Twas the Week After Christmas

Twas the week after Christmas
and all over the land
Moms all going crazy
No more Holiday plans

Up late every night
left kids snug in their beds
Getting them back on schedule
filled me with dread

Dad back at work
and me stuck at home
Dreaming of a time
When I'd be left alone

When up in the playroom
arose such a clatter
I ran up the stairs
to see what was the matter

Just a huge battle royal
in a new wrestling ring,
and Rock Band on the Wii
Boy, this family can't sing!

A mess end to end
Not a toy on a shelf
But I laughed when I saw it
in spite of myself

I tried yelling and bribing
to get the house straight,
But with so many distractions
that will just have to wait

Not a snow flake in sight
the sky a bright blue
How these children annoy me
with "nothing" to do

Now Ryan, Now Sam
It leads me to shout
Get up and get dressed
Get your shoes and get out

But now it is Tuesday
and I can see the light,
It's just a few days
until Sunday Night!!!

Christmas 2008

Memories

So today I began to have my annual "Merry Meltdown", which comes right before Christmas, as I am rushing around trying to get everything bought, wrapped, mailed...you all know how it is. I had said that this year we are going to scale back, simplify, blah, blah, blah, however, as the big day grew closer I went into panic mode thinking that I just didn't have enough "stuff" for the boys. I actually found myself making a list to see just how big their piles would be. I was convinced that their holiday would be ruined and their childhoods traumatized if they didn't get everything they wanted. Then I thought back to my post from a few weeks ago about my Nativity Scene. Several of my cousins left their own comments about the memories that they have from my Grandparents and their childhoods, and it made me realize that the greatest memories that I have from growing up don't include things that I got for Christmas. In fact, the only significant childhood Christmas gift memory that I have is of a Barbie RV that my sister and I got one year. When we opened it there was an entire side missing (the door slid open so you could play within the RV). The odd thing was that we never returned or exchanged the RV. This wasn't even presented as an option, which years later made Staci and I ponder whether that item had been acquired from a less than legitimate source. Not to imply that our parents would ever knowingly get "hot" Christmas toys for their children, but we were broke and it was New Jersey. Anyway, that is totally off topic and not what I was going for here, so I will try to get back on point.

My point is that the best memories that I have from my childhood are crabbing and fishing from the pier with PopPop, going to the Dairy Queen in my Dad's convertible, playing Ghost In The Graveyard with bunches of cousins, making these chains out of soda pull tabs and hanging them in the cellar at my Grandpa's house, pounding the tar out of canned biscuit dough at the kitchen table with my Grandmother in Jersey City, and the excitement of getting to play "Pong" when Aunt Rosie was home. None of those memories include anything bought from a store. Looking back over the things that we have posted about since we started this blog made me realize that these are the memories that Sam and Ryan will have in thirty or so years. Things like Pie Day and camping with The General, the fishing trip with Uncle Jeff, zip lining at Grandaddy's house, and playing Ghost in the Graveyard with their cousins on warm summer nights (see we are continuing that tradition down South and I hope the same is being done in the Northeast!).

So I have put away my lists and my worries, and from this point forward I am going to spend the rest of the holiday making memories with my family.

SO FROM OUR FAMILY TO YOURS, HAVE A MERRY CHRISTMAS

AND A HAPPY AND HEALTHY NEW YEAR!

Party Time

My Dad is temporarily taking over my blog to send a shout out from his annual Christmas Bash to his brother, Bernie, and his sister, Betty. Missed you guys and hope to see you next year.
Happy Holidays!

Up A Tree

Here in NC on December 19th it is currently a balmy 70 degrees. This just seems wrong, and a conversation the I had with Sam last night proves my point. Sam and his friend Karen were playing outside last night when he came in to tell me that his football had gotten stuck in a tree (picture a 20 foot evergreen). They have thrown a brick (???) to try to retrieve the football, which had become lodged in the tree as well. Sam got his bat to try to get the football. Two minutes later he is back -"The bat is now stuck in the tree". I give him our paint pole. Two minutes later - "The pole is stuck in the tree." He is now getting his night vision goggles, whatever. Now at this point I should have probably gone out to investigate, but no one was bothering me and they were out of the house, so I left well enough alone. It's not even our tree, it belongs to the house next door, which is for sale. Two minutes later I hear Sam's friend Karen's sweet voice:

Karen: "Mrs. Lockwood"
Me: "Yeah?"
Karen: "Sam is stuck in the tree"

You all saw that coming, didn't you? I went outside to see our new Christmas decoration of a football, a brick, a bat, a paint pole, and my 9 year old son hanging as ornaments on an evergreen tree. Sam compared himself to Rambo, I compared him to Dumbo. We got everything and everyone down, none the worse for wear, just a few scratches. But this is what comes when you mix a warm winter day with a 9 year old boy.

