Found Kitty a Home

I'm so excited! The kitty that showed up at my house on Christmas Eve was picked up last night. He has a new home. I feel bad for the original owner, but you know what....watch your pets. If they were that concerned there would have been some kind of ad or something. We looked all over. No micro chip, no ad in the paper, no response to the Craigs List about him. Well there were a couple, but it was not for him. He never even tried to leave my house. He was there all day and night. The first time we fed him the poor thing was starving. He was so hungry. It took a couple feedings for him to slow down. I don't think he had been fed in a while. He was a fatty, but you could tell he had not eaten.
So the lady who wanted him called late last night. She needed to bake a cake for a work function and wanted to know if she could come by later to meet the kitty. I said sure. She didn't call again until almost 10pm. I was OK with that because I knew as soon as she saw him she would take him. Her other concern was that she had plans to go out of town and would not be back until Saturday. I told her that if she decided that she wanted him, I would keep him at the house until she could pick him up this weekend. So she came out. After picking him up and looking him over and he was headbutting her and just being the big old lovable teddy bear that he is...she said she would take him......right then. She decided to take him home last night and not go out of town. She wanted him. He was just the sweetest kitty. I just couldn't bring another cat in the house with the 3 I already have. Aly was not too happy with him even being outside. Kodi seemed to like him though. And poor Cammy does not like any other cat at all anymore. She gets along with Kodi, but Aly picks on her. I couldn't do that to Cammy. I was so lucky to find him a home.
Have a safe New Year's Eve!

The Streak came to an end.......

I'm so freaking bummed. I forgot to blog yesterday. I was having a horrible day. Horrible. I was going to blog in the morning, but then some stuff came up with my kitty. I have been going back and forth with putting her to sleep, and....I just don't want to talk about it. Then on Christmas Eve a cat showed up in our backyard and is still there. He is there 24 hours a day and has not left. He was obviously an indoor kitty because he is fixed and declawed. But we can't find any postings for someone looking for this particular cat. He wants in the house so bad. And it's cold outside. We have been feeding him and have given him a box and blanket, but I don't want him in the house because I don't know if he has Feline AIDS or Leukemia. And both can be passed to other cats. So outside he stays. Poor thing. I took him to my vet yesterday and had him scanned, but he is not chipped. Yesterday afternoon though I found a home for him. Then it started to snow, so they couldn't come and get him. I'm hoping today they will pick him up. He looks so sad now. He wants to be in the house, but I just can't do it. So that upsets me too. It was just not a good day yesterday.
But the snow was beautiful.

Gonna Relax

Very short blogs the next couple days.
Or just blogs about nothing.
I need a mind break.
I'm so tired.
Blah.
I have been so busy these past couple weeks.
I try to cram so much into a few days.
I should be more prepared.
But I never am.
Whatever.
I put off doing stuff knowing that I still have time.
And then it gets to where I don't.
So I run and run for days.
And then I just crash.
Like right now.
So tired.
Yawn.
**Katie: OK...Cinnamon Whiskey. Will look for it**
**Bon: Thanks for stopping by! Hope you had a Merry Christmas!**

what a long day.....

Came home from Seattle today. Had breakfast with Bryan and then tried to watch the Seahawk game, but they stunk. We came home and then I got ready to have dinner with friends. Just got home. I love them to death.....but I'm exhausted. I'm old. And pathetic. I mean seriously, I can't even stay awake for a 3 hour drive and then have dinner with friends with out yawning the entire time. So sad. But we laughed and laughed and had a good time.
But now....I'm going to bed.....

