HOLIDAY

Once again it has been awhile since I last posted. We have been on vacation. We were first in Hilton Head and then Palm Beach Florida. We were in HH over Thanksgiving. We had celebrated with the kids the weekend before so it was just the two of us. We had sushi for lunch on Thanksgiving Day and then lobster tail and steak with a carrot souffle and stuffed potatoes for dinner. Very good. The weather was wonderful and we played golf one day. The greens fees were $10 with $29.95 cart fee. Florida was warmer but had less sun. We enjoyed the ocean though. I always feel energized when I hear the sound of the waves. We met up with friends one night for dinner. I did manage to address my Christmas cards so I am only slightly behind for the Christmas season. We are having JR's family here so I think because of the extra family and small kids plus the extra granddog that we will only put up one tree. That will cut the amount of time to decorate down. December is always a busy but fun month. I did find out that my grandson made the school spelling bee. He is one of two representing his class. The date is TBA but will most likely be the last week before Christmas break.

LONG TIME

I am amazed that it has been almost three weeks since I posted. I tried once and lost what I wrote so decided to come back another time and did not. The "wrecking crew" left a short time ago. Since they have another dog it was a bit more chaotic but since the grandkids are older they are a delight to have around. Hubby, son and grandson went to the hockey game last night and had a great time. The gals laid low and just hung out. Now it is on to Christmas and we have already started planning the menues. We are trying to simplify the cooking so there is less time in the kitchen and more time with family.

CHRISTMAS MEMORY #3

Yes Virginia (or in my case Suzanne), there is a Santa. I do not have particular memories of sitting on Santa's lap but I do have visual proof that I did. We would go to McKelvey's for this annual? tradition (I only found a few pictures). I appeared not to be crying, screaming or frightened in any of the photos so apparently all went well. I also do not have any recollection of what I asked Santa for. The plethora of toys available then were somewhat limited. I assumed he brought me some of what was asked for.

CHRISTMAS MEMORY #2

Obviously from birth through about age 5 there are no clear concise memories of the holidays. My birthday always came near the end of November and right around Thanksgiving. I will in some instances combine the two. Some pictures I am not really sure if they are from Thanksgiving or Christmas. However here are two examples of Christmas cards from the 1940's and yes, those are pictures of me.

MEMORIES

This Christmas, at the suggestion of several people, I am going to go down memory lane and recount Christmas"s past.

I am an only child. My father was an only child. His parents died when he was 2 and 4 and he was raised by his paternal grandparents who were of German heritage. My mother had a brother but he never married and so literally there were no aunts, uncles (other than the one) or first cousins. My father’s grandparents were obviously older. His grandfather served in the Civil War and died 6 years before I was born at the age of 94. His grandmother was a second wife but was 96 years old when she died. I was in high school at the time. She lived about an hour from us but we almost never celebrated Christmas Eve or Day with her. We would visit her during the season. My mother’s parents lived on a farm along Route 68. They did not have any running water and used an outhouse although they owned a house in Kenton. My mother refused to go there during the winter and because they had farm animals, they never came to visit us. Therefore there were just the three of us. I am going through the untold number of photo albums that have been accumulated between my mother and I. I am sure those of you reading this will get a kick out of the pictures that I have (and will) find and post. Enjoy!