It turned out very well. Hooray for Cook's.
Gigantic:
Erin and Wim and Deb and I watched the DVD of Gigantic on Sunday night. (Eli, if there is something you would have enjoyed less, let me know and we'll watch it next time you're away.) The movie is still a lot of fun and it has a big pile of good extras. And watching a movie with good pizza and cookies and friends is generally a pretty good time.
I watched the commentary track last night and wasn't so impressed, though. A few good laughs, but not worth sitting through the whole movie-length conversation.
Today my head is really bothering me. Maybe I can get in a nap before the vacationing Wim arises from bed.
