Christmas Rituals

I think we all believe in that Courier and Ives setting or Norman Rockwell image for Christmas.  In reality, though, lots of times our rituals are more like Clark Griswald's or maybe even a bit worse.

A few weeks ago my daughter-in-law came to spend the night when Bryan was out of town.  She was completing her student teaching assignment and the trek from their apartment to her school was at least an hour's drive.  We live only minutes to the school, so when he traveled, she came to visit us for the night.  Mike and I loved it!

Anyway, on one of these visits, Jessica mentioned that she and Bryan had put up their Christmas tree and decorations the previous evening.  She said that she paused and asked him if he had any memories of rituals or decorating from when he was younger.  She said he just looked at her in confusion.  So, she elaborated, "You know, did your mom bake cookies or play Christmas music while you decorated or something like that?"  His response was, "Well, mostly I just remember untangling the lights and lots of cussing."  What a proud moment that was for me!  Warm fuzzy memories like that just cannot be staged.

Sadly, I think that is what happened a lot of times.  We would be in a rush and hurrying to get the decorations done.  Bryan's father and he would hang the lights on the outside of the house and Bridgette and I would hang the lights and ornaments inside on the tree.  I was usually tired from dashing from work to some practice or lesson and it just never seemed to be their father's desire to help decorate for the holidays. 

Ironically, it was just a week later when Mike hauled the tree up from the basement for me and helped me to set it up.  I was eagerly looking forward to decorating the tree and settling in with a cup of hot chocolate to enjoy its beauty.  Yet, when I plugged in the cord for the pre-lit tree, this is what we saw:

Guess what I did!

I'm sure you can imagine.  I was so frustrated.  This tree has only been used four years.  What a pain!  I set about looking and wiggling to see if something was loose.  I plugged and unplugged  and replugged.  Then, I dug the manual/directions out of the box and looked at the troubleshooting tips.  I began replacing bulb after bulb using the ones in the little plastic bag that had been thrown in the bottom of the box.  I replaced every fuse in each strand attached to the tree.  Nothing seemed to work.  So, guess what I did...

I'm sure you can imagine.  Then, I just unplugged it and took a shower.  Of course, this is after I had spent an entire afternoon and evening earlier in the week wrestling with the garlands and lights I put on the porch rails.

Front Porch

 Some of them had strands that would be lit up halfway across then had a three or four foot stretch that didn't light and the rest of the strand would light. Finally, I wound up pulling all the lights off all the garlands and and replacing them.

Back Porch

As you can see, even the best laid plans sometimes go awry.  Do you notice the area almost smack in the middle of the deck rail?  No, you see it right, no lights are shining.  That is a place where I didn't put a brand new strand - it was left from last year.  Yet, it worked when I plugged it in before I wove it into the garland.  However, after I hung it and plugged it in - about 2/3 of the strand does not work.  Guess what I did?

I'm sure you can imagine.  So, both attempts at decorating with lights were dismal failures at this point.  After my shower, I had calmed down a bit and curled up on the couch with my cup of hot chocolate.  Jessica's little talk with me came to mind.  So, I took the photo that starts off this post and sent it in a text message to her and Bryan accompanied by the question, "Guess what I'm doing." 

Almost immediately I got a response from Bryan.  He sent this photo:

Accompanied by this text:  "The same thing I am?"

Guess what I did?  Laugh out loud!

Decorating for Christmas

I love Christmas decorating.  I have always loved the decorations and the warm feeling they bring to one's heart.  I haven't always felt that but I have always loved the concept!  I can remember many years when I felt more like Scrooge and humbug than merry.  Those years when we seemed to be rushing through dance performances, ball practices or games, office gatherings, one family gathering after another, etc., etc., etc. are the ones when I didn't feel much more than a humbug.  One year we never even put up a Christmas tree because we were so rushed and I was feeling so overwhelmed and cramped in the little house we lived in and I just never felt that Christmas spirit.

Then, several years ago, I moved to a new house.  I bought a new tree and began to assemble a new collection of ornaments for this tree.  I had a fresh start and a blank slate and I absolutely wallowed in the spirit for a couple of years.  I had plenty of time to decorate - and once or twice even had a friend come in and help me wrestle with the tree and the garlands and the lights to get them hung and all decorated.  I took time to shop - even though I didn't have loads to spend, I had time and could search for just the right things and find them within my budget.  Plus, I had the addition of new granddaughters to refresh that child-like wonder of the season.  So, not only did I wallow in it - I forced everybody around me to do so as well.  I hosted the gathering for the co-workers.  I cooked and entertained family and neighbors.  I really oozed of the spirit of the season.  This went on for about three years.

