27 December 2009

peppermint shards and a sea of swirly twirly gumdrops


ice cream + pieces of peppermint. a very happy post-holiday treat. dan surprised me with this tasty concoction tonight. start with a frosty bowl straight from the freezer. scoop your favorite flavor of fine chocolate ice cream into it. then speckle it with peppermints, broken into bits. magic shell may or may not be necessary. mmm. mm.

right now we are enjoying ice cream with the accompanying silence of a finally-tidied-up home, our bouncing boy sleeping soundly, new toys with beeps, sirens and animal sounds quieted and the television with all of its movie marathons clicked off. christmas was entirely wonderful, however poorly documented. i will refrain from posting the one photo of me and my matted crazy hair leaning over a grinning benji with his mega-legos. surprisingly, he was more delighted than i'd thought he would be on christmas morning. i imagined a 16 month-old to toss new toys aside for more exciting enticements like ribbon. or tupperware. however, he was giddy - playing with each new toy as it was unveiled. our best idea yet was saving the last few presents for another day, as he was already over the moon about his shiny new collection. we drank our orange juice, dug into stockings, went on a winter walk, played games, made pot roast and watched the christmas story together. we were all happy and healthy in our holiday-ing. pretty picturesque.

i must admit that this contented state has taken a bit of practice. after so many years of getting (unrealistic) hopes up for christmas, complete with decadent imagery of what the day could behold and dealing with following disappointments, i've finally learned to simply take it as it comes. any event built up entirely in the imagination is bound to let you down. (somewhere in my childhood dreams is a gourmet sugarplum path, candy-coated christmas trees lighting up a make-believe forest with a licorice roped fence leading to the giant gingerbread castle dripping with crystallized sugar icicles.) therefore i made a goal years ago to let the special day be human. if that makes sense. i used to make the mistake of overemphasizing my hopes for the day, dreaming up a conglomerate scheme of all the christmasness i'd ever experienced. i realize i have come to appreciate a more classic christmas; a few new gifts, pancake batter spills, a heap of dishes, nap times, happy faces, rolling trucks on linoleum, wrapping paper chaos and a bowl of ice cream to top off the celebrations. it may not be picture perfect or ideal, but in the end it is perfect because it's real. maybe this means i'm growing up.

am off to ring in the new year.
will see you again in twenty-ten.

14 comments:

Jenni said...

Awww that sounds wonderful! Merry Christmas! (a little late)

Amber Lee said...

wow. so true about the human Christmas. i think i too am much better at enjoying Christmases now that I've had a little practice. enjoy the new year with your family!

Unknown said...

Amen to that. I spent the day with my best friend and her family. It was chaos. We all ate too much, cried through part 1 of the Doctor Who special. Had a momentary panic when my Best friend's niece thought she was going into labour.

But then it's the little moments, like my friend giving me a beautiful tapestry she made and framed herself, worried what I think as she hadn't got a lot of money. Well if she ever sees this, I love it and the fact she made it makes it that much more special. It wasn't a fairytale type Christmas, we got a bit loud in places. But I was with family and that was the important bit to me.

Sugar Plum Eats said...

Your post rung so true to me. Iam forvever hype'ing up all events with the inevitable dissapointment that follows. I need to learn to take it as it come. And just because it isnt how it used to be or ought to be in my head doesnt mean its not perfect. Heres to Hogmanay.

oneordinaryday said...

What a nice treat to enjoy once the hustle and bustle are over and the house quiets down.

Laura said...

That's a really good way to put it -- a human Christmas. Especially when you have a small child in the house, it's easy to put pressure on yourself to try to make it perfect. But we are not perfect people and gravity can make lasagna sauce spill on the floor even on Christmas and an overstimulated 5-year-old might need a time out even on Christmas. . . Thanks for your post and Happy New Year. :)

Laura said...

Oh, and I'm so with you on the chocolate + peppermint!! Just had a hot fudge sundae on Saturday made with peppermint ice cream. Yummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Christine said...

"let the special day be human"... well-said. i build up occasions and events too, trying to make them perfect and magical and picture-worthy... but it's much nicer and healthier to just let them BE. with all of the imperfections. so glad you had a nice holiday and thank you for the reminder to be HUMAN!

Jessica said...

Peppermint pieces on the ice cream is genius!

Misti said...

Somewhere in the contented state is where the best memories are made. It isn't the over the top events that are savored.

Karen said...

A great goal. One I need to adopt. You would think that after 16 married Christmases, I'd have learned by now. But no. Every year is slightly disappointing. Just slightly, but still. Excellent post.

leni said...

looks so yummy.

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Jaeveberry said...

YUM!

katrina lauren said...

i know exactly what you mean...i do the same thing and my imagination always takes me far & beyond realistic expectations...and sadly this happens not just at christmas. i especially like how you said 'let the special day be human' and will take this piece of advice with me on the new chapter of my life! it sounds like you shared the most beautiful christmas with your boys...and i'm am so happy for you!
cheers to 2010!
warm wishes sweet marta!
k

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