Laura's Christmas Tag

1. When did you wake up? About 9, I think. You have to remember--no kids in our home, and we did all of our celebrating Christmas Eve.

2. What did you have for Christmas breakfast? Oatmeal with dried raspberries and pecans. (Thank you, Harry and Rhonda)

3. When did you open your presents? On Christmas Eve, as we always have. It used to be that Santa came during the night and his gifts were opened Christmas morning, but he passes right by our house these days. Since we do our big celebrating the night before, it frees up the kids to spend Christmas day with their other families.

4. Do you have a large meal on Christmas? No. We had leftovers from the night before. Christmas Eve we had Carl, Heather and the kids, Chris and Clare, and Paul, Joanne and Nicholas for dinner and presents.

5. What do you have for Christmas dinner? See above. For Christmas Eve dinner we had very nice roasted herb chicken breasts, baked potatoes stuffed with bleu cheese and bacon, Waldorf salad, a jello salad, corn and rolls. For dessert we had lemon pie, strawberry cheesecake and cream puffs.

6. What was your favorite gift to give? That's hard to say. I really try to put a lot of thought into all the gifts I give, so I am hopeful that each one hit the mark. Everyone seemed happy with their gifts.

7. What was your favorite gift to receive? Again, hard to say. I loved all my gifts!

8. What is your favorite Christmas treat? This year it was the sugar-free cheesecake I made. Outstanding!

9. What is your favorite Christmas movie? "The Christmas Story" (You'll shoot your eye out!)

10. Did you gather around the piano and sing carols? Oh, heaven's no!

11. What did you do that was special this year? I got all of the preparations done early so that I was able to actually relax and enjoy myself!

I tag YOU and YOU and YOU!

High School Tag

Liza has tasked me with blog homework. I'm supposed to post a high school picture, but I didn't know how to download a cave drawing.

1. Did you date someone from your school? Yes. Mike Jensen and Mike Bouche. Both nice church boys.

2. What kind of car did you drive? I never had my own car in high school and I wasn't allowed to take the family car to school.

3. Were you a party animal? Really--you're asking me this? Has Grandma not mentioned that I was a perfect child?

4. Were you considered a flirt? No. I was the somewhat intellectual, very sarcastic type.

5. Were you in band, orchestra or choir? No, no, and no.

6. What was your most embarrassing moment in high school? I have successfully erased most of high school from my memory banks.

7. Were you a nerd? Definitely.

8. Were you on any varsity teams? I paid doctors to write me notes excusing me from P.E. I think I did a total of three weeks of P.E. in high school.

9. Did you get suspended/expelled? Not from school. I was suspended from seminary for two weeks for moving a cat and litter box into the seminary cupboard.

10. Can you still sing the fight song? No.

11. Who were your favorite teachers? Please...It's been nearly 40 years. (See #6)

12. What was your school's full name? Washington Senior High School in Fremont, CA

13. School mascot? The Huskies

14. Did you go to homecoming, and with whom? No.

15. If you could go back and do it again, would you? No...I didn't hate it, it just felt like a waste of time. I DID enjoy college, though.

16. What do you remember most about graduation? Nothing. I graduated early and didn't attend.

17. Where did you go senior skip day? See #16

18. Were you in a club? I was a Huskiette--a cheer squad for freshman. We didn't actually cheer. There were about 50 of us and we sat together in the bleachers at games. I think I went to three games. I was also on the yearbook staff and in the mythology, home ec and German clubs. (See #7)

19. Have you gained weight since then? Are you kidding me????? In high school I was a size 14 and I thought I was HUGE.

20. Who was your prom date? Mike Jensen, Junior Prom.

21. Are you planning on going to your 10 year reunion? Sure...just as soon as I find a flux capacitor for my time machine.

22. Looking back, what advice would you give yourself? Make a few memories...


Okay...now I tag Carl, Emily, Sarah and Clare.

Happy (Creative) New Year

Franklin D. Roosevelt said:

"Happiness is not in the mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort."

I am happiest when I am creating something out of raw materials; when I am turning fabric into something wearable or using a needle and thread to create something to beautify my home or to celebrate my love. In creating, I am doubly blessed. First, I receive the pleasure of the process, of watching my ideas and labor come to fruition and then, I am blessed again, when the recipient knows that I care about them because I took the time to make them something.

