Christmas has begun

Yes, here it is all of December 2nd and the Christmas season is in full swing. I went to Michael's today to buy advent candles and the store was packed with Xmas stuff and Xmas-stuff-hunting people. I thought most people looked a little bewildered, not sure what they really wanted or why. I was not tempted by much of anything, though I did buy a cheap fake "garland" to put around my advent candleholder. It is probably very flammable and I will set the house on fire when we light the first advent candle tonight.

Tonight is of course also the first night of Hanukkah, which we also celebrate even though we are not Jewish. I am always a little conflicted about this -- is it cultural appropriation? I tell myself, no, it's cultural appreciation, it's standing in solidarity with the Jewish people especially after the massacre in Pittsburgh.

But the real reason is that I grew up with lots of Jewish friends, and our next-door neighbors always invited us over for a Hanukkah party, and when we lived in Ridgecrest we always drove to LA for my niece's Hanukkah party, and goshdarnit, I like Hanukkah. My kids have some Jewish friends, but no one in Boulder ever invites us to a Hanukkah party, so we have our own Hanukkah parties. I don't give the kids presents, but we light the candles and play the dreidel game and eat latkes (if Trader Joe's doesn't sell out of them). I tried to go to Trader Joe's today, after Michael's, but cars were circling the parking lot in an ominous way, so I moved on. Maybe tomorrow.

Yesterday we did our first Christmas things. I love all the music that is available this time of year, so in the morning, Kid B and I went to a harp concert at the public library. (He's very fond of harps.) Last year we also went to a harp concert there, but it was CU students and affiliates playing. The concert we attended this year is apparently one they have every year, but I've somehow missed it until now. It was local schoolkids playing harps -- 18 of them! Eighteen girls and 18 harps, all on one stage. The girls ranged in age from I think 4th grade to senior in high school, and they played beautifully. My favorite was "Walking in the Air" from The Snowman. Watching them I was reminded of another thing I like about the season -- people wear such pretty clothes! All 18 girls and the harp teacher were wearing pretty dresses, mostly velvet. Red velvet, green velvet, blue velvet, purple velvet. I really feel that people should wear more velvet. Also, more people should play harps. What a cool instrument.

In the evening we did another Christmassy thing -- we rode the bus downtown and attended the Parade of Lights, or at least part of it. It was very cold and after maybe 2/3 of the floats had gone by, Kid A said he was done. Kid B was hard to convince, since he'd snagged a very good spot and had managed to collect a LOT of candy from the paraders, but we reminded him that we were going to eat at the Cheesecake Factory, so he came along. I had read in the paper that Boulder's Cheesecake Factory would close on December 29th, and we always eat there after the parade, so it was important to keep that part of the tradition for one more year.

But when we reached the restaurant, it was dark and the doors were locked. No signs indicated exactly when it had closed, but obviously it was a long time before December 29th. We were so disappointed! And then we had a problem, because there are not a lot of kid-friendly restaurants on the mall (at least not my-kids-friendly). We decided we would try Pasta Jay's, way over on the other end, and walked back there only to find that the wait was an hour and 15 minutes. Hmm. We ended up at the Kitchen Next Door, which is a perfectly fine restaurant, but huh. We've eaten there a few times, because they do school fundraisers, and I've just concluded it's not my style. There are a few tables with real chairs, but mostly (including this time) we end up sitting on these terribly uncomfortable metal stools. Why? Why can't cool modern restaurants have comfortable chairs? The menu is weird too, just nothing sounds good. A lot of kale. I ended up with a perfectly decent chicken salad sandwich, and Rocket Boy said his veggie tacos were good. Kid A liked his tomato soup and Kid B ate most of his nuggets. So it was fine. But when you're planning to eat a gigantic, dripping with fat, processed Cheesecake Factory dinner (and go home with enough for the next night's dinner as well) and you end up with a healthy little sandwich... well, we were sad. And no gigantic, sickening slices of cheesecake for dessert, but the kids did have all that candy they'd collected, so it was OK. But if we're around next year and go to the parade we'll have to make a new plan. Lots of time to think about that.

The week ahead is full of Christmas: my work holiday party is Tuesday night, I'm taking both kids to a concert Friday night, we might go to Georgetown on Saturday, there's the annual Rocks & Rails show in Longmont on the weekend, and of course all those nights of Hanukkah. It's a busy time of year. But fun!