Happy Holidays!

 

Happy Holidays, Everyone!

Wordless Wednesday: Merry Christmas Tree!

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Saturday 9: Happy Holidays!

The Saturday 9  meme is hosted by Sam Winters. Nine questions posted every Saturday — sometimes random, sometimes with a theme. This week, Christmas is the theme and Sam has provided a photo from her past....

1. As you can see, Sam loved giving her annual wish list to Santa. Yet some children are reluctant to climb into Jolly Old St. Nick's lap. Did you enjoy the tradition or were you shy? Or did you by pass it altogether — either because you wrote him a letter or because your family didn't celebrate Christmas?

I liked talking to Santa every year. I would wait in line for hours at one of the big downtown department stores. I think I did it until I was nearly adolescent. Can't prove it, though — there are no photos of me on Santa's lap.

2. Are you currently on the Naughty or Nice list? How did you get there?

I've been pretty good this year. I think I'd definitely make Santa's "Nice" list. Actually, I'm too arthritic to be very naughty. 

3. Did you ship any gifts to friends and family this year? If so, which one traveled the farthest?

We shipped a gift to family in Florida. Wish we could have delivered it in person.

4. Did you buy yourself a gift this year?

This year the hubby and I decided to give ourselves a new big-screen TV for Christmas. Haven't bought it yet (Hubs is still doing his "research"), so it'll be a late gift. Also got ourselves some fitness trackers — an Apple watch for M, a Fitbit for me. 

5. What's your favorite holiday-themed movie? Have you seen it yet this year?

We're a little behind schedule in our Christmas movie watching this year. (Too many Spurs games to watch.) I'm not a huge fan of holiday movies, but M loves them. He has a long, long list of Christmas movies he likes to watch EVERY year. I like some of them more than others. I guess my favorite of the newer movies is National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. Of the oldies, I like The Bishop's Wife and Christmas in Connecticut and White Christmas. And even though I see it as more of a horror movie than a holiday movie, I have to see It's a Wonderful Life every year. 

6. Thinking of movies, Christmas is lucrative for Hollywood. Have you ever gone to a movie theater on Christmas Day?

I think so, but not in many years. When we were dating (back in the Pleistocene Era) we used to go to the movies on most holidays. 

7. Have you ever suffered an embarrassing moment at the company Christmas party?

No. Most of the company Christmas parties I attended were pretty tame. Not much of an opportunity for embarrassing moments. Fortunately. 

8. What's your favorite beverage in cold weather?

Starbucks soy cappuccino.

9. Share a memory from last Christmas.

Last Christmas the Hubs and I both had the flu. Not a Christmas I want to remember. So far, we're both well this year. And I'm really hoping that continues.

Happy Saturday, everyone!

And Happy Holidays!

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Blue Monday: Here Comes December!

Wow, it's been a couple of months since I posted anything here at joysweb! And now it's already December!!! How did that happen?

We've been busy, but probably not a lot busier than normal. Just haven't been able to find time to concentrate on blogging, although I have been reading other people's blogs. Also had a few minor medical issues that have sort of detoured me. Nothing dire — just niggling things that keep drawing my attention away from the stuff I'd rather be doing.

So, anyway...here we are with the first Blue Monday of the month. And since we've been having really awful weather here lately (cold, rainy, gray), I thought I'd post a photo from a couple of weeks back when we were still enjoying our long, lovely, summer-y autumn.

Sorry it's a little grainy. Think I need a cell phone upgrade. Gosh, I really miss that blue sky!

We've got most of the holiday decorating done, although we seem to add a bit to it everyday. I'm sure I'll be posting more photos of the decorations, but for now I'll just include a shot of our most recent addition. For some reason, the hubby decided it might be nice to add Doctor Who to our seasonal trappings. So we've added the Doctor and his (blue) Tardis to the fireplace display, up there on the mantel with a mini nutcracker — who sort of looks like he might be a Dalek in disguise!

So, have a great week! More to come....

Blue Monday was originally hosted by Smiling Sally.
Now that Sally has left us,
Jeanne at Backyard Neighbor is doing the honors.

To see more offerings, or to participate yourself,
please head on over to her blog.

