Hubby and I went to see the Sherlock Holmes movie this evening. I am a huge Holmes fan. I read the complete works in high school, and I don't mind rereading a story now and then. Lately I've been reading some on the Kindle app for the iPhone while I sit in the dark comforting my teething baby.

I really enjoyed the movie. I'm predisposed to be optimistic anyway, but I still liked it! I felt that we got the spirit of London at the time. I just love all the bustling horse drawn cabs down dark alleys. So Holmes. I loved how science prevailed. I loved how they drew out the Holmes/Watson relationship, which I think is the hardest part of adapting the book. It's hard to figure out. Holmes is a jerk and Watson takes it? Not really. But they are good friends. I also like how they pointed out that Watson's bride is supportive of Watson's carmarderie with Holmes, because that's something I noticed on a recent reread. Another thing I liked about the movie is that it wasn't about Moriarity vs Holmes. (mostly) Which I think would've been too cliched of a Holmes movie. And I loved the actors: Robert Downing Jr and Jude Law made a great Holmes and Watson.

One thing I did not like was all the fighting. Holmes did like to box, but he really is about the cerebral, not the visceral. And he's always getting into fistfights in the movie. I realize that Holmes sitting on a cushion and thinking all night doesn't really sell at the box office like Holmes whoopin' some you-know-what. But that's my take.

I hope they make a sequel, because they certainly left it open for one. (*cough* Moriarty)

First day of 2010. Sitting here with my coffee.

I kept forgetting it was New Year's Eve last night until fireworks woke me up. A really party-er I am. We watched Up last night again, and I think it's the best movie of 2009. What movie has you sobbing, then two seconds later laughing your head off? And it's actually a movie intended for children!? But complex enough for grownups? It really is the best movie ever. Ellis calls it U-p. He spells it; it's so cute.

I've been thinking of the holidays this past week. How glad I am that Christmas was over. Me!? I love Christmas! It's my favorite. ("I like smiling. It's my favorite.") Growing up I was so susceptible to the ambiance, the music, the cookies, the snowflakes, the gift making and shopping. Christmas brought my college roommate and I together. We bonded over Christmas and became fast friends.

This year December was one long panic attack. Trying to make things, yet becoming disillusioned with Handmade Holidays at the eleventh hour, but no choice but to press on (sort of like having a baby. ha!). Counting pennies, frustrated with unexpected expenses. Trying to stay positive, focusing on what is right and good, yet, there still must be a gift to give, no matter how simple.

And Marlowe chooses this time to eschew sleeping. I think we are starting the long journey towards the cutting of incisors. The molars were conquered in November, and this is the next mountain to climb.

So a combination between sleep deprivation and trying to make at least a very simple Christmas happen left me feeling chewed up and spit out. I did not enjoy Christmas this year. There. True confession. I was happy that people liked their gifts. It made all the stress worth it. But next year, I don't care how poor we are, I'm shopping. No more Handmade Holidays until my kids are older and sleep.

People say, "oh, you don't have to do much for Christmas." I didn't. This was me already doing the bare minimum. I made peppermint bark, not cookies!

My Scrooge Tale of Woe sets me up for the New Year. It's only fitting that after a season like Christmas, our only holiday that gets a true season and not just a day, that we should all be sick of the upheaval and crave a blank slate. And then we get a New Year! How we all rejoice and make resolutions.

Exercise! Eat healthily! Read! Blog!

Yes, I hope to turn over a new leaf in all those areas. But I realize that when you have little kids sometimes things just don't go as planned, and you just have to make a new plan. One that involves a little more mess, and a little more time to do things.

BUT

I'm totally digressing from what I intended to write in this blog post, which was to tell you about my new books as avenue for the New Years Blank Slate Thrill Ride, otherwise known as New Years Resolution. So setting the existential rabbit trail aside:

* Someone very close to me got me two books that I have wanted for years but have been out-of-print/hard-to-find. The first is Umberto Eco's Experiences in Translation. I'm not a huge fan of translating, and I don't think I have a particular knack for it either. But I get along okay when I need to do it, and seem to find myself in research projects that require a lot of it. Or at least I used to, since I haven't done much scholarly work recently. This is something that I resolve to change this year. I want to submit a journal article and to apply to grad school to finish my PhD.

The second of the books in the Highly Prized category is a book that I have longed for. I couldn't find it in libraries, yet it was constantly being cited. Francoise Robin's La cour d'Anjou-Provence: La vie artistique sous le regne de Rene is a cultural/art history of the patronage of Rene d'Anjou, a fifteenth-century French king. I first learned about Rene when I was studying abroad in Aix-en-Provence, in the south of France, and passed his statue everyday. When I got back home to my history major, I began my obsession with all things Rene, which, of course, plunged me into fifteenth-century patronage studies and whisked me off to Burgundy. All along, I've wanted to study Rene, but have been redirected by wiser advisors who want to me get degrees. Last night I was poking around Amazon, and there seems to be a little surge in Rene studies in the Anglophone scholarly world. Can it be? Perhaps my dream dissertation may be attainable.

Lest I get carried away, though:

* I also bought my first Ina Garten cookbook. After flipping through three of them, I finally chose Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics, because it's the one that made me salivate the most. I'm picky and rarely buy a new cookbook, because I think you can find most of what you need to know on the internet. (And with an epicurious.com app, who can go wrong?) I don't need the extra clutter of too many cookbooks. But I have some friends who are Ina fans, and when they make me something from one of her recipes, I stop cold after the first bite, and must know everything about it, because it was the best ever.

