January 3: Cleaning Up, Throwing Out, Merry Christmas

Basking in the glow of my tree

After getting the kids off to school this morning, my wife and I spent the morning going through boxes, throwing out stuff that we had saved for no apparent reason, and cleaning up a corner of our house.  Basically, I told my wife over breakfast, “We’re going to be in this house for a while, so we better think about making it work for a family of four.”  That means cleaning out the attic and converting it into another bedroom for whichever child wants to stake a claim to it when the time comes.

I’m now sitting in my living room, typing this post, and listening to a CD of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir singing Christmas carols.  Yes, I’m still on my Christmas-every-day kick.  The Ghost of Christmas Present is still with me.  You may be wondering if this kick means I will leave my Christmas tree up all year.  I don’t think I’m going to go that far.  (I have, in the past, left it up until after July 4.)  It’s more a spirit thing.  The spirit of Christmas, with its generosity and love of humankind, is what I’m hoping to sustain.

It’s strange not having at least one of my children home right now.  There is a sense of emptiness in the house.  I’m not complaining.  I don’t mind a few hours of peace in the glow of the Christmas tree.  Last night, as I was driving down our street, I noticed how many of the houses have already gone dark.  Christmas trees and displays are, one-by-one, disappearing.  I even saw one house with the husk of a tree on its front porch.  A little depressing.

At the moment, it’s not too hard to sustain my Christmas spirit.  There’s enough evidence of the holiday still around to keep the Yule log of my heart burning.  We’ll see how my Yule log is doing come mid-February.  My guess is that I’ll have a pretty small log left, and it will be just smoking.  No active flames.  Not enough to even toast a marshmallow.

For the moment, however, Saint Marty can still say pretty heartily, “Merry Christmas to all!”

January 2: Snow Storm, "The Wilder Life," Christmas All Year

"I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future!" Scrooge repeated, as he scrambled out of bed.  "The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me.  Oh Jacob Marley!  Heaven, and the Christmas Time be praised for this.  I say it on my knees, old Jacob, on my knees!"

The above quote from Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol sort of inspires me.  Around January 2, the Christmas trees start disappearing, and everyone starts returning to their routines.  Gone are the feelings of peace and good will.  All that's left is a little egg nog in the fridge, maybe some frosted Christmas cookies, and a sense of loss.  That's where I am right now.  I don't want the holidays to be over. 

I think Charles Dickens had it right.  We should live every day like it's Christmas day.  One of my biggest pleasures at the moment is a local radio station that's still playing Christmas music, 24-7.  I love the fact that, the day after Christmas, the station didn't switch back to heavy metal or country.  I feel like Scrooge.  I want the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future to strive within me, all year long.  I'm hoping the radio station keeps playing Christmas carols from now on.  I'll never switch stations.

The forecasted snow storm has been  dumping snow on the Upper Peninsula all day long.  It started shortly after I wrote my post this morning.  It's still blowing and snowing, and it doesn't look like it's slowing down.  I saw a little blue sky a little while ago, but it was quickly replaced by near white-out conditions.  I think my daughter is hoping for another day of Christmas vacation tomorrow.  I'm not convinced she's going to get it, though. 

I'm currently reading January's book club selection.  It's by Wendy McClure, and it's called The Wilder Life.  It's about McClure's obsession with everything Laura Ingalls Wilder.  I'm loving it.  Of course, I love stories about obsession and literature, so it's right up my alley.  And it's a great book to read on a winter day.  I feel like I'm wrapped in a patchwork quilt while I'm lost in its pages.  I can hardly wait to get home and get back into it.  Currently, I'm sitting in McDonald's, freezing my butt off.  I'm hungry and a little tired.  I want to go chase Laura with McClure some more.

I'm going to try to remain in the Christmas spirit as long as I can.  Reading McClure's book is helping me with this.  I really believe that  Dickens was right.  Christmas isn't just a once-a-year moment to be packed up and stored away in the attic come January 1.  It's something we should all carry around with us always.  Try it out for a few days with me.  See how it works.

Saint Marty says, "God bless us.  Everyone."

