It's Christmas Again!

Let's see, since posting in 2010, much has happened for us.  I don't think I want to write catch up history as I think that will show itself in future posts.   We are no longer in our big old Victorian style farmhouse; we have moved (downsized) to leasing a condo in a city across the state from where we lived in sweet little community of Bay Center, WA in Pacific County.   We are now living in city of Spokane, WA closer to my daughters and the family branch of my grandchildren.  I will write about those experiences and learning lessons (learning for me) at another time.  It has been a journey of the soul, so to speak.

It is now December 2014.  A year in the condo in Spokane.  In 2013 we were also in Spokane, sharing time between our home in Bay Center, WA and an apartment in Spokane, WA caring for two of my youngest grandchildren.  Going backwards in time to recapture the years of 2012 and 2011 .. essentially my husband retired from his career, and we found ourselves re-examining our choices in life regarding family, living location, community, aging into senior years, faith -- the whole gamut it seems as seen from retrospective viewpoint.  Certainly less clear as we walked together through those years.

I'm not sure where I'll take the direction of this blog, for now though, it can serve as a bit of thoughtful reflections along with the new or revived things we are doing in our more senior years.

It is Christmas time just now. And I'm happy to be sharing in Christmas spirit - past and present, listening to Christmas music, decorating the house (yes, our condo has a 'house' feel to it so I call it our house now), making Christmas gifts, participating in our Traditions - past and present - as the holidays unfold.   This is the first year in many that we have brought out the Big Christmas tree, and all the decorations acquired over the decades going back to when my adult children were just youngsters.   Picture of the big tree in our condo (house) space.

p.s.  daughter, her husband, granddaughter stopped by to see our big tree, and took this composite photo to include my collections of nutcrackers which remain out all year long in their display cabinets.        

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Flowers Arrived; doesn’t the gift of flowers just make you smile!

Daughter and son-in-law had flowers sent to my house; meant to arrive Easter weekend.  Since we live as far away as we do from urban centers, it takes UPS a bit longer to deliver, so the flowers arrived a couple days later than they planned, but the flowers did arrive. 

Came in a florist box that looked like long stemmed roses might be inside.    Opened the box to find fresh spring flowers, a hefty square glass vase and florist preservative packet, along with a happy greeting card from my daughter and son-in-law.

I learned later in talking to my daughter that she had chosen another arrangement, but where we are located there are no florists in close by vicinity that could accommodate the choice she made.    I am happy with what was sent – fresh spring flowers that are still looking fresh a week later.   Picture below.

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Holiday Gatherings are Gaily Wrapped Gifts

Lovely holiday luncheon yesterday.  Dear Lady put on a sit-down holiday luncheon for about 20 women in our community.  If  it had been 1950, the luncheon might have looked like women wearing shirt-dresses with petticoats to make them flounce, hats and gloves, and a fashionable purse.   But it isn’t 1950, and that is not what the women looked like at our luncheon yesterday.  Although, our dear hostess, bless her heart, had a gift for each of us at the close of the luncheon --- individual hand-sewn aprons that she had been making since the previous summer.  She made them specifically to gift to each of us at her holiday luncheon.

 

I would share photos, but I haven’t obtained permissions from the women, so in respect for their privacy, if I have photos that don’t reveal faces, I’ll post those later. 

 

I’m just tickled with the holiday festivities this year right here within our small little village.  Open house party, holiday luncheon, church potluck, Women’s Club potluck coming up next week, annual Christmas play put on by the children, Open house party on New Year’s Eve, chili dinner – bring breads later in January.  Perhaps these gatherings have been the norm here for several years, but I’m just entering into all the festive fun this year, so it’s all new to me.  And as such, it’s like opening a lot of gaily wrapped presents, different in form and shape.

