I survived Christmas 2009, part 2

On the 24th, we loaded up the Burb and drove to our friends' house in Denmark about 2 hours away. A few minutes after having dropped the cats of at the kennel, I was hit by a sense of peace. I realized that there was nothing else that could be done. For the next two days, my to-do list was on hold. Sure, I'd help out at my friend's house, but it was a relief to suddenly be going with the flow.

The snow made for a beautiful drive. Much to our surprise, road conditions were perfect, and there was no traffic. We actually showed up early. For lunch, we had warm rice porridge. Yum! After lunch, we went for a walk and the kids did some sledding. We were very lucky that there was still enough snow left for that. There was a big hill with a whole lot of kids sledding. Unfortunately our kids were determined to take the hill from the top, and they both wiped out big time and arrived home in tears. The traditional Donald Duck Christmas Special (apparently an equally important tradition both in Denmark and Sweden) and some caramel corn quickly raised their spirits again.

The main course for dinner was duck. We also had my red cabbage, gravy, boiled potatoes, caramelized potatoes (yum!), prunes and apples cooked inside the duck, and potato chips (yes, that's part of the traditional Danish Christmas meal). We had rice pudding with cherry sauce for dessert. This has chopped almonds in it, along with one whole almond, and the person who finds the whole almond gets a prize. After the food, we danced (walked really) and sang (hummed at best for those of us who don't know the Danish Christmas songs) around the Christmas tree. Then everyone opens their presents. After the frenzy, just in case anyone's even remotely hungry, it was time for cookies and candy with coffee or tea. I brought banana bread, caramel corn, pecan butterballs, spritz cookies, peppermint meringues, and peanut butter buckeyes. They supplemented with licorice and marzipan/nougat candies.

On the 25th, we took it easy, sat around, and enjoyed each others' company. It rained, and the snow melted. In the evening we made an Indian lamb dish which was a nice break from all the Christmas food, then we drove home.

On the 26th, we finally decorated our Christmas tree. Our daughter picked it out. I think it was wider than it was tall (exactly the opposite of what I would have chosen for our crowded living room), but it turned out nicely anyhow. My husband's mother was supposed to come for Christmas dinner on the 26th and spend the night, but there was some misunderstanding having to do with a dog she was watching that has a problem with cats, so she came for a shorter visit on the 27th instead.

The 27th was also the day I hosted the annual White Elephant Gift Exchange for the neighborhood, so that was a really busy day. It turned out that a lot of the neighbors had other plans, so we weren't so many guests, but it was a lot of fun anyhow. When the guests left, we opened presents again even though my MIL had forgotten to bring her presents. We'd saved some presents for our daughter to open, and we didn't think it was fair to make her wait any longer.

For dinner I prepared a traditional Swedish Christmas dinner (Julbord) which featured ham, meatballs, small sausages, two kinds of pickled herring, smoked salmon, three kinds of breads, three kinds of cheeses, o'gratin potatoes (traditionally it would be boiled potatoes, but I think that's just too boring), and red cabbage. I felt that more veggies were needed, so I also served creamed spinach and fresh cherry tomatoes. Since it was getting late, and we'd already gorged ourselves with cookies and candy all afternoon, we decided to skip dessert.

MIL invited our daughter to go home with her, so we're kid-free for a few days until New Year's Eve.

I survived Christmas 2009, part 1

It's finally time to take a deep breath and let life return to normal. Sort of. I'm in Christmas recovery mode now. After a month of hectic activity and preparations, it's over. We're unexpectedly kid free for a couple of days, so we've spent the time painting the inside of the barn/new garage.

In Sweden, the Christmas season starts with the first of Advent, which this year was the last Sunday in November. That's when the Christmas decorations are put up, and I actually did this on schedule. The first weekend in December, I was in Berlin (more on that later). From the moment I got home, I felt I was playing catch up, both with work and with all the Christmas stuff: cards to write and mail, presents to order, packages to send, cookies to bake, presents to wrap, etc. Then there's all the kid stuff too: cards to make, gingerbread house to assemble, Lucia concert at school, the Lucia/Christmas concert at the church, the violin concert with the music school, and finally the last-day-of-school show (canceled due to snow). That's right, snow! We got plenty of it, and we even had a white Christmas.

We had a real snowstorm on the 18th with over a foot of snow and plenty of wind to blow it into drifts. My husband left for work and made it only about 50 meters before getting stuck in a drift that was deeper than the car. Shortly thereafter, our neighbor came to plow us out and helped pull the car back onto the road. He decided to work from home, but our daughter really wanted to make it to the last-day-of-school show and party, so he drove her to school in the Suburban. Only 2 teachers and about 5 kids had made it to school, so they sent everyone home.

The snow was about two feet deep by the time the snow let up on Saturday. We walked to a party at a neighbor's house, and it was absolutely magical. It felt like walking through a Christmas card. It snowed on and off for the next few days, but it also got warmer, so the snow compacted, and it never got any deeper. On the 23d, it started to thaw. My husband likes to wait until the 23d to do the tree. By then, I was too busy cooking, so he took our daughter to pick out a tree. There were only 4 trees left at the lot, so she got to pick one out, and we got a great deal on it. However, we had so much to do that we decided to wait with bringing the tree in and decorating it.

I just couldn't help myself

I've been totally swamped since I got back from Berlin, but I have tons of pictures and every intention of blogging about it. Today I took a break from everything else I have to do to take some pictures. The sun came out, and with the snow it was so pretty. I just couldn't resist. So here are some pictures. (If you notice the low angle of the sun, that's how it is this far north. These pictures were taken at noon!)

It's the first real snow of the season which started yesterday after several days of teasing with a powered sugar dusting then wet stuff that melted nearly as fast as it fell. I love the snow, and needless to say, my daughter does too. This morning I was reminded about the down side of snow. It took me about 20 minutes to excavate and break into my car. I eventually got the passenger side door opened, and Lina and I climbed in from there. She had to climb again to get out when we got to school. I'd estimate we have about 6 inches of snow, but it's been blowing around, so some areas are nearly bare, and others are a couple of feet deep. You need to keep your speed up to drive through the drifts, but it results in a very satisfying cloud of snow!

Christmas is in the air

December began with the return of the cold weather. The temperature dropped literally overnight from the 40's (6-9 C) down to freezing. The days are still cloudy, but the nights have been clear and COLD. Today it really felt like it was going to snow. The Christmas decorations add to the mood.

Most importantly, I'm excited about going to Berlin. Tonight I leave for Denmark where I'll spend the night at my friend's house, then very early tomorrow, we'll take a bus to Berlin. We plan to do some sightseeing and shopping, but mostly relax and enjoy a mom's weekend out (kid and husband free).

I haven't been to Berlin since 1989, a few months before the Berlin Wall fell. Thus the 20th anniversary of the Wall coming down is a milestone for me too. In 1989 I was in college, traveling with two friends from high school. We did the Eurail thing, covering 9 countries in 5 weeks by train with everything in our backpacks. It was an amazing experience, and I learned a lot about myself. I'd love to reminisce, but now it's time to go! I'll probably be without internet until Monday.