The Importance of Christmas Cards

Did you know that there are 4 types of Christmas card senders? No? Well, read on because I'm fixing to enlighten you on these types. (Yes, guys. Words of Wisdom from Kari. Brace yourselves.)
Type 4 Card Senders, and by far the worst, are those who just don’t send them. Period. They have been afflicted with the “Bah-Humbug-I-Ain’t-Sending-Out-No-Stupid-Christmas-Cards” disease (okay, so that’s what it’s called in the south…perhaps other parts of the world call this disease a name that reflects better syntax, but I wouldn't know anything about that). These no-card-sending people totally and completely confuse me. Why would you not want to reach out and say "Hey - Merry Christmas - you've touched my life in some way and I appreciate it!"? How much effort does that really take? You know, if you're on a fixed income, I could see it. The cost of cards and postage could make sending Christmas cards a hardship. But other than that? Please. If you can afford dinner out more than once or twice a month, you can afford a box of Christmas cards and a book of stamps. (How's that for being judgmental during the holiday season? Yessir - leave it to me to do that!). Anywho, my point is, there's a reason behind sending Christmas cards and I think way too many people forget that. I send them because I want certain people to know that they impacted our lives in a good way and we don't want to forget that. Here's an example: I still send cards every year to Jim and Margaret down in Florida. I don't ever talk to these people, I never, ever see them these days and I have no idea what they do in their day to day lives. But they made an impact on my life way back when I was pregnant with Kaleb and then with Jacob. I used to work as a cashier at the Eglin NCO Club back in those days and Jim and Margaret were frequently at the club for dinner. They knew that Randey and I struggled as a young couple with little children - I had to work evenings and Randey worked days (he was active duty Air Force back then) just so we could save money on childcare expenses. Jim and Margaret had issues of their own. Their grown daughter was diagnosed with Lupus and she and her children had come home to live with them. One evening, they all came into the club for dinner and Jim and Margaret gave me a little package. In that package was a bundle of infant socks for my babies. Sure, that gift wasn't much, but it has always remained in my heart as a warm glow and a smile. These people, who didn't know me from anywhere outside of where I worked, were kind enough to think of my children and to give them those little socks as a gift. To this day, whenever I give someone a baby shower gift, I almost always include a pack of baby socks. It's my little tribute and thank you to Jim and Margaret for their kindness to my babies. And every year, just to say "I'm glad we touched each other's lives", we exchange Christmas cards.
Type 3 Christmas card senders are the ones who buy the pre-printed cards. I really, really, really don't like those cards. Not that I would refuse one, but I 'll tell you what it says to me. It says "Hey - we're very busy people here and are only going thru the motions of Christmas contact. Don't really have time to write our names, much less yours, but happy holidays anyway. Now don't bother me again until I want you to.". Okay, so maybe that's a pretty harsh interpretation but so what? That's what I feel like whenever we receive one of those cards. I mean really. I expect that kind of card from my insurance company (although honestly - they could save their money and not bother to send one. Maybe my rates would go down!)but not from my family and friends. The absolute worst of the pre-printed card senders are the ones who also use computer printed labels for the envelopes instead of writing out an address. Could you get any more impersonal with your Happy Holiday wishes? Sheesh! I know, I know. I've probably offended some of you with this particular viewpoint, but think it over for a minute, would you? You're supposed to be telling someone you're thinking of them. And you don't even write "Dear John and/or Jane, Hope you have a Merry Christmas!" in the card and sign it yourself. Yes, you could possibly suffer from a wicked case of writer's cramp if you actually wrote "So-and-so, Merry Christmas," and then sign your name in each and every card you sent out. Gosh, it might take you hours to recover. Then again, you'd have the warm, fuzzy feeling of knowing you actually took the time to think of every person on your list personally. And that, my friends, is priceless!
Type 2 Christmas card senders are the Late Mailers. These are people who have good intentions but bad planning. Sure, they want to spread a little Christmas cheer, but gee whiz, life is hectic, time flies, there's not enough hours in the day...Blah. Blah. Blah. I am well aware of how much time it can take to address Christmas cards and sign each of them in turn. But it's time well spent because it's time you've spent thinking of other people. (In a good way, hopefully.) When I address my BFF Susan's card, I always picture her shaking her head at me sending cards out every year (Susan is a Type 4 Card Sender). When I think of Randey's brother, Andrew, opening their card, I always think of our little "competition" of who has gotten their cards in the mail first that year. When I write out my sister Sherri's card, I'm always thinking "is she going to get her cards mailed on time this year???" (Sherri is a Type 2 Card Sender most times. lol). When I was addressing the cards I sent to my blogging friends, I thought of each of you and how you have affected my life this past year, what we have in common, what about you I admire, what I think is funny about you and why our likenesses, as well as our differences, have drawn me towards you. I'm glad I took the time to write all these cards now, during the season, because that just adds to the Christmas Wonder I so love to experience every year.
Type 1 Christmas Card Senders are people like me, who feel like Christmas just isn't complete without sending out holiday greetings. As far as I'm concerned, sending and receiving Christmas cards is the best part of the season. I love it. It makes me smile to see the cards we've received displayed in our home. It makes me feel like we matter to other people. It means that other people have thought of us and have taken the time and effort to send us greetings. What better feeling can there be? I love that feeling so much that I want to give it to other people out there. After all is said and done, I'm glad that I took the time to make a card list, address each envelope and sign each card personally. Because it was time I spent thinking of the people who have touched my life. Christmas isn't just a day to me, it's a season. And all season long, I want to let some people know that I appreciate them. And that's why sending cards out on time is important to me. That is why I think that sending Christmas cards is worthwhile and not a matter of "commercialism" or "bother" or "bah-humbugging". It's also why people who don't do cards or do the least effort-causing cards or can't manage to get their cards out on time irk me so. Or maybe they just hurt my feelings. Yeah, that may be it. Actually, if I were to be honest about it, I'd say that was it. It hurts my feelings to know that my family and I aren't worthy enough in the eyes of some to send a card. Yes, there are those who think that's stupid. A card is just a card, right? I agree. Except during Christmas. And then a card becomes something magical and wonderful and warm and downright meaningful. So those of you who don't get that, how about you sending me a reason as to why Christmas cards just don't touch you as they touch me. I'd truly like to know what you think Christmas cards are all about. And why they mean so little to so many.