In Seattle

oooooopsie.....
We left early this morning to come up to Seattle to have Christmas with Bryan & Celina. I should have prepared a blog earlier, or last night to post today, but I forgot.
Robert, Katie & I drove up this morning. Celina was at work, so we all went out to lunch. I can't even remember when was the last time we had a meal just the four of us. Nothing wrong with that, it has just been a really long time.
When Celina got home from work, we exchanged presents. It was close to 5pm by that time, and Katie needed to hit the road. She has to work at 2am, so she wanted to get back to Vancouver. She is staying at our house to take care of the kitties, and she forgot her work clothes. So she had to go all the way to Portland, and then back to the house. She is already in bed asleep. She's had a loooong day. It was so sweet of her to come up to see Bryan & Celina for Christmas.
We just got to the hotel from having dinner. We went to a really nice place in the Capital Hill area. I had a drink that Bryan said was really good. A Baked Apple. It was Apple Cider, Cinnamon Schnapps and Hard Dry Cider (like an apple beer). It was sooooo good! Katie said she had something similar. Hot apple cider with cinnamon schnapps and whip cream. Yum!
Well....its been a long day, so I'm going to bed.....

~~MERRY CHRISTMAS~~

It's the most wonderful time of the year
With the kids jingle belling
And everyone telling you "Be of good cheer"
It's the most wonderful time of the year
It's the hap-happiest season of all
With those holiday greetings and gay happy meetings
When friends come to call
It's the hap- happiest season of all

There'll be parties for hosting
Marshmallows for toasting
And caroling out in the snow
There'll be scary ghost stories
And tales of the glories of
Christmases long, long ago

It's the most wonderful time of the year
There'll be much mistltoeing
And hearts will be glowing
When love ones are near
It's the most wonderful time of the year

There'll be parties for hosting
Marshmallows for toasting
And caroling out in the snow
There'll be scary ghost stories
And tales of the glories of
Christmases long, long ago

It's the most wonderful time of the year
There'll be much mistltoeing
And hearts will be glowing
When love ones are near
It's the most wonderful time
It's the most wonderful time
It's the most wonderful time
It's the most wonderful time of the year

~~MERRY CHRISTMAS~~

Memories of Christmases long long ago.....

By popular demand.....
I give you Robert from Christmases long long ago.....
ENJOY~

Early 90's. Digging the striped socks and sweater!

Late 80's at the rental here in Vancouver.

Late 80's at the same rental. He's a little curled up in this one!

HA! This one I know the year and the day! December 25th 1985. There is a good story behind it!

We were living in Salem. I was pregnant with Bryan and spent most of the month of November in the hospital sick from the pregnancy (thanks Bryan). On Christmas Eve we went over to the neighbors. Really nice people who moved back to Wisconsin after we moved to Newport. Guess they just couldn't live there anymore if we were gone :-)

We went over to celebrate with them and after mixing a few drinks for Robert, they decided to start mixing drinks of straight alcohol with no soda or anything. They would throw in a shot of rum with a shot of vodka and tequila. Or some other shot or two of booze. After a couple of those Robert started weaving back and forth.....while sitting down! I asked him if he was OK, and he kinda mumbled something about not feeling well. So I took him home....and the fun started. He puked...and puked...and puked all night long. Kinda like I was doing in November, but I was...you know....pregnant....and he was.....you know.....suffering from alcohol poisoning. I had no idea that the neighbors had done this until a while later. I thought he was just drunk. Christmas morning we were trying to open presents with Katie, and Robert would open a present. Then barf. Open. Puke. You get the idea. He even threw up in his slippers. We should have stayed home, but we were young and stupid, so we drove from Salem to Vancouver to have Christmas with the families. I drove. He puked in the car. We got to his sisters place, and he promptly went into the bathroom and....I think you get the idea. He actually laid down on her bathroom floor and passed out for a hour or so. Fun! Then we went to my moms....and he threw up some more. Then we got that classic shot!

After he was feeling up to it, we opened presents. Every present he opened from my mom, sisters, brothers....was booze! Bottles of rum for the drunk!

~~And here is where it all began~~

~~Can I get an "Awwwwwww"~~

Have a wonderful Christmas Eve!

only 2 more.....

