Christmas Future?

 After celebrating Christmas a week early with our family, we were anxious for the long Christmas weekend to arrive so that we could once again venture out into unknown territory.  Since Governor Scott gave state employees an extra day off for the holiday (in lieu of raises), we were able to head to our Christmas destination, Florida Caverns State Park in Marianna, FL on Friday morning.  The weather, like the weekend before, was just not Christmasy at all. It was cool and very damp feeling with very little sunshine; however, we did not let that dampen our spirits.    We arrived at the park and were greeted by a cheery park ranger.  He directed us to our site that we had reserved online.  It was a beautiful site.  This was our first time staying at a state park in Florida and apparently Florida's philosophy is to go with nature rather than a lot of landscaping.  We were surrounded by woods which gave us a lot of privacy.

After we got set up, we decided to take a short hike down to the Blue Hole where people swim in warmer weather.  Before we made it to the Blue Hole, I tripped over a root and fell on my knees and palms.  This is one time when fat actually helped me.  I think it cushioned my fall.  A skinny person would have probably broken something.  We cut the hike short and went back to the camper where we decided that playing Scrabble was a safer activity for the afternoon.  I fixed spaghetti for our supper and then we watched tv and read until we were sleepy.


Saturday we had a piece of pie for breakfast and decided to get out for a while, maybe eating lunch at Sonny's.  We went to the Marianna WalMart, which was not crowded and enjoyed just browsing around.  Then we went to Sonny's for lunch.  When we returned to our camper, we decided to try the hike to the blue hole again because I wanted to try out the tripod that Amy and Darryl gave me for Christmas.  We walked very carefully avoiding the many roots in the path and made it to our destination.  Then we set up the tripod and began taking pictures.

I love the picture on the bridge because Bubba set up the camera and then he had to run avoiding all the roots to get up there before the picture snapped.  He made it!  He's pretty agile for a senior citizen.  I love the tripod.  Now we can take pictures of both of us together on our outings.  Thanks, Amy and Darryl.  We enjoyed sliced pork sandwiches courtesy of Sonny's for supper and then played another game of Scrabble.  (We're hooked.)

How does he win all the time?  He can't spell !!!!

Christmas was different.  We had coffee and hot chocolate in bed and then we got up to open our gifts.  We only carried our "surprises" with us.  We opened them and then we had blueberry pancakes and sausage for breakfast.  Somewhere along in there Amelia called to tell us about Santa Claus coming and what he left her.  She sounded very pleased so I know that she was a very good girl all year.

Bubba said that these were the best blueberry pancakes he's ever eaten.

Archie loves his new bed.  As he gets older, it gets harder for him to jump up on the couch to sleep.

Bubba got out and walked some later that day.  I stayed in and read and prepared our Christmas dinner -- chili with crackers.  It was pretty good after all the holiday food we had been eating.  Christmas night we experienced a good night's sleep with the sound of rain on the roof.

Monday morning, we finished packing up and headed for home.  We had a good weekend even though it was different from any Christmas we had enjoyed in the past.  Is this the ghost of Christmas future?  We'll see.  

We're already planning our next trip.  We have decided on St. George Island. We're going to fish some on this trip.  Amy and Darryl gave Bubba a cart to haul all our stuff to the beach so we plan to try it out next time.  A nice thing about Florida State Parks is that they offer a 50% discount to Florida senior citizens.  Alabama and Georgia only offer 15%.  There are definite advantages to getting older.

Christmas Present

According to plan, we celebrated Christmas with Amy, Darryl, and Amelia the weekend before Christmas.  They came in on Saturday afternoon.  That night we had a non-traditional dinner of Barbecue Ribs, Potato Salad, Peas, Corn, Macaroni and Cheese and Yeast Rolls with Carrot Cake for dessert.

My mother would have been proud that I made the table pretty.

Following dinner, we opened presents.

Much to the dismay of Darryl and Amy, we gave Amelia a PlayDoh cake decorating kit.  She also got party hats, candles, and napkins so that she could have birthday parties for her dolls.

Amelia thought it would be more fun to have a birthday party with Nana and Paw-Paw.

Cookie, the Playful Pup, was intended to be her main present from Nana and Paw-Paw.  This is a "wonderful substitute for a real dog".  It barks, wags its tail, moves its head, and chews a bone.  We thought Amelia would love this because she is so crazy about Archie. She was very excited as she opened Cookie, but when we finally had her out of the box, she just sat there -- no barking, no tail wagging, no head moving, no bone chewing.  We decided that the batteries that came in it were dead so Bubba was going to change them when he discovered that the batteries in it were corroded and leaking battery acid everywhere.  Amelia couldn't even hold Cookie.  It was kind of pitiful.  Cookie just sat in her box on the floor and every now and then Amelia would put a PlayDoh cake in front of her and talk soothingly to the still quiet dog.  The  next day after church,  Bubba and I headed to WalMart to exchange Cookie for one that actually worked.  Amelia seemed pleased with the swap and christened the new dog, "Lilly".

Bubba received the most unusual gift of the holiday season.  My cousin, Vicky, found this squirrel feeder and thought it was the perfect gift for him.

