The Week(ish) Before Christmas

I guess I got lazy taking photos off my phone before Christmas because I had a bunch and there were a couple fun Christmas moments among them.

The Thursday before the week before Christmas was my work Christmas party.  It's always a pleasant affair at the art gallery, which I have often used as a last-minute moment of bliss before the rush of the holidays since we get free access to the gallery.  It didn't entirely work out that way this year, partly because it was earlier in December and partly because I had a tight schedule that night--I had to get to Jacob's first home game!  I downed a couple glasses of wine early and offset it with all the appetizers and desserts so I'd be completely fine to drive and go to the game.  It felt a little like when the kids' daycare Christmas programs used to coincide with my last job's Christmas party every year.  We'd start partying at noon so it was a delicate balance to drink an appropriate amount over such a long period without ending up too tired or having alcohol seeping out of my pores at a kid event, especially the years I'd sneak in a workout between the party and the program.  Anyway, the party was nice, and this year there was the added bonus of getting a free view of the special exhibit at the gallery, the "other mirrored room" that I think I mentioned when Carter and I went to the one in Buffalo.  This one was different, but no less cool.  We had to wait our turn--I went with my boss and we ended up paired with a couple of our extended department mates, which was fun.  We only had a minute inside, so we had to make it fast!  It was a little overwhelming, but so neat!  It was much brighter and more open than the one in Buffalo, but the silver balls gave it more visual interest.

Someone likened it to heaven, which was sort of funny but not entirely untrue.  It was surreal but fun!

Photo featuring my very cheap but perfect-for-the-holidays sweater dress from Aldi!

There was a pillar in the middle of it with a few holes in it.  When you looked in, it was much more like the one in Buffalo.  It was an infinite, disorienting set of mirrors.  

We headed back to the party in time for the raffle drawings.  We all got a belt bag as a gift and then got a bunch of raffle tickets to put in bags to try to win a bunch of prizes.  There were some nice prizes, lots of UR swag and food prizes (coffee, nuts, chocolate), along with a few other things, but I couldn't take my eye off the air fryer.  I have long wanted an air fryer but I didn't have room in my kitchen so I never made it a priority.  But a free one?  I'd make an exception for that.  I put nearly all of my tickets into the bag for that one and hoped for the best.  They went through and started announcing winners, and when they got to the air fryer, they announced, "Amy..." and while I'm far from the only Amy in the organization, I know that whenever I hear my first name and then someone trails off, more than likely they mean me.  It's helpful when they add the first initial or at least give the "Ryb" part a shot, but it's not a leap to assume it's me because my name stumps them every time!  And in this case, I was correct!  I won a freaking giant air fryer!  I felt oddly guilty to win the big prize, but hey, someone has to do it!  And I really wanted one, so I think it was good.  People all say it's life changing and were giving me all sorts of advice, so I was excited to start figuring it out!

But I had other things to attend to that night--we had a basketball game!  Jacob's first home game was a little odd because he'd lost his starting spot.  It was a little weird--almost like a strange moment in practice where his coach decided he wasn't working hard (nothing could be farther from the truth, and a week later he deemed Jacob free to do what he wanted in games because he was a hard worker, so...it's no wonder Jacob's been confused half the season!).  Anyway, it felt like it should have been an easier game but it definitely wasn't.  Jacob made it into the game after a mere two minutes because our start was sub-par, but it was a battle the whole game.  We did end up winning and Jacob did pretty well, getting 10 points, but it was a bit crazy!  There also ended up being a fight in the hallway afterward, so we came out to quite the scene of cop cars, which made the night even crazier.  

The following night we had an event at Carter's school.  They were doing a movie night.  We could watch The Polar Express and eat popcorn!  We brought a blanket for the gym floor and settled in next to his buddy Ben and his mom.  It started out reasonably nice enough...

But then things got a little wacky.  Kids--namely the third graders and apparently some siblings--started running around.  At first it was a group in the one corner, but then it turned into kids running laps.  The volume wasn't that high on the movie as it was, so the screaming kids drowned it out even more, which only made it worse because presumably the kids who were watching got bored not hearing it.  There was also a recurring issue with an ad or something popping up on the computer, periodically blocking the view of the movie.  Apparently no one was monitoring it, and no one from the school was taking responsibility for setting expectations for in-movie behavior, so it turned into total chaos.  I partly blame the parents but assume it started like, "Can I go hang out with so-and-so?" and then once they started getting loud, no parent wanted to be the party pooper.  People started leaving in droves.  I eventually let Carter run around for a bit too, but only when it was clear everyone had given up.  We left probably 2/3 of the way through, but I did catch this picture on the way out.  Carter had been talking about this art project for weeks, and said it turned out really well.  He was right!

He picked the hawk because of the Knighthawks, and when Craig posted the picture, everyone was calling for it to be on a shirt or media guide cover or something!  We're really hoping this one finally gets him into the elusive district art show in the spring, which Jacob made it into a number of times.  Carter struggled with art for years because it was hard for him to finish projects, and then the pandemic took away at least another year or two.  But maybe this year!

Speaking of art, I finally got around to doing a random craft project myself.  I don't love it, but it's good enough for now.  I had seen this holiday decoration years ago that had this lovely saying on it, "Merry be your Christmas, Peaceful be your home, Joyful be your family, Blessed be each one."  The sign was rather expensive so I found a Pinterest pin with it and vowed to make one sometime.  I can't freehand to save my life, so I constantly looked for stickers or stencils that might allow me to do it.  I finally found some at Dollar Tree this year, so I decided to give it a shot.  I used an extra bow, random pine bough, some leftover berries, scrap ribbon, and eventually some stars like you get on your school papers or chore charts.  I don't love it, and the letters barely stick, but I still think the sentiment is nice so it'll do for now.

It was pretty much the last thing I had time for, but oh well.  I did most of it while watching my dad's Vespers concert online, so I guess that wasn't wasted time, but the finishing touches (including fixing the letters and trying to seal it) took a bit more time.  

The following week was pretty crazy.  I had to rearrange my kitchen (twice) to fit the air fryer, and I actually really like the setup now and find myself wondering why I didn't do that before.  And the air fryer has been getting pretty good reviews so far!  Over the course of the week I still had some gifts to buy and decisions to make.  But Jacob had a couple more games, including one an hour away (that one was a big loss with two of their best players injured, but Jacob chipped in another 10 points to lead his team), so my time was limited.  I needed to bake two batches of cookies and figure out a lot of other details.  I wasn't sure it was all going to get done, but a half day of work helped and slowly but surely it did!  Now that you're up to speed on the days before Christmas, on to the holiday itself!