A Preview of my NON-letter Christmas Letter

I decided this year to NOT write a Christmas letter. I think they can sound so "Wow...look at me!" or "Wow...my year stunk it up...don't you feel sorry for me?" So I decided to do a NON-letter. Let me know what you think.

Christmas waves a magic wand over this world,
and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful. Norman Vincent Peale

BAH HUMBUG to letter writing this year.

I want to snuggle my ever-growing babies in their beds at dawn. I want to watch A Charlie Brown Christmas while we munch on “real” popcorn. I want to remember that freezing, foggy night with my mom, getting zapped time and time again by the huge vintage lights we were putting out when I was just a teen. I want to lie under the tree with the kids and pretend we are Chip and Dale. I want to make cookies from scratch and eat the dough until we are sick. I want to wrap presents with Sadie using real ribbons. I want to clean my house to the sounds of Burl Ives’ “Holly, Jolly Christmas.” I want to pretend to not be able to find the pickle ornament when Jacob hides it in the boughs. I want to relive the type of joy my sisters and I shared when a blizzard kept us home from Christmas Eve on the farm, and we got presents at midnight.

I want to have kitschy Christmas towels hanging from my stove handle. I want bubble baths instead of showers. I want meals from the oven instead of the microwave. I want to read the Christmas story to my children and remind them of the incredible blessing of that gift of long ago. I want to watch them make a gingerbread house and celebrate their use of candy and frosting in unusual architectural ways. I want to watch Jacob play with the nativity scene as he changes, again, where Sadie puts the angel. I want to remember how my mom would tie up the branches of every real tree we ever had, so it would look perfect when we put on the ornaments. I want to hug my dad and remember the Christmas Eve when his Santa belly rivaled my own when Sadie was just three days away from her arrival in this world.

I want to drink hot cocoa from the little Santa cups I got from Goodwill. I want to sleep in a bed with sheets that smell like evergreen and cinnamon. I want to make a snowman with that first perfect snow. I want to hang ornaments with the kids and not care if we break one or if they are all on the bottom three feet of the tree. I want to relive the joy of filling stockings in the dark stillness of the house on Christmas Eve. I want to kiss my Grinch under the mistletoe.

I want to hear Sadie plunk out “Joy to the World” on a slightly out of tune piano that was saved from an abandoned farm house. I want to watch A Christmas Story on TBS…over and over and over again. I want to take pictures and actually print them off. I want to deliver baskets to my neighbors and see them smile because we remembered them. I want to call my friends rather than text or email them. I want to ride around and look at lights while eating ice cream. I want to drink real Coke and eat fudge until my teeth are gritty with sugar. I want to stay up too late decorating things nobody else will even see. I want to watch It’s a Wonderful Life for the umpteenth time and still cry when George finally comes home.

I want most of all for you to have a softer and more beautiful Christmas, filling your heart instead of filling your days. Enjoy the season of Christ’s birth, dear friends. May your days be merry and BRIGHT!

With much love,

Trish
for the Sandbultes

I am down with that funky jive...

Well, I have joined the ranks of people who have digitized their music. Yes, friends, after staring at the ceiling of my bedroom on Thanksgiving night, I decided to get up, get dressed, and head to my local Superwalmart to get myself a door buster TV and iPod. I entered the store at 1:30 while the little elves...mostly cranky middle-aged people with bad teeth...were stocking the shelves and undoing the plastic from the Chinese electronics I was yearning to buy. I stocked my cart with the door busters from Wal-mart rivals, flyers in hand, and found my way over to the electronics department. Surely I would be the first in line to get these elusive technological gems...I was greeted by two groups of teenagers. They had been in line since 9:30 Thanksgiving night...waiting for the TV/iPod of their dreams. I shrugged, grabbed a spot on my cart (I had grabbed a kiddy seat cart so I had a spot to park my rear, straddling two hard, plastic lumps) and read a book. Long story short, I got my door busters, got my TV...a 32 inch Emerson flat screen for $248...and...an iPod touch...which I have been enjoying all weekend long. As for Harv, well, he is still getting used to the idea of spending money on things we don't NEED, but I did pacify him by getting him a Tom Tom...an early birthday gift which HE fiddled with all weekend long. Thank you, Walmart, for helping to make my holiday weekend a progressive one! :)

Hmmm...I stink at this...

