Christmas Eve Brunch

 

Jeff and Susan hosted a Christmas brunch today for 14 of us.  Sadly Dan and Alex were not there because they were hesitant to be with others before flying to the Dominican Republic tomorrow.  They did not want to chance a positive Covid test and be forced to quarantine in a hotel instead of enjoying a vacation in warm weather.  We missed them but understood their decision. We greeted them via Facetime and little Henry actually said "Uncle Dan!" 

The rest of us had a great family time enjoying lots of food and gift giving.  Alex immediately recognized the size of package for his chocolate A letter although he did inform me that he did not like chocolate.  I was so pleased that he enjoyed his book light so much and was exploring the various modes of light.  I guess gadgets have their appeal. Ruth was aware that the idea for that gift for the four older Conway children came from her.  They can use their book gift cards later.

 Henry was delighted with his stepstool-bench gift which was really for both his first and second birthdays,  He also seemed very happy with the noisy school bus for his Christmas gift.  Katie was pleased to receive new towels and informed her brothers that they would understand when they were on their own--that towels were not boring!  

I made pigs in the blanket which were a family tradition for generations in my family.  Susan had deviled eggs, bagels, sausages and a beautiful coffee cake.  Laura brought a large fruit salad and Michael made a pumpkin pie.  I had the ingredients for mimosas available.  It was a feast.  

The older cousins played some board games with the younger cousins.  Michael had found and shared  a 1935 history book that came from Jim's grandpa which made for an interesting point of view.  Jasper poured over Jeff and Susan's family photo albums and particularly enjoyed the year of his birth 2007.  Yes, he was pictured when he arrived that May and during a family vacation later that summer.  

We all delighted in little Henry's enthusiasm for unwrapping presents--his own and that of others.  

Our Christmas celebration continues with a turkey dinner at Jeff and Susan's tomorrow.  We are blessed!

Christmas Preparations

 I think I presented church school classes three times on Simplifying Christmas--once in Raleigh, and twice in South Bend.  The last time was three years ago with my friend Julia Lincicum.  We had fun preparing for it and the class was quite memorable with some frank contributions from the group.

I remember Laura as a child being concerned that we would make Christmas too simple.  It is not my favorite time of year because I often feel inadequate in thinking of good gifts for people I love dearly.  Plus there used to be the plans for a Family Literacy party which involved gifts for the children and finding a Santa Claus and a costume for him.  I took pride in finding a Santa of color and I always did--a brother or a boyfriend or someone who worked at the Housing Authority.

This year, it is still four days until we have a Christmas Eve brunch at Jeff and Susan's house and I almost have my shopping done.  Yesterday we went to Target and bought a Fisher Price school bus for little Henry.  It is big and noisy and I am delighted with it.  I hope he will be.  His parents probably will not like the sounds it makes when you push the button but then the battery will wear out eventually.

Yesterday, Shutterfly emailed that they were having "production problems" and my purchase for my sons and son-in-law would be delayed.  Today an email says it is at my mailbox.  We shall see!  (the bright orange box was there! Hooray!)

I have chocolate letters for the grandchildren and skittles for the one who has food allergies.  I have learned to order them from Vander Veens, the Dutch store in Grand Rapids, right after Thanksgiving so that they come on time.  I have three pounds of almond paste also from them so I can make banket.  Alonso, our maintenance head, was asking if I made it for Halloween too--so I know he is looking for it for Christmas! I almost never bake anything so making banket is an intimidating thought.  I'll postpone it until tomorrow! 

It is hard to think of gifts for Laura's children--who have a lot of stuff.  When we were at their house a few weeks ago, Ruth mentioned that her mother was lucky because when she read in bed, all she had to do was turn off the light right next to her bed.  That gave me an idea of booklights for the four older kids.  They are battery powered and rechargeable and clip onto books.  I also arranged for gift cards from an independent book store near them so they can pick out books of their choice.  

I was "creative" in making monogrammed stationery for my daughter and daughters-in-law.  I practiced making some for myself a few weeks ago and was happy enough with how it turned out.  

We plan on asking the three couples to choose a charity for a gift in their name.  Last year we gave them a promise to take them out for dinner and it took until two weeks ago to be able to do that with Jeff and Susan.  That was a Covid postponement mostly.  

Jim and I say that we are giving each other a trip to Florida again this year.

I have written out about 20 Christmas cards and that may be the extent of it.  Any others we receive I will respond with email greetings!  

Now there is a lot of wrapping to do.  I may need more paper.  I plan to make the traditional pigs in the blanket for our brunch--and bring the ingredients for mimosas.  How nice it is to travel ten minutes to see everyone instead of two days!  Although Dan and Alex may not be there out of a need to take precautions before their vacation flight on Christmas Day.  They do not want to test positive and go into quarantine in a Dominican Republic hotel.

