christmas music rules and regulations

Happy sixth day of Christmas, everyone!

Now that it's actually Christmastide, we can finally listen to Christmas music... and we have been! Faith is currently singing on repeat, "Gloo-oo-ooo-ooo-ooria, in a chili cereal." Which doesn't actually sound that different from "in excelsis deo" when you sing it.

But I'm a little picky about my Christmas music. In order for me to enjoy it, it generally has to follow a few rules:

1- No electronica. For the sake of all that is good and holy, no one wants synthesized Christmas music. Or at least, I don't.

2- Don't jazz it up too much... unless you are actually singing a jazz version. Then it's okay. Carry on, Ella Fitzgerald. Harry Connick Jr, Diana Krall, I'll allow your improvisations. Mariah Carey, stop it.

3- Guess what? Christmas carols pretty much all have more than one verse! How annoying is it when the singer only sings the first verse?... or even worse, when they sing the first verse repeatedly?

4- Don't just change words for no reason. Leigh Nash of Sixpence None the Richer has a lovely voice, but her version of Angels We Have Heard On High starts like this:

Angels we have heard on high,

Singing sweetly through the night,

And the mountains in reply

Echoing their brave delight.

Why, why would you do that?!

So I thought I'd share my Spotify Christmas playlist with you. It has basically all the Christmas songs I could think of... and it's a bit eclectic, ranging from the big-band crooners to jazz numbers (complete with one episode of scat singing) to folksy acoustic versions, but I like it. And it generally follows the rules-- it's possible there might be an exception or two that I still like for sentimental reasons, but hey, it's my playlist. Maybe you'll like it too!

seven quick takes - ed. 26

1. You guys! YOU GUYS! I know it's been, um... awhile... ok, 3 months ...since I last posted, but I'm not dead! I just felt like life was getting a little out of control, and I needed to take a bit of a break to get things back in hand.

Awkward introverts unite!
(I mean in spirit. Not in person. That would be, well, awkward.)

2. In fact, not only am I not dead, but mathematically speaking, I'm kind of the OPPOSITE of dead. I mean, if regular = 1 life, and dead = 0 lives... well...

Two lives = extra-alive? Anyway, Miss or Mister Extra Life will be arriving late April 2015. :o)

("Two lives" meaning mine and baby's. Not twins, thank goodness. I don't have anything against twins, but I'd be shipped off Guam for medical reasons if there were twins. Like, by myself, without my family, to waste away in a hospital in Japan from 24 weeks until delivery. Which would, to put it mildly, be really crappy.)

Possibly this was part of the reason things felt like they were getting so out of hand. First Trimester Terribleness-- you know what I'm talkin' 'bout. But now we're 19 weeks so everything is happy.

3. We had fun hosting Thanksgiving for a bunch of friends this year. No family nearby means Friendsgiving, which is exactly what we did. Sixteen people total, counting babies. (There were rather a lot of babies.) And I kind of... forgot to take pictures. But I was busy with turkey and mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes and rolls and salad and gravy and all kinds of goodness, so I think that's fairly excusable, right? Also, PREGNANT. ULTIMATE EXCUSE FOR EVERYTHING.

4. How's your Advent going? We're trying to be mindful that It's Not Christmas Yet, while still being festive and fun, because being completely un-Christmasy all month makes us a little depressed. So here's what we've got going on:

- Our Christmas tree is up, but only has lights (and a star) on it. We'll add the garlands on Gaudete Sunday, but won't put the ornaments up until Christmas Eve. Last year we tried waiting until later to set up our tree, but Guam only gets a couple of shipments of live Christmas trees, and they tend to get them bizarrely early (bizarre especially considering they're not super-fresh when they get here).

- We're lighting the candles on our Advent wreath every night at dinner, and Faith adds an ornament to the Jesse Tree.

- We're listening, at least mostly, to Advent music rather than Christmas music (but we're not totally against a few carols now and then).

- We've got a purple-and-pink garland hanging in our dining room... which we'll replace on Christmas Eve with a holly-leaf garland and mistletoe.