Oh heck. I've just re-read this post and it sounds like a flippin' plea for cards. That wasn't it at all. I don't subscribe to the "well, they sent me a card so now I have to send them one" school of thought. I believe in sending cards to people who mean something or have meant something to me in the past. And let's face it, it's a great way to keep up with addresses changes, etc. lol I'm also truly interested in knowing what other people think of Christmas cards. The older I get, the more mystified I am at their lack of importance and prevalence in our society today. Like so many other things in life, I. Just. Don't. Get. It. So educate me, people. Clue me in. Tell me why I'm crazy to put so much stock in a simple piece of paper. But I'll tell you in advance...you'll never convince me that a Christmas card isn't a magical and wondrous thing to receive and to give! 'Cause when I'm right about something, I just know it!
Have a Merry Christmas Everyone!

The Legend of the Christmas Spider

Have ya'll heard of the Legend of the Christmas Spider? I had not. Until yesterday afternoon, that is. That's when I opened a package from my friend Penny, that contained all of this: I love the set of nesting Santas. Aren't they great? Even greater was the little round white box (beautifully decorated, I might add) and the - dare I say it? - lovely spider ornament. Yes. Lovely. It really is. And the story that goes along with it explains the significance of a Christmas Spider.
By clicking on the above picture, I think you'll be able to read the legend yourself. If not, just google "Christmas Spider" and you'll be shocked at how many responses come up. As anybody who knows me can tell you, I am terrified of spiders. As in, I've been known to beat myself silly for thinking I had a spider on my chest and I will avoid an area of my house for weeks at a time if I've spotted a spider there and haven't seen its cold, dead, smushed corpse as proof that it won't eat me anytime in the near and/or distant future. But I'm going to make an exception with this spider. It's already hanging on my tree, right where it'll be every year from now on. Thank you, Penny. For introducing me to a new Christmas "legend" and for being kind enough to send me these gifts. I never did deserve you as a friend, but just like back in junior high - I'm grateful I know you!
In other news, the Christmas cards are done!! Woo-hoo! Yeah! Yippee! Etc., etc., etc.! lol I didn't think I would get it done, but I did. I so wanted to send out handmade cards this year. I don't know why I had such as urge...let's put it down to just one more of my many strange compulsions and leave it at that, shall we?The point is, I made cards, cards and more cards. If I can finish addressing the few I have left, they'll all be in the mail by tomorrow afternoon. And then it's on to wrapping packages and getting them under the tree.
Why is it that it's only the first week in December but I feel like I'm waaaaaay behind in everything already?
Merry Christmas!

Today is our youngest son Jacob's birthday! He's 16 years old. I can't believe it - seems like just yesterday we were laughing at him for wearing his pull-ups on his head. Oh wait a minute, that was just yesterday. lol I kid, I kid...(now Jake's going to be ticked at me if he reads this!). Happy Birthday, Jacob. I love you, son.

To Those Whose Blogs I LOVE to Read!

Attention those on my Blogs I Love to Read list (come on guys, you know who you are. If your blogsite and/or name is listed there on the left side of my blog, then listen up!). I've just about abandoned all hope of finishing the Christmas cards I had planned to make, but that doesn't mean I don't plan on sending out Christmas cards this year. They'll just most likely be those ever-so-carefully chosen-ones I bought from the store (not pictured, by the way) instead of those ones so-lovingly-made-with-my-own-two-widdle-hands (that is to say; the ones that don't actually exist at this point) that I had originally intended to send. Anywho, I would dearly love to send you a card. Yes, you. The person who is currently reading this and is also on my Blogroll. I'm a big believer in Christmas cards (just ask Susan, my BFF - who is not a big believer in Christmas cards. Not that I hold that against her, the cranky grinch). In fact, I'll probably feel compelled at some point to write a big old long post about the value of Christmas card sending. But not today. Today I'm just looking for your addresses. Please, if you'd like to receive a card from my family to yours, e-mail me with your address. And rest assured that I will hold your addresses privately and will not give them out to anyone else. Well, except maybe my Aunt Sandi, a fellow blogger and friend to many of you, but that's because I know she's not an axe murderer or anything, okay?

Merry Christmas All!

A Movie Giveaway! But not here...

