No, you're not too old to write to Santa Claus.

Some people don't seem to think Santa Claus is real (like my husband for instance). They're wrong.

Obviously, the Santas children line up in the mall to tell there Christmas wishes to aren't real. That would mean there are hundreds or thousands of him. That's just silly. The real Santa goes to the Macy's in New York City. My sister told me so and she saw him.

I suppose that's why Francis Phacellus Church of the New York Sun knew he must.

Yes, VIRGINIA, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no VIRGINIAS. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

I certainly believe in love and generosity and devotion and I believe just as strongly in Santa Clause.

I'll be writing him a letter today and you should to. Since he goes to Macy's anyway they set up mailboxes to collect people's letters. Why they mail them instead of just sending them all to the New York store so he can take them back to the North Pole with him I'm not really sure. I bet it has something to do with baggage fees. If you can't go to a Macy's store, you can send him one online from their Believe 2010 site. You can also make up a pretty letter to print and bring to the store mailboxes.

For every letter they recieve they're donating a dollar to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. So go ahead, write your letter and tell the non-believers in your life you did it "for the kids." Santa doesn't mind.

Happy Chanukah!

I field weird about that C. Is it bad to just call it Hanukkah? And why is there only one K when you spell it with a C? Help me out here. I'm not Jewish. But that's kind of the point of my post. 

Oh, and yes Wikipedia'd it. Now I know it has to do with complication in the writing in English of a Hebrew word. I'm sticking with the H version. It's supposedly the classical Hebrew version. Works for me.

I was reading Simple Abundance this morning and the day's reading was about Hanukkah and it's importance regardless of your claim to or lack of faith. She (Sarah Ban Breathnach) was talking about the origin of Hanukkah as an expression of authenticity in the face of adversity. Things we should all think about celebrating. Especially Christians considering the importance of the Maccabean Revolt against the Hellenization of religion to the maintenance of the Jewish faith into the time of Jesus. I read up on it. In case you hadn't thought about it, Jesus was a pretty devout Jew and he definitely celebrated Hanukkah. Wikipedia also claims the eating of fried foods and cheese is traditional. In case you need extra incentive.

The thing that caught me was the notion that God (or Spirit, or the Universe, or whatever you believe in) will provide all that you really need. Maybe that's oil for a lamp, your parents coming to the home improvement rescue, or a pile of sugar cookies. The point is the same. Faith in that fullfillment improves the quality of your life and should be celebrated.

So, in honor of Hanukkah and my faith in the continued satiation of my needs, I will be having latkes  and some Hebrew Origin Pomegranate Ale at some point before the 9th. After all, faith is not belief without proof, but trust without reservation.

Rustic Dining Table I Built from Free Plans: A blog post is better than a Thank You card, right?

UPDATE: I've created a whole post with the explanation of the changes I made to Ana's original plans here.

Long time family friends, Dennis and Clarice Perret sent us a check as a wedding gift. We used the money to make a new dining room table. I remembered Clarice saying how much she preferred giving practical gifts. I hope she thinks this beauty fits the bill.

I know. I built that. With just a little help from my husband (he offered, but I wanted to do most of it myself) and a ton of finishing from my mom (I was over it by that point). She's a trooper.

I started from Ana White's design and adapted it a little. I put the stretcher supports back on the outside and added the extensions like the original.

I also switched out the 2x6 top for 2x8s (#2 Douglas Fir because they're cheaper and have more character than #1) and attached them all from the bottom; I didn't want to deal with concealing screws on the table surface. The switch meant the boards on the sides are attached only on the innermost 3 inches. I drilled up through the 2x4 aprons and used 3 1/2 inch screws every six inches to make sure they were secure.

I sanded it until I was pretty sure the risk of splinters was eliminated, but it was far from perfectly smooth. After pre-stain conditioner, it got a coat of Minwax Red Chestnut (procured for free from my local Household Hazardous Waste facility - if you live in Kansas you should check yours out. It's usually associated with the County Weed Department and just might have exactly the paint or stain you want for free. Just wait until you see my free paint kitchen). The result was a little too red so my mom saved the day with a coat of Provincial and sealed it with wax. It's a tough finish and I'm not taking any special care of it. The goal is for it to look like it's really old, not pristine.

It's a whopping 43 1/2" x 96", 126" with the 15" extensions on either side. Yep, that's over ten feet long. Our dining room is 12'x17' so it fills the space much better than its predecessor.

I think its a significant improvement. It was great to be able to have all the food and nine people around the table at Thanksgiving without feeling cramped. With extensions it seats 12. It's a serious table.

So, thank you Dennis and Clarice. Your gift is both infinitely practical and beautiful. We both really appreciate it and we can't wait for you to be able to come to dinner and see it in person.

-Amber and Austin

Seth - In response to your question. I made two 1 1/2" x 1 1/2" notches in the end boards and attached 2x2s to the extensions that went through those holes as well as a couple of 2x2 supports. I'm not sure if that's clear at all. It looks basically like this from the bottom.

And without the extensions it looks like this.

Hope that helps.