5. Faith is 3-1/2 this year, so it's the first year she's actually excited and anticipating things. However, she also has a hilarious 3-year-old perspective on everything. I told her that St. Nicholas was coming to leave her a present tonight, and showed her the St. Nicholas prayer card, and she got SUPER weirded out. "Why he coming to my house?! I no want him! He's not my best friend!!" (That's her current way of saying, "I'm not a fan of you/him/her right now." As in, "Mommy, I don't want to clean up! You're not my best friend!!" However, when I specified what St. Nicholas would bring (a book and chocolate), and clarified that she wouldn't actually have to see him (she's quite shy), she was mollified. Somewhat.

6. She's also been paying unexpectedly close attention to the lyrics in the Advent music, and asking for rather difficult definitions. "Mommy, what means 'rejoice'?" "What means 'gloria'?" "What means 'forever'?" Hmm. Parenting is hard.

7. You may have seen this already, but I laughed.

Head over to Conversion Diary This Ain't the Lyceum for more Quick Takes! And Happy Advent!

answer me this: imagine your own embarrassing photo edition

1. Beach or Mountains? Where would you rather be? 

Beach. More relaxing-- especially the beaches here on Guam, which are often empty and have grass and trees ten feet from the water, as opposed to beaches in the States, which too often consist of hordes of people on vast expanses of burning hot sand. 

2. Which is more fun, Christmas Eve or Christmas morning?

Christmas Eve is more reverent-feeling, but Christmas morning is more fun. So exciting! Such huge irrepressible smiles! So much wrapping paper and laughter! Of course, my opinion is largely due to my Christmas experiences growing up-- we always went to the candlelight church service on Christmas Eve, and opened presents on Christmas morning.

3. What's the most embarrassing childhood outfit you remember wearing?

Oh my gosh, I know exactly the outfit to tell you about. I was about ten, and it was a white, cotton, collared shorts-jumpsuit covered with-- this is the kicker-- huge polka dots in primary colors. If only I had a picture to show you. The best part, though, is that I actually loved that jumpsuit. It was my favorite outfit; I didn't think it was embarrassing at all. It's only now that I look back and cringe. I'm sure it looked awesome with my scrunchies and enormous round gold wire-rimmed glasses.

Picture this jumpsuit (the one on the left):

In this fabric:

On this child (yes that is me):

4. Your house is quiet, you don't have to do any work (housework included). What do you do?

Um... read, duh. And also, eat baked goods without having to share.

5. What movie do you want to watch when you're feeling under the weather?

Pride and Prejudice. Preferably the BBC miniseries with Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle, but I like the Keira Knightley movie too.

OMG THAT LOOK. I MELT.

6. Did you have an American Girl doll when you were little? If so, which one?

Sadly, no. But it wasn't for lack of wishing and poring over the American Girl catalogues. I mean, how awesome would it be to have the EXACT SAME NIGHTGOWN (complete with frilly cap) as your Felicity doll?

Okay, now click over to Catholic All Year to join Kendra for the linkup!

seven quick takes friday - ed. 20

1. Yesterday morning I walked into the living room to see Jack hanging up the phone with a funny look on his face. "That was HM3," he said. "He says there's an active shooter at the hospital. He said it's not a drill." We both immediately grabbed the nearest internet-connected devices to try to find out more information-- but there was nothing. Texted communications with Jack's colleagues seemed to point out that this was real, but we still felt more puzzled than anything else. After about an hour, Jack got the all-clear-- there wasn't a shooter after all, it was nothing.



Later that day I read this article and started laughing out loud: Naval Hospital on Lockdown over Miscommunication. Apparently as part of the pre-demolition routine before knocking down the old hospital (adjacent to the new one), the workers were wandering around firing air guns at pigeons who'd taken up residence in the building, and they had neglected to notify anyone that they were doing so.



I still laugh every time I think about it. It's just so very Guam. Military lockdowns + locals shooting at pigeons + lack of official notification of anything.