Then, I stumbled across the love of my life in mid-September of 2009.  We decided to get married on New Year's Eve.  Not only that, but we decided to get married in a house we were refreshing.  (We weren't really remodeling or making structural changes - just updating wall colors and floor refinishing and combining my furniture with his.)  So, my focus that year was not really on Christmas decorating so much.  We were too busy trying to get our digs ready for habitation and for the wedding gathering.  Oh, we put up trees and decorations here and there but the real push was to get walls painted and furniture moved.  We celebrated with my children and parents and then with his children and parents.  Then, we cleared out the Christmas trees to make room for our family.  We entertained almost forty people for the wedding ceremony and that was just our immediate family - children, parents, siblings, and their spouses and children. 

Last year was the first year that we combined the entire crew and had them all mish-mashed together under the same roof at the same time to celebrate together and begin some new family traditions.  So, when it came time to decorate.  I was ultra-sensitive that we have plenty of the old from both family lines.  I was overwhelmed with trying to prepare for four grown children and their families and both sets of our parents.  I was anxious about following Mike's family's traditions and gatherings.  I was worried that he and his children might not feel welcome and comfortable being enfolded into my family's traditions and gatherings.  It was ultra stressful!

Finally, this year I have come to realize that what will be will be.  I had hoped to really gild the lily here at our beautiful home and have everything ready for a Southern Living or Saturday Evening Post sort of celebration.  I envisioned a Christmas tree in every room and twinkling lights everywhere and glistening and glowing abounds.  Somehow, life has a way of waking us up and making us realize what really is important, doesn't it? 

I was busy dashing here and there at work with no time or energy for shopping at the end of the day.  So, most of the shopping was done online and what I didn't get shipped here to the house, was picked up in a matter of a couple of days jaunting out to a couple of stores each of those days.  We had only a handful of things left on our list and Mike and I took time to go together yesterday and pick those up with no rushing and no fighting traffic or crowds - just a leisurely trip to Tractor Supply Company and Bonnie's Barnyard.  I spent some time last week wrapping and sorting things while Mike was at work.  So, I wasn't pressed and stressed to get that all done. 

I hung wreaths, garland. and lights outside one afternoon at the beginning of the month.  Mike helped me drag the tree up from the basement a couple of weeks ago and set it up (another post about that later).  Cassie and Evie were here and helped us to decorate the tree.  The stockings were hung at the chimney with care about a week ago.  Then, I began coughing and hacking and sniffing and snuffling.  For a couple of days after our school holiday began, I spent most of the time in bed feeling yucky.

I have truly come to realize and internalize what I have told folks for years.  I do absolutely love Christmas decorations and want everything to look just like the magazines and storybooks we envision.  But really, celebrating is not about the ornaments or the wrapped boxes or gift bags.  It is not about the delectable dishes and baked sweets.  Celebrating is all about sharing time with folks you love.  It is about the people and the experiences you share with them.

I do look forward to gilding this lily and dressing her up for Christmas from foundation to roof-peak someday.  For now, though, I'm too busy laughing and sharing time with those I love. 

Merry Christmas!

From our house to yours...

A Couple of Whacks

I was beginning to think that I'd never get around to completing a Christmas post.  I have had a bit of sinus/ear/cough yuckiness and just didn't feel like doing anything that wasn't absolutely necessary.  However, here it is - Christmas Day - and after some help from a Z-Pack, I'm starting to feel a bit better. 

Then... yesterday I got ready to make a few photos and my camera kept trying to start but would simply give me an error message that said, turn it off and back on again.  I thought maybe there was something wrong with the battery's charge and took that out and gave it overnight to charge.  I took out the memory card and emptied everything off of it in fear that it might have somehow gotten corrupted or something equally as electronically scary.

Finally, like everybody else does these days, I went online and Googled it.  Yes, I just typed in "Sony Cyber-shot turn on and off error message."  Guess what!  There were several hits and I happened to click on just the right information. 

Interestingly enough, the first post said to simply tap the camera a couple of times on the table and it would begin to work.  I tried that and nothing changed.  Then, the next post said that it was easy to repair but the person posting worked at a camera shop and didn't feel he/she could advertise where to bring the person posing the question's camera for the repair and posted an email address instructing the camera owner to get in touch.  I was skeptical of this one and didn't try that.  I kept reading along and several folks said they had tried the tapping to no avail and I could commiserate with them.  Finally, a couple of folks said that they had tried the tapping and then decided they had lost nothing; so, they gave their camera a couple of really hard whacks.  One person even said they dropped it on the floor a couple of times and that worked! 

