One Cobble at a Time

This morning began at 7 am.  Howard and I rolled out of bed to discover my sister and her husband in the kitchen, but nary a child to be seen.  We had fully expected to be pounced awake at 5 am.  Howard started cooking bacon and the kids began to roll out of bed.  They were remarkably patient about waiting for everyone to gather.  We actually sat at the kitchen table talking and laughing while Howard finished cooking the bacon.  Then we ate bacon.  When I was a kid we were always bouncing around in the wee hours of the morning.  My kids are different.  More often than not Howard and I wake them up.  Finally Kiki went and woke up Gleek who was the late sleeper.  Then we all trooped in to look at the morning surprises.  It went really well.  Our big surprise was that We managed to get our hands on a Wii.  I’d given up on the idea of getting a Wii because I’m not willing to stand in line for hours at subfreezing temperatures and we can’t afford to pay the prices they were going for on ebay.  Then last week Amazon had a lottery which allowed people to enter to win the chance to buy one of Amazon’s Wii consoles.  I entered.  I won.  We had the Wii shipped to my parent’s house.   It has seen nonstop use since this morning.  

In an ideal world the kids would have time to savor an opened gift and truly appreciate it before we moved on to the next one.  If we had done that this year the whole crowd of us would still be in one room opening gifts at Midnight, or maybe even New Years Day.  This was one of those years when everyone gets piles of everything that they wanted.  I’ve been glad to watch it after the past two lean Christmases.  I keep telling myself that the abundance of this Christmas is acceptable because we don’t buy new things during most of the rest of the year.  But it is a little dismaying toward the end of the Christmas present opening, when all efforts at turn taking are abandoned and the kids don’t even bother to read the tags before opening the gifts.  Kiki has a little bag she loves and we have no idea who gave it to her.  On the other hand the frenzy didn’t begin until after the kids had all carefully handed out their gifts that they had selected.  At the beginning we divded the presents into piles of things that each person was giving.  Then the person carefully handed a gift to the person whose turn it was to open.  I have a lovely memory of Patches cradling the gift that he was anxiously awaiting the chance to give to Gleek.  He’d picked it out, and wrapped it, and waited for weeks trying very hard not to tell what it was.  Handing over that package and seeing it opened delighted him.  I’m so glad to see my kids enjoying the giving as much as the getting. 

It was also interesting to watch the difference in shopping styles.  Mom and I and my older Sister all carefully planned and conferenced for months to make sure that each child would have a perfect set of gifts.  The gifts are carefully thought out and will be enjoyed for months and years.  My Dad, My oldest brother, and My youngest brother all went shopping on Friday.  They bought piles of stuff, wrapped it and handed it out.  By the end of the present opening all the kids were clamoring to open the presents from my oldest brother because he picked fun toys that they’ve never seen before.  These were toys that could be used right now, while most of my and my mom’s carefully selected gifts need quieter places and times to be enjoyed.  Once again my mom came through with an amazing array of wonderful gifts that my kids are going to enjoy for a long time to come.

The morning surprises have now been dispensed, the presents have all been opened.  Now is the time where the kids play with toys while the adults sneak off to take naps.  Later we’ll have a big Christmas dinner and then the holiday will be over for another year.  Or almost over.  We still have another whole day at Grandma’s house to enjoy.  Then we go home and have vacation time there.  On New Year’s eve will be a Tayler family event with even more gifts.  I’m sad that we’re coming to the end of our vacation.  It has been truly wonderful.

I went to church with my parents this morning.  This is the congregation that I grew up in, so I had several sweet old ladies come up to me with variations on “I knew you when you were this tall.”  It was fun to see familiar face, but they’ve all gotten so much older when I wasn’t looking.  And there are some faces which are conspicuously absent, which makes me sad.  Some people are so vibrant it seems like it should be impossible for them to die.  But they do.  We all do eventually.  Church was also filled with a host of new faces.  I looked around and tried to picture how it would be if I ever came back to live in Livermore.  It would be a strange mix of old and new.  But after 15 years I can’t assume I really know anyone here.  People change so much in that amount of time.

My mother came down sick yesterday, so she wasn’t able to teach Gleek in Primary.  Fortunately my Dad filled in.  She didn’t mind the substitution at all, she probably got away with lots more bouncing around than she would have if my mom had been there.  Patches ran off to nursery happily.  Then at some point he looked around and realized he was in a strange place with strange people.  The nursery leaders brought him to me.  He had tears streaming down his face and he clung to me.  Howard followed us out into the hall.  Then Howard asked Patches if he’d like Daddy to play cars with him.  Patches nodded and the two of them went offto go play cars.  Later Howard was able to come back and rejoin me in Sunday School.

