friday photos

Delayed photos from Christmas vacation.

Abe and Genghis enjoying the snow (note the Frisbee in the lower right corner).


Our attempt at a gingerbread house. Two seconds after I put it together.


Two minutes after I put it together.


Genghis enjoyed the mint M&Ms.



We re-purposed the wreckage.

friday photos - Christmas

I don't know if these are rightly called Friday Photos since I feature more prominently (in many ways...).

A few shots from Christmas.

Here's our Christmas Eve dinner with friends. It was a lovely evening. Genghis spent most of the night holding and sucking on an apple that one of the guests brought.


Modeling my 3 new blue scarves, each from different family members. I have already worn each of them and I love them all.


Genghis's favorite Christmas gift - a 4-pack of toothbrushes. He carried these around all morning and stored them in the back of his push train, where he only keeps things that are very special to him.


Modeling my trendy pregnancy outfit. Thanks a bunch to my mother-in-law for several wonderful wardrobe pieces for work and every day.


Genghis modeling an outfit from my parents. It's hard to see it in the photo, but I feel this is something you could only purchase if you lived in Wisconsin. Red fleece jumpsuit with plaid embroidered deer on the front.

Christmas greetings!

We were limited in our hard copies this year (maybe a good thing - this is pretty random).



Caroling, caroling now we go
Gongs send Christmas greetings
Caroling, caroling thru the snow
In Michigan still living.
Joyous Genghis's one and a half
Can say 2 letters of the alphabet
Ding, dong, Genghis Gong sends his Christmas greetings

Caroling, caroling thru the town
Gongs send Christmas greetings
Caroling, caroling up and down
Our family keeps growing
Mark ye well child #2
Still has 3 months in utero
Ding, dong, Baby Girl Gong sends her Christmas greetings

Caroling, caroling near and far
Erin goes consulting
For museums and libraries—the non profit sector
But any paycheck’s rewarding
Abe’s teched up with web development,
Cloud computing plus a new hair cut
Ding, dong, Parents Gong send their Christmas greetings.

Happy Holidays!
From the Gongs
2011

remember the time i had a blog

Yeah, I barely do, either.

No Friday photos today because I'm not at my home computer. Instead, I offer a collection of random thoughts for the weekend.

1. I made these bar cookies for a party this week. I don't usually like bar cookies but when Abe took the leftovers in to work I had to call him halfway through the day to request that he go snag a few to bring back home for me tonight. My one Christmas wish is that you try making them yourself before the end of the month.

2. While making said bar cookies and other party goodies on Wednesday night, I think I worked myself into pre-term labor. Not because I was working particularly hard in the kitchen but because I had just stuffed myself with delicious Chinese seafood and couldn't stop eating the cookie dough. I had to give up before everything was done and go to bed. The cramping had stopped by morning. Kublai seems just fine now.

3. I love the rain but have mixed feelings about it in December. It's too early to be complaining about weather, though, so I'll just leave it at that.

4. For a while Genghis had the habit of walking around the house saying "money, money, money, money". We weren't sure what he was really talking about but it was an endless source of amusement for us. About a week ago, he became an almost overnight expert in identifying "Dada" and "Mama". This has been very heartwarming for us. Then a few days ago, he started referring to me as "money mama". Abe encourages this. I don't know what to think.

friday photos

Still catching up from the holidays.

For his first Christmas, Genghis got to partake in my family's long-standing and ... unique ... tradition of wearing holiday-patterned bibs for Christmas Eve dinner. And when I say long-standing, I mean Abe and I both own our own adult-size bibs for the occasion. My favorite part is always when Mom forgets to take off her bib until she goes to bed that night.


Christmas morning gifts.




I could hardly take this photo, I was laughing so much.


A quiet moment with Grandma.

friday photos: a special edition

Merry Christmas! Hope you are having a warm and cozy holiday weekend.

This is the online version of our annual Christmas card. We weren't able to send print copies to everyone we would have liked to (any some of those print copies may still be in transit...). On the plus side, the digital version has linked references.

Without further ado, Merry Christmas from Abe, Erin & Genghis!







Dear Friends,

As our thought-provoking friends the Beach Boys have noted, "Christmas comes this time each year." And so we share with you our annual Christmas card. This year, it comes in 3 categories: Things you probably knew already, Things you might have already known, and Things you almost certainly did not know.

