December Worthy Stuff
Susan Edition
Greetings!
I feel like I just wrote Worthy Stuff for December ‘23, and here we are again! (Yikes. I simply must stop squandering whole years—I swear my desk is piled with the exact same mess it was a year ago…)
You’re as busy as I am, so let’s get to it:
Christmas Future—
I’m a little ahead on the path for some of you, and I’m a speck in the distance for others. So if you’re one of those who can hardly imagine ever becoming this old, I want to assure you that there are really great things about it. You may have heard me mention that for decades, our family’s Christmas celebration was way, WAY over the top. When we moved to AZ, I decided to go full-grandma (even though I didn’t have any grands yet) with a tabletop tree. The first year, I pulled out a stupid fake feather-type tree I bought at a TJ Maxx in Florida sometime about 600 bce (I think to decorate for a ward activity?), and in my laziness, hung whatever I could find without really opening any Christmas boxes on it. 10 years later, it’s still our Christmas tree and I love, love, love it. I can put it up in one episode of Tudors, and take it down in a single Never Have I Ever. Truly. Old age has its privileges!
Seconds of regret: 0.
Christmas Past —
In 2020, I uploaded all our Christmas pics to Snapfish and made a book:
It tells the chronological story (through pics) of all our different ages and stages of Christmas as we moved our traveling holiday circus around the country.
To go with the books, I packed up a special keepsake box for each girl containing all her childhood ornaments, favorite decorations, and a few nativities from our huge around-the-world collection. I think it’s the best gift I ever gave, and it allowed me to release tons of psychic (and actual) weight. Documenting our family Christmases, preserving a few of the very best physical bits and passing it all on with great intention and attention was one of the most meaningful rituals I’ve ever engaged in. If you’re looking for a way to transition between Christmas iterations in your life, I think this one worked as well (and gently) for my daughters as it did for me.
Five stars. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Christmas Present—
I’ve just finished reading something truly splendid:
Celebrating Abundance: Devotions for Advent
by Walter Brueggemann
I can’t recommend this slim jewel highly enough!
I absolutely loved it—so much that I just had to keep reading and finish it. (In future years, I plan to read it throughout advent as intended.) This book gives words to the hope the world needs now, and envisions our part in ushering in something better. Brueggemann’s hope muscle is well-toned—at age 91, he still actively imagines that things can change.
This beautiful book would make a great little gift for just about anyone. I’ve already wrapped a few!
Next up on my feminist book shelf:
Lilith
by Nikki Marmery
I haven’t read this one yet, but my daughter can’t stop talking about it! It’s the first present I’ve bought for myself (but it’s only the first week of December—there will be more!) This book is billed as “A triumphantly feminist retelling of ancient creation myths. Inspired by ancient myths and suppressed scriptures, Lilith is a thought-provoking and ambitious novel with an evocative literary voice and a triumphantly engaging heroine.” About time someone paid attention to the women in the story! I’m looking forward to two weeks of winter holiday mornings snuggled into my MN bed with this book. Merry Christmas to me!
On my desk right now, being savored s..l..o..w..l..y…
(I couldn’t wait for Christmas)
Still Life with Remorse
by Maira Kalman.
My hero Maira Kalman has a new book…and she had me at the title! The art is gorgeous (because Maira Kalman), and I feel her “family stories” somewhere in my bones. Like this one:
Uncle
Once our uncle
sat in a gigantic black inner tube
and floated in the sea.He fell asleep and drifted
farther and farther from the shore.He was a tiny dot in the sea.
People went out in a boat to rescue him.He could have been swept out to sea.
But he was not.
But he could have.This is what we call the possible-probable remorse tense.
Suffering after the fact over a disaster that could possibly
have happened but did not. This tense occurs very
frequently in our household. Daily. Even hourly.
Goodreads describes it like this: “Tracing her family’s story from her grandfather’s birth in Belarus and immigration to Tel Aviv—where she was born—Kalman considers her unique family history, illuminating the complex relationship between recollection, regret, happiness, and heritage. She uses her signature wit and tenderness to reveal how family history plays an influential role in all of our work, lives, and perspectives.” In other words, it’s complicated.
Bless you, Maira, for always telling us the truth.
Christmas Every-year—
I’m a baker and I do love a good Christmas cookie … when cake is out of season. I got thinking about how I could combine the taste of peppermint bark with the goodness of a cookie and came up with these pretties for gifting. They look great in a cello bag! Some of the friends I’ve given them to now make them every year as well.
Susan’s Peppermint Bark Cookies:
1/2 c butter
1/2 c shortening
Cream well. Add:
1 c sugar
1 c brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
Beat well. Add:
2 1/3 c flour
2/3 c cocoa
1 tsp soda
1/2 tsp salt
Mix well to combine. Bake at 350° on greased baking sheet (or line with parchment) for 8 mins. Sprinkle cookie tops with chopped candy cane pieces while hot, pressing in gently. When cool, drizzle cookies with melted white chocolate.
Happy December! Hope your season is full of favorite things! Er … full of things, anyway. And plenty of love.
—Susan ❤️
Susan, I'm about a third of our household packed up to move to Minneapolis. Hoping to list it by mid-February and get on our way. I love your writings, gift ideas, and I must say, those old magazine pictures are quite...telling. Merry Christmas to you and yours!