We had a wonderful day yesterday--at least I did! We went nowhere and had no obligations to fulfill. It was balm to my soul to spend a day at home doing whatever we wanted. We played a rummy tournament (Albin won this time), read some more Loamhedge, and had a leftovers lunch. The children finished their work pretty quickly and had computer time. I blocked the orange shawl I finished last week and started two more knitting projects. I went to the Sow's Ear three times in two hours, a record for me, I think. I bought some beautiful roving from Peace Fleece for the creche we want to make, and Elise and I started that project right away. And all day long, apart from the reading aloud portion, we listened to Christmas music from our old record/radio cabinet. I hope the next six weeks have many more relaxed, enjoyable days like this one!

Elise was able to spend the night at a friend's house, and Albin and Karl went to a planetarium show after dropping her off. Thus, I had time alone the second day in a row to work on the family's Christmas goodies.

Speaking of Christmas, I've been thinking a lot lately on how to have a frugal, simple Christmas, and not rely on material goods for the joy of the season. I read Bill McKibben's article, Hundred Dollar Holiday, a few years ago. Since then, that has always been the goal for which I strive...and fail. Historically, we don't buy presents for the kids, we go to a show together. (This year it will be Riders in The Sky at the Historic Stoughton Opera House.) Our tickets generally cost around $150-$250. The Christmas tree is usually $40 or more, grocery bills are always up for the extra baking and fancier ingredients (gingerbread houses take a lot of candy in our house!). We are different/lucky in that we don't exchange presents with extended family on either side, using that money to set aside time to get together over the summer. We will buy something for my Grandma, but because she is queen of frugality itself, it will be something useful like a grocery or gas card. I may still send her a basket of fun stuff... Anyway, my point being that I don't see how to cut back to $100 without grinching the fun stuff. I like to pretend we are frugal and careful, but I'm not sure that we are. Our family is so wealthy (from a global perspective), that if we want to hop in our nice car and drive out to the Christmas tree farm and pick out a nice $50 tree to put in our living room, we're going to do it and not think twice. I'm making a family present this year for the first time, and even though all the materials were 50% off (the pattern only a dollar), I still spent almost $60. Maybe that's one of the reasons I enjoyed yesterday so much. Apart from buying the fleece (ahem!), we were just at home, together, enjoying each other's company and the music of the season.