A Christmas Miracle

Anyone who has been to my house in the last two years will understand what a true Christmas Miracle this picture is!!!

I think this song is so funny. It goes out to my Dad - My favorite Guido

I had to remove this song - Guido Dad says it interferes with his hearing aide. Whatever!

The Saddest Nativity Scene

If you were to walk into my house and see my Nativity Scene you would say to yourself "that is one sad looking Nativity Scene". Set among my exquisitely designed Snow Village and my beautiful (if I do say so myself) "Winter Wonderland" themed Christmas Tree, it looks especially sad. But the story behind the manger makes it one of my most cherished possessions. Before my paternal Grandmother, whom we called Nanny, passed away she gave me this Nativity scene, which my Pop Pop had built. When she gave it to me she also told me "Don't let your sister take this from you, You know how she can be", but that is another post for another day. Anyway, I guess that I used to play with it over their house, because she had special memories of me attached to it. But I have to tell you, it is the flaws in it that make it so special. Look closely at the second picture above (it will enlarge if you click on it), you may be able to tell that Mary's head has broken off. It is actually taped on there with scotch tape. That is so my grandparents that I just can't bring myself to actually glue the poor woman's head back on. And the white sheep and the camel are leaning against the building because their legs are broken. There were cows and horses in the box, as well, along with four different angels, but I could never figure out where they were all supposed to go, so I assume they are "extras". You never can have too many angels. There are glue drippings everywhere, and the words "side" and "back" are actually written on the inside wall, so that my PopPop could remember how it was supposed to go together. When were putting it out today, the kids and I were laughing as we remembered how when Ryan was about three, he used to insist that everyone go inside the building because a storm was coming. I'd set it up and later I'd walk by and everyone would be inside. I guess this was after a particularly bad summer storm season or something. So we have continued the Separ tradition of making memories with my "Antique" Nativity Scene. It might be the saddest looking manger, but it's my manger, and I wouldn't trade it for the world.

Iceburg, Right Ahead!!

This past weekend we took the boys down to Atlata to the Georgia Aquarium. Ever since Ryan watched the movie "Titanic" this summer, he has become obsessed with this ship. He cannot get enough information about it, and so we headed there to see the special Titanic Exhibit that is there for several months. It was a really cool exhibit, with all of the artifacts that have been recovered. They also had mock ups of what certain rooms on the ship would have looked like, and an iceburg to touch to see how cold it was, and a simulator to see if you could avoid the iceburg. We all experienced disaster on that one, there would not have been a happier ending to the story if any of us had been at the wheel. As you entered the exhibit hall you were assigned an "identity" of a actual Titanic passanger and given a card with some information about that person, and at the end they had a list of everyone who survived and those who did not, and you got to see whether you survived. All of us except Ryan made it out alive, which royally pissed him off. He made a big announcement that there was no way that his Dad, who was a THIRD CLASS passanger, would have lived if he did not! And that was that!

This was a really cool aquarium as well. The boys are ususally not that big on aquariums, but this one had whales and sharks, and the like. And you stood in glass tunnels while they swam around you. The penguins were "on vacation" whatever that means, and that was a bit of a disappointment, as we always enjoy them. The touch tank with the stingrays and sharks was really neat too.

We also went to the World of Coca-Cola while we were in Atlanta, which was interesting. It gives you the history of Coke, and there was a cool 4-D movie, but to Sam, nothing beat the Tasting Room. He tasted every one of the 60 different kind of Coke products, which was his goal for the day. They even had a special holiday Coke, which was Coke, chocolate and peppermint flaver. It was interesting. My little adventurer Ryan stuck to the section of just the plain everyday Coke flavors.

Wanna Bet??

This post may totally out Scott and I as the nerds that we are, but I have to let everyone know about the bet we had. Last night while watching The Tonight Show we made a wager regarding a statement that was made during the "Jaywalker" segment (this is where they ask questions and make fun of the dumb people). Anyway, there was a statement made about "when Ben Franklin was President" and I commented to Scott that Ben Franklin wasn't ever President and he wanted to argue this point with me...thus leading to our bet. So what do you guys think:

Was Ben Franklin President of the United States?

Think you know....the basis for Scott's whole argument was that he is on money, therefore he has to have been a President. I must admit this logic almost threw me, but I stuck to my guns. And to my neighbors I say this..Scott is a graduate of Olympic High School...makes you consider moving doesn't it!

Anyway, the answer is NO, Ben Franklin was never President. I asked several people at work today and they ALL thought he was...Not that I work with a group of Brain Surgeons but geesh! But my knowledge earned me a nice lunch at McAllisters (and the fact that Scott always buys lunch when we work together is a moot point, I still won!!!)