Weblog 253

December 19, 2010~ 12:00 am
It's very close now......the BLUE time. The glittering snow and lights in pinkish splendor.....the day itself



framed and perfect, almost ready for the Memory Books. I won't be blogging much this week because I have a HEAP of gifts sitting here in the dining room.... ready for wrapping... but with this cold, and because every day last week at work I was doing double duty by helping to cover for people who are taking some holiday time off, I'm pretty bushed. (I look at that heap of gifts and think.......tomorrow. LOL!!!)



The little things we put in our own way in order to stymie progress is amazing, for instance: Saturday even when I went grocery shopping, the one thing I knew I needed was cellophane tape. The one thing I forgot, was (of course)......cellophane tape. Therefore, one more day reprieve from the mad mess I always make when I do a bunch of Christmas wrapping-- losing scissors under bolts of paper, price tags stuck to my fingers, knotted and misbehaving streamers of ribbon. (There is yet order in my dining room, so you know I haven't lifted a finger yet.)

But when I do........



MESS.....then MAGIC! I'm always late with the cards. (Well, not late, but last minute certainly.) I enjoy it once I dive in, but as with most things, it's the thinking about it that's so daunting.



Glitter bits all over the dark green table cloth, misaddressed envelopes when there isn't a spare in the box, flipping through my address list and squinting at my tiny printing....oh joy! It'll all get done in the next four days, it always does. Nevertheless, my good mood continues despite being overly tired. I'm INTO it this year.

Saturday evening Wayne and I watched the film, 'Patti Smith: Dream Of Life'. What a fascinating person she is to watch and to listen to. She may be the most completely androgynous person in the world.... maternal in her feelings and spoken thoughts and in her softer, crooned songs (one- a kind of lullaby and one, a song sung to her cat in the tenderest way) -but she's also angular and very much at the same time like a young man, full of howling energy and angers, her ire directed primarily at political and social concerns. She's a powerhouse, a totally engaging and engaged human being, with more facets than the Hope diamond.



I've grown to love her. I've become a HUGE fan, so this 10 year chronicle of her life, her losses, her loves and her family-- and watching her perform and travel all over the globe was like a banquet to me. If you've ever wondered about this strange performer, poet, and writer-- she'll surprise you at every turn in this. A Mick Jagger on stage-- a sweet, warm lady at all times off of it --she's something to see. Rent this one. All 149 minutes, I was totally rapt.

And if I don't get back on here this week, by ALL means,

Merry Christmas!




December 19, 2010~ 9:45 pm
Guess what? I FINISHED addressing my Christmas cards! I'm just so pleased I had the discipline to do it this evening after visiting my mother....SANTA IS FEELING VERY FRISKY! Ready to happily drop it all and head off to bed!



(That animated gif made me laugh out loud, the saucy load! LOL!!)

I really enjoyed my visit to the Assisted Living center today. Good meal, and I made up little gift bags of Giant Eagle delicious fresh baked Christmas cookies to give to each of the gals at Mum's table. Gave them cards and Christmas pins to don, and mum and I even took Catherine's down to skilled nursing to visit her after the repair to her broken hip last week. She looked very spry, and I was so encouraged to see her looking so well. (She said she doesn't have much of an appetite, but I have a feeling she'll be gnoshing on those cookies alright.)

Christmas is about giving.... but the REAL gift is the sparkle in the eyes of those who receive their presents- especially unexpected ones. Like Grinch, my heart has grown three times its size, and the fit feels j-u-s-s-t right. (If I keep eating like I did this evening, my ass will soon catch up......just like SANTA up there.) MERRY, MERRY, everyone! Tomorrow night.....wrapping! (Yep. The gas station mini mart had TAPE! Onward and upward.) HO! HO! HO!

OH! And one more thing I'm very happy about! MY NEW SLIPPERS!



(Actually, these were my mother's new slippers, but they didn't fit.) She got them- and another pair, which she ALSO gave me -from the grab bag at the home's Christmas party. They're Isotoners BALLERINA-SLIPPER STYLE.....my HUGE FEET, BUNIONS AND EVERYTHING, in pink BALLERINA slippers! With bows! LOL!!! (And oh gosh, they are so warm.) For the first time in weeks, I'm sitting here typing and my feet aren't cold. I'd taken to wearing TWO pair of bootie-type pull-on slippers, but my feet still froze. I don't know what the soft, thermal stretchy material is here, but it does the job beautifully.

My poor ugly feet looked so darn cute in these (like dressed up pigs ) --I just had to snap their picture. (I love these so much, I'm gonna look for an extra-large pair for my mother, ones that will fit her. She'll love them too.) I gots me some 'happy feet', yes I do! :)




December 20, 2010~ 4:45 pm
'Tis the season of ENORMOUS nostalgia .... kitsch .... and Kringles from Christmases past. Anyone who was a child in the 50's will recognize this Christmas kitchen



-plump 26 lb. bird in the oven, an apron on the lady of the house, and oh......those AQUA WALLS. (Kitchens were yellow or aqua or green or pink. They all had linoleum, and the major appliances were WHITE. Period.) The curtains had ruffles and were dried on a line- (hung in the basement if it was winter) -and they were always washed and pressed before major holidays. Crisp and starched.

I can almost smell that turkey cooking......yum! Dip into some REAL nostalgia, and look at these Vintage Xmas Ads. (And if that ain't enough, how about some CATALOGS to bring it all back?) They always called them 'Wishbooks'- and I'd wait for the Sears version in the mail every year. I'd pore over the toy section- in fact, I REMEMBER that 1957 Sears catalog, and had some of those toys! (And the 1969, o yes- I was a senior in high school, and more interested in the changing 'fashions' of the times. LOL!!! Go Mini!)

My GOODNESS it's fun to look back.... Go on. You know you want to.




December 23, 2010~ 10:30 am
I'M DONE! LOL!!!
Every gift, all 35 of 'em ...are wrapped and waiting for delivery. Here's the line-up of the all the goodie bags (pre-wrapping) -for the 11 kids at my sister's house.



Once they were completely dressed and firmly packaged-- here they are



in a nice, BIG foil bag, waiting for transport on Christmas day. (I'm so goofy......I love looking at those things once they're done.) I played Old English Christmas Carols on the tape deck all the while and didn't even LOSE anything this year under all the clutter on the table. The Scotch tape just snagged itself once; I had to turn it round and round on the dispenser, scraping with my fingernails to find the end again. That's a first. (I usually do this about 5 times till I'm cussing up a storm.) And there's two bags going over to Holly's for her gang tomorrow night after an early Christmas dinner with Alisa, Wayne's niece....(she has her own bag here too.)



Thank goodness Wayne will be helping me carry things, especially if it snows. My walkway is none too level; add a layer of slippery wet and KABOOM!- down I'd go, gifts and all. Last but not least, here's my honey's little array, sitting on the dining room table just waiting for his grins to greet them.



And that's it for 2010. Another Christmas, packaged, signed, sealed, but yet to be delivered. HO! HO! HO! I beat Santa this year!





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