Random Thoughts

Shopping in the New Year

The challenge for me in 2009 will be to hold firm to my not-made-in-China vow. That’s harder than you think.  Last weekend, to ring in the New Year I accompanied Husband to Macy’s for their 75% off post-holiday Christmas stuff sale. Every single item–I am not exaggerating, everything in Macy’s holiday department–was made in China. Christmas tree skirts, Santa tree ornaments, angel tree toppers, stockings, everything, all of it, made in China. Even the Lenox Holiday dinnerware on sale was made in China.

The idea of scores of Chinese factories mass producing all that Christmas merchandise sucked what joy there is out of post-holiday shopping for me.

Contrary to gender stereotypes, I don’t enjoy shopping very much in the first place. Online shopping I find tolerable, because I’m in total control of the experience, and it occurs at my own pace, at my own convenience, and sometimes in my pajamas (always a plus). However, I make exceptions to bricks and mortar shops when Husband is involved. He’s all about finding bargains, and this is one of his favorite places:

Home Goods is the equivalent of a garage sale at Macy’s. Loads of weird junk interspersed with a few treasures. Yesterday I spotted this piece (and they only had one):

It’s a Lladro “Romantic Clown,” retailing for $480. It was priced at $240, and it was perfect, not a flaw on it. I have no idea how it ended up at Home Goods, but that’s typical. I’ve seen pieces of Beleek Irish porcelain, and managed to score a Waterford crystal vase last spring. I didn’t buy the clown (I’m not in the market for high end decorative collectibles) but I’ll bet someone snatched it up in short order.

Husband’s other bargain favorite is

This would be more like a garage sale at Sears, and about as well organized. Still, one can find a few gems amidst the rhinestones.

This, for example:

It’s a Baumalu copper sauceboat, retails for $120. Husband bought it for me at Tuesday Morning for $39.99. Yes, it was in absolutely perfect condition, and it cooks like a dream. Baumalu is making serious inroads on my determination to be more frugal and less materialistic; I would so enjoy their 20 cm copper pot with lid.

With the economy the way it is, I expect to be doing considerable gift shopping in 2009 at Home Goods and Tuesday Morning. Thankfully both stores do carry a surprising array of items that are not made in China; one just has to look carefully.  At both shops items you’d never expect to be made in China are just that. Paring knives at Tuesday Morning… Kitchenaid? Made in China. Chicago Cutlery? Made in the USA. Christmas greeting cards (I always buy them after Christmas for next year) at Home Goods… Amidst the stacked boxes of Printed in China Christmas cards, I managed to find a box of very lovely cards made in the USA from Sunshine Art Studios. Best of all, they retailed at $18 per box, and were marked down to (*gasp*) $1.00 per box. I would gladly have paid considerably more. Talk about a steal.

My blog has thus far been free from advertising, and I intend to keep it that way. I pay for my own server space, I don’t need ads unless I genuinely want to promote a product or merchant. To that end, I’m going to include these links in my sidebar:

If you’re at all interested in avoiding China-made products when you shop, these reference sites are a good place to start your search. Obviously I’m a fan of many European-made items; I referenced Spanish porcelain and French copper in this blog post, and I’ll gladly spend US dollars on a piece of Italian Deruta pottery or a bottle of Spanish Arbequina olive oil. These are things unique to their sources (though Eldest Daughter’s employer recently tipped me on a California source of the oil). I’m not ethnocentric nor am I an isolationist. What I am trying to avoid is support of a corrupt massive industrial machine polluting the globe, exploiting its workers, and producing toxic products.

Given the state of our economy, perhaps its time more people thought about where their money actually goes, and what companies (and which workers) actually benefit from their purchase dollars.

Speaking of Made in America, the Anchoress has been tempting us all with Mystic Monk Coffee for quite some time now (yes, I know the beans are grown elsewhere; they’re roasted here and that’s what counts). Would it be a sin if I became addicted to Hermit’s blend?

Setting the bar for 2009…

Not much into New Year’s resolutions here, though I do make an effort to pick one thing I can realistically accomplish. In 2007 my resolution was to finally keep my bank accounts balanced; thanks to Quicken software (when it’s not being a total pain in the backside) I managed to keep that resolution.

This year, I’m adopting the following attitude (H/T to Confederate Yankee):

In keeping with this theme, the 111th Congress convenes Monday.

