Jillyboop

photos by Jenny
jillyboop on flickr.com

Jillyboop all the way home. Please join me for an evening of jillybooping. A jillyboop time was had by all. Won't you be my jillyboop? It's a jillyboop world in the winter, through the ives of the evergreen tree. It's one part jillyboop to three parts tequila.

Jillyboop is the name of Jen's site on flickr.com. Jen is one of my BFFs from the way back when. Jen is one of a kind. She's searching for her lost shaker of salt, if you know what I mean. And she's a great photographer. I want to steal her awesome camera.

Jilly is her chocolate lab. She's a peach. Jen's hubby travels a lot for his job, so Jen and Jilly are inseperable buddies.

Click here to check out more of more of Jen's photos on flickr.com.

Merry Christmas Everyone

Joyous Motherhood by Cecil Youngfox

Last week at church, our minister defined The Christmas Spirit as this:

Anticipation and Expectation

of a miracle

right

now

He crystallized what I had been trying to put into words inside my head all this Christmas season. I have had some dark days in the past few months -- days where I feared that adoption would be as elusive to me as pregnancy. And I am learning (more and more every day) that this journey to the land of International Adoption is a lot tougher than I ever imagined.

I think of Mary and Joseph, and how they must have wondered to themselves, "Can this really be true? Can I really believe that this will happen?" And also, "Will I love this baby like my own? What will he look like (if not like us)?" After all, Jesus was raised by a man and woman who were not exactly his biological parents. So many people waited for him, and in less-than-perfect conditions, he was born to us all.

This Christmas, you all know what I want. I wear it on my sleeve, especially here on this blog. I know there will be no baby this Christmas, but I also know this: I am an EXPECTANT mother and I am ANTICIPATING my miracle.

And if you are waiting too, for whatever it is that your heart desires, let's dream together and anticipate together and expect it to happen. Let's get ready. Let's believe.

Christmas Question, Part One (Revisited)

I couldn't resist. Here are more of my favorite Christmas movie quotes.


FROM IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE ...

Young George: Make up your mind yet?
Young Mary: I'll take chocolate.
Young George: With coconuts?
Young Mary: I don't like coconuts.
Young George: Don't like coconuts? Say brainless, don't you know where coconuts come from? [pulls out a National Geographic magazine] Look-it here, from Tahiti, the Fiji Islands, Coral Sea.
Young Mary: A new magazine! I never saw it.
Young George: 'Course you never. This is just for explorers. It just so happens I've been nominated for membership in the National Geographic Society. I'm going out exploring some day, just you watch. And I might even have a harem, and maybe even one or two wives.

FROM A CHRISTMAS STORY ...

Sons of bitches! Bumpuses!

You used up all the glue... on purpose!

NOTTAFINGA!

Daddy's gonna kill Ralphie!

Oh, life is like that. Sometimes, at the height of our revelries, when our joy is at its zenith, when all is most right with the world, the most unthinkable disasters descend upon us.

In the heat of battle, my father wove a tapestry of obscenities that as far as we know is still hanging in space over Lake Michigan.


FROM SCROOGED ...

How did that happen? That happened because it's Christmas Eve. I'm not crazy. It's Christmas Eve. It's the one night when we all act a little nicer. We...we smile a little easier. We...we...share a little more. For a couple of hours we are the people we always hoped we would be. It's really a miracle because it happens every Christmas Eve. And if you waste that miracle, you're gonna burn for it. I know. You have to do something. You have to take a chance and get involved. There are people that don't have enough to eat and who are cold. You can go and greet these people. Take an old blanket out to them or make a sandwich and say, "Here." "l get it now." And if you give, then it can happen, the miracle can happen to you. Not just the poor and hungry, Everybody's gotta have this miracle! It can happen tonight for you all! If you believe in this pure thing, the miracle will happen and you'll want it again tomorrow! You won't say, "Christmas is once a year and it's a fraud." It's not! It can happen every day! You've just got to want that feeling! You'll want it every day! It can happen to you! I believe in it now. I believe it's gonna happen to me, now. I'm ready for it! And it's great. It's a good feeling. It's better than I've felt in a long time. I'm ready. Have a Merry Christmas. Everybody.


FROM CHRISTMAS VACATION ...

The most enduring traditions of the season are best enjoyed in the warm embrace of kith and kin. Thith tree is a thymbol of the thspirit of the Griswold family Chrithmath.

Where do you think you're going? Nobody's leaving. Nobody's walking out on this fun, old-fashioned family Christmas. No, no. We're all in this together. This is a full-blown, four-alarm holiday emergency here. We're gonna press on, and we're gonna have the hap, hap, happiest Christmas since Bing Crosby tap-danced with Danny fucking Kaye. And when Santa squeezes his fat white ass down that chimney tonight, he's gonna find the jolliest bunch of assholes this side of the nuthouse.


FROM HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS ...

Then he got an idea. An awful idea. The Grinch had a wonderful, awful idea.

You nauseate me, Mr. Grinch. With a nauseaus super-naus. You're a crooked jerky jockey and you drive a crooked hoss, Mr. Grinch. You're a three decker saurkraut and toadstool sandwich with arsenic sauce.

It came without ribbons! It came without tags! It came without packages boxes, or bags!
And he puzzled and puzzled, till his puzzler was sore.Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before! Maybe Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store. Maybe Christmas… perhaps… means a little bit more.

