The holidays begin

Christmas is coming. Today is December 7th, the second Sunday of Advent, and that means 18 days until Christmas -- but since it's 11:15 pm, it's more realistic to say there are 17 days until Christmas. It's coming, it's coming, it's coming.

I like our pre-Christmas schedule this year. Last year was awful -- I started my new job a week and a half before the big day and had to work on Christmas Eve AND the day after Christmas. This year is so much better. I teach this coming week -- twins are in school. The week of December 15th the twins will still be in school, and I will sit at home grading papers. Christmas week, they will be home and I will be home. It sounds perfect. I hope it works out that way.

I'm very fond of all the little Christmassy things that fill the weeks BEFORE. Concerts, parties. Cookie baking, decorating. Choosing and writing cards, receiving cards and packages. Peppermint-flavored everything. In the weeks and months leading up to Christmas, I never think I'm going to like it that much. Red and green seem like ugly colors that don't go well together. Why would anyone spend a lot of money and time on such a trite celebration? (Bah Humbug, in other words.) But when it comes, I revel in it.

This weekend we attended the Parade of Lights in Boulder -- someday the boys will be old enough to go to the huge Denver parade, but for now the Boulder one is just right. The parade started at 6:00 pm, and my plan was that we would leave the house a little after 5:30, catch the Skip bus downtown, and get there just before the parade started. These good plans were complicated by two little boys who are still just a little difficult to work with. "Put on your shoes and socks and coats -- it's time to go to the parade!" I said.

"I'm too tired!"

"My stomach hurts!"

"So, do you want to stay home with Dad and I'll take your brother?" (this comment addressed to the twin who claimed to have a stomach ache) Said twin promptly got up and started putting on his shoes.

We did several rounds of this. I could not tell who was really tired, who really had a stomach ache, who really wanted to go, who did not. For a while we tried the plan where we would drive instead of taking the bus. But the bus was favored.

Anyway, eventually we all walked to the bus stop -- at maybe 10 minutes to 6 -- and waited and waited and waited for a bus to come. The bus finally arrived a little after 6 pm and then crawled downtown in a mass of traffic. They'd blocked off Broadway close to the pedestrian mall and all the traffic was being routed over to 9th Street. "Next year, when I suggest we do this, could you remind me of why we might not want to?" I asked Rocket Boy.

However, even with that bad beginning, we had a fun evening. Fortunately it was not too cold -- probably in the upper 30s -- and there was no snow or ice. (Yes, snow is nice for the holidays, but it's also such a pain. I'm just fine with having a few weeks without it.) We had no idea how much of the parade we'd missed, but we enjoyed what we saw. Here are some of the floats.

The float in the photo below was sponsored by our garbage company.

There may have been several marching bands in the parade that we missed, but we did see the last one, the Fairview High School Knights.

"Look," I said, pointing as they marched past. "You could play an instrument someday and be in that band." (Fairview will probably be the boos' school and I never miss a chance to mention the possibility of future musical experiences.)

Kid B (in blue coat) stood way out in front of us, in order to catch any candy being thrown. Kid A was more circumspect. A nice police officer moved Kid B and some other kids back periodically, so that they wouldn't be run over by floats. "Look," I said to Kid A, who wants to be a policeman, "That could be your job someday."

After the parade was over, we walked down the mall and saw the courthouse all lit up. I told the boos that Denver does a much more impressive job of this, but they barely know what Denver is. Someday we'll go to the Denver parade. Someday.

We had a rather late dinner at the Cheesecake Factory (better to eat beforehand, as we did last year, but it just didn't work out that way this time). Notice my colossal salad in the foreground? I think I will be eating the leftovers all week.

We got a piece of peppermint bark cheesecake to take home. Highly recommended for peppermint addicts.

The bus took forever to arrive on the way home, too, but we made it. And yes, I'll probably want to do this again next year too.