Christ is Born! Indeed He is Born!

Hristos se Rodi! Vaistinu se Rodi! Srecan Bozic svima! (Christ is Born! Indeed He is Born! Merry Christmas everyone!)

"Peace of Christ, Christ is Born!" Pic found here

I would like to take a moment to wish all of my Eastern Orthodox readers and family members a Merry Christmas. Having grown up Serbian Orthodox, I remember the burning of the Badnjak (Yule Log) on Christmas Eve and then going to church on Christmas morning before going over to either my grandma's cousin's home or my grandma's home for lunch. With the exception of Christmas 2010 when my mom was hospitalized following a minor accident, Christmas always held fond memories for me. And yes, we would open our presents on this day too.

Even though I am no longer Serbian Orthodox, I will continue to observe Orthodox Christmas because of the traditions surrounding it. My fervent Serbian nationalism couldn't keep me in the Orthodox Church anymore, but it didn't die when I became Catholic either.

In honor of Orthodox Christmas, I'll post a few traditional Serbian Christmas songs I remember singing as a youth. Enjoy!


"Oh Yule Log, Oh Yule Log" traditionally sung while the Badnjak is being burned


Traditional Christmas hymn praising the birth of Jesus


"Christmas Christmas Blessed Day"


Serbian rendition of "Jingle Bells". Not exactly traditional, but I remember singing a version of this at a church Christmas concert as part of the Sunday School kids choir


"Silent Night". The song is actually of German/Austrian origin, but I too recall singing a version of it as a kid in the Sunday School choir. I don't remember whether this was the same version I sang or not, but we did a rendition of it.

Have a blessed holiday and please don't forget to share, comment, and subscribe!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all of you, dear readers.

It has been an exhausting 24 hours. Last night, in a change-up from our normal routine, we went to Midnight Mass at our Latin Mass church instead of our other church. I'm not entirely sure what inspired this change, but we first stopped by our family friend's to work on her computer and then we went to church. For the holiday, I went all-out doing full-face makeup and wearing my red and gold sari. My beauty tutorial binge watching paid off big time as my makeup would earn me complements all throughout the evening.

Christmas selfie, in my makeup and attire

Makeup in better detail. Not bad for my first time doing it

After we arrived in the parking lot and were walking towards the elevator, I noticed an uncomfortably familiar looking vehicle in the parking lot. It was a white Honda Accord that looked suspiciously like our daughter's disgraced godfather's "hellride" (after he bought that car, he stopped going to church and started working more to pay for the damn thing. Hence, the "hellride"). I couldn't see all the details because of where it was parked, but even though I hadn't seen the car in over two months, I was sure it was his.

Sure enough, we stepped into church and I saw him in the Confession line. Fortunately, my husband quickly ushered me to a seat in the front pew so as to prevent me from marching right up and putting my fist through his former friend's face. Later on, our daughter's disgraced godfather came up to say that he would not be staying for Midnight Mass. I stiffly wished him a Merry Christmas, even though it took everything I had to keep my hands folded placidly in my lap and not flying for his throat. My husband congratulated me on my show of restraint after his former friend left. I wanted a stiff drink, but would wait after Mass to get it.

Canon Bill placing Baby Jesus in the creche

Fortunately, Mass itself was a beautiful event. The choir was in good form and our daughter's godmother was in attendance, which made the occasion considerably better. Also a boon-the baby slept through the entire Mass, something she hadn't done since she was a newborn making her public debut to the church. We ended the night by watching the full moon and playing a video of "Silent Night" in German.

At our other church, the Christmas Day Mass was at 10AM, so we scrambled to get dressed and get there on time. We were late, unfortunately, but we were able to hear the sermon and see a few friends and favorite priests. I was relieved not to see our daughter's disgraced godfather anywhere near the premises. If he went at all, I assume it was to the Latin Mass church.

