Christmas Feelings

 

The tree stands lonely without all the packages…the empty boxes stacked along the wall, the pretty ribbons and papers now thrown-away rubbish, the gifts all opened and stored away.  Christmas Day is winding down and only my dear hubby of 50 years and I are left to sit together…the grandkids and their parents home celebrating with their other family. 

 

There are mixed feelings within me.  There is a feeling of satisfaction knowing that our family breakfast went well, even though I feel sure HUDDLE HOUSE would never offer me a job as a short-order cook.  But knowing that I was able to fix favorites for each and every one and that they all left the table sated and happy does warm my soul.  

There is a feeling of relief and thankfulness that all gifts seemed to bring smiles to the faces that I love.  

 

There is a level of tiredness in my body and mind thinking of how much time was spent decorating the whole house (including 4 trees), shopping for just the right gift for each and every person, choosing the wrapping paper and ribbons to cover the surprises and then carefully wrapping each one.  

A feeling of joy that I was able to spend at least part of the day with the 5 people dearest to my heart and hearing their joy at discovering the treasures that had awaited them. 

But there is also a strange feeling in my heart and soul…one I can’t readily identify.  It feels somewhat sad…sad that our church had to cancel our Christmas Eve service (but at least we had it over the radio with all our church family listening in and lighting candles....

sad that the special time of Christmas morning is over for another year, sad that many friends and family members celebrated the day alone or far from their loved ones, sad that I can’t hold onto this day for a little longer.  It also feels like I’ve lost something…in a way.  And I suppose I have…I’ve lost another Christmas, I’ve lost another year (although 2020 is not a year I will be sad to say good-bye to).  I know there are many less Christmases in my future than in my past.  And I am also feeling nostalgic thinking of all the Christmases we have celebrated as a family.

But there is also a great feeling of GRATITUDE.  How very thankful I am that, first of all, God sent His son to be the Savior of our world…and that He let me be born to a mother who made sure that I was raised to be a Christian.  Thankful that I have never strayed from that upbringing. 

My heart is overflowing with thankfulness for my husband, my soul-mate, that I have shared so many wonderful Christmases with…some when our purses were slim and presents were not as plentiful but always more than enough love to make up for the lack of any store-bought goodie…thankfulness for the many memories of my son and daughter (now celebrating Christmas in heaven) waking up with excitement to see what Santa had left for them…and now thankfulness for the memories that are continuing to be made with my grandson and granddaughter who have me wrapped around their fingers (which are no longer so little)…and I love that!

So…as Christmas Day 2020 winds down I will allow my thankfulness and my joy to reign over any sadness or fears or feelings of being exhausted or too nostaligic.  I will soon put my head on my pillow and know that I have been SO VERY VERY BLESSED…and I will thank God for that.  Then tomorrow life will begin again and I will look forward to a new year (hopefully much better than the last) and wait with anticipation for the next Christmas when more memories will be made and more feelings will flow into my heart and soul…and I will savor each one.

KETCH-UP TIME!!!

As is often the case, I’m behind on writing my blog and reading those of others.  Where does the time go?  Thought I’d try to “ketch-up” (that’s how it sounds when we Southern drawl folks say it)!

The pandemic has kept me inside more lately…numbers are up in our small town.  The recent death of  a very special local lady has really hit us.  Granddaughter and all her co-cheerleaders are in quarantine after one of the girls came down with COVID.  She will be “free” in a couple days, so praying no one else has to quarantine.

Grandkids and I need to have our PICKLE HUNT…I will be sure to write a post about that later, but you can go HERE for past hunts.  SO MUCH FUN…and this year there will be a REAL SURPRISE (I’ll tell you about it later!)

Got some reading in recently and I highly recommend these two books.  Gave them to a friend and she has loved them too.  Both have some very sad parts, but the endings are good…one ending in particular will surprise you.  Won’t tell you which one😊

We had the two huge very old pecan trees in our front yard cut down.  I didn’t want to, but hubby (who NEVER frets over anything), has fretted over those trees for about 5 years now.  Every time a big wind comes up, he holds his breath fearing they are going to fall on the house.  It was amazing watching the trees come down.  Would you believe the young man who did all the cutting is afraid of heights???  Hopefully the video will come through...if so, you will see/hear that I got a little distressed!

