As I watched her yesterday, it occurred to me that Annabelle is either a candidate for an Oscar nomination — or she really believes. Sophie’s letter could have said anything (and she was thrilled with hers, wanted to take it out with us last night when we went to see the luminarias at the Desert […]
It’s sort of amazing that Annabelle’s still even pretending, given my thoughts three Christmases ago. I can’t believe it’s been that long. Here is a radio essay I did for the local NPR affiliate in 2006 on the whole believing thing.
Dear Santa, Today I wrote letters to Annabelle and Sophie and signed your name. I hope that’s okay. I hope I got the letters right. I haven’t done them before; that’s always been my mother in law’s turf, but as you know, she’s not around to do them this year. I bought some cute paper […]
The favorite Christmas movie in our house this year is “Elf”. (I’m also partial to “Love Actually”, but that one’s obviously not for family consumption.) Maybe it’s just because I’ve seen it so many times, or because I was still feeling flu-ish upon the first viewing of this holiday season, but I’m struck suddenly this […]
Things were dramatic this morning. Annabelle sighed a huge sigh as she was getting ready for school, and announced, “It’s just so strange to be getting up and not going to the Herberger!” The Herberger Theater in downtown Phoenix is the scene of her latest stage appearance, as a rosebud in The Snow Queen — […]
A few weeks ago, I said to a dear friend who for these purposes shall remain nameless, “I have a theme this year! It’s a Homemade Christmas, Darn It!” Without skipping a beat, she replied, “Me, too! Mine is It’s a Half-Assed Christmas.” By last night, I had to admit that my theme has officially […]
(As dictated to her mother; all exclamation points individually mandated by the author.) Dear Santa Claus, Happy Christmas! I’m good! I want a nail kit, American Girl doll — not Chrissa, one with blonde hair like me! A whoopie cushion. Me and Sarah play with the whoopie cushion. We play hide and seek. I want […]
Not to get all cornball on you, but my favorite part of the holidays comes before they’ve even started. When it’s all still an idea in your head, waiting. My little silver Charlie Brown Christmas tree/Hanukkah bush will never look as good as it does in my mind’s eye. But I’m sort of liking it […]
I thought I’d hit all the parenthood milestones, but an hour ago — when Sophie literally puked in my face — I realized there are still some firsts I have yet to experience. I held her head, both of us dripping with what I think was once stuffing, and thought, “This is love.” Not to […]
This morning I was multi-tasking — emptying a case of Diet Coke into the veggie drawer of the fridge (fine, judge me!) and chatting with Sophie. Luckily I had remembered that her box of items for the Mayflower was due today — 3 to 5 items that one might need on a cross-ocean trip, placed in […]
