ChgoRed, Girl Editor

Year-End Meme: Reflections on 2007

1. List five happy memories of 2007.  (In no particular order.  And I have more than five [thank God!].)

• Finding/meeting our other sister.
• Washington, baby!
• Our first New Year’s party, which was so much fun.
• Going to North Carolina for my dad’s birthday.
• BROOOOOOOOCE!
• That happy phone call from my mom.
• Finally getting to my great-grandpa’s church.
• Going to the Dragon Boat races with Barb.  Sitting on the grass next to the river and soaking in the sun like it was butter.  (Yes, I got super-burned.  But the memory is still good.)

2. Describe four things you've learned this year.

• If I fuck with my back, it will fuck with me.
• Microsoft Illustrator, which expanded my design capabilities a hundredfold..
• That if I am serious about my greeting card business, people will take me seriously. 
• Washington = sticky, even in good weather.  How do you people stand that?  Blech.

3. Which three relationships in your life have changed the most this year?
No names.  R., L., and J.D.

4. Name two new places you went this year.

• Washington, D.C., and attendant memorials and buildings.
• Inside Soldier Field.

5. What one thing you've done this year are you most proud of?
At the start of the year I set a list of goals for Bellhop Greetings, even though I wasn’t sure I could meet all them.  I just knew where I wanted to be at the end of the year and I worked backward from there.  I’ve met almost every goal, from buying a new computer to outsourcing my printing needs.  It’s been a great example to me that if I set out the plan and follow it, I can surprise myself, and cool things will happen.  Twice this year, people have asked me if I'm an artist, which...well, kind of, yes.  How crazy is that?

...And a Dash of Passive-Aggressive...

So, as you may know, we have another New Year’s Eve party coming up (yay for that!).  We haven’t settled on the food yet, so I’ve been digging up recipes from various sources—books, sisters, Web sites, etc. 

The good thing about the Web sites is that they allow people to post their own reviews.  You can get a lot of different takes on the same dish.

The really good thing is when you come across something like this.  Remember: She’s supposed to be reviewing a cheeseball recipe.

I must preface this review by saying that my mother-in-law always asks me to bring a lettuce salad to family dinners because I assume that she thinks it's the only thing I can make,which by the way, is simply not true. So after trying this recipe at a bridal shower, I called her up and told her that this is what I was bringing to Christmas. She reluctantly agreed. When we arrived for Christmas dinner I saw that my mother-in-law had made a cheeseball her self and had it sitting out on the table. UUUGGGHHH! I refused to give up, so I sat my cheeseball right down next to her's. By the end of the night everyone was raving about MY cheeseball and had scraped the plate clean. Her cheeseball, however, only had a couple of bites taken out of it. She ended up wrapping her's up and putting it back in the fridge!! HA HA!! Victory is mine!!! Thank you so much for this wonderful recipe and the small gratification I got from making it. I added a little garlic powder and onion powder and I usually use about 4 green onions. This is the best cheeseball ever!!!

The cheeseball of passive-aggressive subtext.

Ironically Enough

As mentioned, I have a card business.

Thus, we have many many Christmas cards at home. Multiple designs. Bundled up in their little boxes, ready to use.

This was not good enough. Every Christmas needs a project, and this year we have two*:

1) Making all our ornaments out of paper.

2) Designing/printing/assembling a "special" Christmas card for our family and friends.

The special card is cute and charming, and we created it together, which is really nice. BUT. Said special card requires enough assembly and fiddling around that it probably won't get to anyone before Dec. 26.

This year—the year when I have literally dozens of cards at hand—will be the first year I don't get my Christmas cards out on time.

*Really, someone should have called the authorities.

Ornamented

Although my husband would describe me as "Christmas crazy," I think it's more complicated than that. I think I'm Christmas bipolar.

On the one hand, I spend part of my time feeling wearied by the holiday.  Really, this is so understandable.  I've been in a Christmas mindset since about September, mainly due to my card business and the need to design Christmas cards, plan for Christmas card buyers, work on custom designs, create our own Christmas card, etc. Plus, there's the Christmas to-do list I've been working from since in early November. Guilt over delaying the big cookiefest this year. Christmas project fatigue. And all the stuff still to do (which really, isn't all that much).

At moments, I feel like I've been living in Christmasland for months, and now I'd just like to go home.

And yet... 12 hours later I am simultaneously burning a Christmas CD, thinking about our plans for Christmas dinner, AND searching Ebay for vintage Christmasy ceramics to match the Santa dish I bought a few years ago.  Because apparently I'm treating Christmas like a big dinner.  And just when I think I've had all I can handle, somehow I find room for pie.

Or two more roly-poly Santas, tempting me on Ebay.  (I didn't win them after all.  Oh well.)