T'was The Night Before Christmas-NDN Style

T’was the night before Christmas and all thru the teepee  not an eyelid was shut because nobody was sleepy.   The Wal-Mart bags were hung by the fire so neat,  hoping Chief Nick would fill them up with smoked meat.   The children were nestled all snug in their bed  while visions of fry bread men danced in their heads.   With ina in her kerchief and my hair braided tight  we turned up the scanner to entertain us tonight.  Then all of a sudden a crash we did hear,  the rez dogs started barking but that’s the norm around here.   The moon on the breast of the new falling snow  gave the luster of mid day to my rez car below.  When what do my ndn eyes should appear  but an ndn sleigh with eight tiny reindeer!  With a little rez driver so stoic but quick  I knew in a moment it must be Chief Nick.   More rapid then Rez Ballers the reindeer they came  and he pointed with his lips then called them by name.   On Fancy Dancer, on Smoked Meat, on Thomas and Victor,  on Back Strap, on Philbert, on Black Cloud and Trixster;  sshhh land beside the teepee, quiet for good reason  we have to be careful it’s deer hunting season.   The stickers on his sleigh read I love baloney  another one said my other ride is a pony.  The one in the middle said NDN Power  there was duct tape and bailing wire holding it together.   When the teepee flap opened I just hung my head,  for I just finished off his stew and fry bread.  He was dressed in full regalia from his head to his mocs,  his outfit fully beaded right down to his socks!   His chokecherry eyes twinkled, his braids were like WOW!  You have to see it for yourself, he was just…somehow!  The stump of his peace pipe held tight in his teeth  and the smoke signals encircled his head like a wreath.   His face was kind of greasy and he was ndn size,  he had a commod bod only a skin could recognize.   He spoke not a word just flashed his Tribal ID.  He left a block of cheese and new tape recorder under the tree.   He left hand drums and blankets and round dance CDs,  huckleberry pies and the new Northern Cree!  Then he pointed with his lips, gave a big hearty AYYE!  And he danced out the door and jumped in his sleigh.   I heard him exclaim as he flew out of sight  Merry Christmas to all let’s round dance tonight! HO! HO! HO! Source: Unknown

Christmas

All weekend I've been hearing the mournful whining of everyone in the house saying, "I can't get into the Christmas spirit." I baked like a maniac yesterday, making chocolate christmas tree lollipops, fleur de sel caramels, double chocolate sandwich cookies, and gingerbread dough.

Today we had a snow day, meaning it was snowing and icy up until 10 AM when work was finally called off. Then the sun came out and melted it all.

We made a gingerbread house, using this great dough recipe I found in a random Christmas cookie magazine (100 Best Cookies from Better Homes & Gardens). The dough chilled overnight, and today we made templates for the house and cut out the dough and baked it. I think we should have waited a day until the dough had time to "age". Anyway, we started decorating this evening. My sister has been collecting candy for this house all week. The royal icing actually turned out well, which was a surprise to me because last time I attempted it I got lumps of inedible sugary stuff from the whole effort. Even my brother-in-law got into the act, making a base for the house which we were going to attempt moving the house onto after it was finished ala Cake Challenge on Food Network.

Yeah, there are gaps where the roof should meet the eaves of the house. The weight of the roof piece and the icing on that piece caused some caving because the gingerbread had baked but hadn't had time to really harden (read: go stale). We made the effort of stained glass windows, with plans to slide some Christmas lights inside to illuminate the windows from the inside. There are a number of things that went wrong, from the icing being too wet and heavy to the not-quite-fitting cookie pieces because the dough puffed up and rounded on the edges (like a good gingerbread cookie, but not good for a house). Also, I was sipping margaritas all evening because we have to use up the tequila or somehow get rid of it before my brother comes home Friday (he's on probation and can't be around alcohol). So, I wasn't exactly lucid through this process. About a minute and a half after I snapped the picture, the roof caved in. Not fell off. Not slid off. It caved because it was too wet and soft from the icing. 

We're going to attempt again tomorrow. For tonight, this is some delicious gingerbread. And everyone agreed, "It finally feels like Christmas."

Unfortunately, my real task is still ahead of me, and I wasted a whole day doing Christmas for everyone instead of doing this present I promised to make for my friend Julie's grandson.

It's only about halfway quilted, and only about two more days to work on it. I'm sunk.

Today is the day...

I start to panic about not having any Christmas shopping done. I have some stuff, but not the main stuff, and this worries me. There will be no money for shopping for another whole week!

I don't feel good about my job security. I applied for another job in another department on the same campus. There was some major drama about this transfer, even though the other department had urged me to transfer. I don't know why there always has to be drama around my prospective employment with this employer. Let's just say, I must have enemies. Anyway, possibly looking at a New Year with no job, or at least some job-related trauma.

I feel bad that I didn't take my kids Christmas shopping. They're old enough now that they want to buy things for their friends, and it didn't even occur to me this might be the case. It will be too late next week to take them Christmas shopping for some of their friends. Feel sad about this.

I'm also panicking about not getting stuff done, like the full-size quilt my friend Julie ordered from me almost two months ago. It's partially quilted, and I'm hoping to have it done next Wednesday, but it's starting to scare me how big the task is, and I don't feel like quilting this week. I feel like sleeping.

I have to finish three and a half socks before next Thursday. I am pretty sure I could get this done if I didn't have a monumental quilting task ahead of me.

I remind myself that I've completed an entire full-size quilt in less than 30 hours before. When my favorite uncle died, I started making a quilt for his funeral on the morning following his death. I finished that quilt, including cutting diamonds, sewing the star and background, layering, quilting and binding by the following afternoon. It can be done.

I am a little sad that my students did not all get their portfolios to me in time for the grading deadline. I have to go home and read the portfolios that were turned in and award grades, and some of those grades aren't going to be good.

I'm also sad that this is the day my grandpa Bill died, 18 years ago. My oldest daughter was only two months old on the day he died. Now she is 18, an adult. I keep hearing his voice around me today, thinking of things he would say or the way he would hold his hands when he talked or how he'd gesture or how he sat at the kitchen table. I'm going to buy a lottery ticket in memory of him on my way home this evening, and put gas in my car. Those are two things he was always telling me to do.

Today  is the kind of day I just want to curl up with a soft warm blanket and a cup of coffee and space out with a book or tv and spend time alone. I feel like I've failed at something so major but I can't think of what it is.