Happy New Year

Good morning and Happy New Year.  Well, I feel wonderful.  I have had my coffee and the words are virtually flying off my fingers and onto this blog.  If you ever want me to "spill the beans" then give me a cup of coffee....better than any alcohol.  OK, OK, settle down now.  I am teasing.....don't get all upset with your mom, your aunt, your sister, your wife, your friend.....alcohol is better. Teasing again!!!!!!!

45 years ago tonight (You should have been here just now as the hubby and I worked out the math to decide 45 years ago.  You would have been laughing or crying.  I am still trying to decide if it was funny.  Somehow the words "negative number" came into play.), anyway, back to the 45 years ago tonight, I was a mere child at the age of 18.

I have told you that my childhood revolved around our small country church where everybody knew everybody else.  Well on this night, 45 years ago, that was no exception.  Mom and Dad had a party at our house for the people of the church.  Now by the time I was 18, I finally, whew! finally!, had a boyfriend. 

What 18 year old wants to be a part of their parents' party?  Maybe you, but not me.  I had a boyfriend and I wanted to go out.  Shawnee, here we come!  One stipulation.  I had to be home by, get this, 11:00.  My normal curfew was 10:30 so I got a lousy extra 30 minutes on New Year's Eve for Pete's sake.  What!??!  Pop Dixon was at the party and he was 85 if he was a day...maybe 95!  How can this injustice be?  I was 18 years old, ready to be on my own, explore the world, and soon was...well another 3 years but that is another story.  I could not understand this at the time.  Now 45 years later I still don't, but I have made peace with it. 

Moral of the story:  Kids, moms and dads may make decisions for you that seem strange and maybe even a little insane, but you have to deal with it and not act out.  Someday, it will be revealed to you OR NOT.  You just have to let it go, Louie.

Let me tell you about Pop Dixon.  He was a lovely, nice old gent who lived alone about a mile from our church.  He absolutely loved to sing.  You could hear his voice over all the rest.  The trouble with that is that he couldn't carry a tune in a bucket.  Every note was off key and he was loud, but he did make a joyful noise.  He grabbed one of my sister's at every opportunity to play for him.  Often after church as the rest of us were getting in our cars to leave, we could still hear the piano and Pop Dixon's bellowing out a joyful noise.  I sure miss his joyful noise.  I am sure he is in heaven right now, but his voice is like that of an angel.

I love you and Happy New Year!
  

Love Actually

Tonight we are piled on the couch watching "Kung Fu Panda II" with the boys.  Hubby is on the end of the couch with the dog in his lap, L. is next to him with his Sandy (blanket), B. is next to L. with his blanket, too, and I am next to B.  I will be truthful; I have my blanket, too .  The boys are already in their pjs and we just had our cheesecake....... and we are going to have another.  There is nothing better........

I know I told you that one of my favorite Christmas movies is "Love Actually".  When my sisters were here on Christmas Eve, I told them about the movie and neither one had seen it.  Is has Hugh Grant in it; how could they NOT have seen this movie?  I whined around and begged my hubby to rent it for us, but I really wasn't serious.  After a bit he comes in with the movie without ever leaving the place.  Come to find out, he had bought me the movie for Christmas and already had it wrapped, but shoot, he unwrapped it before handing it to me.

So we popped the movie in the DVD player and settled down just about as comfortably as we are tonight only I had the recliner.  Then the scenes came up.  I looked around...........hmmm.......wonder if anybody understood that?.......another scene..........looked at my sister.  She said, "She will leave the room in a little bit" (referring to her daughter).  And sure enough, T. left the room, and bless her sweet heart she watched TV in her bedroom (yes, she has her own bedroom at my house).

Hubby and I watched this movie a couple of weeks before and I thought it was appropriate for all ages above the age 13.  As the movie progressed I told my sisters that I hadn't seen those scenes so I must have been engrossed on the laptop at the same time as when I watched it.  Toward the end of the movie the hubby came through and said "You do know we watched it on TV, don't you?"  Doh..........now it made sense.  Of course! 