I Suck at Holidailies plus a Saturday Snap

OK, it's official now: I just can't handle Holidailies. I think this is the third year in a row that I've completely bombed out at trying to "regularly update" this blog during the Christmas season. I did have some pretty good excuses this year (two rounds of oral surgery, lots of pain meds which kept me comatose a good deal of the time), but still.... Three years in a row?

Actually, the whole month of December has been kind of weird around here. In addition to the fore-mentioned dental adventures, the weather here in central Texas just hasn't been very cooperative lately. Which is OK with me -- I love the sun and warmth and blue skies. But it did sort of keep me from getting into a festive, Christmas-y mood. It shouldn't really bother me that much, having grown up in San Antonio where Christmas Eve was usually 90-degrees and humid. When we'd gather at our grandparents' house for the family get-together, my grandmother would spend the entire evening yelling at people to "close the door and stop letting all the air conditioning out!"

But now the day has come and gone, I'm (sort of) on the mend (we won't discuss the reaction to the antibiotic at this time -- luckily for ya'll), and I think I'm finally getting into the spirit of the season. Also getting the urge to blog again. Maybe there's life after tooth-removal after all.

So I'm going to try to post to this blog a little more often during the rest of December. Maybe not daily (I think the hubby has planned a few out-and-abouts), but enough to keep me from feeling like such a slacker. Because I know you're all on the edge of your comfy chairs, waiting for my next bit of bloggy trivia.

Well, here's today's. On Christmas Eve, I generally try to take a photo of Michael and me together. Nothing formal -- just a snapshot of the two of us, for my own personal album. Usually with the tree or some of our toys. Neither of us is really great at posing, and even though we both love photography, we both also dislike having our own pictures taken. So it's usually a bit of a struggle. But this year it turned out to be pretty impossible. All of the photos were generally disastrous -- trouble with the lighting, camera timer doing strange stuff, but mostly because in every one of them I looked like I was being tortured. This was one of the worst of the lot, but at least I don't look like I'm ready to punch somebody.

Total Fail: Attempting to Take the Annual Christmas Snap

And just one more tidbit. See that skirt? Red-and-green plaid, pleated, rayon-silk blend. I bought that item at Talbot's in downtown Washington DC around 1989. It's older than most of you are, Dear Readers! I've worn it on either Christmas Eve or Christmas Day (or sometimes both!) every year for the last 25 years. One of these days, I'm going to take it out of the closet, and it's just going to crumble into dusty bits and blow away in a poof. It'll give me something to write about for Holidailies!

Linking up with Saturday Snapshot, too. I know that's a terrible snap, so here's a better one. I call this one Michael, the Mail, and the Blue Skies of Christmas:

Christmas just the way I like it

Merry Christmas, Everyone!

Under the Tree (Part 1)

Blue Monday is hosted weekly by Smiling Sally.

To see more offerings, or to participate yourself,
please head on over to her blog.

Michael has this thing for model trains. He loved them as a little boy, and he still loves them now that he's a bigger boy. But for most of our married life we've lived in very small spaces, that really weren't roomy enough for even a small model train set-up. He always wanted a train around the Christmas tree, but we generally had a table-top size tree -- again, not spacious enough for a train.

But now that we're living in a bigger place, and have a bigger tree with lots of room around it, he's started accumulating train stuff to play with. A couple of years ago, he got a Polar Express train set, I think (at first) mostly because that's one of my favorite Christmas movies (he's learned to like it too, I believe, after some resistance at first). And last year, he acquired the house to go with the train. (You'll notice that the train is a lovely shade of blue.)

The convertible is one of this year's additions, and just slightly out of place in the snowy landscape -- the driver must be a real outdoor enthusiast.

Also this year, he's added some figures -- including Santa -- and a little Santa's workshop structure. Very cute. And (I think because I'm such a fan of the Back to the Future movies) a time machine in a DeLorean! I'm not sure how that fits in with the Christmas theme, but it's one of my favorite parts of the set-up. Now we just need tiny Marty and Doc Brown figures to make it complete.

Christmas Time is Here!