Kari (not me - I'm talking about another Kari), the one over at Alas 3 Lads, is having a Movie Giveaway at her blog. The movie is a GROWN UP Christmas movie and no, my little pervs, this does not mean it's a porno. Please. Think Christmas movie (with war violence and a tad bit of sexuality thrown in for good measure). Keep in mind that not all Christmas movies have to feature cute kids and goofy elves to be good. For more information on this movie (called Joyeux Noel) click here. Now go on over and leave a comment! Kari will be accepting entries until 8:00 a.m. Tuesday, December 4th.

San Antonio Road Trip

I took a quick trip down to San Antonio the other day to visit with my sister, Sherri. She was there on business and it seemed like a good opportunity to spend a little time with her. The hotel we stayed in was a short walk down from the Riverwalk, which is where I spent most of Thursday. I think I managed to get some shin splints from walking so much! lol The Riverwalk area was very, very pretty and if you're ever there, I recommend walking it around 9:30 a.m. Not much is open before 10:00 (except Starbucks and a couple of places that serve breakfast), but it's wonderfully peaceful and quiet.
They have this lovely tree sitting out right in front of the entrance to the Riverwalk Mall.
And this is a view taken from one of the walkways spanning the water. Beautiful, isn't it? I want to go back with Randey. Sitting with Randey, sipping a latte while looking over the Riverwalk, sometime before all the hustle and bustle of the day begins, sounds like paradise to me. Anybody else know of any wonderfully peaceful and beautiful places to spend a few days with your dearly beloved? I think it's high time that Randey and I had a getaway all to ourselves with nothing better to do than relax. We've been saying that for years but haven't done anything about making it happen. Now's the time, though! Any recommendations?
Merry Christmas!

Edited to Add: Please do not recommend anything that requires FLYING! I can't do it. I just can't. I hyperventilate at the thought. I did fly to Pensacola when Conner was born, but that was an emergency and I had to get to Nick (and Jodie, of course!) as soon as possible. Flying for pleasure is just not an option for me. I used to love flying. Until I became a mother and realized that mortality is an actuality. (You know how crazy you can get when you first become a mom...things you never paid attention to before become glaringly obvious for some reason!). Anyway, maybe when Kaleb and Jacob are completely grown and out of the house and no longer dependant upon us for their entire way of life, I'll fly somewhere with Randey (not only am I afraid of flying, I'm also convinced that if Randey and I flew together now, our 2 youngest children would be orphans because the plane would crash. Yes. I know I'm mental. Knowing it doesn't help change it, however). So let's stick with locations easily accessible by ROAD, please. lol

Blessings

Allow me to introduce to you.............(drumroll please)..........Kara Elizabeth!Kara is my youngest granddaughter. Isn't she beautiful? Being the grandmother of Miss Maddy Moose (age 8) who is the cutest, most gorgeous and most incredibly adorable little girl in the whole wide world, I happen to know a little something about beautiful granddaughters. Oh sure, you can't really tell for yourselves just what a perfect child Miss Kara is (these black and white photos can be so unsatisfactory sometimes, don'tcha know) but trust me when I say that she is a breathtaking sight to behold. And she's due to make her grand arrival sometime in the first half of May (unless something changes). The doctor says she's a little big for her "age" so either she'll be born sooner than we think or she's going to be born chubby (and there ain't nothin' wrong with that, or so says her chunky granny!).

This next bit can't compare to the beauty of our baby Kara, but I want to share it with you anyway. As I mentioned a couple of posts ago, Randey got tickets for us to attend the Home for the Holidays show at the Ft. Worth Symphony Sunday evening. I can't even begin to tell you how wonderful it was. They performed some of my all time favorites, like Carol of the Bells, White Christmas, Ave Maria, O Holy Night and Sleigh Ride. There was even a perfectly charming duet of Baby, It's Cold Outside sung by the Conductor (Ron Spigelman) and the Soprano (Julie McCoy). I simply don't know when I've had a better auditory treat (excluding all my children's band recitals, of course. Those were a joy and a pleasure to attend all their own and nothing but nothing can compare to them!). When Ms. McCoy sang Ave Maria, I was transfixed by the sheer clarity of her voice. Each individual note seemed to stir my senses in a way that actually surprised me. And when the orchestra played White Christmas, I simply shut my eyes and was magically transported to a place of pure beauty and bliss. I've wanted to do that for so long....sit in a concert hall and shut my eyes while the music swells all around me. The experience Sunday night was everything I'd ever hoped it would be. Pure magic. Ahhhhhhh............ The only thing that could have made it any better would have been if my boys had been there. All three of them love music (in all forms) and I think they would have felt this musical event just as I did, with their eyes, their ears, their hearts and their minds. (And no, I'm not forgetting that I have a daughter. I'm just pretty sure she wouldn't have loved it. To Des, if it isn't country, it's not worth listening to. Sometimes that kid just baffles me.) We're going to look into taking Kaleb and Jacob to a performance soon. As for me, I could go every week and never grow tired of listening. Magic, I tell 'ya. Pure magic.

I was reflecting this morning on all the many wonderful things that have occurred in my life lately. I'm happy to say I suffer from an embarrassment of blessings! My boys and my husband, who showed me that Christmas means more to them than just the presents. My beautiful baby granddaughter, who is healthy and happily growing in her mommy's belly. A chance to hear a real, live symphony. Life doesn't always feel this great. My cousin's unexpected passing was a big blow to so many of us. The anniversary of my grandson's birth and passing always brings a feeling of bittersweet longing. But these sad and terrible events do help me to appreciate the blessings all that much more. And for that, I am thankful.

