The best Christmas ever!

Or at least this is what Ian declared as we "wrapped" up our Christmas presents yesterday morning. Of course all I was thinking was, thank God we found that damn Cars set on Amazon had it rushed here at the last minute, otherwise we would have been front runners...again...on the "Lamest Parents of 2010" list. Maybe you haven't heard of it but it's a feature they run every January in Parenting Magazine. We've been runner-ups every year since Ian was born. So unfortunate. But this year we saved ourselves. Whew.

Truth be told, I don't know that was the BEST Christmas ever...I mean, I probably got fewer presents than normal which makes it just okay right there, but it was far from bad for sure. In fact, come to think of it, okay, it actually was pretty great. A few weeks ago when we were in the middle of all the hustle and bustle and we also had a few other things going on, I told Jeff one day that I had come to a new realization that the holiday season no longer represented a carefree, extra joyous time of year; rather it had come to represent a certain amount of added stress and pressure with the extra "to-do" list at hand. I'm not sure when this feeling snuck up on me...I guess kind of like that "Christmas Five" many of us experience after the holidays. Just not sure how those extra lbs. "sneak up" on you. But I digress. Of course this thought made me a bit sad but still I thought it all the way up to the nonstop traffic and running around I did last Thursday to appointments and last minute errands with everyone else in the Portland metro area. Believe me, there could have been a whole rendition of Jingle Bells with the horns I heard a honkin' just trying to get out of the strip mall parking lot. Ugh. But then this wonderful thing happened....

The clock struck 6pm and while the Burplings were home all snuggled at the dinner table with their dad, all the stress of the season melted away and a lovely long weekend began that reminded me why this season really is so special. It started with a great night out with my next door neighbors (at least the women part of the equation) and turned into a fun afternoon cookie decorating party with school friends on Christmas Eve afternoon, which then turned into a wonderful family gathering of neighbors on Christmas Eve with presents exchanged a lots of laughter (kids and adults alike). Seeing the excitement of the kids as they tracked Santa online throughout the night was so fun. And, of course Ian was as excited as he's ever been about Santa's visit that night and what he would leave him.

When we got home Friday night, Ian proudly left Santa a plate of milk and cookies on the kitchen counter (which Jeff had no problem consuming approximately 2.6 seconds after Ian went to bed) and we all jumped in his bed and read "Twas the Night Before Christmas" together. The morning brought smiles to all our faces as Ian discovered his new Cars race track

exclaiming it was "exactly what he wanted!" Again...whew. Bullet dodged there. The lack of a Stars Wars Lego set was briefly noted but seemed to be quickly made up for by the spotting of none other than...wait for it....wait for it...The Pillow Pet!!! Yay!!!It's a Pillow! It's a Pet! It's a Pillow Pet!!

Now if you're wondering where our littlest Burpo was at this time, well, she was still snoozing so she kinda missed out on the whole Santa-presents-under-the-tree experience, but we're guessing she was okay with that. Really, as long as her oatmeal and banana were waiting for her as soon

as she awoke (and believe me, they were), we had achieved Star Parent status in her world. After breakfast we did a round robin of gift opening. (Elena only made it partially through before it was her nap time...geez that kid sleeps a lot.) Unlike last year where Ian tended to tear through presents as quickly as possible without really knowing - or caring - who it was from, he totally got the concept of "reading" and appreciating who had given him each gift and that we were all taking joy in seeing everyone take turns and open their gifts. It was so fun to see him light up with each new gift he opened, but at the same time see him help and be excited for the gifts Elena received...as well as Jeff and myself.

The rest of the day we just spent hanging out...Jeff and I cooked the equivalent of a Thanksgiving dinner while Ian played with several of his new toys and Elena...well, she

played some, slept some, ate a lot. And, of course smiled, and said "Bye bye!" and "Hi!" a lot in-between. As Jeff says, she doesn't say much yet but what she does say, she sure says really well! She really puts a lot of smiles on the faces of all three of us, that's for sure.

After we all retired from dinner in the "formal" dining room and we put Elena to bed for the night, we let Ian stay up late again and we all snuggled on the couch to watch one of Ian's presents from us: Toy Story 3. It's a cute and clever movie for kids and adults alike. Then Ian was off to bed and Jeff and I were left to reflect on how great the day was...and remind ourselves that yes, maybe these days the holidays mean a lot of stress - but the second you see that big smile on your child's face when they come down and see that Santa left them they toy they dreamed of having...well, it's all worth it.

Until I write again.

The unfairness of life

Last week when I "relaunched" Burpo Banter I talked about the family, and the woman in particular, who inspired me to start chronicling our life online again. Last night, Sarah Lopez passed away with her husband, Alan, by her side. Jeff believes that she was 39 - the same age that I am now. Alan will be raising their two boys, ages 8 and 10, alone now but as he has already noted, his angel Sarah will always be at his side.

