Merry Christmas from the Four Ferri

My job isn't particularly stressful, especially when I plan ahead and stay organized. But it's always there. I always have posts to write and share, photos to take and edit, videos to upload and download, and deadlines looming. Two years ago - and for the first time since I started writing this blog more than a decade ago - I took a planned "vacation" between Christmas and New Year's. It was glorious, and as a result, doing so became as much of a tradition as driving around town to look at Christmas lights with cookies and hot chocolate in hand. Thanks for understanding that I'll be "out of the office" for the next week, and please, come back and join me again in 2025.

With love, Erin

High Five for Friday (12.20.24)

 

One

My new computer is locked and loaded and fabulous, following the great data transfer of Monday evening. She's beautiful and I love her!

Two

My post about Nutcracker show week is still coming (like I mentioned in Monday's post, I just couldn't finish it from my phone so I had to push it back), but we had great post-show outreach performances that deserve their own high five. Hallie was busy, in that she performed her stage roles plus her understudy roles, and she did a great job!

Three

He went out a champion, taking first place as an individual and helping his team take first place as well. Of all the UIL activities Will has participated in throughout his academic years, chess has been his most dominant and the longest running. He is (and Tom and I are) incredibly proud of his "legacy," and we're all tremendously grateful for Mrs. Gallagher, his GT teacher in elementary school, who taught him how to play chess in first grade and then guided him as a competitor for YEARS (even after she was no longer his teacher). 

Four

Though I arrived late and left early, I was able to join some of my Shalomies for coffee/brunch late last week. We're all crazy busy so we can't get together very often, but when we do we have a great time.

Five

Hallie's dance studio's Christmas festivities - and the evening out the dance moms planned while the dancers attended their party - were huge successes Both Hallie and I were happy for the opportunity to celebrate the holidays with friends old and new!

Happy weekend, friends!

14 Hours and 27 Minutes Remaining…

Well, I had another post planned for today but as my luck today (as I type this, which is on Monday) would have it, that post isn’t going to happen.

Why, you ask? 

Because I got a new computer from my parents for my birthday. This is wonderful, of course, but I didn’t know that transferring the information from my old computer to my new computer was going to take decades.

Ok, not decades. But the current countdown on “transferring documents for the user _____” should come to an end in the middle of the night, which won’t give me time to finish today’s (as you read this, which is on Tuesday) post. 

So instead, here’s a pic of my niece dressed as Cindy Lou Who. She’s adorable and this picture is giving me the joy (and strength) I need to continue monitoring this epic data transfer. 

See you on the other side!

High Five for Friday (12.13.24)

Wow.

We made it through Thanksgiving, Nutcracker portraits, Nutcracker theater week (two tech rehearsals, one dress rehearsal, and three shows - more on those next week), multiple different family members visiting from out of state for varying lengths of time, and a couple of illnesses. All of that was wonderful (except for the illnesses, of course)...and while we're happy, we're also TIRED. 

I've spent these last few days trying to catch up, including here on the blog, so without further adieu here are a few high fives from these last three weeks! (I'm planning an all-Nutcracker post for next Tuesday, which is why show week high fives are missing from today's list.)

~

One

Our first two Nutcracker outreach events went well and were great opportunities to both advertise our full-length production and share the art of ballet and a glimpse into The Nutcracker with audiences that might not otherwise have the opportunity to experience what Ballet Brazos has to offer the community.

Two

Though my actual birthday ended up being kind of a regular - as in crazy busy - day (we didn't even have time to open presents), it was also a good day. I worked out at the gym, picked up a few groceries, enjoyed my free Starbucks drink, prepped for Thanksgiving, worked on a few Nutcracker-related tasks, grabbed a delicious giant soft pretzel with friends in downtown Bryan before our Nutcracker outreach performance, and then came home to Will and friends singing karaoke in the music room. The following evening, after our last long day of Nutcracker rehearsals, we devoured our cake and I opened presents, which were a perfect mix of thoughtfulness and humor. Thank you for all the birthday love!

Three

My friends and their daughters, who are Hallie's friends, celebrated my birthday mid-Thanksgiving break with a showing of WICKED! We LOVED it, and can't wait to see the film a second time once Nutcracker has wrapped.

Four

I've always adored decorating for Christmas, but the process - because you know it's a process - has become even more fun now that Hallie is involved. On the Sunday before Thanksgiving (sorrynotsorry), Hallie and I put out all of the decor and then all four of us decorated the Christmas tree and watched The Santa Clause. 

