Well, I am back. Almost. A tummy bug will not keep this Christmas spirit down!
I had cooked all Friday morning, preparing for B’s presentation at school on Diwali (a Hindu tradition). I made rice pudding with saffron (the recipe and saffron were courtesy of the chef at our local Kolam Indian restaurant) as well as honey glazed carrots with a dipping sauce. I watched all the kids do their Holidays Around The World presentations. Then I came home and had lunch. And that was it… kablam.
Lots of sleep and two pieces of toast – I’m back. Mostly because Neil has been such a gift! I was very fortunate that he was in town. I actually got a sick day, and night, and day and night…
He took over once the kids got off the bus on Friday and between taking them to Chuck E. Cheese last night and taking them to Cracker Barrel for breakfast this morning, and the annual trip to the Dollar Store for Christmas Shopping (the kids buy presents for us – such amazing things they find!)… I feel much better. I stayed home and wrapped presents. I’m only weak now. But I ache all over. What a strange feeling. I’m used to having a bottomless pit of energy.
I woke up around 4:30 am this morning. Because I had fallen asleep on the couch downstairs, I was greeted by this lovely sight. I knew I was feeling better, because of course I had to take a picture of it.
And then jump in the hot tub before going back to bed til the kids got up. I am feeling spoiled!
So I’m taking it easy for the next couple of days. I won’t be online much. I want to build gingerbread houses with the kids tomorrow with kits I bought at Michaels (I’m no Martha!). I’ll need all my energy for that. LOL!
But I will leave you with one ‘Marthesque’ crafty moment in time. My aptly named ‘Marthamallows’. Make ‘inkpad’ out of papertowels and food coloring. Use a very clean stamp, preferably one you only use for this application. Press to marshmallows and voila! A bit of holiday cheer to go into the mugs of cocoa. I could not find my original picture of this with the blue snowflakes (ok, I’m being lazy now) so I will share a set that was inspired by the originals, made by my talented friend, Tracey Mason. She even made a matching ‘paint can’ container to hold hot cocoa too. There is nothing better to inspire, and have someone do an even better job. Hers was Valentine’s Day themed!
And I have one more story before I go awol for the holidays… a couple of years ago, I got socked by the flu right before Christmas. I remember vividly, being all feverish on Christmas Eve and foolishly going up into the attic to get some things that hadn’t been put out. Decorations – who knows what I was going for? Certainly wasn’t important. And being in that condition, I misstepped and went right through the attic floor / ceiling above the stairwell. I caught myself by the armpits and my husband helped me get down. I’m lucky I didn’t get more than some bad bruising.
The children really must have had sugarplums dancing in their heads that night, because not one of them woke up with my clatter. But a bit of quick thinking on our parts, and when the kids woke up in the morning, we both acted just as surprised, exclaiming that ‘Santa must have landed too hard on the roof!’
Do they believe? Oh yes, they do. Be merry! And stay well.
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