So today's blog isn't so much as a "memory" as it is about "lack of memory".
Have you ever bought a Christmas gift early, then put it in a "special" place, and then completely forgotten about it?
Yeh...
I do that.
A lot.
I find them in the Summer.
I had bought 3 ornaments one year after Christmas.
That is the best time to buy them.
Can't beat 75% off!
So I bought these ornaments, and then forgot about them.....
FOR 3 YEARS!
Now that's bad.
I bought clearance ornaments last year, and would you believe that I remembered to get them out of their hiding place!
Although I just now remembered that I didn't wrap them yesterday.....

Just a few more days of Memories

Well...
I finished my shopping today. Now I am wrapping.
Oh boy...
Do I ever remember year after year staying up on Christmas Eve wrapping presents. It took hours.
And hours....
There was always so much of it.
I would get all the wrap out.
All the ribbons.
All the bows.
Tape.
Scissors.
And I never had a pen.
So I would have to find one.
And then after wrapping a few presents...I would have to search for the tape.
I would be wondering what the hell did I just do with the tape. I just had it!
Sometimes I would drop it to the left of me.
And then I would set it on the right.
But then I would find it behind me.
Then I would lose the pen.
I would put all the paper scraps to the side so that I would have it for the smaller stuff.
And I would have a garbage bag full of tags, and trimmed pieces of paper....and hangers from the clothes.
Does this all sound familiar to you???
I'm sure we have all been there!
So off I go to finish wrapping.
Yes you heard me....
I am getting it done early :-)
I get to sleep this Christmas Eve~

Can I even come up with more memories???

My brain is tired today.
The whole Christmas Season is getting to me.
It does every year.
So I guess maybe that is my memory.
I remember how every year I stress out about Christmas.
I never think I have bought enough.
I never think that what I did buy is good enough.
I never think that people will like what I bought them.
So I stress.
And then I shop some more.
Why do I do this?
I remember when it was so easy to shop for gifts when the kids were little.
Robert has always been hard to shop for.
Always.
I never think he is going like anything I bought.
But I don't think he has ever returned anything.
If he has, it has been very few.
Oh Christmas Stress.....Why do I continue to embrace you????

Christmas Memory for Sunday

I still, to this day, love Christmas cartoons. I watch them all. If I missed one I would be so disappointed. But now....I have most of them on DVD! But I still try to watch them when they are on TV. It can be hard to find them though. Some are only played on cable, others not at all.
My favorites....
Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer
A Charlie Brown Christmas
Mickey's Christmas Carol
Frosty
Santa Clause is Coming to Town
Shrek the Halls (ok....its a new one)

One that I never seem to find on TV anymore is The Little Drummer Boy.
But one of my favorites that is never on is one that was played on the Bugs Bunny Show. It had that little mouse, Sniffles I think its name was, anyway, it was trying really hard to stay awake to see Santa. I really loved that one.
Wonder if it can be found on YouTube????
OMG! I FOUND IT!
ENJOY!

Christmas Memory

My mom used to bake. A lot. Now...not so much.....actually not at all. She is just too tired from working full time that she just doesn't have the energy to bake now. Besides, she knows Terri and I bake enough for an army. Today I am making a cookie that she used to make that I completely forgot about. We talked about it last week when we got together to bake. For Christmas she used to make thumbprint cookies, fruit cocktail cookies and these little applesauce cakes with gum drops. Today Terri is making the thumbprint cookies and I am making the fruit cocktail ones. I wanted to make the applesauce cakes with gum drops, but no one....no one....sells regular gum drops. Only the spice ones, and you don't use those. They can be bought online, but they come in a 5 pound bag. Maybe next year...
She also use to make peppermint tree and snowball candles. They were so cool and the house smelled so good when she made them. It's not just a peppermint smell, it's sweeter. You know how something is just right at the front of your mind but you just can't grasp it? That is how I feel when I think about those candles. It's like the smell is just about there, but then its not. I'm hoping that next year we can make some of those.

