Now we can have Christmas

In spite of the retail world trying to force Christmas upon me prior to Thanksgiving - nay, prior to Halloween! - I have resisted any semblance of Christmas in the Later home until after Thanksgiving. I get a little angry, actually, at this mass onslaught of Christmas before we even start thinking about what to make for Thanksgiving dinner. It's almost as if Thanksgiving isn't important anymore. But, the rule is the same now as it has always been in our home. We do not do Christmas until AFTER Thanksgiving. Period.

When the children were small, I would compromise and put up the Christmas tree on Thanskgiving night. But now that they're older I can hold off until the day after Thanksgiving. They're making progress.

So, now that the turkey is eaten and the leftovers are nearly gone we can have Christmas.

The tree is up, I'm experimenting with what kind of cookies will be suitable to give away to friends and neighbors, and the Christmas CD's are stacked by the CD player. This is a necessity since I can only take so much of KLCE's idea of Christmas music - Jewel singing "Silent Night" and let's hear "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" ONE MORE TIME!! As Joshua says, "That's not Christmas music! Where are my trumpets?"

While I also rebel against Black Friday - another conspiracy to try to make us believe that buying stuff (junk?) is the most important thing about the holiday, especially if we get it for a "deal" - I have been doing a little Christmas shopping. Online. In my pajamas. Sipping hot chocolate. My idea of a perfect shopping trip.

On that note, let me say that I am so impressed and amazed by people who have their Christmas shopping done by July. I tried it once and by the Christmas season had forgotten what I bought for everyone and ended up buying all over again, only to find post factum that I had already purchased gifts for that person. So, I wait until after Thanksgiving to start shopping. I'm more in the spirit of the thing and I work best under pressure.

So, while I still feel that I've entered a time warp (wasn't I just sitting on the Green Belt watching fireworks!?!?) I am completely ready for the season. I'm working on neighbor gifts and am, as always, getting a kick out of our cats who seem to think that the Christmas tree is there just for them. They love sleeping underneath it. We are hunkered inside in the warm, lit house while outside it's cold and, often, blustery. I'm savoring the wonderful smells of Christmas - cookies, cinnamon, cloves and the sweet sounds of Christmas - Christmas hymns at church and Handel's Messiah.

The only thing that would make it better would be to have everyone close by - Mama, Daddy, Rudy and family. So, here's my "Grown-Up Christmas List". I choose to believe in Santa Claus so, dream big right?

1. Perfect Christmas cookies to give away. No burnt edges, no soggy middles.
2. Snow on Christmas Eve.
3. Poinsettias all over the chapel the Sunday before Christmas.
4. An Aunt Kay hug.
5. A bag full of shelled pecans right out of the yard (thanks to Mom, this can be checked off the list!).
6. Quiet moments gazing at my Christmas tree lights. (One of my favorite Christmas memories in sitting on my Daddy's lap when I was really little, listening to Christmas music, and admiring the lights on our Christmas tree.)
7. Health and full recovery for Daddy.
8. Happy children.

Merry Christmas.

In the Spirit of Thanksgiving

In the Spirit of Thanksgiving\\

Clink on the link and watch the video. See if it inspires you to think on what you're thankful for - I'd like to hear about it.

In the meantime, here's my short list of things I'm thankful for:

1. Parents who love each other, love me, and did all they could (in spite of my best efforts as a teenager to make them completely and totally crazy) to give me a good start in life.

2. Children who challenge me, make me angry, make me laugh, make me worry, but overall give me every reason to be extremely proud of each one of them for the people they're becoming (in spite of my best efforts to force them into what I want them to become, which probably really isn't what they were intended to be after all).

3. A husband who loves and supports me, makes sure there's Pepsi in the refrigerator, drops me off and picks me up at the back door of the hospital so I don't have to drive in the snow, does the laundry, doesn't feel the need to thump his chest and be a big macho guy and reminds me to laugh and have fun (in spite of my best efforts to take myself too seriously).

4. A Savior, Jesus Christ, who knows my heart and loves me anyway and never gives up on me (in spite of my best efforts to be stupid and prideful).

And other miscellaneous things:

5. Chips and guacamole
6. Two water heaters - so I never run out of hot water in the shower
7. My iPod. Would I not have LOVED having one of those when I was 13?????
8. Cats who get that their purpose in my life is to sleep on my feet.
9. Happy's Chinese restaurant. A lifesaver on a Thursday night when cooking seems on the same physical effort expenditure scale as climbing Mount Everest.
10. A library card
11. Reed's Dairy milk delivery