This is a real shocker (not)!

I was blog surfing for just a couple of minutes this morning when I went by Joy is my Goal to see if she had gotten her computer fixed. She has (thank goodness!) and she had a "What Movie Is Your Christmas Most Like" link on her site. Naturally, I just had to do this, since it's already been proven that I'm an extremely over-the-top tacky Christmas babe. And guess what? I still am! lol Check out which movie we're most like:

Your Christmas is Most Like: National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation

Christmas is a big, boisterous event at your place. And no matter what, something hilarious usually happens.

What Movie Is Your Christmas Most Like?

I think I heard the nuclear generator kicking in down at the power plant...

The inside is glowing... And now, so is the outside! Randey and Jake worked hard to get the lights up and here's the first pictures of the season to show their efforts. If I know Randey (and I'm pretty sure I do), he'll continue adding more and more until either all our breakers blow or Al Gore sends a team of Nobel Nitwits down here to explain to us just how all our Christmas spirit is bad for the country's energy future. (And then Randey will light him up and he'll be a decoration, too.)

(You can see the "BELIEVE" sign over the front door that I mentioned a few posts ago if you click on the pictures.) These next two pictures were shots of the Christmas tree taken from outside the front window. You can just imagine a crackling fire and a mug of hot cocoa waiting for you in this house, can't you? (Well, imagine all you want, but you wouldn't have found a fire here last night...all those Christmas lights inside tend to warm up the place quite enough, thankyouverymuch! lol).
Now this last picture is probably one of my favorites. Look in that right hand window. Little Sydney the Wonder Dog was staring out at us as we were clicking the pictures. Gosh, I love that little guy. Me. A Chihuahua lover. I bet no one who knows me ever saw that coming. Tune in tomorrow. I plan on introducing you to a very special person in our lives. Just you wait and see who it is! And I also hope to get a few minutes to tell you about the symphony. It was magnificent. I almost cried, it was so beautiful. Yes....I'll have to go into more detail tomorrow because that was a night worth remembering. Until then...

Merry Christmas, Ya'll!

Christmas Has Begun

We're back from Oklahoma and boy, am I tired! Great family fun, wonderful food, exhausting shopping...who could ask for anything more? lol And can you believe it snowed in our home town while we were gone? Can you BELIEVE that? Sure, sure...it was only a light dusting, but still! I missed it! But life's too good to get mad about that now. We're all busy, busy, busy...Randey's adding more lights to the outside of the house and I've still got Christmas cards to make. In the meantime, I wanted to show you my boys and what they wore the day after Thanksgiving. Here's Kaleb in his Oklahoma Sooner Santa hat and his Santa shirt that says "Does this suit make me look fat?". (I love that shirt, cracks me up.)
And here's Jake with his Attack of the Christmas Squirrel t-shirt from Christmas Vacation. Remember when Margo, the neighbor, knocked on the Griswald's front door and the squirrel jumped out at her? Love, love, love that movie. In fact, I'd watch it right now, but I can't. I've got to go get ready for our trip to the Ft. Worth Symphony this evening. That's right! Randey got us tickets to the "Home for the Holidays" concert tonight. I'm so very excited. I hope to tell you all about it tomorrow. For now, I'll leave you with these:

You Are a Bright Christmas Tree

For you, the holidays are all about fun and seasonal favorites. You are into all things Christmas, even if they're a little tacky.

I love that last line "you are into all things Christmas, even if they're a little tacky". Well, DUH!

What Christmas Tree Are You?

You Are a Christmas Sweater!

Over the top, colorful, and totally flashy. You're not afraid to be a little tacky.

And again, I'm tacky. Who knew? lol,lol,lol,lol,lol,lol,lol

What Crappy Christmas Gift Are You?

Oh yeah, it most certainly IS beginning to look a lot like Christmas here at our house!

This is what happened in our house Saturday morning... Randey, Jacob and Kaleb took charge of the Christmas decorating! As you all know, I pretty much wimped out this year. I just couldn't make myself unpack all the Christmas stuff. Figured it was too stressful and didn't want to take that stress out on the family. But, wonder of wonders, it seems Randey and the boys felt that seeing the Christmas glitter spread all over the house was worth them putting out an effort. A really big effort, as it turns out! They were all worn out by Saturday evening, but they'd gotten most of the stuff unpacked and put up. And here I thought they didn't even notice when the house was decked out every year. I guess they do notice and even better, they love it, too. Here's a few pictures of the "finished" product.

The tree. This is the prettiest tree we've ever had. I loved watching them decorate it and we all had some great laughs while they did it. Kaleb hasn't mastered the art of "spreading" similar looking ornaments all over the tree...he tended to want to cluster them together. Listening to Jake explaining to him how he's supposed to spread them out was priceless. Listening to Kaleb explain how he was creating a "Grinch Village" when he hung 3 Grinch-themed ornaments next to each other was even more priceless.
I guess it's kind of hard to see, but that's our "Christmas Town" there on top of the bookshelves. I wish I had a better place to put it, but I don't. Maybe one day, when we move into our 6000 square foot condo and have space for that grand piano I'll never learn to play, I'll set it up on top of that. (That strange noise is me laughing myself silly at that thought. lol)
Here's my Grinch. He has a microphone attachment so you can sing along with him. But Maddy's the only one who ever really liked doing that so the microphone didn't get unpacked this year. Okay, so actually, Randey likes singing along with him, too, but nobody wants to hear another rousing "Randey Rendition" of You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch so we kind of forgot to keep the mike out. (Love you, Honey!)
These are two of my favorite Santas. Both of them were gifts from Randey. The Irish Santa is from McGuire's Irish Pub in Destin. Randey bought it for me in October 2001, right before he deployed to the Middle East. The other one he bought on a trip to Utah. And the lamp was a gift from my sister, Sherri.
This is the dining room. I replaced the panels in that wallhanging with Christmas fabric. I'm loving the look of it, although I'm not really sure why.....