Here is a picture of the snowball candle. I stole it from online :-)

Kittehmas Memory

Every year we filled stockings for our kitties. They each had their own stocking with their name on it, but you could never get them to stay out of each others stockings. I'm sure the catnip had something to do with it :-)
Our original 4 kitties were outdoor cats. They would come in to visit, nap, whatever, but they were usually outside. Christmas morning we would bring them in and let them find their stockings under the tree. I would put stuff like toys, can food, treats and old footies filled with some catnip and then tied in a knot. They loved those. But as soon as they would get a stocking they would start rolling around with it, and kicking it with their back feet, and just plain making a mess out of it all! Do you think the catnip had anything to do with that?
I have not filled stockings yet for Kodiak and Alyeska. Since they are indoor kitties I didn't want them to think that the tree was a giver of the nip. They pretty much stay away from the main tree. Now the little fake white tree that sits on a table in the front window is a different story. Aly gets up in the window and then sits there and tortures the poor feather butterflies on it. I think she has successfully killed all but one. She has knocked off the occasional glass one too, but for some reason they have not broke. Now if I drop one on the hardwood floor they shatter into a million pieces. But when she knocks one off if just becomes a toy for Kodi to chase around the floor. Guess she is just a really talented cat.
I am thinking about filling stockings for them this year. I have not made a nip sock for them yet.
This might not be my best decision ever made......
Mary: Thanks for stopping by the other day :-) I love my jewelry tree. I loved hearing about turning your mom's dress into special bookmarks for everyone. What a sweet thing to do!
Dreama: Thanks for stopping by yesterday :-)

Christmas Memory

Yesterday I showed you my Jewelry Tree....Today I will share my Nativity. This is another Christmas decoration that has been in the family for years. And again...I have no idea how long we have had it. All I know is that it has been set out every Christmas for as long as I can remember.

I think my dad bought it for my mom. I don't think it was passed down from grandparents. I'm pretty sure it was just one of our decorations growing up. Again....another of my favorites. Mom gave me the Navtivity several years ago and I put it out every year. Poor Baby Jesus though. He has a brokeded arm. There is no way to fix him. Poor little baby....

Wednesday Christmas Memory

For as long as I can remember, my mom had a Jewelry Tree. This is like a picture, but 3 dimensional. It's a Christmas Tree made out of old jewelry and then put on velvet and framed. My Grandma Gus's brother and SIL made ours in 1962. So this decoration was made before I was even born. I really should get the whole story behind it. I'm not sure if it was my grandma's and then my mom got it, or if it was made for my mom. Maybe I should have done a little research before blogging. Nah. That would have been to easy. It is so much more fun not knowing what the hell I'm talking about! All I know is that my mom had it forever, and then she gave it to me several years ago. What is so funny about this tree is that even though it is a Christmas decoration, it hangs in my living room year round. Has been there for years. I love it so much that it stays up. I don't care what time of year it is, I love to just look at the old jewelry. I took a cell phone picture of it this morning so that I could upload it here at work, and it won't show up in my email. I will try again.

There it is. I had to send it to a different email account. I love it. Not only because it is full of old costume jewelry, but also because it was made by my great uncle Joe and his wife Helen.
I think of it as my own little piece of family treasure!

Really Quick Christmas Memory because I am behind.....

Ugh....
I have been on the run all day. It's been one cluster f*ck after another. Don't ask....
Tonight is our Office Staff Christmas Party. We always go over to the Brokers house and have dinner and have an ornament exchange. A few times we had a cookie exchange too, but that doesn't always work out. So this time, just the ornament exchange. We have also played a game called
"Who Would You Do" heh heh heh......I won't reveal my choice :-)
So my "memory" for today is from the first Office Staff Christmas Party. It was my first time "partying" with my co-workers. I was hired in January, so I had been working with them for the better part of a year, so I knew them pretty well. The Broker was serving us wine, and she likes to serve them in huge glasses, and she likes to keep your glass full. Well by the time the party was over I was really tipsy. But I acted like yeh yeh everything is fine I'm good to go. I started driving home and realized that I was not good to go. Thankfully my sister's house was not far away. So I drove there and had Robert or maybe Katie come get me.
I'm such a cheap drunk.....
And I have been good at every Staff party since :-)

