The aroma of Christmas

My Christmas has indeed started when I found 50% off Christmas tree at Zeller's in October. I could not wait putting this tree up so long despite of the someone's opposition.

We occasionally went shopping for Christmas tree decorations. He often took me out to calm me down whenever we had a fight. So, now you know our each decoration has some kind of special memory behind it.


My nicest husband also took me out to see some Christmas lights and we also attended some Christmas special musical numbers. I was so amazed with some musical talents those people around us had.

We sang at the Messiah with Brandon, Connie and Megan. This was the highlight of my Christmas this year because of the nicest husband who acted like a lamb about to be slaughtered for sacrifice.

One night, my visiting companion and I visited some inactive members with some Christmas carols and cookies. I cannot forget the bright smiles suddenly shone out from their tired and lonely faces. They took in two total strangers oddly singing off note out side of the doors and treated like old friends. The coldest night of the year could not beat our 4-hour caroling and visits at that night because our hearts were so warm.

I did not enjoy Christmas shopping part at all. That rather destroyed the Christmas spirit. I always thought about going to the mall and looking for stores over a month. Funny enough, I spent a lot longer time to think, find, and buy someone's gifts than the one for my husband.
I wish if I could only spend time for Christ and my loving people to show love and appreciation more than materialistic display.


http://www.youtube.com/user/MormonMessages

"The spirit of Christmas illuminates the picture window of a soul. To catch the real meaning of the Christmas we only need to drop the last syllable and becomes the spirit of CHRIST."

クリスマスのクッキーお化け屋敷

僕も愛もブログの更新を怠けてるみたいだから、これから少なくとも、週１回記事を張り出すようにしようかなと考えてる。

でも、今のクリスマスの季節が最高潮に向かって素早く飛んでくにつれ、まるで時間が後ろ前に流れてるように見えてる事もある。

道理で、「３週間以内に最もクリスマス活動に参加した」世界新記録を樹立しそうになってる。そんな気がする。しかし、その報いは疲れ以外のがないのはとても残念。

今週の参加したクリスマス活動のなかで最も記憶に残ってるのは、ワードの夫婦の家でのジンジャーブレッド・ハウス作りのパーティーだったと思う。読んで解ると思うんだけど、前提は参加するカップルの皆が好きなジンジャーブレッド・ハウス作りキットに、他のカップルと分かち合えるキャンディーを持って行き、ジンジャーブレッド・ハウス作りで競争するとの事だった。

愛が選んでくれたキットはディズニーのもので、クマのプーさんの顔が付いてるクッキーが、ジンジャーブレッド・マンのかわりに２個入ってた。あ、白いアイシングの上に、紫色のアイシングも入ってた。

（ところで、紫色のアイシングが嫌いになっちゃった。もう２度と関わりたくないものになっちゃった。）

ハウスの建築を極普通に始めた。壁と屋根を、僕の想像的な（不実用的な）提案に関わらず、本式な形に立ち上げる事にされた。最初の時点では、クッキーの住まいが上手に立ち上げられそうだった。壁も屋根も巧みに立てられた。

これが愛の初めてのジンジャーブレッド・ハウスだったため、他にハウスを作ってる夫婦達に絶対に勝ってやるつもりだった。稀な紫色のアイシングもあるから、朝飯前だと思った。

キットの箱の図を参考にして、屋根を紫に塗り、それに白い縁を作って、独自で趣のあるキャンディーの模様を張ろうと計画してた。このハウスはなんて渋いものになるだろう！


．．．と思ったら、災難に遭った。苦労して立てた壁の１つが倒れちゃった。慌てて壁を直そうとしたら、セメントとして塗ったアイシングがバンドエイドを使って自転車を直そうとするぐらい効果的だと分かっちゃった。

結局、それぞれの壁と屋根が基礎を失って、ハウスが何回も崩れちゃった。紫のアイシングで濃く塗った屋根が軽いキャンディーを支えられないぐらいドロドロになり、パーティーが終わる頃にキャンディーと紫と白のヘドロの塊になってた。

こんな有様になってたら、キットの後ろに書いてあった作り方のポイントのひとつが目を引いた。「アイシングのセメントを塗ってから１５分間を待ち乾燥させてください」という忠告だった。

ぱりっとしたハウスの夢がぶっ壊れたけど、常に朗らかな愛ちゃんが「お化けジンジャーブレッド・ハウス」と名づけて、ハウスの飾りを好きにしてもよくしてくれた。

僕達が作ったハウスが美術大失敗か過失快作かよく分からないけど、どっちにしても、愛の初ジンジャーブレッド・ハウスは一番思い出になるひとつに違いない。

Cookie Monstrosity

Mana and I have apparently both been slacking on keeping this thing up to date, so I've decided to try and get at least one post done per week.

In our defense, though, with the Christmas season hurling faster and faster towards its inevitable festive climax, time around us has begun traveling so quickly that it sometimes appears as if it's going backwards!

Indeed, I feel like I must be on the verge of setting some kind of new world record of 'most Christmas activities attended in 3 weeks.' It's really a shame that there doesn't seem to be any real reward for this feat other than exhaustion.

Among the social holiday activities this week, perhaps the most memorable was a gingerbread house decorating get-together that a couple in our ward held on Monday night. The premise is exactly as it sounds, and each couple in attendance was asked to bring a gingerbread house kit of their choosing, as well as some candy to share with everyone else.

Mana chose a Disney-themed kit, that really had little to do with Disney, other than a couple of circular Winnie the Pooh cookies instead of gingerbread men. Oh, it also came with a bag purple icing in addition to the standard white.

I hate purple icing, and I will never have anything more to do with it.

Construction began on our house as a standard project. The four walls and roof would be assembled in a highly orthodox fashion, despite my suggestion of trying something more creative (read 'less utilitarian'). At first, production of the domicile appeared to be going expertly, with walls and roofs being cemented in place with expert skill and speed.

This would be Mana's first gingerbread house ever, and we were eager to outclass all the other gingerbread houses being put up around the living room. Easy as pie, we confidently believed, and immediate plans were laid to put our oh-so-rare purple icing into play.

Using the back of the box as a reference point, we determined that the entire roof would be covered in purple, with classy white borders touching up the look. Candy would then be placed in creative yet tasteful patterns, giving the house a commanding sense of style.

Initially, this plan appeared to go smoothly, until disaster struck. One of our carefully erected walls collapsed in. Panic-stricken, we attempted to restore the wall, only to learn that the icing we had used as cement was about as effective as trying to repair a broken bicycle with band-aids.

Inevitably, each wall and both halves of the roof lost their foundations, and cave-ins were frequent. The heavily coated purple roof was so slimy that it could not support the weight of even light candies, and at the end of the night, our house was a sloppy mess of purple and white goo dripping off of everything, and patterned candies sliding in whichever way gravity saw fit to pull them.

It was around this time that we noticed a set of instructions on the back of the box that we had neglected to read: let icing cement dry for at least 15 minutes before decorating, it warned.

Realizing our efforts at a classy gingerbread house were defeated, Mana, ever-cheerful, dubbed it a 'haunted' gingerbread house, giving us freedom to use its slimy, collapsing frame in whatever horrifying way we saw fit.

I'm not sure if our house was a creative disaster or accidental masterpiece, but either way, Mana's first gingerbread house will undoubtedly be one of our most memorable.

Brandon out.