A Photo Overview Today.......

I made this pretty angel & may sell them
next year.

My fav ornament, made by Hubs when he was five! 

Writer Son & Sassy Bride sent this out as their newlywed
Christmas card! So funny!

I have shown my Nativity collection before, but I also
collect cool Santas!

One of my students is making/selling these knit
cuties to raise funds for a mission trip to Africa in the Spring!

My fav Christmas movie!
I begin watching it on Halloween night! Ha!

I made these monogram coasters last week!
I got the idea from a fellow blogger!

This is as close to a white Christmas that we get
in our area! Stayed dark & foggy all day today!

Rocker Son & his girl gave me the sweet cookie jar
full of amazing cookies from a special shop near them!

And those amazing cookies were my Christmas breakfast!
So yummy!

Suger Plums Dancing in My Head

Californians get silly when visiting snow country!

 I did not sleep much last night. In the past, even in my grown up years I have not slept well during Christmas week due to excitement and high anticipation. But my sleep last night was not disturbed by Christmas at all. As I was drifting off to dreamland a surprising little thought occurred to me. It has totally changed my mood and given me a brand new surge of energy and excitement. 

I was thinking about newly married (10-10-10) Writer Son and Sassy Bride arriving here from out of state on New Year's Eve. They are not just visiting, they are MOVING HERE! Hubs and I are so happy and giggly about it! 

I realized that life around here is going to change rather abruptly. Writer Son has Sassy Bride, and Rocker Son has a new girlfriend (Hmm, need a name) and they will ALL be living near us. I know they have tons of friends and will be socially busy, but still! They will be in our house often I am sure. (don't tell me otherwise for now ok?)  At last our quiet, calm and clean house will be full of life, laughter and family again! I will have SIX at the table sometimes! 

2007, the last time we were in a snow state at Christmas!

What kept me awake was a mind that decided it was the perfect time to plan the very first get together of all six of us! Writer Son & Sassy will be arriving in town on the 30th so I am trying for a New Year's Eve early dinner so they can all go out and carouse with friends after eating with us. 

As I tried to sleep, my thoughts were full of seating arrangements and meal ideas and wondering if Writer Son & Sassy will need to sleep here if their furniture movers had not arrived yet. Also swirling through my dreamless sleep were thoughts of how great Rocker Son's girl is going to love Sassy Bride!

Oh yes, it is interesting how quickly things can change! I was moaning about our empty-nest, boring, quiet season, and I believe that in the next few days we will have a houseful of life! 

And when we get tired and want to be alone

we can just kick them out!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

I Was Wrong!

Yes, it happens. I made a mistake, a misjudgment, a clear case of judging a book video by it's cover!! In my last post I mocked my Hubs Christmas movie choice here.  But I was very wrong! This movie is so good and very mushy holiday emotion stirring. Just the ticket for a seasonal video.

Especially if you have a few humans of the male gender in your home. You can get them all hyped up on the gritty, war time blood and guts that the cover promises. Then they will find themselves wiping tears away as they watch soldiers from three countries spontaneously call a cease fire for Christmas Eve and even get to see a bit of soccer played between the countries who are mortal enemies at war!

But they will need to know how to read because it is sub-titled. The movie is based on true stories of this happening on several battlefields in  December 1914 in WW1. Very cool and inspiring!
(Joyeux Noel)

Men!

Hub's idea of
bringing home
a
Christmas movie!!

Christmas Is More Than One Day

It’s a rainy, windy day outside my window this December morning. Christmas music is flowing through my house and I have my giant mug of hot cocoa beside me. I am smiling because I just remembered one of my favorite little seasonal treats and I tossed some broken up candy canes into my cocoa! Oh so, so very good!

Yesterday I told Hubs that while everyone else is counting down the days till Christmas with high anticipation I am just ready for it to be over and done with!