Baby's Christmas attire. Her Prebaka got her that outfit

Hubby at the Nativity scene at our other church

When we finally arrived home, it was time to change into more comfortable clothes and open presents. The baby got lots of presents from various friends and family members. Hubby and I got a few goodies too, but most of it was for the baby.

Christmas glamour, day two

Baby opens her first present!

She got a toy kitty! Vtech makes some damn good kids toys

Who needs toys when I can play with the box!

Our daughter's disgraced godfather took a good step towards reconciliation with this present for her. I'd been wanting to get her an Avengers article of clothing for a while. Superheroes aren't just for boys.

I got a selfie stick!

Close-up of the baby with my selfie stick

Someone enjoyed her first Christmas very much

And that was how I spent my Christmas. Good night everyone!

The Peace Offering

Last night, an unexpected visitor stopped by our home.

It was my daughter's disgraced godfather.

After an explosive fallout with him over his prostitute girlfriend stealing cosmetics and brushes from me and his lie to us about where he met this woman, my husband and I cut off all contact with our daughter's godfather and told him to stay away. He did stay away, but my grudge against him has not lifted one bit.

Scene from her baptism. He's the one on the right, standing next to my husband

I did not actually see the disgraced man. I didn't even know he came. This was fortunate since if I had, the scene could have become quite ugly. It was my husband who saw and interacted with him. It was only after he left that my husband came into the bedroom where I was and dumped an armload of Christmas presents on the bed before proceeding with his narrative.

After waking up from his nap, my husband had gone outside with his cup of coffee to round up the cats for their evening feed. While he was out there, he saw our daughter's godfather pull up in his car, bearing presents for us. My husband was surprised to see him, but having known our daughter's godfather for over 20 years, he knew this visit was not one of sinister motives.

Sure enough, the prostitute girlfriend landed my daughter's godfather in a world of shit. She was a perpetual kleptomaniac, stealing not just from me, but his other friends and ultimately from him too. According to what he told my husband, the girlfriend stole some jewelry from his mom, which led to his family kicking him out of their home and coming to within a hair's breadth of disowning him. It didn't help that she smoked heroin, and most likely stole to support her addiction in addition to turning tricks. After they moved into an apartment that he was now calling home, the girlfriend and her stepfather who taught her to steal were arrested for trying to walk out of Walmart with TWO FULL SHOPPING CARTS of stuff! It was a VERY amateur level attempted robbery since the security cameras caught it ALL in full view. While out on bail, she then proceeded to steal our daughter's godfather's car. It was at that point that he called the police and had her arrested again. She is currently sitting in jail, awaiting trial for theft and facing five years in prison for her crimes.

My husband simply stood there at the fence and let his former friend spill his troubles. The presents he brought were his peace offering, a means of atonement for his crimes against us. My husband accepted the gifts, seeing that it was not a bribe as I thought it was, and told his disgraced friend to leave. Our daughter's godfather reported that he had been continuing to go to church, but was going to the early morning Masses at our other church, since we don't get up that early and were unlikely to cross paths at that time. He asked when Confessions were being held, since he wanted to go before Christmas Mass. My husband told him when and where to go, but neither of us have much hope that he'll follow through. With the exception of Easter, he's never followed through on his Confession commitments.

When my husband returned to the bedroom with the presents and the report, my initial confusion over the gifts was replaced with a resounding feeling of victory. I predicted it would come to this, and I was vindicated in the most dramatic way possible. Following the advice of my favorite Carmelite priest, I tried not to engage in schadenfreude. But on the other hand, "I told you so!" has never been a more appropriate phrase to use in this context.

I still haven't forgiven my daughter's godfather for bringing his kleptomaniac girlfriend over and robbing me. I don't know that I ever will. Forgiveness can be a very difficult thing. It's natural to stew in one's own anger and indignation for a while before God's Grace makes forgiveness possible. I suppose this will have to be the route I take.

I will enjoy the presents in the meantime. I accept the peace offering too.

Picture of the Day

Happy Sunday everyone!