Jeff and I spent some time tonight sitting together and just appreciating one another, and also reading again through some of Alan and Sarah's blog. We also looked through her Facebook page (she and Jeff were "friends") and saw the many wonderful messages and photos that friends and family had posted for - and of - Sarah. We "heard" Sarah's voice as she commented on old pictures from grade school and high school all the way up to pictures she posted of the present. And of course, we cried. While there are certainly both lovers and haters of the Facebook world we live in now, I can't imagine that Alan will be interested in taking down this page of memories and chronicle of the outpouring of love for Sarah anytime soon.

If there is a positive side to this story, it's that she is no longer suffering and can be at peace now. We sure are thankful for that, and sending thoughts of courage and support to Alan and his sons during this incredibly hard time for them.

Until I write again.

Santa saves the day - and it's not even Christmas!

Okay, so after I posted last night I was definitely feeling a little guilty about the whole not getting Ian either of the gifts he requested thing. But as I said, the Star Wars Legos were just out of the question right now (plus they all start at like age 7) and we really could not decipher what he was trying to tell us about this Cars thing. However, we had attempted to do another grilling in the car on the way home from the illegal Santa portrait session and got just enough information out of him that another Amazon search late last night pulled up what we believe he has been talking about: the Disney/Pixar Cars Playset Piston Cup 500 Track Set. (Just try and say that one five times fast!)

So, being the completely amazing parents that we are, we whipped out the credit card (so handy, those little cards are) and two seconds later we were selecting the "rush shipping" option so our son could have all his dreams come true on Christmas morning. And now Jeff gets to drive BACK to Costco (after he had made a special trip there just yesterday morning) to return what was supposed to be his big Santa present - a tabletop foosball game (actually air hockey was the original idea, but they were sold out) - so he can have his Disney/Pixar Cars Playset Piston Cup 500 Track Set instead. (PS - Do you think the person who named this product realized they used the word "set" twice in the title? Because it's kind of unnecessary, but that's just my opinion.)

I have to say, this Santa stuff is kind of exhausting.

Until I write again.

Sit on Santa's lap...check

Of course no holiday is complete without a visit to the local mall Santa where your kid gets to sit on "Santa's" lap and tell him about the iPod, iPhone and Wii Fit he wants for Christmas. Oh wait, maybe that's me. Anyway, a couple of years ago I was tipped off to a Santa at a large strip mall joint not too far from our house, which is, shall we say, a little less trafficked than Washington Square Mall. (See prior post for more information.) Maybe it's the Hello Kitty store...I mean, is Hello Kitty even still popular?

Still, with the big date fast approaching, we suspected that pretty much any Santa who is worth his weight in presents and reindeer would be quite popular today. So once again, we got strategic (we are a highly strategic group, we Burpos) and decided to head over shortly before Santa's quittin' time for the day. We strolled right up to a lovely woman who said, "Wow, you timed it just right...we've been running at least an hour-long line all day but now we're empty!" "Well lucky us!," I said as I peered over toward Santa who seemed to be stashing a clear bottle behind his chair. Probably some Perrier...I know Santa likes the fancy water.

So off Ian goes to share his biggest hopes and dreams for this Christmas with Santa - which consistently seem to be a Star Wars Lego set (not happening) and a "set" to go with his Cars stuff. Now, "Santa" may actually bring Ian a Cars "set" if "Santa" could ever figure out what he was talking about but since "Santa" (nor Mrs. "Santa") could not and have reason to believe that what he wants might only exist in his head, well, he's probably not getting that either. Of course he's getting plenty of other things - including two other Lego sets that do not feature Lego people shooting one another. (Besides, he has no real clue what Star Wars even is - he just heard about it from someone at school. This is why we need to get him that bubble we keep talking about.)

Truth be told, I hope he's not bummed out on Christmas morning when neither of these items appears under the tree because on the way home when we were asking him exactly what he and Santa conversed about up there, he said he told Santa that he wants these two particular items and "that's all I want for Christmas. Just those two things." Hmmm...well what about that damn "It's a Pillow! It's a Pet! It's a Pillow Pet!" I practically tackled someone for during the gift exchange at Jeff's holiday party and then had to lay down 20 smackers for one at Fred Meyer when they wouldn't give it up because apparently their kid wanted one, too??

Anyway, suffice it to say that all went very well with the Santa visit. Except Elena, who we quickly gathered wasn't into the large man in the red suit yet when she immediately started screaming bloody murder as soon as Jeff sat her down on Santa's other knee next to Ian. Of course it was actually kind of funny but just so as not to be contacted by CPS tomorrow, I suggested to Jeff that he scoop her back up and we just go ahead and take a pass on bro/sis Santa pic this year. Ian did take a couple of cute pictures with Santa, which the lovely woman was more than happy to sell us at the low, low price of $16.95 per shot - but I figured, why do that when I had slipped the ole' Canon PowerShot out of my coat pocket while the lovely woman was occupied at her camera. With that said, here's our official Illegal Mall Santa Shot of 2010. Enjoy!

