1. Last week Sam and Elisabeth made these gingerbread houses at their school’s Christmas party. It was such a cute, fun project idea. Unfortunately, helping them assemble them was my undoing. NINE MONTHS of saying no to refined sugar just flew out the window. Something about spreading all that fluffy white icing on Twizzlers made me say, “Oh, to heck with all this healthy eating, why not devour the dining-room table full of cookies the neighbors have dropped off?” And, so I did. And, now, like every other American, I’m plowing through leftover candy canes until January 1, when I pry the last chocolate from my fingers and get back off the sauce.*
2. I’m in Austin today, writing from a chi-chi outdoor mall. It’s cold (in Texas that means it’s fifty degrees), and I’m typing with numb fingers because everyone is inside Starbucks hogging the tables. You want to know what else everyone is doing? Wearing black leggings and knee-high boots. Seriously. Black leggings are like the uniform shoppers must adhere to in order to be welcomed into Louis Vuitton. M is at a meeting about launching a new company, and I want to call him and say, “I have an idea! Launch a black leggings company!” Because everyone knows that if there’s one thing M is passionate about, it’s trendy fashion.
3. Today Catie hugged me and said, “Mommy. I’m so glad you’re a nice mom. I’m glad you’re not like those other moms who call their kids brats and wear bikinis.” What?! Where on earth has she encountered these bikini-clad mamas, who call their kids brats? It may be time to check the Internet settings on that new Kindle Fire….
4. The neighbor girls came over yesterday and played with our kids. The plot of their play-acting was that Elisabeth was a baby who got baptized. (Thanks goodness they’ve all moved past The Nutcracker.) The baptism was complete with liturgy and dunking Elisabeth’s head into the sink. Liturgy! Baptisms! I love our neighbors….and most of all because they bring me the sauce*.
*(The “sauce” is Whitman’s Samplers of chocolate, just to clarify.)
