Claustrophobics beware

Every year, my husband's side of the family has a Christmas party. The host changes annually, on a rotating basis. We last hosted in 2001, pre-children. We lucked out with smaller than average crowd that year, and, having no children, we had some extra space to work with. We are up again this year. If you've been to my house, you know it is small. Very small. Say 1250 square feet. This would be ideal if Benny's extended family consisted of, say, three people. In all actuality, the number of attendees will likely be ten times that. Now, when I say 1250 sq. feet, that is not all usable space. Usable space is maybe 700 sq. feet. We were hoping for a warmish December evening, not out of the realm of possibility given recent years' green Christmas trend. We had hoped that we could comfortably put food and drink in the garage, and that maybe we could even light a big bonfire in the backyard for those brave (or drunk) enough to venture out there. Well, we have over a foot on snow on the ground. not exactly ideal bonfire conditions. And the weather prediction for this Saturday is cloudy (really, in winter?) with a high right around freezing and a low of...um...8. Yup, 8. Now nearly everyone who is coming has been here before and should be aware of the minuscule space the party is occupying. We will still utilize the garage, but I'm thinking I should look for extra mittens, and I will be begging my neighbors for their space heater. I am slightly nervous about all of this. And I haven't even gotten into the logistical chaos of trying to clean the house and prepare food with a very curious, very bright, very agile and often sneaky (but oh so adorable) not quite two-year-old on my hands.
I'm sure I will have lots of updates in the coming days.

And if you think you hear faint weeping sounds coming from afar, it is probably me.

Have an ice day.

I don't care if it rains or freezes, 'long as I've got my plastic Jesus

...or

The Modernization of Christmas


In an effort to save my lovely ceramic nativity set from the deadly grip and curious mind of little Helen, I have decided to keep it safe in its box for at least the next couple of Christmas seasons. So instead we got this:


Yes, the folks at Fisher Price have been kind enough to manufacture a nativity set for children, complete with all the pertinent characters in Little People form. There are some more pieces that aren't shown...the other animals are out of the frame, and the wise men are currently MIA, but I'll be looking for them today. Last night I was out with friends, and that, coupled with my nasty cold, rendered me too tired for my usual nativity round-up. We have about eleventy bajillion Little People parts to go with umpteen sets in our house, and most are just thrown into a bin at night. But the nativity needs special care, and, as such, I search each and every night (except last night) for the nativity pieces so that I may lovingly place them back in and around the manger. After all, it's the least I can do for Jesus when he is a guest in my home. Well, the other night, I was able to locate the now MIA wise men, who were seemingly fraternizing with Noah's wife over at the ark, and the donkeys and such were aorund, but Mary, Joseph and Jesus were nowhere to be found. I searched high. I searched low. No Mary. No Joseph. No Jesus. Unwilling to give up, I launch one more search of the living room and find this:

Yes, folks, that's Mary and Jesus riding around in an SUV.


I never did find Joseph that night, but after this, I figured him gone and gave up looking. Deadbeat.