Chrismakah

We all have our little traditions.  The day after Thanksgiving generally speaking mouse would wake up hideously early, go shopping with her girlfriends, then go home, wrap her gifts and call it a day.  

Why bother with a tree when no one sees it?  Why decorate when there's not a huge reason to do it?  It sounds lonely, doesn't it?  The one thing she always did was unpack her holiday dishes and display them on this little corner hutch. 

When Omega moved into her life, he brought with him a huge china cabinet and dining table that belonged to his grandmother.  He brought other stuff with him...But those two items specifically were wonderful for mouse.  Now she had a proper place to display her china.  When our first holiday season rolled around, just before Thanksgiving mouse swapped out the regular china for the holiday dishes she's cherished for all these years.  Didn't give much thought to Chanukah or Christmas.  

Our second is probably a better example.  Daddy had no issue with a tree, but asked mouse not to display the nativity that had been in her family for years.    Now, it needs to be said mouse only displayed it because it was pretty and it's very sentimental to mouse.  It's not displayed for any other reason.   It's not a religious issue for her at all, which is probably why he felt very comfortable making the request.  

By our third holiday, the nativity was packed away and forgotten and a new tradition emerged.  Thanksgiving we'd host and in the early morning hours following mouse would again go shopping with her girlfriends.  Back at home she'd stash the gifts, cook a huge breakfast and then the best part for mouse was decorating the house.  Daddy would get the boxes of holiday decorations mouse has spent years acquiring...what's that?  Forgot to mention that...

It must be said that her whole life, even when she lived alone and didn't bother decorating, mouse couldn't resist buying anything red and green that spanked of Christmas.  Holiday bazaars, charity events any chance she had to add to an ever growing collection no one would really see.  Pathetic really when you stop and think about it.  Hundreds of ornaments some collected by mouse, others given to mouse as gifts.  For the first time having a reason to decorate and taking everything out,  whole house looked like Santa threw up.  

When we moved here into this home, last year Daddy remarked that it didn't feel so crowded with holiday "junk" and he said with as much love as he could muster.   The holiday's are more of a combination of Chanukah and Christmas.  Now the baby is the older tho and mouse is wondering if we shouldn't make a choice -- one or the other.  

Normally in early November it begins, with mouse swapping the regular china for the holiday dishes she cherishes so.  This year was a little different.  As though she were mentally deciding a clear path, she waited.  How will our daughter be raised?  Without question Jewish so would celebrating or combining the holidays cause confusion?  Daddy solved the issue when he asked if mouse was going to do the china cabinet.  

After spending a few moments blinking mouse asked if it would be ok.  Of course, he said, he expected that we'd be doing both.   This year Chanukah begins the day before Thanksgiving and the day after mouse will be going shopping with her girlfriends, then come home, cook a huge breakfast and then spend the rest of the day listening to holiday music and decorating the house. 

The Way He Likes Things

So much of what mouse does is done is because he likes it that way and it's never worth arguing about.  

He couldn't wait to come home and that warmed mouse's heart.  When he quipped that he missed his scotch and cigars...and his chair...the one mouse can't stand because it only thing in the whole house it goes with is him -- well, we let it slide.   It's true at times mouse can imagine getting rid of that chair...Calling Goodwill to come get it.  

It's been a running joke between us for a long time now.  With him always reminding mouse to take care of his chair while he's away.  We cordon it off with museum rope to protect from kids and dogs climbing into it.  

A monument of sorts to him.  We've tried replacing that chair but he'll complain the whole time.  When the house is quiet and he just settles back all is right with his world.  Of course, he would replace it, if he felt it needed replacing and he wouldn't give a second thought to mouse's color scheme for the room either.    

For When Daddy Comes Home

It's true autumn is upon us and the days are certainly growing shorter and there's a chill to the air.  It's odd because during the spring and summer months, aside from Shabbat, mouse rarely lights candles, sometimes outdoors during the summer she'll toss out a few candles if we're entertaining.   It's odd also, although a few candles don't give off any substantial heat, it the room instantly feels warmer.   For parties it creates a relaxed environment and let's be honest, it hides the cleaning flaws.  

When Daddy goes away, we have a candle that sits in the entryway atop a high desk that we light each evening.  It's flame extinguished at bedtime but it's become a ritual of sorts that the candle's lit for him.  Does Daddy care that we do it?  Probably not to be honest.   Recently, we added a few more candles to it, so it illuminates the whole entryway.   Those candles were joined by others in adjacent rooms we frequent.  We never light candles in rooms we don't go into.  