I FINALLY settled on my Advent look for this season!

Finally settled on my Advent look. Done using my favorite and highly versatile @sephora and @coastalscents palettes to match the priest's vestments #advent #purple #beauty #eyeshadow #makeup #Catholic #mylittleway

A photo posted by Tamara Tamtam Morris (@tr0u8ad0ur_520) on Dec 20, 2015 at 1:00pm PST

Not bad for pulling something together in a 30-minute crunch before church. My favorite Sephora and Coastal Scents palettes worked their magic for me once more. I knew I wanted purple and black, since those colors are present on the priest's vestments. The gold spot, also a color used on the priest's vestments, was a spur of the moment decision that I thought worked well.

St. Therese of Lisieux conceptualized "the Little Way" as a means of attaining sanctity. Adherents of the Little Way use everyday actions and personal devotions as an offering and prayer to God. It's a very personal sort of spirituality and can be done by anyone of any background from the theologically uneducated like myself to the highest doctors and scholars of the Church. My use of makeup is my contribution to the Little Way. It's not always an easy path to stay on, but every little step helps.

Have a good week everyone!

A Christmas Miracle

It's the weekend!

Today we received a special shipment in the mail from my in-laws in Texas. My mother in law spent a few weeks carefully packing her annual Christmas care package to send to us. In addition to some family heirlooms, she got my husband's sisters to pitch in as well with toys and other goodies. After she mailed it off at the post office and sent us the tracking number, the package disappeared from the radar. We were all furious, assuming someone in the post office had either lost or stolen our Christmas presents, and prepared to face the possibility that we would never see these items again. My MIL had thankfully insured the package and was getting ready to file a claim when my husband walked outside this morning to round up the cats for their morning feed, and saw that our mail carrier had dumped the package over the fence earlier in the day. It made its way here safe and sound.

There were two boxes in the large box that came. This one above

And this small box as well

After a delightful call to MIL to let her know of the unexpected boon, we proceeded to open it up and see what was inside. In addition to some family heirlooms, the baby got a few toys, I got some bath goodies, and my husband got some candy, a gift card, and a little money for cat food. The baby was especially delighted with a toy remote control from Fisher-Price that lit up and made noises when she pressed on the buttons. It'll be the only remote control she ever sees in our house, since TV is something we avoid like the plague.

The baby plays with a plushy turtle

Vintage-style Christmas ornaments from my husband's aunt

Me holding a Santa ornament from his grandmother's Christmas Tree

Vintage Christmas ornaments from 1962, my hubby's first Christmas

Vintage Virgin Mary statue that belonged to my MIL

Earlier in the week, we were contacted by our friends in the Latin Mass church's St. Vincent de Paul Society chapter. Our Christmas presents, donated by a wealthier parish in town, were ready and we needed to come pick them up. Since my husband had a paycheck waiting for him at the temporary employment agency that needed to be collected, it would not be out of our way to get our goodies. Those have not been opened, and are sitting underneath the tree like proper presents should.

After nearly a week of missing from all tracking records and presumed stolen, to have my MIL's Christmas package show up intact was downright miraculous. This is shaping up to be a very happy Christmas season.

Our Christmas Tree

Happy Friday, dear readers!

Along with the arrival of the weekend was the arrival of our Christmas Tree! This is a huge occasion for my husband and I because in our three years of marriage, this is the first time we've ever gotten a tree. Prior to this auspicious day, a lack of funds and a lack of space made searching for and setting up a Christmas Tree difficult. As a result, my husband and I didn't bother with the whole mess and we were just fine without it. But when the baby came, things changed. My husband and I both have fond memories of setting up a Christmas Tree when we were younger, and we felt that it would be good for the baby if we could continue that tradition as well.