Christmas Memory for Monday

Every year that I was at home that I can remember, we put out a Santa similar to these. I really liked him growing up, but then he started to creep me out a little. I think it was the eyes. Don't ask who that kid is...I have no idea! I stole the pic from online. My sister has a collection of these types of Santa's in all sizes. About 15 years ago, my father-in-law brought over all of his Christmas decorations because he had sold his house and they were going to travel full time in their fifth wheel. In the boxes was one of these Santa's. We put him out a few times, but now he stays in the attic. I need to bring him out more.
I just have to get passed the creepy eyes!

Christmas Memory of Shopping

I come from a family of 7. Mom, Dad, 2 brothers, 2 sisters and me. I was number 4. Better than being number 2! Sorry Terri :-) (she reads this)
Mom and Dad would give us a little bit of money to buy presents for our siblings. I would be surprised if it was more that $5.00. Then we went to downtown Vancouver to the 88 Cent Store and Wolworths. I loved the 88 Cent Store. Because everything was 88 cents! Go figure. There was so much stuff to look at. The toys were all downstairs. We would go down there and then try to shop without having a brother or sister come around the corner to see what you were getting them! Then on Christmas Eve we would get to pick one present from a sibling and open it up. The rest of the presents were opened in the morning. I remember one of my favorite gifts was from my brother Mike. He bought me a mini tea set. It was white with little pink roses on it. Loved it.
I went to the old 88 Cent about 10 years ago. It was not the same. Kinda like how the Dollar Store is now. And they didn't have all the toys downstairs like they used too. Then they closed the downtown location and had one at another location in town, but I think that has closed now too.
But I still have the memories.

Christmas Memory

One of my favorite things about Christmas is the tree.
I have a three special ornaments on it. They are special because they have been on our tree every year since the very first Christmas that Robert and I spent together. I remember that on Christmas Eve I went over to his place and he surprised me with our first Christmas tree. He bought it when he got off of work....for $1.00. And he picked out some ornaments for it. I have three of them still.




These little glass birds. There used to be 6 of them. I have lost the green and clear ones. I think they must have been left on a tree at some point. And I think the yellow one broke. But I'm super careful with these three now. It's funny to me how these have been on every tree we have ever had, and for the past few years I have bought so many little birds to go on the tree!
I also still have the very first Christmas present he gave me. A gold chain. I may not wear as often now, but I will never part with it. I can't remember what I gave him. I was super poor. I just asked him. He said "You expect me to remember something from over 27 years ago?"
Guess not :-)
Men....gotta love em!

My Friday Christmas Memory

Grandmothers can be silly sometimes.
The very last Christmas that I had with my Grandma Gus was interesting to say the least. I was in Junior High, or the 6th grade. For some reason my Grandma must have thought I was still 6! For Christmas that year she gave me a little toy. It was from some catalog ordering company like Swiss Colony or Lillian Vernon. I should also remind you that this is my grandma who was blind. I opened my present and when I saw the box I was hoping that she had just reused the box and what was on the outside was not what was on the inside. My hopes were dashed once I opened the box. She gave me a Baby in a Walnut. Ummmm...Thanks Grandma. What was I suppose to do with that? It was a plastic walnut about the size of an egg, and inside of it was a plastic baby. Yeh. Thanks. But that was the last gift I ever received from her. She died the next Spring. I kept that baby for several years in my top drawer. I seem to have lost it now. I must have got tired of packing it around, or maybe at some point threw it away. I don't remember. I just wish now that I had it.
A few years ago I was at my sisters for Christmas. We were standing in the kitchen and she came up to me and said " I got you something." I told her that we were not suppose to be exchanging gifts. She said it was OK and I would understand when I opened it. It was a Baby in a Walnut. Not like the one Grandma gave me, but a little tiny real walnut shell with a little plastic baby in it made into an ornament. I started laughing, and then I started crying. Gosh darn it....now I'm tearing up. I hang that every year on my tree and it makes me think of not only Grandma, but my sister Terri too, and how she made me cry in front of the entire family.
The b*tch....Just kidding :-)