This is a picture of the dining room taken while standing in the kitchen. See that large "candy" garland hanging over the bar? The kids love that thing. I made it about 12 years ago out of Mylar paper and empty 2 ltr coke bottles. The poor thing is starting to look pretty ragged. Every year I say I'm going to replace it, but never seem to get around to it. Maybe this year. Ah who am I kidding? The thing's already hung up...guess I'd better aim for next year to replace it.
Guess I'm really diggin' the dining room because here's yet another picture of it. See the Santa there on the left? Blu-boy came running into the house and skidded to a stop when he spotted it. I guess he decided it wasn't a threat because he didn't eat it.
See this log? This is one of my absolute favorite Christmas things ever! Sherri bought it for me....I think back in 1999. It's called Yule Burner (get it? It's a take off of Yul Brynner.) Anyway, Yule is motion activated and if you walk by him, he says things like "I sleep like a log at Christmastime" and "Don't stop me now, I'm smoking" and "Hey friend, got a light?". I laugh every single time I hear him. I really don't know why, though. You'd think I'd be used to him by now, huh? But...come on, if you heard him, you'd laugh, too. He talks like he's a 1960's lounge singer in Vegas. Funny, funny stuff. Trust me.
A couple of the "Believe" signs by the front door. There's a big "BELIEVE" set up in the window above the front door (not pictured in this shot). I had it facing the room where you could read it from inside, but then I noticed that, with the lights on inside, the letters can be read from the outside so I turned it around. Now at night, when you look at our home, you see "BELIEVE" glowing in that window. Cool, huh? I'll take a picture next week when Randey's finished decorating the outside of the house. By the way, is it just me or does everyone think of Annie and Izzy when they see the word "believe" these days?
And last, but most certainly not least, check out this wonderful card we got from Jayme . She's so talented, isn't she? And since I'm still attempting to do homemade Christmas cards this year, I can't even begin to tell you how much I admire her abilities. She did Halloween cards and Thanksgiving cards. Makes me feel like a total slacker. lol But I'm glad we're on her card list because her cards are so very beautiful. Thank you, Jayme! We all love it!!

Okay so that's about it for today's post. We're heading up to OKC to spend Thanksgiving with my Dad and my stepmother, Wendy. Can't wait to drag her and Leah, my stepsister, out for a little Black Friday shopping! They don't really seem as excited about it as I am. (I don't get it. lol)

Hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving!

Our Conner

Two years ago today, our sweet grandson, Conner Jeremy, was born unto this world and, just as quickly, taken away to live forever in heaven. His life on earth outside of his Mommy's belly lasted only 3 heartbeats, but now we know how so much love, joy, pain, sorrow, wonder and hope can happen in the space of three tiny heartbeats. To know Conner existed, filled us all with love. To have seen his beautiful face gave us all so much joy. To know that we couldn't hold him forever made us ache with pain. To have to say goodbye so soon after saying hello caused us immeasurable sorrow. To hold in our arms the body of a Perfect Soul filled our hearts with wonder. To know Conner's soul would one day speak to us again gave us hope for our future.

I've touched the petals of a blossoming rose in spring,

I've touched the silken fur of a tiny kitten.

I've touched the warm raindrops fallen from a summer shower and

I've touched the warm evening air of a soft quiet night.

Of all the wonderful and beautiful things I've ever touched,

none of them can compare to the sweet, smooth, softness of your precious little face.

I love you, Conner.

Granny

News of Today....Shocking Stuff....and a Sad Commentary on Our Nation's Unwillingness to Help the Less Fortunate

Today's Headlines:

