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How We Celebrate

January 4, 2012 by sue campbell

I did an article for Metro Parent magazine’s December issue on how local families make holidays special and meaningful.  And I almost bit through my bottom lip that I couldn’t share personal anecdotes for the piece. Good thing I have my own blog.

On the Campbell side, there is a tradition to exchange “table gifts.” On labor day, every family member draws a name, then each person makes a gift for whoever they drew.  We open the gifts at the table during Christmas dinner.

This year, I drew Debbie, my mother-in-law.

I don’t know if I’ve ever mentioned it here, but my in-laws are locked in an epic battle with the squirrels in their yard.  They call them “diablo” squirrels. Apparently squirrels dig holes in the lawn and ruin it. I never noticed, probably because my lawn is never nice enough to ruin.  Or maybe the dog is pooping in the holes, thereby covering them up. Anyhoo, Larry and Debbie set live traps for those cute little critters (L & D are vegetarians, so killing them is not an option) and relocate them across the river. Ben and I think this battle is sort of funny and, um, futile.  So, for Debbie’s table gift, I was able to do something really nice and yet mock her at the same time.  I made her these:

 

Fair Isle Mittens with Squirrel and Snowflake Motifs

Ben drew my name. While I was inside by the fire knitting squirrel mittens, Ben was out in his shop with the oxyacetylene torch making me this:

A Stained Glass Lantern

My mind was thoroughly blown. Ben has never worked with stained glass before, much less with braising brass fittings to create a screw top and bottom to insert the candle. And, he knows me well enough to use the lead-free sauter — one wouldn’t want to poison oneself or family, now would one?

Nora made a vintage inspired Christmas ornament for her great-grandpa (she calls him Great Papa), and got a perfectly girly hand painted jewelry case from her Aunt.

Then we ate a scrumptious dinner cooked by Debbie and my sister-in-law Elizabeth. That’s right, I didn’t have to cook. And I even remembered to help clean up afterwards instead of just rushing for the gift pile.

On the Burdick side,  I was a little worried about my nephews being able to warm up to me in a hurry since they only see me twice a year.  So I bought a face painting kit complete with a book of how-to diagrams for the artistically impaired (me) and pulled it out of my bag as soon as we got there. My nephew, Sameer, who’s Nora’s age, got to choose whatever he wanted from the book and I got to hold his sweet face in my hands while he held still.

My Nephew's Adorable Cheek
And His Other Adorable Cheek
My Sister as a Super Villain
My Other Nephew as, um, a Train Robber?
Nora Picked the Hardest Thing in the Whole Book

I also painted a monkey with its tail curled around my mom’s arm, but forgot to snap a picture of it. Eventually, the kids seized the paint tray and started painting one another’s legs. Then the grown kids got down to playing some Beatles Rockband on the Xbox. This is the only thing we have that resembles a tradition as we’ve done it three years in a row. This year, however, someone was smart enough to hide the microphone from me.  And we made a whole mess of tamales for Christmas dinner.

All-in-all, I couldn’t have asked for a better or more memorable holiday.

Happy New Year!

Link Up!

 

 

 

Filed Under: Bonding, Crafts Tagged With: face painting, fair isle knitting, holidays, squirrel mittens, tamales

I Sprang from My Bed to See What Was the Matter, Then Had Some Time to Think

January 2, 2012 by sue campbell

I am not the sort of person who stays up until midnight on New Year’s Eve. And it’s not just because I have a four-and-a-half-year old. Even before procreating I was incapable of staying awake past 10pm. So Saturday night, we all stayed up until 9pm, midnight in New York, and we brought in 2012 by live streaming the ball drop. Only we missed it by a few seconds, so it was just a lot of people kissing and screaming.  And then off to bed.

At midnight pacific standard time, fireworks started going off nearby. Very nearby.  They were loud and clearly illegal. I lay there wondering how many fireworks they could possible have. As the minutes wore on, I imagined a teenager working an $8 and hour summer job, then, because he still lives with his parents and has no real bills to pay, taking the entire $4000 earned after taxes and spending it at a fireworks tent in the parking lot of Albertsons.

I rose and peeked out each window of my house, looking for the source.  Nora stayed sleeping, or my rage would surely have turned murderous. I returned to bed and while waiting for the cortisol to leave system so I could sleep, I began reviewing the New Year’s Resolutions that had been floating through my head.

I know some folks are against the very idea of New Year’s resolutions, but I feel this sort of calendar driven goal setting is a natural human endeavor. People like to think they can pack their problems in a box and pack them away with the holiday trimmings; we simply will ourselves to be a better people with the posting of a new calendar on the kitchen wall. And why not? Resetting intention is about realizing we are imperfect, but not giving up our quest to become our best selves.

So, in no particular order, I present my 2012 New Year’s Resolutions:

  • Blog with discipline. I’ve justified my recent absence by telling myself everyone is too busy with friends and family this time of year to read my little blog anyway, but the truth is I’m a better writer when I’m doing it all the time. This week, I’ll decide on a posting schedule and stick to it.
  • Carve out time for dates with Ben. We have let this slip, and that’s a mistake. We need the time to just be with each other without the pull of housework and personal projects.
  • Remember to give the dog some attention. He’s such a good dog. And he won’t be around forever.
  • Make exercise more routine, and more of it yoga. Exercise is instrumental in blood sugar management, and yoga boosts the stress relief factor.
  • Explore Buddhism. From what I know so far, Buddhism is about training your mind to prevent the suffering you bring upon yourself. Sounds good to me.
  • Query new magazines, not just my three old standbys. I’m getting too comfortable with the places I’ve been published so far, it’s time to go beyond my comfort zone.
  • Be a little more tidy. This one is for Ben, really. But wouldn’t it be nice if he made a counter resolution to be a little more tolerant of mess? We could meet in the middle sometime around June.
How do you feel about resolutions? Are you making any this year?

Filed Under: Big Themes Tagged With: blogging, Buddhism, freelancing, New Year's Resolutions, yoga

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What kind of blog is this?

This is a blog for PARENTS. True, the writer, Sue Campbell, writes books for kids. But this blog is for grown-ups. It has some swearing and would be super boring for kids. Except for the swearing.

The PODCAST is for KIDS and PARENTS. In fact, my twelve-year-old daughter is my co-host.

If your kids like Sue's books, send them over to suecampbellbooks.com where there's some kid-friendly content. EVEN BETTER, join the mailing list. You get stuff for grown-ups and printable stuff for kids. And sometimes there will be super ill-advised giveaways or coloring contests for free books.

MORE ABOUT SUE: She makes an ACTUAL LIVING from writing words and marketing books and lives with her husband, two daughters, six chickens and one messy house rabbit in Portland, Oregon. And yes, Portland IS that weird. She really couldn't be any luckier.

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