It is getting late and I am sick with a miserable sore throat, but tomorrow is December 1st so I have spent the evening  busily  making advent calendars for Sam, Mark and Cheryl. I have always had a tradition with my girls starting on December 1st that they  would each open a small gift every day leading up to Christmas. A few years ago, a very dear friend of mine who lives in Germany, made Sophia and Eva embroidered cloth calendars with little rings sewn on each day of the month. A gift is tied to each of the rings as is the tradition in Germany. They are absolutely adorable and such treasures. Setting them out every year marked the beginning of the Christmas season with all the excitement and anticipation that goes with it.   I wanted to continue this tradition my first Christmas married to Paul, but I did not want my stepchildren to feel left out. By chance, Paul happened to travel to Germany on business a few weeks before our first Christmas together. I asked him to look out for similar calendars for his kids but he only found cardboard ones. You couldn’t hang the gifts from them so instead I wrapped and numbered the presents and, bless their hearts, they were thrilled to open the gifts since this tradition was new to them. Still, Sophia’s and Eva’s calendars are so much more elegant and I have always felt conflicted about it. Call it stepmother guilt. I did not want to take this tradition away from my children and yet I did not want my stepchildren to feel like, well, “stepchildren.” So I decided to make them my own version of  homemade, keepsake advent calendars. Read the rest of this entry »

Sophia and I were driving in the car yesterday when we passed an empty lot where a naked guy was walking around aimlessly holding a cardboard box. At first we weren’t sure. We saw him from behind. He was wearing a long-sleeved shirt that barely covered his bum and that was all. Sophia asked, “Is that guy naked?” With that he turned around. His shirt was open and just below, there it was, for the whole world to see– a very obvious naked penis dangling in the breeze. I don’t know about you, but I have always found the male genitalia to be a bit goofy looking. Kind of like a sausage squished between two dinner rolls. What an inconvenience it must be to have it just hanging there. You have to tuck it into pants and men always seem to be adjusting it. Not for me. Read the rest of this entry »

Yesterday was the last day for soccer. Yeah! What a relief. I am happy the girls play and support their decison to do so, but it is really hard on the dinner hour to get both girls, Cheryl and Eva, to their practices since they have to be at two different fields at the same time. In addition to that, Sophia had water polo until last week which meant I had three kids to juggle and make dinner. Now that it is getting darker earlier, I really like to be home. Early evening is a really a pleasant time in our house. Our kitchen is centrally located so when I am preparing dinner I get to watch or hear the kids in the study or their rooms. Last night when Cheryl and Eva got home after soccer practice they performed their usual ritual. Eva took a shower while Cheryl got out the IHome and they sang in the bathroom together. It was delightful. I don’t know if they knew I could hear them so I didn’t say anything. I told Paul when he got home and we both marveled at the fact that these two girls who once hated each other when they met three years ago are now the  best of friends and do everything together. We are so fortunate. I can’t believe we have come this far.

Sunday is Cheryl’s 11th birthday and it is her weekend to be with her mom and my kids will be with their dad. She told me yesterday that she wanted to spend the day bowling with her siblings. I told her I thought that could be arranged and that my girls could meet up with her at the bowling alley. She told me today that she wanted me to take her bowling instead of  her mother. I asked her why and she because I would buy pizza and soda and her mother wouldn’t. I explained to her that perhaps the cost of bowling would be a financial hardship for her mother who is single with one income and that I was planning to contribute to the cost so her mother would not have to bear the burden herself. I then suggested that we all go together and Cheryl was happy with that idea. Now I have to talk to her mother and arrange it.

Today was a big deal in our blended household. We are finally unpacked!!! For the last two years we have been looking for things that I was almost ready to give up on. For the umpteenth time,  Paul and the boys (my heros) went out into the storage room with flashlights and didn’t come out until they found a box marked “kitchen bakeware”.    It was wedged between the snow gear and the Christmas decorations. Cookie sheets, bundt pans, muffin tins and rolling pins were all in that box. I didn’t want to go buy anymore because I knew I had them somewhere.  My girls also went through boxes that were marked from their bedrooms. Not surprisingly they got rid of mostly everything that was in them. We found our quarter collection. Yeah! And some half-melted candles. Why did I pack that stuff? We lived without a lot of stuff for two years and we survived. Except I really missed my bakeware. Read the rest of this entry »