Happy Festivus, everyone!
As is tradition on this day, I will air some grievances.
To be honest, I don’t really have many grievances, but I do have a grievance-adjacent issue. It is a truth universally acknowledged that a house in possession of a furnace will have an issue with that furnace that only surfaces on the coldest day of the year. And so it was on Monday morning, when the windchill was minus 40, I noticed that the temperature in the house was below that at which the thermostat was set at, and the furnace was not running. The temperature started to drop fairly rapidly, which brings us to the Feats of Strength portion of Festivus. For me, it was less of a feat of physical strength, than mental.
I went down to the furnace room and shone a flashlight on the furnace, the heating equivalent of kicking tires. I noticed a sticker on the furnace with troubleshooting steps, starting with changing the furnace filter and ending with resetting the furnace by flipping the emergency switch. I did each of the steps, ending with the reset button. How many things in this world are fixed by just turning them off, and then turning them back on again? It worked for this girl! The furnace whooshed into action, and the house warmed up to its typical 20 degrees. I congratulated myself, put on several layers, and took Rex for a walk.
When we returned an hour later, the furnace had stopped and the house had cooled down a couple of degrees. I restarted the furnace again, considered my new full-time job of the modern day equivalent of stoking the fire, and called to leave a message with Tony the Hot Plumber, who has been my plumbing-related eye-candy for over a decade. It’s not a chore by any means to call Tony, but I figured that given the weather, it could be a day or maybe even a few days before he could get back to me. “This is like your Superbowl!” I said cheerfully in the message, suggesting that maybe there was a problem with the sensor since the actual furnace seemed to work.
Only a couple of hours later, I got a call from Tony. He had just finished a job, and could be at my house in half an hour!
I quickly zoomed around the house, gathering cash – it’s his preferred method of payment – and then I put together a cute little box of Christmas treats and applied lipstick. Don’t judge! You would do the same.
It WAS a problem with the sensor – am I about to embark on a new career as a heating and plumbing clairvoyant? – and it was easily fixed. “I see you changed the furnace filter,” Tony said, “And you even put it in the right way!” Written down, it sounds patronizing, but really it was said in a congratulatory and encouraging tone, albeit one that was perhaps pleasantly surprised. I am now eternally grateful for a reliable furnace, as well as having a reliable (and attractive) plumber. I was especially happy as the weather got worse over the next couple of days.
All right, grievances – such as they are – have been aired, feats of strength shown, it’s time to move on! This is a very long, roundabout introduction to the last Favourite Things of 2022. I wanted to show you some of my favourite holiday-related items to round off the year.
Nicole’s Favourite Things: The “It’s Festivus For The Rest Of Us” Edition
Gnome Sweet Gnome
I love gnomes at all times of the year, but I think they are especially fun during the holidays. Salvadore is enjoying hanging out in what I am calling Gnome Corner, with his friends Knightley, Elton, and Bingley, just in case you weren’t yet sure about one of my favourite authors.
Not to worry, Gaston is festively hanging out in the ball pit.
God, remember ball pits? There was one at the Beaners where my kids got their hair cut when they were small, and I recall one of my sons saying “Hey, my sock is all wet!” I looked over to see a small child in the ball pit with him look suddenly sheepish. Shudder. I am glad those days are in my rearview mirror.
My new tree gnomes are hanging out happily.
Pining For Christmas
Many years ago – at least twenty, but it might be more – I was visiting my in-laws and, while walking on their property, saw many beautiful, huge pine cones on the ground. I gathered a large number of them, intending to make a Christmas craft, temporarily forgetting that I have absolutely no craft-making qualities. Fortunately I remembered this aspect of myself before the pine cones became a pile of hot glue and shards. Instead of doing something that would only end in tears, every year I arrange the pine cones in a bowl and on various flat surfaces around the house – see Gaston’s photo, above.
