Santa

I paid Santa a last-minute visit today to get my arrangements settled.

It was a productive visit. I was most curious about how Santa placed the star atop the storeys-tall Christmas tree. According to Santa, Rudolph flew him up there. Then we talked about what kind of snacks I should leave out for him. It turns out we both love chocolate chip cookies. (Who doesn't???) I will offer him some decaf chai and a plateful of the white chocolate cranberry macadamia cookies I baked. Then we got down to the important business of what I hope to get for Christmas. I am hoping and hoping for a wooden train set. wish me luck.

Santa seemed confident that my wishes will come true. He seems reasonably trustworthy.

The only moderate disappointment of the day was that a visit with Santa didn't mean a trip to Swains like last year.

p.s. You might notice two things in my photo. I continue to be in desperate need of a haircut and I took matters into my own hands earlier this week and snipped off some locks.

wolf

Look at my new wolf sweater! This photo was taken last week at a birthday party.

Not only is this the most handsome sweater in the world, but Trinity sent it to me. That makes it even better. When I wear clothes to school that Trinity has sent, I am sure to brag about it to anyone and everyone.

Before the H&M store finally opened in Austin, Trinity sent me a steady supply of cute clothes. This fall, I had a fondness for shirts with elbow patches.

I suppose our Texas "winter" is about to draw to an end so it is time to stock up on summer clothes. And I desperately need a haircut.

tree

At every opportunity, I encourage the arrival of Christmas. When my mom is making a meal and I ask for Christmas dinner, that will magically make it Christmas. If she asks me to clean up to get ready for Christmas, it is Christmas morning when I am done my chores. If I run about the house singing "hooray it is Christmas," that can only mean one thing. I listen to Christmas carols all day every day. And I know all of the lyrics.

With Trinity gone this year, we were left to decorate our tree by ourselves. oh dear. She makes it seem so easy and the tree always looks beautiful. It took us two full days to decorate and the end result isn't perfect. As you can see from the photo, my mom realized early on that, with a bit of training, I can take over Trinity's job. I don't quite have Trinity's aesthetic sensibilities but I did quickly grasp onto the concept of the need for balance. We do like our tree. The best part is that, at long last, we have blue lights on the outside of our house; we have wanted that for years!

I have decided what I want for Christmas. Now all I need to do is make an arrangement with Santa.

skating party

Rarely will we schedule two big activities for one day. Last Saturday was different. Long after we booked our tickets for the train, we were invited to celebrate my dear friend's birthday at Barton Creek Resort. It was slated to be a skating party with a wintery theme but it was in the mid 80s and the rink melted.  We played some golf and thoroughly enjoyed the sunny day. My friends and I could happily spend days running about. 

The resort is perfectly lovely. My mom should hate it because of its devastating environmental impact (see The Unforeseen) but, wow, what a beautiful job they did with the resort. And my favorite bridge is on the road leading to it. 

After a round of golf (I beat my dad, again) and chasing around with my friends, I ate an amount of fondant that would make the average person vomit. It may have been the most delicious cake ever baked.

Even though I was overtired and a bit cranky (only when my parents tried to bring me inside but that is typical), this was the best birthday party ever hosted. What a joy it is to be friends with Ava. (She might be the female equivalent of me.)

train

Last weekend, we rode the North Pole Flyer.

We got off to a rough start, to say the least. Because my mom booked our tickets later in the year, we ended up in the excursion coach car instead of the first class lounge. Not only were we not served an endless supply of cupcakes and other sweets, but we had to go to the concession car to fetch our own hot chocolate. Oh the horror! As it turned out, none of us were especially interested in drinking much hot chocolate that day - mostly because it had the distinct flavor of hill country water. And my mom had packed a huge lunch for me with all of my favorites.

The concession car happened to also house a gift shop and that almost ruined my entire day, if not my entire life. My dad agreed to buy me one train to play with. Needless to say, I could not decide and, when I did make my purchase, IT WAS ALL WRONG. So I spent the next three weeks (oh wait, we were only on the train for 2.5 hours) on the verge of a tantrum. And your parents cannot simply get you off the train and take you home when you are in the middle of no where. I ended up negotiating a loan with my dad and buying a second train. Then everything was good and my first train and my second train played nicely together and they continue to bring me hours of fun. (Thanks for the negotiation skills, Montessori. But please keep your fingers crossed that my dad doesn't remember that I owe him $16. So far, he hasn't tried to collect.)

Once I had my toy train situation under control, we had a fantastic ride. There is plenty to look at. There is always at least one person in the train car who talks loudly about himself/herself the entire time  so that entertained my mom. My dad marveled at the rock formations and I was interested in all of the construction sites adjacent to the track. We even passed by a cement factory!