Which brings to me to this?  The movie on TV was outstanding, no inappropriate language, no sex scenes, just a great story line.  They put it in just for gratuitous sex.  I have never considered myself a prude, but the movie was actually better without those scenes and language.  I have learned my lesson.......look at the rating before hitting play.  Check the audience. 

Have you ever been embarrassed like that?  I was on Grandma Dawkins' couch and vividly recall being embarrassed seeing someone on TV kissing when I was watching with Grandpa Dawkins.  I am not exactly sure I know why; was it because I was uncomfortable with the kissing or was it that I didn't want grandpa to know that I knew about kissing.  At any rate, I was sure uncomfortable.   

To my dear T., I promise that I will never put on another movie that makes you uncomfortable again.  You will never have to leave the room ever again.  I love you..........all of you.

Christmas is in the Attic

Thanks to the help of the hubby, my tree is in the attic and all the decorations are in the closet.  Putting away Christmas decoration is something I always dread, but something I can't wait to do.  If possible, the tree comes down the day after Christmas, but that isn't always possible.  I love to get the house back in order, dusted, and clean.  It makes me feel so good to have a sparkling clean house on New Year's eve.  Our New Year's plans are always at home and simple with a few appetizers and perhaps a glass of sparkling grape juice.  Boring people, I know!  A clean house makes the holiday just a little more special and relaxing.  Time to think about plans for 2012! ! !

Memory:  I don't have many memories of taking down the tree when I was a child, but there is one vision I have of Mom taking off the shiny tinsel and saving it for the next year.  She would take it off as carefully as she wanted us to put it on; right back in the box it went.  I am sure this tinsel costs less than a dime, but she saved it.  Every dime mattered back then as it should to us today.  The things we have in our lives that we consider necessities are, in fact, luxuries.  So if you are wondering how you are going to make ends meet, remember my mom and her tinsel.  You can do without those 147 TV channels.  

I love you guys.


   

Rudolph

Just one more little memory before I head off to bed and before the weekend gets crazy tomorrow with fun.  This one involves my own two kids.  Since the hubby's mother lived in Arkansas and my parents lived in Oklahoma, we established our holiday routines the first year we were married.  We would spend Thanksgiving at one parent's house and Christmas as the other.  Then the next year we would switch.  It worked up until 1994, the year of her death.  Miss her so much.

The kids were about 3 and 6 and were just getting ready for bed at Grandma Tucker's house on Christmas Eve.  They were so excited for this was the night Santa would visit.  We heard the most horrible screaming and running footsteps down the hall and into the living room.  What in the world????  You see they had seen Rudolph, they had really seen Rudolph!  They pulled on us until we got up to see what they had seen.  And sure enough Rudolph was up in the sky.  Yes, that stop light down the street really put those two little ones into the spirit.  At that point they could not wait until we had read "Twas the Night Before Christmas" and the story of Christ' birth so they could go to sleep.  They sure did not want Santa to catch them awake and he was really close, really close.  Night night my sweet little babies.  I love you all. 

Christmas Parking Spaces

Is your house just a little crazy?  Yes, it is that time of the year when nerves are on edge and parking spaces are a big "no".  But I am good.  All the shopping is done and the wrapping, too.  Yahoo! 

Now for another back in the day memory.  Parking was always at a premium in Shawnee where we shopped for Christmas presents, but if you drove around the block about 18 times you will probably find a parking space.  The parking spaces were on a slant in front of all the stores.  The absolute premier parking space was right in front of Kress or perhaps between Kress and Woolworth's.  In those days it wasn't uncommon for people to leave their kids in the car while they shopped and that is exactly what we did.  Actually, we liked sitting in the car better than following mom or dad around shopping and besides they were playing Santa so even though we were old enough to know about Santa, we didn't want to rock the boat.  And besides..........you get to people watch.  And.......if you were ornery like my brother and me, you cause traffic to come to a halt........for a parking space!  Yep, we did that!  Here is how.  In those days there were no back up lights on cars.  So if you pressed on the brake, it looked like you were getting ready to leave.  You would be surprised how long a car would wait before they finally gave up and moved on.  Oh man, that was good entertainment for a 10 year old.  We would laugh and laugh over how clever we were. 