Run, Run, As Fast As You Can
Speaking of my lack of craftiness, last Friday the boys and I engaged in our annual tradition of decorating gingerbread people. As always, I stuck with my assembly line of mini M&Ms and frosting tubes to make plates full of smiling, tri-buttoned people while the boys got creative.
My younger son concentrated on making the gingerbread equivalent of AEW wrestlers, complete with bladed foreheads – maybe don’t look that up – and a Walter White.
My older son created a Joe Biden and a Barry Bee, among others.
One of those “others” was the mom from Mean Girls, complete with Juicy tracksuit, for his own Cool Mom.
I laughingly suggested that I should get myself a Juicy tracksuit, and my younger son’s response was Not if you want to remain the Cool Mom. As if I would wear a pink tracksuit. I guess my Cool Mom status still stands.
Mint Squares
Mint chocolate is the festive season’s pumpkin spice: people either love it and anticipate it with excitement, or they don’t. I am a Love It person; it’s probably my favourite sweet flavour combination. To that end, years ago I created these vegan mint squares and they have been a Christmas staple ever since.
I also love reading my old recipes for the commentary; this one has a reference to Richard Scarry and Aunty Ant.
Feliz Navidad
Back in 1997, I was on a girls’ trip to Mexico, and I happened on a little shop that had all sorts of little knick-knacks, and I fell in love with these little creche figurines. The boys used to play with them when we would set up the creche every year, and Rex has wagged a few cows and sheep out of the barn, which is a testament to their fortitude (maybe they are celebrating Festivus, with feats of strength?).
Christmas Vacation
I love the movie Christmas Vacation with all my heart; we watch it every year and this year we were joined my my husband’s cousin and her husband, who also love it. My husband prepared for it by wearing this:
In a massive fail, I had worn mine to exercise in that morning, so it was in the wash:
The fact that we have these shirts represents my husband’s great love; he doesn’t even really like that movie, but he puts up with my obsession. He helped put together this puzzle:
Maybe he feels that the exterior lighting hits a bit too close to home.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, my friends. I know this year is fraught with weather concerns and storms, and I hope you are all safe and warm and surrounded by love. xo
Oh that floppy Rex in front of the beautiful tree! Your “cool mom” cookie! Salvadore and his bros! Pre-plumber lipstick! I’m just smiling so big now and I know I’ll be chuckling over bits and pieces of this post till I read your next one, Nicole. Hope everyone is recovered and healthy and that your Christmas makes even more happy and fun memories. XOXO
P.S. I’m so glad your candy cane decorations face the “right” way. 😛
RIGHT? I thought about that too. WHAT KIND OF A PERSON FACES THEM THE OTHER WAY!
Hot Tony and a Festivus heating miracle – huzzah! I am sure he appreciated the lipstick as well, Nicole.
Your gnome collection is amazing and I love each of them with their little personalities! And how wonderful that your boys continue to decorate the gingerbread people. What a fun tradition.
Merry, merry warm and cozy Christmas to you and your family! xxoo
I so appreciated this post, not just because it was delightful, but because it gave me an excuse to text my friend. (She and I share a love of Seinfeld.) And she responded, which was so gratifying! I am now watching the Festival episode. Such a good one!
FESTIVUS, autocorrect! Get it together!
Oh Suzanne!!! I’m so happy to hear this!
It was too cold for a low-cut top, so…
Merry Christmas, Suzanne!!
I’m glad you got your heating fixed. In your neck of the woods, that could turn into a situation quickly.
I will be decorating gingerbread with my kids, too, but later than we thought as our trip to Blackwater was delayed a day by weather. I thought about making them during our bonus day at home (today), but decided it’s more fun to do it at the cabin, even if it’s on or after Christmas.
Safe travels, my friend!
Ah yes, the days of the ball pits, the screams of excitement, the fragrance of stale urine.
I so love that your fave Christmas movie is Christmas Vacation and not, as one might gather from your sweet and gracious demeanour, It’s a Wonderful Life or something (no judgment, we watch Office Christmas Party every year).
