Merry Christmas from The Shushing Librarian!

Wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas.

May the true meaning of the season bring you much joy and peace.

Please bring the gift of reading, information literacy, and language to someone you know this season. Spread the love of libraries and librarians to all you know.

Use your library card. Vote to support your local library system. Ensure that librarians, administrative and support staff, clerks, pages, and security remain employed in 2012 and years to come.

~ The Shushing Librarian

Holiday Traditions: Posing with Presents for Posterity

One of our family's stranger traditions is what I'm calling the "Posing with the Presents for Posterity" Photos, aka, when long-distance relatives you haven't seen in year(s) send you stuff, you document it for them, so they can see it arrived, fits (to a certain degree), and is worn/used, at least once.

My mother's photo albums/large boxes (filled with random sets of pictures she never got sorted and then schlepped across the country) are filled with these types of photos from our childhood. Our grandmothers lived in Utah and North Carolina respectively. We lived in Connecticut. Travel for a family of 5 wasn't cheap, nor was it easy for them to come to us. When we'd get presents for birthdays/holidays, the sizes would be ... a little off. I remember one year, the sweatshirt that was meant for me wouldn't even fit my youngest brother. Making it more complicated? The sweatshirt was "decorated" with my name ... in gold glitter. (You know ... I have to find a copy of that photo. Maybe my mental snapshot of that sweatshirt isn't as bad as I remember! NAH...It's probably worse than I recall. Sorry Grandma. You did try.)

In an odd passing of the torch, now I'm the one who lives across the country. Travel for a family of 5 is even more expensive, and now their location makes the journey not at all easy for me during the holiday season. With the ease of texting, cell phones, digital photo attachments and now Skype, you'd think it'd be easier to get clothing sizes and styles right. NOPE.

Thanks to my sister-in-law for wrangling the kids into one of their early Christmas/back-to-school/just-for-the-heck-of-it auntie packages of new t-shirts and gloves. The shirts fit -- for now, though I see Nathan inheriting a couple down the line. They will grow into the gloves.

Above: Me thinks that Elle is not so impressed by big sister's antics.

Amber below: You talkin' to me?

Christina reports: "They are pulling some funny faces (especially gangster Amber) but I thought I would share the kids in their new stuff."

2600 miles away and New York is already having a negative influence.
How do they pick up a DeNiro impression or know gangster stuff after growing up in Southern Utah?

Holiday Traditions: Christmas 2010

I'm so grateful that I actually recorded this family get-together. It was the first time in years all of us were together as a unit for Christmas. Usually, either someone was working the overnight, one portion of the family was on one coast, while others flew west, or other members were/are heaven knows where. Grandparents' homes make nice neutral territories to gather for presents and food.

We all thought that Christmas 2010 would be the first of many grand gathering of the clan around the chimney and tree. Who was to know that some of the family would move further north this past year? It won't be the same this year without 5-6 key people, but it will be equally as zany. Christmas "morning" will be held later in the week, so travelers can arrive, overnight nurses can get OT, and "so other people can get their heads screwed on straight."

Aside from all the rapidly flying inside jokes that we'll be the only ones to truly appreciate, this oddly edited (and slightly long) video shows a snapshot of time when little ones were still crawling, cuddling, singing, and playing with their cousins without complaint, grandparents and parents were bouncing wee ones on their knee, and illustrates Auntie Nettie endeavoring to play videographer -- odd, since there are two professionals in the group who usually do it. (This is how I'm NOT in the picture - part of my well-thought-out plan.)

Pie anyone? Is it Christmas yet?

(If you can't view it here, it can be found at: http://youtu.be/8XwVHZdtgIE)

Holiday Traditions: Cookie Exchanges/Decorating

Many thanks to Jess for inviting me over the river and across the train tracks to her holiday cookie exchange. It was so wonderful to go and socialize in a nice mellow environment with great food. Bonus? The IT Boys are getting a variety pack of cookies today (or what's left. I had to eat some of the tiny cupcakes and the Oreo Truffles! Editing note: Snafu in the delivery to the IT Boys. Somehow they ended up with peanut butter crisps and the MailRoom got the assorted cookie exchange pack. Don't deliver when distracted.)

In addition to food, drink, and conversation, there were sugar cookies to decorate. One tip though, when attending a party with professional prop masters, set decorators, and theatrical types from drama programs, Broadway, Off-Broadway, and off-off Broadway productions, don't expect to even come close to looking like you are knowing what you are doing when it comes to decorating.