Tom (with Hallie's help) handles the outside, while I (with Hallie's
help) handle the inside. Will helps carry things up to and down from
the attic and admires our work

Five

For a number of reasons, we didn't travel for Thanksgiving this year. Though we missed our family, we had a wonderful day, meal, second meal, dessert, and evening just the four of us. Thankfully, we were able to see many of our family members the following week, which worked out perfectly!

Six

The day after Thanksgiving we headed to Houston to watch one of Hallie's dance instructors perform in a different production of The Nutcracker. He did a great job, and it was fun to dress up and go "out" for the first time in quite a while!

Seven

Will's last orchestra holiday concert was lovely, and since my parents were in town that day, they were able to join us for both the concert and our traditional post-orchestra concert dinner at IHOP. Hallie's holiday choir concert - at which Will joined Hallie as her special guest - was also beautiful...and marks the end of this year's holiday performances for the Ferris family!

Happy weekend, friends!

All You Need is Love. And Christmas Music.

During my first holiday season of blogging I shared two of my favorite Christmas videos. When my second holiday season of blogging rolled around, I shared the two videos from the first year and included in the post a couple of new favorites so I could easily find all of them when I needed a holiday pick-me-up. During my third holiday season I narrowed down the videos from years past and added a few more, and I did the same thing during my fourth through 13th holiday seasons. I now find myself in my 14th (?!?!) holiday season as a blogger, and it seems important - or at least fun - to keep the tradition alive.

So here they are: new (at least to me) highlights from this year as well as my favorites from years past. Music videos and flash mobs and even commercials, all in one place, so anyone who needs an emotional or spiritual lift - myself included - can find them when the need arises. 

Happy holidays, friends!

In case you're wondering, my criteria is simple…if the song, performance, or commercial gives me chills, brings tears to my eyes, or makes me laugh out loud, it makes the cut. I'd love to see and listen to your favorite Christmas videos - I'm always growing my playlist - so please send them my way!

Joy to the World: The Petersens

This style of music is secretly (not so much anymore, I suppose) 

my favorite. I have always wished I could play an instrument and 

sing at the same time - spoiler alert: I absolutely cannot do this - 

and I would LOVE to be able to play the fiddle.

Carol of the Bells: LV Gospel Project

This traditional carol started off darker than I expected, 

but there was just something about it that drew me in. This 

is a hard song to perform, and they did an exceptional job.

 

  Little Drummer Boy: For King and Country

I love how this performance is high energy and high 

impact but also committed to the message of the song.

All I Want For Christmas is You: 

Mariah Carey, James Corden, and more...

Who doesn't love listening to this song at Christmas time?!

Hallelujah: Pentatonix

Perhaps the best song - and one of the best versions of it - ever. The 

low notes in particular, especially during the fourth verse, make me 

feel like I'm having an out-of-body experience.

YouTube won't allow me to embed this video either - you can watch/listen to it here.

Deck the Halls

My favorite flashmob of all time.

The Christmas Scale

"It's hard to believe that the greatest message the 

world will ever hear is contained in one simple scale."

Angels We Have Heard on High: The Piano Guys

I still get chills every single time I watch/listen to this video.

Once again, YouTube won't allow me to embed this video. Here's the link.

Joy to the World: J. T. Hodges
I first heard J. T. Hodges sing this song in Hallmark's movie "Finding 

Christmas"...and I was relieved to find a video that allows us to listen 

to the song without having to watch the movie. 😉 

I Saw Three Ships: The Piano Guys

This one's for my husband. If you know him, you'll understand. 

If you don't know him, I hope someday you will, and that you'll 

have an opportunity to hear him play the piano...while wearing a 

motion- and sound-driven light suit he built from scratch. 

Last but not least, a collection - a few from previous years and a couple new this year - of a few favorite Christmas adverts. While these are technically commercials, they don't feel like it; instead, they feel like tributes to family and friends, and I didn't make it through a single one without free-flowing tears.

• This year's Apple ad certainly tugs at my heartstrings, as it hits close to home.
• And this year's Amazon ad is perfect.
• This Chevy ad is more of a short film, but my goodness, is it well done.
• John Lewis does a fantastic ad every year, and this year is no exception.
• Last year's was pretty sweet too.
• Well done, Disney. 
• Disney nailed it last year too. 
• An Amazon favorite.
• What the world needs now is love, sweet love.

Love actually IS all around us…we just have to look for it. On YouTube.

Wish Me Anything You Want

Portions of the content below appeared on Chasing Roots last December, and the December before, and the December before that. I believe that this post - with a few updates - and its overarching message deserve a share every time the season for "wishing" arrives. 

