{my topography}

Small good things, right now, this morning as I’m eating toast & jam with damp hair and bare feet a the center island:

* Watching the chickadees dip and dive to the bird feeders out the dining room window.

* The heat of the wood stove and bare feet.

* My skin smelling like yummy new ginger sugar scrub.

* My Ruby Loves necklace–a gift from DH.

* New Years plans with only adults.

* Crisp green granny smith apples.

* A plan to go shopping this morning–by myself.

I keep wishing that my thoughts could somehow be automatically transcribed here so that I could record all the good and delicious moments that have happened over the past couple of days. I am hoping a handful of photos will serve for the thousands of words that I could write, were I to be inclined (but am not.)

Firstly, here is the Advent Box I made for Bean this year. Remember the one I made last year? This one was significantly smaller and at his height–so that he developed the ridiculously adorable routine of waking up and running downstairs first thing (dragging his blanket no less) to find out what the Advent Fairy brought. I made a note with a tiny little envelope and a vintage stamp for every day that came along with a small gift or treasure. Some major hits were: a Chinese Yo Yo, a small wind-up bulldozer, heart shaped post-it notes, a single large sugar-coated gummy candy, a music box that played The Pink Panther theme song, and a sparkly yellow pen with a little fluffy duck at the top.

Next, I achieved the unimaginable this year–and baked, from scratch, an entire gingerbread train–something Bean saw in a magazine and swooned over. All three of us decorated it together in the kitchen, getting frosting on our fingers. DH and I kept harping on Bean about eating the icing–but then we looked at each other and realized, who are we kidding? It’s Christmas and the kid is decorating a freaking gingerbread train. He’s going to eat the icing. DH made the heart out of candy canes on the caboose.

Bean got sick a few days before Christmas. Woke up with a blazing fever, and spent the day on the couch feeling rather miserable. Still, we did end up going out and cutting down a tree, and decorating it made his entire day. The way he oohed and squealed as he unwrapped each ornament made it almost as fun as Christmas morning. Then he quite artistically clumped all the ornaments together in arrangements of twos and threes on the lower portions of the tree.

Christmas morning Bean woke up later than usual. We were expecting not-even-light-out early, but he slept until about 7:30 and then came into our room (dragging his blanket again) for a snuggle before sitting straight up and asking, “Did Santa come?” We made him sit at the top of the stairs while we went down & turned on the tree lights. When he came downstairs, the look on his face was wide-eyed. I think it’s the first year he’s actually really gotten the idea of Christmas. We let him open his stocking while we went about preparing coffee and fruit salad and dried cherry scones to tide us over during the real business of unwrapping once the grandparents arrived. (Note his awesome pink bunny slippers–as per his specific request.)

By afternoon, we snacked on imported dried salami, fresh mozzarella, and aged vinegar and lounged. Bean was more than content to spend hours with his new remote control fire truck, which was his number one request from Santa.

I was also more than content to play with my goodies. DH was beyond generous and lovely this year, and spoiled me rotten. Soo many fun goodies, including a little Olympus Stylus 1030SW so that I can have a camera with me at all times. Not even close to replacing my beloved Cannon EOS20D, but fantastic to slip into my pocket and take along on trips downtown, or to document impromptu sledding adventure.

All in all, it’s been such a good couple of days–and I’m off for several more, which thrills me to no end. I am nesting. Washing baby clothes and setting up the crib.

How was your holiday? What are five things that you loved?

Trying to figure out how to use my new MacBook Air. Everything about it is so pretty I cried when I got it. It’s as thin as a piece of toast; fits in my purse. Love it. Still–I have yet to figure out what to do instead of right-clicking on everything. I had no idea how much I relied on that feature. Mac lovers out there, help, please.

More to come, once I figure that out.

I am here. Loving the snow, and the snug feeling of being curled with the cat on the couch. I’ve slipped away: to write, to decorate Christmas cookies, snuggle a feverish Bean, make Christmas cards, and do last minute shopping. A real post is in the making.

Happy that the snow is falling.
Hanging garlands and Christmas lights.
Planning to make a gingerbread train with Bean.
Writing.
Making photo albums.

Feeling more like myself than I have in months.

***
What are you doing? I’ve missed you.