Merry Christmas

 

 ^"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace and goodwill towards men.^"

"...And that's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown." 

 "A Charlie Brown Christmas" 

A Second Look--December 24, 2014

It's Christmas Eve, so a Second Look today was done from some of my Christmas decorations. Below you see a few ornaments on my tree that have a nature theme. 

Also, may these holidays be a safe, calm, and good time for you and your families whatever big or small celebrations or quiet time alone you have planned. I will be spending the next two weeks traveling, visiting, and hosting various holiday activities. I may or may not be checking in here before the new year. 

Wishing everyone Happy Holidays!

Note: I'm having a problem with Blogger this morning and there is a BIG space between the first and second pictures. Keep scrolling to see them all.

 

Queen Anne's Lace bloom pressed in epoxy

 

Turtles made from sea shells

This apple really is low hanging fruit. We hang several of these on the lowest branches of the tree for the cats to play with. You can see this one has a split in it from being played with.

This sheep was made by a friend with powder puffs and cinnamon sticks.

 


 

"Broken" Scales

Holidays are famous for both good eating and subsequent weight gain which often happens to Ward and sometimes to me. However, we don't usually realize our increased girth until January. So when Ward and I both weighed ourselves last week and found uncomfortably large increases, we were a little disturbed.

Ward weighed himself first and jokingly said that something must be wrong with the scales because he had gained several pounds. I then weighed myself and seriously agreed something must be wrong with them because I saw an upward change--not a huge jump, but bigger than I was used to seeing. In the meantime, Theodore was home and weighed himself. He also noticed a larger gain than he expected, so that confirmed there was a problem.

We decided that the scales probably needed a new battery and we would be close to our old weight as soon as we installed it. However, the new battery made no difference. Then we decided that they must need to be rebalanced because they had been moved around while the floor was being cleaned. So I set off to find the instructions for the scales to see about rebalancing them. However I couldn't find the instructions for our current scales, but I did find some for the ones we owned before these. (Note to self: the files really need to be cleaned.) So what to do? Maybe Ward or I could get a new set of scales for Christmas because these were obviously broken.

In the meantime, Theo, who was not part of any of this discussion, said he didn't want any of the brownies we had that evening. He didn't say why but when pressed, he said that he had gained a few pounds and that he'd was going to cut back a bit. Well, that was an interesting way to look at things.

We have also cut back this week and “surprisingly” the scales don't seem to be broken anymore. They still weigh more than we'd like but they're on a downward trend. Cause and effect seem to be alive and well.

This whole episode made me feel pretty silly. I'd like to believe that I am a logical, rational thinker, but I guess not this time. It must be too many Christmas cookies have affected my thinking. :)

P.S. Ward here. I still think it's broken.

Thankful Sunday--December 21, 2014

I am thankful for spilled juice.

Yesterday as Ward was putting some juice in the refrigerator, it slipped and splattered all over the floor and the inside of the refrigerator. After the initial expletives, we used this opportunity to do some cleaning that we always mean to get to but rarely do. We pulled the fridge out and not only cleaned up juice but all the dust bunnies that were living on the floor and on the back of the fridge. Next we cleaned the inside under the drawers and the back of the shelves. In the end we had a clean fridge and most of the juice left. Not a bad outcome at all and for that I am thankful.

Christmas Presents

Waiting and Wondering

My mother would have had numbers on these.

When I was a kid, my mother was a master at keeping our Christmas presents secret. One of the first rules of hers was that after Thanksgiving, we were not allowed in her bedroom. Next if we found out what any present was before Christmas morning, she told us that it would be given to the Salvation Army. This alone was enough to keep me from looking too much. Every year at Christmas time, we had to pick out one of our current toys to give to them, so I understood who they were. I was willing to give up one toy, I wasn't willing to give up the new toys that were coming.When we got a little older, our presents were labeled with numbers instead of names. Every year the numbers were different and seemed to have no rhyme or reason as to who got what number, but she told us she had a system.

However of all of these present rules, the one I remember the most was that we were not allowed downstairs on Christmas morning until my aunt and uncle arrived. It wasn't like they got there in the middle of the day, but it seemed like forever to me. However, my mother had a way of making the waiting bearable. When we went to bed the night before, we took the toaster, a loaf of bread, and a stick of butter with us. As a child I thought this was very special and was fascinated with the fact that we used the window sill as a refrigerator for the butter. The next morning while we were waiting, we had toast for breakfast. Then finally we would be called downstairs to see what Santa and others had left for us.

While I didn't always understand all of the present rules while I was growing up, I realize that they were one of the things that made Christmas special for me. My mother understood that anticipation is sometimes the best part of something.

Now lets move on a little bit. I realize that one reason that my mother's gift practices worked was because she had four fairly rule abiding children. However I know that sometimes curiosity gets the best of kids and they can't help themselves. For example, a friend was telling me about her children when they were younger. She wasn't sure where to hide their Christmas presents to she put them in the back of her large van with a blanket over them. The gifts couldn't be seen, couldn't be reached from any of the seats, and the kids were never in the van by themselves. So she thought they were safe. However one day, the two older kids lifted up their younger brother and pushed him through the vent window into the van. He then unlocked the doors so they could all get in and see the gifts that were coming. They never let on that they knew anything even on Christmas morning. It was only recently as adults that they told their mother what they had done.

I'm gonna have to ask Wally and Theo if they ever did anything like that because it was only recently that I learned they climbed out on the roof when they were supposedly taking a nap.Who knows? Maybe they were looking for Santa.:)

Do you do anything special to keep gifts secret? Have you ever secretly found your gifts ahead of time?