2. Scary stuff: Ohio Measles Outbreak Largest in USA Since 1996. Make sure you and your kids are vaccinated!



3. My mom sent this picture to me. She knows me so well.

Stand-uppy functionality is vital.

4. Maybe Faith and I will color Easter eggs this weekend. I've realized this is an unforeseen but awesome benefit of Catholicism-- procrastination is rewarded. After all, it's still Easter, you guys!

5. I stumbled onto this on Pinterest, watched the video, and was immediately charmed and motivated to buy said placemats and try this out myself. What do you think? Crazy and ridiculous? Or adorable and totally doable?

6. I made the Pioneer Woman's "The Best Coffee Cake Ever" this week and you should too. If you love streusel topping and buttery-soft cakes, it will live up to its name. We've been eating it over the course of the week since Sunday, keeping it covered (but not completely air-tight) and it hasn't gone stale, either, not even a little.

Yum. (This is the PW's photo, not mine.)

7. I'm going to go ahead and cheat, and use my seventh take to link you back to Jen.

rejoice

He is risen!!

The Resurrection of Christ by Noel Coypel, 1700

seven quick takes friday - ed. 10

1. We got our Christmas tree on Wednesday!

I didn't realize when I bought it that it had a crooked top like that.  I've decided I'm not going to be annoyed by it, but will instead think of it as our tree having SASS.  Like it's going, "Uh-UH, no you di'n't!"

2. It was actually a HUMONGOUS hassle to get.  We went to the Home Center (the hardware/garden store on base) on Sunday, but pretty much all their trees were gone, except for a few sad little leftovers that were losing their needles.  They had them delivered BEFORE THANKSGIVING, so they had run out by early December.  Wtf?!?  So the guy suggested we go to Home Depot, as he'd heard they had just gotten a shipment.  (Yes, there's only one Home Depot on the island.)  So on Monday I dropped by with the girls, and it turned out that yes, they had gotten a shipment, but it needed to be fumigated, so it wouldn't be ready until Wednesday.

Now, Home Depot is a good 15 miles from our house, but it's less than half a mile from my work.  So it was decided that after work on Wednesday, I would pick up a tree with the girls and then Jack and I would unload it when we got home.

When I got to Home Depot, the tree lot was a CRAZYTOWN PLACE.  Here's how it was set up:
There was a fenced-in area in the parking lot, maybe 30 feet by 50 feet.  One side was open (the entrance).  Two other sides were lined with trees stacked up, leaning against each other in piles, and every few minutes someone let out a subdued shriek as they accidentally knock a tree over.  The last side had employees sawing and wrapping/tying the trees.  And the whole thing was CRAWLING with people.  So how it worked, was you pick a tree, grab it yourself, BRING it to the guys with the saws, go inside and pay for it, then come back out and get it loaded.  So I've got Josie on my hip, Faith wandering around super cranky and almost getting run over by people & trees, trying to drag a fricking full grown tree through a crowd.  And then after we paid, I pulled the car up to the gate and stepped out to get our tree (like 10 feet away, so I left the girls in their car seats), but they couldn't find the tree of the person in front of me, so I'm waiting and waiting and the babies are SCREAMING in the car and OMG IT WAS NIGHTMARISH YOU GUYS.

And it turned out that I had to bring it in the house myself too once we got home, because Jack was stuck at the hospital waiting for a baby to be born.  Feel sorry for me.  I know I do.

(And I think I can be excused for not noticing the crooked top.)

3. On the plus side, we have our tree now.  We'll put on ornaments on Gaudete Sunday!  And all the Christmas cards are signed, stuffed, stamped, and sealed!  (And addressed, but that doesn't start with S and I didn't want to ruin the alliteration.)

4. Just got 12 baby outfits for under $50 at thredUP.  Awesome.  (It turns out that, even though my kids have 5 older girl cousins with accompanying hand-me-downs, our bin of 6-12mo size was mostly long-sleeved.) But remember that Stitch Fix site that I linked to before?  Turns out they don't ship to Guam.  Sadness.

