I have not posted for awhile. Hope everyone who reads this is well. Today is sunny and beautiful, although cold. We are grateful for the rain we received yesterday, but we love to see the sun when we get up in the morning.
I was moving pretty slow this morning. Normally, I jump out of bed and get ready for church. I usually go to the 8:00 service, but today I could not make myself get dressed and leave the apartment. Instead, I drank coffee and watched early morning tv. There was a heavy frost on my car windows and I did not feel like scraping them. I ate breakfast, and after awhile I did take a shower and go to church. I guess I am getting old.
Yesterday we unpacked our Christmas decorations and decorated the apartment. We have a wreath on our door. Our nativity scene is lit by a few white Christmas lights. It sits on the file cabinet by the window. That nativity set is about 30 years old. Doug bought it at Sears the day after Christmas for around ten dollars. We lived in Broken Arrow at the time. It has survived several moves with all the figurines intact. We have two snowmen and one Santa Clause standing by the a pot of artificial pointsettas. We also have a Santa sitting on top of our clock. He is preparing to go down a chimney. A bowl of Betty's homemade ornaments sits on top of a bookcase. We look like we are ready for Christmas.
On Friday Doug presented an advent calendar to Beth. He made it for Jacob. Beth and Jacob glued Hershey Kisses in each day slot from the first to the 25th of December. Beth remembers that someone sent a Christmas calendar to her and Tom when we lived in Oklahoma. That person also provided Hershey Kisses for Beth and Tom to enjoy on the days leading up to Christmas Day. This is a special memory which Beth wants to share with her children.
Beth and I went to Walmart to look at toys yesterday. I hoped to see a special doll that would melt my heart. There were a lot of dolls at Walmart, but they were not very appealing. Remember when we were kids and we would pour over the Sears and JC Penney's catalogues just looking at the toys. The dolls then were pretty or cute or both. My favorite doll of all time was the Tiny Tears doll I received one Christmas when I was 8 or 9 years old. I was overjoyed to receive her. That Christmas is one of my favorites.
I just finished reading two books with a Christmas theme. One is the christmas train by David Baldacci. The story is about a man, Tom, who is traveling across the country on a train a few days before Christmas. Tom is writing an article about train travel and wants first hand experience. Tom meets a lot of quircky people and eventually all of them become snowbound on the train. The book is entertaining, unpredictable, and educational. I would like to travel by train someday.
The other book is by Dave Barry, the humorist, who shares his childhood memories of Christmas. They include the yearly Christmas pagaent at church, and the family dog Frank. Frank is a huge friendly dog who is more like a family member than a pet. One Christmas Eve Frank dies. The events that follow are touching, amazing and hilarious. The name of the book is The Shepherd, The Angel, and Walter, The Christmas Miracle Dog. This is an easy book to read and should not take over an hour to finish, if that long.
I have not sent out Christmas cards yet. I have bought greeting cards. So far I have lacked the discipline to actually sign, address and stamp them. It is early days yet, so there is hope.
Speaking of hope, I hope the week ahead is a great one for everybody. I am living a quiet life in Emporia, Kansas. I don't have a lot of news to share, but I am glad I have family to share it with. Take care Fiddler kin.
Getting physical
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Training sessions have been going really well these past few weeks. I
swim, lift, and run on my own (or with the masters swim team) during the
week, and o...
12 years ago
3 comments:
Well it sounds like you are ready for Christmas. Your little apartment sounds full of the holiday spirit. We have yet to do anything. I am not sure if we will put up a tree or not and if we do if we will go to the farm and cut one down or buy one from the Boy Scouts. The trees have been spray painted green we notice. When did they start doing that. It is nice your ornaments have survived the moves. Will they survive grandchildren(LOL)? That is nice that Beth has a Christmas memory/tradition that she wants to share with Jacob and Mya. I remember decorating the tree and the big lights that were strung on it, not the little things you get now, these were like 25 watt bulb size lights. Someone gave me a little elf that I would place on one of the branches of the tree. He is pretty tattered and worn; in fact he might be missing a foot, but I still have him and when we put up our tree up he goes on a branch. I too remember pouring over the Sears catalog, dreaming of the little baby dolls. Pine, Cinnamon, cookies all smell good, but for me the smell of Christmas is that of a new baby doll Christmas morning, of course that smell is probably actually toxic, but it was so nice. The smell of Mom's homemade cinnamon rolls were pretty nice too. Hers are the only cinnamon rolls I like; pie crust dough, butter and cinnamon and sugar. One year I wanted a big life size doll, because she was going to be my little sister. Santa came through. I also remember getting a thumbalina doll. You pulled her string and she would kind of wiggle around like a baby waking up. I love baby dolls at Christmas. One year Carol gave me two homemade cabbage patch dolls. I think it was to make up for not having kids of my own. I named them Zachary and Emily. I still have them. Do you remember that Carol? Thanks for sharing your Christmas memories Honor Louise. I can smell the sugar cookies baking.....
I too remember the dolls we got for christmas, they smelled a like brand new shower curtain, I love that smell even if it is toxic. I'm glad that Beth is starting traditions with Mya and Jacob because, long after the toys are gone the memories will remain.
I love the way new dolls smell too. Although my favorite dolls were baby dolls, I once had a bride doll which I really liked. I belonged to the BlueBirds when I was in the third grade. All the area bluebirds participated in a doll parade in Bonner Springs one Spring. I proudly carried my bride doll in the parade. Afterward a local resaurant gave all the bluebirds a free ice cream cone. I doubt that doll parades happen anymore, but if they did, Barbie would be the main doll on display. I wonder if Mya will like Barbie?
When I was home, Mom did not have time to do much baking. I do remember her cinnamon rolls though. Everything Mom made tasted wonderful. How did she do such a wonderful job of making the holidays special?
I remember Mom loved Christmas Carols. One of her favorites was Silver Bells. She loved the movie White Christmas. She also loved It's a Wonderful Life.
Our Christmas tree always looked so pretty. Remember the bubble lights? I also remember the big Christmas lights that we put on the tree. I have not seen lights like that in a long time.
It has been fun recalling memories of past Chritmas celebrations. Memories are what make Christmas special.
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