Through The Looking Glass

…of gamers, of course.

(OK, just gamer–singular–for now. And OK, all he wanted to do was spread the cards around on the table before throwing them on the floor. But repeat exposure will get him eventually.)

A few more at Flickr.

(I’m serious, next year no one else gets handmade gifts. All my knitting are belong to Sam.)

• A Knight’s Castle tent, something like this one.
• A knitted chain mail tunic (I’m making a pattern for this).
• The puppet theater from Bend-the-Rules Sewing (a lovely example).
• A growth chart (I have ideas).
• Something with his name on it to hang over his bed.
• The colored pencil roll from Last-Minute Patchwork Gifts (example).
• An Advent Calendar, mini-stockings or possibly mittens.
• A dollhouse and all the accessories.
• That reminds me, bedding for Dolly.
• Play foods. To go in the play kitchen I want to buy him.

Man, I am going to need a lot of fabric. And some yarn. Santa? Are you there?

As you may have gathered from my recent frazzled posts, Sam is in a yelling phase right now. I do not think it’s really very bad at all (though it certainly has its moments) but it is coming after a month or so of unprecedentedly good communication, excellent sleep (as soon as we gave up naps, he started sleeping ELEVEN HOURS a night, in a row), and an all-around good time for me as his mom. So a rough patch feels like THE END OF THE WORLD. (It is his teeth. Of course. Or I should say his tooth. He has been getting his final molar for one million years and the damn thing is STILL not all the way in and he has ropes of drool hanging off his chin at all times and is MISERABLE and doesn’t sleep and I am telling you, teeth are proof that Intelligent Design is bullshit.)

So it seems as though I have not said anything about the good things lately. Which is too bad, as they are plentiful. Last night I was tickling him and I got distracted and stopped for a moment. He took my hand and very deliberately placed it back on his bum, which happened to be where I was tickling, and made it absolutely clear that I was to carry on immediately. He has been so full of laughter lately that I am kind of bemused by his belief that he needs to be tickled. The other night, after one of his epic meltdowns, he fell asleep laughing. After he was asleep he kept laughing, waking himself partially each time. He’d grin and go right back to sleep. Yesterday afternoon he spent a good ten minutes just standing at the back of a chair, looking at nothing I could see; peals of laughter came from him and I think he’d have fallen over if he didn’t have the chair to hang onto.

I love Will more than ever. I know that is super-cheeseball of me but I swear our marriage is the best it’s ever been. If we had the money to go on a date once in a while we might O.D. on the sugar. We had some really rough times earlier this year, and some of the issues are ongoing but we have proven to ourselves and to each other that this family is important and is worth working for. And we are working, and loving, and it is good.

So today I am thankful for my family. Especially whichever of them picked up all the Legos that got thrown across the room yesterday.

Today I baked five pies (four of them are individual sized, so it is not that crazy), made cornbread for the dressing, prepared the sweet potatoes and honey-whiskey sauce, and made a huge batch of Chex Mix to surprise Will. I also grated a lot of cheese — or I should say, threw it in the food processor. HOW DID I LIVE WITHOUT MY CUISINART? If anyone is on the fence about getting married, do it and register for one of those babies. (It may be that my rationale is faulty here but I have been awake since 3:30 this morning.) I believe I did some other prep, but I can’t remember what it was.

I also went to two grocery stores. The day before Thanksgiving. With a feisty toddler who had very little interest in staying where I could see him. Though I have to say, he was really cooperative about coming back when I called him. It went pretty well until I tried to load him up in the car to go home. He shrieked at the top of his lungs for about half an hour. All the way home, and then in the garage as he refused to come inside, and then in the elevator which BY THE WAY has a remarkable echo, and then in the hallway as I tried to carry four bags of groceries plus him flopped on my shoulder. Good times! But really, unless you count everything else that’s all that went wrong today.

I decided early in the day that there is no fucking way I’d be cooking dinner, so I ordered pizza. It is in the oven, keeping warm while we wait for Will to get home.

Sam is fine. I am fine. Even the sink is fine! And tomorrow’s meal is going to KICK ASS.

Believe it or not, this has been pretty low stress for a holiday prep day for me.

It is the day before Thanksgiving. I am working on various food preparations. Sam is screaming at me every time I sit down, which is extremely inconvenient because a) most of my recipes are on the computer, b) I am lazy, and c) I have a horrible twitch in my left eye that is exacerbated by his screaming to the point that I cannot see.

Also, the kitchen sink is backed up because our piece of shit garbage disposal couldn’t handle a couple of sweet potato peels. So I am going to have to deal with incompetence from maintenance, IF management bothers to send anyone up (they still have not bothered to take care of anything else for us, so I don’t really know why they would now).

So, how long do you think it will be before I

• Take Kung Fu Panda from its hiding place in the cupboard?

OR

• Lose my fucking mind?

Will: I’m glad I met you.
Me, fishing: Why?
Will: You’re the only person I’ve loved for… how long have we been together?
Me: Ten years.
Will: You’re the only person I’ve loved for ten years–
Me: …and ten months.
Will: You’re the only person I’ve loved for ten years and ten months–
Me: And ten days.
Will: Really?
Me: I don’t know, I’m just making shit up. What day is it?
Will: The 25th.
Me: Oh, wow! Um, then yes. Tomorrow. Ten years, ten months, and ten days tomorrow.

Folks, I do not understand my kid. Take just now, for instance. He had a touch of The Crazy and was flinging Playmobil pieces far and wide despite my attempts to stop him (some of them much nicer and less shout-y than others). He may or may not have laughed at me while he did it. I may or may not have threatened to reverse my position on spanking. And then I started putting the toys back into their bin and suddenly Sam was running around collecting pieces and putting them away. And he continued until they were all put away. And then he asked for food. I would check to see if he’s averse to iron but I kind of want to keep him.

I have all but decided to use this recipe for the sweet potatoes on Thursday (I am basically just waiting for Will to approve or veto). Of course, I will be substituting yellow-fleshed yams for orange, mesquite honey for clover, and Irish whiskey for Scotch. But it will be DELICIOUS. As will the fennel, which I am going to make using this recipe that Nina mentioned.

I think the best part about Thanksgiving is using a bunch of recipes that probably shouldn’t go well together but somehow always do. I am also making baked macaroni and cheese from a Martha Stewart recipe that isn’t online, roasted garlic mashed potatoes, cranberry-orange sauce, cornbread dressing with onion and sage, and of course turkey (just a half-breast since it is only for Will) and gravy. There will be rolls but I am just heating those up.

Also there will be pumpkin pie and apple-cherry galettes. I was going to make pecan pie too but I think I’ll wait till Christmas.