Grateful

I just can't commit to making New Year's resolutions.

When I quit smoking in 1991, I figured resolving to breathe was enough resolution for one lifetime.

But I am grateful to and for many things:

Having everyone home for Christmas for the first time in 4 years. (Here's to dispensing with the sit-down feast on Christmas Day and having appetizers served from the kitchen table.  Watching a 3-year-old gleefully rip into a present beats wrangling a turkey any day.)

Our backyard. Filled with trees, hostas and a relentless supply of chipmunks, we are grateful for the lush shade and surprising beauty. Thanks, Dave, for making us look good. Thanks, Charlie, for carrying the landscape baton so well.

Young House Love, a fabulous house blog written by a young couple in Richmond, VA, who describe themselves as "hopeless DIYers." Funny, informative, filled with great pictures, it is home improvement lived vicariously. Bottom line -- I love progress, even if it is someone else's.

Downton Abbey, resuming next Sunday. I love you, PBS. Thank you for broadcasting one delightful show after an other. And if you see Julian Fellowes, tell him this writer is available and can start on next season's script im-me-djetly.

Possibility. The room I write in is filled with it. Fabric, paint, books, an old typewriter, sewing machine, pens, art, antiques, photographs, a multitude of  projects in mid-creation. I am inspired by what I see, even if I'm not as fast as I would like completing things.

Between now and your first champagne, make a list of what fills you with gratitude and let me know what you've discovered. I am always grateful for a good list.

Each week Naperville  Now participates in Mrs. Matlock's Alphabe-Thursday. This week we will be studying the letter G. See what other Alphabetarians are writing about here.
 

Festive

As you know, Naperville Now is not (and never will be) a cook.

At Christmas, however, some insane urge comes over me to do something a little different with the menu involving jello, which is odd because I don't especially care for jello and I never make it at any other time of the year.

But seasonal jello madness descends, and I am captive.

The Pioneer Woman featured a stacked jello recipe on her blog and I was smitten.

A mere 2 1/2 hours of my life later, I got this:

I can't claim that it tasted particularly fabulous, but it did stack. And it was the highlight  of baby Charlotte's Christmas dinner.

With the time it takes to prepare a meal for 8, squandering spending hours on jello doesn't make a lot of sense. And a 9 by 13 pan makes more jello than any one family will ever need in this life, or the next.

But it was definitely festive.

Naperville Now participates each week in Mrs. Matlock's Alphabe-Thursday. See what others have to say about the letter F here.

What Calories?

 

December Girls

Dear Mom,

Happy Birthday from one December girl to another.

Eight Points

When the Chicago Tribune publishes its year-end Best Of lists, I am compelled to read them all. Books missed, movies overlooked, news events that were off my radar. A year skimmed in 60 seconds. This is how I fill in the blanks.

Facebook can even make a timeline of your year, as long as you grant them permission to rifle through your underwear drawer. I prefer to do my own rifling, thank you, so here's my 2012 timeline:

• Celebrating the 90th birthday of Betty, my mother-in-law, in February. She was enchanted by her great-granddaughter Natalie, 8 months, who entertained all of us from her perch at the table.
• Zach, our candidate for the Class of 2027, turned 3. His mom had cake and ice cream for all the kids in the neighborhood but asked they hold off on the presents. "He has enough stuff. Just come for the fun." And they did.
• A tough spring. We lost Betty. In the same week, we lost our 18-year-old dog, Bandit. We are officially erasing April 2012 from our memory banks.
• Sorting through a lifetime accumulation of stuff in the family home has made me realize we need less stuff. It seems the less chaos around me (the basement doesn't count because I'm afraid to go down there), the clearer I am. This world needs as much clarity as it can get. I need as much clarity as I can get. Here is a fabulous essay on the topic of stuff. Read it and be transformed.
• Stephen and Kevin's wedding in Pound Ridge. I managed two brief speeches, was a witness and did not choke up (too much), though my heart was very full. A beautiful day in a gorgeous setting, surrounded by loving family, friends, the poetry of Walt Whitman and really excellent French champagne. 
• My hunt for a job continued, after a cat bite retired me from the veterinarian assistant business. The job market has been a little tight for print journalists. Is it too late to become an archaeologist?
• Our Charley turned 1. She is completely fearless, a remarkable and terrifying quality in a baby. She is, of course, adorable.
• Anna married her Greg in August. Weddings are exhausting, expensive and lots of fun. Theirs was one of 9 weddings we attended this year. Call Me Maybe by Carly Rae Jepsen is our favorite dance tune. We bounce like mad.

I had in mind to write about 57 things from 2012, but 8 seems to be the most I can manage.

From the bottom of my heart, thanks for reading, for commenting, and for following. You make my day. Thanks for being part of mine.

Naperville Now participates each week in Mrs. Matlock's Alphabe-Thursday. See what other bloggers are writing about here.

Postcards from the Capitol

My brother-in-law accepted an invitation to attend a holiday party at the White House.

Best. Christmas.Present.Ever.

Unless it would be a digital camera that takes way better pictures than his iPhone.

(Dear Santa, please make sure Kevin gets a Nikon 10.2-Megapixel DSLR Camera with 18-55mm and 55-200mm NIKKOR Zoom Lenses before the next White House holiday party. Thank you.)

Clearly, Aaron Sorkin's set for The West Wing was astoundingly accurate.

Kevin is a keen student of history and loves architectural details. (We have that in common.)

(Isn't this where Michael Douglas tells Annette Bening, "Nice shoes" in The American President?)

Kevin writes: "Had about 7 Christmas cookies. Would have had more but they were watching."

I don't believe the hosts dusted off the Franklin Pierce china (1853-1857) for the buffet.

Dolley Madison was in attendance, however.

A view for the ages.

Haven't been to Washington, let alone a party at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, in I don't know when. I think it may be time to plan a visit.

Have you been to the Capitol? What did you see? What do you recommend? Where did you stay? Did you see a POTUS/FLOTUS while you were there? Kindly check in in the Comments section. Naperville Now loves to travel, even vicariously, which is much easier on her feet.

With thanks to Kevin for sharing his photographs.

No Words

In memory