Time Off

Five years ago, after a very hard couple of years for my family and when I was still a freelancer, I decided to work extra hard during December and take off the time between Christmas and the New Year and spend it with my family.

Except right around that time, the Sun Times sold The Herald-News to Shaw Media, and I found myself in transition and with a new job instead.

Don't get me wrong. I was thrilled for the joy, which turned out to be lifesaving on more levels than I can explain here. In this case, delayed gratification was the better gratification, and I poured myself into my new role.

Then, a couple years ago, the holidays lined up in such a way that I had several days off in a row. It was the first time I had a "Christmas vacation" since I was a kid. I read a lot (and even stayed up super late one night reading, a real joy) and spent hours out on the I&M Canal one day with Timothy.

And it renewed my goal to have a real Christmas vacation.

So this year, I saved a good chunk of my vacation for the days between Christmas and New Year. A few "life" things that popped up almost obliterated my plans at the last minute. 

The keyword is "almost."

I had a list of things I wanted to accomplish. I'm happy to say I did almost all of them.

* I outlined two novels (the werewolf story and The Phoenix, the first in the BryonySeries Limbo trilogy).

* I finished the memoir. I'm waiting on one photo from the author, and Rebekah needs to make the cover. Then we are ready for uploading, copyediting, and then...voila!

* I finished round one of edits for a client, a project I've slowly worked at all fall.

* I started the formatting for a fundraising book for WriteOn Joliet.

* I began a nonfiction book I plan to self-publish this fall.

* I read. A LOT.

* I visited a friend in the hospital three times.

* I met with Tom Hernandez, my WriteOn Joliet co-leader, to plan 2020.

* I went to the nursing home to see Ron.

* I broke down the three boxes from my most recent at-home office (We moved again in October). I have all the boxes from my Channahon office when we lost the home in 2013, but the plan to is to empty a box a week until the boxes are gone).

* I slept A LOT.

* I drank lots of good coffee (which did not interfere with my sleep).

I came home from work on Christmas Eve night to find the traditional meal was all prepared and waiting for me.

My home was full of people of all ages (one child already had an ice pack to the head, a sure sign of rambunctious fun).

The next day was quieter, since we don't celebrate our family Christmas until Jan. 7. I walked a lot, hung out a lot, visited a friend in the hospital (with Timothy carrying the tree he and Joshua bought for my room all the way up to her room).

Rebekah made homemade cinnamon rolls and ham steaks for breakfast. I added a salad to mine to make it healthy, haha. Jasmine popped in and cleaned up the kitchen.

Mostly, I did nothing. It felt so good, I can't even begin to describe it.

Some leftover work (and an issue that arose) made a dent into one of the vacation days. But Cindy was at the house and did all the housework while I worked, even though she had to go to work that night.

I returned to work this morning. I'm rested, refreshed, and happy to be back! :)

The Fifty-Year Wait Has Ended

As a child, I loved dolls, and I had a lot of dolls.

I probably had more dolls than any other kind of toy, and I liked playing with dolls more than any other activity.

My sister and I had dolls of all shapes and sizes, including paper dolls: with tabs, magnets, and even dolls we cut from catalogs.

Some of our favorite dolls were Liddle Kiddles. I even had Liddle Kiddles coloring book.

I also had a list of dolls I never owned but yearned to own. That includes most Kiddles (the line had so many, it was nearly impossible to own them all), Crissy and Velvet dolls, Rosemary from the Rock Flowers, and most of the Dawn and Barbie dolls.

My favorite Liddle Kiddles were the Kiddle Kologne dolls. And the one I most longed to own was Rosebud.

And she recently arrived in the mail for me.

You see, one day I was showing Rebekah some of the vintage dolls I once longed to own, including Rosebud. So without telling me, Rebekah found one on Etsy and ordered it for me.

It was a lovely, sweet surprise.

Rosebud even still has a faint rose scent clinging to her.

My two granddaughters fell in love with her and wanted to play with her. If I had more (including the colonial dollhouse I once has a child, along with some period furniture), that would have been a grat option.

And thanks to the internet, not out of the realm of possibility.

Rosebud is currently sitting beneath a small Christmas tree Joshua and Timothy bought me, which Timothy set up on one of my dressers (one that used to belong to Ron's mother) late at night on the Feast of St. Nicholas.

BryonySeries Throwback Thursday: One Good Quote For Christmas Day

unday, December 25, 2016

One Good Quote For Christmas Day

“For it is good to be children sometimes, and never better than at Christmas, when its mighty Founder was a child Himself.”
― Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol

Community News: Dec. 17, 2019

Check out upcoming events and the awesome things people are doing.

If you live within the Herald-News' coverage area (most of Will and Grundy counties in Illinois), and you'd like to share your organization's news or upcoming events, email the information to new@theherald-news.com.