Well, the children are snuggled all snug on their carpet squares settling down for a long free reading Friday session...oh how I love these days! The grades are updated, the kids are quiet, and I get to go out with my lunch buddies in a mere 45 minutes. Ahhh...Fridays! A few questions for my faithful followers...all three of you:

1. Is it too early to listen to Christmas music IF I have my Thanksgiving decorations out and am NOT really thinking about Christmas yet?

2. Do you have any cute Christmas picture ideas for my kids' Christmas card this year? Thinking about doing something funny...

3. What is your favorite Christmas cookie recipe of all time? I am going to meet with my sistahs next weekend and brainstorm about our cookie fest in December, and I want some new ideas.

I guess that's it. Poo on me for not blogging more...I need to find my blogvoice I guess. Hugs to all, and to all a good FRIDAY!

Well Hello!

It's been awhile, and this is going to be a weak post because I have kiddos coming in to my classroom in about 8 minutes, but just wanted my faithful followers...all three of you...maybe more...nah...just three...that I will do a REAL post tomorrow sometime. Oh...on a REAL positive note...yes the misuse of the REAL is purposeful, the SATC movie will be released in mere months. Ahhh...the obsession continues. :)

May...

I know it seems early to focus on this, but today I updated my big board calendar at the back of my room. When I got to the bottom of that five-week-at-a-time bad boy I noticed something DEEEElightful! MAY is at the bottom of that calendar. Not just one or two days of May, but a bonified ENTIRE week! What does this mean to you, my friends? The season for BBQing is upon us? Flowers will soon be blooming? The blizzard that is set to dump 12+ inches of snow on us tomorrow will be just a distant memory? Yes, all these things too, but most of all, it means that soon, very soon, I will have "stay home days" (a phrase made popular by Jake) with my kids, I will no longer be a slave to the bells, bells, bells, bells, and summer with all its freshness, freedom, and frivolity will be upon us. I for one, CANNOT wait!

Is it too EARLY to count the days until SUMMER of 2010??

Well,it is no secret that I am a diehard Sex and the City fan. I have been known to get a twee enthusiastic about anything to do with the series or the movie. Now...to my joy and delight, I discovered that a sequel to the SATC movie is CONFIRMED! No longer must I Google SATC combing the least reputable of all websites for gossip about whether or not a sequel will come to fruition. I read it on MSNC.COM, BABY! The network that brings me ER would NEVER lead me astray! :) Needless to say, I am excited and my prayer is that God will not strike me down for loving the show before the summer of 2010...*sigh* A long way off indeed. :(

I'm a Cupcake...

Had a WONDERFUL time yesterday...skipped coffee at the in-laws after church to spend time in deep chat with my desert...that's right...desert...not dessert CUPCAKE! Krista Calvano! It was awesome to catch up with a fellow teacher and mom and also to get an update on our mutual friends Tam, Elisha, and Kim. :) Loved it! Then we hosted a modest Super Bowl party with a few of Harv's sibs and my sis Bubba. It was a festival of chips and dips...the bad part...I missed almost all of the commercials since I was cookin' and serving the goods. The plan is to watch them online during lunch to get my fix. Nothing tops the Dorito ad last year with the saucy checkout lady. LOVED IT!

21...lucky number 21...

FYI...Mrs. Sandbulte is down 21 pounds since the beginning of November. Thanks to Slim-Fast, my personal trainers (Jake and Sadie saying, "Mom, jump like this!" or "Mom, dance like this!"), and the encouragement of my friends and family, I have been on a journey to skinny. Ok...I am far from there, but I am on my way to being a whole lot healthier.