Kiki decided that she didn’t want to be in Primary with her class.  I asked her why and she declared it was because there was a girl in the class who didn’t like her.  The fact that this girl didn’t like her made her feel unloved and lonely.  I pinned her with my Mommy stare and informed her that the opinion of a girl we’ll see maybe once in two years should not matter to her.  I required her to identify opinions which should matter to her.  I further informed her, that if the opinion of this girl does not matter, then the girl has no power to hurt Kiki.  I don’t know if any of my mini lecture stuck.  I never can tell what is going on inside her head during these conversations.  

And then we went home.  Now we’re gearing up for all the Christmas eve events.  It is nice to begin Christmas eve with church.  It gives a nice feel to the day.

Tomorrow is Christmas eve, a day rife with traditions.  We are faced with the challenge of blending the traditions of three households into one harmonious evening.  We have an advantage in that our family traditions and those of my sister’s family are based on the traditions of my parents’ family.  But years of being apart has caused traditon drift.  A powow was in order to make sure that it can all fit together.  My family has never opened a gift on Christmas eve, but that is a critical event for my sister’s kids, so it will happen.  Our family always gathers around a candlit table to eat cookies, read the Christmas story, and write down what gift we intend to give to Christ for a birthday gift during the next year.  That tradition will be part of the evening.  My parents always go carolling, so that will be part of the evening.  My sister’s family always reads The Grinch Who Stole Christmas so that will happen too.  It is going to be a fairly packed evening.

I’m looking forward to this blending of traditions.  It will be a nice change for one year.  Then next year I’ll be very happy to be at home with only my own traditions to manage. 

When I arrived here at my parent’s house I had a short list of things I wanted to do while in Livermore.  One of the biggest items was for me to get in touch with a certain friend from my high school days.  She was more of a sister than a friend.  Our relationship came complete with many fun times and some huge arguements.  She was the only high school friend I ever shouted at.  She is also the only high school friend with whom I’ve kept in any sort of contact.  We keep losing track of each other, but every few years we get together to catch up.  It has been more than four years since we last caught up, the meetup was way overdue.  So I tracked her down and yesterday we spent three hours together just visiting.  I was able to see her new house and her husband whom I’ve never met.  She regaled me with many funny and interesting stories about how her life has gone.  At the end of high school I felt like our lives were headed in opposite directions, and yet despite my youthful perception we have arrived at very similar places.  We’re both running online businesses.  We’re both happily married.  We both have kids, although some of her children have four legs rather than two.  We both love fantasy style things.  I have already decided that when I have more money to spend on pretty things, I’m going to go shop at her store.  (http://www.justanothersunset.com/servlet/StoreFront)  Who wouldn’t want Nene Thomas’s A Chance Encounter on the wall?  Simply beautiful.  I loved visiting with my friend so much that we’re going to reprise the visit next Tuesday, only this time I’m hauling Howard and his minis and paints along.  My friend loves to paint minis too.

A second important thing for my California visit was organizing a meetup with local area Schlockers.  That event took place last night.  To give you an idea of how much fun this event was: at one point I was telling some story and I found myself saying “here in Utah” when suddenly I realized I was nowhere near Utah.  I was so comfortable in that group of people that at a subconscious level I felt like I was at home.  I think this is one of the greatest gifts that Schlock has brought to us, we find wonderful new friends everywhere we go.  My only regret for the evening is that the group was so large that I couldn’t talk to everyone as much as I wanted to.  There were so many people there with fascinating lives that I wanted to know more about.  I want to know more about dogs for the hearing impaired and what it is like to own a laundromat, and the fledgling webcomic one person mentioned, and what massage therapy school is like, and half a dozen other things.  There were so many threads of conversation that I would have liked to pursue further.  There was laughter and delicious food and hours of fun conversation.  Howard made sure that everyone who came, went home with a picture either in a book or on some other paper.    I’m going to have to see if I can collect some of the photos that were taken.  I’d like to be able to have visual reminders of how much fun this was.  Events like this are why I want to be able to go with Howard to more conventions.

So yesterday was a day of old and new friends.  Today will be a day of laundry and children and mucking out the car.  These things are necessary in order to prepare for the holiday festivities which will begin tomorrow.

