Dear Santa: Boyfriend Wanted

Well, the Christmas season is here and even though I am busy with papers and seminars and end of term craziness, I have found a little time to get myself into the holiday spirit with Christmas carols and twinkling strands of warm white lights.  As my Christmas list this year is somewhat difficult for Santa’s elves to fabricate in the shop - and isn't listed under Amazon’s super saver shipping items - I figured I would help the old guy out and reduce his pre-Christmas Day work load (and thus increase the chance of wish granting) by placing the outsourcing advertisement myself.

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Boyfriend Wanted
Position has high potential for future promotion.

Must love good food,
remote global destinations,
barefoot kitchen dancing,
Sunday afternoon naps,
and the scent of vanilla.

No particular height, build, ethnicity,
or social/political affiliation required,
but would prefer a kind and considerate
actively God-loving man
between the ages of 28-38.

Personalities similar to
Dick van Dyke,
Bill Cosby,
and Donald O’Conner
are highly encouraged
but others will not be discriminated.

Good dancing skills a plus;
equal consideration will be given for
a willingness to learn,
not taking yourself too seriously,
and the ability to make me laugh in the process.

                                                   Ill-tempers,

stingy tippers,
inconstants,
and temporary thrill seekers
need not bother to apply.

Must be okay with short hair,
companionable silences,
witty banter (aka sarcasm),
smiling while kissing,
and small but meaningful expressions of joy.

Should be willing to accept that future companion
has occasional insecurities,
possesses the ability to change when necessary,
is loyal to a fault,
and will love you beyond all reason.

Likes to attend ballets, kiddy movies, and county fairs,
wears classic heels and fancy dresses,
Keds, jeans and white t-shirts,
and considers make-up an enhancing accessory
but not a necessity.

  Resemblances of
Mary Poppins,
Martha Stewart,
Audrey Hepburn,
and McGuyver have been alluded to.
(Although she doubts the validity of these claims.)

Has a tendency to obsess over birthdays,
a fear of centipedes,
an intense dislike of fennel,
is attracted to anything red,
and listens to Christmas music year round.

You will be subject to experimental recipes,
shower singing,
dinner party hosting,
outbursts of random sidewalk skipping,
and lots of physical affection.

All that’s wanted are forehead kisses,
someone to share experiences with,
a willingness to try,
honesty,
and the opportunity to make your heart smile.

You may have to initially convince
and occasionally remind her
that you really do love her too.

          Address all applications ℅ St. Nicholas, Santa’s Workshop, North Pole. Please post no later 

than December 20th, as he will need time to conduct all relevant Naughty or Nice checks 

and arrange for under the tree delivery by December 25th.

P.S. Don’t despair if you’re not chosen this time around, as experience shows this position may be available 
again in future (although all concerned parties are hoping it won’t be).

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

(*credit for inspiration must be given to a stumbled upon post by Matthew Gray Gubler.)

Thanksgiving (sort of)

I LOVE Thanksgiving.  It is my favorite holiday. I love the cooking, the prepping, the food, the eating. I love spending the day doing nothing but visiting with family and friends and new people that come along.  I love eating leftovers for days afterward. I love it's simplicity: cook a lot of food, eat a lot of food, share it with a lot of people you love, make a lot of people happy.

This year, living in a country devoid of Thanksgiving (!) I was to supposed to spend the day attending class debates and lectures and working on papers. Instead, by an un/fortunate(?) twist of fate I get to spend it in bed with the flu. (Dear God, this is not what I meant when I said I'd rather spend the holiday at home.) Although I must say, it has helped to ease the longing for a full Thanksgiving meal.

This is my first non-Thanksgiving Thanksgiving in, well, my entire 28 years.  My childhood was filled with large and loving holiday meals at my various grandparents homes (I have an exceptionally large extended family - the 'mangrove forest' as I like to refer to it), some with two or three turkeys, dozens of pies, and a few hundred family members and friends rotating in and out of the doors.  I brought the tradition to Boston with me, and have hosted/co-hosted a dinner every year for the last five years.  The first year there was just three of us, and a lot of leftovers (as I insisted on cooking the traditional Thanksgiving menu in it's entirety).  It grew over time and last year there were around fifty - we had to borrow tables and chairs from the church and rearrange all the furniture.  It was wonderful.

Don't feel too badly for me this year.  While I'm spending today sipping broth and eating soda crackers, my co-eds have given me the opportunity to host a traditional Thanksgiving Dinner the first week of December, after all the craziness of term paper and assignment deadlines has passed.  Most of them have never had a true American Thanksgiving meal and I'm very excited to share my favorite holiday with them, even if it's not on a Thursday in November.

Speaking of thanksgiving - in the voicing your gratitude sense - here are a few snapshots of life here in the UK, an experience that I am every day grateful for and which wouldn't be possible without the support of my loving family and friends.

Visitors, a good English fry up, and packages full of goodies from family and friends.

My little kitchen, cookbooks, a basil plant, comfort food on a rainy day, and delightful things like Essence of Rose Water.

My little flat, with its high ceilings, carved crown moldings, and big bright windows.

Cycling through Bushy Park, St. Marks Church across the street, sunsets, and the tree outside my window.

The opportunity to study amazing, interesting, and important things with wonderful people.

Though Poppies Grow

Remembrance Day ~ Armistice Day ~ Veteran's Day

Today I wore a Poppy.

In Flanders Fields

   

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,

   That mark our place; and in the sky

   The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

   Loved and were loved, and now we lie

         In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

   The torch; be yours to hold it high.

   If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

         In Flanders fields.

-Lietenant Colonal John McCrae

*Working on my next update.  This took precedence.