I am so inspired to create during the coming year! One of my goals this year is to give meaningful, beautiful gifts that I have put something of myself into. I have found a lot of wonderful ideas at this site, which I was led to by The Blog Fairy:

http://thirtyhandmadedays.blogspot.com/

Further inspiration has come from two books that Bill gave me for Christmas; "Colorful Stitchery" and "The New Crewel." I haven't done crewel embroidery for years (although once I won a blue ribbon at the Ventura County Fair for a crewel picture I did) and I am very excited to get back into it. Here are some samples of the projects that I am considering:

I am always looking for people to bless with my obsessions, so I DO take requests. Let me know if you see anything you like. In the meantime, I wish everyone success with their New Year's resolutions.

***As a side note, I have also resolved to start riding the exercise bike faithfully in 2009, but I don't want to make a big deal out of it JUST IN CASE I don't follow through. Ha! Ha!

You need to give yourself this gift...

Yes, it's nearly three hours long and yes, it's chock-full of grand epic movie cliches, but you need to give yourself the gift of seeing this movie. It's like a down-under "Gone With the Wind." I can't remember when I enjoyed a movie so thoroughly. It has something for everyone--majestic scenery, a cattle drive, a war, romance, a little magic, a very satisfying ending and plenty of both suspense and sentiment along the way. I LOVED this movie!

Happy Anniversary!

December 22, 1972

If I had it to do all over again, I'd do it all over again.

Smiles

Carl has been complaining lately that Spencer is in a photo-posing stage which finds him smirking every time a camera is pointed in his direction. Many kids go through a phase where it is difficult to get a good picture of them. There were a few years when our very shy little Sarah couldn’t face a camera without bursting into tears. I used to beg the photographers to “Please…just take it!” But in the pre-digital age, they were hesitant to release the shutter until they had a perfect pose. Each one believed that their unique combination of silly antics and gyrating stuffed animals would work magic and produce this child’s first camera smile. More often than not, though, what we ended up with was a picture of four smiling children and one with a trembling chin and red-rimmed eyes.

There are a few of us who consistently take great pictures. (You know who you are!) I am not part of that group. Even at my age I still practice my smile in front of a mirror, trying to get it right. And even with practice, I know that I take a lot of goofy pictures.

So here is my salute to smirks, big-mouthed toothy (and toothless) grins, and cheesy smiles…




“If I could reach up and hold a star for every time you've made me smile, the entire evening sky would be in the palm of my hand.”

A Few Random Thoughts

I have decided that Christmas (I'm talking about the fluff, not the reason for the season) is a lot like having company come for a visit:

1. You're so excited for them to come.
2. You make a lot of preparations and go to a lot of trouble to make everything perfect.
3. You love everything about their visit and wish they could stay forever.
4. You start to realize that you're exhausted, and nothing is ever perfect. But you love your visitors and enjoy having them around.
5. As much as you have enjoyed the visit, you are ready for it to become a pleasant memory. You long for your normal routine.
6. The company leaves amid fond, tearful farewells and you rest for about ten minutes, then throw yourself into putting your house and life back in order.
7. You begin counting the days until their next visit.

I realized today that I have hit #5 in regards to Christmas. I realized this when the top strand of chili pepper lights on my tree went out. Two-thirds of the tree is still beautifully lit, but the top third sits in darkness, and I don't particularly care. When I weigh the hassle of testing every single light in that strand, trying to find the deserter, against the fact that the tree is coming down a week from today, it's a no-brainer. If this had happened two weeks ago, when I was still at #2, it would have been a different story. It's too bad that they couldn't have all held on until the Big Day, but, Oh well...

My second random thought had me crying like a baby in the drive-thru lane at Jack in the Box yesterday.

Sitting in my car, getting ready to order my grilled fish pita with smoked chipotle sauce (eat your heart out, Eric) I noticed a small sedan, attempting to pull into a parking space in front of the restaurant. It took them three tries to get the car evenly aligned between the cars on either side. I was curious to see this perfection-driven driver. It turned out to be an elderly gentleman, wearing a festive holiday sweater. He went around to the passenger side and opened the door for an elderly lady in a matching sweater. He took a pillow from her and helped her out of the car. That's when I noticed that they were both walking with canes. Hers was decorated with shiny, gold Christmas garland. Side by side they walked into Jack in the Box--each of them walking with the aid of a cane, carrying a pillow. I sighed and thought with resignation, "There's Bill and I in a few years." But then I realized that that thought was not my fear but my dearest hope. I hope that we can celebrate our golden wedding anniversary by helping each other into Jack in the Box. I hope that we don't let infirmities keep us from enjoying life, enjoying the holidays and enjoying each other.

On Monday, Bill and I will celebrate our 36th wedding anniversary. He has been at my side for all of my happiest and saddest moments. I pray that he will be at my side for years and years to come, though I can almost guarantee that there will be no matching Christmas sweaters. But a girl can dream...

