Please be careful. This person has found her way into my house and could also get into yours. A very weird thing has happened. A strange old lady has moved into my house. I have no idea who she is, where she came from, or how she got in. I certainly did not invite her. All I know is that one day she wasn't there, and the next day she was. She is a clever old lady and manages to keep out of sight for the most part, but whenever I pass a mirror I catch a glimpse of her. And, whenever I look in the mirror to check my appearance, there she is hogging the whole thing, completely, obliterating my gorgeous face and body. This is very rude! I have tried screaming at her, but she just screams back. The least she could do is offer to pay part of the rent, but no. Every once in a while, I find a dollar bill stuck in a coat pocket, or some loose change under a sofa cushion, but it is not nearly enough. I don't want to jump to conclusions, but I think she is stealing money from me. I go to the ATM and withdraw $100, and a few days later, it's all gone! I certainly don't spend money THAT fast, so I can only conclude the old lady is pilfering from me. You'd think she would spent some of that money to buy wrinkle cream. And money isn't the only thing I think she is stealing. Food seems to disappear at an alarming rate-especially the good stuff like ice cream, cookies and candy. She must have a real sweet tooth, but she'd better watch it, because she is really packing on the pounds. I suspect she realizes this, and to make herself feel better, she is tampering with my scale to make me think I am putting on weight too. For an old lady, she is quite childish. She likes to play nasty games, like going into my closets when I'm not home and altering my clothes so they don't fit. And she messes with files and papers so I can't find anything. This is particularly annoying since I am extremely neat and organized. She has found other imaginative ways to annoy me. She gets into my mail, newspapers and magazines before I do and blurs the print so I can't read it. And she has done something really sinister to the volume controls on my TV, radio and telephone. Now, all I hear are mumbles and whispers. She has done other things - like make my stairs steeper, my vacuum heavier and all the knobs and faucets harder to turn. She even made my bed higher so that getting into and out of it is a real challenge. Lately, she has been fooling with my groceries before I put them away, applying glue to the lids, making it almost impossible for me to open the jars. She has taken the fun out of shopping for clothes. When I try something on, she stands in front of the dressing room mirror and monopolizes it. She looks totally ridiculous in some of those outfits, plus she keeps me from seeing how great they look on me. Just when I thought she couldn't get any meaner, she proved me wrong. She came along when I went to get my picture taken for my driver's license and just as the camera shutter clicked, she jumped in front of me. I hope she never finds out where you live.
I love Christmas. Always Have. It's such a majical time of year for me. As I get older and christmasas have changed, I reflect back on the earliest ones in my memory.
My first memory of a Christmas was feeling the needles on our tree and being scared. I am assuming I didn't like the feel but loved the smell of the tree, how it filled the whole house with it's fragrence. I remember the smells of my mom baking. It made me feel so safe. The antisipation of trying to sleep christmas eve. My two brother's showing me santa and his sley from the window which I couldn't see but they could. The time my dad asked me what I wanted for christmas and I said a piano. I wanted one so bad. To my dismay dad told me that was a little large of a present, but come christmas morning, there in the livingroom, was my piano. I played that all day. And took lessons. My dad had me play for some friends of his and mom's who were over one day.
I came from a well to do family. My dad was extremely successful owning a large construction company in Kansas city. They bought me roller skates one year that I just had to have. Went skating the day after christmas and broke my arm. I wanted ice skates one year and went ice skating every friday night and would see my mom up at the glass windows watching me. I actually was an excellant skater if I do say so.
Our whole family would always be together at Christmas time. I hated it then because it was so boring but if I could relive it, I would cherish it... every moment.
I remember my oldest daughter's first christmas. We took her to Kansas to meet her other grandma. I forgot to put ice in the chest with her bottles and listened to her scream for 3 hours while Ken was trying to navigate the icey interstate roads for 200 miles. We always made sure our kids had a good christmas even if it meant putting a few bills on the back burner.
My first christmas as a grandma. He was only a couple weeks old. What a miracle to me he was. You see when he was born, he was blue and not breathing. They rushed him to the nursery and I went outside to pray. I told Jesus to take me and let this precious baby live. I felt such a peace at that minute so I went back upstairs and he was fine. My love for Zach was unmeasurable that I offered my life for his.
I remember my dad's last christmas. He and mom had come up here to have christmas with us and all the grandkids. I didn't realize that would be the last time I would have a christmas with him. He got very sick up here but made sure all the kids and grandkids got plently of presents and everything they wanted. Dad and mom didn't stay til then. They went home. I had no idea that his doctors had strongly advised him not to come as did my brothers. But he said to them, "I have to see my grandbabies one more time". You see he knew he was dying.
He made my grandkids have that majical christmas that I remembered growing up. Christmases have come and gone since that year. My children are older and in their own world. My grandkids are almost adults themselves as 5 are in high school.
As christmas time comes around, they are all special in their own way. But the ones while growing up are what I treasure and remember the fondest. As this special time of year comes around, choose your memories to carry with you. Make lots of precious memories. It could be something as small as seeing all the christmas lights, or trying to see santa in the sky. But make them a lasting memory.
Merry Christmas
