Mood:  incredulous

So what happened to December?  I remember when it started but I sure didn't realize that the 21st would fall the day after so close behind!  I do remember sleeping sometime and drinking coffee - ok, LOTS of coffee, and doing some shopping, but seriously the TWENTY FIRST OF DECEMBER IS TODAY?

So the party yesterday for First Grader's class went very well!  I feel so lucky that at least 5 other parents showed up - including one who is also a teacher at the same school (for a few minutes at least!).  There was plenty of food (so I could grumble about parents not letting me know that they were bringing tons of goodies - but I'm too thankful for that!), wonderful music - courtesy of the Christmas CD the school choir and each grade recorded, happy children, and smiling faces all around.  The Holiday craft - no, we're not supposed to utter the "Christmas" word for fear of offending someone - was jingle bell bracelets and necklaces - which went over VERY well!  It was simple, the mess was very contained which mainly consisted of beads & bells rolling off the table, and cleaned up fast!  It took just the right amount of time, too.  I guess my "Room Mom Super Powers" arrived in the nick of time!  Now, they'll be gone again until at least the week of the Valentine's class party!  I don't call on those super powers very often as I'm afraid I'll end of volunteering for PTA President or something like that!

Oh, you wanted to know how much wrapping I've accomplished?  Zilch. Zero. Nada.  Unless you count the gifts I had to ship out - those I wrapped - or my husband's "gift swap" gift for work - I also wrapped that. But the stuff that goes under the tree - nope.  Still sitting in the same bags they were in when I carried them out of the store.  Maybe tonight?

So are you ready?

Posted by wendylittrell at 7:52 AM CST

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Mood:  cool

Favorite Christmas Songs (tho in no particular order!) - and I'm not including the artist because, well, it's 7:24 a.m. & I've had NOT enough coffee yet to even remember!

• White Christmas
• The Christmas Song (Chestnuts roasting . . .)
• O Holy Night
• Winter Wonderland
• Mary, Did You Know
• Silent Night
• The First Noel
• Jingle Bell Rock

Yeah, I'm sure there's more but again - NOT enough coffee yet!

Movies I like to watch during the Holiday Season:

• Miracle on 34th Street - The original with Natalie Wood
• It's a Wonderful Life - I still get teary at the end!
• White Christmas
• National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
• Home Alone - although this is probably the only time of year I can stand to watch it (for the umpteenth gazillion time!)
• The Grinch (I'm NOT a big Jim Carrey fan - so this is fine for me because he's completely hidden behind make-up & prosthetics - although he is still WAY over the top) - again, I can watch it ONCE during the Christmas season & that is almost too much.
• How the Grinch Stole Christmas - loved it annually growing up but since I have a 1st grader in the house, he likes to watch this in July which is so not my thing!
• The Santa Clause - haven't seen the 3rd one but I do like to watch the first 2 during Christmas

Again, I know I've forgotten some "classics" or those which are not so classic, but I haven't had enough coffee yet to process what I've seen in the (no number given) years I've been on this earth!

Other stuff I really enjoy at Christmas:

• Snow - as long as it starts Christmas Eve after we are back from church services & the rest of my family gets home safely & it melts the day after Christmas.  Here in Texas - we don't see very many White Christmases.
• Homes that are decorated - I really have a pet peeve about people throwing net lights on bushes or wrapping it around tree trunks or throwing lights up in the branches of trees.  I grew up with evergreen trees in my front yard so you could say I'm a little spoiled - if you decorate your front yard trees - they better look like Christmas trees.
• Reading "Twas the Night Before Christmas" and the Nativity Story on Christmas Eve.  This was a tradition I started when my own children were just wee little ones & it has continued through 3 grandsons.  I hope that someday (far into the future) when I'm gone, that when Christmas rolls around, that the kids & grandkids all get sentimental about Mom/Nana reading these stories.
• Listening to Christmas Music 24/7.
• Taking children to see Santa Claus (but not at the mall I previously blogged about!)
• Baking - for some reason the spirit of the season sets my Betty Crocker Homemaker personality into overdrive.  Baking pies, cookies, whatever I can put flour, milk and eggs in!
• Drinking Egg Nog - although trying to go "low cholesterol" has completely taken the fun out of drinking egg nog.  In other words I've had 2 glasses of egg nog in one year!
• Attending Christmas Parties - although the darling husband & I rarely do that now.  In the past we always went to his office Christmas party.  The type that they rented the entire floor or two of some swanky hotel for and stockpiled every room with food from different countries, different music playing in all the ballrooms, and getting dressed to the nines - ok, maybe the sevens - to go party with the grown-ups!  We also had a good friend who had an annual Christmas party which she'd been throwing for at least 10 years.  She started cooking early in the year for the party & hired a younger gal from church to do the serving & taking care of the food as it came out of the oven.  But, she and her family moved up north, and we sure do miss her. Not just because of her parties (ok, that's partially it) - but she was a wonderful person with great common sense and a true friend.
• Feeding people on Christmas.  Seems like for so long we've always had extra people at Christmas dinner - boyfriends of my daughters, friends of my kids and now we have grandkids.  For so many years I had to cook for 6 people + every day so as the kids started moving out and moving away, I've had to learn to cook less.  I really enjoy cooking for an army - so I'm glad that on Christmas I can cook beaucoup food and say "you better eat that up, I don't want any leftovers" to those around the table.
• Sending and receiving Christmas cards.  Years ago, I used to wonder why folks would send those computer printed family letters each year but now I really look forward to them.  What they've been doing, etc. 