About a month ago my mother asked me the inevitable question “What do you want for Christmas?”  I rarely have a good answer to that question because honestly I don’t need anything.  There are lots of things I would enjoy having, but since I know I’m not going to make frivolous purchases I tend to stay out of stores, thus I don’t even know which frivolous things I would like.  I know I’d love to have a laptop computer, but that’s quite a bit outside the Christmas gift price range.  This year though I found to perfect answer to the question.  See this year Mom and I are going to be together at Christmas instead of 800 miles apart.  So this year I declared that what I wanted was a shopping trip.

When I was a teenager, mom and I went on shopping trips about once per year.  Usually it was for school clothes.  A full shopping trip is different than running to buy a pair of pants because you need them.  The point of a shopping trip is to browse and grab stacks of clothes to try on.  Frequently you grab things that are far too expensive or far too strange to actually buy.  Those things you try on just for the giggles.  At the end of the pile of clothes there might be one or two items that are worth purchasing.  Sometimes there aren’t any worth buying.  That’s okay too.  After two or three stores usually you find at least one wonderful new item.  Even if I find nothing I love having the excuse to look at pretty things and try them on.  At the end of a shopping trip I have a much better idea of what current fashion trends are, whether I like them, and how they look on me.  

Shopping also provides hours of time for just chatting.  Mom and I talk about things in our lives, the world in general, and how much this shirt looks like it is made out of upholstery fabric.  Sometimes the talk covers important topics, sometimes it doesn’t, either one is fine.  Having the right person to go shopping with makes all the difference in the world.  I have to be comfortable with my shopping buddy.  Honestly I’ve never found anyone other than my mom and sisters with whom I enjoy this type of shopping.  Howard and I have gone clothes shopping together just once and we simply do not have compatable clothes shopping styles.  All my female friends have kids, as do I, so unloading all the kids for a group shopping trip becomes a herculean task.  Also I’m not sure if they’d like shopping the way that I enjoy it.  There are women who just don’t enjoy this style of shopping.  

The financial aspect is another hurdle.  While you can go shopping and have fun while spending no money at all, it is definitely more fun if you get to bring home at least one pretty new thing.  If you have two women from different households they may have completely different budgets.  Our budget has been very tight which means I am much happier if I don’t wander through stores looking at things that I can’t afford to buy.  For this trip my mom told me how much money she was willing to spend on a gift for me and that guided my choices.  In the end she bought my birthday presents as well as Christmas gifts.  The world is filled with pretty things.

It may be frivolous and female of me, but I loved every minute of the shopping trip.  I loved trying on the clothes.  I loved getting to pick out new clothes and inexpensive jewelry that I get to take home with me.  I kept some of the purchases out to wear tonight to the Schlock meetup, the rest has been wrapped and put under the tree.  Going shopping with my mom was like coming home.  It was like being a teenager again.  It was so wonderful and comfortable and happy.  This vacation has only begun and it has already been wonderful for me.

In my growing up years my family had a tradition of going carolling for the twelve days prior to Christmas.  In my memory this tradition has been imbuded with a soft glow as I remember all the wonderful postcard moments it provided.  I’ve been really looking forward to sharing this tradition with my kids this year.  My first hint that my plan was going awry came when both Gleek and Link declared that they didn’t even want to go.  Then I had to decide whether to require them to participate because I believe they’ll love it when they try it, or whether to allow them to stay home.  Remembering my realization that I can’t make Howard love my traditions, I realized that I can’t make my kids love them either.  I had to allow them to stay home if they wanted to.  

We hadn’t even exited the house and my kids had already departed from my script for this event.  When they saw everyone else getting ready to go, both Gleek and Link relented and decided to go along.  I was glad.  But then my children refused to walk politely.  Instead there was running and trompling in the yards of other people.  Gleek insisted that she bring along a huge stuffed sheep which she then got tired of carrying, so I had to lug it.  Link had a hurt foot which he kept half out of his shoe.  This meant that his shoe kept falling off.  Kiki decided that snitching santa hats from everyone was a fun game.  Patches got tired and had to be carried.  Then there was the screaming incident of Who Gets To Hold Which Star.  None of that was soft or glowy.  It was all grumpy.  By the time we started back home I was ready to cry over the failure of this attempt at tradition sharing.