We are decorating the tree tonight because Eve got home from university so late, and it’s stressing me out a little, but whatever, my family is here and everything is as it should be.
OMG Office Christmas Party! Must watch that. It’s a Wonderful Life is my mom’s favourite movie and I can’t get through it. I apparently need someone having a complete meltdown to be invested in a movie.
I LOVE YOUR SHIRTS.
Everyone in the Midwest of the United States is whining because it is -4 degrees Fahrenheit (give or take) here. I’m taking a screenshot of your temperature to demonstrate how much colder it could be.
Winter does not bother me. I used to hate it until I began taking serotonin and magnesium. It was a game changer.
Have a wonderful Christmas, Nicole! 😘
I hear you! I used to hate it too but then I was like, it’s winter for at least 6 months here, that’s half my life. Now I just wear more clothes. Game changer!
Between you keeping your furnace limping along in so cold so cold weather and Suzanne fixing her dishwasher all by herself, I’m starting to think that I need to step up my appliance game. Super women all around!
I had big plans for baking cookies, but so far no cookies have been baked. Maybe I’ll muster the fortitude to do so tomorrow and I’ll bring them along on Christmas Day. My goal is to make the spiced chocolate chip cookies, buckeyes, and one of molasses/sugar/plain chocolate chip (my husband’s choice). But now that I type all that out, it seems ambitious.
Rex’s nonchalance makes me so happy. He doesn’t care that’s it’s frigid and that you’re singlehandedly keeping him warm. He’s just a sleep boy.
I know, right? We are women, hear us roar!!
Merry Christmas!
A compliment from a repair guy is something to be treasured. My husband has done a number of creative temporary fixes to get us by until someone could come out, and I can tell you that he loves getting compliments for it and so should you.
Bakeoff 2022 is underway over here. I didn’t make mint brownies this year, and after seeing yours I’m second guessing myself.
I love the puzzle and your good boy under the tree.
Oooh but Birchy, they aren’t brownies, they are like frozen squares? With an icy minty filling? SO GOOD.
Enjoy your baking!!
Test comment… last one did not stick!
Having a combo plumber and HVAC person on speed dial is a thing of beauty! My parents owned an electrical and HVAC company for many years. We had a business line that rang in our house. I trained myself to sleep through the ring that line made when I was a teen. I do not know why they didn’t switch to using an answering machine sooner – that is the current set up now that my BIL owns the business. Things go wrong at the absolute worst times! Now we are at the mercy of a large HVAC company but we have an annual service plan with them so we are prioritized when things go wrong. It’s pretty horrible here but not as bad as what you are experiencing!!
I love your cookies! The funny ones are the best!! But what a fun tradition for you and your big kids!! I love the relationship you have with them. It’s what I aspire to have some day!
My grievance is being cooped up inside with small children. I can’t wait to get out of the house tomorrow. Paul is easy to entertain. Taco isn’t and he is soooo surly. His new favorite phrase is ‘go away!’ Complete with hand motions to push us away. He clearly had a lot of grievances to express.
I hope you have a wonderful Christmas that is full of cheer!!
Oh god yes, being cooped up in the cold with little ones is not fun at all.
Thanks, the cookies are very fun! I have always just let them do whatever they wanted with their cookies, and now it’s a weird tradition. And here’s the thing: mine are the only ones people eat, the other ones are too sweet with all the icing!!
I once had a boyfriend who could recite Clark’s entire rant when he gets the jelly of the month club. He’s a priest now. Not sure how these two things are related.
I don’t know how those two are related either but they seem like they could be the thesis of a short story! That’s amazing!!!
Merry Christmas, Nicole!! I haven’t seen Christmas Vacation in years…think I’ll make a point to watch that tonight.
It cracks me up every time I see it!
Oh, I love gnomes, too! They work so well with your decor! And, kudos on that repair reconnaissance. That compliment must have felt like the best gold star!
Thanks Lindsay! I was impressed with myself!
The gnomes are all so cute. And those gingerbread!!!