Every year I sign up for Holidailies in December, fully intending to update the blog regularly with a bunch of fascinating holiday posts. Of course, it never works out that way. And this year, here we are already five days into the month and I've posted exactly... nothing. It's not that I'm lazy.... Well, actually it is that I'm lazy. Mostly, anyway. But busy, too.

But I didn't want to let another day go by without putting up some sort of holiday post. So, here's a shot of the hubby putting the Christmas wreath on the front door...

...and another of said wreath after he got it all adjusted.

So there we are -- holiday post numero uno.  Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays! Season's Greetings! And more to come!

Blue Monday: Charming Blues

Blue Monday is hosted weekly by Smiling Sally.
To see more offerings, or to participate yourself, please head on over to her blog.

Can you believe we're nearly two weeks into the new year? I'm having trouble with that. I know that's a sign of being exceedingly elderly, but it does seem like time is just flashing right past me. What happened to the holidays? What happened to Christmas? I blinked and it was over!

The Hubby decorating the tree.
UN-decorating looked pretty much the same.

Actually, we had a really nice Christmas this year. Got to visit with some very old (in length of acquaintance, that is!) friends who we don't see all that often. We had intended to be out and about a little more during December, but the weather just didn't cooperate. Still, it was a nice, festive holiday -- if a little quiet.

And we got some very nice gifts. Michael and I don't generally give each other Christmas presents, but this year he surprised me (!!!) with this:

I had been hinting that I'd like a Pandora charm bracelet -- for several years now. But for some reason, this year it clicked.

OK, I know it's not blue -- the bracelet and the charm/spacers are all silver. So here are a few of the blue charms I'm thinking of putting on it.

I'm having trouble deciding whether I want it to be strictly a "biographical" bracelet, with only charms that represent my life and my family. Or if I just want to go with a color scheme or some other theme. It'll probably take me quite a while to get it filled up. Or even partially filled. I've got a Pinterest board with examples of charm bracelets I like, but of course I wouldn't want mine to look exactly like any of those. So coming up with a design and filling it up should be lots of fun.

Oh, and one more thing -- just to be perfectly circumspect -- I am in no way affiliated with the Pandora people. I just like their jewelry.

Blue Monday: Just One More

Blue Monday is hosted weekly by Smiling Sally.
To see more offerings, or to participate yourself, please head on over to her blog.

OK, I promise this is the LAST post about Christmas!  I know, I know....Christmas is over and the New Year is already a week old.  Isn't that amazing?  Tempus sure does fugit.

Anyway, we've got nearly all the holiday decorations cleared out and stored away now.  Just about the last reminders are my Christmas bears that I put out every year.  They always get to stay around a little longer than all the other ornaments because they're just so cute I can't bear (did I really say that?) to part with them.

The two Paddington Bears are wearing their bright blue duffle coats, perfect for this frigid winter we're having.  They're both Salvation Army adoptees (like most of my bear collection).  I've written about Kringle Bear before.  He's almost thirty years old now!  But the years have been kind to him.  Unlike my little childhood teddy (I've written about him too) - he definitely shows all the love he's received over the years. But he still has his lovely blue button eyes, and this year he's sporting a nice blue necktie.

Generally, he lives in a box in my closet, all wrapped up in acid-free tissue. But I thought this year he should get to come out and take his place with all the other bears in his new home.  He likes the company.  And it's really COLD in that closet.

Blue Monday: Christmas Eve Reflections

Blue Monday is hosted weekly by Smiling Sally.
To see more offerings, or to participate yourself, please head on over to her blog.

A few years ago, Michael and I started a sort of tradition of taking a photo of the two of us together, every Christmas Eve.  I guess nowadays that would be called a "selfie," wouldn't it?  Or is it a selfie if it's two people?  Well, whatever.  We usually take it in front of the Christmas tree or a wreath or something decorative (since we're not all that decorative ourselves).  

Last year we forgot to take the photo.  So I really wanted to remember to do it this year.  Naturally, I forgot again.  But earlier in the afternoon on Christmas Eve, I snapped some shots of Michael while we were outside checking on some of the plants (and wondering why the nandina doesn't have any berries yet).

