Archive for the 'Christmas' Category

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My Old Journal: Stars & Stamps

Published on Sunday, November 18, 2007 in Christmas, My old journal and NaBloPoMo 2007. 2 Comments

NaBloPoMo – Day Eighteen

A SPECIAL DESIGN IN THE NIGHT SKY by me (June 22, 1991)
Starting June 16 and lasting for only a few days, was something that was so special that it only comes every 200 years.

In the western sky Mars, Jupiter, Venus are aligned in a triangle just to the right of the moon:

[see diagram in picture below -- I've written, "Mars even had its characteristic red color" by it]

The last time these three planets could have been seen like this was in the 1700’s and it won’t be seen again until 2277 AD. Wow! That’s a long time to wait if you missed it this year!

CHANGES SINCE MY COVER by me (June 22, 1991)
When I made my collage on the cover of this journal I put objects on that were characteristic of 1990. Well, since it is 1991 some of those things have changed.

One of those things that I just noticed today was that “Trident” Gum has changed their wrapper of the “original” flavor from the light blue and white on my cover) to this:

[see pictures below]

I wish I could have had this wrapper and the other one too.

Another change that occurred just after I did my collage was the price of stamps. In the first part of 1991, the price went from 25-cents to 29-cents – what an odd number.

Here is what that change looks like now:

[see pictures below]

[my writing by each example: "Lots of words for such a little stamp. -- I have no idea where they got the “F.” -- Looks familiar doesn’t it – only the “F” grew into a 29. -- Now, the stamps look just like any other stamp."]

my old journal page 144 my old journal page 145

Remember, you can click on each picture (a couple of times) to make it bigger.

Planetary observations and the changes in stamps have always intrigued me. I wrote these two journal entries on the same day, so I thought I’d include them both in one post here.

Because we lived out in the country, the night sky was amazingly bright and crisp. I remember lying out in the club house looking at the stars at night and feeling so small and insignificant in such a huge universe. Now, we have to travel hours away to see such brilliant night skies, and gazing at the stars in the cool night air is one of my favorite things to do on our camping trips.

With the advent of the Internet and email, the price of stamps hasn’t affected me as much now as it did back then. The only time of year that we really do a lot of snail-mail mailing is over the holidays. It’s hard to believe that stamps today are 41-cents a piece, especially when compared to the 25- and 29-cent versions in my journal!

Speaking of the snail-mail season, we have a rather extensive Holiday Card List. I enjoy writing our holiday letter, putting together a family holiday photo-card and getting them in the mail as close to December 1st as possible. I know some people like to mail theirs right after Thanksgiving and others wait until later in December, and even others send “Happy New Year!” cards. ;) But December 1st has always been my personal goal. The year I had Claire, I knew this would not be possible, because she was due December 2nd. I actually had her on November 30th, and we came home from the hospital on her original due date. In true casual perfectionist style, I had most of the work done so that all we had to do was plug in the photo of our brand new family, finish up the letters and get them in the mail shortly after we got home. :)

Because we have such an extensive Holiday Card List, it’s no surprise that we always get a ton of holiday cards in the mail. I love seeing how everyone’s kids have grown and reading about all their adventures. I know Claire will get a kick out of looking at all the holiday cards we get this year, and I can’t wait to see her reaction at getting so much mail!

Claire thinks the stamps on the envelopes we get now are really cool “stickers,” and she loves playing with them. I also love using the holiday stamps on our letters, but I just realized we have a TON of the new “Forever Stamps” with the Liberty Bell on them. Soooooooooo, I’m not sure if I can justify spending a ton of money on new stamps until we’ve used all of these. (Because we do most of our bill-paying online, the rate at which we burn through “real” stamps is quite slow these days.)

At least it’s a bell. Maybe I can just pretend it’s a festive silver bell and call that it. ;)

My Old Journal: Through the eyes of…

Published on Monday, November 12, 2007 in Christmas, Claire, Kitties, My old journal, NaBloPoMo 2007 and Photos. 3 Comments

NaBloPoMo – Day Twelve

In my Advanced Placement Writing Class, we were encouraged to view things from another perspective and then write from that point of view. This really was a neat exercise, and I’ve found that it can get the creative juices flowing if they’ve been stagnant for a while.

Here is one such entry as found on page 70 of my old journal:

THROUGH THE EYES OF A CHRISTMAS TREE by me (December 15, 1990)
I have the best view in the whole house. All day long I stand at attention in the bow window of the living room.

When people stop and stare at me, I wink my red, blue, yellow and green eyes at them. The color of eyes that I wink at them with depends upon the mood that I’m in. I’m in a cheerful mood now, but who wouldn’t be? It’s the Christmas season!

I am so proud to be here with this family. I can’t wait to tell all the birds who will live with me when the Christmas season is over and this nice family puts me outside to live, about all the fun I’m having.