Lindsay Lohan Does 84 Minutes in Jail

Okay. May I just say....fascinating story. Really. Another Hollywood starlet drives drunk, again, and is harshly punished by having to spend less than an hour and a half behind bars. For those of you who have failed to keep up with this riveting case, let me recap: Ms. Lohan was cited for drunken driving offenses twice, the first time when she crashed her Mercedes into a tree. Both instances, Ms. Lohan was found to be in possession of cocaine. But hey, they were small amounts of cocaine so let's not get too carried away with the condemnation of the poor dear. The judge, a severe taskmaster if ever there was one, sentenced her to four days in jail, which is the mandatory minimum for a second drunken driving offense. (He then gave her credit for 24 hours already served.) Ms. Lohan then opted to complete 10 days of community service (would love to know what that entailed!) in lieu of 48 hours in jail (thank goodness she was given that choice!), thereby bringing her total plea deal to this: she had to enter treatment (and goodness knows she could afford the best in rehab/spa locations), spend a day in jail (since when did a day translate to 84 minutes????) and perform that mysteriously unknown community service. Wow. When I think of that pitiful child languishing behind bars (or rather, in the inmate reception area) for those long, painful 84 minutes, I get all choked up. Luckily, I've become nearly immune from the outrage I used to feel at the way our justice system treats sad, defenseless girls like Lindsay and Nicole Richie and Paris Hilton. I mean, after suffering along with Paris in her tribulations and then witnessing the degradation that sad little Nicole endured with her 82 minutes in jail (also for her 2nd DUI conviction, but who's counting, right?), well....I'm pretty much drained of my ability to stand up and fight against such atrocities. That's what happens when we, as a society, don't stand up and defend the first victim...it becomes that much easier to stand silently by when the next person is targeted. And the next. And the next and so on. Soon, we've lost the ability to defend even the most precious amongst us...like Little Lindsay Lohan. (heavy sigh, heavy heavy sigh). Seems like our nation's willingness to show sympathy and support for those less fortunate has gone the way of my Christmas Decorating spirit...that is to say, into a black hole from which I fear it may never be recovered. Ah well...what can you do? Lindsay, Paris, Nicole...they're all young and strong and I'm sure they'll bounce back from what our country has done to them. Now Britney? Whoa, now. That's a whole different story. Just don't even get me started!

P.S. I have got to quit reading the news online. Remember when your mom used to tell you that if you "kept rolling your eyes like that", they'd stick that way? I'm afraid that's what's going to happen to me if I read one more piece of "news" like this. And what is "news" anyway? I thought it was stories of things we needed to know. But I was wrong, Scooter. "News" is whatever titillates our senses...the dumber, the more salacious and the more vacuous the better, apparently. Geez. I weep for the future of our country. I truly, truly do. The good news is, we'll be too stupid to realize we're sinking into oblivian because our I.Q.'s will have been lessened so much by garbage like this "news" story. Hey, who says there's not a silver lining in everything, eh?

Book Reports

I thoroughly enjoy reading Dick Francis books. (Are any of you fans of his also?) I recently read Dead Heat, which was written by Dick and his son, Felix Francis. I wasn't too sure how good it would be. You know how it is sometimes when a really good author starts "sharing" writing duties and credits with someone new. But I thought I'd give it a chance since I've been such a fan. And am I glad I did! Dead Heat was a pretty good read, well worth the cost of the book and the time it took to read it. And here's a little bonus part (for me). Some of you may have read on my blog that Sophie at Sophie Honeysuckle's English Decor sent me a package a while back. She had included a little box of something called OXO (something I had never heard of before but which I've since come to know is actually beef bouillon cubes used for cooking). Anyway, somewhere around Chapter 7 of the book came this passage:

"We were in the restaurant of the OXO Tower, on the eighth floor overlooking the City of London Skyline."

I was thrilled! Here was this book by one of my favorite authors and it was mentioning something that my good friend Sophie had just introduced me to! Yeah, okay, so maybe it's kind of goofy that I was so thrilled to read that, but I was and, in fact, still am. So there. The passage continued on for a bit, explaining the architecture of the OXO Building, which was fascinating to read. All in all (and even without the reference that reminded me of Sophie! ha), this was a very good book and I would recommend it to anyone who likes a good murder and/or mystery. Er...I mean a good fictional murder and/or mystery, of course! For a synopsis and other reviews of this book, click here.

Next, I read Sweet Revenge by Diane Mott Davidson. This was, in my humble opinion, a terrible read. Absolutely terrible. I couldn't even finish it, it was so bad. I was going to outline exactly why I thought this book was so stupid, but really...I just don't think I can bear to relive it enough to do that for you. Suffice it to say, I thought the writing was juvenile, rife with redundancies and sometimes, just downright ludicrous. For a synopsis and other reviews of this book, click here. But if you make the mistake of attempting to read Sweet Revenge, don't say I didn't warn you!

P.S. Before anyone starts sending me hate mail because you disagree with my "reviews" of these books, please keep in mind that this is just my opinion. I'm entitled to have it. And you're entitled to disagree with it. Just keep it clean, will 'ya? It won't be necessary to question my parentage and/or my mating habits in order to point out our differences of opinion. Understood?