5. Go see A Ten-Month-Old's Letter to Santa.  Hilarious.

6.  This is a great video -- showing double standards that women face.  Not sure why it's an ad by Pantene, but it's a great video nonetheless.  This article gives a little background.

7.  Lately Faith has been bizarrely fearful of... ceiling fans.  She claims they're monsters.  (Or sometimes lions.)  Yesterday we talked about it a LOT, that they're just fans, they make our house cool, they're nice, you can turn them on and off.... we practiced turning them on and off, I lifted her up so she could touch them, etc.... but she's still scared.  Now instead of saying "Scared of the monster!" she says "Scared of the fan!"  I don't know what to do with that.

Go to Conversion Diary for more quick takes!

seven quick takes friday - ed. 9

1. Happy St. Nicholas day!  Faith left her shoes by the door last night and St. Nicholas left her this book:

Such sweet pictures. Such a cute book (and Faith loves counting).

He left some chocolate coins too, but unfortunately Ollie ate most of them before Faith woke up. There were still a few left, and she didn't know the difference, but I was annoyed (both at Ollie, and at myself for not realizing I needed to put them out of his reach).

2. Our Christmas newsletters are super adorable this year. I ordered custom "infographic style" letters from the Little Miss Mrs Etsy shop. I was very impressed both with the newsletter and the service! I'm excited to send them out!

3. Josie is pleased with herself for learning how to say "da da da."

(Faithy's going in for a kiss at the end there, not attacking. Sometimes it's hard to tell the difference.)

4. I'm going to be covering a couple other pediatricians' offices for a few days early next month. They're solo practitioners who are traveling off-island for the holidays, and they want to have appointments available for their patients for at least a couple of those days.  I don't LOVE the thought of working extra days, but it'll be good to experience other practices to see how they work.  (And, y'know, get extra money.)  A little nerve-wracking, though.

5. The sun rises freakishly early here (like 6am year round) which means Faith has been rising freakishly early too. In an attempt to remedy this, we just got this clock:

It can be set to glow yellow when it's time to sleep, then change to green at whatever time you decide is appropriate for your child to get up. This morning was our first time trying it, and though Faith cried when she realized she wasn't allowed to get up at 6, she did accept the reasoning that "the clock isn't green yet!" and reluctantly agreed to wait quietly in her room until 7.  I have high hopes!

(You can also use it as a regular alarm clock for older kids. And you can set it to speak the time out loud for kids who are learning to tell time.)

6. Sshhhhh... [looks around surreptitiously] Josie has slept through the night for the past 3 nights. Don't say it out loud or you'll jinx it.

7. I don't really believe in jinxes. At least not intellectually. But... I kind of do.  Medical professionals are some of the most superstitious people you'll ever meet. Residents never want to be on call with the "black cloud" (the one who always had bad nights) because you know it'll be crazy busy. If you casually comment, "Wow, it's pretty quiet" in the ER, everyone will immediately glare at you, panic-stricken, and shush you ferociously. It's hard to be a TOTAL skeptic, you know!

Go to Conversion Diary for more quick takes!

seven quick takes friday - ed. 8

1. Wow. Iceland was never on my Top List of Places to Visit until I saw this video.  Now it is.  (Can't embed the video, sorry.)

2. Unless you've been living under an internet rock for the past couple of weeks, you know that this video is all the rage, with everyone talking about how motivational and innovative and inspirational it is:

Don't get me wrong - I actually love the ad.  The song is catchy (Faith watched it about fifty times in a row), the premise is clever, and I'm ALL in favor of getting girls more interested in S.T.E.M. (that's science, technology, engineering, and math) subjects.  And I do think starting early is the way to go.

Credit: SMBC Comics

But I'm kind of ambivalent about the GoldieBlox product.  It's an engineering toy... but pinkified.  Now, I don't have anything against pink.  But why can't girls play with plain old Lincoln Logs and Erector Sets and Legos and Tinker Toys?  It seems like this is saying, "Engineering can be for girls too... if it's PINK and has PRINCESSES!"

