Monday, December 04, 2006

Advent for Atheists (or, Dining Room Saga II)

I am not getting involved with the dining room, except for choosing colors.

In case it is not clear, I think December is sufficiently full absent any major projects, especially major projects that have already waited at least a decade for anyone to embark upon them anyway. I was thinking that just cleaning up and decorating the house and planning the annual meal extravaganza and interacting with our kids, plus taking time for a couple of movies and concerts, would constitute a full plate for one little holiday month.

As far as the colors are concerned, I am hoping it will look something like this blog. I am thinking about the colors of the Maine coast and the Algonquin wilderness. Two of the little jars on the kitchen counters have Yarmouth Blue and Nantucket Fog as names ~ maybe I will choose on that basis alone.

In the meantime, I have to say I got a chuckle out of QG's thought that we couldn't do Christmas if the dining room were torn up. We live in the City of Homes Under Demolition. A couple of years ago there was a full page spread in the New York Times Home section about a woman who was writing books and making LOTS OF MONEY off the fact that her house was not "done." "Most people wouldn't put up with this," she said. "The exposed ceiling, the wall knocked down to studs and lathe, the second floor leak down the newly painted first floor room."

I laughed hysterically as I called all my friends. "We could be RICH," I said. "There are people who think the way we live is noteworthy. Unusual, even. They pay good money to read about it. Money that could go to contractors."

So I'm probably going with the idea that someone at work floated this morning. "Bare plaster walls?" she said. "Tell everyone it's a Tuscan villa."

OK, Paul. I need to find those Italian cooking babes you wrote about, Rachel and Francesca. I'm thinking that this Christmas dinner will be one for the record books. We all know I can't cook, but I bet I can persuade my friends to bring stuff that matches the Tuscan walls. Lots of Italian food and lots of Italian wine.

And so far it seems that we are inviting atheists who don't celebrate Christmas, Jews who can't celebrate Christmas, members of the Church of Christ who won't celebrate Christmas, secular Christians who celebrate Frosty and Santa as Christmas . . . OK, par for the course. Bring on the wine. It all sounds exactly like the kind of gathering Jesus would attend.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I can relate to this. Because I am a tad obsessive (OK, my friends would say more than a tad!), I make myself all sorts of notes each year after our Christmas party. Things for me to remember for the next year, like "6 lbs. mozzarella cheese is enough," or "new spicy shrimp recipe a big hit." One note I made a few years ago, after we had new floors installed in our dining room THE DAY BEFORE our party, was "Don't start any major projects the week of the party!!"

Anonymous said...

I love it Robin! Bring on the wine and everything will taste good. When is dinner served? I'm a great cook; what can I bring? For the record, we C of C folks are BIG on Frosty and Santa. :)Leenora

Lisa :-] said...

We have been tearing apart the houses we've lived in since the first house we bought in 1978. I don't think the holidays would be the same without the challenge of entertaining around some half-done home improvement project. In our first house, it was the kitchen--we tore the wallboard off the wall between the kitchen and the living room, and it stayed that way for months, because we were afraid to cut out the studs because we didn't know how to tell if it was a load-bearing wall. Last year, it was my guest bathroom, which we finally finished in the spring. I don't live in a hundred-year-old house, but I am a compulsive home improver. My guests are used to it.

Paul said...

Francesca??? Blasphemy!!! It's Giada!!! Giiiaaaa-daaaaaa...Giiiaaaa-daaaaa...