My Christmas Mea Culpa

This is a pretty long post. (I am long-winded, aren't I?) If you want to read it, you might want to grab yourself a cup of coffee first! lol Here's a newsflash for everyone who knows me: I LOVE CHRISTMAS! I love it, love it, love it! I love the glitter, the sparkle, the sounds, the shopping, the food, the joy, the laughter, the music, the glow....I love it all. I can't get enough of it. But there's one thing I don't like anymore and that's all the work of putting all of our Christmas stuff up. And make no mistake about it. It. Is Work. Now I don't know about the rest of you, but for me...work equals stress. And stress equals crankiness. And crankiness equals me arguing with anyone crazy enough to present me with a problem. That crazy person happened to be Randey this year. Randey really got into decorating the outside of the house this past year. He and the neighbor had a bit of a competition going on (although I think Paula may have gotten the best of him when she bought the Santa's Sleigh Landing Strip Lights. lol). After last Christmas, Randey went and bought more lights. A lot more lights. Great idea, right? Yeah. Except we live in a two story house on a lot that slopes rather sharply on the north side and we also only have 2 electrical outlets on the outside of the house. I don't care who you are, it's just too damn difficult to try and attach lights to the roof line of a two story house with nothing to stand on but a too-short ladder. And can we just stop and think a minute about the safety factor in trying to plug approximately 3500 lights into only 2 outlets? (And if you think I'm being sarcastic here, you should have heard me in person. I was shameful. Truly shameful.) Obviously, these two things...lack of a tall enough ladder and a shortage of electrical outlets, are a problem. Randey, in all his eagerness to get the lights up, didn't take the time to consider these problems. At any time. All year long. From the end of last Christmas until this past weekend, he never sought to obtain a taller ladder and/or scaffolding, nor did he ever call an electrician to see about installing a couple of extra breakers. Lucky for him, he had a very frustrated and overwhelmed wife (that'd be me) who was knee deep in interior Christmas decorations to point out to him just how poorly planned his lighting extravaganza mission was. Oh and I didn't just point it out...I pretty much hammered it in. Why you ask? Well...when my screeching reached a decibel level that has been known to break glass, I stopped and asked myself that same question. Why was I so ticked at him? The answer was very simple. I was overwhelmed with my part of the Christmas decorating and was taking it out on him. Randey's interest in outdoor decorating is fairly new but every year, I'm the one who decorates the inside of our home for Christmas. Randey and the kids would help get the Christmas stuff out of the garage or the attic or wherever it happened to be stored and then I would put it up. It's my fault that I'm the one who always did it. I was a perfectionist. The ornaments has to be put on "just so" and the ribbon garland had to drape, wind and curl at "just the right angles" and the lights had to be put on the tree and in the evergreen garland a certain way. Blah, blah, blah. (Although, in my defense on that one, I did ask Randey to put the lights on the tree one year with instructions to be sure and wrap the lights around and along the branches - you know, deep into the tree! He thought I meant wrap every twig on every branch. That little 6 1/2 foot tree had 1535 lights on it before he was done! lol You could have landed an airplane by it. In fact, it was so bright, we had to put flashers in because it hurt to look at the tree with all the lights on at the same time!). The kids did get to help put the hooks on the ornaments, etc. and, when they got older, they got to help put the ornaments on the tree. But there was never any doubt that the Christmas decorating was my bailiwick. Well, over the years...our collection of Christmas decorations has grown a little. Oh okay, so it's grown a lot. Like I said in a previous post, we have 43 boxes of stuff now. However, you have to understand that 2 of those boxes are outdoor stuff and about another 5 or 6 are the Christmas trees themselves. So see? That means we only have about 35 or 36 boxes of stuff. (Okay so that doesn't sound as reasonable when I see it in print as it did when I thought it in my head). But anyway, we now have so much stuff that it absolutely overwhelms me when I go to put it all up. A few years ago, I even went through it all and gave a good bit to Nick and Jodie (my son and his wife) but I just can't seem to help myself...I'm always getting more and more and more. I love seeing all the stuff up. I do. It warms my heart like you wouldn't believe. But it's just too much to do by myself. And there's no little kids, like Maddy, around to love it with me. Kaleb and Jacob like it, sure. But they don't like it enough to not see it as a chore when they're asked to help with it. So...where was I headed with this story...oh yeah...in the middle of the knock down drag out that Randey and I were engaging in over what I thought was his severe lack of planning, I realized that we have one of these fights every year over something. You can almost set your calendar by it. Then I started questioning why we have this annual screamfest. And the answer is stress, I think. I'm so stressed out by my house being basically trashed for the week it takes me to put everything up that I'm almost certifiable. I mean geez, you know, it's more than just putting the Christmas stuff up. First you have to pack away your every day stuff...the knick-knacks, pillows, throws, etc., etc., etc. Then you have to clean everything in sight (and even some stuff that's out of sight!) and then you have to put up all the garland...garland over the windows, the shelves, the archways, the doors....garland everywhere (I love that. A room all decked out with twinkling evergreen garland. Ahhhhh. And this is why I have such a problem...I can't even explain why I'm not decorating every inch of my house this year without going on and on about how much I love seeing it done! I. Must. Seek. Therapy!) Then you have to rearrange your furniture to put the tree in a good spot and then you have to make sure you have all the electrical things evenly spaced out so you're not overloading any one circuit and then before you know it, you're overwhelmed!! Or at least, I am. So I stopped in the middle of decorating this year. I had gotten the garland up in the living room and the pre-lit tree put up (with the boys' help - see? they will help, just not for hours on end! lol), I got the ribbon garland wound around that tree, the village set up on the bookshelves and I got a few knick-knacks unpacked. But that's as far as I got before The Big Blowout. Afterwards, I decided that fighting every single year was a horrible way to "celebrate" the holidays. I'm crushed to think that my kids have had to hear this probably just about every Christmas season of their lives and that's what they remember! Not the glitter, the wonder, the joy...but their crazy, stressed out mother screaming like a fishwife at their father over something that really should have been "discussed", not fought over. So I stopped unpacking the Christmas stuff and sent everything back up to the attic. I've got my house back in order and I'm working really hard on thinking about the meaning of the season and not the "winter wonderland" I always want to create in our home. It's not the decorations that matter, it's the feelings we have for one another. Having said that, I have to admit that I miss the "stuff", though. I look at my snowman advent and I miss seeing all the other snowmen we've collected over the years. I see the big snowglobe Susan got me one year and I miss seeing all the other ones, too. I see my "Yule Burner Talking Log" my sister gave me for my birthday back in 1999 (?) and I miss the animated Dalmation named Dipstick that I bought in '97. I see my walls, laid bare in spots, and I miss the Christmas wall decorations that I put up year in and year out. But these are things I miss. I think I've been very selfish every year at Christmas and have decorated mainly for myself. As much as I miss seeing it all this year, I just can't bring myself to ask Randey and the boys to help me put it up. I'm sure they would do it, but I don't think they'd do it out of joy. They'd do it as a chore, I think. And that's not what the season is supposed to be about. They have chores enough without making Christmas one, too. So I'm learning to adjust to what is probably "normal" to everyone else. lol And if I could just look at our Christmas tree with it's "minimalistic" ornamentation without thinking "geez, that's the MOST unattractive tree we've ever, ever had", I'm sure this would go a lot easier for me! (I usually have so many ornaments on the tree that you can barely tell it is a tree underneath them all!)