Probably Knew
Genghis (not his real name) Gong arrived August 1, healthy, happy and with a good set of lungs. Exactly 2 days before the arrival, Erin restructured her career by switching to part-time work from home. Abe is still serving in the singles ward Bishopric, and (at long last!) defended a plan for his dissertation.

Might Have Known
Abe and Erin are both blogging. Erin posts life musings and weekly baby photos at indelibleedibles.blogspot.com. Abe posts extremely technical political ramblings at lowlywonk.blogspot.com. Genghis (not a blogger) has mastered thumb-sucking and sleeping through the night. He has also rolled over more than 30 times.

Did Not Know
Abe has written software to explore more than 2 million web sites and conduct the first-ever representative survey of the political blogosphere. Results forthcoming. Erin is currently writing a 1 million dollar grant application and conducted the first-ever convenience sample of people's household cleaning preferences. Genghis turns light switches on and off with his toes.

But what we really hope you know is that we are happy to have you as friends and family. We hope you are well; keep in touch. Merry Christmas and a Happy 2011!

agree or disagree?

Venn Diagram explanation: In music, the intersection of schmaltz and kitsch contains only holiday music played on the radio. In other words, there is no song that is both schmaltzy and kitschy that is not also holiday music. (Note: the reverse is not necessarily true, that holiday music must be schmaltzy or kitschy.)

Some definitions and examples for thought:

Kitsch: deliberate use of elements that may be thought of as cultural icons while making cheap mass-produced objects that are unoriginal. Types of art that are aesthetically deficient and make creative gestures which merely imitate the superficial appearances of art through repeated conventions and formulae.

The 1970s turn out to be a great era for kitsch. I wasn't able to embed this Bee Gees video but I highly recommend watching it as a prime example.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpqqjU7u5Yc

Schmaltz: excessively sentimental or florid music or art or maudlin sentimentality.

As much as I love Ol' Blue Eyes, he is quintessential schmaltz.


And, at the intersection. Oh, so many to choose from. How about this?


Bonus points for the random slideshow accompanying Andy Williams.

a wassailing

Two weekends ago, Abe & I held our 3rd annual Christmas Wassail Open House. We make gallons and gallons of our secret wassail recipe, an assortment of appetizers, and fill our home with wonderful friends to share the evening.

Ideal as that may sound, every time I hear wassail, I think of a claymation Christmas program I saw when I was a kid. Until I looked it up on YouTube, I had not seen this program since I was about 11 years old. It has left me wondering why this particular scene is ingrained in my head, yet I can't remember something like the presidents of the United States. Actually, I think the reason I remember this scene is because the dinosaur-like creatures* are somewhat terrifying.

Here it is:


I also fondly remember the 3 kings camel scene:


And who doesn't like the California Raisins?


By the way, a much requested recipe at the Waffle - I mean, Wassail - party was the spinach artichoke dip. Credits go to my sister.

Spinach Artichoke Dip
1 can artichoke hearts, chopped
1 cup frozen chopped spinach
1 (8oz) package cream cheese, room temperature
1/4 c mayonnaise
1/4 c grated parmesan romano cheese
1 tsp crushed garlic, or 2 cloves fresh garlic
Salt and pepper to taste
Dash of cayenne pepper

Blend all ingredients together. Microwave or bake in oven until heated through.

Also, some photos of the party.







Our friend Evelyn brought a German Smoking Man, which is a traditional Christmas incense burner.

*Why dinosaurs, anyway?

don't knock it till you've watched it

A few weekends ago I almost witnessed a nervous breakdown when Abe & I were in Marshall's. The delightful strains of radio holiday music were just too much for my husband. It probably didn't help that I was shopping for a bra.

The Christmas music selection on the radio does somewhat sicken me. However, I have found new appreciation for many of the worst tunes since watching their music videos.

For example, I never knew what a jewel the music video for "Wonderful Christmastime" by Paul McCartney was.

Please, enjoy. Also note: 1) the choir of children singing their song (1:14) is frightening in the extreme, 2) the glowing orbs (1:27) are surely channeling the Logan's Run renewal chamber, 3) 3:03 - I'm sorry...what just happened, exactly?