THEY ARE OUT THERE!

“I’m still in shock! I mean, I’ve heard of it before, but I was thinking it was that conspiracy stuff.” My son, the two youngest Rugrats, and my son’s girlfriend, K., had come for supper, and we were sitting around the table as K. told us about events that had happened the previous night. Her face is quite cute-expressive, and her uneasiness was evident as she explained about my son bringing home a new brand of wine, how he had told her the story leading up to his choice, and her astonishment the following morning to find her smart phone bombarded with publicity for said wine.

“The cell was on the far end of the table as we discussed this, and it was closed. I never heard of this wine before, there were no searches done. That damned phone does listen to us!! Otherwise why would all that information come over it the next morning when I opened it?”

We laughed. Her paranoia was amusing if not totally unfounded. We warned her not to bring her cell phone into the bedroom – for obvious reasons, added my son – and that yes, nothing was really private anymore in this age of cyber watch.

For dessert, I had resuscitated an old recipe that I used to make for my kids when they were little. At the time we called it Christmas Cracker Candy, but it was now on Facebook (which is what brought it back to my fickle memory) and the name used there was Christmas Crack. It’s caramel and chocolate and candy decoration layered on soda crackers, so Daddy was telling his Rugrats to go easy on it, all the while questioning the choice of the descriptive new name.

During the evening the Rugrats asked permission to sleep over with Memere, who was delighted, of course, and Daddy gave his okay. Later, as the adults were preparing to leave, my son instructed the boys to be good and to listen, not to go to bed too late. Grinning at each other and at me, the boys promised, we exchanged smirks, and I added “And I promise that I won’t feed them too much Crack.”

There was an audible gasp from behind me. I turned to see the GF’s mouth opened as round as her eyes.

“Oh my God!” she exclaimed. “Can you imagine what they’ll be thinking if they heard that over my cell? They’ll be calling Child Welfare as we speak!!” We all burst out laughing. Believe me, I know there is nothing remotely funny about the real Crack (Cocaine smoking) problem, but in this situation, the implication was hilarious.

The boys and I stayed up until the wee hours of the morning playing video games and watching movies while they gobbled up the remaining Christmas Crack, as we all knew they would. No matter. That’s what Grandmothers are for, right? As for GF’s reaction, each time I think about it I can’t help but SMILE.

Sharing it with you folks! It has been a loooong time.

LUV FROM THE BUSH IN QUEBEC

Woke up to some fresh snow this morning. It was dark at 4:30 AM, but the gallery lights reflected on the accumulated fall, and it’s still coming down, softly, floating easily. When I was in town yesterday, I noted that the roads and sidewalks were bare. The rain did it. When it rains in town, it usually snows here. One more reason to love my bush.

Elie, my prey driven doggy, has been jumping up and running into the corners to sniff around. Her antics are a sure sign that the mice are back in for the winter so I installed some traps. Poor little things – I find them cute but I refuse to share my living space with them. Sure enough, all the traps are full this morning. UGH! Lovely chore when my eyes are still not quite open.

I had started the Christmas stew last night and am now preparing to continue today. The smell has the beasts’ noses twitching, Christmas music is competing with the sound of snowplows outside, and Pistache, the parrot, is accompanying it all by ringing the heck out of her bell.

Because I’m not hosting this year, I had decided that I wouldn’t bother decorating, and offered the box of lights to my son for his new house. He stopped in with his GF and the Rugrats yesterday to pick them up and stayed a couple of hours to visit.

Nothing quite beats hugs and teasing from the kids and the grandchildren. Friday night our Raph had his Christmas party here, Mémère got hugs. Yesterday there was the Rugrats, and Mémère got more hugs. Today I’m expecting my little flea and her family to come for supper, so guess what Mémère will be enjoying? If only we could bottle them and sell them, I expect we would be part of the ultra-wealthy.

That’s it for now, folks. Sending you good vibes for this Sunday morning, and of course those vibes are riding on a huge SMILE!

LUV FROM THE BUSH IN QUEBEC.

I hosted my first Christmas when I was pregnant with my daughter, only missed hosting two since then, and she’ll be turning 50 at the end of this month. Some gatherings were bigger than others, but I really can’t remember any year when there was less than 20 guests present at the table; a mix of family, friends and often just people who had nowhere else to go. It was a hustle and bustle preparation, the shopping, the cooking, the decorating, and I loved it all. And the tradition ends here.

My children have decided that, in light of my present circumstances, they will do the honors this season. Yes, they made the decision without my input, and told me point-blank that I am too tired, I already have enough stress with my job, so to just chill and let them take care of it. If I had argued they would have relented, but after feeling the twinge of letting go, I find that I agree more than disagree with the passing of the torch. The first of many changes I expect to see in the year 2020.

They did ask/tell me that I was quite welcome to make the Christmas stew and the stuffed breads and pies that have been an essential part of their Christmas ever since they can remember. They added that it was my choice and, knowing me as they do, correctly guessed that it would lessen the sting of the adjustment.

So…my doggies will still enjoy the smell of some Christmas cooking in the next two weeks, but will not have to be restrained, coaxed with marrow bones, from joining the very energetic and excited little tots racing up and down the hallways on December 25^th. I always felt so guilty shutting them away, but their size and willingness to be just as rambunctious as the kiddies who are way smaller than they are was too risky.

Instead the beasts will have a short wait until I arrive home from my son’s place, then we’ll do the usual;  brandy with eggnog and quiet reflection in front of a nice, warm fire.

They’ll be chewing, and yep, I’ll be SMILING.

LUV FROM THE BUSH IN QUEBEC

Be yourself; Everyone else is already taken.

— Oscar Wilde.

This is the first post on my new blog. I’m just getting this new blog going, so stay tuned for more. Subscribe below to get notified when I post new updates.

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

Why do this?

• Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
• Because it will help you focus you own ideas about your blog and what you’d like to do with it.

The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

To help you get started, here are a few questions:

• Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
• What topics do you think you’ll write about?
• Who would you love to connect with via your blog?
• If you blog successfully throughout the next year, what would you hope to have accomplished?

You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.

When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.