Until I write again.

Justin Bieber does Washington Square Mall

Or at least that was the only explanation I could think of for the sheer and utter chaos I encountered when I so innocently decided to head out yesterday afternoon to wrap up a little Christmas shopping. Okay, either that or apparently a few other people had the same exact idea I did. Go figure.

I knew the second I entered the mall vicinity that I had made a bad decision. A very bad decision. But when it comes to the mall and shopping, I can not be intimidated. Even if there were 50 gazillion people whose job it was to try and intimidate me. Strategy #1: Instead of waiting in the line of about 156 cars trying to get to the spot next to the main door with my name on it, I immediately zipped into a vacated spot out in the North Forty. Good thing I had my comfy Franco Sarto Bocca flats on. (Love those shoes.) Strategy #2: No browsing allowed. Attack my mission with purpose. And knock down any 13, 15 or 17 year old who might be in the way. A tall order, indeed.

Okay, well here's where strategy ends and honesty begins. Of course I browsed!! But it was very minimal. I wasn't even going to go into Nordstrom at all because it wasn't high on the list of needs for the day but that just seemed like a crime so I kept it to about 10 minutes right at the end, which might be a personal record. I really did stay focused for the most part and within a couple of hours had achieved all of my shopping goals.

I could have kept it even shorter if I hadn't made a detour into a certain store for a large dose of slick marketing by that company that specializes in slick marketing. I won't name names but they sell computers (which I happen to be in the market for) along with a few other cool gadgets (some start with "i") and their logo is a piece of yummy fruit that can be red, green or yellow. And that's all I'm going to say about that for now. But stay tuned for potentially more on one of the great debates of our times...Mac or PC?

On tap today: Target with Ian so he can pick out a gift to give Elena for Christmas. And of course when I say "pick out," I mean attempt to strategically steer him toward the musical piano toy I've already identified for her. (Which I believe is the same one their Cousin Ellie has and loves, which means that we already have two-year-old validation that it's a great gift, so there you go.)

Until I write again. (And until then, I strongly recommend that you not go within five miles of a mall - or any shopping area - if you can avoid it.)

I'm baaack...

Well, some may have noticed (or not) that it's been a while since I've posted to the ole' Burpo Banter. In fact, so long that we had another child and she's already turned one! Elena is her name, in case you're wondering - and you may hear something else about her from time to time.

Believe it or not, I've thought a lot about "relaunching" the blog over the past three to 12 months but thinking is clearly about as far as it got. So why now? Why on December 17, 2010? Well, I read another family blog this week that greatly inspired me. You see, a college friend of Jeff's met and married the love of his life while they were at Rice University. They had two beautiful boys and generally, life was good until she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2006. That's when, together, they embarked on a long journey of hope. Hope for a cure. Hope that the cancer wouldn't spread. (It did.) Hope that some treatment would work. (It didn't.) After many hours of chemo and many days spent in and out of the hospital over the past several years while they maintained as much courage and positive attitude as they could, this week they learned that they have run out of options and as Jeff's friend puts it, they are now focused on hope of a different kind: hope that he can keep his soul mate as comfortable as possible until the end and that their family can cherish their remaining days together.

Jeff - and I through him - have been following this painful story through the magic of Facebook, but also through a beautiful blog that they have chosen to share with loved ones...and the world, really. It so eloquently chronicles their path through this difficult time, yet also shows the amazing courage of all four of them as in between updates on chemo and other treatments, you see pictures of smiling boys with their parents on holidays, birthdays, their first day of school, at a basketball game, on a camping trip...as if they were living the life of any "normal" family. And somehow, part of what was amazing about the blog was that they started it before she was ever sick - so in the beginning it's just like this one, a report on their day-to-day life until one day they had the rug pulled out from under them and life has never been the same. Over the past week, if you put aside the sheer heartache Jeff and I both feel over the situation they are facing, I have so appreciated being able to read their stories because it has been like a gift - in what has frankly not been the best of years for Jeff and I - of greater appreciation for all that we do have.

So, in the end that is what made me finally decide to stop thinking about it and start writing about it...again. I have told myself that to really keep this up, I need to focus on keeping things short and sweet. Ha - we'll see! But for now, I thought I'd leave you with a quote from a post the day Jeff's friend realized that things really weren't looking good for his wife and said this to his older 10-year-old son, because I think that it's really applicable to all of us:

"...time may be short and very precious. What's important is that we stay connected to the present - today we have each other, today we can give hugs and share smiles and love."

Until I write again.