Just so you will know, even though we were in the car, we were checked on now and again.  Mom and Dad would bring packages and put in the car and see that we were OK; there might be a bag of chocolate covered peanuts if we were good.  What I also remember was how fun it was to watch all the shopper rush home with their treasures.  In tribute to all those long ago shoppers, here are the lyrics to that famous song "Silver Bells".     

Silver Bells
Writer: EVANS/LIVINGSTON


Silver bells, silver bells
It's Christmas time in the city
Ring-a-ling, hear them ring
Soon it will be Christmas day

City sidewalks, busy sidewalks
Dressed in holiday style
In the air there's a feeling of Christmas
Children laughing, people passing
Meeting smile after smile
And on every street corner you'll hear

Silver bells, silver bells
It's Christmas time in the city
Ring-a-ling, hear them ring
Soon it will be Christmas day

Strings of street lights, even stoplights
Blinkin' bright red and green
As the shoppers rush home with their treasures
Hear the snow crunch, see the kids bunch
This is Santa's big day
And above all this bustle you'll hear

Silver bells, silver bells
It's Christmas time in the city
Ring-a-ling, hear them ring
Soon it will be Christmas day

City sidewalks, busy sidewalks
Dressed in holiday style
In the air there's a feeling of Christmas
Children laughing, people passing
Meeting smile after smile
Soon it will be Christmas day

The Candy Jar

I am sure all of you kids will remember this bowl.  This is what Mom used as her candy jar.  What you may not know is that after she loaded the jars with candy, she hid them.  With all us kids around, I don't blame her because we could have eaten ALL this candy in one afternoon. 

You probably remember that the candy only came out on Christmas day.  After we were grown and with kids of our own, we may have been at her house the week before Christmas, but we weren't offered any candy, were we?  Nope, it was to be eaten only Christmas day and not a day before. 

Then on Christmas day we would load up and head to Grandma Thompson's house, candy in tow, along with a trunk load of other food, plus the presents for EVERYone, and seven people...., but we got to set up front, not in the trunk, but I digress.  Why we could not eat our candy before hand always astounded me because there was more candy at Grandma's than most candy shops and we were going to take 7/8ths of what we brought back home.  You cannot imagine, oh I guess you can since you were probably there (this tradition of going to Grandma Thompson's was going on until she moved out of her house and into a nursing home), how much and how many different kinds of candy were on her long coffee table and scattered all over the house.  Divinity, fudge-plain, pecan & of course, Aunt Azelee's peanut, Aunt Bill's candy, peanut brittle, toffees, Oklahoma Millionaires, date roll, candied nuts -- those were the regulars, but there were always a new recipe or two.  Then when my sisters and I were grown with our own families, we added our own creations.  It is a wonder we all didn't go into a sugar shock that day.  I think we girls may have had some guilt going on.  We didn't want any of our aunts to think that Mom's girls were lazy or couldn't cook so we brought enough food ourselves to feed the whole crowd.  Memory:  My Aunt Azelee always brought dumplings.  One year I brought them, too, and that was the year she stopped making hers.  Not sure why that was, but I choose to think she was ready to pass that dish off to another person.  

Now my Grandma Thompson is gone.  Mom is gone.  Two of my aunts are gone.  Sad to think that the people that meant the most to me when I was little are now gone.  I have one aunt still alive - 96 years old she is!  I hope to see her this week and love on her just a little, and remember with her, for in her I see Mom.   

History behind that jar:  Uncle Ed Eitel, Aunt Wilma's husband, got this jar/bowl for mom and one for each of her sisters. They used these jars at the Sylvania plant where he and daddy worked. I am not sure what came in the jars originally, but they were trashed when emptied so he gathered up four of them for the girls.  Mom would make her candy, just as I did in the pictures above, and hide it on top of the freezer.  Remember that?  By the time we kids finally figured out where she was hiding the candy, we were old enough to leave it alone.  Taking this candy to Grandma's house was important to Mom.  Those Thompson women had this sort of unspoken competition or perhaps it was guilt that the other sister might out do the others.  Good women!  Here's to those lovely ladies...the ladies who used their cooking to brighten the lives of many people, including our own family.     