You should have seen it; I almost died laughing when they started putting these unique little things held by string – I think I heard the children call them “ornaments” – on my limbs because it tickled so much! I hardly even feel them now, but I laugh just thinking about it.

I have learned a lot about this family by the things that they put on me. They have adorned me with all different kinds of things from glitter and glue Kindergarten projects to wooden figurines to intricate glass icesicles. (I hope I don’t sneeze; this family would be upset if I broke something.)

My favorite piece of jewelry, however, is the homemade silver star on the tippy-top of my head. I am so overjoyed that this family picked me to wear it, so I will wear it with pride.

I’d better go for now, because they will be up from bed soon and the peace and quiet will be gone.

Ever since I moved away, I’ve not had a full-size Christmas tree. We get a ton of Christmas cards every year, and I string them on pretty ribbon and hang them on our banister, or I display them on the wall in our dining room. I really like snowmen, so I set a few of those out, but that’s about all the decorating we do for the holidays.

Nearly every year, we’re never home for the holidays. We’re always traveling to see family that lives out of state. The kitties can’t be trusted with such decoration when left unattended for long periods of time, and I never really had the time or energy to decorate for a season we wouldn’t really be celebrating here, only to take them down before we left.

The year we had Claire, everything changed and we stayed home. That year, we put up a few more decorations, but didn’t get around to doing a full-on tree. We refused to travel with a teeny-tiny baby, and we had one of the best Christmases I can ever remember as an adult.

It’s not that we don’t enjoy being with relatives on Christmas, but it’s rough traveling over the holidays, and our time is always so rushed. Last year, the three of us went on a Tour of the Midwestern Trifecta (not unlike the trip we took this summer), and thankfully we were able to barely squeak by between blizzards. Claire was a rockstar on the trip and handled everything masterfully, but it was so tough on Momma and Daddy. We were exhausted.

We both remember how much fun the holidays were when we were kids. We both remember how exciting it was waiting for Santa and waking up in our own beds and feeling the joy and excitement of the season. We both want that for Claire.

So, this year, we’ve decided to have Christmas at home and start our own traditions. We’ll be picking out a Christmas tree and hanging the ornaments we’ve each cloistered away in our boxes of treasure, and we’ll be picking out some new ones that are just for the three of us. We’ll hang our stockings by our own fireplace, and Santa will know to stop here this year.

For old time’s sake, here are some pictures of Claire on our first Christmas together as a family. (She’s not even a month old!) You’ll see that there wasn’t any extra decoration needed to make the holiday complete… ;)

A Note about the pictures: You can click on each image to make it bigger,
and then you can click on that image to make that one bigger as well…

Holiday Presents 2005

All of the gifts we got in 2005…

Can’t I open just one?

Now that I’m in a more festive outfit, can’t I open just one present?

Opening presents takes a lot of energy!

Opening presents takes a lot of energy!

Wish list

Published on Saturday, November 10, 2007 in Christmas, Conversations and Random Thoughts. 0 Comments

Well, it’s that time of year. My hubby’s family has asked us for our holiday wish lists, and I’m trying to figure out what to tell them.

“What I’d really like is a massage or spa treatment,” I said wistfully. “But, I’m not sure how that would work.”

“They could give you a gift certificate for one,” my hubby said.

“True, but I feel weird telling them exactly where to get it. But if I don’t, who will?”

“Well, I could tell them,” he said.

“You could? Do you know where you would tell them to call?”

“Oh, I have no idea. I’d just tell them to ask you, since you always take care of all the details around here,” he half-jokingly said with a smile.

“And, that’s exactly why I need a day at the Spa.” ;)

Somebody’s name is on the Nice List

Published on Monday, September 24, 2007 in Christmas, Fun, Games, Home Improvement, Home Improvement - Master Bath, Movies, Random Thoughts and TV Shows. 2 Comments

Well, it’s like Christmas came early in our household this weekend. My hubby has been painstakingly researching and tracking new television sets for the last five years. Research of this magnitude is a long process for him. I think he thinks it’s half the fun. He’s also been talking about getting a new Xbox 360, so that he can play Guitar Heroes. (He already has an Xbox, but I’m told it’s just not the same.)

It’s not that we have a tiny or low-quality television now…it’s just not new. It’s not all the new technology the kids are raving about these days. Honestly, I don’t understand it all, but it makes him happy, so I try to understand. Really, I do.

So, we’re sitting at the kitchen table on Saturday eating lunch, and he’s looking at the laptop. He’s checking out all his deal-watcher sites. Suddenly, out of the blue, at one of the stores near us, he finds a random deal that includes one of the TVs he’s been eyeing and the Xbox 360 all for a really good price. Of course, the sale ends today! He was planning on buying them separately anyway, so if we can save money by buying them together, why not?