Finally, some of you may know that I have a fondness for fish tacos. For several weeks I have been conducting my own taste test, ranking the results. I am ready to share my findings:

7. Rubios--tasty, but very, very messy. The sauce is quite runny and requires several napkins.
6. Jack in the Box--not strictly a taco, since it is made on pita bread. Saved from being mundane by a tasty chipotle sauce.
5. Del Taco--my choice in the fast-food category. Simple, easy to eat, fresh cabbage with a nice crunch, and they give you fresh lime. An excellent value.
4. Mauricios--nice quality fish, but rather bland overall. It needs a lot of salsa.
3. Elephant Bar--very tasty, but like many things at The Elephant Bar, it has a weird Asian vibe to it.
2. Lengthwise Brewing Company--very good, in a fun, relaxed atmosphere.
1. BJs--the fish taco that you dream about. By far my favorite--a perfect blend of flavor and texture. It stands up well to the slightly grilled tortilla (no leaks) and I love the avocado sauce.

Well, that's about it. I hope everyone is surviving their holiday preparations and can soon relax and enjoy the fruits of their labors.

Christmas Lights

Laura has asked us to share pictures of our Christmas decorations and I am happy to oblige. But first, a disclaimer...

I love Christmas and love Christmas decorations. BUT I hate having my very orderly life disrupted. So every Christmas season the minimalist in me goes to war with the me who loves huge, over-the-top light displays. I believe I have worked out a compromise. My Christmas decorations, like my normal decor, are rustic/Western in theme and kind of blend in with my usual stuff. Except for the big tree in the corner of the room, you almost can't tell that I have decorated. And that's how I like it...
Even though the tree has been up for several days, Oso is still trying to figure it out.

Our ornaments are a mix of miniature cowboy boots, beaded eggs from Mexico, sleigh bells, tin stars and red bandanna garland. With chili pepper lights, of course!

I think every home needs a festive holiday nebulizer, don't you?

This is our leather nativity that we bought in Mexico a few years ago. I am very fond of it. We bought it from an elderly gentleman who buys scrap leather from the leather shops and fashions it into very individual nativity sets.

I took these outside photos this morning when it was VERY foggy. (Three hour delay in the Rosedale District.) The garland over the door has lights in it. That's the extent of light-hanging that anyone in this house is willing to do.










I leave you with a thought that Aubrey shared with me. She saw it on a plaque at the craft show in St. George:

"Christmas is that special season when we sit around a dead tree and eat out of our socks."

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

8 Things

I am nothing if not obedient. Laura tagged me with the latest blog nuttiness, so here goes:

8 TV Shows I Enjoy Watching:

1. Amazing Race
2. Survivor
3. The Dragon's Den (BBC)
4. Bones
5. House
6. The Closer
7. Top Chef
8. Project Runway

8 Things That Happened Yesterday:

1. Returned a sweater to Target and bought one that I like better (and it cost less) at Ross.
2. Decorated a new "friendship basket" for Young Women.
3. Threw all of Bill's socks away and replaced them with new. (Thus fulfilling one of his more humble dreams.)
4. Met Bill when he flew in from Florida, had lunch with him at BJs and packed him a new suitcase for today's trip to San Fran.
5. Put out some poinsettias in my newly-repaired iron plant hanger on the front porch (Thank you, Carl.)
6. Realized that the blower in one of the heating units isn't working. (Drat!)
7. Ironed seven blouses. (It's one way to keep warm.)

8 Things I Look Forward to:

1. The office Christmas party on the 16th--Dinner at Urrichios and the Melodrama.
2. Seeing everyone's faces (or hearing a report) when they open their Christmas presents.
3. Spencer and Aubrey's Christmas concerts on Thursday and Friday.
4. Getting the heater fixed when Bill gets home this weekend.
5. Finishing the 25 booklets I have to type and put together for the YW "silent Christmas lesson" on the 28th.
6. Getting to the temple when it re-opens after the first of the year.
7. Abby and Riley's baptisms this summer.
8. Gazing out at the ocean with the sun on my back.

8 Things on My Wish List

1. To sit in the celestial room with all five of my children and their spouses.
2. To serve a mission with Bill.
3. To live to see my grandchildren grow up.
4. To travel interesting places with Bill.
5. To regain my pro status in Wii bowling.
6. To spend time with our scattered loved ones.
7. For Laura to finish all the family history. :)
8. For someone to invent a really good sugar-free doughnut.