Excuse me while I go put the candy jar on top of the freezer.............. BUT if you come see before Christmas, I will offer you candy.  Please come see me!  Gotta get rid of this candy for I don't want it in my house on the 26th.



Tiny Little Christmas Memory

The next few days I will tell you some little Christmas memories of mine.  They are fun for me to remember and I hope you enjoy them, too.

As I told you, Garden Grove grade school had plays throughout the year, some as a result of 4-H competitions and some just school productions.  We had two buildings, one housing 1st through 4th grades, the other housed 5th through 8th, but remember there were never more than about 20 kids in the whole school.  That meant that every child was needed in the play.  If they were not needed for an actual speaking part, they would always be used as a choral group.....OK, they just sang. 

The play I remember the most was "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens.  My little brother played Tiny Tim, probably got the roll because he was a boy!  (It's a man's world....Can't get that song out of my head now.)  Being a little guy, probably helped a little bit, too.  Wow, what a choice roll, huh?  I was a little envious that he got the "aw, he is so cute" roll.  He had the cutest limp with the help of a board in the leg of his pants; and his crutches, how cute.  Remember the 4-H picture a few months back?  The boy in the back roll was the ghost.  Even though we all knew who played this part, when the lights of the school were lowered and he started rattling his chains, it was terribly scary.

For a small grade school we really put on some great plays.  We had two teachers who really knew how to put on a production.  It was a community event and they wanted us to do our best and those plays were certainly our best.   

After we finished the play, it was time for Christmas presents.  We always had the biggest tree with those soft opaque lights........beautiful.......and the smell of the cedar.......wonderful.  Christmas!  Santa would come and deliver a present for each of us provided by our parents, of course. 

Memory:  The last Christmas present I received from my teacher, the last year we were at Garden Grove before being transferred to Prague, was a beautiful set of Evening in Paris.  It was the prettiest present anybody ever gave me.......those gleaming blue bottles.  She got a set of Evening in Paris for every girl in her building.  I remember thinking how extravagant.  Now I realize they were extravagant gifts, but my teacher never had any children of her own and we five girls were "her" girls, and sadly, it was the last time we would ever have a Christmas together, so she doted on us.  I will never forget that generous present.  My daddy used to tell people, "Regina loves anything wrapped in a shiny package."  He might be right; I loved it when sequins went from evening to day wear.  Do ya' think I might be gaudy????  Borrowing from a line by Jenny Joseph, "When I am old, I shall wear purple."
 

Christmas Crying Girl

This is my baby, my baby about 32 years ago.  Santa had come to visit this sweet precious child, but for some reason she wasn't happy.  Remind you of a story from yesterday?  I don't remember why she was so unhappy, but we thought it was worth remembering with a picture.  Why didn't I write the year on the image and the event that lead to her tears? 

She was a cutie pie in her new red flannel nightgown.  There was a little nightcap that went with it...perhaps that contributed to her being so distraught.  More likely the reason was because she just got up too early. 

I see those tears and it still breaks my heart.  It breaks my heart to see her unhappy or crying today, 32 years later.  I guess I will always be her mom and she will always be my baby, just as her older brother is.  They are my babies and when they hurt, I hurt.  I truly hurt to the point of pain.  I guess it is true that a parent is only as happy as their least happy child.  With the tears and all the drama that can seem overwhelming, I will never regret being the parent to these two remarkable individuals. 

Merry Christmas sweet children of mine.  I love you!

Christmas Cry Baby

See the little girl to the left, well.......that is me.  Yes, I was in the 6th grade that year, and I just realized my hubby was a senior in high school when this was taken.  Yep, December 1959.  Man oh man............he really DID rob the cradle!!

