We missed the lighting of the Christmas Tree (I have to talk to the city of Nashua about that. They PUBLISHED 5:40pm. Weren’t we sad when we walking down the street to get there on time and find that it was already lit. That is a LARGE tree!
We had better luck than I thought we would in finding “HoHo” — Oliver’s called Santa that as long as he’s been talking. My heart is just going to pool up in a sad little puddle when he starts calling him “Santa.” Oliver had made HoHo a picture of a snail and really wanted to give it to him last night. I kept trying to tell him that we may not actually run into HoHo and even if we did, he might not be able to take a picture if he was too busy. Well, didn’t we find the best HoHo who not only took the picture, but had a HUGE genuine smile on his face and said “I need to keep this treasure close to my heart”, folded the picture and put it in a pocket inside his vest. Fabulous HoHo — wish Oliver had stood there for about 10 seconds instead of thrusting the picture at him, then running away scared. Picture got a little funky around Oliver’s hat and front when I downloaded it – anyone know what I’m doing wrong??? Had to post it anyway so that everyone could see this Santa — his outfit was so great (too bad you guys can’t see the earring! HA!), beard and hair totally real, and a genuine interest in the kids. HE REALLY WAS SANTA!
Totally blurry horrid picture, but definitely the funniest part of the night. Oliver ran over to the harware storefront to warm himself by the fake fires on the other side of the glass. It didn’t work out all that well, but had me in fits of laughter. Worked out pretty well because we had lost our friends in the political craziness going on — they found us warming by the glass. For those of you who know Oliver — have you noticed that his grubby orange hat is still managing to survive the winter by hiding out under his winter hat?
After warming and getting back with our friends, we headed to where they were doing the ice sculptures. We’re sad we didn’t make it back down that way at the end of the night to see the sculpture finished. Shown in the picture below is only about 1/4 of the top of it (there were people everywhere so hard to see the whole thing.) It was CRAZY! 
Oliver was bummed our friends had found some hot cocoa while we were “lost” and he did not have any, so we picked some up for him and then headed to the library (where he was able to sit and drink it). 
In the library was this fabulous performer — Toby Tobias (STAGE NAME?!?!) He did some juggling, which is what Oliver wanted to see, but we also really enjoyed his singing and guitar. Played lots of kids’ music, but also Big Yellow Taxi, House at Pooh Corner, and ….hmmm, can’t remember, but made me feel kind of folky and like maybe my mum was a little more hippie than I though when I found I was one of the few in the room actually singing along. My mum really wasn’t hippie at all. Wish I could remember the third song that he played for the adults. oh well. And today, we started decorating the house. We were having a good time today listening to Christmas music (John Denver – yeah, there’s that folky-hippie thing again! — and John Denver and the Muppets — hey, I grew up in Colorado — you CANNOT live there and not like John Denver. And really, what’s better than the muppets?!?) Oliver was so cute when he put on his homemade reindeer antlers (his hands about 3 years ago), and then his “HOHO HAT!” that I felt the need to take some pictures. Oliver was a total goofball and I LOVE all these pictures, though I doubt most of my family would like them on the front of a Christmas card — so I made one JUST FOR ME. Love it.
Okay, I’ve reminisced enough for the night. Now, I must get back in holiday mode and finish up the decorating — or at least get the couple boxes that I’ve unpacked and are all over the living room in order. Then there’s the lunchbox notes for tomorrow, directions for class on Weds, finish up class for December, my 2008 calendar, and whatever else is on my non-existent to-do list. Maybe that should be my new year’s resolution — make a to-do list instead of dropping things?! Anyway, need me a big cup of GET-UP-AND-GO!