So what are your favorite things at Christmas time?

Posted by wendylittrell at 7:45 AM CST

Updated: Thursday, 20 December 2007 7:57 AM CST

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Mood:  mischievious

So I went to --- today and picked up ----- for ------ (CAUGHT YA!  YOU THOUGHT I WAS GOING TO ANNOUNCE WHERE I WENT SHOPPING AND WHAT I BOUGHT!)  No Dice!  My children read this blog & I can't be announcing all over the web what I bought them for Christmas.  So you - and they - will have to wait until at least Dec. 26th!

I left for my shopping bonanza at 8:30 a.m. - first stop Post Office to pick up something from a relative that needed a signature.  Then over to the new stores at a town north of me - wow they have a Coldwater Creek store!  Hit about 4 shops over in that section, then went to ship gifts to the Missouri relatives before heading to the bank at the very opposite end of town & then grabbing some Popeyes cajun rice & mashed 'taters for lunch. 

Somehow I have to figure out when to wrap!  Midnight Christmas Eve?!

Posted by wendylittrell at 4:03 PM CST

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Mood:  don't ask

Well right now I feel like I'm back in the summer - except for the cold & damp.  The saying in our neck of the woods - "if you don't like the weather, stick around. It'll change every 10 minutes."  The change is basically rain & then some misty rain, then a downpour, then nothing, then a couple sprinkles, & on & on!  And why is it that when it's rainy & icky (that's my "meterological" term for the day!) - that's when I have to get out in it! 

Put a pot of vegetable soup on the stove to simmer all afternoon.  I really love soup so in a way, it's nice that it's soup eatin' weather!  But I still wish it would either just rain, stop or go away. 

What's your day like?

Posted by wendylittrell at 1:32 PM CST

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Mood:  silly

Here's the picture of 1st grader & Santa that I was NOT supposed to take!

Enjoy!

Posted by wendylittrell at 2:25 PM CST

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Mood:  cool

Ok - here's a (cropped) picture of our Christmas Tree! Enjoy!

  Did I mention that this is a picture before it was really done?  We have ribbon garland on it - instead of the traditional garland or the pearls I've draped on it from time to time or the tinsel I've "thrown" on it!

  Do you spend lots of time making sure your ornaments are just so?  Is your tree color coordinated? Fess up!

Posted by wendylittrell at 2:51 PM CST

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Mood:  happy

Mr. Service Man / Technician showed up yesterday to install our new DSL internet service!  Yes, sad to say we were still living in the prehistoric age the 20th century!  Bye - bye dial up!  Hello, superhighway or should I say Autobahn!  All of us had to try it out.  Wow I can actually watch stuff on Youtube now instead of waiting a lifetime over an hour for just a minute or two to download!

So please tell me I am not the only one who was still living with dial up - I know there are others out there - who are you?  And I do feel your pain!

Have a happy, wonderful weekend!

Posted by wendylittrell at 8:09 AM CST

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Mood:  irritated

Have your kids pictures with Santa taken?