Take a look at that sad girl.  Pathetic little thing.  I am glad I have this picture, but frankly the image is etched in my memory forever.  That was the first year I did not get a doll for Christmas.  Three gifts......three gifts........only three gifts and they are all in that picture.  Look at that nice satchel...yes, that is what we called them.  Inside was a nice Bible story book ( I remember thinking I was too old for that book, but ironically I still wanted a doll), but look to my left at the nice blue bicycle.  The fact that I got a bike didn't matter one iota.  Nope, I just didn't want to leave my doll years behind.  I knew that I would have to give up playing with dolls eventually, but surely not before the rest of my sisters did, and not that year.  My three little sisters got these beautiful baby dolls, plus all the tea sets, the doll clothes, etc, and all I got was a lousy bike.  Nope, I was not a happy camper.  My brother got a bike, too, but he wasn't crying, just me.      

I fell off the bike as soon as I got on it, and it hurt.  You can see me holding my bottom, but I wasn't really crying because I hurt myself, I was jealous of my sisters and their dolls and their stash of toys.  (When this picture was taken, I distinctly remember I was crying because I was jealous.  Even at 12 years old I knew was jealous that they got so many toys and I got three things.  For me, at least that year, it was about abundance rather than quality.)  I was jealous....  Never mind that my bike probably cost more than the rest of theirs toys.  So tonight as I reminisce, it makes me sick at my stomach to think how I must have hurt my parents feelings.  They were probably thrilled that they were able to get me such an extravagant gift...........and I cried.

Even though I was sad that year, it was a good Christmas.  All our Christmases were because we were a happy family except for the ingrate daughter.  I'd love to be wearing that soft pink flannel nightgown that my mom had made for me, even would love to have the soft permed hair - again that mom gave me.  I guess we were a pretty self-sufficient family, huh?

Eventually I got over being sad, taught myself how to ride and my brother and I spent many fun hours riding on that dusty gravel road. 

This picture also gives you a glimpse into our home.  Notice the floral linoleum and the floral wall paper.  The vinyl blue-gray covered divan - yep, Mom covered that, too.  She was a talented woman.  The back on the divan folded back to make a somewhat uncomfortable bed.  Behind me was mom and dad's room and you can kind of see the rails of my baby sister's bed.  Surely, she wasn't still in that baby bed at 4 years old, but we were kind of crowded so maybe so.  I would love to have that door now.  I would love to have that moment again to change my sad face into a beaming happy face and to tell my folks how thrilled I was for that bike and to thank them for their sacrifice they made that year to give me such an extravagant gift.  Thank you Mom and Dad.

I will share another Christmas Cry Baby soon.  I love you all. 

 

Our Favorite Christmas Movies

We try to watch several Christmas movies during the Christmas season.  Several of our favorites are lised below in no particular order.

1.  Disney's "A Christmas Carol" starring Jim Carey.  We went to see this a couple of years ago and just fell in love with this movie despite our affinity towards Jim Carey.  We saw it in digital, not 3D, but still it was a beautiful film.  Disney really did this one up right, and surprisingly stayed pretty much true to the original book per the hubby.  I confess I have never read the book.  Check it out and if possible see it on the big screen, but it isn't a movie for little children.  Some scenes will frighten the little ones, especially my grandchildren.

2.  "A Christmas Story" staring Peter Billingsly as Ralphie.  This came out while my kids were little and being the good parents we were, we went to see it without them just to make sure it was kid suitable.  We had no problem with the movie so we took them the next week.  From that year forward we have watched it and know almost every line by heart.  It is nostalgic without being a tear jerker.  This is a movie that looked more like Christmases that I remember as a child even though it was set quite a few years before I was born.  We got Steven a BB-gun that year and hid it just they did on the movie. 
Our daughter is especially crazy about this film and this year she bought the plastic press-on of the leg lamp to put on her front window.  It really looks like a real lamp with the light shining through.

3.  "Elf" starring Will Farrell.  We didn't know whether we would like this movie when it came out, but rented it one season and just loved it.  How could you not love a movie that Tim Conway is in?  Now it is one of our grandson's favorites.  We watched it with them last Friday night; their laughter was contagious.    

