We had our mock Christmas (or Festivus) tonight (or yesterday night since it is actually past midnight). We had a yummy moist turkey with cranberry sauce, stuffing, mashed potatoes, praline sweet potatoes, and pie. It took a while and the kitchen looked like a bomb went off, but we made it through (with Erin doing most of the work, what a pal!). I even managed to clog our garbage disposal with cranberries (I know to avoid stuff like peelings and egg shells, but cranberries?? Who knew?), luckily Joe, the manly man he is, unclogged it.

We ate and immediately needed a nap, but we managed to open our gifts (I got the coolest gifts from Erin, just check out my flickr page) and watch Elf, but Erin and Justin couldn’t make it until pie time so we saved them the pumpkin pie and my cranberry and raspberry pie for tomorrow. Hopefully we will get to go see the Christmas lights tomorrow night as well. Erin and I even bought our own thermos mugs to bring along hot chocolate on our walk.

All this writing about dinner is making me hungry again…I think it’s time to raid the fridge. That is the best thing about big holiday dinners…leftovers!

Small Update:

I have my first few radishes! I pulled up three lovely easter egg radishes from my container garden today, not really expecting to see any at all. It seemed like I had just checked on them about two days ago and they still looked just like skinny roots. They just ballooned up overnight I suppose. That or I’m just not very observant.

I did at taste test a bit reluctantly, expecting them to be hot or tough, but instead they were crisp and refreshing! No heat whatsoever. I had Joe taste one and he said ‘it tastes like cold’.

Radishes have to be one of the most rewarding things to grow. You really have no idea what exactly it will look like until you pull it out of the soil. That’s way better than when I grew peppers and cucumbers (although, they did have their own wonderful attributes) where you can see their progress on a daily basis.
I can’t wait ’til the others are ready!

My Schlumbergias are blooming. I’m so proud. All on their own. I wasn’t expecting them to bloom at all since they are not getting the recommended light amounts, but they don’t seem to care. My bird’s nest fern had been looking sorry for the last year or so. I’d water it, but it just looked limp and had a grey cast (I kid you not), then my mom came for a visit and watered it and now it looks fantastic! It has regained its bright green color and is no longer mopey! My mother must have a magic touch with plants (even though that orchid of hers didn’t make it).

On a completely different subject:

I’m tired of all this “war on Christmas” crap. It’s all a bunch of hoo-hah if you ask me. Why on earth is it so hard for people to say “happy holidays” instead of “merry Christmas” to take into consideration the other millions of people in this country who don’t celebrate Christmas? Why is it so damned hard to put up a Menorah next to the nine gigantic Christmas trees at an airport?

Now, I love Christmas. I love seeing all the Christmassy goodness hanging up around town. It gets everyone in the spirit, but I also wouldn’t mind seeing more Hanukkah decorations up. Ooh! Maybe a public Menorah lighting even! Any holiday event is a welcome event. Why not learn a little about another culture? Why be offended by it? Why not embrace them all? It might be fun to add on a few more holidays like Karthikai Deepam or Mawlid. I say the more celebration, the better. There is no war on Christmas, it’s a cry for understanding and acceptance.

Wow, I haven’t written in forever it seems. I’m sorry! I’ve been putting it off because I am ashamed that I have no real gardening updates. It’s just been nothing but raking up leaves here. What I have been doing is wintery stuff like sitting on my couch in a warm blanket sewing or crocheting and drinking hot chocolate. I love this time of year. I’m not so much a doin’ stuff kinda person. I spend much of my time in planning or reflection mode. I really need to change that, but it is so hard to rewire my years of bad habits. So not much ever gets done, but boy has it been thought about! I think things to death!

Anyways, I’ve been a yoyo-ing fool lately. I think I may have sewn about 30 yoyos in a span of 24 hours. Fourteen of those yoyos were sent off in a craft swap that I participated in. I just *love* getting trinkets in the mail! Tonight I go my first package of yoyos and I even get another soon! How exciting!

Things that will be planned and executed this month include:

Christmas shopping for the familia

New haircut!

Mock Christmas Dinner (with our closest friends)

Buying a new car (I can finally afford a non piece of junk car!)

You are probably wondering what the mock Christmas dinner is all about. Well, Erin (the close friend) and I envisioned a get together among friends Christmas style about a week before the real deal. A big holiday dinner will be served, gifts will be exchanged and as a grand finale: an outing to see the Christmas lights complete with a thermos of hot chocolate. Did I mention I love this time of year?