 I am horrified at the prices that go along with getting the traditional Santa picture package.  What happened to the one picture - a few bucks?  I mean after all who are all these people that need upteen gazillion pictures of their sweet, precious cutey-patootey with the Big Mr. C?  Who do they send them to? Two sets of grandparents and every friend they've had in their lifetime?  Get real parents - no one - except maybe the grandparents - wants a picture of your precious tyke with Santa Claus.  It will go into file 13 as soon as Christmas is over - or in a big box of photos that will never be looked at again.

Back to the topic at hand.  For the last several years I've taken 1st grader to a local mall - Lewisville Vista Ridge Mall - and he's sat on Santa's lap and told him what he wanted for Christmas while I take my few digital pictures of him.  Polite folks, wonderful Santa, short hike to the mall.  However this year since Senior daughter works at another mall in a neighboring town and since I had to pick her up anyway one Saturday, figured why not have 1st grader talk to Santa at that mall.  DON'T DO IT!!!  Especially if you want to take your own pictures (that you can flood your blogs with or make upteen gazillion copies to send to Gramma, Grampa, first cousins, second cousins twice removed, Mr & Mrs. Smith who were your next door neighbors when you were 3, etc.) because they WON'T LET YOU unless you purchase one of their horribly overpriced packages - which starts at $20 (okay so it's really $19.99).  I basically pretended the little people who were taking orders weren't really there and after 1st grader did his "What I want for Christmas . . ." with Santa, his mommy & I began snapping pictures.  Then the lady at the camera asked what package we wanted to which we replied - "none".  This is the conversation that followed -

Camera lady - Oh, you can't take your own pictures unless you buy a package.

Me - Oh well

then we got 1st grader & exited the Santa display - while Santa told us we got lucky.  Apparently - since there was NO SIGN that said we couldn't take pictures, the lady taking orders was supposed to tell us when we didn't order that we couldn't take pictures.  And since we completely ignored said lady - we got off! 

Yeah - so tell me I should tell my g-son that the Santa in this mall won't let Nana or Mommy take a picture because they are out for the almighty DOLLAR - see how well that goes over!  And SHAME ON YOU other people who go along with it!  From now on we will continue to go to Lewisville Vista Ridge because Santa (and all those photo people there) know the true spirit of the season when it comes to children!

Posted by wendylittrell at 2:41 PM CST

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Mood:  silly

So with the combination of so many holidays, will someone ever come up with a new greeting or name for this mess new thing?  Seems like retailers are co-mingling (boy does that sound bad!) Halloween ghosts, witches and assorted hobgoblins with mangers, angels, stars and Christmas trees - not to mention that somewhere in that are turkeys, pumpkins, and Thanksgiving themed decor.  It didn't help too much this year since Thanksgiving seemed to fall "early" in November.  Add all that with Texas weather - which changes each hour of every day - and you don't have a clue what season it is let alone what holiday you are celebrating!  So how does your family celebrate Hallow-Thanks-Christ-giving-een-mas (herein referred to as HTCGEM)?  Does your Christmas tree have pumpkins and turkeys as ornaments?  Do you give out Santa shaped cookies in Trick or Treat Bags?  Does a Hobgoblin sit atop your Christmas Tree?  Does your family wear costumes as you Carol to the home-bound and nursing home residents?  Do you sing "The Harvest Song" hymn during Christmas Eve services?  Will November 1st start becoming known as Black Friday as more and more people start their Christmas shopping a month earlier?

Well - all of that is enough to give a person a splitting headache, nagging backache, flaming stomachache, etc.!  One thought - let's keep each holiday separate!  No trees or Christmas decorations in October!  No turkeys or thoughts of green-bean casseroles until after Halloween!  No putting up outside twinkly lights until after Thanksgiving!  And please - for goodness sakes - no Christmas in July!

And that, Dear Readers, is my opinion!

Posted by wendylittrell at 9:13 AM CST

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Mood:  mischievious

with my apologies to the Carpenters!  As a young teen, I remember listening to this song all the time!  It seemed that on every rainy monday every DJ of every pop radio station would play this.  After awhile it sort of grated on the nerves.  Yet, this morning when I realized it was raining I mentioned to my husband - "like the Carpenter's song" and he replied "Rainy Days and Mondays"?  Yep - that one!  And we do need the rain - I just wish it would hold off or lighten up as I'm standing outside waiting on 1st grader's bus to arrive or when I'm driving senior daughter to school.  Then it can rain buckets & torrents.  Guess I can't be choosey & just appreciate what we get!

Posted by wendylittrell at 7:54 AM CDT

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