Friday, December 13, 2013

Gifts and Holiday-Set Books

The last of my ice should be gone today (after a week!) because it was above freezing all night and it's been raining this morning. Actually, I thought it was raining hard when I opened my front door to get my newspaper, but then it didn't seem to be raining on my patio. The "rain" was run-off from the roof, which slants to the front, while the patio is on the side. And now they're forecasting another round for next weekend …

I was so worried about having gifts for my teen helpers in choir that it didn't occur to me until last night that this was the first year I've been doing this that I didn't get anything from any of the parents or kids. Usually I get at least one hand-drawn "card" done by a kid and maybe a bag of goodies or a Christmas ornament from a parent, presented by the child. None of the parents even spoke to me this week, aside from the one who helps me. While Problem Child was a problem, he did ask to hold my hand when we walked back from the sanctuary to our classroom after practicing, which was a nice "Awwww, maybe I won't kill him" moment. Then I made another kid cry. We were killing time by letting them sing their favorite Christmas songs (we said if they worked on the song we're doing in church, they could do this). He requested "Jingle Bell Rock," and I went totally blank on it. I said I didn't know it well enough to sing it, and next thing I knew, he was crying in a corner because we didn't do his song. A few hugs, a demonstration that I really didn't know it (I was getting it merged with "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree," which must be banned immediately), and letting him pick a different song, and he was fine. But if someone had given me goodies, I might have inhaled them all immediately after that session. The church is sending me to a workshop for choir leaders next month, so we'll see if I can pick up any tips. There are classes for preschool and early elementary, and they said that as a choir member, I can also go to any adult choir sessions that look interesting and that aren't opposite children's things.

Today's exciting plans: I have to get to the post office to mail something (hopefully the automated machine will be working and I won't be in line behind someone who can't figure out how to work it), then over to the Indian market for tea. I have a batch of cookies to bake. Then tonight I have a TV dilemma. There are two hours of Grimm, the last hour of which is opposite the season finale of Haven. Since they repeat Haven at 11, I think I'll watch Grimm, then catch the late Haven repeat. I may record Haven, but I'd rather watch it in HD, so it's worth waiting. Alexis Denisof from Angel (still probably the most gorgeous man I've ever seen in my life -- he really doesn't photograph well, which tells you how gorgeous he really is) is joining Grimm in one of the episodes tonight, after a one-line voice cameo last week, and it sounds like he's being British again, which is quite a relief because he's the odd American actor who doesn't act as well with an American accent. I'm a little worried about Haven because apparently there's going to be a huge cliffhanger and the show hasn't been renewed yet. If you've got a Nielsen box, turn your TV to SyFy tonight. Or Tweet about it, or something.

I've also had my annual struggle to find seasonal reading. I don't really want Christmas-themed books, just some fun books that happen to be set around the Christmas season. I thought I'd found one when the latest in my library by an author I like mentioned on the flap that it was about an Englishwoman who spent Thanksgiving in New York with a friend, and then a few weeks later someone she met in New York comes to England. To me "a few weeks later" after Thanksgiving means Christmas, so I assumed that meant the guy would be in her picturesque Cotswolds village for the holiday itself. Unfortunately, the book ended up skipping past Christmas itself, with the visit coming in early January. So, not a Christmassy book at all.

But hey, I'm writing my own story this year. Now off to get things ready for the post office.

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