After surfing a bit more using my Google suggestions, I gave up.  I whacked the camera on the kitchen counter a couple of times and got no better results than my hand taps.  So, leaning to the concept that I had lost nothing if it didn't work, I dropped the camera on the floor three times.  The first couple of times I made sure it would land facing straight up.  The second time I made it land with the lens facing down because one of the folks had said something about the lens cover getting jammed.

Guess what... it worked!  My camera is working fine now and I'm wishing I had surfed and experimented and 'carefully' repaired it before Mike's family celebration over brunch this morning! 

So, never hesitate to give something a couple of whacks.  It even seems to work at repairing electronics!

A New Graduate

Our daughter-in-law graduated on Saturday!  We are so proud of her. 

She earned her M. Ed. in curriculum and instruction and is hoping to be hired as an elementary teacher.  I think I have only seen her so excited one other time - on her wedding day. 

Doesn't she look excited to shake the university president's hand?

It was really a learning experience for all of us.  There were almost 1700 graduates from Middle Tennessee State University that day.  Over 600 were awarded their degree during the morning ceremony along with Jessica.

Here is a shot from where we were sitting.

Due to the large crowd of graduates, there were no parking spaces anywhere near the venue.  So, we were required to park and walk across campus.  My five-year-old granddaughter, Lillie, informed her mother that it sure was a long walk from where they parked.  Bridgette told her that was sort of the way college works.  She went on to tell Lillie that this was the college where she had attended and walked for long jaunts and it was the college where Grand B had trekked around campus to get her teaching degree.  Finally, Bridgette informed her that someday she would probably go to college and have to walk around campus, too.  Lillie promptly informed her parents that she wasn't going to college.  She was just going to be a cowgirl and live on a mountain and have a horse ranch!  I wonder if Jessica ever had similar aspirations when she was a little girl?

Jessica is seriously listening and watching the entire ceremony.

I really don't know who was prouder of her accomplishment - Bryan or Jessica.  He certainly was puffed up with pride.

Look at those smiles!

I think everybody there was wearing a giddy smile.  We were all so excited for her and proud of her.

Here she is with her parents and even her dad, who rarely smiles in pictures, is almost grinning.

I know that with each threshold we cross there are new horizons.  This new accomplishment of Jessica's will find her stepping into a classroom - soon we hope! 

The speaker at the graduation ceremony focused her talk on leadership.  We are so excited for Jessica and looking forward to her having the opportunity to lead young children and guide them along their educational journey.

Doesn't she look like she is eager and ready to take the next step in her own journey?

Just Stating Facts...

Saturday was a busy day for us.  Mike had to work, as usual.  Our daughter-in-law, Jessica, graduated with her Master's degree in Education at nine in the morning (more on that later).  As is usual for a big family accomplishment, all of us who were free to do so turned out to witness the milestone.  There was a big long string of us - my proud son, Jessica's parents, my parents, my daughter and her husband and their two daughters, and me filled an entire row in section M at the college gymnasium.

After the ceremony we convened at a nearby restaurant to celebrate her and share one another's company.  Then, I trucked home to get ready for Mike's extended family Christmas get-together.  Bridgette and her family came by to let the children get a nap before that gathering.  We were just rising from naps when Mike came in from work.

As I was bringing him up to speed about the graduation cermony he's had to miss, I saw an opportunity to praise the two granddaughters who had attended.  So, I told him that there were two little girls who were so well behaved.  Mike picked up on the intent and he stated, "These girls are always really good."  At that point Lillie, the five-year-old interrupted to interject this, "No, I'm not always good." 

Don't you just love it?  I guess she doesn't want there to be any false expectations!

Learning Experiment

I was beginning to make photographs for sharing my Christmas decor this year.  I snapped this shot of the kitchen mantle decorations.

Then I noticed something as I was lining up to take another shot...  Do you see it?

Look right here:

See the little dots? 

I went in a little closer and realized what they were. 

Little round magnets off the fridge!

Who knew one would stick to the mesh of the fireplace screen?

So, I began to look around...

Here is one on the enameled metal surface of my Granny Cabinet (a Hoosier Cabinet my Granny gave to me).

Here is another one on the front of the dishwasher.

 I looked at the fridge and realized that several more are missing.  I remembered then that my granddaughter, Lillie, was here yesterday and was playing with the magnets and rearranging things on the front of the fridge.  I guess she was experimenting to see what was metal that those things would stick to.  I wonder where the rest of them wound up?