Tom Lindmark of Seeking Alpha tells us,

This is one of those moments in time when politics and resultant policies will have an immediate and substantial impact on the fabric of society.

The new Democratic Congress is set to begin framing their program for the reconstitution of the American economy. While President-elect Obama and the members of his administration will have input, the edge in time clearly belongs to the legislative branch, where some of the most senior members have waited a political lifetime for this opportunity.

Can the bar be set any lower?

Between the clown show involving Roland Burris, Al Franken, and the possibility of Bill Clinton joining in the Senate fun (at least his qualifications beat those of Caroline Kennedy), all this Congress needs is a canvas big top.

Happy New Year!

And this is why I love living in Southern California…

January 1, 2009:

Such a fantastically beautiful day to begin a new year.

And watching USC whomp the daylights out of Penn State didn’t hurt either.

Ultimate Eggnog

I missed the storebought eggnog this year. I did buy two bottles of my favorite dairy’s product; aside from a dollop in one cup of coffee, it all went down various family member throats other than my own.

I tried to get more, but eggnog apparently is extremely seasonal. On December 26 they were already packing shelves with Valentine’s Day stuff and the space in the dairy case formerly dedicated to eggnog was filled with regular milk.

Not that I’m complaining. Much.

It’s still the holidays though, darn it, at least until January 2. Lo and behold, thanks to The Flight Deck, I’ve got something better than any glass bottled elixir:

EGGNOG (half of FD’s recipe)

A rich and extravagant version that is correspondingly good. Some people like to add a little more spirit to the following recipes, remembering Mark Twain’s observation that “too much of anything is bad, but too much whisky is is just enough.”

Beat sparingly until light in color:

6 egg yolks

Beat in gradually:

1/2 lb confectioners’ sugar

Add very slowly, beating constantly:

1 cups dark rum, brandy, bourbon or rye (I used Maker’s Mark Bourbon)

These liquors may each form the basic ingredient of the nog or may be combined to taste. Let mixture stand covered to dispel the “eggy” taste. Add, beating constantly:

1 to 2 cups of liquor chosen
1 quart whipping cream
1/2 cup peach brandy

Refrigerate covered for 3 hours. Beat until stiff but not dry:

4 to 6 egg whites

Fold them lightly into the other ingredients. Serve the eggnog sprinkled with:

Freshly ground nutmeg

Oh. My. New Years’ Eve NEEDS some of this. If you have to ask about calories, just don’t; eggnog like chocolate is meant to be savored. Add an extra mile to your AM walk (or start taking an AM walk in the first place) if you’re worried about what this will do to your waistline.

Facing the future: From the sublime to the silly

My family is enjoying the post-Christmas, pre-New Years lull, where nothing more important than sending thank you notes remains to be done, and most cooking involves leftovers. It’s an easy time, perhaps the easiest of the year. Few errands to run, no chasing back and forth to drop off and pick up offspring, no pressing appointments, nothing urgent remaining to accomplish in the waning days of 2008.

As is my nature though, I’m having a bit of trouble living in the now. I’m thinking ahead, thinking of what needs to be done next week–next year. In two weeks I’ll be taking a major exam. In four weeks I’ll be starting a series of evening college classes. And then there are all the things I’m peripherally involved in; Eldest Daughter searching for a new apartment, Eldest Son’s discrepancy between his ROTC scholarship and his university tuition bill, Younger Daughter’s need for textbooks for Spring Semester, Younger Son’s upcoming Science Fair project.

Even when I have the perfect chance to slow down, I never seem to be able to avail myself of the opportunity.

In a completely serendipitous post, The Anchoress recently discussed the Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. Not being Catholic myself, I am not able to avail myself of that particular experience. Without getting into the doctrinal differences between Protestants and Catholics when it comes to Communion and the Eucharist, I think that Adoration is an area where Protestants are particularly deprived; as much as anyone else we need a context within which we can be still before God and contemplate His mystery and majesty. Lacking such a context, when we attempt to focus our thoughts on the divine, we invariably tend to exhibit exactly what the Anchoress describes:

Too much quiet; aren’t we supposed to be “doing” something at all times? People don’t know how to sit and simply be, anymore. We are so deeply attached to our iPods, cell phones, blackberries, radios, televisions - we don’t know how to shut it all down - perhaps because we are afraid to discover what we will hear in the quiet.