Then the walk home was peaceful and the Christmas lights were beautiful.  During that walk something went click in my head.  All the soft glow was stripped from my carolling memories and suddenly I remembered all the squabbles I had with my siblings during the course of carolling.  The squabbling moments were as frequent if not more frequent than the soft glowy moments.  My kids weren’t the ones who had it wrong, I was.  The squabbles and lost shoes and tired legs were all much more in line with my childhood experiences than with the script I’d created in my head.  The script in my head was fiction and if I continued to expect everyone else to try to match it, I was only going to be further disappointed.

Tonight we’re going carollingagain.  Some of the kids my choose to stay home with Howard.  There will probably be quarrels.  There might be lost shoes or skinned knees.  But I’m going to love it for what it is rather than trying to make it be what it never was.

We have successfully arrived at my parent’s house.  My kids are really very good travellers.  We only had minor gripes and whining with no major incidents at all.  My access to a computer at my parent’s house will be limited.  This is not due to a lack of computers, but rather due to an abundance of people who want to use said computers.  I intend to keep blogging daily.  I’ll do it on paper if necessary and then type it in later. 

I’ve mentioned before how much I love going on road trips with Howard.  I love having all those hours where Howard and I have nothing to do but listen to music, mediate child disagreements, and talk to each other.  The talking is the part I love most.  Early in the trip we exhaust all our normal topics of conversation and so we end up delving for things to talk about.  Invariably we learn somthing about each other that we didn’t know before.

This time I ended up telling Howard about the evolution of my comfort with being self employed.  I grew up with a Dad who worked as a government computer scientist at the same lab for over 30 years.  So I assumed that was how most careers normally work.  Then I met and married Howard who kept talking about making a living as a musician.  The thought of running our own business terrified me.  I wanted the security of a steady paycheck.  I was delighted when Howard took a corporate job to pay the bills.  Then I was afraid again every time he complained about the job and talked about how he wanted to quit.  I think my change in attitude came about when I took charge of our small business finances.  I began to see the flow of money and understand how small businesses really work.  Somehow along the way I became a full advocate of us running our own creative business and living off of it.  By the time Howard was ready to quit Novell I was able to be very glad about the choice and support him fully.  

I told Howard all of that and he laughed.  He had no idea that I’d ever been scared of self employment.  I guess we weren’t as good about talking things through back then.  I can tell you now that I never want us to go back to working for someone else.  I love the life we have.  I often get thanks from Schlock fans because I support Howard in his cartooning.  I honestly wouldn’t have it any other way.  The sacrifices we live with to make ends meet are very definitely worth it.  We are so lucky.

One of my goals for next year is to set up a website for my writing. It doesn’t need to be complex, just a front page with a few linkages to stories that I’ve written. Eventually it will become the page from which I promote some book projects I have planned. It’ll probably be a fairly typical author’s page. I don’t think I’ll move my blog onto it though. I like my blog here in LJ for now. The biggest requirement is that the webpage set up needs to be simple enough that I can modify it by myself without waiting on anyone else. I’m fairly certain that a simple html editor or website builder will be able to manage this for me, but I don’t want to spend piles of money.

Any suggestions?

Yesterday I looked at the list of things to do today and I knew it was packed, but that I could get it done. I forgot to leave extra space for receiving a phone call from Gleek’s kindergarten teacher. I spent 10 minutes talking on the phone to my little girl who sobbed that she just wanted to come home. I then went down to the school to see if I could get a more coherent account of events. As usual there was a cascade of events that led up to the tearful phone call. There was some obstinate resistance from Gleek which the teacher tried to counter, but the counter move exacerbated the upset rather than resolving it. I sympathize with the teacher. Gleek often requires special handling and a different set of rules, but in a classroom setting the teacher can’t easily provide those. I sat in the classroom for awhile and talked to Gleek. I tried to help her think of happy things about staying at school. She did want to do those things, but she wanted me to stay with her. I couldn’t. I had to get home and pack. I knew that if I left Gleek behind she would feel abandoned and would probably spend the rest of her school day in tears. I couldn’t do that. So I prepared to take her home with me. Then as we gathered her backpack she saw what the afternoon project would be. She really wanted to do the project. She wanted to do it enough that she decided to stay even though I had to leave. The choice made all the difference. The rest of her day was happy.

Gleek’s school struggles need more of my brainspace come January. Until then I’m on vacation from that particular worry.

Around Noon when I posted my earlier message, I didn’t see how I was going to get everything done. By 7 pm it all pretty much was finished. Kudos go to Howard. He devoted his whole day to running errands for me and making sure that all the little-but-important things got done.

Tomorrow morning we all hop into the car for our vacation. I’m so glad.