Relative Something

It’s official. I have scheduled time off from the day-job for the days that Cyndie will be in town this December. I have no idea what we will be doing during that time, because, with the physical distance separating us since she moved to Boston, we haven’t gotten around to talking about any holiday plans. It is interesting to discover the little, seemingly insignificant, exchanges that we no longer have, day-to-day. Most of that kind of detail ends up being overlooked when we do connect for a brief visit over FaceTime, through a text message exchange, or an online chat window. I should probably learn to write myself a note whenever I think of something I would normally say to her if she was here.

With the arrival of the month of December comes the onset of holiday gatherings. In years past, whenever an event involved the contribution of food, I relied entirely on Cyndie’s skills. I won’t have that luxury for most of the month, so I am wrestling with the decision of whether to experiment with actually trying to prepare something myself, or just give in and buy a pre-made dish to share.

Maybe I could stack Cheez-it crackers into a tree, using Cheez Whiz to hold them in place, and garnish the sculpture with some blue cheese sprinkles to look like snow on the branches. I could put some red cinnamon candies on it for ornaments and carve an angel out of a marshmallow for the top.

Hmm. That wasn’t so hard. Maybe I’ve been relying too heavily on Cyndie for party food preparation. Bring on the pot-luck celebrations!