4.  "Home Alone" starring Macaulay Culkin.  We saw this movie after Christmas in 1990 with another couple.  I don't like to watch a Christmas movie after Christmas, but very glad we went to see it on the big screen.  I was laughing so hard it was hard to catch my breath or stay in my seat.  Hilarious!  This is another one we watch every year and can recite the lines and of course, everyone knows the scream when Kevin slaps his face with aftershave.  The scenes where the burglars are outsmarted by Kevin put L. on the edge of his seat and he laughs uncontrollably.

5.  National Lampoon's "Christmas Vacation" starring Chevy Chase.  This is one of my
absolute favorite movies not only a Christmas movie.  Some many sweet little moments in an otherwise chaotic movie.  Love it!  And loved it when Aunt Bethany is asked to say grace and she stands to recite the Pledge of Allegiance.  And loved it Clark is trapped in the attic and finds the old movie reels.  I could go on and on. 

6.  "Love Actually" starring Hugh Grant and several other well known actors.  I forget about how good this movie is.  I would suggest this to everyone.  Very sweet well produced movie and the storyline of several lives and how the interact with one another is wonderful.  Very clever writing.  A feel good movie.

Also rans and good movies: 

7.  "Lemon Drop Kid" starring Bob Hope.  The song "Silver Bells" was introduced in this movie.  

8.  "Christmas with the Kranks" starring Jamie Lee Curtis and Tim Allen is another good one, but the hubby is not crazy about it. 

9.  "Jingle All the Way" starring Arnold Schwarzenegger is one the hubby likes, but not crazy about it myself.

Of course there is "Miracle on 34th Street" starring Natalie Wood and "It's a Wonderful Life" starring Jimmy Stewart.  These are usually on TV, but we hardly ever watch them unless there is absolutely nothing else on.        

Christmas just seems the time to see a good movie.  Hope to do that one night soon.  Love you guys.  More nostalgia tomorrow.  I have a couple of pictures you won't believe.

Shopping with Mom

I spent the day with my daughter Christmas shopping.  It was one of those special days that I will always remember.  We spent an hour in Penn Sq mall, went to the outdoor outlet mall, and then to shops along 29th Street in Midwest City.  It was a cold day, the skies were overcast, and occasionally a slight mist fell.  The day was perfect with lots of laughter and giggling.  It felt like Christmas.

Tonight I am remembering my mom and all the times we had just like today, those perfect days when all is right with the world, when she could shop me to the ground.  But with life, things changed; it became harder and harder for her to get around, but try she did.  With lots of leave at my disposal, I would head to Prague to get her for some one on one shopping time.  Sometimes I could convince her to use the store's wheelchair which had a cart attached, and we would pile gifts all over the cart till that sweet little white-haired woman could hardly see over.  As she became more feeble, it became necessary for her to use a wheelchair full time, but we were still able to get out and shop. 

When I took her shopping, it was therapy for her and for me even with that cumbersome wheelchair.  She needed to get out and I needed to have that moment of feeling like all was right with the world again.  Even though we were at K-mart and pretty much just settled on gifts without much thought other than that will do, it was fun.  It put a smile, sometimes a grin, on her face.  She always wanted to go down the baby doll aisles and just look....she was probably remembering....probably the years she was buying four little baby dolls for four little girls.  I kind of like those baby dolls myself--got two of the cutest babies for the Toys for Tots this week.

Today was perfect!  I hope it was a perfect day for my daughter, too.  I hope it is a day she will remember.  

Memories of other perfect days:  Dad and mom used to come to Oklahoma City and Midwest City to Christmas shop.  Those were the days when we all made our lists and of course they wanted to make sure we go what we wanted.  With the ads in the Sunday Oklahoman in hand, they would strike off for Oklahoma City hoping to buy just exactly what we had on our list.  I am so grateful that I had a job where taking off to drive them around town was no problem.  We would have it set up to meet my hubby at What-a-Burger right outside Heritage Park Mall for a hamburger and a little relaxation before heading into the mall to continue to shop, shop, shop.   Great times, great people.





   

Fruitcake and Great Great Aunts

Last night I told you I would write about my great aunts, but after thinking about them I realized that they are my great great aunts.  Yes, these ladies were my grandmother's mother's sister.  Great Grandma Eaves had two sisters named Laura Webb and Bertie Lindsay. 

