I took the girls to see Santa, and since he was so busy getting ready for the big day, he had one of his "senior elves" standing in for him at the photo place. The theory goes that all those Santas you see at malls and parties are senior elves in training, and the newer, younger ones have to wear this fake beard until their real ones grow in, which can take many years of doing your time in the chair at malls and photo studios. This Santa was a particularly young one since he had white makeup on his dark eyebrows, and a dark stubble on his upper lip. He did have a twinkle in his eye, though.
The girls asked for a couple things. Little K asked Santa to let us keep the foster kitten we've been caring for. Her first request was a pet rat, but I told her that Santa never brings things to kids that the moms don't want to have to end up being responsible for, so I think she changed her request to something more plausible, because she knows this mommy loves kittens. She also asked for a toy sailboat, which was a last-minute request inspired by her playmobil advent calendar, which included a child with a tiny toy boat.
A asked for an ipod shuffle so she can listen to music on the school bus. Her beloved bus driver, who used to entertain the kids with jokes and trivia questions, transferred to a different route, and now all the kids have retreated back into their electronic devices and she has no one to talk to on the 40 minute ride. A also asked for Cod Liver Oil again, lemon flavor please, and Santa just about busted his padded gut laughing at that request! Well, he will be passing over Norway on his way to us, so I'm sure it wouldn't be too hard to pick some up along the way.
The girls will not be getting everything on their lists. They get just a few little things from Santa, and the majority now comes from family, friends, and mom and dad.
My husband and I got to visit with one of the more senior elves, and according to him we're both on the "nice" list this year. That's a relief. I'ts always a close one for me. Neither my husband nor I asked for anything from Santa, because we feel we are already fully blessed.
We will spend the next two days at home, with our door open to family, friends, and neighbors. We will play boardgames, work together on a 1,000 piece jigsaw puzzle set up on a card table, and there will be an open buffet of food on the kitchen counter: German Stollen fruit bread, cinnamon chip rolls, fruitcake, cheese, olives, meats, crusty potato and rosemary rolls, fresh fruit, vegetables and dip, and lots of cider and egg nog.
We'll revel in our blessings, and remember those who are alone, away from home, or missing loved ones at this time of year.
If you celebrate Christmas, please accept our wish for you to have a joyous holiday filled with the love of friends and family.
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