Soooo sad…my church has now closed down again due to the rise in local COVID cases.  First time in all my (many) years that we have not been able to attend church and sing Christmas carols.  Our school system also shut down a week early for the holidays with kids going virtual.  I am so thankful we will soon have the vaccine.  I have thought and thought and read and read about it trying to decide if I want to take it.  Hubby and I agree that we will.  I heard on the news that 70% of us will have to take it in order to reach “herd immunity”.  I know many are afraid, but I got to thinking back when I was a child and the new polio vaccine came out.  Our parents were thrilled for us to get that vaccine, and so I’m going to look at the COVID vaccine in the same way.  (I absolutely HATE shots, so this is a biggie for me!)

Thankfully, we got to see two Cheer Competitions…wearing masks and mostly social distancing.  They haven’t won yet but they did great the second competition.  Only one mistake that cost them 15 points…those judges really judge VERY harshly!!!

She’s a DADDY’S GIRL for sure!

My last shopping got done this week…stocking stuffers.  And that’s my VERY FAVORITE part of Christmas shopping.  I found some great things at DOLLAR TREE this year.  Here are a few of the items I found there:

          SNUGGADO brand fuzzy socks (got myself a pair too; cute patterns and so soft

          SHOE ERASER…like “Magic Eraser” accept for shoes

          PURE SILK Shaving Cream (for us ladies)…great reviews

          LA GIRLS Lip Balm…comes in several colors in containers that look like macaroon cookies and with cute sayings on top

          Godiva chocolates

          Cute picture frame (for grandson & his girlfriend’s photo)

          Cute note pads

          Miniature screwdriver set (hubby has one and uses it to fix my jewelry)

          Emory boards…cute patterns

          Taco flavored sunflower seeds…son loves these seeds & this is a new flavor I hope he will like

          MOSSY OAK work socks…this is a great brand and for $1 (bargain)

          Bath/Shower Exfoliating glove…different colors; saw same ones at Wal-Mart much more expensive

         E.L.F. makeup brushes...sold at Wal-Mart for more

            Christmas pattern travel mugs (plastic; tall kind with top; I got myself one with gnomes…I adore gnomes

The DOLLAR TREE Website has some great ideas for cute gift baskets!

 

Got some other things other places so their stockings will be overflowing this year.

 

And I do hope and pray that your CHRISTMAS will be overflowing with love, hope, joy, and peace.  And may ALL of us be Blessed with a much Happier and Safer NEW YEAR!

It's Beginning...NOPE! It Looks a Lot Like...

 

It’s looking A LOT like CHRISTMAS at our house!

          Decorating  √

          Shopping    √

          Wrapping  √

 

Yep!  It’s ALL done.  So I thought I would share the fruits of my labor with you. 

 

Let’s start with the kitchen…my favorite.  It’s looking very GINGERLY!  I do love my GINGERPEOPLE.  Granddaughter M helped decorate the tree…she loves it as much as I do:)

 

And you’ll find lots of other sweet GINGERS scattered all around.

This little fella is trying to disguise himself as he sits in the window looking for SANTA!

These sweet ladies are sitting in a little red rocker that SANTA brought to my husband on his first Christmas in 1949!  

Gifts from friends & family!  They know what I love😊

SANTA is ready to bake some CHRISTMAS COOKIES

This year I added a HOT COCOA BAR…with marshmallows, of course!

This tiered tray is a new addition…one of my favorite things to decorate with these days.  I added some GNOMES…thought the GINGERPEOPLE needed some friends.  (I love gnomes too!)

Who says you can’t “catch” that devilish little GINGERBREAD MAN?

Looks like I’ve “caught” a lot of them!

*        *      *      *

Now for the rest of the house…

The SNOWMAN tree

Hubby’s Office…HUNTING tree

And even the deer get decorated too!