For years mom baked fruit cakes for all our distant relatives at Christmas time which we'd deliver the week of Christmas.  Mom would spend a day baking these marvelous smelling cakes, but smell good as they may, they sure weren't good....OK I was a kid!  Then she'd wrap them in foil and supposedly they would get better with age....RIGHT! 

On a cold winter's night, off we'd go toting these prized fruitcakes to all those elderly relatives.  The people I remember most vividly were Aunt Laura and Aunt Bertie and her husband Uncle Newton.  Don't you just love their names?  They were in their 80s...maybe 90s, but were a lively bunch.  They were absolutely thrilled to see us.  They always seemed to be dressed up, Aunt Bertie in her little dress, and Uncle Newton in slacks, wire rimmed glasses, looking dapper with his gray hair combed back.  He was such a sweet, gentle man and his grin told the world how kind he was.  (But he and Aunt Bertie had their moments.  Remind me to tell you about one involving my brother--another post.)  Not many kids came their way so it is surprising how warm they were to five little rug rats.  They didn't have a TV, but they had one of those large furniture type radios which was always tuned in to a radio preacher.  They had a cribbage set so that kept at least one of us occupied.

The radio was turned off as soon as we got there.  Have you noticed that most people have the TV on no matter if they have guests or not which I find irritating.  Mom and Dad believed that it was just the polite thing to do...turn off the TV and visit when you had guests in your home.  I still believe that. 

Aunt Laura lived above Aunt Bertie's garage.  This old woman (and I do mean old) had to climb the stairs to her home everyday, but seemed most capable although to a 10 year old girl, I had my doubts.  Can you imagine the noise we made clomping up those stairs?  It was dark out there, and just a little frightening when she would open the door.  She kept her apartment rather dark with only a small lamp or two burning.  She'd stand there greeting us with those Coke bottle glasses magnifying her eyes 4 times over.   This was both frightening and fascinating at the same time.  I literally couldn't take my eyes off her.  She'd have us set down and would always have some sort of candy for us.  Even as a child I wondered how long she had that candy.  Things always seem a little more fascinating in a dim light; she had all these trinkets.  Her apartment was just one huge room with a little kitchen area on one wall and her bed on another.  Somehow the whole apartment seemed huge and perfect and a place I was sure I would live one day.   

One thing really stands out in my memory and that is how polite I remember we were.  We'd set there quietly, squeezing 3 little girls into the chair without one word of discontent.  Maybe it was because we were just a little bit frightened of these old folks and their magnifying glasses.  Maybe it was because we were not allowed to speak while the adults were talking.  Respect!   

By the way, I have the radio mentioned above.  One day I hope to have it restored.  Sure...........

Not the Tradition - The Memory

Tonight we had burgers at Soda Pops in Moore with my two grandsons and their parents.  L. kept asking if the 5 foot dancing Santa in the corner was real.  The boys wanted us to go back to their house to eat pie and watch "Frosty the Snow Man".  How could we turn that down?  You should have seen their little faces when they proudly showed us their Christmas tree and all their ornaments.  L. had to show us each decoration around the house and the mobile of Santa and his sleigh flying around the earth which was hanging in their room.  They were so very proud of everything including the pie in the refrigerator. 

B. curled up next to me to get his back rubbed (after he finished the chocolate pie) and L. piled up on his daddy's lap to hear how Frosty came to life.  The room was quiet except for Frosty and the laughter from L., and the snoring of the hubby now and again.  It was a precious moment in time; a memory.   

I have had my traditions with my own children and my parents, but they are now gone.  They would be the first to tell me to enjoy the moment without regard to whether I am making a tradition.  That is exactly what we did tonight.  We didn't go to Hamburger King's in Shawnee as we have done almost every year since I was a wee girl.  The tradition was broken, but you know what, we made a memory and after all that is what a tradition is about - making a memory.  I think my boys will remember tonight.  They might not remember it as it actually was, but hopefully they will remember the love that was in that room tonight just as I remember the love that filled my childhood home.   

