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Dec 2

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Debra: The Turkey Hunt

I knew I was in trouble when my mobile phone was disconnected because I spent too long talking to the internet company’s helpline. I remember hearing that the technology behind the World Wide Web was created in France, but people seem able to go without it here — it’s like they see it like premium cable. They don’t mind having it, but they can do without. I found it was pretty difficult to go to internet cafés with a 14-month-old who refuses to sit still (they even have a brand-new family-oriented café with wifi here, but my son seemed to think the kitchen was much more intriguing than the play area. So let’s just say I was pretty desperate to get my internet connection (and phone, since it’s via internet) working again. Three weeks and a lot of plaintive phone calls later, I feel like I’ve just come back from a trip to 1990.

Anyway, the phone got connected the week before Thanksgiving, which kept me from having to go to the butcher in person every day to see how he was progressing on getting me a turkey. He assured me that everything was going to work out — my parents are visiting from San Francisco, and I had invited two other families over, so I was pretty set on getting my bird. He told me he would be closed the Monday before Thanksgiving so I should call him on Tuesday to “confirm.” Of course, when I called him on Tuesday, he told me everything was just fine for Friday….he didn’t seem to understand the concept of the Thursday holiday. So it seems the original turkey I had ordered got a pardon until Christmas!

I called the big grocery stores in the area and no one could get me a turkey until December. On a whim I went to the local market, where I got my very own Thanksgiving mini-miracle — a poultry seller who knew about Thanksgiving and could even find a turkey to kill by Thursday! It cost me 48 euros and it was the skinniest turkey my mother had ever seen, but it sure did taste good. We even had cranberries!

Anyway, it was our first Thanksgiving in France and it made me realize that while I’m still frustrated by a lot of things here — students who plagiarize their essays from wikipedia, crazy drivers, pharmacies that are closed on Monday, everything else that is closed on Sunday — it is starting to feel like home. One of the things that always strikes me is that it really will be home for my son. French will probably be his best language, he won’t think everything here is unusually small, and Thanksgiving will be a strange holiday that only his family celebrates. I live in a foreign country, but he doesn’t — he just has a foreign mother. I shouldn’t think this is too strange, since my mother is also an immigrant. But part of me, as an American, still goes around thinking that I can’t possibly be the foreign one — maybe it’s even because my mother is not a native-born American and always told me I was lucky I was. Anyway, just things I’ve been thinking about in general and in my writing this past month — origins, roots and, well, turkey.

Dec 1

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Miranda: Creative Holidays

december-2006-30Believe it or not, December is here. The holidays arrive faster every year, don’t they? At this rate, I figure that by the time I’m 85 it will seem like Christmas shows up at two-week intervals!

Many of us are approaching this holiday season with a much smaller budget than we have in seasons past. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing, of course. I’ve explained to my kids that we’re going to do “Christmas lite” this year. I hope that by making more time for holiday activities — crafts, lots of baking, and time spent together — we won’t mind the fact that the pile under the tree is less than half its usual size.

With so many extra things on your to-do list this month, you may find it increasingly difficult to find time for your “regular” creative work. If you’re able to work in brief snippets, try to get in at least 10 minutes a day. Even the briefest creative session helps you stay focused on what you’re working on — and keeps your project simmering in the back of your mind while you’re busy with other things. If you can’t work in small chunks, try to schedule at least one two-hour session per week, or whatever your minimum is. Now is not the time to end up feeling grouchy and resentful on account of being separated from your creative self.

Another temporary strategy is to spend more time doing seasonal creative projects with your children. They’ll have fun, you’ll have fun, and you may find that you’ve satisfied your creative itch, or at least served yourself an appetizer. If you’re looking for creative projects to enjoy with your kids this holiday season, here are a few good sources:

If you have any favorites of your own, please share!

Of course, one way to make do with less — and flex your creative muscles at the same time — is to make your holiday gifts yourself. One year I made wreath ornaments from dried hosta stems trimmed from my garden. Another year I hand-painted trinket boxes. For a long time, I made my own Christmas cards (up to 100 of them each year) by creating mosaics from all the Christmas cards I received in the previous year. One year I even made my own wrapping paper. Then there was the candy making; peanut brittle, fudge, truffles, and other treats packaged for gifts. I miss having time to do those things. (I know, “someday…”) This year I don’t think I’m going to have time for making gifts, aside from a bit of baking for the neighbors. How about you?

If you like homemade but can’t make that happen yourself, don’t forget to shop at Etsy, where many of this blog’s community members sell their creative work. Another tip: For all things merry and bright — without going over the top — Simple Mom has a series of holiday posts that might inspire you. And if you haven’t seen it yet, Keri Smith has a fun holiday treat at her site that might amuse.

My list? Well, the holiday cards are in hand (I even ordered my own photo stamps this year — too cute!) and my shopping (mostly done online) is nearly finished. I have a few more decisions to make, but I hope to have the gift tasks done by the end of this week. On Saturday we’ll go and cut down our tree — and decorate that, along with the house, on Sunday. The week after, my oldest son turns 18, so there will be a bit of festivity on his account — and then we will hopefully have smooth sailing to Christmas, with lots of fun holiday activities for any of the kids who want to participate. One of our favorite holiday traditions is decorating gingerbread houses on Christmas Eve. Two years ago, instead of each decorating our own smaller house, we collaborated on a single “mansion” (see photo). That became our new tradition. My mother — creative genius that she is — prepares and assembles the house in advance, so we can all just decorate (and munch).

How are the holidays shaping up in your creative household?

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