Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Chillin on a Cold Night

 Gladys has been doing a lot of back snoozing of late. Last night she raised both arms and held that pose for a bit. I think she looks a lot like an alligator at gator shows where they flip the gator over and rub it's neck to "hypnotize" it. Not sure what the arms up in the air were all about. But I'm pretty sure it's all about the cuteness factor. Cuz she definitely has that. 

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ A Teeny Christmas Recap

 I hope your Christmas was wonderful. Mine was rich and full. Christmas Day itself seemed to last 50 hours, but, in a good way. We got some serious kid time in and it was so fun to have little ones around. Noisy, of course, but fun. We simplified our big family gathering by doing finger foods and the traditional soup meal for Christmas Eve was pretty tasty. I conjured up a new soup that I'll likely be sharing here sometime soon. Gotta remake it to make sure I got the measurements down (bummer...if it's any indication my daughter-in-law who doesn't like soup went for two bowls of it). 

I might be hit and miss this week. It's kind of nice to take a little break. But then, who knows, I may be super on top of posting. Guess you'll just have to stay tuned. 

I can't not share puppy pics. I was going for a cute 8 week/8 month side by side of puppies in things. But the pups were having NOTHING to do with entering the sled. 

Merry Christmas

From me and my little bunch of angels. 

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Bake-A-Fun

My weekend agenda included an epic baking marathon. 

We made Crack Bars and Vegan Butterfingers and mint meltaways and Gooey Pecan Bars. 

And then we just went off the road and started looking through cookbooks and on line for more recipes to make. Whoopie Pies ended up being perfect. Pecan Brittle ended up becoming Turtle balls dipped in chocolate due to bit too short in the boiling department. The fail I couldn't save was Chocolate Crinkle cookies. See photo. This dough was to chill for 8 hours. Well, we didn't have that so it got 3. 

I held the flattened solid sheet of cookies up and asked & if she wanted an 8 x 11 sheet of cookies for any gifts. Then we laughed like maniacs because we had entered the cookie mania phase and had consumed a few morsels of sugar.  

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ A Rolicking Blast from the Past

Not the nostalgic stairwell. I was a little concerned about stopping and snapping pictures in the sea of people. And  I also didn't want to be the only grandma taken to the principal's office for snapping pictures outside of the kid's music program. 

 Yesterday was a kindergarten Christmas (holiday) program. 

Can I just say that there may not be one thing cuter than a gaggle of kindergarteners. Nor more energetic. 

The kids had choreography and dance partners. There was a little swing dancing, a little Hanukkah number and a nod to Kwanza. Santa and Rudolph got shout outs and even Jesus got a mention. All musical numbers were performed with enthusiasm unleashed. Our little guy has some sweet skillz. And apparently his little dance partner was quite gaga over him. 

The school was actually the elementary school I attended. I've been in it recently picking up kiddos. It has changed quite a bit. But as I walked down the stairwell from the gym where the program was and the exit I got slapped with a bit of nostalgia. The stair well had not changed. Same pebbled floor tile. I remembered trudging up and down those staircases with the herds of other children. Now I was trudging around with a sea of grandparents and parents. 

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Christmas Cheer

I love how God uses our own thoughts and the innocent words of others to give us periodic attitude checks. After all, we all see the world uniquely and the internal monologue/dialogue makes sense to our own brain. 

Case in point. I'm standing next to someone helping at a kids Christmas party booth. I'm aware that another volunteer swings by and grabs a ziploc bag from our table but have no concern for its intended purpose. A few minutes later my co-worker growls, "put it in the bag already!" I slowly (no sudden moves, right?) turn to her and whisper, "what?" She then went on to tell me about the plastic bag. Through the body language 3 tables down she had figured out the volunteer had taken one of our bags for a woman who needed to put something small in it. Said woman was hanging on to the small object while talking and gesturing while the volunteer held out the bag. Meanwhile my fellow volunteer became immersed in this bag, the item and the clueless woman with the "verbal diarrhea." I, on the other hand, couldn't have cared less. Two people, identical surroundings, same purpose and vastly different takes and takeaways. Yeah. Our brains are complicated and unique machines. 