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Gifts in a Jar - Collections

Straight from your kitchen; it’s become a holiday tradition now – the growing collections of ‘gifts in a jar’.  They are all over the internet, blogs and websites.  Thought I’d make a post, open a category and collect links to what is already out there.  Since so many have built their own collections, it would be redundant for me to repeat one by one, so let’s go for collections.

Found this one today at ‘The Old Front Porch’ and they have a pretty good collection already underway there.

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Toasting the Holidays

"Dads are often expected to raise the first glass and offer inspiring remarks, as family and friends come together with anticipation and cheer," said Paul Banas, CEO of Greatdad.com. "Holidays events are wonderful opportunities for dads to rise to the occasion, deliver unforgettable words, and set forth a tradition for generations to follow."

Five Top Toasting Tips
Prepare remarks in advance and be yourself. It's a good idea to write out your toast and get comfortable with it. This way, you can convey your remarks with ease.

Stand and deliver. Be sure to get everyone's attention before making the toast. While the room need not be quiet enough to hear a pin drop, you do want to make sure that you have a captive audience.

Keep it brief. Most of us have a family member known as the "rambling relative" when it comes to toasting. Remember to pay attention to your audience and the time, so that your toast warms everyone's hearts and ensures the food doesn't go cold.

Humor is fine. Make sure that you keep it light and natural. If you plan to include a joke, be sure to practice (and always know the punchline).

Make sure everyone has something to toast along with you. It's also appropriate to include non-alcoholic drinks. A favorite for kids is sparkling cider.

see more at article

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Christmas when the family grows and is gone.

The holidays are coming! The holidays are coming! I like to enjoy the celebration part of the holidays, keeping the holiday cheer, without overdoing it and turning it into holiday stress. And since it is a long holiday season, somewhere about midstream I began to fade a little and lose some of my jubilance. The thing is that in my mind's eye, I make plans to do so many things that I lose my focus and do fewer things. I'd like to do some things this year and maybe not do other things and see if I can get a different outcome.

The children are grown, adults now, and have left home, are well into their own lives with their own children and families. When they were young children I liked the idea of a big tree with lots and lots of decorations, not particularly themed, but particularly full. We have now a big artificial tree and the years of decorations. One Christmas I remember we took 2 days to put up the tree, a week to decorate it and the house looked so fantastically Christmas. There were no visitors to our home that year and somehow so much bling seemed kind of lonely, sad and overmuch without the full house of children.

The next year we bought a smaller, slimmer tree and I put on much fewer decorations. In fact, did not even unpack the boxes and boxes of stored Christmas ornaments and decor. Last year I found what I call one of those artificial 'Northern Exposure' kind of Christmas tree or could also be called 'Pacific Northwest' kind of Christmas tree. Three trunks side by side with branches, and overall skinny, not taking up very much room.

We had my mother stay with us last holiday - Thanksgiving to Christmas. Had many festive outings planned, but those plans got nixed and cancelled with the early December storm of the century we had here last year. They don't use the word hurricane, but it was hurricane force winds at 140 mph or more over 2 days. Mom is in her 70s now, and was a real trooper throughout the storm and the long winter days that followed in clean up. It was rather an unforgettable holiday season.


This, a year later, and well we will have our usual winter wind and rain storms or more of the 'big ones', but I plan to go into this holiday season with high and joyful thoughts. It's taken about a decade, but I'm adapting to the reality that our children are grown and gone, involved with their own families, and it's just the two of us now. It will be a happy holiday as we find new traditions for how we want to spend the holidays.

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What is the plan for Holidayzed

Holidays approaching and so approaches all that Holiday anticipation. You may love it or leave it but the Holidays don’t take a vacation, every year around this time, here comes the Holidays. A collection of all that goes into the Holidays, whether you are in a Daze, Dazed, or Glazed, here you can find Holidayz to help you make it all you want it to be, whether more or less, it is yours to celebrate in the manner of your choosing.ite so readers know where you are coming from. Click on the different category pages to visit the related content.

Oh, and I’m open to suggestions, if you care to share yours.

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