I'm Glad Christmas Is Only Once A Year

I'm glad Christmas is only once a year.

I'd get sick with the excitement and anticipation if it was more than once. About midway through December, I suddenly get hit with the joy that is Christmas. I am giddy with the thoughts of watching my loved ones open something I picked out just for them.

If Christmas was more than once, I'd take it for granted. I wouldn't sit and take a breath and enjoy the heck out of it. I wouldn't be overwhelmed with love as I sing my favorite Christmas hymns. I'd just sing it or bake it or wrap it cuz I had to; not because I want to.

I never want Christmas to be a chore! I want to celebrate each year with child like happiness that it is Christmas. Christmas! Even now, as I write about how gleeful this season makes me, I feel my excitement rise again. I have 360ish days to wait. I can't get carried away so soon!

And, Christmas seems to be the only time I find it morally acceptable to have a bowl of M&M's sitting out 24/7.

I'd never stick to my 'diet' if I had that candy bowl accessible year round.

Even now, I think a handful of M&M's will pair perfectly with my lukewarm coffee....

Yummy!

How I Found Out What I Was Getting Before Christmas

I had a suspicion, since I'd asked for something for my birthday, then changed my mind. Then I said no, really, I'd like it for Christmas.

I saw one at the exchange and shortly after that my husband excused himself to buy something.

Hmm.

But the real reason I know is because, even after I gave my husband a wad of receipts he'd left on the table and said are there any in here that I shouldn't look at, he left a different wad on the table. And I, being me, wanted a clean table and do not believe stacking the things from the table on the stairs, or the desk or the book shelf is an acceptable way to clean, so I was making a pile of garbage, and one of recycling and the next thing I know I have receipts in my hand that belong in the Christmas envelope.

The ones on top are mine. I bought these things for the kids, I want to save the receipt just in case. But then the next one, I was like, what is that?

Who spent that much on one item? What is it? OMG.

My present.

So. Husband. I don't know if I'll post this, but I had to vent and I don't want to vent on you and ruin the surprise you are getting me.

It's a Wii.

And now, if I'm wrong, you've really pulled on over on me. I love you anyway.

UPDATE: It is a Wii!!!! And I love, love, love it! Surprise or no, it's just what I wanted. Thanks, babe!

What Christmas Means To Me

Christmas is a time of celebration and joy. It's family and loved ones. It's gathering around a table piled heavy with good food. It's laughing so much you have no arm strength.

It's seeing your kids greet each gift with gratitude and thanksgiving. It's watching your dog go crazy with excitement when she sees her stocking is full. It's sitting next to your husband, so very grateful that he is next to you, watching the kids and the dogs, not deployed somewhere hot and sandy.

Christmas is traditions. It's cookie baking, it's tree hunting, it's lights strung on porches. It's a living room strewn with torn wrapping, it's candy wrappers rolled up and stashed on tables, it's a new music CD playing softly as the day unfolds.

It's all these things, and Love.

Without Love, there wouldn't be a Christmas at all. Yep, I'm talking about God. After all, Jesus is the reason for the season.

You know what I'm talking about!

Christmas Cheer Recipe

Christmas Cheer Recipe

By Clementine Paddleford

Take a bushel of tinsel, sprinkle well throughout the house. Add two dozen stars and one graceful Christmas tree. Take a generous spray of mistletoe, an armload of holly and a full measure of snow laid in curved hills along the window sills. Toss in a Christmas carol, and season well with good will and friendly laughter. Light the candles, "one for adoration, two for celebration." Let the first burn brightly, and may those you love be near. The yield: ONE HAPPY CHRISTMAS.

Sometimes when I read something, my heart almost sings with joy; my mind shouts out 'exactly!' and I am buzzing with pleasure. This is how I feel when I read this. If I could have written it, if I'd had the idea, it would be almost a twin of this piece.

Thank you, Clementine Paddleford. The recipe is perfection.

Christmas At Our House

Behold, the perfect tree...

according to us, that is!

The nativity at a kid level....

my kids loved setting it up all by themselves when they were little.

Doesn't everyone have a picture of dogs visiting Baby Jesus? No?

Well, they should.

These Beagles look great in green!

I love my "I love my blanky" snowman!

Yes, Santa, please tell me:

have I been naughty or just naughty enough?

Just a kiss before he goes.

If only I had an outlet unused in this outlet unfriendly house,

I'd use the night light out of this Christmas candle!

Dogs at Christmas, who wouldn't love that?

Am I ready for Christmas?

Yes and No.

Yes, because I'm excited to watch nephews open presents and my own kids eyes light up as they unearth the treasures their stockings hold.....

No, because I'm not done shopping, I haven't baked a single cookie, and there are only 7 more days to listen to Christmas music!

Think Happy Thoughts

Thinking happy thoughts to calm myself down in a moment of anxiety has led me to one conclusion:

All my happy thoughts are food related!

And now I'm hungry!