No Christmas church services for us except for joining in from our couch again.  We did not make reservations for the Christmas Eve services.  No pageant to see at Laura's church.  No choir presentation at 10 pm for me at least.  Covid lives are quiet but Christmas time is still a joy! 

A Heritage of Singing

This past week I listened to a concert of lessons and carols from my alma mater, Calvin College. It made me nostalgic for the days when I was singing in choirs. I have "retired" from our Nassau Church choir.  It was a joy to sing with them for a few months before Covid changed everything for choirs.  The choir is rehearsing again but I think a weekly negative Covid test is required.  Plus I was feeling quite strongly that I wanted to worship with Jim, singing with him next to me for the time that we have left on this earth to go to church together.  However, we haven't gone to church for a year and a half or is it almost two years now?  On Sunday morning we sit on the couch and livestream the services from Nassau Street on our laptops.

Two hour choir rehearsals were demanding and it probably was best that I retired before someone suggested that I do so!   I could still keep up--even on Christmas Eve with Bach's Christmas Oratorio two years ago --but my stamina was weakening--and maybe so was my balance on choir risers.  

But I miss the joy of blending my voice with others and following the conductor's leading.  If the Grace Notes Choir starts up again, I will join them for their twice a month rehearsals.  Grace Notes is a group of singers of a certain age like mine.  The director  Noel Warner is excellent and the music was worth singing.   I hope they can end Zoom meetings and go back to regular rehearsals soon.

I was feeling a bit melancholy about giving up choral singing even though I had made a conscious decision to do so.  However I took great comfort in realizing that our daughter Laura is enjoying singing in her excellent church choir at Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church.  And then last Thursday we watched a livestream concert of our grandson Jasper's high school concert in which he sang with the concert choir and the more select acapella choir.  And today we watched our grandson James' concert from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in which he was one of only six basses singing in their excellent and challenging choir.  (His grandfather on his mother's side is a cantor in his church in North Carolina.)  So my joy in singing is carried out in my daughter's life and in our grandsons' lives.  And that gives me joy too!

In Appreciation of 508 Barclay Boulevard

 As I showered this morning in our bright, clean, spacious and powerful shower, I thought it was time I wrote about our lovely apartment.  I complained plenty about the shabby rental house on Juniper Road and wrote that we would be glad to get back into our place here in Princeton.  And now we are here and we don't take this comfortable, luxurious home for granted.

Our daughter-in-law Susan was our personal real estate agent who suggested Barclay Square.  I think we had assumed it was a condo complex and it may have been so originally.  We would have liked to have been able to walk to stores and libraries but we went for more space for the money and we have not been sorry.  We chose a unit looking at plans online and Jeff and Susan sent us some photos of the outside of our building.  We have three bedrooms with one used as Jim's study.  We have two full bathrooms and that is a bit more than we wanted or needed--the tub and shower are never used in one of them.  We have used the dining room area very few times but can blame that on Covid and limited entertaining or family gatherings inside.  My digital piano occupies a wall of the dining area.  

We looked at two complexes closer to town that charged extra for parking in a parking garage.  Here we have a garage attached to our apartment at the bottom of the stairs. It is large enough to store boxes and a bookshelf.   I am no longer fearful of getting the Sportage into and out of the one stall opening. 

We use the gas fireplace more than we thought we would.  There is no sound of crackling wood or smell of wood burning, but it is very cozy and can take the chill off a cold afternoon.

The decorating scheme of white walls and beige carpets is bland but we have area rugs in the kitchen and living room. Very colorful comforters add life to the bedrooms.  

So far we are happy to be on the second floor; we hope we can continue to manage the stairs.  In fact, I do the steps a few times extra each day for some exercise.  Our downstairs neighbors are concerned that their toddler's crying will disturb us but when we hear him, and it is not often,  we think of them with compassion.  We don't use the showers or laundry room late at night and hope we don't disturb them either.  

The grounds here are maintained well and landscaped beautifully.  Christmas decorations are up replacing the colorful mums that signaled fall.  If something goes wrong in the apartment, Jim puts our request on the "portal" and Alonso or Adriano is there to fix it very quickly.  Eboni in the leasing office has helped Jim with scanning and faxing documents several times.  It's a short walk to get our mail and to get rid of trash and recyclables--and a good excuse to get in a few of the steps we need each day.  If we are more ambitious, we can walk to the Delaware and Raritan canal path--a round trip getting us about 5000 steps.  

We did not even consider buying a house or condo in Princeton at this stage of our lives.  Taxes are very high.  We are so glad to have someone else take care of maintenance and problems.  

Barclay Square has become home. We are grateful for such a comfortable place to live.  We are a ten minute drive from the Princeton VKs, a bit over an hour from the Conways, and 2 1/2 hours from Dan and Alex in the Catskills.  We are glad it is no longer a 13 hour drive to spend time with them!