But on the other hand, if this encourages parents to buy engineering toys for girls when they otherwise wouldn't, or encourages girls to play with engineering toys when they otherwise wouldn't... well, that's good.  And I certainly think that girls can like princesses AND building things.  Liking math and science doesn't make you un-feminine, and doesn't mean you can't like Pretty Things too (and I would argue that math and science are also beautiful in their own ways).  So, like I said... ambivalent.

3.  Excuse the language, but this is hilarious:

Cranberry sauce is SO EASY TO MAKE.  And SO MUCH BETTER THAN CANNED.  (I make the first of the three recipes on this page.)

4. Speaking of which, we did the Thanksgiving thing yesterday. It was just the four of us, which was fine.  We had signed up to host displaced sailors for the holiday, but apparently more people signed up to host than be hosted. I can understand that -- it might be kind of awkward to spend Thanksgiving with a stranger's family, and maybe you'd rather just get together with your friends and celebrate with them.

It was fun anyway. I roasted a turkey for the first time:

Made this centerpiece (Pinterest for the win!):

And this dinner:

Note the dog lurking under the table, waiting for us to turn our backs.

And it was yummy.

5. How awesome was the Day of the Doctor??! Pretty darn awesome, that's what. We got our Doctor Who car decals in time to celebrate:

(We bought them from the Epic Family Decals Etsy shop. Highly recomend)

6. So this video of a little girl walking on ice for the first time is ridiculously adorable:

7. There will be no walking on ice for us this year, here in the Land of Endless Summer. It's really disconcerting to have almost no seasonal changes.  I didn't realize until now how much I subconsciously rely on the changing of the seasons to internally mark the passing of time. I've started playing Christmas music now that Thanksgiving is over, but it just feels weird.

(I know the arguments for NOT playing Christmas music throughout Advent. But we tried it last year, and honestly, it just made us kind of depressed rather than reverent and preparatory... not the intended effect, I imagine.)

Go to Conversion Diary for more quick takes!

happy belated halloween / all saints' day / all souls' day

So now that we're almost to Thanksgiving, time to recap Halloween, right?

We took Faith Trick-or-Treating in our neighborhood, which is the first time she ever remembers doing it.  (I took her around to a grand total of 3 houses last year, but she was only 20 months old.)  She was a super-adorable Red Riding Hood.  Tons of people stopped us to tell us how cute she looked.

I knit the hood/cape (with cotton yarn-- this is the tropics!) based on this Ravelry pattern, but instead of buying a pewter fastener, I just knit I-cord ties.  It worked out really well!  The dress was a vintage find on Etsy, and I sewed the apron out of an old pillowcase (I am a terrible seamstress, but this was pretty easy.)

Oh, and not to leave Josie, MD out:

Her "costume" was just a set of doctor-themed pajamas which were a gift from my dear friend Laura when Faith was a baby.  No muss, no fuss.

Faith had a blast going from house-to-house, although her shyness kicked in and she was quiet at every door.  In between, she was her usual excited self, pointing at the next house and exclaiming, "Dis one!!!"  "Look!  Punkins!!"  "Oooooh, LIGHTS!!"  And when I asked her what she was supposed to say, she'd recite, "Twick oh tweat!"  But when she actually was confronted with a smiling grown-up holding out a massive bowl of candy, she'd go totally mute.  Ah well.  Perhaps next year.  She did enjoy the candy.

(Don't tell her, but we swiped some from her basket to give to other trick-or-treaters... there were so many kids that we were running out!)

On All Saints' Day, Jack and I had to work, sadly.  The girls' regular daycare was closed, along with all the public schools on the island (Guam is super-Catholic, you guys) but the child care center on base was open, so we just used that one for the day.

For All Souls' Day, I stole this idea (discovered on Pinterest):

Here was our version:

The idea is to write on  glass candleholder the names of all friends and family members who have died, to help us remember and pray for them.

We also made Soul Cakes!  We got the recipe from this website, which also talks about the origin of soul cakes and trick-or-treating.  (I cut the recipe way down, though, as it would make a huge number of cakes as written.  Good if you were going to give them out, I suppose, but I wasn't expecting any children to come "souling.")