when we were packing up the house to move to Rome, i came across an old notebook of mine from the navel-gazing teenage years, in which i had solemnly penned the following epigram: "If you spend your entire life writing, you won't have anything to write about."
dangling prepositions aside, i'm in the opposite situation this year. too much living, not enough time to write! and so i find myself on the penultimate day of February, just now getting around to writing about Christmas. (side note: penultimate has got to be one of the most useful words in the English language, right up there with avuncular and petrichor. well, avuncular isn't actually that useful, i guess, but it's still a good word.)
for the first time ever in our married lives, Nick had an actual Christmas break this year. no masses to play for on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. no extra choir rehearsals to squeeze in. and as much as i appreciate all the hard work that goes into creating the magical music of Christmas services, i
also appreciate being able to relax and enjoy the day together as a family! we were so grateful to be able to spend Christmas with Nick's side of the family. it was strange not to decorate our own house, eat clam chowder on Christmas Eve, hang our own ornaments on the tree and put up our stockings (which my mom made -- mine when i was a baby, and Nick's and the girls' when they joined the family!). but most of all, we were just happy to be home!
we flew from Rome to Pittsburgh on Wednesday, December 19, leaving our house at 4:30 AM Rome time, stopping in Istanbul and Toronto, and arriving at the Pittsburgh airport at 10:30 PM local time (which was 4:30 AM Rome time the next day). all went as swimmingly as a 24 hour travel marathon with two kids can go. our only hiccup occurred in the Toronto airport, after we had already made it past customs and were technically in US territory prior to boarding our flight to Pittsburgh. we were walking toward our gate when a man came hurrying up behind us. "Mr. Will? can you please come with me?" he said. his tone was friendly, and when i asked if the girls and i should come too, he laughed and said, "well, we really only need him, but i have kids at home and my wife would kill me if she found out i separated you guys, so go ahead and come on back."
so we followed him through a locked door, past the agricultural inspections counter (Greta held her nose and said "it
stinks in here!"), and into another small private waiting area with a TV and signs posted about no cell phone use. we handed over our passports as requested, and sat down. we weren't too worried because they had already let us come all the way through customs, but clearly
something was amiss. we whispered our conjectures. maybe it was the little wrapped cake we had stuck in our luggage as a gift for our neighbor Kim (which we hadn't actually declared to the customs agents). or the painted piece of wood from a centuries-old palace ceiling that we were bringing back as a gift for Father Aron. just when we were starting to get nervous, the door opened and a Zach Galiafinakis look-alike strode in, followed closely by the first man.
"hey guys, we just have a few questions for you about your visa," Zach's doppelganger said. and for the next ten minutes, he proceeded to conduct the strangest interview ever. he asked about our address, phone number, and employer in Italy, and as we answered, he would scribble down part of our answer on a random scrap of paper on a clipboard and then jump to the next question before we were finished talking. i thought there might be some database against which he wanted to check our answers, but he wasn't even writing down everything that we said. and then he was really stymied by Nick's job. when Nick told him that he was a musician, the very next -- and completely serious -- question out of his mouth was: "ok, and do you have a stage name?"
i would love to see a picture of our faces in that moment. it was such a bizarre follow-up question (i was expecting him to ask "what kind of musician?" or "what's your instrument?") and even more comical knowing that Nick is, in fact, a pipe organist. while i goggled at the man, Nick remained silent for a few moments, and then simply said, "no."
after a few more questions regarding the purpose of our trip to the US, he lobbed another oddball, this time directed at both of us. "so, which countries have you been to?"
i asked, "you mean on this trip?"
"no," he said, "ever in your life."
i confess i did raise my eyebrows as i started to count them off. then he said, "no, no, just the ones outside of Europe," which narrows the field but i was halfway through saying "Nepal" when the first man suddenly handed me our passports, said, "all right, guys! you're all set. i'll walk you out so you don't miss your flight." and just like that, it was over. they never did anything with the jotted-down information as far as i can tell. being travel-weary and sleep-deprived, we couldn't really process anything other than relief at having been cleared to get on our flight home, but as we talked about it over the next few days, we really think that the Zach look-alike might have been in training, and they chose us as an "easy" target for him to practice his interviewing. if they had actually plugged our answers into a computer, or if they had gone back to deliberate privately before they just let us go, i would be more convinced that they thought there was a valid concern. it was just so bizarre. i was most grateful for the fact that that encounter happened in Canada, by US agents, and
not in the Istanbul or Rome airport where the language barrier would have made it all much scarier.
