matching tracksuits

fun in threes, sometimes fours

the boy

End of Break Saturday

Saturday 04 January 2025 | 0 Comments

Today was the day everything went back to normal. The Christmas lights came down (though the tree is still up -- whatever K wants to do is fine with me in that regard). The Boy's 5v5 soccer season resumed: E's team won 4:3, with the Boy scoring the winning goal.

But some things were still holiday-esque: I made farsz for pierogi again. And this time, I remembered how much grease the sautéed mushrooms spit out as they go through the grinder.

"Do we a fartuszek of any kind I can use?" I asked K.

"But of course..."

2025 Day 1

Wednesday 01 January 2025 | 0 Comments

We always like to begin the new year with something outside. Last year, we were at Hilton Head with Babcia; the year before, we were hiking somewhere -- can't remember the name. This year, with L still recovering (though she's mostly fine now) and the Boy feeling a bit reluctant, K and I went for a short walk at our favorite park, just the two of us. And the dog.

And a lot more people than usual. But can you blame them? A beautiful New Year's Day with temperatures in the mid fifties and a blue sky -- of course, you're going outside.

In the evening, we decided on a family movie -- a classic. Well, not quite. But the kids had never seen Titanic, and it's such a 90s film that both K and I have memories of and -- well, okay. There's no reason to watch that film except for the sinking scene.

The Boy watched about half an hour; we made it to the halfway mark. We'll finish it Friday or Saturday -- tomorrow is a sleepover for the Boy. We'll have a house filled with kids.

Boys. Twelve-year-olds...

Wigilia 2024

Tuesday 24 December 2024 | 0 Comments

Going into Wigilia sick is no fun. K was ill during the 2011 Wigilia, and I had to make the barszcz as a result. It was probably not as good as K's.

Still worse than heading into Wigilia sick is going into it after an operation. The Girl's last Wigilia here as a full-time resident of our house and it was a struggle for her -- the whole day.

She stayed in her room for most of the day. "I'm saving my energy for tonight," she explained.

Evening came and she put some nice clothes on, came down stairs, and had dinner with us. After soup, she took a break in the living room, but she came back for the fish.

When it came time for the gifts, she lay on the couch and smiled as E passed out all the gifts she'd bought for everyone.

That was a bit of a role change: she's always been so thrilled to get the gifts (what kid isn't?), but tonight, she was more enjoying watching everyone else open her gifts.

The Girl is growing up. In fact, how long can we continue calling her "the Girl"? Isn't she legally an adult now? A woman?

But some things never change. Wigilia never changes. The same food every year. Perhaps a different fish -- trout this year. Or did we have trout last year as well?

And the same faces around the table, with one exception -- a new guest this year.

So if some things don't always change, if some things just stay the same seemingly forever, I guess the Girl can remain the Girl in our eyes indefinitely.

And what of the Boy this year? He retained his role as the gift distributor, but his voice is a little deeper now when he hands someone a gift.

But some things with the Boy don't change: he's still the most grateful gift-receiver.

Everyone, happy with their gifts, discussed whether to go to Mass tonight or tomorrow. They all decided on tomorrow, so we watched National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. The girls' pick. I hadn't seen it since I watched it in the theater, I don't think.

I checked the release date of the film: 1989. I was two years younger than the Girl is now. And like that, those thirty-five years disappeared.

The movie ended, and like that, yet another Wigilia was over. Everyone slowly went their own ways.

Another Wigilia.

Another little bit of perfection.

9 Years Ago

Wednesday 18 December 2024 | 0 Comments

Probably my favorite video with the Boy...

Tenderfoot

Tuesday 17 December 2024 | 0 Comments

2024 Christmas Concert

Thursday 12 December 2024 | 0 Comments

Monday Evening

Monday 09 December 2024 | 0 Comments

Will we ever be done with pierogi? Saturday, Sunday, and Monday -- three days of pierogi and uszki work. The upshot -- we have an entire freezer of Polish dumplings.

Our last batch was a distinctly non-Polish varietal: we had left-over turkey (not from Thanksgiving!) that we ground and mixed with mushrooms. They're good, just not very Polish. When we have them, I like to fry them just long enough to get a crispy finish and then make the lovely sauce you get with Chinese dumplings (soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil) and pretend we ordered out Chinese.

We closed the evening with a little math help. K does the math work with him; I do the English work.

Sunday Prep

Sunday 08 December 2024 | 0 Comments

We have spent most of the weekend getting ready for Christmas. The Boy, for example, has his first Christmas concert as a member of his school's wind ensemble. They don't wear the usual Maudlin Middle band outfits for that performance; the girls wear formal black dresses and the boys wear tuxedos. The Boy's tux pants are too long, so K hemmed them this morning.

Yesterday, I made the farsz for the pierogi and uszki we'll have during our Wigilia meal in a few weeks. Today, K made them. We have every cutting block and baking sheet covered in dumplings of various size in both freezers of the house.

How many times have we had these prep days? Well, truthfully, it's something I could count. It seems timeless and endless, but that's only a trick of the brain. We've been married twenty years now, so that seems to make counting simple. But of course, we spent Wigilia together several years before we were married. Twenty -two times now? Twenty-three?

Saturday

Saturday 07 December 2024 | 0 Comments

Elf

Wednesday 04 December 2024 | 0 Comments

Elf has made his yearly appearance, but this year, he seems just to be hanging out in the living room.

"I know it's you and mom!" the Boy explained last year. And the year before that.

"But still, it's fun, isn't it?"

But this year, there it sits. Not moving. Not hiding.

Another sign that everyone is growing up. The traditions of Christmas slowly fall away. The Girl used to write a letter to Santa and leave out a snack. I can't remember the last time she did that. The Boy searched for Elf. I can remember the last time he did that, but it seems to be just that -- the last time.

Should we resist this? Should we try to cling to these things even after the kids have outgrown them? I think not. It's time to move on, to grow up, to pick up new traditions.

The Elf
Mikołaj 2020