 

The FAMILY TREE and mantle…lots of special ornaments from trips, friends, former students, and (of course) made by my kids and grandkids

Now for the OUTSIDE…compliments of a good husband and a helpful grandson

And finally…THE REASON FOR THE SEASON…I always put my Nativity out last so that I can take the time to think of the meaning of each special piece.

There’s even MORE, but by now you are probably on overload!

 

So…have you finished decorating?

What’s your favorite decoration?

 

Hope each and everyone of you enjoyed a very BLESSED THANKSGIVING and that the CHRISTMAS SEASON will be filled with much JOY. 

Note:  sorry for the crazy spacing...Blogger woes!!!

 

 

I AM THANKFUL

 

I  AM  THANKFUL for:

 

*my Christian faith

*my husband who is loving & caring 

*my son, DIL, and grandchildren

*all my family

*my home

*my friends

*my church family

*my Valley Girls & Guys

*my health

*having all my basic needs met

*money in the bank

*my education

*my career as a teacher

*all the men & women who have fought to give me freedom

*my grandchildren accepting Christ as their Savior

*a warm bed to sleep in each night

*all those who have worked so hard to find a vaccine for COVID-19

*health workers, police, and firefighters

 

And so much more…..

 

Hope all of you have a very BLESSED Thanksgiving

THIS, THAT, AND MORE OF THAT

Well, it has happened.  I’ve been writing my blog on and off since 2010, and I finally got my first rude comment! 

I was told early on in my blogging experience that this would probably happen at some point.  When I first read it, I was upset.  Upset mainly because I just don’t like anyone being rude to me for no reason (but who does?).  Also, because I would never have thought I would get a rude comment on a post about KINDNESS and helping those in need!!!!  By the way, the comment was from ANONYMOUS.  Listen up, people…if you want to be rude to me at least be above board about it and let me know who you are!    

Anyway…I started to delete the comment and probably should have (maybe still will), but then I decided I wanted to respond.  I tried to figure out exactly what was upsetting this gal or guy, but I’m oblivious.  So I decided to take the route I think God would want me to take in my response.  (Confession:  I did, however, not let this person think he or she could just make me into their doormat and that I was going to shy away from sharing my opinion…I can be feisty like that!)

At any rate, PLEASE take a look at the comment and my response and let me know what you think.  I imagine any further comments from Anonymous will be deleted…I just don’t care to get into that sort of stuff on my blog!!!

Note: since writing this post some of my readers commented they have seen this same comment on other blogs.  Guess somebody is just trolling “baby boomers” and evidently doesn’t like us!  It’s sad that something in his/her life has led him/her to feel the need to do this. 

 

I am not going to get into a deep discussion of the recent election, but feel I am ready to say my peace.  I voted Republican, but if you voted Democrat I still like you and respect your opinion…and I hope you will feel the same toward me.  I have to say I am disappointed (not because I am in love with the person of Donald Trump) but because I fear the election was not a fair one.  I would imagine there was some wrongdoing on both sides of the fence.  I just would like to know that votes have been counted fairly, and the rightful winner should be named.  I also have to say I worry about the talk of socialism; the thought of our economy and schools being shut down again; the thoughts of total government control over my life and the lives of my family, and especially grandchildren.  It has happened in the past…we can read our history books to be reminded.  And as we can see, socialism has never worked; total government control has never worked but only hurt the people.  I pray, though, that the future holds nothing but good things for EVERYONE in our country.  And I pray that we all will turn back to God and let HIM be the one in control.  My peace is now said and done with!!!

 

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

My son, DIL, and grands always get a head start!  They love their Christmas and so put it up as soon as they think possible😊  However, my son does take it down just about the day AFTER Christmas…for him, when it’s done it’s done.  I will probably start with ALL the decorations (4 trees and then some) next week since my grands are out of school and I will have the help of my very artistic granddaughter who loves her some Christmas decorating, especially my Gingerbread People Tree.  So I’ll be posting pictures.  I hope to visit your blogs and see some too.

 

And I’ll end with something my mama always taught us:

If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all!