anyway, we landed safe and sound in Pittsburgh, and God bless our neighbor Kim who picked us up at the airport, hauled us (luggage and carseats and all) back to her house, and let us sleep in her cozy guest room! being back in Pittsburgh was surreal, especially when we pulled onto our street and could see our own house (which is currently rented out, so we couldn't go inside). it was even more surreal to go inside our detached garage the next day. we're using it as our storage space while we're in Rome, and it was simultaneously wonderful and unsettling to see the mountains of
stuff in there. we donated, sold, and threw out a lot before we moved, but the furniture alone for a four bedroom, two bathroom house takes up a lot of room! i dug through the bins of Greta's old clothes to get shoes and clothes in the next size for Cecilia, while Nick fixed the brakes on the old red truck and we chatted with Joe and Kelly, our neighbors across the alley who let us park the truck in front of their house while we're gone. (seriously, our neighbors are the best!)
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| Kim gave the girls that balloon animal nightlight as well as a little toy radio. just the best! |
i had grand plans of taking the girls to see our Santa Claus at the Robinson Mall that day, although i knew they would be exhausted from traveling and the time change. it was really the only day that would work to see Santa, since we'd be driving out to Martinsburg that night to spend Christmas with Nick's side of the family. so i got them all dressed up in their Christmas dresses (many thanks to Sabrina, who gallantly accepted the mission to find a 5T Christmas dress that coordinated with the 2T dress that Cece would be wearing, and shipped it to Kim's house so it was waiting for us when we arrived!). we drove to Robinson, which was yet another surreal experience. climbing up into the driver's seat of my Ford Escape, i felt like i was sitting up
so high. and it was such a strange mental shift to hit the radio pre-sets in my car and hear Steve Inskeep on NPR. as we walked into the mall, i felt like my sense of sight and hearing were being assaulted by so much information -- i could read every word on the signs, and understand every word spoken by the people passing by! it was comforting and disconcerting at the same time.
anyway, we got to the mall around 3 PM and checked in to the desk for Santa. i had researched this weeks ahead of time, because a few years ago, they required you to book a time slot in advance for Santa. this year, they said to just show up at the counter to sign in, and then you'd be free to play in the play area or wander the mall for a while until they sent you a text message to come back over for your turn with Santa. i was so excited for our sixth year in a row to take pictures with this Santa. he is so kind, and thoughtful, and totally invested in the experience. i think if we hadn't been coming home for Christmas, i would have been sad about not seeing him but i would have gotten over it. knowing that we were actually going to make it work, even though we had been back in the US for less than 24 hours, made me feel all the Christmas feels.
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| 2013 |
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| 2014 |
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| 2015 |
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| 2016 |
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| 2017 (Cecilia was not feeling it!) |
well, that abruptly came to an end when the lady at the check-in desk told me that Santa's slots were all filled up. for the rest of the day. until 9 pm. she recommended that i come back first thing the next morning to try to get a spot for the next day, but there still were no guarantees. i stood there dumbfounded for a minute, and then thanked her and walked away. i have to confess that i teared up a little in that moment. i could
see him, sitting on his chair with two lucky kids on his lap, which made it even worse.
in the moment, i wasn't quite sure how to explain things to the girls, so i just told them that we were going to go ride the Santa train. i let them ride twice, and they loved every minute of it. when they got off, i told them that they actually weren't going to be able to see Santa today, but that we could go play in the play area. Greta asked why and seemed a little disappointed, but i told her that we'd be able to see Santa another day, and they were both so excited to play with other English-speaking kids that we stayed for another hour!
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| i also bought them cake pops at Starbucks because #momguilt |
then we were on to the second phase of my crazy plan, which was to visit the Holiday Light Show at Phipps Conservatory. this was a lot to cram into one day, even if we hadn't just flown in from Rome, but i wanted to at least try to see one of my favourite places in Pittsburgh during the spectacular Christmas exhibition. as it turned out, Greta fell asleep shortly after we entered, but Cecilia absolutely loved it. Greta was about six months younger than Cecilia when we went to Phipps for the first time, and it was so much fun to watch Cece experience it as a toddler too.