Also, “Hey, my sock is all wet!” made me laugh out loud. As a mother with young kids who used to love to play in ball pits, this hit very close to home.
Happy Festivus!
Right? Ewwww!
Ewww, ball pits. I dread them. Your furnace story made me laugh, it is so true about it dying on the coldest day of the year. I admit to having a pink ‘juicy’ velour track suit, I thought it was the best. Good thing my oldest was only a baby at the time. We watched Seinfeld last night. Fun to watch with the kids getting the jokes! Merry Christmas!
There’s so much that happens in that episode! It’s so fun!
I love it all, but of course, your collection of gnomes is the highlight for me! Your gingerbread cookies are awesome too. Wishing you a wonderful Christmas!
Of course you would love the gnomes the most! Merry Christmas Michelle!
Merry Christmas, and congrats on the furnace problem fixing/detecting, well done to you!
Thank you! I’m very pleased! Merry Christmas!
I’m a Christmas Vacation fangirl myself and I’m fact quote it year round. “Fixed the newel post!” whenever something stupid happens as regards the house. “Are you serious Clark?” whenever someone is credulous. “Bend over and I’ll show ya” when in need of sassy repartee. Etc. It’s the gift that keeps on giving. (Even more so than the jelly of the month club!)
OMG, love all three of those! Also, “I don’t want to spend the holidays dead!” is a winner. “I don’t know what to say except it’s Christmas, and we’re all in misery.”
Merry Christmas Nicole! As you may know I’m a big Festivus fan as well. Your story about the furnace is both hilarious and horrifying- it’s a little too cold for a furnace fail.
I like your gingerbread cookies. Well, I especially like your sons’. We decorated cookies too- it’s hard to actually make them look good. The concept never matches the finished product, somehow.
I looked at the recipe for the vegan mint squares and then from there went to the recipe for the peppermint icebox cookies, and I think I’m going to make those this week. I haven’t made anything pepperminty this year yet, and it’s still cookie season (until New Years!)
I hope you’re having a wonderful day!
Merry Christmas! I hope you like my minty recipes!
I’m sorry I’m seeing this post late. I was in the throws of GETTING-IT-ALL-DONE and it was not always pretty, but I paced myself, delegated and we managed. Hooray.
I am dying laughing at your furnace story. Putting on lipstick, don’t judge. Hee hee. Your ability to assess that it was a sensor issue . . . well, done YOU.
I love the gnomes and the gingerbread people. Glad the boys steered you away from a Juicy track suit. Mostly, I’m glad that you are warm and cozy inside your home because BABY, IT’S COLD OUTSIDE!
Yay, I’m so glad you got everything done that you wanted to (I hope you can rest now!)
Oh, what the worst possible time for the furnace to fail! I am so glad your hot plumber was able to get it fixed. Wear that lipstick, girl!
I loooove peppermint everything. The worst thing to happen to me this Christmas season is that Starbucks has run out of peppermint syrup. !!!!!!!!! AT CHRISTMASTIME???? I finally found a Starbucks that had peppermint mochas available, and it was the delight of my December so far. (Also I realize this is a very petty grievance.)
STARBUCKS RAN OUT OF PEPPERMINT SYRUP??? WHAT!
Didn’t Seinfeld and Friends give us some good nuggets of wisdom to use throughout our lives?
I love that you kinda fixed your furnace AND you realized what the issue is. I believe Hot Tony will want to employ you as his apprentice. BTW, we need a photo of Hot Tony.
Of course your boys made funny gingerbread cookies, what did you expect?
I hope your Christmas was full of all the joy.
“Hey, how YOU doin?” – me, to Hot Tony
I share your love for Mint Chocolate and Christmas Vacation (although I don’t have shirts – might have to remedy that).
So proud of you for “temporarily fixing” the furnace AND getting to see the HOT PLUMBER and receiving praise. Wow, that’s like a Christmas present in itself.
Truly, a Christmas gift!