Christmas Memory

With it being so cold this week, its only 28* right now, it reminds me of our Christmas last year. Our very first White Christmas. I can not recall ever in my lifetime having a true White Christmas until last year. And last year was definitely a white one! We had 18" of snow. It was so much fun. I loved every minute of it. Oh I'm sure I complained at some point about it (like when I had to drive in it), but deep down, I loved it. I had to miss some work though. No one was going in, so we just kept the office closed. So I did miss the paycheck....
Waking up Christmas morning and actually having snow on the ground was something I will never forget. We have had heavy frost (which we call a trace of snow:-) and we have had a couple really nasty ice storms, but not snow. As a kid the first thing I would do Christmas morning when I woke up was to look out the window to see if it had snowed. It never did. But I looked anyway. A kids gotta dream. Unfortunately as an adult I still look. Every Christmas morning I look out the window to check for snow. Last year I didn't have too, we had enough snow on the ground to last for weeks! I envy people who always have a White Christmas. Robert and I have said many times that we want to go to the mountains for Christmas, but we never do. We have gone sledding the day after, but someday we will go to the mountains somewhere for Christmas. Reminds me of the movie White Christmas. We will go to Vermont for Christmas.

Snow, it won't be long before we'll all be there with snow
Snow, I want to wash my hands, my face and hair with snow

Snow, I long to clear a path and lift a spade of snow
Snow, oh, to see a great big man entirely made of snow Where it's snowing
All winter through
That's where I want to be
Snowball throwing
That's what I'll do
How I'm longing to ski
Through the

Snow, those glist'ning houses that seem to be built of snow
Snow, oh, to see a mountain covered with a quilt of snow

What is Christmas with no snow
No white Christmas with no snow
Snow

I'll soon be there with snow
I'll wash my hair with snow
And with a spade of snow
I'll build a man that's made of snow
I'd love to stay up with you but I recommend a little shuteye
Go to sleep
And dream
Of snow, snow, snow, snow, snow

A girl can dream.....

Another Christmas Memory

Divinity

Divinity

Russian Tea-Cakes

We, unfortunately, did not go over to my mothers parents house very often. We went over on Christmas Day until I was maybe in Junior High. Maybe. I can't even remember the last time we went over. It just became too much for my mom to get us all ready to go, and the house was super small, and super over stuffed with people. My mom's family is very large. And quite a bit younger than the rest of us. My mom was several years older than her sisters, and she actually has 3 kids older than her youngest sister! Yep. I have an aunt who is only one year older than me. And she not only has a son in Elementary school, but also a baby. So I have cousins young enough to be my grandkids! That is just so wrong on so many levels......

What I remember most about going over there was that it was always really hot in the house, and grandma always made fudge, divinity and Russian tea-cakes. I ate the fudge, but was not fond of the other two. My sister loved them though. So this year we are going to attempt to make divinity and Russian tea-cakes. Terri said she has made them before, but it was a long time ago.

Should be fun to give it a go!

a little bit late Christmas Memory

I have been really busy today. Errands, mailing Christmas cards (half of them) and then addressing the other half. Even got in a little shopping. Just a little. That is why the late blog. I was going to do it earlier, but got side tracked. Oh well....

We don't exchange gifts on my side of the family. At least that is what we say. I like to make little things for everyone, so I still give stuff. I don't do it every year, but most of the time I do. So instead of buying gifts for everyone, we buy a $10 gift and then we play the game where you can steal a gift some else has already opened. Does this game even have a name? Well one year my mom bought a stuffed Santa. I think there was another one too, but I can't remember what it was. Anyway...Katie ended up with it. People were still picking gifts, and Katie was trying really hard to get rid of the stuffed Santa. When it was someones turn to pick a gift, she would take Santa's hand and wave it frantically around saying "Pick me! Pick me!" We were laughing so hard! It was so funny. I can't remember if she ended up with them. I think she did actually. She did. She donated them the next year to the Teddy Bear Toss at the hockey game.
I'm sure they went to a good home!