Her recipe for chocolate cake that Jonesey made for our two-year-old's birthday two-and-a-half years ago is one I still remember. I don't like chocolate cake. In fact, I'd rather not eat dessert than eat chocolate cake. I simply don't like it. Jonesey made me try a bite of Ina Garten's chocolate cake. And I not only liked it, I loved it! And I'm still talking about it over two years later. So, I figured a woman of such genius to make a recipe of chocolate cake that I like is definitely a woman worth paying some extra attention to. And so far, even though I've just sat in bed and read the cookbook, I'm enjoying her immensely. I like her perspective on ingredients: fresh, quality, seasonal. And I like that the recipes are solid and have that extra something to make it unique and special. Eating well is something I take very seriously, from ingredients to the actual dish prepared, because it impacts our whole life.

* and, of course, I couldn't let my gift card go without getting this year's raddest craft book, Bend the Rules with Fabric by Amy Karol, about printing, stamping, painting, dyeing, etc with fabric. This book is going to be a lot of fun. As I've started to get into a lot of the different techniques she writes about, I'm really thankful for this resource and finding her pointers from directions to actual materials used are very helpful.

And so begins a new year of thinking, cooking, crafting.

And mothering these two...which deserves a post of its own, but can hardly be distilled to one post.

My kids had a great Christmas! And I must say, Christmas is way more fun now with kids. One of Ellis's favorite presents is his fire station duplo set. And really, what Christmas is complete without Legos?

And so ends my DPP 2009! It's been real folks.

It's also been kind of fun, because I did the whole thing on my iPhone. All photos and editing were from my iPhone. It doesn't do a half bad job! And it definitely has portability and accessibility in its favor. But still not quite as good as a real camera. (ya think?)

Oh my, I really failed at the last two days of December Photo Project. Well, that's what happens when you're Santa Mom. So, before the end of the year, the last two days of DPP.

It says "To Poppy, From Ellis" (for the uninitiated). Ellis had a lot of fun making some gifts and writing their gift tags. I had fun getting him more involved in that aspect of Christmas, even as he has begun to anticipate his own loot more.

We all have them. The ornaments we made in school when we were little kids. I think mine was made of pipe cleaners and beads; it was supposed to be a wreath.

Ellis came home with probably the best school ornament ever. The ILY glove--a little handing signing "i love you." Yes, it is proudly displayed on my tree!

I seem to be posting two by two lately. It's been a rough week. Hard to actually get to my computer. And posting blog entries is the one thing I haven't figured out how to do from my iPhone yet. That and cook dinner. I just can't seem to find the "cook dinner" app. I'd gladly pay for that one.

Anyway, much fun to be had on the Tuesday before Christmas. Well, not as much fun if we hadn't had to reschedule the party we were going to have due to much snow and no plowing on our street--hence, nowhere to park. Next week, hopefully, we'll see lots of kiddos, glitter, sugar, moms, and fun at our house. But we still had some fun. I opted for Fun Mom for the afternoon, which, of course, meant total disaster kitchen. Paint all over the floor. Water everywhere. And then I opted for Loser Mom and turned on umpteen episodes of Kipper (the best little dog cartoon, by the way), while I cleaned it up and made a super yummy dinner for my friend who came over to join us for the evening. At which point I looked like Super Mom, because I had fresh bread and lasagne made with fresh pasta.

I can't decided between these two pictures.

This of Ellis painting pinecones (and pretty much anything else he could find, including himself--love you, washable temperas!) and Marlowe trying to crawl into the sink where he is playing with his most preciousssesses water and bowls and stirry things. It all looks so angelic. And scary.

Then there's this one. Fresh pasta=a well of flour holding eggs. Whisk the eggs gradually drawing the flour in. Then knead and knead, and then either run through a pasta maker, or roll and roll it out for lasagne, which is what I did. I love that moment, though, where the eggs are poised in their well of flour.

Happy Solstice!!! The shortest day of the year. Welcome Winter! I love celebrating the season's changes. God is faithful in ordering the seasons.

Yesterday we went over to Whole Foods to pick up a few things. The boys wanted a snack, so when we were done we sat in a booth and broke into the Clementines. The light was so pretty and the boys were so goofy.

p.s. Like Ellis's TRex Tshirt? That was fun to make. He's into dinosaurs lately.

Eek I'm getting a little behind here. Well, the snow finally stopped on Sunday morning. We were so snowed that the morning service at our church was cancelled. So they bumped the evening service up an hour and then we were able to have our Christmas concert that had to be postponed from the night due to much swirling snow. I'm glad, because we've been working hard, and at our dress rehearsal on Friday night I think that we hit that sweet spot, where you're ready, but not over-ready. I love our little church choir. We have a phenomenal conductor, so it doesn't sound too churchy. Just like a nice, little choir. And she picks great music that's fun to sing.

So now we've been digging out of snow on snow, snow on snow. And, no, our street didn't get plowed. There's so much snow everywhere. Somewhere around 20 inches, plus or minus.

Today's december photo project is brought to you by Snowpocalypse '09. It's been snowing for about 15 hours with another 15 hours predicted. There's a lot of snow out there.

I love the reflection of the Christmas tree in the window.

Our backyard.

I was happy to see this yellow bus pull up yesterday. It meant that we were spared a very cold morning walk, and that Marlowe and I got to spend a little extra time in our jammies. And after this past week, we needed it! And Ellis this it's way more fun to ride the bus that walking anyway.