8 Things Bill Did Yesterday

1. Flew from Orlando to Phoenix.
2. Flew from Phoenix to Bakersfield.
3. Met me for lunch at BJs.
4. Got the car washed.
5. Got a hair cut at Supercuts.
6. Went online to use his points to get Liza a hotel room in Dallas for her trip with Jake to see the Dr.
7. Watched a tivoed episode of Survivor with me.
8. Packed for today's trip.

If you read this, consider yourself tagged!

Christmas Stories

If I still had children at home I would make it a tradition to gather them around me every night in December and tell them a Christmas story. For me, nothing brings home the sacredness of the season like the many, many wonderful stories of service, love and sharing that are told this time of year. Our combined YW activity at Mutual last night focused on two Christmas stories; THE Christmas Story and the story of The Christmas Orange. It was a wonderful activity and one that I think (with a little planning) a family could replicate for a home evening. Even our habitual eye-rollers who are amused by everything and impressed by nothing were silenced and sobered.



We told the girls that we were going to visit four families to sing them a couple of Christmas carols, read them the story of the Christmas Orange and leave them a bag of oranges. What the girls didn't know was that the families had been contacted in advance and told to turn us away at the door. They each had an excuse--sick kids--too busy--not in the mood. The girls were embarrassed and offended at the first three houses. By the time we got to the last house the older girls had caught on. My little Beehives, though, were nearly in tears. They really wanted to share their carols and story.



At the last house, the family took pity on us and told us we could go around back to their patio and get out of the cold for a while. (Of course this was all pre-arranged). The backyard was lit with just the blue pool lights and the uplights in the many palm trees. The stone patio was spread with several layers of quilts and blankets and in the center stood an empty manger. I was amazed at how instantly reverent the girls became. Silently, they took their seats on the ground around the manger. Then the "Innkeeper's Song" from Michael McLean's Forgotten Carols began to play. The song ends with the words, "Let Him in...let Him in...let Him in."



The girls continued to sit in utter silence while Sister Krauss asked them how it felt to be turned away, rejected. After they shared their feelings, she asked them to think about how it must make the Savior feel when we reject Him and don't give Him room in our hearts. Then she read them the story of "The Christmas Orange." We finished with hot chocolate and cookies.



It was a wonderful lead-in to the Christmas season. Tonight is our Relief Society Christmas dinner and program. I am taking part in a reader's theater with another touching Christmas story, a true story of service and answered prayers that took place in 1927, in Canada. If you would like me to e-mail you a copy of either story, just let me know.





Now it's back to my sewing machine. I am sewing and filling 30 festive bags of pistachios that Bill will send out to business associates.





I hope your homes are filled with Christmas cheer. Don't let the "stuff" overwhelm the "spirit."

Giving Thanks

Am I a devoted blogger or what??? We just got home tonight after five days in St. George, and here I sit at my computer. I DID unpack, start the laundry and sort through the mail first. I also packed another bag for Bill who dropped me off at home then jumped back in the car and headed up to Pleasanton where he has a meeting early tomorrow morning. He will be home Wednesday night, then fly to Orlando on Friday, returning home Tuesday. So I can do pretty much what I want...


We had a very nice Thanksgiving in St. George. Carl, Heather and the kids also went, so with Grandma and Grandpa, Sarah, Sean and the boys, we had a lucky thirteen for dinner on Thursday. Grandpa arranged for us to use the clubhouse where we feasted, visited and played games.

On Black Friday, Sarah, Heather, Aubrey, Grandma and I hit the craft show at the Dixie Center. We met the men and kids at the Golden Corral for a buffet lunch, then some of us relaxed while others took all the kids to see "Bolt."


Saturday afternoon we headed up to Gunlock (where Sean's parents have five acres). We had a great time visiting the new puppies and riding and jumping on things.

Carl and Aubrey desperately wanted to take home a puppy. When you look at the mother, you have to ask yourself, "Why?" (And I'm a dog lover... )
Bouncing with Ashton and Spencer is Lamani, Sean's niece. When it was time to go, Spencer said, "Goodbye, Lamani. I'll miss you." Ahhhh...

Sunday we went to church in Sarah and Sean's ward, then the kids decorated a gingerbread house at Grandma and Grandpa's. We have a tip for this activity: Do your basic house structure first, and let the frosting "glue" dry thoroughly before you add a lot of weight to the roof. You will notice that their house has quite a large sky light on one side.

This morning we all met at the Cracker Barrel for breakfast, good-byes, and a little birthday celebration for Carl. Carl has started a lovely tradition of treating everyone to a meal on his birthday. So, where does everybody want to go next year?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SKIPPY!!!

We have spent Thanksgiving in St. George for several years now and thoroughly enjoy this tradition. It is a great time of year with lots to see and do. So...who's going with us next year?