Christmas Memory

Here is one of my favorite stories of sibling one-upmanship.
I needed a dress to wear to an event. Most likely it was for a work function for Robert. I didn't wear a lot of dresses back then, still don't, so I borrowed one from my sister. That was when we were the same size. Now she is quite a lot smaller than me :-(
When Christmas came around I still had not returned the dress to her. So being the smartass that I am, I wrapped it up all pretty and took it to the family get together. If I remember correctly, when she opened it she said something like "This looks like a dress that I have." Too which I said "That's because it is your dress." We all got a good laugh.
Now I don't remember if it was the next year, or if it was a few years later, but she got me back.
We were all together, exchanging gifts, and she gave me my present. It was heavy. And in a big box. Everyone was watching me open my special gift. I took the lid off the gift and the tissue paper was kinda wet. I took the tissue paper off and there in the box, still kinda wet, was the toilet plunger that I loaned her! Hilarity ensued! Of course it was only wet because she put a little water on it....but it was still gross!
She won~

Christmas Memory

One thing that I really missed when my kids were growing up was the lack of a Christmas Program at school. There were the occasional Winter Programs, but it seems like they were few and far between. I recall a program that Katie was in that they sang the Dreidel song. What I miss is the programs like the ones we had in school. I loved getting up on the school stage and standing on the risers singing all the Christmas songs. It was so much fun. And we always had a huge Christmas tree in the Gym. And we would gather food for people in town who needed help. I don't understand why we can't just celebrate the season by embracing all of the different customs and celebrations of the entire community. I don't care if it is based on religion, or based on a old Pagan ritual. It's just fun to celebrate the season.

Christmas Memory

Today we went and cut down our Christmas tree. We have not bought a pre-cut tree for years. They dry out so fast. It was cold. 32*. But the sun was shining so it was a fun time. There have been many years where it is just miserable out. But we go, get wet, muddy, and sappy.
One year, and only one year, we bought a permit and went up into the mountains and cut down a tree. It was Christmas 1983. Katie was not quite 2 years old. Robert and I went up into the Cascades and looked for a tree to cut down. I'm sure we must have left Katie with my mom. So off we went. It was cold and there was snow. It was a lot harder than you would think to go into the mountains for a tree. When you go there in the Summer you see so many trees and you think..."Now that would make a great Christmas tree!" We tromped around in the snow until we found the perfect tree. And then we killed it. Yep. Cut that sucker down and took it home. Robert got it into the stand, which I'm sure took a long time, and maybe a trip or two to the store :-)
Then we took it into the house. Or tried too anyway. It was too big. It was huge. We thought it was perfect when it was up in the mountains, out in the large space sitting in the snow. But when we tried to get it into the house, not only was it way too tall, but it was way to wide. Robert trimmed a lot off the top to be able to get it in the living room, but that did nothing for the width of it. It took up most of the living room! I started to decorate it and then realized that the branches were too thin and weak to support most of the ornaments. So now not only was it too tall and too wide, but when you hung an ornament on it the branches looked straight out of a Charlie Brown Christmas!
I tried to find a picture, but for some reason there isn't one.
You will just have to use your imagination!

Christmas Memory

My Grandma & Grandpa Gus always had the same candy at Christmas every year. Stuff like this....

They always had these kind of hard candies. I liked the ribbons and the ones with a little filling in them.

And these....

I would eat so many of these Orange Slices I would get a stomach ache. Now I can't stand them.
Another one Grandpa liked.....



Chicken Bones. Similar to the Chick-O-Stick...but slightly different. I think it was the coating that was different. I liked these too!

The next one though....not so much....


Ack! The Circus Peanut. These were so chalky. And they felt weird on your teeth when you bit into them. And the taste....bleck. Don't see how they could call this "candy".