City of Joliet holiday lights map returns

https://www.theherald-news.com/2019/12/14/city-of-joliet-holiday-lights-map-returns/a4dwdjv/


Need a unique gift? How about storytelling classes in Lockport?

https://www.theherald-news.com/2019/12/14/need-a-unique-gift-how-about-storytelling-classes-in-lockport/aiwr1l8/


Forest Preserve District of Will County announces 2020 lineup 

https://www.theherald-news.com/2019/12/14/forest-preserve-district-of-will-county-announces-2020-lineup/ayutcho/


Plainfield church blessed new nativity set 

https://www.theherald-news.com/2019/12/14/plainfield-church-blessed-new-nativity-set/duc1xj7/


Experts offer tips for safe holiday celebrations

https://www.theherald-news.com/2019/12/14/experts-offer-tips-for-safe-holiday-celebrations/a47fgx2/



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https://www.bryonyseries.com/munsonville-times

Photo courtesy of Timothy Baran

Elusive Files

This morning I "wasted" about forty-five minutes or so searching for a poem I'd written for our "Christmas letter" when our family delivered newspapers.

These are basically flyers placed in each subscriber's newspaper with information on how to tip the carrier. And I always tried to make these as whimsical as possible.

One year, I wrote a variation of "T'was The Night Before Christmas," which featured the antics of our family slipping and sliding on the snow during delivery, along with a hand-drawn illustration of me, smiling as I walked through the snow to hand a newspaper to a customer.

I didn't find the poem. I may have written it before 2007, which is when I had a computer crash (We delivered from 1998 to the end of 2012).

I've not given up hope. I may have saved a hard copy. I still have boxes from Channahon to unpack.

What I DID find, however, is a series of Christmas letters Timothy had written to various members of our family back in 2010. I had forgotten about these, as he may have, too.

But he'll see them this morning. I emailed them all to him.

BTW, he took the photo of his Christmas tree, as he celebrates his first Christmas in his first townhome.

Blessings to all you this day!

The Best Gifts

When we homeschooled, we typically suspended much of our formal studies from Thanksgiving through Jan. 7 and used that time to decorate about 100 Christmas postcards to send to friends and family and to make Christmas gifts.

Gifts we made through the years included homemade bakery, pizzas, pierogies, slippers, craft projects, original stories, handwritten cookbooks of family recipes, videotaped Christmas productions - and these are just the ones coming to mind.

This Christmas I saw my first "exploding box," a homemade gift Daniel's girlfriend Cindy made twice (because someone at her house spilled water on the first one), staying up all night to do so. Hers was far more elaborate than any I found online, and you should have heard the "ooooohhhhh!" that resounded around the room when he removed the cover.

I made a special gift for my kids (with lots of technical help from Rebekah) accessed a private YouTube link.

The gifts we typically buy are not on anyone's wish list ("I want a FILL IN THE BLANK), but a surprise tied to an interest.

For example, Timothy likes to take photographs, and he likes Chicago. So Rebekah bid on an enormous photograph of Chicago's skyline at a fundraising auction and split the cost with Daniel.

Daniel likes coffee and Dr. Who. So one gift he received a coffee mug with a "moving" Tardis. 

I taught myself yoga out of a book (before it was chic) when I was fifteen and have done yoga ever since. But Timothy's girlfriend also likes to do yoga. She bought me a yoga strap and yoga blocks (didn't even know these items existed) and offered to show me how to use them.

Timothy got me a miniature photo booth with different color backdrops for shooting Bertrand books and recipe photos for The Herald-News and this blog. This to replace (or replace some of the time) the corrugated white cardboard pieces I buy, ruin, and buy again.

Daniel bought me lots of envelopes and stamps, so I have them available for letter-writing (my grandchildren are my pen pals).

Rebekah adores Asian culture and can't wait to visit Japan during cherry blossom season. One year, I bought an art piece of cherry blossoms, and Timothy framed it. But she also bought him a map of Maine (his dream destination), and we framed it for him.

After spending a few days with Joshua, Rebekah found out a few items he really wanted but never has the money to buy. So she shared the information with siblings and significant others, and he received them.

Christopher is 6'10" and is out of work due to illness. He needs new clothes, but it's hard to find reasonably priced clothing that fits. So Rebekah bought him a gift card to his favorite store - and put quite a bit of money on that card.

Last year, I created an interactive game for the kids. This year, I received an elegant necklace in my favorite shade of blue from Rebekah.

This year, we made bears out of homemade bread. And I'm now in the processing of creating a secret Facebook group so the cousins can see each other's creations.

One year, Sarah and two friends made them at her birthday party (our birthday parties were all-age and included friends and family). 

Now kids being kids whined at first about the project because they couldn't envision it. Nothing exciting about mixing flour in a bowl! (Although they did find the bubbling yeast fascinating).

But they perked up as their bears took shape. And all of the kids wore big smiles as they proudly carried their bears to the cars when it was time to go home.

For Lucas, who lives out of state, I sent a link to the recipe. His mother Sarah and his Aunt Rebekah made bread bears with him, too.

Because that was another gift. Rebekah is always a little down around the holidays because she can't see Sarah. Our family Christmas is on Jan. 7 and that is also Rebekah's birthday.

But Sarah's husband's birthday is on Jan. 6. And Lucas is usually back to school by then.

So instead of importing Sarah, we exported Rebekah. Sarah and I split the cost of a surprise plane ticket from Joliet to Raleigh for Rebekah. And back again, of course.

Of course, as fate would have it, Rebekah spent the second day in Raleigh at quick care for type A. flu.

But she did recover in enough time to make bread bears and see the Chinese lantern festival.