At first, what you hear in the silence is the endless monkey chatter of the brain: what to do, what needs doing, where to be - “I must do this, I hate doing that, oh, I forgot to set my TIVO, what to make for supper. I like that blouse she’s wearing…” If we can sit still long enough to get past that, we hear “I’m sad. I’m mad. I’m scared,” and sometimes, “I’m glad.”

That’s when Adoration becomes uncomfortable for many, when - in facing the Lord - you must also face yourself. As we heard from Chesterton, “the self is more distant than any star” - and most prefer to keep it that way. Silence forces a confrontation, for most of us an uncomfortable one. Adoration places the encounter in the physical Presence of the Lord, which just makes it all the more honest and thus thorough and grueling.

The old saying about Adoration is: “I look at the Lord, and the Lord looks at me.” True. But further, “I look at me through the eyes of the Lord.”

Now that is a concept powerful in its simplicity: To see myself through the eyes of the Lord. I do not think it’s possible except through the sort of meditative process the Adoration exemplifies.

As I have, in my own fumbling way, sought the peace which passes understanding, I have tried not to dwell on the financial or the political during this holiday season. I agree with James Lewis’ perspective articulated in The American Thinker,

Even with all the bad news, the country remains resilient. Our Constitution is older and more enduring than any other. Yes, the Left will do its best to undermine freedom, the way they already have in our universities and news media. They will try to turn us into an engine of internationalist Eurosocialism. They want another forty years of untrammeled power. They will use Green politics to impose a heavy regulatory state, and drive wedges by gender, class and race to split our people.
Our job is to be ourselves, and not be intimidated.

And what better way to deal with the financial and political chaos of the past year than with humor, a la Dave Barry’s Year in Review, which contains such spot-on gems as…

…the economic news continues to worsen with the discovery that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have sent $87 billion to a Nigerian businessman with a compelling e-mail story.

Also troubling is the news from Iran, which test-fires some long-range missiles, although Iranian President Wackjob Lunatic insists that Iran intends to use these missiles “for stump removal.”

In keeping with a humorous slant to the all-too-grim news, H/T to Fausta who shares a gem from the Wall Street Journal, wherein a wackjob lunatic former KGB analyst declares the US is about one year away from a civil war which will result in this scenario:

According to the WSJ article,

[Panarin] predicts that economic, financial and demographic trends will provoke a political and social crisis in the U.S. When the going gets tough, he says, wealthier states will withhold funds from the federal government and effectively secede from the union. Social unrest up to and including a civil war will follow. The U.S. will then split along ethnic lines, and foreign powers will move in.

California will form the nucleus of what he calls “The Californian Republic,” and will be part of China or under Chinese influence. Texas will be the heart of “The Texas Republic,” a cluster of states that will go to Mexico or fall under Mexican influence. Washington, D.C., and New York will be part of an “Atlantic America” that may join the European Union. Canada will grab a group of Northern states Prof. Panarin calls “The Central North American Republic.” Hawaii, he suggests, will be a protectorate of Japan or China, and Alaska will be subsumed into Russia.

If I didn’t know better, I’d think that was Dave Barry’s work; ’cause really…

Unexpected gifts…

My Christmas tree is still up, and my husband is determined to continue playing Christmas carols as long as he can get away with it (i.e. until one of the kids hides the CDs). For me though, Christmas ended when I took Eldest Daughter to the airport last night. Don’t ask me what I got for Christmas; all the stuff pales beside the gift of having all four of my children home together.

Watching them play Monopoly, listening to them laugh, hearing them lovingly tease each other was truly priceless. The four of them have the sort of dynamic I wished for my children when each of them was born; that they would grow up to love each other, depend upon each other, and enjoy each other’s company.

While we were celebrating Christmas Eve, a very large package was delivered to our door:

It was from my only sibling. I haven’t spoken to Brother in a few years, and it’s been even longer since I’ve seen him. More than eleven years older than I, Brother’s life and mine diverged decades ago, a slowly widening rift made chasmic by the crisis surrounding the sudden death of our parents back in 1996.