We found a 5'-6' Douglas Fir tree at a nearby Home Depot tree lot. I'd initially planned to get a Noble Fir one in the 3'-5' range as they were the cheapest trees on the lot (they were running like $24 and some change), but when I saw them in the flesh, I changed my mind. The Noble Firs were, quite literally, Charlie Brown trees with their anemic-looking branches and sparse needles. For a few dollars more, the $28 range, we could upgrade to a Douglas Fir that was much fuller and about two feet taller. My husband agreed with my assessment and I picked out the tree. The lot attendant gave us our name ticket with the bar code so we could pay inside, and set about doing a few cuts so that the tree would stay fresh throughout the holiday season.

Bad lighting aside, this was our tree just after it was brought in before any modifications were made

Before we paid for our tree, we needed to get some lights. While my husband did amass a collection of LED light strings that he used to illuminate his tent and our old trailer, the lights only worked about half the time. Suffice to say, an upgrade was needed. We got a few clear LED strings and briefly debated getting colored lights before my husband's utilitarianism won out against acquiring them. The crappy old lights could go on the fence for decoration, but the nice new ones were to make the tree look respectable.

After paying, it was time to collect our tree. My husband went to bring the car while I went to get the tree. Despite its bulky appearance, the tree was not heavy nor were its needles sharp. I felt like an old-school Russian peasant as I hoisted the tree over one shoulder and carried it like a log to the car just a few feet away. We tied it to the roof, just like everyone in every Christmas movie ever, and I added an extra "safety" tie since my husband is a bit of a hot-rodder and I did not want our tree to go flying off somewhere because he decided to gun the car.

Once we were safely home, my husband put the tree in its stand and moved it into its present location near the front door, trimming a few stray branches here and there. Once I tidied the area a bit and vacuumed the needles which had shed, it was time to do some decorating.

Daddy doing the lights

Man at work, still more lights to go on

The lit tree, dark

The lit tree, with flash

To get the Tux penguin lamp on top of the tree, my husband had to take the battery base off and manipulate the light string placement a bit so that the penguin would have a light bulb up its ass and light up when the tree was lit too. Fortunately, I didn't have to wire the penguin to the top of the tree like I first thought, since the tip branch was sturdy enough to act as a pike for mounting. I topped off the penguin with a ghetto-style wreath headband made from the tree trimmings and some twist-ties.

Ta-Da! The *mostly* finished tree

By the time we were done, I was getting hungry and we agreed to hold off on decorating the tree with old computer parts till tomorrow. I needed to find the wire and cutters, and my husband had to look for the parts. I called it a night after my husband made a batch of Miracle-Gro and filled the bowl of the stand with it so that the tree would be hydrated and fed. We'll have *proper* ornaments as well, since family and friends have sent us some, but I'm looking forward to modifying old RAM and memory sticks.

And these, dear readers, are how Christmas memories are made.

The Christmas Tree

Hi everyone!

Since Christmas is 23 days away, it's time to think about getting a tree.

Growing up, my family had a plastic Christmas tree that they would drag up from the basement and set up in the foyer, which they still do today. That tree is older than I am, as my parents bought it when they got married in the mid-80s. Since I was raised Serbian Orthodox, the tree didn't come down till after January 7, Orthodox Christmas. For the right price, I wouldn't mind us getting a plastic tree, except my husband disagrees most strongly with that decision. In his family, they got a real tree for Christmas every year. Since this is the baby's first Christmas, he wanted to make it special for her by getting a real Christmas tree.

Me at age 2, standing next to our Christmas tree

Unlike the Griswolds, we have neither the funds nor the space to put a large tree in our home. I had something along the lines of a Charlie Brown tree in mind, though not quite as bare.

That size is perfect! Pic found here

Since we are a computer family, I was thinking once we got the tree to decorate it with old computer parts. We have a surplus of obsolete and shitty hard drives, RAMs, and the "star" at the top can be a penguin nightlight in honor of our preferred operating system, Linux! Besides, the cats are gonna be climbing into it and knocking it over as cats are wont to do, so it's kinda pointless to make it fancy.

Your move, Pinterest. Pic found here

This is gonna be fun.