January 2: On Vacation, Snow Storm, Quiet

It is around 6:30 a.m., and I’m wide awake.  I’m a little pissed about the fact that I can’t get back to sleep.  I was planning on being incredibly lazy today.  I was going to stay in bed until my three-year-old son woke me up.  Then I was going to move to my recliner and sit with my son in my lap for another hour or so.  Then I was going to get up and make him breakfast, change his diaper, and be an attentive parent.  Then I was going to climb back into the recliner for a little while longer before I got him dressed.  Then, maybe, if I felt like it, I was going to take and shower and get cleaned up myself.  The way I had it figured, this little plan would have taken me until around 11 a.m.

No such luck.  My internal alarm clock only let me sleep a couple hours past my normal time.  Now, I’m sitting in my recliner, typing this post on my laptop.  I won’t be able to upload it until I get to a place with WiFi, but I wanted to make use of the quiet I have at the moment.  My house rarely gets still.  With one really young child and an almost teenage girl under the roof, I’m lucky if I can go to the bathroom without someone knocking on the door or barging in.  As a writer, I value this lack of noise and distraction.

Last night, we were supposed to get around eight to ten inches of snow.  The National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning.  I just stepped onto my front porch to survey the damage Mother Nature had wreaked on my front yard.  Not much going on out there.  We got a little snow overnight, but not the massive white dumping that was being predicted.  The warning is in effect until like 1 a.m. tomorrow morning.  We still might receive a considerable amount of snow, the kind that muffles the entire world, as if everything’s been wrapped in heavy wool or cotton.  I’m hoping the storm has blown over us or around us or under us.  Any direction that takes it away from us.

Me and my little distraction

By the way, my quiet time is now over.  My son is awake.  The TV is on, some cartoon show about guys who can transform into wild animals.  One of the characters is currently half Tasmanian devil, and not the Looney Tunes kind of Taz.  It’s kind of a stupid show, but it teaches kids about different animals around the world.

My day has begun.  I only have one real obligation today.  I’m meeting with my pastor and members of my worship team to plan next Sunday’s service.  Epiphany Sunday.  Magi.  Revelation.  A blazing star.  It’s one of my favorite parts of the Jesus narrative.  That meeting’s around noon-thirty.  Other than that, it’s going to be a pretty lazy day.

Maybe I can talk my wife into going to McDonald’s this morning.  That will allow me to post to my blog.  On Wednesday, my WiFi should be activated, and I can avoid all of the extra steps of getting something uploaded.

Saint Marty needs to snuggle with his son now.

January 1: New Year's Day, George, New Cartoon

Welcome to 2012.

Say "Happy New Year!"

Last night's New Year's Eve party went very well.  As you can tell by the photo, everybody had a good time.  We ate.  We played board games.  I won.  I lost.  I pouted.  I won again.  I lost again.  Some people went to bed early.  Some people stayed up until 2 a.m.  The pizza was delicious.  The crescent weenies were a delight--the perfect combination of sweet bread and smoky meat.  By the way, we also watched a little Iron Chef America last night, as well.

I just took down the streamers and balloons a little while ago.  It's amazing how quickly decorations can be disposed of.  It took me over three hours to deck the halls for New Year's Eve.  It took me only a half hour to undeck.  All of the big holiday festivities are complete now.  I still have a few presents to deliver to some friends.  This week of vacation, I will read Ovid's Metamorphoses for my mythology class, and I will read The Wilder Life for January's book club.  Those are the two big tasks I wish to accomplish.

If you are wondering, I only received one entry in my 500th Post Name My iPad Contest.  Therefore, henceforth, my iPad 2 is dubbed George (as in George Bailey).  Congratulations to disciple Keith.  I will be personally delivering your prizes in the coming week.

At the moment, I'm waiting to eat a turkey dinner at my parents' house.  My contribution to the meal is an egg nog pie.  I'm quite excited for the meal.  I've only had one turkey dinner this holiday season, and that was on Thanksgiving.  There's nothing like a turkey dinner with all the fixings.

I do have a new cartoon for you guys.  It's about purging the old to make room for the new.  A good lesson on this first day of the 2012.

Saint Marty has a turkey to de-skin now.

Confessions of Saint Marty