I can't wait to see if a squirrel will actually walk into the gator's mouth to get a bite off the ear of corn that it holds.

Amelia is enjoying "The Polar Express" sitting in her rocking chair with her doll, also named Lilly.  The doll house was Amy's many years ago.  I kept it hoping that someday I would have a little granddaughter who would enjoy playing with it  -- she does.

Anyway, we had a good Christmas with our family even though it was a week early.  We had a good visit and a good time.  We love you all very much!  Merry Christmas!

Ghosts of Christmas Past

I’ve challenged myself to choose my favorite Christmas and found that it is very difficult to do.  Was it the year Santa gave me a book with a clue written in the front about where the next book could be found?  Unfortunately I didn’t realize that it was a clue to another book so it was about two weeks before I caught on and found the next book which had a clue in it pointing me to the next book.  I bet Santa was disappointed that I didn’t catch on to his game on Christmas Day.

Maybe it was the year I woke up in the middle of the night and my mother was at the sewing machine.  She was making doll clothes and working through the night to get that surprise ready for me.  I got a doll complete with an exquisite satin wedding dress and a beautiful trousseau all made by loving hands in the middle of the night.

Christmas as a newly wed was an exciting time.  We always rode through the woods looking for the perfect tree.  Decorating the tree was something we enjoyed doing.  Shopping for the perfect gift that fit our small Christmas budget was a challenge.  I can remember that I wanted some Corning Ware so badly that I could hardly stand it.  I had hinted and hinted hoping that Bubba would catch on.  Then one day a wrapped package appeared beneath the tree.  Could it possibly be the Corning Ware??  I shook the box, no rattles or clinks to give a clue.  I watched it for several days and then I had a brilliant idea.  I took a sharp knife and very carefully cut the wrapping paper from the corner of the box.  Then I cut a small hole, still no clue.  Curiosity overcame me and I cut a hole big enough to get my hand inside the box.  Hallelujah!  It was Corning Ware -- a dream come true!  I put everything back the best I could, but when Bubba handed it to me Christmas morning he noticed that the package had been tampered with. Of course he wasn't mad, but after that, he always hid the presents somewhere else until Christmas morning.

The boy on the right did a good job picking out that
Corning Ware.  Back then, he enjoyed hunting and he usually wanted camouflage vests and caps or fishing gear.  After opening our presents on Christmas morning, we spent the rest of the day with my family.  My brother was thirteen years younger than I was and it was a lot of fun to help him with his new toys.  

Christmas got even better in 1973 with the arrival of our baby girl.  The little ornament in this picture still hangs on our Christmas tree. Don't you love my big hair and dark glasses?


























Christmas 1974 was our first Christmas in our new home.  Amy was one year old and enjoyed Santa Claus for the first time.
My parents always came for Christmas when she was little.  Sometimes they stayed in our guest bedroom and many times they stayed in their motorhome in our back yard.  Christmas was a time for family and being together.  Amy always provided the entertainment.

This is another Christmas that was especially memorable.  It had something to do with the number of screws it took to hold the appliances in this play kitchen together --- about a million I'm told.

Little girls have a way of growing up.
Christmas continued to revolve around Amy but it now included her friends as well.  She always loved presents and surprises.  She would beg for clues and her dad would say something like, "It starts with p..."  Of course the answer was "present".  (Please note that we finally got rid of that hideous orange carpet.  I was quite the interior decorator in 1974.)

In 1993, Amy went away to college and Christmas changed again.  As the time approached for her Christmas holiday to begin, I would clean the house top to bottom and start planning meals for when she was home with us again.  I made sugar cookies, chocolate cookies, fudge, and cakes.  I wanted everything to be perfect while she was here.  We missed her so much and it was so good to have her in the house again.  She was busy with her friends while she was at home, but it just felt good to have her back under our roof even if it was for such a short time.


Christmas changed again in 1999 when she married.  Darryl became a part of our holiday activities.  He and Amy are Christmas opposites.  He does not get excited about gifts.  He loves giving them, but he doesn't care if he gets anything or not.  We have spent a number of years trying to create excitement over opening gifts in Darryl.  Nothing worked until......

Christmas changed again.  Now we have our precious Amelia to bring that joy that only a child can bring to the season.  

Amelia is four years old now and actually talked with Santa.  She can't wait until Christmas Day.  She makes the season special for the whole family.


Christmas will change again this year.  Amy, Darryl, and Amelia will come down the weekend before Christmas to have "Christmas" with us and with Darryl's family. We will have a meal and open presents on Saturday night while Darryl's family will have a meal and presents on Sunday.  Then they will return home to spend the actual holiday.


Bubba and I will spend Christmas Eve and Day just the two of us. We're blessed because we still have each other.  We're making plans that will make the weekend special for us. Things change and that's part of life. The title of this post is "Ghosts of Christmas Past".  It's nice to take a walk down memory lane sometimes.  One of my favorite sayings is , "You can't put a price on a memory."  The memories I have are priceless and I'm very thankful for all of them.  I want to wish all our family and friends a very special Merry Christmas.  Make it a memorable one!