Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Etc: The Holidays

I am such a sap - I cry at the Elf on the Shelf movie, the Christmas video that has gone viral where the airline makes Christmas wishes come true and I even tear up at the sound of some of my favorite Christmas music.  I just love this time of year. I remember many happy times with family and friends.  I am trying to educate Timothy about the fact that it's better to give, than receive. That is a tough sell at this point. It truly is a joy to give! Several friends and family have given us nice ornaments this year to help us decorate our tree since all of our ornaments were inadvertently packed away, untouchable in storage last February during our  move. I love our tree - the smell, the colors, the touch of nature, the reminders of family and friends. One of my favorite memories of Christmas is our "gag" gift giving with our good friends, the Ostergaards. On many occasions, we exchanged gifts in a Tiffany box only to discover 150 keys to something unknown or 150 of the same page from a science text book. And of course, there was the exchanging of Elvis!  For several years, we exchanged a large bust of Elvis, yes Elvis lived at Christmas time for us. One year, we were in Australia for Christmas.  We received a large box and when we opened it, it was Elvis shattered in pieces in the bottom of the box. The Ostergaards received a lot of style points for their efforts to ship Elvis to us in Australia. I also remember Timothy's second Christmas which was the last one with Grand-Sam around.  I remember a photo of Dad putting his hands on Timothy's head as he opened a gift.  It is a really touching photo showing the love a grandfather has for his grandson. Oops…I am crying again…it must be Christmas time! I hope you are remembering fondly about what is important to you this Christmas season.  Enjoy!