quit work make crafts

And a very merry christmas to all!

We've reached that lull in the day where everyone's opened presents, had a late breakfast, and had a nap, but it's not yet time to make dinner. So my mom and sister have gone for a walk, everyone else is reading, and I am posting.

Yesterday was mostly mad shopping/cookery/present wrapping, with some delivery of resulting goodies in the afternoon. I made sugar cookies and chocolate chip cookies and pie, and my mom and I collaborated on butter tarts. Mom also made nutbread and nanaimo bars (this last from a recipe that weirdly calls them "George" - as in, we made some George yesterday. I am entertained enough by this that it may stick.) I also made gravlax to go with pebre for dinner, and it was AWESOME and will totally have to be repeated for all my fish-loving friends at some point. Hmmm, New Year's maybe? God knows there's enough pebre.

Mom and some of her band pplz were playing at a midnight mass chez the church they practice in, so I went along to listen and keep her company on the drive. Interesting experience - I've never been to midnight mass before. It was bizarrely similar to shul. The content was different, clearly, but the structure and some of the gestures large and small (prayer for the sick, prayer for the dead, ritual prayers repeated at a certain juncture, etc.) were very much the same, albeit focused around different objects (torah vs. chalice, for example). Mostly it was not to my taste. The iconoclast in me prefers synagogue on several levels (am I using this word right? I mean iconoclasm as in disdaining images), although possibly that's just a question of being more acclimatized to one than the other, and maybe mass in a different church (or with a different choir :P) would have been better. I didn't like the projection screen with words for responsive readings and carols (I know it saves paper, but ick), the red stage-lighting they had on the altar (ick), or the couple with the newborn they had dressed up as Mary and Joseph (ick). I did, however, very much like their opening invitation for people to greet each other - from my spot in the balcony you could see the whole congregation get up and turn to each other to shake hands and hug. That was lovely.

Anyway, so once home I had a glass of wine with my mom in front of the christmas tree, since everyone else was in bed, and then slept soundly until 9ish this morning. I was very proud of my christmas shopping this year, everything was met with delight and is sure to be useful. And in turn we have beautiful new serving dishes and kitchen accessories from my parents and an IOU for Avenue Q tix from my sisters for when it opens in Toronto this summer. Corey has a low-tech but versatile home gym, between my gifts and my parents'. And my mom made me this gorgeous jacket...when I was little, about 6 years old, mom made me this brown corduroy jacket that I loooooved. I was looking at a picture of it some time ago and remarked how much I would love to have a jacket like that again, if she ever had time to make it. She's so busy all the time I figured it would be years, but apparently her and my aunt sat down and powered through making it in a day. I will have to post pictures at some point. It's soft and warm and has a cheerful apples-and-apple-blossom lining. Can't wait to wear it in the spring!

Tonight is huuuuuuge dinner followed by BSG: Razor, which I got for my dad and should make for an excellent old-fashioned family sci-fi TV night. Meanwhile I think I will have a glass of wine and see if I can heckle my sister into playing some duets with me.

Wow...when they said "massive winter storm" they weren't fucking around. Getting to work tomorrow is going to be a joy. I kind of wish this had held off until tomorrow - then it would have generated an actual snow day instead of just being a big fat pain in the ass.

Glass chopping is 90% done. Ahahahahahaaaa! I will return tonight to finish up and start grinding. Meanwhile, my book is calling me.

Today:

* Earnest discussion of Buffy vs. Babylon 5 over delicious breakfast for 2 at the new Cora's (just down Richmond from us - I can hear my wallet wailing already...)

* 3 dozen triangles, or thereabouts: for once I have almost succeeded in actually using an entire package of phyllo pastry!

* Live Free Or Die Hard, which was as much goofy explody fun as advertised, although not as good as #3 and rather more politically fraught

* Lovely dinner party chez amazon_syren, involving delicious cuisine and earnest discussion of many topics ranging from robot chicken to religion


Tomorrow:

* Sleep in

* Groceries

* More cooking, possibly including cookies

* Work on christmas glass project designs

* Tassels on Harry Potter scarf

...that being this close to the river amplifies anything remotely resembling a winter wind into a howling gale. Holy crap.

So with the presentation out of my hair - and it went pretty well, I think - all my work-related stress is now GONE until after christmas. HA! Corey picked me up after work and we celebrated with christmas shopping in the market, sushi, and a glass of wine. I'm now trying to work up the motivation to cook, but there's a cat sitting on me, which only adds to my general disinclination to move. I may just blither on the internets for a bit and go to bed early with a book.

Have utterly failed to accomplish much of anything tonight, despite grand ambitions of glass grinding and laundry and maybe even some writing. Instead we watched a movie and then I spent the rest of the evening curled up in bed with CBC radio and knitting while Corey headed out to martial arts. Feeling a little stomachachey and under the weather and generally disinclined to move or think very hard, and CBC is oddly soothing to listen to. My Harry Potter scarf is growing apace. Only thing missing has been a cup of tea, as I have been too damn lazy to make myself one.

One last thought...I was listening to my old Midnight Oil tape in the car a little while ago and this song came on. I've never been quite clear on exactly what they're getting at - mindless drive to industrialize and globalize away from our roots leads to national paranoia and senseless violence? In light of current events the reference to Burma certainly makes a lot more sense than it used to...not to mention the whole bit about imaginary enemies.

( Mountains of Burma )