Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! Here's your season's greeting!

The day of Christmas Eve is a a busy one here. We have last minute presents to get or wrap, food for the evening meal to prepare, a house to clean, a dog to bathe. Anticipation runs high, and, I have to admit, a bit of anxiety adds an edge to the emotions. I tend to worry about weather: the forecast here is for freezing rain tonight. That would put a damper on the festivities which include evening Mass, a delicious dinner prepared by Gourdo, and the immediate family gift exchanges. The morning sky was red: Red sky at night, sailor's delight; red sky at morning, sailors take warning. Maybe the red sky was only Rudolph from the North Pole, about to start his journey. I hope so!

We have family gatherings for the remainder of the week, so it will be a while before I return here. Merry Christmas to all! May Santa be good to you. May your loved ones be near to you. May health and happiness be yours throughout the Christmas season and in the coming year.

Christmas Pretty

What a cute gift idea! A friend who collects pretty dishes and glassware created these lovely dessert stands and gave them to me for Christmas. I can use them individually or stack them. Won't they be the perfect servers for homemade buckeyes, divinity and fudge?

Meanwhile, today we had our first real, sticking snowfall. Gourdo is on his cookie baking spree and his mother is here lending a helping hand. My official duty as taste tester is a tough one, but I'm on top of it.

In just a few more days Santa will be here!

Merry Christmas

May your travels be safe, your heart and home full of light and good cheer. Merry Christmas! Vintage postcard.

Christmas Memories

These are my most vivid Christmas memories:
My father's parents had an aluminum tree with the revolving fan light that made it change color. They lived next door to us, and on Christmas Eve, when grandma turned on the tree light, we knew it was time to go visit. The cousins and I got to drink Cokes from little glass bottles.
Mass at St. Augustine's. The full choir sang Christmas songs and the organ thundered so it felt like Heaven opening up. The music was so loud I was half afraid, and totally in awe, and I always thought, "This is surely how the shepherds must have felt when the angels proclaimed the good news."
The family Christmas at my mother's parents' meant the door to the formal living room would be opened up. The room was always cool and pale and beautiful--and strictly off limits to my cousins and me every other day of the year. A white tree glistened in front of the big picture window and the huge dining table where the adults would eat was set in sparkling Fostoria ware. There were dishes of ribbon candy and divinity that looked too pretty to touch, but no one ever told us to leave them alone.
My siblings and I went around in the weeks leading up to Christmas with our eyes trained to the sky hoping to see Rudolf. We knew Santa was secretly watching our every move, and we knew we were regularly naughtier than nice. But still, somehow, we knew that Santa loved us and was all-forgiving. The proof was in the presents, and none of us ever got the parentally threatened lump of coal--even though I was pretty sure one or the other of us deserved it some years.
The strain of a carol, the twinkle of a light, and it all comes rushing back. Thanks for all the Christmases past; thanks, too, for Christmases to come.

Round Two

I view Thanksgiving as Round 1 in the holiday battle. The rounds continue until January 1.
We are still in the fight, having survived Round 1.
Actually, I'm lucky in that my husband does so much of the cooking, cleaning, shopping and other holiday preparations. In fact, if it weren't for him, the holidays would pass us by without my paying them any notice. He loves all the holidays, but especially Christmas.
My husband's ideal of Christmas does not feature an artificial tree, but this year we have one. We could no longer justify spending so much each year for an item that we'd throw away in two weeks, so when he spotted an artificial tree on sale last February for less than half the cost of a fresh cut tree, he snapped it up.
He put it up this weekend, and we both like it. No muss, no fuss. One of the first ornaments on the tree was the calico cat I gave him for Christmas when we were dating, followed by the ornaments we've added to our collection every year, including a few homemade ones.
The tree looks so real it's amazing. As for that lovely aroma of a real tree? The power of the mind is so strong (or is it weak?) that when I look at it, I swear I smell pine.
Suggestible? Yes, no doubt.
Happy? You bet!
Let Round Two begin! Calico Cat photo by JulenaJo.