At Christmas time each year (including this one), I’ve sent Brother a card along with the annual letter I write detailing our family life. I’ve also sent him graduation announcements for each of my eldest children. There’s been no response back, no acknowledgment that he received any of the missives. That might sound like hostility on his part, but I doubt it is; Brother has a fundamental inability to respond in a timely manner to memorable occasions. He once showed up at my house in July, with a car full of Christmas wrapped gifts. I am not making that up; he really did it, rationalizing that since he hadn’t managed to send the presents the preceding December, bringing them in July seemed like a good idea.

I did not respond to that scenario on my driveway with good grace at all. In retrospect, I ought to have demonstrated more Christian charity; it’s taken me a few years to gain perspective and to put the trauma of our parents’ deaths behind me. That was the last time Brother attempted to give me or my children anything.

So, here we are, Christmas 2008, and an excessively lavish gift arrives out of the clear blue from Brother. My first reaction was irritation; I bake a lot at Christmas. We don’t need nor particularly want commercial baked goods (the basket is loaded with them) and at this time of year our pantry and fridge are literally stuffed with all manner of food. So, I thought perhaps that was what bothered me about the gift–it was virtually useless. Or course Eldest Son (whose legs I do believe are hollow) began immediately to make inroads on the basket contents, so it’s not like it will go to waste. I thought some more, and decided that what bothered me was the excess; the basket was freakin’ huge. I could never send something that expensive and there’s something about being given a gift I can’t reciprocate that bothers me.

I tried to articulate my discomfort to my husband, who (in typical male fashion) cut right to the point. Husband explained that Brother was simply being himself, and that this was all I was going to get from him. So I could either accept that this was it, that this was our relationship, and enjoy the gift, or frustrate myself further looking for something that wasn’t there.

That was it exactly: It wasn’t the inappropriateness nor the expense, it was the lack of a relationship that bothered me. I look at gifts as an expression of emotional attachment. Some part of me still wants a sibling relationship with Brother, some approximation of the dynamic between my own offspring. Without that relationship, the gift confuses me. I overthink it, instead of simply accepting it for what it is: A large basket of food from a relative who wanted to wish me and my family a Merry Christmas.

Some 2000+ years ago, God bestowed the unasked for, unlooked for, and wholly undeserved Gift of His Son upon the world. I don’t need to fully comprehend God’s reasons to appreciate His Gift, and accept it. Somehow I think God expects me (particularly at this time of year) to extend grace to Brother. And a “thank you” note would not be amiss either.

Let it snow…somewhere else, please

Where’s the freakin’ global warming when it would help?

Eldest daughter is trying to get home for Christmas. She lives in Seattle, atop a very steep hill, which looks like this right now:

That is an intersection near her home. It is an unplowed street. It is not going to be plowed any time in the near future, because Seattle only has 27 snowplows, and that’s not enough to handle a genuine full-on snowfall.

Of course, this means the busses aren’t running in Eldest Daughter’s neighborhood, which means she couldn’t get to work today, which means that she can’t catch the airport shuttle that was to pick her up after work.

*sigh*

There is no way I want her attempting to drive to the airport; nothing in her SoCal/Phoenix life has prepared her for this sort of automotive adventure: Seattle Snowstorm

We are of course hoping that her flight doesn’t get cancelled; so far half of that airline’s flights out of SeaTac to our SoCal airport have been canceled today.

A snowfall sure can complicate life. It’s totally out of our control though. I told Eldest Daughter to make herself a cup of hot chocolate and see if the taxi we called (a service that has four wheel drive vehicles) makes it to her apartment.

In the meantime I’m amusing myself with holiday greetings. This gem was in our mailbox shortly after Thanksgiving, a prime example of a business getting a jump on the holiday season while demonstrating just how festive garbage collection can be.

That a garbage collection company produces a paper newsletter (which assumes people really want to read about the exciting world of garbage collection) thereby generating more trash is a topic for another day. What I find hysterical is the artwork.

Happy happy elf, helping happy happy garbage collector scoop up a garbage bin full of  uneaten holiday feasts, unopened gifts, and various perfectly good holiday decorations. Even Rudolph is pleased with this senseless destruction.

Of course they’re probably trying to point out that they pick up the remains of everyone’s holiday celebrations, and it’s a good thing that they do. We certainly don’t need piles of brown pine boughs and moldy poultry at curbside for the next eleven months. Their newsletter would be a bit less pretty if they depicted a turkey carcass, dead Christmas tree and wads of used gift wrap as a way to extend holiday greeting to their customers.

I wonder what their corporate Christmas cards look like…