I grew up in an ethnically and religiously diverse community. Because of the plethora of religions supported, holidays celebrated, and traditions followed (and not supported, celebrated, and followed, for that matter - the Freedom From Religion Foundation began and is still based there), and because my hometown has a reputation as "the land of the perpetually offended," very little related to religious holidays could be found in public buildings and schools throughout my childhood years. We never sang Christmas carols or wore Santa hats in school, and in 1987, the Christmas tree that had stood proudly in the State Capitol rotunda every December since 1918 was renamed a Holiday tree in an attempt to make the building feel more inclusive and to avoid conflict.

To be clear, I understand why the tree was renamed. A Christmas tree in the State Capitol building is hardly a separation of church and state. It's not the point of my post though, so I'm moving on.

In 2011, Governor Walker re-renamed the tree, this time back to a Christmas tree. "It's a diverse state," Walker explained. "I think it's a reflection of the many wonderful traditions in the State of Wisconsin." During the month of December, the Capitol rotunda also hosted a Menorah, Festivus trees, and a nativity scene mocking Christmas, so it seemed a wide variety of people were "represented" in their State Capitol building.

Again to clarify, I understand why the tree was re-renamed. Just changing the name of an object long associated with a religious holiday doesn't necessarily lessen the association between the two. It's not the point of my post either though, so I'm moving on again.

In 2019, and try to keep up here, Governor Evers re-re-renamed (no, I'm not kidding) the tree, this time back to a Holiday tree. 

Obviously I'm moving on again, but I wanted to first make sure those of you who read this post every year know where things stand - and this is updated as of 2024 - with the Wisconsin State Capitol tree.

Pretty...and pretty controversial.

Growing up, I learned to wish people "Happy Holidays" during the month of December. I used this phrase, and this phrase exclusively, until a few years ago, not because it's lovely and inclusive (though it IS lovely and inclusive, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with wishing someone happy holidays), but because I honestly worried about offending someone.

I now live in a completely different kind of community from the one in which I grew up, so out of curiosity, a few years ago I ran an (uncontrolled) experiment. While shopping and running errands during the two weeks leading up to Christmas, I recorded what people "wished" me. I didn't track what they said when I spoke first (because people often respond by repeating whatever phrase they hear), only what they said when they spoke first. I expected to find that in my current community, I would hear "Merry Christmas" most of the time. On the flip side, I expected to find that once I arrived in my hometown, I would hear "Happy Holidays" - or a wide variety of holiday wishes - most of the time.

Imagine my surprise when here in Texas I heard "Merry Christmas" and "Happy Holidays" an equivalent number of times. I was even more surprised when in Wisconsin I heard the two phrases almost an equivalent number of times again.

Tom would have me review my methods, analyze my data using formulas and equations, and submit my results to you in the form of a journal article, formal paper, and presentation, but there's a reason he's a professor and I'm not. I don't care to do any of that; I don't really even want to think about my incorrect predictions.

I do, however, want to focus on how wonderful it felt to be wished anything at all. I celebrate Christmas, but would never take offense if someone wished me Happy Hanukkah or Happy Kwanza or even just Happy Winter. I would never complain about someone wishing me happiness, in any way, shape, or form.

I love that my current community now embraces "Happy Holidays" along with "Merry Christmas." And I love that my hometown community seems to be moving toward the same place of acceptance.

The beauty is in the wishing, folks. So with a kind heart, wish people a happy whatever-you-want - Christmas, Hanukkah, Full Moon, Tuesday, winter - and with a graceful heart, accept whatever they feel moved to wish you.

Let's Get Crackin'

Ballet Brazos' 13th annual production of The Nutcracker opens this week!

We load in today, have tech rehearsals tomorrow and Thursday, and run our dress rehearsal on Friday morning before the curtain opens on our first show at 7pm Friday night. There are still a few tickets remaining for all three shows - Friday night at 7pm, Saturday afternoon at 2pm, and Saturday evening at 6:30pm - and they can be purchased through the MSC Box Office. 

If you attend the show, I encourage you to arrive VERY early to avoid lines at the parking garages and to take advantage of our Nutcracker Experience. This year guests can enjoy live music, multiple photo backdrops/booths, a meet-and-greet with Clara, our Nutcracker Market, and light refreshments and bar service (both for purchase) before the show. Questions? Let me know!

Hallie and her fellow dancers have dedicated hours and hours to their rehearsals - and the Ballet Brazos team and I have worked tirelessly this fall (all year, really) - to bring this show to the stage. We're proud of what everyone has accomplished together...this year and every year since Ballet Brazos began 13 years ago.

Hope to see you at Rudder Auditorium this weekend!