It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas…

Ev'rywhere you go;   

Take a look in the five-and-ten, glistening once again   

With candy canes and silver lanes aglow…   

And so begins my love hate relationship with the Christmas season. Understand, I’m not a Grinch by any means. There are some things I absolutely love about Christmas. But at the same time, some things just make me crazy!

I love the music. I start listening to Christmas music right after Thanksgiving. I have satellite radio and they dedicate several channels to solid Christmas music. I put it on the autotune selections and I scroll through all my favorites. When I taught school my room was full of computers. I had all kinds of Christmas CDs, some good, some not so good. I would put them in and play them in the background during class when school started back after Thanksgiving until the Christmas break. At first some of the kids would resist. They had some silly idea I was trying to torture them! But after a day or two even the most resistant would be humming along.

I like the lights. There’s a park on the south side of Odessa that sets up elaborate light displays. I come home that way every day. I was a bit late the other day and it was dark. I could see the lights at the intersection where I turn. So I didn’t turn. I went straight and I waited in line and drove through the park. I had a good time! It would have been more fun had I had company but when my oldest son gets home I know he and I will go again. We don’t put up lights at our house. Not outside lights anyway. We did once and I really don’t know why we didn’t ever again. We live outside town so there isn’t any peer pressure from the neighbors to do much outside decorating. It’s a good thing. Nobody has the time now. Instead, I enjoy the generosity of others who are so generous with their lights. And I’m thankful they continue to go to the trouble.

Lights at the park

I love the inside decorations. When I pull out the red and green afghans and blankets and pillows and put them on the chairs I get a cozy feeling. I like spreading the knick knacks throughout the house. I like the smell of the spicy candles and the light of their flickering flames. I like the many trinkets that have amassed through the years and take pleasure in the memories as I unwrap each one and place it on the tree. I like the twinkling lights. I don’t care if they are white or multi colored as long as there are plenty. I even like icicles, the silvery strands draped across the branches. When we’re lucky enough to have a cut tree I love the smell of the pine.

Welcome!

I love snowmen. I really love snowmen! I have snowmen dishes. I have snowmen figurines. I have a snowman wreath. I have all kinds of snowmen. I have bathroom snowmen and kitchen snowmen and bedroom snowmen. Snowmen are lovable and I like the fact that they can be legitimately left out through the end of January. I have a lot of snowmen. So many, in fact, that I have found a stray in April or May that somehow was forgotten when the others were returned to their boxes. And if it’s cold the day of the find, well, that makes it okay!

Happy Hook 'em Holidays!

Let it snow!

I like presents, both giving and receiving. I like how it feels to find something that I know is just perfect for that certain someone. I like watching the expression as the gift is unwrapped. I like the look of surprise and pleasure as they gaze at the treasure. I like opening a present that someone took time to think about. I’ll wait until I have everything that was meant for me. Then I’ll tear the paper to reveal the surprise. I especially like gifts from the heart. But mostly I like that someone thought about me.

Presents!

I have an idea of the perfect Christmas in my mind and it’s never going to happen that way, no matter how hard I try. I won’t have all the presents wrapped. I don’t like to wrap and I put it off. Sometimes I’ll get some help and sometimes not. The house won’t be clean enough. It probably is clean enough but it won’t be to me. I’ll see things that should have been done. I’ll worry about it and fret until my stomach hurts. I won’t have all the food done on time. I’ll cook and wash dishes and cook and wash dishes and then do it all again. I’ll run out of time and I’ll stay up til all hours, catch a two or three hour nap and then get started again. I’ll be stressed. I’ll look for a place to hide and I’ll cry.

I know that I bring on most of the stress myself because of that perfect Christmas that’s never going to happen. Nobody else seems to worry about any of it so why should I? Nobody is going to go hungry. Everyone gets a present. There’s a place to sleep and there will be plenty of blankets and clean towels for all. And if I hurry maybe I’ll get it all done.

Christmas is a time of celebration, not just something to get through. I’ll remember that when we’re all together. We’ll eat and play and have a good time. We’ll talk of Christmas past. We’ll laugh and plan for Christmas yet to come. And we’ll love and enjoy our gift, Christmas present.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, 

Toys in ev'ry store, 

But the prettiest sight to see is the holly that will be 

On your own front door. 

