Christmas from Florida

We are no longer the Twigs in the Sticks. Or the Twigs living in the city playing in the sticks, for that matter. Last September, we sold our condo in Cambridge, packed up and moved south. We are now the Twigs at the Beach.

We are currently living on a barrier island on the east coast of Florida. It is a very small town community. It is give or take a mile wide in most areas. Our little town does not even have a library. Everyone seems to know everyone. It is as you would expect beach life to be: a slower, more laid back pace with many barefooted people riding on bikes with surf boards under their arms. And everyone seems to wake up, and go to sleep with the sun. When we walk a night, it feels like that brief period in the city after last call, but before the sun, when you feel like you are the only one left, until a taxi cab whizzes by and reminds you that you are not alone. But here, it is eight at night, and the lights are out, the dogs are in, and there is nothing but you, the stars, and the sound of the ocean.

It has definitely been an adjustment. Probably the biggest adjustment has been the lack of seasons. The sun shines brightly everyday. The temperature seems to change only slightly. The landscape stays the same, and without fail, sprinklers run every night. Without the seasons, time stands still. It sometimes feels like being in a casino. It is really easy to lose track of time and become disoriented. Seasons mark change and new beginnings. But here nothing changes, and it is hard to know where things begin and end and where you are going. Christmas was especially strange. No matter how many Christmas songs I played, or how many decorations there were, I could not get myself into the Christmas spirit. Each time I saw a house lit with lights, my initial thought was not, ”Oh! Christmas is getting close,” but instead was, “Why do these people have Christmas stuff up during the summer?”

Christmas when it is 80 degrees out is definitely an interesting experience. People try to make up for the fact that there is no Jack Frost nipping at your nose and no dashing through the snow to be had. I have been collecting photos of some of my favorite ways Christmas is done in Florida. Some are clever things people have done, and some are simply just things you would only see in Florida.

And with that, I give you “Christmas from Florida.”

Frosty has to live inside with the AC on

Bill asked,"Why only *baby* Jesus?"

Christmas party... outside. It was actually t-shirt weather, but the only Christmas shirt I could find for Holden had long sleeves, so I thought he could deal for an afternoon... haha.

"Snow" at gymnastics

"Snow" on the ground

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Video of how kids in Florida go sledding:

Typical Day

This morning, while Holden ran around like the youth that he is (remember when mornings were fun?), I stumbled into the living room with my eyes half shut and was just about to sit down with my tea when I noticed that Mac looked a little off. "Mac? What's...." I quickly realized that he was about to vomit. Chanting "No, no no!" I tripped and fell on the floor as I scrambled to get to the front door.

"Blaah." Vomit nailed my carpet.

But Mac was going for a second round, so I reached the door, threw it open and sent Mac out. As he was heaving in the front lawn, I yelled at a curious Red to stay away from the pile of nastiness, scooped up Holden and strapped him into his highchair. I then grabbed Red, who was sniffing the vomit, and ordered him out of the room. I raced to the basement and grabbed my mini carpet cleaner. As I was running around, I noticed that Mac had moved on from vomiting to pooping. After I cleaned the carpet, I went outside and walked around the yard in my nightgown-- my hair a height only achieved by hours of head tossing in a night of restless sleep-- I pick up the poop and tossed it. Five minutes later, the carpet was cleaned, Mac's stomach was empty, Holden was once again running around house, and I was finally enjoying my tea. Just a typical morning in the Terwilliger household.

Little Project

A few weeks ago, I was driving down the street when I spotted some free stuff for kids on the side of the road. There was a Little Tikes table with two chairs, and two other little plastic chairs. All of it was filthy, covered in sticker residue, mismatched, and in colors that I didn't find too attractive. But all of the pieces were still solid and, while not aesthetically pleasing, were still usable. Then my mind flashed to a post I had read on "Ohdeedoh," one of my favorite design sites (I posted the link below). The post was about a couple who took a very worn and very faded plastic playhouse and car, and gave them a makeover with some paint. "Why not?" I thought.

I took the fact that everything fit perfectly in the back of my car as a sign that it was meant to be. I stored everything in my garage until I could find time to begin the project. In the meantime, I did some research on paint. I found that Krylon makes a spray paint for plastics that is ASTM approved for children's toys. I bought three cans from Home Depot for about $4 a can. Score! A "new" table set for $12!

When the day came to do the labor, I found that the most time consuming part was the cleaning! First, we don't have a hose hook-up, so I was making trips back and forth from the kitchen to the back porch with buckets of water. After realizing what horrible idea that was, I hauled everything upstairs and washed it in the bathtub. It actually worked really well (of course, I had at that point added the task of having to clean out the tub afterwards). That damn table with its bazillion little mildew filled holes took forever to scrub (about 30 minutes really, but it felt like forever). Totally cleaning time, including my trips to the porch, was about an hour and a half.

After everything dried, I was ready to paint. I decided to not paint the molded red chairs and drawers. They were in decent shape and I liked the color. So all that was left was the table and the two mismatched chairs. They were a piece of cake to paint. I did about three coats, let them dry for two days in my garage and voila! Holden has a fancy "new" table set.

The whole project was so much fun that I can see myself becoming obsessed. It combined a few of my favorite things: frugality, recycling, and creativity. So, if you see a lady scouring the trash for children's furniture and toys, it could very well be me.

* http://www.ohdeedoh.com/ohdeedoh/my-great-outdoors-2011/two-tremendous-little-tikes-makeovers-my-great-outdoors-149379

Before

After

I asked Holden to smile, but he said,"No." Haha.

The Worst

Holden was having difficulty walking. After I got him dressed, I put him down, but he immediately fell. Despite much effort, he couldn't get back up. I picked him up and stood him on his legs. He tried taking a step and fell down again. He wasn't crying out in pain, so I started panicking thinking that it must be neurological. But, as it turned out, the only person who needed to get their head checked was me. I had put both of his legs into the same pant leg.

Cheerios

All I want to do is eat dried Cheerios, but Holden's going,"I want my own bowl of Cheerios, but the Cheerios have to come out of your bowl. Okay, now I want to feed you Cheerios from your bowl. Those look good. I'm going to eat from your bowl. I need more Cheerios for my bowl. That's too much. Let's just dump it all back in your bowl. Okay, now please put more Cheerios in my bowl..."

Toilet Floss

Holden has successfully tossed his first household item into the toilet. As I watched the dental floss make its way into the bowl, I let out a desperate, "Noooooo!" Holden, with his eyes scrunched and jaw slightly dropped, gave me the most confused looked, as if to say, "Whaaaat is the big deal?! I see you drop stuff into this thing all the time!"

Mom. Mom. Mom.

I have my own little Stewie Griffin. The last week has been nothing but "Mom. Mom. Mom. Mooooom! Mom. Mom!" And a good majority of the time, he doesn't want anything more than my attention, so when I respond, he just smiles and moves on.

Yesterday, I was on the floor, with my back to him, picking up food he dropped, when he started,"Mom. Mom. Mom. Mom. MOM!" "Yes, Holden," I said with my back still to him. But he continued,"Mom. Mom. Mom. Mom. Mom." Next thing I know, he's crouched down, with his face right in mine, yelling,"MOM!!"

Apparently, he wanted to show me something, and I wasn't looking. But, you got my attention, kiddo. So, kuddos to that.