My Real Life

Since Real Man put the tree up last Monday, the monkeys have been begging to put up the tree.

The problem was that last week was a week where none of us were home for more than (what felt like) an hour or two a day, so we never got to it.

Yesterday, once Monkey in the Middle got home from hockey and Monkey Girl got home from dance, we were set to have the rest of the night at home.

So, out came the decorations.

Real Man stayed in the library with the 3 big monkeys while they began their decorating, and I began some of my best distracting work for Tiny.

While Tiny and I made banana bread in the kitchen, watched the Wiggles in the living room, read books in the dining room and did everything else I could think of that would keep him out of the room where they were decorating, I was able to hear the excited chatter about each and every ornament.

Now, I’ll admit, I am not a fan of the tree.

We don’t even have a real tree that requires any work.

I just don’t really enjoy decorating the tree.

However, I can see the draw.

The monkeys had a memory for every single ornament on the tree, and if they didn’t know the story, they asked Real Man or I and had us tell the story.

Tradition.  Family.  History.

I do get it.

We had to laugh when we found this ornament, because it is so perfect for our little puzzler, yet he made it so many years ago when he was in Pre-K, way before he was into puzzles the way he is today.

Get it?

‘Cuz it’s made out of puzzle pieces?

Love it.

The end result was a lovingly decorated tree which we all got to enjoy as we ate our steaming hot banana bread.

I don’t want to do the decorating, but I sure enjoy the fruits of their labor.

1.  You know how, sometimes, when you write a word over and over, suddenly the word appears to be spelled incorrectly?

Well, that’s happening to me, recently, but not with a word…with a song.

Tiny’s new bedtime request is the alphabet song, and he asks for it at least ten times a night.

So, I oblige, because it’s nice to rock and cuddle with him while I sing, and he is very good about eventually saying, “Mom, mom, mom…night, night,” which is his signal that he’s ready to hit the hay.

However, I have now sung the ABC’s so many time that I am 99.9% certain that I am singing “Q,R,S,T,U,V” in the wrong melody.

I realize that I’m probably not, but I have now sung it so many times, it just doesn’t sound right anymore.

I think there is the distinct possibility that I am just weird.

2.  It’s definitely the holiday season, and I have to say that I am beyond thrilled.

Because the holiday season means my favorite holiday movies.

I have many.

Some old (White Christmas, Miracle on 34th Street, It’s a Wonderful Life).

Some brand-spanking new (Arthur Christmas).

And some, neither old nor new, but movies that I absolutely cannot turn off and I just visually devour every time they are on.

Most notably, Polar Express and The Holiday.

The Polar Express is enjoyed by the whole family, and leaves at least three of us with tears in our eyes every single time we watch it.

The Holiday is all mine.

Kate Winslet, Jude Law, Jack Black, Cameron Diaz.

I love this film beyond all reason.

Why?

No idea.

But, I’ve already seen it twice this season and it’s only December 4th.

And that, my friends, makes me smile.

3.  The holiday season also means holiday music, and it means the return to the airwaves of my favorite artist of all time.

Karen Carpenter.

Oh, I enjoy many other artists and my top 10 is crowded with at least 20, but Karen Carpenter has always, always, always been my favorite single recording artist.

Her voice is so smooth and clear.

I love her songs that aren’t Christmas songs, but you never hear them, randomly, on the radio.

So, this is the time of year I get to just roll around in that mellow voice every time I turn on the tunes.

I remember watching the Karen Carpenter story when I was a kid and just being devastated that she had this amazing gift and still wasn’t happy with herself and thinking what an incredible tragedy it was.

My parents had all of the Carpenter’s albums, so even as a kid she was my favorite.

Karen Carpenter…the sound of the season for me.

4.  My new favorite commerical is the AT&T Mobile Share commercial where the two brothers are sitting on their bed, talking about how they want iPads to do math, and how they don’t have to have expensive data plans with AT&T Mobile Share.

They are talking loudly, right next to the vent so their parents can hear them downstairs, but when we get a glimpse downstairs, the parents are playing on the iPads they bought the boys, but they have earbuds in so they can’t hear the boys.

I just love when siblings band together for nefarious purposes.

Unless they are my kids, of course.

Ah, who am I kidding…I love when the monkeys band together, even if it’s for nefarious purposes.

Siblings getting along is ALWAYS a good thing.

5.  Speaking of siblings getting along, let me share with you the monkeys’ new favorite reading place.

Oh, I’m sorry…let me shed some light on the scene.

Yes…my children now want to spend all of their time reading in the laundry room, watching the laundry in the new washer and dryer.

They cannot get enough of watching the washer fill with water and the clothes spinning, and then watching them flop around in the dryer.

It won’t last forever and eventually, they will go back to reading on the couch or on their beds, and not stuffed into plastic laundry baskets on a cold, stone floor in the tiniest space in the house.

But for now…it’s darn cute.

6.  Kim’s wedding.

It was a wonderful weekend.

Time spent with friends, watching two people who are head over heels in love with each other commit to spending the rest of their lives together.

Really, really hard to beat.

The weekend was wonderful and the wedding itself was a blast.

I love to dance.

Seriously love to dance.

And, when I’m at a wedding, I dance my feet off.

However, when I’m with Kim, Erin, and Michaela…I’m freer.

There’s something about letting loose with the people you have known your entire life.

And, to do so while celebrating something so special?

So. Much. Fun.

It was just a great weekend and now Kim and Ryan are off to Hawaii and hopefully spending two weeks doing absolutely nothing.

7.  Speaking of Kim’s wedding, Ryan’s brother was the Best Man and made a beautiful toast.

He gave them some advice about being married, and he finished with (I won’t have the words exactly right, but it was along these lines) “Let her choose what to watch on television, let him hold the remote…scratch each others’ backs…laugh at each others’ jokes…be each others’ best friend…because at the end of the day, that’s all that matters.”

As he finished, we toasted the happy couple and Real Man and I looked at each other and both had tears in our eyes.

I’m a lucky, lucky woman.

I’m married to a man who will trade his French Onion soup with mine if his has more cheese because he knows how much I love the cheese.

I’m married to a man who will watch “New Girl” with me every week, despite his general distaste for Zooey Deschanel.

I’m married to a man who will spend his day off putting up the Christmas tree and stockings because he knows how much I love to have the decorations up early and he wants to surprise me when I walk in the door after an extra long day of teaching and parent conferences.

I’m married to a man who suffered through the early years of our marriage, when I was still figuring out how to cook things other than white rice with cheddar cheese melted in it, with a smile.

I’m married to a man who texts me in the middle of the day to say “I love your laugh.  I was just thinking about it and it made me smile.”

I’m married to a man who will rub my feet when his feet hurt, who will scratch my back when his back itches, and will give me the covers, even when he is cold.

I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again.

I count my blessings every day, because I am a lucky, lucky woman.