If you are stressing trying to make your tradition work, then it might be time to reassess your priorities.  You cannot recreate the past, and if you try you will fail for it will never be as it was 20 years ago.  It won't even be like it was a year ago.  It really isn't the tradition, it is the memory and sometimes it is best just to remember.     

L. was full of laughter in one Frosty scene and told his daddy to laugh 'cause it is funny.  That really  touched me.  These little boys of mine are so innocent and so precious.  Don't you wish you had the ability to look at life through the eyes of a child? 

Tomorrow I will tell you a little about my Great Aunts Bertie and Laura and our visits with them during the Christmas season.  I love you all!  Night night!

      

Daddy's Christmas Memory

Not feeling great tonight so a very quick memory of my dad's.

Daddy told us that when he was a little guy he was in bed waiting on Santa.  During the night he woke and could hear the ticking of the watch he had asked for.  He couldn't sleep the rest of the night.  Can you imagine how excited he was?  Miss my dad tonight.

Mall Walk of Shame

Last night I had the scariest moment ever.  Hubby and I were at Quail Springs Mall when I noticed this old woman making eye contact with me.  I quickly looked away, but curiosity got the best of me so I looked up again.  She was still there, that ugly old woman...........wearing the most horrible clothes imaginable.  That is when I realized, that old woman was me!  What has brought me to this lowly state?  My hair!  My shirt!  My jeans!  My shoes!  Nothing good was going on.  Short of going home, and we were 20 miles from home so that wasn't happening, there was nothing I could do.  With much whining, but with my head held high, I endured the mall walk of shame with the hubby giving me these reassuring words "you don't look that bad".

There are at least 347 reflective surfaces in any given mall so I had an opportunity to get several up close and personal looks of that scary woman.  It was not a pretty sight.  The flats - not so bad, but they don't do anything for your bottom.  My jeans - they were new and OK for flats but might have been a bit short to wear with heels, and girls, I think if I want to look my best, I will have to endure heels.  So I will definitely have to get me some new longer jeans and some new high heel boots to jack up my bottom.  The black boyfriend sweater - now that thing is only going to be worn at home.  No public appearances for it again.  My Christmas t-shirt (I haven't mentioned that, have I) was at least 7 inches too short.  I know what you are wondering now....WHY?  WHY WOMAN WOULD YOU WEAR THAT?  I know and I am ashamed.  I have read that Christmas themed clothing was a fashion faux pas.  I know that!  I even believe it!  I hate them on others so why in the world did I ever think they were the thing for me?   

In my teens, I was hit smack dab in the face with an ugly stick.  Don't believe me?  Look at my school pictures from 8th grade on.  In my 20s I was passable enough to get a man to marry me.  In my 30s, I was OK, but thought every mom over 30 ought to have a her hair permed and look...well...like a mom.  In my 40s, I thought life was passing me by so I tried to up my fashion sense.  In my 50s, people told me I looked good for my age.  Then the 60s hit.  I was retired.  Where was that "she looks good for her age" woman?  I can tell you where she was.  She was at the mall wearing her Christmas goggles buying Christmas shirts, short jeans, flats, and generic sweaters. 


Now I have made a vow, and if you want to take off your Christmas goggles, too, you might want to repeat with me: I will never (I will never) wear another (wear another) Christmas themed piece of clothing (Christmas themed piece of clothing) in public again (in public again).  Now that I have made that vow, I have closet purging to do, and new outfits to buy.  Next time you see me at the mall, I want to hear you say "she looks pretty good for her age". 


Memory:  I remember my Aunt Azalee telling the story of the time she ran into an old woman in her house.  She ran straight into this woman and screamed her head off, but it was a mirror on the back of a door.  We all had a good laugh about the "old" woman.

TRUE STORY:  On one of my trips to Dallas with my Tinker friends, I bought a new top and shoes and put them on right in the store.  Nothing will make you realize you look frumpy quicker than a trip to a Dallas mall.  

Disclaimer:  All this was written tongue in cheek.  You can wear your Christmas sweaters anytime you want and you will look adorable.  By the way, I am not the fashion police.