When Daddy comes home, depending on the time his plane touches ground greatly determines the routine for his homecoming.  Early flight and mouse will be sure to have coffee and breakfast or brunch like things set up for his arrival.  An afternoon flight he'll find lunch waiting with a tall glass of iced tea fixed exactly how he likes it -- with a touch of mint.   Early evening flights find mouse planning a normal day, with dinner on the table and our home bursting with activity.  

Late evening arrivals, although the most taxing on him, are the best for mouse -- especially if the children are in bed and mouse is reasonably certain he's already eaten dinner.   The baby is fast asleep, the dogs are groggy from their day of play (seriously mouse wears them out hours beforehand).  He can step through the door and just feel the tension leave him.  Many candles are lit for his arrival and mouse puts together a tray with some snack of cheese or wine and a hot bath.  After long flights there's nothing he likes better than to peel off his clothing and soak in a tub or take a long hot shower.   It is very much a mental signal that  he's home and life can again return to normal.  

He enjoys traveling and seeing new things or revisiting places he's already been, but he grown to hate -- like most people today -- airports. 

From the first text saying he's at the airport and through security mouse begins the mental countdown to his eventual return home.  He'll continue to send random text messages updating his flight or telling mouse when boarding begins and again when he's on the plane.  Then the long silence as mouse busies herself with routine of life.  Depending on the time of day determines what she'll be doing.  Generally speaking there's lots of cleaning and maybe a chance to watch one more romantic movie that will certainly make mouse's eyes damp.  

Then the text comes and mouse's heart begins to race a little, saying he's landed.  The next text will be that he's in a cab and on his way home...that's when the real countdown begins for mouse.  Knowing how long it takes from the airport to our home, mouse plans out everything so the wine or champagne is chilled.  Cheese is placed on the tray so it can warm to room temperature.  Depending on the hour, the fireplace might be stoked, lit or another log thrown on.  His mood is hard to glean from text messages but mouse can assume if he's had a long wait, he's not happy.  Once he (and of course everyone)  had to wait 10 hours for his connecting flight to bring him back home because of mechanical issues or something.  

One thing regardless of the time of day of his return the first thing he'll do is kiss mouse and then he'll sink into his chair for  a few minutes, while mouse removes his shoes for him and rubs his feet.   Upstairs she will undress him, and let him slip into the tub.   It's the act of pampering him a little, fussing over him a lot that maybe is more for mouse than for him.  He appreciates the effort but he'd be just as happy with a cool towel and maybe a cocktail.  This is all for mouse....

Scarves

Have you seen them? They're back! For years you couldn't find one even to give to a Grandmother or Great aunt. But now, it seems they've made a comeback of sorts. Admittedly, mouse doesn't read a lot of fashion magazines so can you imagine her excitement when she began seeing them in stores. Like Target!

Daddy likes for mouse to head-cover when she leaves the house. Now, mouse hasn't exactly asked why this was, but in the beginning did it for him. However, it became very clear very fast that mouse hadn't a clue what she was doing with the scarf and mostly it stayed inside her purse.

For some reason when mouse dons a scarf, no matter how pretty or expensive it is or what it's made from, she doesn't become like Grace Kelly or Jackie Kennedy Onassis, oh no...mouse becomes Yente from Fiddler on the Roof. It's as though mouse hasn't a clue what to do with it once it's on, so it just lays there...All boring like.

Let's be honest here, mouse is totally fashion-challenged and it if wasn't for Daddy having amazing taste in clothing or just sending mouse to the right stores or having the right seamstress make her clothing, this is surely what mouse would look like. Left to her own devices mouse is a blue jean girl and everything goes with denim. It can be dressed up or down. Well, Daddy is of the mindset that denim can only be dressed up so far and he's probably right.

The other day, while doing the grocery shopping with the baby mouse came across a woman, smartly dressed, a gorgeous handbag, and rather resembled the Jackie O or Audrey Hepburn look on the far right. There's nothing fancy about that look, right?

.Lucy suggested that mouse's hair simply isn't "poofy" enough to carry the look and mouse was inclined for a moment to consider that. Maybe it's true, but then she came across this image of Jackie Kennedy Onassis.

Her hair is clearly not poofy, perhaps a bit unkept but it's not a like a beehive of poof. So, clearly mouse is need of help, so she began trolling the web and there are several websites showing you the in's and out's of wearing a scarf and mouse can't reproduce a single one.

Each look, was worst than the last and mouse grew more and more disgruntled with idea.

Then why does she buy them? Because, it seems, she just likes the idea of them. Someday she might figure out how to pull the look off right, probably completely on accident.

For today, they remain neatly rolled in a drawer.