Posts tagged: Santa

Happy Holidays!

By , December 25, 2009 6:01 am

Happy Holidays Everyone!

My family does a holiday photo each year (you can check them all out here). They usually have a funny theme, but this year, we actually took a serious photo to send out.

Anthony, Me, Steven, Mom, Nicholas, Dad, Thomas (baby) Nick, Courtney (SiL) and Christina

Don’t I have a gorgeous family (if I do say so myself)? I am happy we took these*.

The original Ilax clan

I get to spend today** with my other family – Steven’s parents and brother! They snuck in (from Kansas City) just before the ice storm and I am happy to be celebrating the holiday with them in our home this year! We’re so lucky that they were able to come out and share the day with us. It’s so nice to slow down and relax for once.

However you spend the day, I hope it is wonderful! Leave me a comment telling me your favorite part of the day!

*Even though, uh, it was 25 pounds ago
**I will see my family in January

When Grandma visits

By , November 17, 2009 5:03 am

Q: How do you prepare for a visit from Grandma?

A: By cleaning like a mad woman, of course!

Come on, it’s not every day you get to:

  • iron your place settings
  • discover shiny surfaces right there in your own home!
  • feel the tactile pleasure of cleaning each and every window blind
  • relive memories as you clean tiny little mementos on your knickknack shelf
  • vacuum every side of every cushion and pillow on the couch – I’ve confirmed – we do indeed, have a gray cat
  • scrub out Data’s litter box by hand – ha, not! gotcha

Truth be told, Steven and I are very neat and tidy (he is more than me, for all of those women who think men can’t be organized*), and we would be doing this type of deep cleaning for any holiday visitor, not just my grandma. It’s just so time consuming!

Do you do a deep clean before each guest arrives? Or do you leave your place “as is”?

We always clean quite a bit for guests, but extra for the holidays.

At least we got to do some fun things, like put up the holiday decorations and listen to music while we were cleaning.

Data loves the fake tree, but we’ve asked him to admire it from a distance. It has valuable Star Wars ornaments on it after all!

Data! I see you there!

You better be a good boy Data, or Santa won’t come!

Side Note: Don’t forget to enter my Homemade Holiday Sweets Giveaway!

I just found out yesterday that I won my first giveaway, EVER! Marcia, from Running Off at the Mouth is sending me a copy of The Runner’s Cookbook, a book I have had my eye on for a year! Thanks Marcia! Check out her blog if you’re looking for a new runner blogging friend!

*Or cook. He’s a wonderful chef. I’m blessed.

A “smaller” Christmas isn’t a bad thing

By , December 10, 2008 9:01 pm

A little public announcement before the post: I feel guilty writing posts, when I have emails that need to be responded to, as well as over 400 unread items in my google reader. I feel guilty for responding to things slowly or late (like birthday announcements and other important news in posts). Please forgive me. Writing here is an outlet for me. It really alleviates stress, so it is the first thing I make time for. I really enjoy writing emails and reading blogs too. In fact, I am upset that my schedule has not allowed me to “catch up.” You all know how that is though. Anyway, my apologies. I hope to have time to catch up… some weekend? Okay, announcement over.

This year, both of our families have told us to “expect a smaller Christmas.” Or rather, they’ve apologetically told us they don’t have as much money to spend as in years past.

I’m guessing we’re not the only ones hearing this?

It makes me really sad that people feel like they have to apologize for giving less presents during the holidays. It makes me sad, because I know they are genuinely upset that they cannot give as much to us as they have before. And I know that no matter how much I tell them it doesn’t matter to me, it will still matter to them.

It’s hard not to let gift-giving become some sort of obsession during the holidays. You stress and stress over how much money to spend, what to buy, and then how they will react when they open it, whether or not they like it…

Our big thing is that we want to buy people things they actually WANT, rather than aimlessly searching for something, just to say “I got you a gift!” So, we started brainstorming ideas for people back in October. But, as my second cousin Denise wisely told me, “I stress about buying present every year because I never know what to buy for people. I guess we’ve all gotten to the point where we buy what we want and things that we don’t buy no one else can afford.” Ugh, exactly. For some people, it is impossible for Steven and I to come up with good gift ideas, unless they’re super expensive. People in our lives generally have what they want. Or sadly, we don’t know enough about our own family member’s interests to buy them something new they may enjoy.

So, we get caught up in this whole stress thing too.

I always have fun buying and giving gifts, but I do worry about finding that “perfect” gift.

Yeah, it doesn’t exist. And I have quit pretending it does. I am just going to enjoy the holidays.

I started thinking about all of this because my office is answering “Letters to Santa.” Children in impoverished neighborhoods write the letter to Santa at their schools and then the Sun-Times newspaper delivers the letters to organizations that buy and wrap the gifts these kids are asking for.

I didn’t participate (because I just started), but I think it really put things into perspective for a lot of people, answering a letter where a kid would ask for something so simple, like “a stuffed bear I can hug,” “anything Hot Wheels,” or “a Barbie.” One woman said it made her feel awful that a kid was asking for a $10 Barbie and she bought her own son a $200 PlayStation.

We all know we’ve become incredibly materialistic. We live our lives in pursuit of “stuff.” You want to earn more money at your job, so that you can get the “stuff” you want, and live in your preferred comfort zone.

And yes, we all think about this more around the holidays, maybe feeling a little guilty about it, maybe not.

I just want people to understand that “having less” at Christmas isn’t going to ruin the holiday for me. But there is really no way to alleviate someone else’s guilt.

5K: numero cinque

By , December 6, 2008 2:28 pm

When you wake up at 7:30 on a Saturday morning, still recovering from a bad cold, and look out the window to see the ground covered with fresh snow, and more snow coming down… what do you do?

You get out of bed to run a 5K! Ha!

<image:Steven and Kim as Santa Runners;

Mr. and Mrs. Santa Runners

Today we ran the Santa Sleigh 5K, for the Arlington Heights Rotary. I’ll admit, the big thing that got me to run this race is that EVERYONE is given a Santa costume to wear! (And yes, we did get to keep our costumes)

<image:All the Santas at the starting line;

Santas at the starting line

I was laughing so hard when we driving around to park our car, because we were seeing all these random groups of Santas walking to the race.

<image:The santas running;

During the race

The race went very well, considering that it was snowing and slushy, that we haven’t been running as much lately, that I am recovering from the cold from hell, that we ate Mexican food last night, and that I had to hold my pants up during the entire race (we got there 20 minutes before start and I think all they had left were the XL and larger sizes). I think we finished just after the 30 minute mark.

<image:Kim's dismantled outfit after the race;

My disheveled post race outfit

The Santa beard actually kept my face surprisingly warm! I told Steven I think I am going to start wearing it during my walk to work in the mornings! Ha ha.

I think this is going to be our last 5K in 2008. It’s getting a bit cold outside. We plan to keep training during the winter, and maybe run a half marathon in the spring!

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