So what's the lesson to be learned here? I'll tell you...don't just love the pageantry of the season yourself...teach your children to love the wonder of creating it with you! (Or maybe the lessen is even more basic than that...maybe you should just have fewer decorations than a crazy woman such as myself feels the need to collect. lol) Seriously though, I've managed to teach my children over the years that I love the atmosphere of sparkle and wonder. But I failed to teach them to. I wish I'd asked them to help way back when they would have thought it was fun and I particularly wish I had kept in mind that "perfect" is best left to God. Maybe then our decorating would have been a fun, family event instead of a time of stress and fighting. Live and learn, eh? (But I have really got to work more on that whole "learn your lesson while the lesson still counts" concept, you know it?) And I have really, really got to learn to love that fugly tree....

Christmas Jars

***Edited to Add: If any of you get the urge to pass this idea along, please feel free to do so. As I said, I "borrowed" the thought from Kathy at Remembering the Moments and she got the idea from a message board. I read her post and thought "oh what a great idea", but didn't think of blogging about it myself until she responded to my comment and actually suggested I could do so. Thank you, Kathy!!!

Kathy, over at Remembering the Moments, did a post the other day about the book Christmas Jars. A brief synopsis of the book is as follows:

In the book, a journalist happens upon a human interest story that winds up teaching her lessons about love and forgiveness and renewing her own faith in human kindness. On Christmas Eve, twenty-something Hope Jensen is quietly grieving the recent loss of her adoptive mother when her apartment is robbed. The one bright spot in the midst of Hope's despair is a small jar full of money someone has anonymously left on her doorstep. Eager to learn the source of this unexpected generosity, Hope uses her newswoman instincts to find other recipients of "Christmas jars," digging until her search leads her to the family who first began the tradition of saving a year's worth of spare change to give to someone in need at the holiday. (The above information was taken from a review by Publishers Weekly on Amazon)

More than just it being a Christmassy type story though, what really grabbed my attention was the actual concept of having a Christmas jar. I think it's a wonderful way to touch someone's life during the holidays. When I think back on all the hard candy Christmases before I met Randey when I couldn't afford anything special for Nicholas (and later Des, when she came along), I ache a little bit inside at how alone I often times felt. Luckily, I did have people to help me. My mom, Aunt Ginger, Uncle Mike, my grandparents, my sister and brother-in-law...all these people (and others) reached out and helped to give my children some happy memories of opening presents on Christmas morning. And even after Randey and I were married, when Kaleb and Jacob came along, we had some pretty tough Christmases then, too. Again, we had family that reached out to help us. But, after hearing of these Christmas jars, I thought how wonderful it would have been to have received the kindness of strangers. The thing about family helping is that sometimes, you think they probably feel obligated to help you. Do you know what I mean? I'm not saying they didn't help out of love, but sometimes I had to wonder if they felt like there would never come a time when we didn't need their help to provide things for our kids. I think that to have had a stranger, a total and complete stranger, reach out to us during the holidays would have felt...oh, I don't know how to say it...like someone out there saw us for what we were...a young family struggling to give our children happy memories of that most special holiday. And that someone decided to help us with that. Not because they felt sorry for us or because they knew us or because they wanted recognition for making our lives just a tad bit brighter, but because they just wanted to give joy. Period. I don't mean to lessen the love and the help given to us by people we knew. I'm merely trying to explain how it might have felt to have a stranger look on us with kindness at a time when the world could feel awfully big while we felt awfully small. Anyway...this concept of the Christmas jars has captured my attention in a big way. I read that some people are even giving a copy of the book along with an empty jar to people on their Christmas list so that they, too, might come to understand and participate in what could grow to be a treasured Christmas tradition for their families. Me and mine will be talking this over. I just have to convince Randey that all his change should go towards a complete stranger instead of towards his "mad money" stash. lol He's kind of a softie at heart, though, so I don't think it'll take much convincing. And Kaleb's always generous of spirit so he's a shoo in, too. Now Jake...Jake may take some talking to....lol

Look what I saw when I turned around after having checked my e-mail. Sydney the Wonder Dog had followed me upstairs...that part's normal...but he usually curls up on his giant pillow or on the couch. This morning, though, I guess the baby Vader and baby Yoda looked like good company because that's where he decided to spend his morning. Is this not the cutest dog in the whole wide world? Yes, he is. Say it. Yes, Sydney the Wonder Dog is the cutest dog in the whole wide world. There you go. It's good to tell the truth now isn't it?