No matter how well you’ve left the Past behind, Christmas to New Year’s Day will bring the Ghosts back. We remember the Christmases when we were kids, when our kids were kids, when our kids’ kids were kids… We remember the Disastrous, the Magical, and forget the mundane… We count our years and our lbs. and compare them with Other Celebrations… We Wonder just how we got this Old…
And we tell ourselves what a Great Life we’re Living. We look through our pictures and reassure ourselves that we are Still Going Strong…
View from our camper, Presnell’s Marina, Port St. Joe FL
I’m ready to put 2018 to bed now, sending it out with Hoppin’ John and Old Crow. We’re planning on starting the festivities on London Time, about 5pm here at Sonnystone, so I’ve got to get…
But should Old acquaintances be forgot and never brought to mind? I think not.
For Old Time’s Sake, I’ll drink a cup of Kindness to You! And another to You…and You…*
Casey had a birthday last Friday, his 64th. I usually post something mushy about him, so if you are interested in knowing just how much I appreciate him read here and here and here ….just go check all the November archives!!!
This year’s celebration involved the traditional gifts of underwear and socks, but instead of a flannel shirt I found a shirt just like the one I gave him 10 or 15 years ago, the one that is really ragged now, though it pops into his clothing rotation every so once in a while. I don’t imagine he’ll actually toss the old one, but I can sneak it into the rag bag soon.
After piano lesson on Saturday, Olivia and Samantha came over to put the decorations on the tree for us…
I’ve been shopping and I still need to do more shopping and it’s awfully tiresome. I do make friends standing in line, and always chat up the cashier, so it has its fun moments. When I got down my Christmas-y clothes this year, it was sad and pathetic, so I’m on a quest for some Holiday togs. This week-end is Olivia’s Piano Recital at EMA and in just a week we’ll be flying into NYC for our Christmas celebration with the Jose’ Family, so I must have all my frocks in a row.
I’ve traced my genealogy about as far as I can go using the free library version of MyHeritage, so I decided to sign up for a 2-week free trial. It’s true that Ancestry has a larger database, but I see many of my family folks are on MyHeritage, so I think that’s the way to go. Except…I don’t have time for it right now. I think it’s going to make a great January hobby…
I’m within 1 book of meeting my goodreads challenge for the year, cruising through some old-time mysteries by the likes of Dorothy L. Sayers and Josephine Tey (thanks, Sippora!)
I managed to write for an hour every day in November, but I can’t brag about how much I accomplished. I’m stuck in the middle of the beginning of the Grandmother story, so I left it and did some editing of some old stories I’d forgotten about. I found a poem that I wrote on our trip to Brown County and it wasn’t too bad, so I fixed it to good. Overall, I think I’ve gotten a habit going…just in time to break it for Christmas..! I don’t think I’m good for routine much longer than 30 days anyway, so I really don’t mind at all…
I started in on Casey as soon as we turned the calendar into November: What do you want to do about Thanksgiving? I don’t feel like cooking this year. Should we take a trip? We’d better figure out what to do before it gets here, ’cause I hate just it when a holiday becomes just another day…
You see, we have no regular tradition to celebrate the 4th Thursday in November. Back when everybody was still alive, we blithely went from one big meal to another, savoring the kind of cooking that is the stuff of legend.
In the years since Melissa moved to New York, we’ve bounced around, even visiting for the Macy’s parade a couple of times. She hasn’t been home at this time of year for at least a decade now and isn’t in New York, either.
The Regional Oirachtas, a very big deal to an Irish Dancer, takes place in Philadelphia over the holiday and that is their tradition now. Michael’s wife still has a grandma who lives up in Dale, so they always go up there with her family. That’s an evening meal, though, and I have occasionally done up the turkey-dressing thing for them at lunch.
So it was that I found myself going into a rather bitter rant at the dentist’s office Tuesday. All the poor girl did was ask what our plans were and I announced that my theme for Thanksgiving was “blank Thanksgiving”…I carried on a little ways about not having any family to celebrate with, not liking to have to make so much food for just us…She suggested a turkey breast and I sort of snapped at her that it sounded like a TV dinner…I went on that not every family was a Rockwell painting, when I caught myself, moved by the crestfallen look on the face of my sweet little dentist.
I’m a pro at turning it around, so I changed my vibe to Every Day is a Day to Be Thankful, and I’m thankful for you all…and I thanked my way out of the office, beaming gratitude throughout and into the waiting room… When I got to my car, I gave myself a stern talking-to…
Just what is this all about? Are you sabotaging your own happiness? Why the griping and complaining? I won’t take you through my entire process, but it was clear that I needed to plan a Thanksgiving Day Celebration, and my favorite part of Thanksgiving, the part that has always been a constant as I’ve forged through the day, is the Macy’s Parade. And what’s the best part of the parade? When the Real Santa and Mrs. arrive at the end. So what do I need?
I need a little Christmas Now… With that song as my theme, I swept in and announced that we’d be having a little Thanksgiving Day luncheon, Wolf’s BBQ and some sides; that Olivia and Samantha would be spending Wednesday night so that we could get up and watch the whole parade together; that then we would haul out the holly and put up the tree before my spirits fall again…
So That’s what we are Doing!!!
We’re up to catch the Parade, eating cinnamon rolls that PawPaw baked, drawing pictures and singing songs…. Who could ask for more? I can, so we will facetime Emma and Eliza later and I can watch the kids share the cousin love.
After Mr. & Mrs. Claus have arrived, we can start the decorating… I’ve been playing We Need a Little Christmas on piano, but remembered a small part that is only in the musical, Patrick says something like, but it’s a week before Thanksgiving…and The Great and Wonderful Auntie Mame says…
Well, once I taught you all to Live Each Living Day…
Live Every Day like it’s Thanksgiving Day…
Live Every Day like it’s Christmas Day, too, but maybe not so much tinsel…