What? Is that a horrible thing to say at this time of year? Yes, it is! But we are empty nesters and our extended families are out of state. It’s too expensive and complicated for us to go to them or them to come to us.

Hub’s response to me was a very wise observation that will surprise those around us who see his anti-social, curmudgeon side a bit too often. He said that too many people put all the emphasis on the one day of Christmas. Everything is working up to December 25^th. Expectations are high and sometimes those expectations bring a lot of stress with them.

But Hubs said that our Christmas this year really is all about the whole month of gatherings and parties and cooking and shopping. It’s the entire season that should be savored and enjoyed. And we have been enjoying the season very much. We even had a Christmas party in our home this year! And we have attended some great rollicking parties in other homes as well. 

Is it possible that my own personal scrooge is morphing into Will Farrell’s ELF? Well, I don’t think so, since I still haven’t heard him say,

“The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear!”

Or

“I'm a cotton-headed ninny-muggins!”

No, I don't think he has found his "inner elf", but right this minute, he is out in the cold garage working on his motorcycle and I am sipping hot cocoa and writing. We are each doing our favorite things! Hubs is right, it is not about one day. We do have a fun plan for Christmas Day but it won’t be like we remember them in our past.

There will be Christmases in the future that are packed full of people, food and little ones, like our holidays used to be. For now, for this time in our lives, it is quiet and easy and sweet. This day is my Merry Christmas and it is very good!

Spectacles

Today we battled our way through the intense crowd of frenzied shoppers at the mall to pick up my two new pairs of glasses! I am so happy with them, yay for new "face jewelry" as one of my commenters so perfectly put it!

Want some before and afters? You do? Well, ok.....

Here are my old glasses. Not awful, but they did not feel like me. Felt too old for me. And even worse they hurt and were always sliding down so that dark line of the top rim landed right in the middle of my eyes!

 I found a great deal for two pair of glasses, so these are the roundish pair in burgundy.

 And these are my favorite! They are a dark brown tortoise shell color. Feels more like me.

This last pic is to keep this post from being as boring as it is!

 

Christmas Party Time!

 We had about twenty people in our home last night! For many of you this is normal behavior, especially at this time of year. For Hubs and me it is unusual behavior, at least for the last ten years. So this makes last night's event a pretty  big deal.

Ten years ago we were the senior pastors of a small church so our home was full of people all the time. We had parties and meetings several times a month. I loved it, Hubs tolerated it but knew it was part of the job.

For the last ten years we have not opened our home very much because it was not expected or required of us in our changed position as teachers of a ministry school. But there is another really creepy and gross reason we've kept our house
off limits to even our close friends.

Our two sons were living at home and the "guest" bathroom was their bathroom. (at this point I am wondering why I am announcing this to the world?!) You know how little boys are really dirty, messy and pretty much oblivious to cleanliness?

Well, as little boys get bigger, the mess gets bigger. At least for our house it did. I tried everything to get them to clean  the bathroom. There were check-lists taped inside the mirror doors giving them step by step instructions for keeping the room useful to humans. Did not work.
                          

 The truth is that we did not have company because our house needed a lot of work and the bathroom was just too horrible to allow friends to use it. I used to lock it and tape a note to please use the master bedroom's bathroom down the hall.

 But now that we are EMPTY NESTERS, we have remodeled the guest bath and it is beautiful! So this year we invited our Connection Group of twenty students that attend the ministry school. The school has three Connection Groups of twenty people each.

We had a great time with our wonderful students! The small tree in the main room was covered with glittery ornaments we found at Wmart for only $1 each and we had them choose one to take home along with a goodie bag. Their surprise and delight was super fun! Even Hubs had a great time!

From now on I think we will be having more company in our pretty home and I am so looking forward to it!
The clincher was when one of our girls came to me and told me that the bathroom was so serene she wanted to just stay in there!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

It's Christmas In The Bathroom Too!

