Thursday 13

Thirteen Memories Hanging on Our Christmas Tree 1. Our Dalmatian family. When MJ was born, my friend Stephanie gave us a set of three Dalmatian figurines: Pongo, Perdita, and a puppy. I later augmented that set with an additional puppy to represent Chloe. Fast forward a few years, and Frank's sister Judy sent us a Dalmatian ornament set with Cruella, Pongo, Perdita, and three puppies. We found this third puppy a little alarming and made jokes about a post-vasectomy miracle baby. Instead, by the next Christmas, Chiara had joined our family. 2. My three faeries. These represent Chloe, MJ, and Chiara. 3. As close as Frank and I have ever come to divorce. Let's just say it was a very stressful trip. (This is from '96, not our Wilma evacuation.) 4. A circle of friends. Back in the dim time before I came on the scene, Frank's coworkers at good ol' Book Publishing made him this lovely office-supply ornament. It used to be more elaborate, but the years haven't been kind. 5. The artist formerly known as Marjie. 6. Chloe: Wreathed in smiles (as usual). 7. Aero-commemoration. "The one plane your mom let me have," Frank says, purchased not long after he received his pilot's license. 8. O-stretch. I picked her up a few years ago in lovely downtown Edmonds while Christmas shopping with my best buddy, Steph. Steph moved away to Athens, GA, a couple of years ago, and I haven't been back to Edmonds since. It's just not the same here without you, Steph! 9. Hong Kong filler. I had a lovely, nearly free trip to Hong Kong several years ago with my mom-friend Cherie. In Hong Kong—a truly amazing city—it's all about the shopping, baby! So, we have silk fans, dragons, and little Chinese couples. Our ornament collection has grown so large that nowadays we use these sparingly in the bare spots on the tree. 10. Han Solo should have one of these. This reads, "Millennium 2000." Having aliens arrive to beam us all up is just one of the things that didn't happen at the turn of the millennium. No rapture. No major computer problems. Nothing but a really fun Crazy Cousins party at our house (our usual New Year's Eve thang). 11. Handmade and just a little homely. Crocheted by yours truly when I was in high school, during a little holiday crafting party at my boyfriend's grandparents' house. 12. Posterity. Rosie and Frank made these together. 13. Still searching for the goose. I purchased this (supposedly as a gift for someone else) at the Silver Sands outlet mall in Destin, Florida. At the time, the outlet mall was in the boonies, well away from everything except Sandestin. Nowadays, Destin extends all that way out Highway 98. We *really* should have bought the yellow house we loved there, or at least a condo; we'd have doubled our money. Honorable mentions: Purchased on a little solo visit to buddy Caroline's place in Albuquerque. Purchased during a STUN event in October. Purchased—in what may have been my first mail-order purchase—in the early days of my relationship with Frank. This was the year we were bombing Libya, which I found very frightening. And a memory from Christmas past: our beloved holiday Mezza Luna. Photo credits: All photos by MJ except Mezza and the dragonfly (which I took). Get the Thursday Thirteen code here! View More Thursday Thirteen Participants