So now back to the attitude check thing. A friend told me about a hilarious attitude check she got. She had a list of Christmas gifts for families in need. Two pairs of boots. She also needed candy canes for another couple of same type situation. She chose a store that she rarely shops in because of past experiences because boots were a couple bucks cheaper in the ad. While standing in line the cash register crashed. A second cashier came over to help, when that didn't work she went to another register and did a call out so all the people behind my friend rushed over. She followed, and said her frustration meter started to clang. The first register finally kicked back on and the gal called out, my friend made one more move, nearly a half an hour after getting in line. She was behind one person and saw light at the end of the tunnel. And then another hitch. The gal in front of her couldn't get her card to work, and then tried another, and my friend, in a spirit of Christmas selfishness just wanted out of the store, so she said, "Let me" and swiped her own card. The shocked woman thanked her and called her a Christmas angel. The cashier, likewise, couldn't stop wowing. My friend wisely (Isn't it lovely when wisdom teaches us that a mouth kept shut and comments silenced can be a true friend indeed?) said nothing and took her leave. Fuming, she arrived at her location and then just had to laugh at her own craziness. And also realized that her attempt to save a few bucks actually cost her a whole lot more. But at least she kept her thoughts to herself in the store and at least two people were touched by a Christmas angel. And my friend learned a few things in line.

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ In Hind Sight...

 In hind sight, if I had known it would take two long years of fiddling around with my fiddle before I ever felt confident to play in church, I probably would've run the other direction. Okay. Walked real fast, like I was being pulled by super charged beagles, cuz I've pretty much decided I'm not a runner. K? 

When I thought I'd just pick up this wooden instrument and end up where I left off, I was WAY wrong. I've whined (or shared my insights, that sounds better, let's go with that) about the difficulty I'm having with coordinating my right hand, left hand and brain pathways. 

To be fair to any wannabes out there whom I do not want to discourage...I'm also not practicing an hour a day. So there's that. And there are days that are just too short to do any practicing, at all. Had I jumped fully into the white-capped waves and sank or swam, did or DOA, I'm sure my results would be different. Had I studied music theory separately, or immersed myself in all things rhythm maybe I'd have grasped it sooner. And I know if I followed everything my teacher taught me, I'd probably be playing regularly with others. (Plays well with others...ha ha, remember that from report cards?) 

On a whim I took a simple chord based piano class with a friend. She kinda talked me into it and I thought it might help to forge another avenue of music into my gray matter. I don't have a piano so I've gone over to my friend's to practice now and again. My violin teacher wanted me to jam with other musicians over the summer to help broaden my skills and I asked a friend here and there and got a "yeah, sure" response, but really, nothing happened. But naturally, through this music side class, a couple of us brought other instruments and we played along with some Christmas carols. And guess what I found out? There are magic things called key signatures, and when you understand them it's like the Rosetta Stone for music, or some such legendary stuff. My friend and I are also working out some songs together and she is struggling right along side of me. I guess this new epiphinus moment has made me bolder. My pastor has been asking for months when I'm ready to play. I finally told him I could play along with a Christmas carol. The worship team chose Silent Night. (BTW there are a LOT of variations, in every key I'm guessing, whew.) I got the official music from the pianist and then searched until I found the simplest version of it. Then I practiced. And practiced and learned more notes because there are a lot of notes on a violin and they are all about a flea shadow away from each other. Too high by a fraction of an inch and you are sharp, too low, flat, baby, flat. 

On Sunday, I played the three stanzas and didn't freeze, didn't get lost, didn't lag behind and I didn't embarrass myself. Granted, I was praying real hard as I picked up the violin that God would stop the shaking of my hands and keep the food in my stomach. I get to play again during Christmas Eve service and you know what, I'm okay with that. And now I think I can regularly start playing with others. The patient ones. And maybe one day I'll think what I play is beautiful. 

Two years. And had I looked at the song I eventually played in public I would have thought I could play it in lesson two. And doesn't that sum up a whole lot about human nature?