I recently sent this picture to my mom on Facebook telling her that I had finally joined the 'Bathroom Christmas Tree Club'. I knew she would be proud of me and sure enough she commented the pic saying she was "tickled". 

My mother has a great gift for going overboard. She loves card games so we may find ourselves sitting in a circle late into the night for hours and hours when visiting. She goes overboard in cooking, always creating way more than needed. I am definitely not complaining. Is there such a thing as too much fudge???

When my mother became interested in painting ceramics, she took classes and for several years taught her own ceramics classes and 'fired' her students creations in her own kiln in our garage!

My mom loves to garden. So, did she just do some pretty yard planting and leave it at that? No way! She went to classes and became a certified Master Gardener and displayed a garden scene at the fair, created and sold some beautiful planters for several years. Her yards are a lush and inspiring place to walk or sit and enjoy the scenery. My mom's yards have "rooms" divided by greenery that have distinct themes and colors and moods. 

When Mom became interested in photography, she again attended classes and my first born is embarrassingly THE most photographed kid in the world! This was 28 years ago, before the digital age and everyone's phones included a camera. She would show me pictures of him in outfits I had never seen because she had her own little fashion show when she babysat him! 

So my friends, when holidays come around, the boxes and boxes of decorations are brought in from the garage and "Decoration/Craft Room" and the house is transformed. Hubs still talks about his first Christmas in our family. Walking into my parent's home had him wide-eyed and a little dis-oriented I think! 

My mom does not confine her decorating to the house and yard. Every job she held in my growing up years was another opportunity to "brighten the place up". From the hospital jobs to the dry cleaning job and others, her holiday decorations change the atmosphere for the better. And I would not be surprised to hear that she is still decorating for her church functions and women's clubs.

Back to the house decorating......No room is left without holiday cheer and adornment. I remember my new husband coming to me and quietly saying, "Umm, there is a Christmas Tree in the bathroom!". My response? "Yah, so?". 

If getting "carried away" with decorating is wrong, then I don't want to be right! I love you Mom, Merry Christmas!

I Love New Stuff!

So excited! Hubs just took me to get new glasses!
I used to wear some cute Black/yellow squarish frames.
I replaced them with my current pair
JUST 7 MONTHS AGO.

But I dislike them intensely.
They pinch with those little nub thingys
and they show that one ear is lower than the other.
I am constantly adjusting them to look straight!

Yes, I know they are not HORRIBLE!
But they don't feel like me.
I liked the black pair I had before the crooked ones.

I don't like how the bifocal line shows in this particular pic but I loved these glasses!
I have missed them, but knew that I had made a mistake in the recent purchase
shown with the pink shirt.

SO,
I found an online coupon from sears optical
for 2 pairs of glasses for $99!

Yes, I said TWO PAIR!
So I got the rectangle ones pictured above in burgundy
and some black ones with a bit of roundishness to them!!

So happy, so excited!
Yay for me!
And yes, my Love Language is gifts!

Inspiration Looks Like A Pretty Girl

Tonight Rocker Son and his new girlfriend are coming over so she can make chicken enchiladas for us! They have been together for a couple months now and she is adorable and I am liking her for a few reasons:

• She has convinced Rocker Son to quit smoking for good!
• She loves to cook.
• She is extremely artistic in photography, music and...
• She is a tattoo artist!
• She is helping him find a better job and.....
• A better place to live!
• She sent me a Friend Request on Facebook.
• She really really likes my son and that is inspiring him.

A pretty girl can help a young man to see who he is. Hubs and I have been nagging, encouraging Rocker Son to be a grown up and find a better job and better place to live for years. He is 24 and only working enough to buy booze and pay rent on a house that has literally been reported to the health Department.

But since knowing his new girl, things are changing! He came over a few weeks ago to proudly announce to us that he is done with smoking. His long dirty hair is cut and amazing looking!