A coke and french fries. Buttered movie popcorn. Cherry pie. Swedish pancakes. Homemade spaghetti sauce. Garlic bread. Cold cream of wheat.

The list is endless.

And I don't care if many of my "happy thoughts" are food. I'm smiling and happy. Wasn't that the point?

I rarely follow those happy thoughts up with actual food. Except, this morning, I'm thinking cold cream of wheat sounds like a little piece of heaven!

Starbursts

When I think of starbursts, I think of two things. One, a tin that sat on my grandmothers coffee table that was full of the candy and two, my sister who goes through a bag and picks out all her favorite flavors, then 'shares' the rest.

We all have our favorite flavors, though, and if I was to pick out my favorite it would be orange, yellow and pink. Not red. Red can go away completely and I'd be a happy camper!

Weeks after Halloween, our communal candy bowl had dwindled down to the rejects of candy and there at the bottom was a handful of yellow sunshine. Starbursts!

I saved them from being tossed in the trash with the rest of the ick candy and put them into my purse where they were promptly lost at the bottom of that black hole bag.

Until today, today when I'm almost desperate enough to eat a candy cane (worst candy ever, BTW), today I see a hint of yellow when I'm digging in my purse hoping to find a butterscotch candy or even a tick tack. Instead, I find three starburst candies.

I blew the purse lint off the wrappers and settle back to savor those yellow squares of perfection.

Thank goodness for a purse that hides the things you didn't know you wanted until just the right moment. It also hides the things you desperately need, but it's a purse. It's not perfect!

E. T. Is Not A Kid's Movie

Why does the world think it is?

I can not be the only kid who saw it and was freaked out of her mind. That movie was scary!

First off, E.T. is an ALIEN. He is super weird and creepy looking. He has a red glowing finger, he can make Elliot feel drunk at school, he has a weird whispery voice that only hillbilly serial killers should have, and he's kind of dying.

Second, he's lost. Come on! Wasn't that one of your childhood fears? To be lost and separated from your family?

Third, Elliot in his underwear and those government men in hazmat suits. Enough said on that whole creep fest.

I saw the movie in a theater, after walking through a dark alleyway with my Mom, Grandma and sisters. We were late, so we had to find seats in the dark, after the movie was started. And all I could think about was we had to walk back to our car through that same dark alley, only this time, I was scared E.T. was hiding in the shadows.

I saw it again at 14 and my feelings hadn't changed. It's a scary movie.

Also, since I'm contrary, the more everyone LOVES a movie, the less likely I am to also love it. Unless it's like Sleepless in Seattle or My Fair Lady or Annie. Come on, who doesn't love those movies? Those movies rock!

And what do those movies have in common? That's right! No creepy little alien dude waddling around crying for a phone call.

And Then I Dropped It

I was walking up and down the aisles of our local Goodwill, when something caught my eye in the glassware section:

It's lovely! It's perfectly retro and I love it! Is there more? Yes! right behind it is it's mate.

And two shelves below those, are two more!

And farther away, two more! Six glasses!

I only had my hands to carry things because I tend to fill a cart with items, but I knew I had to get these glasses. I rushed back to the front of the store, got a cart and rushed back, hoping no one else had spied my treasures. No one had! I carefully stored them in the cart and walked on, and two aisles over I saw a bowl to match the glasses. I was giddy! The glasses were 69 cents each and the bowl was $3.99, steals!

I was so proud of my finds, I thought of them all the way home. I couldn't wait to get them out and wash them off and show them to my husband when he got home.

One of the downsides to having three dogs, is when you come home, you've got three dogs dancing around your feet, trying to get your attention and if you happen to trip a little and drop a bag, oh well. And if the bag has glass in it and you immediately know something has broken, oh well oh well oh well.

To my dismay, when I got inside, this is what I saw.

Crushing heartbreak!

I tell myself, I still have the set of six glasses. That was a super great deal. And I will use the glasses more than I would use a bowl.

But, oh! The disappointment!

Now, besides my life long search for a fairy tale book I owned as a child that disappeared during of our many moves, I think I will be searching glassware at thrift stores and antique shops for this pattern....and that idea is oddly calming.

I Keep A Pretty Clean House.....Just Don't Look Up

I keep my house pretty clean. I like to live in a swept, dusted, de-cluttered house. A place for everything and everything in it's place.

Just don't look up.

Because I am so focused on the things I see, I never think to look up, up, up to the ceiling and the corners of the high walls....where cobwebs love to lurk.

The house will be cobweb free, then bam! One day I happen to glance up I see it. A huge webby cluster in a corner. Then another in a different room and then a huge one that stretches from a corner to the ceiling fan in the master bedroom.

The worst part is, when I finally see them, I am never in the right place to grab the broom and knock 'em down.

So.....come on over and enjoy my clean house, with it's sparkling sinks and it's swept floors, but if you look up just know, there is a place for everything and even cobwebs have a place.

Until I have the broom handy.