That top row .. can you see? Some of those look like vintage ornaments.
Lots of little kids running about also helps set the mood, though they want to eat the cookies not decorate.

Cookies by Ms. Lili with help from Mom.

Finally, one reminder for the holiday season ....

Don't eat the yellow snow...man!

Oh yeah. I went there. I had to do it.

Recipes from Aunt Flora -- Spicette Cookies

I was invited to a cookie exchange this year and decided to expand the repertoire a little bit. We all are used to the peanut butter kisses cookies, the chocolate crinkles, the snickerdoodles, and other fairly traditional well-known treats. I knew I was going to take the brittle from one side of my family, which I've already made about 10 batches of in a week, but I wanted to try something else. I had been passing this Spicette Cookie recipe every time I flipped through Aunt Flora's family book, so I was waiting for the perfect opportunity.

I did finally manage to find spice drops - aka gum drops like they usually have at Easter and throughout the year, but have a more anise flavoring in the granulated sugar coating - at my fourth drug store, after missing them early in the Christmas season (back in OCTOBER!). It was a mixed box of colors, so I picked through to find the red, green, and white ones (cinnamon, wintergreen, and peppermint). If there was a blue spice drop, you could use those and the yellow ones for a Hanukkah party.

With the oatmeal, coconut, and candy, it's pretty sweet and sneakily filling. I could have added some cloves/cinnamon to the mix to pick up the anise flavors in the candy though.

Spicette Cookies

1 cup shortening
1 cup brown sugar

1 cup white flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup rolled oats

1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs

1 cup spiced gum drops, cut in pieces
1 cup coconut

Cream shortening and sugar. [Set aside.]
[In separate bowl,] Sift dry ingredients together. [Set aside.]
Add eggs to sugar mixture [mix well], and then add teaspoon vanilla, [and mix well.]
Add rolled oats and dry ingredients [to wet batter, and mix well].
[Add coconut and gum drops to the batter and mix well.]
Place on a cookie sheet and cook at 375 degrees for 8 minutes [or until done.]

With my cookie scooper, I got 4 dozen.

From the cookie exchange, I got WAY too many cookies. The IT boys might, or might not, get to enjoy some of them.

Also, parchment paper? I am late to the bandwagon, but I AM IN LOVE WITH THIS STUFF!

Meery Cerismis!

I love mail. Good ol'fashioned-stick a stamp on it, go to the Post Office, send a parcel, schlep it home and open it- mail. Why?

Can you stick an e-mail on the wall (well, technically, you can stick the paper that the e-mail could be printed on on the wall, but still...) ? No.

Can you guarantee that texts, tweets, blogs, and/or e-mails will last if servers crash? No.

Can you touch mails (again, technically, but ....)? No.

With actual physical mail:

Can you see the imprint of crayon, graphite, water colors, and sometimes other miscellaneous things on the paper? YES!

Can you see eye hand coordination getting better, due to writing and scissor skills? See how they share, due to extra notes from siblings and parents? YES!

OR

Bestest besty best yet, when you open your letter or parcel,

Can you almost get a whiff of baby shampoo? Of sugar and spice and everything nice?

YES!

That's why I love mail.

This auntie treasures every piece of paper and drawing sent to her
(judiciously archived after a time, of course.)
Because:
It makes me smile.
Brings color to my life and puts me in a good mood when I leave the house.
And, dare I say it?
Melts my shriveled Grinch's heart into a puddle of goo.

Meery cerismis to all!

Holiday Traditions: New York Skating, Part 2

It was so wonderful to spend time at the Park with some dear friends and their families. Jane and her mom were there, also not skating. Unfortunately it was too crowded for us to be able to chat and catch up comfortably. After soaking up the sun, watching the sights, they were off to refresh and bask at Lord & Taylor and then deal with crowds in other parts of the City.

Most of the day's enjoyment was due to watching Tammy and her kids J & J go skating. As is usual with getting together with Tammy, it's a matter of hoping and praying that there is a hole in the kids' very over-extended weekend schedule of activities. I heard that they actually voted to skip basketball and other parties to come in and go skating! Excellent. (Also excellent, having a designated "extra" adult to carry the bags, take the picture, and tag-team the kids. Wow they are quick darting around and under and between legs.)

I think this excursion went a little better than our last one to the Botanical Gardens. It was less hot, the kids were more involved, and it involved all the chips, cocoa, and cookies they could eat BEFORE we headed back to Two Boots in Grand Central for pizza and pasta.

Here's a little photo montage of the day from my perspective. I thought it was important for me to document Tammy doing things with the kids. She needs to be in the pictures too!