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| see the penguins? |
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| Cecilia loved pushing the button to make the trolley go |
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| it's a miniature Phipps! |
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| someone was DONE |
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| Greta woke up for the pretend farmer's market |
at long last, the third phase of the crazy plan: driving to Martinsburg myself with the girls, while Nick stayed in Pittsburgh with our friends for a few days for some meetings, appointments, and a friend's Christmas party. we got on the road around 8 PM and stopped at the Sheetz drive-thru for dinner. it. was. glorious. both girls slept most of the two-hour drive to Martinsburg, and when we arrived at Joe and Sabrina's house, it was like coming home all over again. of course the girls were wide awake then, and ready to play with all their favourite toys at Nana's house, so it was a very late night.
the next day, after a delicious breakfast including milk from Ritchey's dairy down the road (where Sabrina, Nick, and Rebecca all worked at one point!), peppermint mocha creamer for my coffee, and eggs and toast and Apple Jacks for the girls, we set out to redeem the Santa snafu. when we arrived at the mall, there was no line whatsoever, and while the Santa wasn't
quite as great as "our" Santa, he was still pretty wonderful. and they took so many pictures of the girls, which were all included with the photo package! Greta asked Santa for Tsum Tsums (i had literally no idea what she was talking about and thought it was something called "zoom zooms" ... thanks to my friends who set me straight and to Amazon Prime shipping, she got her wish!). Cecilia, always easy to please, just asked for "presents and candy". the girls got to ride the Santa train again while i picked up the pictures, and then we ate lunch at Applebee's where we ran into Sabrina's cousin Linda.
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| photo credit: Sabrina |
the official Christmas card portraits:
later that day, i went to Walmart to pick up ingredients for Christmas cookies, as well as a few must-haves to bring back to Rome (chiefly OTC medications, and a huge bottle of buffalo wing sauce!). while in the check-out line, i looked up and saw that they have a hair salon inside. and while a little piece of me died inside at the thought of a Walmart haircut, i also badly needed a trim, and i was kind of curious to see how it would turn out. $13.95 later, i still looked like a person, and while the cut wasn't anything to write home about, at least my ends were no longer ragged!
on my way out of Walmart, i ran into Nick's uncle Roger and his cousin Bethany, with her husband Eric. it was so good to see them, and it also made me realize how much i miss even the possibility of running into family and friends when we're out and about in Rome.
the next day, Sabrina had to work, so the girls and i just relaxed around the house. we made gingerbread houses from a little kit, and i baked Christmas cookies. that night, we went out to Hoss's for dinner (hitting up all the faves!) and the girls stuffed themselves with "little hams" (diced ham pieces) and macaroni and cheese. reinforcing the theme of family, Nick's Aunt Becky and Uncle Carl were there too! being away has made us realize that we really don't want to live anywhere else but Pittsburgh when we come back. there's lots to love about Rome, but we miss family!
on Sunday, December 23, we went to mass at St. John the Baptist in New Baltimore, the church where we were married. i've been back in the church a few times since then for other family weddings, but it still gives me the best kind of butterflies to walk down that aisle, even if it's just to sit down in a pew! we saw Aunt Teresa, which was lovely, and drove through the church cemetery to say a prayer for Nick's paternal grandparents who have passed away.
that evening, Rebecca and Josh took Cecilia to see Lights on the Lake, a huge Christmas extravaganza with lots of Christmas lights and another opportunity to see Santa. Greta said she wanted to stay home and play instead, so Cecilia got some uninterrupted time with her aunt and uncle! she had a great time and she still talks about going to see the lights with "Aunt Becca and Uncle Dosh" and how she got to eat "lots of bread for dinner". she loved it!
we planned to celebrate Christmas on December 24, since Sabrina had to work on Christmas Day itself, so we did our Christmas Eve traditions on the evening of December 23rd. the girls put cookies, carrots and milk out for Santa and his reindeer, and Sabrina gave us our traditional Christmas pajamas.
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| Santa came! (photo credit: Rebecca) |
the girls were both up until at least 11 PM if not midnight that night, and i wish i could say it was just the Christmas excitement, but i think the jet-lag really did a number on them. the next morning, we finally had to drag them out of bed around 8:30 AM and then the Christmas festivities could begin! they both were so excited to open their stockings. Greta's Tsum Tsums arrived via Amazon at around 10 AM and i had to sneak them into a gift bag and then present them to her. Gram and Pap Shaffer came over for dinner and we had such a cozy, relaxing day.
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| photo credit: Rebecca |
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| photo credit: Rebecca |
on Christmas Day itself, we went to mass -- it's just so great sit next to Nick during the service! and later that day, we went over to Nick's cousin's house for dinner. the girls absolutely loved playing with their second cousins (who both are exactly 7 months older than they are), and really loved getting to blow out the candles on Baby Jesus' birthday cake. such a cute tradition!
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| singing "Happy Birthday" to Jesus |
after we got home that evening, we packed up our bags to prepare for our next adventure: a trip to Hawaii with the Geiger side of the family. it would be another brutal travel day as we had to wake up at 2:30 AM, drive the two and a half hours to the Pittsburgh airport and board our 6 AM flight, but with a couple stops at Sheetz for coffee, we made it! and
that is a post for another day!
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