(Click on photos to enlarge.)

And when I looked at this one later, I realized I'd taken a photo of the two of us on Christmas Eve after all.  That's the hubby, plant-gazing - well, his reflection anyway (I did a little cropping).  And that's me reflected in the window too, taking the picture. And that's the bright blue Texas sky reflected in there, too!  And just because it's Blue Monday, here's another shot of that sky.  It really was a lovely Christmas Eve.

I'm also linking up with Holidailies,

even though I've really been doing a terrible job with that, this year.

Christmas Cards

I love Christmas cards.  And I have a huge collection of them.  Actually, I love ALL greeting cards.  Always have.  My mother used to save all her greeting cards in a big shoe box and one of my favorite childhood pastimes was going through the box, making up stories to accompany the pictures on the cards.  I especially loved the shaped or die-cut cards - I'd trace around the edges and use the outline to make frames for my drawings.  Hmmmm.  Whatever happened to all that creativity I wonder.  But I digress.

Today, I just thought I'd show you a few cards from my collection.  It's a pretty random selection - some are really old, from the 1920s and earlier.  But most were issued sometime between 1930 and the early '60s.  I used to be able to pick these up for around a nickel each, in thrift shops.  These days, with more and more people collecting, they're usually considerably more expensive - and harder to find.  But I still love hunting for them.

Fairy Tales

Ever since my cousin MLB told me about fairy doors, I've wanted one.  Back then, we were living in a high-rise condo and didn't have a garden or yard, or a tree we could use.  But now we're in a house, with LOTS of trees on our property, and one day last month, M surprised me with my very own fairy door!

He built it out of a tiny display case meant to hold small trinkets (my mother used it for thimbles), and part of a wooden cigar box.

 

Then he painted it the same color as our own front door, and attached it to the base of one of our live oaks.  I was a little nervous about driving nails into the tree, but M assured me it wouldn't do any damage (small nails, big tree).

See how cute it is, surrounded by other trees. (Click on the image to enlarge and get a better look.)

One morning, just a day or two after we put it in, we woke up to find the little door open!  Maybe a fairy family was moving in?  We haven't noticed any activity since then, but just in case, we've decorated it for the holidays.

I have a strong feeling that more fairy doors are likely to appear around here very soon!

Catching Up with Christmas Movies

Wow, I am REALLY bad at Holidailies.  I knew I wouldn't be posting every day, but I thought I'd do a little better than I have.  But now that all most of the shopping is done, cards and packages mailed, and decorating complete, I'm hoping I'll have a little time to relax a bit and do some blogging.

And some Christmas movie watching, too.  So far, we've only seen a few of them: the Turner Classic Movie channel was showing The Man Who Came to Dinner the other night, and Michael and I both like that one.  And then last night, after we finally got the last gifts in the mail, we watched The Polar Express.  That's become one of my favorites over the years, although I think it's probably not a good movie to start with - a little too melancholy.  But it's a very cute film, and I've managed to hook Michael on it, too.  This year, he even added the Lionel Polar Express model train to our Christmas decorations - he's always wanted a train to go around the Christmas tree, just like the ones he had as a child.

Actually, I guess we started with A Charlie Brown Christmas and The Grinch (the real original animated version with Boris Karloff voicing the Grinch).  Those are obligatory, as far as I'm concerned.  If I don't see those, it isn't Christmas.  But I don't really consider them movies, since they were originally TV shows. 

Generally, I like to start the movie-watching with the Griswolds and their Christmas Vacation - I think it's become my absolute favorite Christmas movie; I can watch it over and over and still fall on the floor, laughing. That's probably next on the schedule.

Aside from those, there are only a few other movies I feel I need to watch every year: It's a Wonderful Life (of course), and A Christmas Story ("You'll shoot your eye out, kid!"), and The Bishop's Wife (Cary Grant makes such a debonair angel).  

It seems to me that's about as many Christmas movies as one should ever really need.  But Michael has a list of must-see holiday films as long as his arm - must be a couple of dozen by now.  So there are plenty to choose from.  He's already a little miffed that we've waited so long to start the viewing, so I guess it's time to pull out those DVDs!