I arrived home from work, parked my car in the garage and bounced into the house ready to say hello to my two kids.  They had been home all day, hanging out, doing some small chores, relaxing, playing.   The sight that greeted me was slightly unusual.

Not only two kids greeted me, but three.  A friend of my sons was also at the house and they were all sitting quietly on the sofas.  As a mother, the first thing that comes out of my mouth is…

“What’s going on?”

The response isn’t what I expected.   What I got back was…

“Mom, we are waiting for UPS.”

What?  With a flash of memory, this all of a sudden made sense.  My son had ordered a new monitor for his computer.  Not just any monitor, but a

SAMSUNG TOC T260HD Rose Black 25.5″ 5ms HDMI Widescreen HDTV Monitor 300 cd/m2 DC 10000:1(1000:1) Built in TV Tuner & Dolby Digital Surround Sound.

Typically the UPS deliveries arrive at my house around noon, but not today.  Not when it is a delivery of very great importance!  They were waiting patiently for the truck to arrive. Actually, they were TRYING to wait patiently.

Not ten minutes after I arrived home…Ding Dong!  Bark Bark!   Door opens…there stands the valued UPS delivery driver, monitor in hand.   Oh the sheer look of excitement and joy on my sons face.  I’m sure that someday a girl will dream about seeing that same look when she arrives on his doorstep.  (O.K. a mom can dream a little too, but I think I’m getting ahead of myself!)

After much oohing and aahing, the troops head up to my sons “media center”  to set up the coveted monitor.  This room used to be referred to as a bedroom, but the bed was long ago replaced with the trappings of geekdom.   Hmmm…. I wonder when I will see my son again? Merry Christmas, son.

They always say that the secret is in the sauce.   I, for one, believe that.  My grandfather had the best spaghetti sauce EVAR!  I remember the magical smell that greeted us at the door on Christmas Eve at his house, or clearly see myself as I jumped up and down in delight as he carried in the crockpot full of red sauce when the holidays were celebrated at our house on the farm.  Ahhh….these are some of the treasured memories of childhood holidays with family.

One year, when I was in my early 20’s, I was brave enough to say, “Grandpa, would you write down your recipe for me?”.   His response was the typical Italian chef response…”Well, just a little of this and a little of that.”  After pestering him for a little bit, he finally wrote down the recipe for me on a scratch piece of paper.  I still have that paper.

Over the next couple of years I attempted to recreate that recipe.  You already know how this turned out because I used the word “attempted” in my sentence.  It was always a failure.  I could never get the sauce right.  Not only did I not get it right, it was always downright AWFUL!   I guess I don’t have the Italian gene that is capable of pulling off the “little of this and little of that” with flare.  Needless to say, I stopped trying to recreate his recipe and turned to another that I was able to complete with culinary acceptance.

This year, in the spirit of trying to turn my holiday doldrums around, I decided to give it another try.  I gave my son the list of ingredients to buy at the store (yes, there are benefits to having a teenage son who is currently unemployed!).  When I got home this evening, I strapped on my apron (hypothetically speaking of course…Grandpa always had his on) and I went to work.

Chop some celery, slice italian sausage, brown sausage and ground beef, chop the green pepper, throw it all into the crock pot with the tomato sauce, add tomato paste, add a pinch of oregano, a bay leaf and garlic bud!   Hmmm…this is going well.   Starting to look like spaghetti sauce.

Stir it all together and let simmer for 24 hours!  MMMM.  The best part!

Early indications are positive.  My daughter and her friend are at the house tonight for their annual Gingerbread house build.  They taste tested and gave me the big thumbs up.  I’m hopeful!

Keep your fingers crossed for a traditional Jacobucci spaghetti feast in the house on Christmas Eve!  It’s beginning to smell a lot like Christmas!

I love this version of the song.  Reminds me of days past where my Dad would whistle and sing along!   Lovely!

Click here to view the embedded video.

You might be wondering why this is a big deal.    You catch the holiday spirit about this time every year.    That hasn’ t been the case for me.

I have found over the last few years, that it is harder and harder to get into the spirit of the season.  I typically sequestered myself over the holidays and just waited for it to pass.  I could whine about the multiple reasons that this is, but it would be just that….whining.   I will spare you.

This year is different.  I decided early on that I would absorb myself into the spirit of the season.  This year, I will celebrate my family, my friends, my life.

So far, so good.   I spent the weekend helping a good friend decorate her home for the holidays.  After we were finished, we decided to take in a movie.  To my delight we ran across the Snowflake Lane celebration at Bellevue Square.  I felt like I was ten years old again as I watched the drummers tap their drums, the holiday music embrace the night, and the colorful lights shining off the downtown buildings.  And then I watched in delight as it started to “snow”.

Next on my holiday agenda:  I am attending a company Christmas celebration this week,  I have been invited to attend a friends company celebration (ohh! A chance to get all girlie again!), I have plans to spend Christmas dinner with good friends, and now I can’t wait until my daughter returns home so that we can decorate my home.

I would also like to fit in:  A holiday afternoon of shopping in downtown Seattle, catch the beautiful Parade of Christmas Ships on Lake Washington, take in the play Late Nite Catechism.

Forgive me if this all sounds very superficial.   While I do also participate in charitable giving over the holidays, this year I wanted to include myself as someone I gave to.

She is 5′ 2.5″, He is….I don’t know. With the hair, 6′ 8″.

Believe it or not, this is a genuine photo that shows how well they really get along. She always has his back! He is always willing to support her. Can a Mom ask for more than that?