I belong to a Yahoo knitting group. It’s ladies from across the state and I’ve made a bunch of friends, virtually and also in person. It’s called Lone Star State Knitters and if you are a female Texas knitter then it’s open to you! We get together for a face to face meeting at least once a year. Other times, at fiber festivals and the like, if we can, we meet up. Another annual activity we do is our Secret Santa exchange. It’s voluntary and it’s a lot of fun. I’m getting my box ready to send off. I hope she likes what I picked!

Ready to send off!

I made a simple ornament for her that I really liked. It’s a clear ball from Michael’s (or a similar store). I stuffed it with bits of yarn. I gathered the yarn and cut it into little pieces. Then I stuffed it all down into the clear plastic ball. I put the lid back on, tied a couple of pieces of yarn around the top and voila! A yarny ornament for Christmas! Look at some other great ideas over at Our Creative Spaces.

Clear ball stuffed with Christmas yarn scraps.

 

Yes, it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas. Breathe in…breathe out…

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas; 

Soon the bells will start, 

And the thing that will make them ring is the carol that you sing 

Right within your heart.

I'll Have A Blue Christmas…

Without you…
I'll be so blue thinking about you…

I was born in Lubbock. When I was around 3 years old, the family moved to Albuquerque. That’s where I grew up. But we always went ‘back home’, as my parents said, for Christmas. It wasn’t until after I was grown and married that I spent a Christmas in Albuquerque.

Albuquerque is the largest city in New Mexico and probably at least half of the population of the state lives there. It’s a pretty place. The Sandia Mountains run along the east side of the city, and the Rio Grande River flows through the city, from north to south. The town was originally built in a traditional Spanish village pattern. There is a plaza, located centrally and surrounded by buildings. The buildings were mostly government, then, but now are shops. Then there are homes, and a church. This area has been restored and preserved and is open to the public. It is referred to as "Old Town." The church was constructed in 1793. The church is still open and has regular services for parishioners and visitors.

San Felipe de Neri Church--http://www.itsatrip.org

Every year there is a Luminaria Tour in that area of town. Luminarias are part of a southwestern tradition. They started around the 1500s, when bonfires were lit along roadways to light the way to midnight mass. They were lit to commemorate the journey of Mary and Joseph as they found their way to the stable. They celebrate the birth of Christ. In the 1800s, people discovered it was easier to use a small paper bag rather than start bonfires. And the luminaria as we know it was born.

Luminaria display--http://www.itsatrip.org

It’s easy to make a luminaria. It starts as a brown paper bag, a lunch sack size. The bag is folded down at the top. Then sand is put in to anchor the bag so it won’t blow around. It also holds a small candle that is placed inside the bag. The candles are lit and a peaceful glow emits through the bag. I’ve seen them now, stuck over Christmas lights or made of white sacks with colored bulbs. All are pretty, but nothing beats the beauty of the traditional luminaria.

Paper bag luminaria--http://hubpages.com

When you go on the tour you can walk or drive your car, or you can ride a bus. We chose to ride the bus because it’s the easiest and it’s fun because we could all be together. That Christmas we got tickets and headed out for the tour. All of the lights are off, and the bus travels around 5 or 10 miles per hour. It’s warm and fairly comfortable and enjoyable.

That night, we were all together on one bus. We had an energetic bus driver who started carol singing on the bus. That’s when the kids found out their dad is really a funny fellow. The other day I asked them if they remembered the time dad sang “Blue Christmas” on the luminaria tour. They did. I could tell you the story, but Bryce wrote out his memory for me. He did such a great job I’ll share.

“I was in my Beavis and Butthead phase (thought still in single-digit age, I think) when during an Albuquerque family Christmas, the family decided to get tickets to the Christmas lights/Luminaria tour through the city. This was something I'd wanted to see for most of my life to that point so I was very excited to go. But once we boarded the bus, I was disappointed. This was because I had to take a seat near the back where instead of being arranged in rows, the seats were arranged against the wall, looking out across the bus...like the rental-car shuttle van that most companies use at airports. Just like how kids want to sit as close to the television as possible, I wanted my face as close to the window as possible and it was uncomfortable to contort myself in those seats. Maybe I was older than single digits...maybe I'd already hit my 4th grade fat stage...either way, I wasn't comfortable.

