Saturday, December 21, 2013

SANTA COMES EARLY FOR ELLIE AND ME

I love the idea of Santa.  I love even more the idea of being his helper.  This year this helper sat down on Cyber Day and found something for everyone on her list, assisted in the stocking department by the natural body oil/butter/cosmetic company’s warehouse sale three blocks away.

A few moments ago, as I organized the gifts in plastic bags to make the midnight Christmas Eve distribution easier, I discovered I had a theme going that I didn’t plan on:  everyone in my family will either look good or smell good or both.  That includes my sons and husband, their packages containing silk boxer briefs, four cedar/patchouli balls tucked cunningly inside each waistband.

I’m not sure they’ll catch the joke.  My granddaughters, being teenagers, will.  We’ll have a Merry Christmas laugh and a few, “Grandma Joie,” rollings of the eyes in disbelief.

The thing is, I’ve been smiling, laughing, and not believing for more than a week. My Christmas present arrived on December 15th with the announcement that Grandma Graffiti was named to the 100 Best Books 2013 list by Kirkus Reviews, shocking Graffiti Grandma, aka Ellie, and me into speechlessness. We both recovered enough to get organized, notify a few friends, have a glass of white wine or so.

And then I bought Ellie a present, a big one. After discovering that I’d sold four more copies of the book since the announcement, I took the plunge.  I bought three ads in several of the Kirkus Review editions.  Like many gifts, once handed over, those ads may drop into a bottomless black hole.  But last night, in the midst of a late what-have-I-done wakefulness, Ellie whispered, “At least I apparently smell good to some folks, and you’ve got the balls to do something about it.”

As for the silk boxers, they look wonderfully comfy.  I’m hoping a son or husband will return a pair to me because they are not his style.   I’m pretty sure they are mine.










Jo Barney Writes
www.jobarneywrites.com