I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas…

Our Christmas was so white in fact, that most people had to stay home. As in NOT gathering ‘round the piano singing carols with guests that were invited for the day. Or even gathering around the piano at all which is hard for me to do anyway because we gave the piano to our daughter several years ago and even if we still had it, I don’t know how to play it and even if I could play it, who would be left to sing? Mr. Picket Fence? Mr. Baxter? Na-uh. Not gonna happen. We could string popcorn I guess, but Baxter just LOVES popcorn and well, you can see where THAT would end up. (in his tummy!!) LOL!!

Of course, there is always the old ‘roasting chestnuts by the fire’ but we have no chestnuts and our fireplace is gas anyway so we’d have to take the glass panel off but, hey, it really should be washed anyway, but hey, it’s Christmas and I shouldn’t have to do housework ON CHRISTMAS!! H-e-l-l-o….

And speaking of gas fireplaces, why do we have one? Sure, it throws off some nice heat, but come on, that’s only ONE POSITIVE THING. Let’s see, it’s romantic but we are WAY TOO OLD for that crap. I mean it sisters. It also doesn’t have that beautiful burning wood smell – it smells kinda, well, gas-ey. Not like husband gas-ey, more like gas gas-ey. We can’t roast our nuts (CHESTNUTS! Come on you people, pay attention!) in the fire. We can’t use it to roast marshmallows or weenies or popcorn or a whole pig with an apple in it’s mouth or even a rabbit. (not that I would eat the Easter Bunny. Sheesh. I’m not THAT sick.)

One thing you CAN do with a gas or wood fireplace is curl up in front of it with a favorite quilt wrapped around yourself and just stare dreamily into the flames. Alcohol is not required but it sure doesn’t hurt. Ya hearin’ what I’m sayin’? Plus it’s better than staring out the window at the snow that keeps falling and falling like it’s never going to end – until next spring. Then it will melt. On top of the current “ice rinks” which by next spring will be small ponds thus increasing the ponds to small lakes. As if Minnesota doesn’t already have 10,000 lakes. More is better. HUH?????? NOT. NOT. NOT. NO MORE WATER IN ANY FORM. Who’s got a cell number for Mother Nature? And I’m not giving you a Farm Report today. Not that’s there’s nothing to report as there are STILL crops in the fields, nose deep in snow. BUT I’M NOT GOING TO TALK ABOUT FARMING. EVER.

BTW, we built a new deck last summer. Do you love it? Isn’t it beautiful? Just picture it without a couple ton of snow and you’ll see what I mean. I am especially loving the wood we used. What do you think?

As a mature, sensitive, empathetic and caring woman, I have always taught my children that Christmas is about the birth of Jesus. The giving of gifts is just a reflection of the gift God gave us. Really, I do feel that Christmas has been so commercialized that most people don’t give a second thought to why we are doing what we do to celebrate.

Girl, did you get some good stuff under the tree? Let me think. Oh yeah I did. Too many good things plus Mr. Picket Fence gave me a Kindle. Gonna seriously love that little gadget. But the most fun gift went to Baxter:

And of course he got the hat so he could look just like his “dad”. (sick, sick, sick. but you gotta take your laughs where you can find them and you know it was snowing HARD that day….I’m just saying)

Oh. Oh. Oh. Gotta show you this one. I kept telling the gals about this clock I was going to make out of some really awesome wood, blah, blah, blah. Well, you know as well as I do that “going to do something” is not the same as “doing something”. I had my doubts about my ability to actually build it, but I kept telling everyone about it so I kinda boxed myself into a corner on that one. And really, once I figured out the cost of that darn little clock, I kinda wished I hadn’t started it. First we had to build the dang shop. Then we had to fill it with tools and if you know anything about tools you will recognize that sometimes you need duplicates. Or sometimes you just have to upgrade. Then of course you can’t forget that I flew to Denver to buy the wood. (The week’s visit with my daughter, her hubs and The Divine Miss O (granddaughter) was just a bonus. (lol) What I’m saying then is that this clock cost many thousands of dollars. And it’s TINY. It’s really the only nice thing to come out of that sawdust bin. Maybe it’ll be the last. Dunno. Anyway, it was a gift for son #1 for his office and it appears that he likes it:

I’m sure you know what kind of wood I used, but just in case you don’t, it’s Lacewood from South America (thank God I didn’t have to go there to get it.), and the bottom part is Curly Maple. Do you see the sweat rolling off my brow? I done my best.

I made a couple other gifts in the ‘ol woodshop but I can’t show them because for gift #l, I haven’t given it yet and for gift #2, son #1’s big, old, lead-footed dog stepped on it and I guess I didn’t quite use enough nails and glue to withstand 2,000 lbs of pressure!! Oh, now, I love the little canine – all 80lbs of his adorable little German wire-haired self. (you gotta be nice to an animal that big. In case they turn ugly on ya :-) Don’t worry about it. It’s nothing I can’t fix. I’d better put glue (the big can) and nails on my list.

The Threads are coming over on the 14th for a sewing day so I really should pick out a miniature block for them to sew. I’ve got a couple of ideas – nothing too hard mind you. The last one was just a tish tricky and my those were some cranky old gals. Like “lock up the guns” cranky. I’m just saying. Of course, chocolate fixes anything. Plus, as one of my old friends used to say, “it’ll quilt out”.

Mega wishes for a wild & crazy 2010!