The neighborhoods participating in the light tour are in different parts of town so to keep interest and spirits up while driving between locations, the tour guide on the bus led the whole bus in singing Christmas carols. Now, when you really think about it, there are only about 10 Christmas carols that the majority of the population knows by heart. We made it through the first verse of the old standards like "Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer" and "Jingle Bells" but the more intricate songs escaped us. On this bus, we couldn't finished "The 12 Days of Christmas" because things fell apart when the dancing ladies threw a laying geese at a leaping lord or something.

The silent night was getting longer and spirits were slumping when Elvis broke into the opening bars of "Blue Christmas" with excellent accompaniment on the harmony.

I'll have a Blue--do doo do doo--Christmas...

In keeping with the bus's established standards of songs, the first verse was the only one we enjoyed but it was met with thunderous applause. During the next stretch of silence, others in the bus were heard muttering, "I want to hear 'Blue Christmas' again" but there was no encore that night. Maybe soon the long-awaited reappearance of Elvis allow us to again entertain some holiday goers looking for a little bit of a boost to keep their spirits up.”

Yes, Alan belted out Blue Christmas. And he did a good job! I’m not sure how much the song boosted the other riders' spirits, but it was fun and a good memory. And I may or may not know who sang the harmony!

And when the blue—do doo do doo--snowflakes start falling,
That's when those blue memories start calling…

December is winding down and when it ends it will be the end of the third strip! It’s kind of weird because this strip seems to be shorter than the other ones. I really haven’t measured, but just looking at them or maybe the feel of this one in particular makes me think so. Day 261, December 17, I go ahead and go to work. They get out early and it always irks me to give a full day up while they only work a little over half, if that much. I’m antsy, though, and ready to get out of there. It’s like a ghost building anyway. There aren’t many people in at all. I chose a turquoise and gray wool that I used as the fat part on a scribble lace. Day 262, December 18, I wake up ready to go. I’m ambitious and thinking positive that I’ll get everything done before Friday. I choose a bright multi color fun fur. It’s all colors going everywhere. That’s how I’ll be until next week. It’s December 19, day 263. I got a lot done yesterday and I’m determined to get even more done today. I have a basket of yarn I used for Christmas scarves beside me and a red, green and white Christmas yarn keeps calling me! It reminds me that there’s just a few days to go. Day 264, December 20 and it’s another busy day. I hate the rush and crowds. I only had 364 days to think about this. But it’s just like it always is. But I’m going to make it. I choose blue ribbon I know because of the funny story I’m thinking. But it’s fitting too. It’s a blue ribbon for the prize of getting everything ready! I just don’t have anyone to give it to me! But I’m pretty sure I’m doing all right. You?

You'll be doing all rightWith your Christmas of white,
But I'll have a blue, blue Christmas...do doo do doo...

Here We Come A-Caroling...

Among the leaves so green!
Here we come a-wandering,
So fair to be seen!

One thing I really like about Christmas is the music. When I was still teaching I would get Christmas CDs and as soon as Thanksgiving vacation was over I started playing them in class. I had every kind, mostly the cheap ones you can get at WalMart and Target and the like. There were a few ‘quality’ ones and then there were even some mixes that were good. Western Auto used to (and maybe they still do, I don’t really know), have a Christmas CD mix every year. It was cheap, like $5.00, so I had many years.

At first the kids would gripe. The ‘cool’ kids especially were irritated. I didn’t cave in. By the end of the first week I would catch them singing or humming along. I’d never let on that I’d caught them but it always made me smile. Some would whistle under their breath without even knowing they were doing it. At that time of year we were usually deep into a final project so it wasn’t a disruption. Soon they were asking for specific CDs to be played. Occasionally I’d hear a song or a whistle in the hall. I wonder now if any of them remember.