Santa admitted that my hubby had been such a good boy, that he didn’t have a problem coming a little early this year. ;)

He had been doing some painting work in the bathroom and working on cutting and installing the moldings. So, he rushed around putting on “normal” clothes so that he could run to the store. He was entirely too excited to think straight. I was hoping they still had the TV he wanted in stock and that the deal was real…for his sake.

Sure enough, they did and it was! I don’t think his feet have touched the ground all weekend. Now, he’s so motivated to play with his new toys that he got a *lot* done on the bathroom on Sunday, and we may be close to putting on the final touches! (And it’s not like he was being a slacker before!)

Speaking of the bathroom project, he got all the moldings sanded, cut, installed and primed. He also got the exhaust vent cut in the side of the house and connected and all the electrical work done for the new fan/light. He also got the doors and door frames painted. It’s amazing how a little extra motivation will kick things into high gear… ;)

We thought that moving the old television off the entertainment stand was going to be the most daunting of tasks, especially with my back…that and the fact that the TV weighs as much as my car. ;) Luckily, we were able to rig one of the computer chairs to help us. We used it like a furniture dolly, and it worked like a charm.

Oddly enough, the new 50” television, which is technically bigger than the older television weighs a lot less. It was a challenge getting it from his car to the house, but I powered through the pain, and we made it!

We joke that it’s *his* Christmas present sitting downstairs right now, but it’s something we’ll all enjoy. The new TV is nice. It’s amazing, actually. We watched a movie on the new system, and I was blown away.

We watched the movie on the Xbox, which will actually replace our DVD player. Hear that, DVD player!? Your days are numbered! Your random seizing up and stuttering will no longer be tolerated! Granted, we’ve watched a lot of movies (hundreds and hundreds…thanks to Netflix…), and I think we’ve almost successfully driven our DVD player insane.

I’m really not into any of the Xbox 360 stuff, but I will admit that the graphics look incredible on the new television. I guess if I have to be a Gaming Widow, it’s nice that Claire and I won’t have to go far to see Daddy. ;)

Attack of the poisoned potatoes

Published on Friday, July 27, 2007 in Christmas, Claire, Language, Milestones and Parenting 101. 3 Comments

I can be a pretty sarcastic person. I’m not a mean sarcastic person, necessarily, but I love a punny exchange and quick, light-hearted banter. I’m very careful not to swear in mixed company, but I haven’t quite figured out how to turn off my sarcasm when around small children.

Small children don’t get sarcasm, and why should they? Kudos to them for actually understanding the words that are being said let alone the nuances of sarcasm. In fact, I know some adults that are still learning. ;)

One of my sisters still looks at me sideways for making one of her boys cry at the Christmas Dinner table last year. We were all sitting around my parents’ table, and because there were so many of us there, we were all jammed in pretty tightly. It was hard to get up from the table, so my mom had actually made two dishes of certain popular items, so that we didn’t have to pass around the hot dishes and/or get up from our place to get another serving.

So, we’re all sitting there, shoveling food into our mouths, laughing and having a good ol’ time. (Meals at my parents’ house are far from quiet.) My brother-in-law asks me if I could pass the potato casserole. Neither he nor I realized that there was one on our side of the table, so I asked Mom to pass the potatoes. She tells us that she’s not going to, because there is one down there by us. So, I look at my brother-in-law and say, “She won’t give them to me. The potatoes must be poisoned. We need to eat these.” Everyone laughed, and we went on shoveling food in our mouths.

A few minutes later, my sister notices that her three-year old is really quiet, and he’s crying. “What’s wrong?” she asks. “I don’t want Daddy to die!” he said. “Why would Daddy die?” my sister asks. “Because the potatoes are poisoned, and I saw him eat them!!”

“Oh no! No, the potatoes aren’t poisoned, even though your aunt, one of those trusted adults, said they were.” Uhhh…oops!

So, what does this have to do with anything? Well, it’s been seven months, and I’m still having trouble with turning the sarcasm off. The other night, I found a squished raisin on Claire’s bib, and I said, “Oh! What is that? A bug!?” I know it’s not a bug. I’ve jokingly called raisins bugs for years. I realized my mistake as soon as I heard myself say it. It all happened in slow motion, and I tried to suck that word back into my mouth, but it was too late.

Great. Getting Claire to eat raisins is already an intricate game, and now you’ve referred to them as bugs! Good goin’, Momma.

Claire seemed a little confused, and handed it to me like it was a bug. Immediately, I tried to distract her with some other things, so hopefully Momma’s little comment is forgotten.

I know I need to try my hardest to behave from here on out. And, if I don’t succeed, my daughter will be the only child in Kindergarten that makes the other kids cry with her sarcastic remarks. ;)