Hello.... Is it me you're looking for?

I suppose it's been a while since I posted last.  Thanksgiving was a bit of a bear, as was my birthday, and the oh so lovely bout of "the plague" that my parents blessed me with.

So, I guess I should start with my birthday, as it was farther back.  Drove down to Springfield area to see friends and Avenue Q!  It was awesome.  I got to spend time with friends, experience new things (Diwali festival was awesome), and got a few very meaningful and/or useful gifts.  My favorite is one that I actually received today.  My wonderful, artistic, 5-year-old niece drew a picture of herself, and her sister and me, and MY sister framed it for me.  It's wonderful, and pure and childlike, and it makes me happy every time I look at it.

Thanksgiving was fun and exciting, and I got to make dinner for my grandmother.  I love that I got to do this.  Grandma doesn't get around as well as she used to (bit of an understatement), and cooking dinner would have worn her out.  So, I got the chance to spend time with her and help her out with dinner.  It wasn't anything particularly fancy, but it was cooked with love.  On Wednesday, I'll be going back to help her decorate for Christmas (apparently there are a ton of Santas needing to be displayed).

Speaking of Christmas:
I read something on facebook about giving gifts that align with the 5 hands: hand-made, hand-me-down, second hand, helping hand (donation), and hand-in-hand.  Apparently, this is from The Story of Stuff, which is an amazing website and community, and I highly recommend checking it out.  I'm trying to move toward more thoughtful, smaller gifts: things that I can make (and I can make a lot of things), but with two adorable nieces, it's been hard for me to resist buying them the nice things.  This year, there will be some "hand-made" candles (I had bought three huge candles last year or the year before, and when I moved, they melted in my car, so I'm melting them down, and pouring them into smaller containers and decorating the lids), some sewing projects, and probably some Heifer donations. But, mixed in, there's still the book store shopping, and online browsing, and, of course, the dreaded Wal-Mart runs.

Maybe next year I'll get better at gifting.  But for now: enjoy some pictures of Gingerbread Houses!

Mom always makes the dough for the houses from scratch.  25 years of gingerbread!

Molly's house.  Each kid had an adult helper, and I helped Molly.  The fruit roll up is a carpet, and one of the gingerbread girls is named Lady Gaga.  Last time I ever make a bad joke in front of a 5 year old!

Charlotte's house.  Amy was the helper here.  I think maybe she had a little more focus than Molly and I did.

Jake's house.  Last year, my brother's girlfriend, Lauren, made Jake a gingerbread space ship.  I suspect it will become a requirement from now on.

Mom's house.  She almost never decorates a house, and this year, she got to decorate a light house and a light house keeper's house.  (Another Lauren donation to the cause)

This is my house.  Kinda lacking in Christmas spirit, but I have an ecologically responsibly harvested shake roof, natural sandstone chimney, a rainwater collection system and organic garden, and a tilapia pond.  Off the gingerbread grid, baby!

William's house.  Since William lives in Maine, and the house didn't entirely survive the shipping process, we decided that Sandy did the damage.  At least they have a rock wall to help ease their pain.