Zanna Doo!

Fiona and her cub by Marisa

If you haven't been introduced to the newest member of the Bolen family, head on over to Aliblog and take a peek. Suzanna (but they call her Zanna) is the cutest thing I've ever seen! Congratulations!!!

Dear Baby: What I Love About Daddy

This is the second post in a series of "Dear Baby" letters.

One of the things I love most about Daddy is his pure joy and excitement about Christmas. He loves Christmas more than anyone I know! Just look at him in that picture up there -- he's like the anti-Grinch. Speaking of the Grinch, Daddy knows every word to every song from "How the Grinch Stole Christmas," even the foo-foo and tiddle-dum-tinkler words. (Between you and me, I'm pretty sure he is fluent in Whoish.)

You may not want to hear about this, but our first kiss was on the night of a Christmas party. I remember it like it was yesterday! We walked home from the party, and heavy snowflakes fell from a midnight blue sky. The street was so quiet and beautiful. It felt just like we were inside a snow globe. We stayed up late watching Christmas movies. I remember Rudolph saying, "She thinks I'm cute!" and wondering if Daddy "liked" me. And then he kissed me. And my heart glowed just like Rudolph's nose.

I'm sure you know, as my child, that I am quite the worrier. There have been few times in my life when I felt as if everything was right with the world, but each instance that comes to mind includes Daddy at its center.

One such time was when he asked me to marry him. We were visiting our college hang-out, Tony's. I love Tony's as if it were a living, breathing friend. And that night, the place was in high form with Frank Sinatra singing "Fly Me to the Moon" and Tony himself, flirting with a young neo-hippie college girl. Brad was behind the bar pouring the drinks, and my pilsner glass of Killian's was cold and sweet. I literally thought to myself, "Everything at this moment is PERFECT." That's when your dad took a tiny little box out of his pocket, slid it across the table and said, "So, what do you say, Solinger?" Now, that may not sound Prince-charming romantic to you, but it is 110% Stan-romantic and I couldn't have dreamed a more perfect engagement.

What else do I love about Daddy? He writes songs about our cat, Esther, and goes around the house singing them. Most of them include swear words or poop words, so I'm sure they will meet your comedic standards as you grow up listening to them.

And he can play the piano like nobody's business! I remember the first time I saw him play. I had no idea that he had this talent, even though we had been good friends for about three years. We were at a holiday party in suburban New Jersey with Lumpy and Scottie and the mail man and a bunch of other people, most of whom I did not know. I think there was a lady named Nancy. And someone ripped Keith's shirt open! There was a piano and Daddy just sat down and played. The room erupted.

Most of all, I love Daddy because he sees me as I am. It is easy sometimes to lose track of yourself -- to see yourself through others' eyes and in the roles you have been assigned. Daddy loves the ME of me. He is my home and my fuel. Someday, little one, when you grow up and feel as if everything is too big or too small to fit your mind and like you no longer know what to hope for, all you have to do is seek out your Daddy. He loves the YOU of you even now, so many moons before ever seeing your face or knowing your name.

Christmas Question -- Part Two

The Baptism of Jesus ~ He Qi

I love Christmas songs just like I love Christmas movies. What is your favorite song? Again, I love them ALL, and it's impossible for me to choose. I'm posting two of my current favorites below.

It Came Upon the Midnight Clear ~ Everyone knows this one, but READ these lyrics. It is a great song.

It came upon the midnight clear,
That glorious song of old,
From angels bending near the earth,
To touch their harps of gold:
"Peace on the earth, goodwill to men
From heavens all gracious King!"
The world in solemn stillness lay
To hear the angels sing.

Still through the cloven skies they come,
With peaceful wings unfurled;
And still their heavenly music floats
O'er all the weary world:
Above its sad and lowly plains
They bend on hovering wing,
And ever o'er its Babel sounds
The blessed angels sing.

O ye beneath life's crushing load,
Whose forms are bending low,
Who toil along the climbing way
With painful steps and slow;
Look now, for glad and golden hours
Come swiftly on the wing;
Oh rest beside the weary road
And hear the angels sing.

For lo! the days are hastening on,
By prophets seen of old,
When with the ever-circling years
Shall come the time foretold,
When the new heaven and earth shall own
The Prince of Peace, their King,
And the whole world send back the song
Which now the angels sing.


Some Children See Him ~ This song is on James Taylor's christmas album. I LOVE it, especially now that I am imagining my own baby and how he or she will look different than me.

Some children see Him lily white,
the baby Jesus born this night.
Some children see Him lily white,
with tresses soft and fair.

Some children see Him bronzed and brown,
The Lord of heav'n to earth come down.
Some children see Him bronzed and brown,
with dark and heavy hair.

Some children see Him almond-eyed,
this Savior whom we kneel beside.
Some children see Him almond-eyed,
with skin of yellow hue.

Some children see Him dark as they,
sweet Mary's Son to whom we pray.
Some children see him dark as they,
and, ah! they love Him, too!

The children in each different place
will see the baby Jesus' face like theirs,
but bright with heavenly grace,
and filled with holy light.

O lay aside each earthly thing
and with thy heart as offering,
come worship now the infant King.
'Tis love that's born tonight!