I like the traditional carols because I can sing along. I like some of the new or specialty songs that have come out even though I don’t know the words. I don’t really care for some of the improvision that has come about with some of the songs. It especially irritates me for a classic Christmas song to have some new, funky timing or to have a lot of oh-oh-oh-oh’s thrown in where they don’t belong. I was talking to my friend Carlos and he called it vocal gymnastics. He knows a lot about music and studied it in college. He also sang in some pretty impressive local groups. He said it’s a lot harder to hold a pure tone for a long time then to add all of the warbling. That makes me think that maybe some of the newer singers aren’t all that good and they use the warbling to cover up what they can’t do. But I suppose I should just keep quiet since I can’t sing at all!

Have you ever watched people sing Christmas carols? It’s kind of funny. Most everyone knows the first verse. Some know parts of the second but some don’t know any of it. Throw in a third verse and everyone is either mouthing “watermelon” or humming! When the words aren’t known people either make something up or sing what they think they hear. I can sing “Feliz Navidad” along with Jose Feliciano. But after the third “Feliz Navidad”, it says “prospero ano ici ici da.” At least that’s what my mouth says. It blends in well enough but it’s not right.

Someone asked me the other day what my favorite Christmas song is. That’s hard because I like many. So I posted the question on Facebook, just to see what others thought. I’m really fond of “Hard Candy Christmas”, but lots of people wouldn’t even count that as a Christmas song. I tried to think of all my favorites. Between me and my Facebook friends, I came up with a list, but the titles are a little confusing. Can you figure out if your song is there?

 

• Enquiry Of Mutual Auditory Perception
• Personification Fabricated of Compressed Mounds of Minute Crystals
• Altitudinous Celestials Acclaim
• Bantam-Male Percussionist
• Nocturnal Noiselessness
• Array The Corridor
• May The Deity Bestow An Absence Of Fatigue To Mild Male Humans
• Query Regarding Identity Of Descendant
• Give Attention To The Melodious Celestial Beings
• Covert Observation Of Matriarch's Scandalous Osculation
• The Quadruped With The Vermillion Proboscis
• Commencement Of Yuletide Complexion
• Far Off In A Feeder
• Red Man En Route To Borough
• Planetary Jubilance
• Sprightly Venerable Benefactor

Did you find your favorite in my list? Sing it loud!

Love and joy come to you,
And to you glad Christmas too!

It’s getting towards the end of the 9th month of knitayear. I can’t believe I’m still doing it. I know a lot of people who started but gave up. They either got busy or maybe just bored. But I’m going to stick it out. It’s a challenge! And, I like it! It’s interesting to check back and see what I was thinking when I picked a certain color or yarn. Some, I remember exactly why it was the one I chose. Others, I have to look. Day 258, December 14, I’m a bit apprehensive. I have a training today and it could be very uncomfortable, depending on who I have to be around. It’s Cooperative Learning and it’s not that I’m not cooperative. I don’t like touchy/feely things and when it’s with someone I’m not comfortable around it’s torture. In fact, the more I thought about it the closer I came to opting out. But I didn’t and I ended up with a good team. I can’t say I played completely fair on some of the ‘random’ grouping we were required to do. I can dodge fairly well! I chose some red fuzzy yarn. It’s from my novelty yarn days. It’s good in Christmas scarves though! And it seemed to fit. Day 259, December 15, is the second day of the training. Today I was eager to get there. I had the same group as yesterday to start with so it started good then when we changed I ended up with another good group. We had fun with our activities and laughed so much I was afraid the trainer was going to come stand by us. Discipline by proximity! But she never did. It was a great workshop and I wish I’d had the opportunity while I was still in the classroom. But there are still a lot of things that I can use with what I do now. I chose a yarn that is green with a gold thread woven throughout. The gold if the bright spot the teams I was with provided! December 16, day 260 is a finish up day at work. I have some registration things to take care of, some forms to turn in, some arrangements to make and a whole lot of stuff to get up off the floor. I put some boxes on top of the shelf on the desk. All of it went there and it didn’t look as bad or take as long as I thought it would. Maybe, just maybe, when we go back I can clear out the boxes and put the stuff away and not have boxes in the floor! Wishful thinking…we don’t have enough room for the junk we have. Oh well. I was prepared to get it all done and I did. Hooray for me! I chose another novelty yarn, an off white fur with colored bobbles. It reminded me of Christmas ornaments. I’m trying to get in the spirit! The Christmas music will end, soon enough. I’ll miss it. Enjoy your favorites! Feliz Navidad!