I don't feel bad at all that my words bounced off of him and her words are sticking. Go girl, go! If it takes a pretty girl to show him who he is and who he can be then I may be falling in love with her myself!!

Church Grinches?

You will not read many rants on this blog but I do have an issue with a phenomenon that occurs every Christmas and it really bugs me. I do not understand the Christians who gripe about how "our" holiday is being ruined by commercialism, greed and division. Don't they see that they are ruining it by complaining and moaning about it all season?

I read a news article about some church people and atheists  who are putting up dueling billboards to prove.....well, I don't know what they are trying to prove, it makes no sense! Do they think that some words on a big sign are going to change the way a nation thinks about Christmas? Or about Jesus? 

The fictional character, the Grinch is about a creature who hates all the warm fuzzy feelings and spirit of giving that appear every December. Scrooge would get along really well with him. Unfortunately I am seeing and hearing a lot of church people who could be part of the same club! All they talk about is the greed and commercialism of Christmas. Don't they hear themselves? The subject is the opposite side of the issue but the mood and tone are exactly the same!

Maybe it is a 'glass half full or glass half empty' kind of thing. I see this time of year totally different. 

I walk through stores and hear God being honored and praised in the overhead music being piped in for all to hear. Can you imagine any other time that the words, "Glory to God in the highest" would be resounding in your ear as you are reaching for the dish soap off the store shelf?

The malls are crazy-busy and the lines are long, but it is because everyone is hunting down a gift to give away. The desire to find the perfect item that will bring a smile to a friend can't be a bad thing, can it? We are spending hard-earned money to express our love for one another. Not only are we buying gifts to give away but the treasure is being wrapped in pretty paper and sparkly bow, so that it brings a smile even before the friend knows what is hidden inside! 

What other time of year could you get away with walking from house to house singing songs about Jesus? I know that Christmas caroling does not happen much any more, but how crazy is that tradition? The recent uploads of flash mob musicals on YouTube are evidence that singing for other's enjoyment is still alive. Maybe these are the new version of caroling! 

Houses and yards are full of bright lights and scenes of cheer. Just driving to a friend's house at night is a colorful and uplifting experience! So what if there are more Santa scenes than Jesus scenes! Both are delivering a message of love and generosity. 

I love Jesus and I love Santa. I also have no problem distinguishing which one is real and which one is pretend. My Christmas includes both of them and seeing more Santas in store decorations does not make me angry or jealous that Jesus is not getting enough attention. I know He is the reason for the season but I don't need to walk around shouting it to the world. 

This is a unique time of year when we as Christians have so much opportunity to love others and give of ourselves in so many ways. We can walk around humming songs that speak of angels and the Savior. Strangers aren't freaked out if we smile at them and say "Merry Christmas", blessing them as we go about our daily business. 

What is the main question people ask one another at this time of year? "Are you going home for Christmas?". This holiday promotes family time and gathering with our loved ones. Christmas movies and stories are about forgiving one another and letting bygones be bygones. Hallmark movies make us all teary and mushy because they point us back to our families and healing old wounds. 

There is something about this season that calls us up to a better, kinder, more loving standard. Why complain about commercialism when it is pointing people in the right direction ultimately? I plan on exploiting Christmas and enjoying every opportunity to smile big at strangers and totally ruining the dark moods of the Grinches!

Okay December, Here We Go!

I just spent the last several hours putting up our Christmas decorations, which I had decided 

were going to be minimal this year. One tree, one wreath and one nativity.

As tissue paper was removed from one tree ornament after another, the memories spilled out also.

ALL over me! Did you know that silly little glittery things can hold emotions and stories? 

An empty nest holiday combined with oldies Christmas music can be kinda dangerous!

Long story short, all that mushy, nostalgic-ness plus missing a fun christmas performance tonight led me from one decoration to another

and now my house has three trees (not real), four wonderful nativity scenes, a big wreath on the front door, four homemade christmas stockings and........well, you get the idea.

Merry Christmas!