Gingerbread Through the Years

I told you I could get into the Christmas spirit. One of the ways I used to do that was to make gingerbread houses. I made my first one for my niece, Baby Mac, from a pattern printed in the paper and decorated with the only candy I could find in tiny Ktown.

The houses evolved through the years. I made my own house patterns and made a permanent base that I wired with a little light so the house could be lit up from the inside. I made other things, too, as you shall see.

1982

Baby Mac with the 1983 edition

Also 1983. I made the mice and their house for Baby Mac

1984 - I broke away from the original pattern.

Here comes Santa Claus! 1985

Gingerbread Nativity, 1985

A whole farm! 1986

A dog in the dog house. 1986

Lit from within. 1987

Da Bears. 1987

1988

Detail, 1988

Cottages for sale, 1989

1989

House #1, 1990

House #2, 1990

Nativity, 1990

1992

No house was made in 1991 and I think 1992 was the end of the line. From the looks of things, taking a year off did not help my housebuilding skills. The 1992 versions sort of look like Norman Bates meets a 70's cartoon. Maybe I'll try one this year and we can see if a 15 year (FIFTEEN YEARS??? REALLY??) hiatus has destroyed whatever talent I may have once possessed.

Genetic Defeciencies

Last night I dreamed that I was watching wild animals cavorting outside my window. I remember seeing several elk, one bear and lots and lots of reindeer. I remember being worried about the bear. One of these things is not like the other. One of these things could kill happily frolicking ruminants.

Is this dream a Christmas nudge? Get ready, Christmas is coming! Deck the halls! Fa, la, la! Tick tock!

Or am I the bear, ready to kill to reindeer thereby stopping Christmas from coming?

I'm afraid it may be the latter for I am missing the Christmas gene. I am also missing the shopping gene prevalent in all other females. I am genetically deficient.

Before Thanksgiving I got stuck in line in Hobby Lobby behind 2 women who knew each other. Each had a young son stuffed in the cart among garish artificial yuletide decorations. "Are you ready for Christmas?" one asked. "I think so" replied the other.

Having to wait in line was torture enough. Having to listen to THAT almost made my eyes bleed. It wasn't even Thanksgiving yet and these women were "ready for Christmas". What the hell does that mean anyway? Did you re-mortgage your house to buy crap to give everyone you know? Do you have all this crap wrapped in expensive paper (good-bye, trees) that will be admired for 2 seconds before ending up in a landfill? Do you have your Christmas goose stuffed a month and a half in advance? Is your house lit up like a landing strip?

Don't get me wrong. At Christmas I like to see Christmas trees lit up in living rooms. I enjoy giving gifts to people I love. But does it have to be so much? And does it have to go on for so long? And don't your brats have enough useless crap already?

Email Conversation

C left today. We took your vintage travel Scrabble game with us to play at the airport but we didn't even get a whole game in. Have you missed your travel Scrabble?

I have travel Scrabble?

She gave it to you for Christmas a few years ago. VINTAGE travel Scrabble that she probably fought tooth and nail for on Ebay. It's been in my table cloth drawer since.


man, am I excited now! It's like Christmas all over again.

Thanks for the laugh, kidlette!

MEAN MOMMY