And God bless you and send you, A Happy New Year,
And God send you a Happy New Year!

It's Like A Hard Candy Christmas

I'm barely getting through tomorrow…
But still I won't let
Sorrow bring me way down

It’s that time of year. My love/hate relationship with the Christmas season has begun. Actually it started, oh probably, right after Thanksgiving. But here it is, the middle of December and it’s quickly progressing into full steam panic.

I don’t hate Christmas. Not completely. On a positive note there are some things I really like. I listen to Christmas music as soon as some of the radio channels change over to carols full time. I love the lights. Watching the sappy Christmas movies, when I can get away with it, is a favorite pastime. And I love the classics. I’m fond of black and white movies anyway and the classics are something I look forward to.

But there are many things I don’t care for as well. I don’t like the rush. Weren’t the Christmas items out on the shelf by October? There were Christmas trees and lights up way before Thanksgiving. What is the hurry?

Another thing I don’t care for is the fakeness I perceive to be involved with the season. People I don’t like and that I know don’t like me suddenly find the ‘Christmas spirit’ and do an about face of their natural behavior. I don’t like the pretend goodwill towards men. As soon as Christmas is over so is the benevolence. Granted, some of the goodness is legitimate. But in my mind the majority is a façade. That’s because it doesn’t last. If it was truly genuine people would always be the way they act during the holiday season. But they aren’t.

Probably the worst thing about the season and why I feel the way I do, is what I tend to do to myself. I have a picture of how the ‘perfect’ holiday should be, in my mind. Regardless of how hard I try, it’s not going to happen. So I worry and fret and stress about it instead of enjoying it. And this year I have a sense of apathy and no ambition. I just don’t want to. But all that has got to change because it’s coming, whether I’m ready or not. So, I’m deciding right now, as I write this, that I’m not going to worry any more. If it gets done, it gets done. If it doesn’t then it will later. Or not. It doesn’t matter!

So, if I don’t get your present on time, it just means I didn’t start shopping in January. But remember that I have a warm heart and I meant well. And while I’m flipping you off behind my tinted window because you stole the parking place I was waiting for I’ll be smiling at you and you’ll never even know you irritated me because I’m practicing tolerance…every single day. I’ll have my Christmas music blaring and I’ll watch every movie I can and if the tree gets decorated…well, that will only make things better! I’ll put all my spare pennies in the Salvation Army bucket because they only make my purse heavy anyway. And if you happen to come over I’ll spread some Christmas cheer. Hand me your glass.

Maybe I'll sleep real late.
Maybe I'll lose some weight.
Maybe I'll clear my junk.
Maybe I'll just get drunk on apple wine...

I’m slowly catching up and keeping (mostly) with knitayear. I’m on day 254. It was December 10, Friday and the day off. My attitude improved dramatically! I chose white sparkly yarn because it seemed fresh and renewed. Day 255, December 11 is my day to work. I heard about an arts/crafts fair so I decide to go after I get off. I didn’t listen well and don’t know where it is…and neither does anyone else. I’m searching and never find it so I don’t go. But I did get a little Christmas stuff done. I picked red, green, and white twisted together for today. December 12 was day 256. I’m feeling really lazy today and with so much to be done I shouldn’t. I picked a thick green yarn with silver thread through it. It’s fat like me but with the silver lining I’m always looking for. Day 257 was a typical Monday. It’s December 13, and I’m supposed to teach classes with the doctors and staff I work with. I am uncomfortable with the software to begin with but when I get to the lab it’s not installed. I have to remote to someone’s computer and it becomes a show and tell. I thought it was awful. We were also supposed to meet for knitting that night and the yarn store lady forgot and closed. So, it was just a Monday all the way around. I picked yarn that is black with pink, blue, and white twisted through it. Kind of summed up the day. But tomorrow is another day. And I’ll be fine. Just fine. Really, I’ll be fine.

Me, I'll be just
Fine and Dandy…
Lord it's like a hard candy Christmas…