After eating tons of junk I would then want these....

These little mint pillows were like rolaids for kids. They had a way of soothing your tummy. I don't remember stuff like homemade candy and fudge at G&G Gus's...just this hard candy. Oh...and this stuff....

Bleck. LOL! Yeh...didn't like the licorish ones either. But this is what they had. Do you remember any of these? Did you eat them too?

Christmas Memory

At our house, the gifts are always put under the tree Christmas Eve. Because, you know, that's when Santa comes!
When the kids were little I would wait for them to go to bed, and then bring out all of the unwrapped gifts and sit there for hours watching Christmas movies while wrapping all the presents and getting them under the tree. As the years went by, the only presents to get bows were the last ones to go under the tree. It got to where I convinced myself that you couldn't see the bows on the presents buried underneath, so why put ribbons and bows on them? I was just getting lazy.

One year, I decided that I didn't want to spend all night Christmas Eve wrapping. So as I bought gifts, I wrapped them and put them under the tree. It was so nice to not have to stay up really late wrapping. We got up, and the party started. Then it came to a complete halt. As we started handing out gifts, Robert pulled one out from under the tree for Bryan. He looked at me and handed it to me. One end of the gift was open. We started pulling out Bryan's gifts. Every single one of them had been opened on one end, and then put back under the tree. Not just opened and taped back shut (like i used to do when i was a kid), no these were ripped open on the end! I was not very happy at the time, and I think maybe I wanted to cry, but now I love that memory. It makes me laugh every time I think of it.

That was the one and only time I put the gift under the tree before Christmas Eve. I still don't do it even though the kids have moved out.

Now I worry that the kitties will rip them all open!

Christmas Memory

One of the things I enjoyed about Junior High was giving gifts to my friends at Christmas. We always had so much fun doing that. I loved buying the really huge candy canes or Hershey bars. Do you remember those? They were so big. You could also buy really big Sugar Daddy's. Is that what that big caramel on a stick was called? So much fun! I swear they were like a foot long. I am going to google it and see if they can still be bought.
Be right back!

OK....A word of warning....
When you google "large sugar daddy" you don't just get sites about candy.....

**stop your snickering this instant!**

According to a site about old time candy, the manufacturer of Sugar Daddy stopped making the 1lb Sugar Daddy some time ago. Bummer. Every kid needs a pound of caramel on a stick!
I still have Christmas cards that friends gave me in school. I should take pictures of those and upload that, but I am at work so that would be kinda hard.
Did you ever give out one of those big Sugar Daddy's or the candy canes?

Christmas Memories

Today is December 1st.
I am going to spend each day from now until Christmas morning sharing some of my favorite Christmas Memories. I hope that some of my memories will bring back some of yours!
Happy Holidays Friends!

I will never forget that feeling of being a small child believing in Santa Claus. As an adult I am still really drawn to anything Santa. Especially if it is an Old World type of Santa. Or one that looks like it came from the 50's. But my favorite memory of Santa is when I actually saw Santa. No, not the Mall Santa (those are just Santa's helpers silly), but the real Santa....flying in his sleigh!
It was Christmas Eve and we had come back from my grandparents house. We always went to my dad's parents house on Christmas Eve, and my mom's parents on Christmas Day. It was time to go to bed, and most likely I was not wanting to. My dad was by the front window and he got all excited and told me to come look outside....Santa was coming! I ran to the window and my dad pointed out the lights in the sky. Santa! It was him! "Look!" he said. "Do you see Rudolph?" YES! There was a red glow at the front of the sleigh! Santa with Rudolph leading the way was flying over the woods. I could see them. He told me that I had better get to bed because Santa knows when you are sleeping...and he knows when you're awake. So I ran to bed. The next morning Santa had indeed come to our house!
I still believe that I saw Santa that night. And Rudolph.
Even though a few years later I figured out that Santa took the same path that the planes took to the airport.
But the child in me still believes.....