I'll Be Home for Christmas

For as long as I remember, this has been of my favorite secular Christmas songs.  Kind of ironic when you think about it, as that song has more meaning now than it did way back then.  Don't take that the wrong way... the holiday is, in fact, a holiday, and nobody I work with would ever expect anyone to work that day, and we do our best to make sure that we're home in plenty of time to avoid any of Mother Nature's surprises.  The thing is, Christmas isn't just December 25th, and for some reason (well, actually really good reasons, but I know I'm a tax geek and won't bore everyone with the reason) the month of December is always a hectic one, both at work and at home.

As I've blogged in the past, decorating is a big part of helping me to prepare to celebrate Christ's birth.  This year I started on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, and had everything decorated by Saturday; and everything cleaned up on Sunday afternoon (with the help, of course, of my family of elves...well, maybe that's one elf, and a reindeer, and a super brother who does almost everything this big sister asks him to do). 

The week before last I actually worked from home, so I started to mix up double batches of cutout and gingerbread cookies at night...but life was so crazy I only got them mixed up...not cut out, baked, or decorated, before I had to pack my suitcase on Saturday night so I could catch a 10:00 flight on Sunday morning.  So, I wrapped up the dough, put them in airtight bags and tossed them in the freezer.

My flight landed a little before 5:00 on Thursday night and I had to high tail it home in time to meet the family and head out to the Straight No Chaser concert at Kohler (if you've never seen them, search for them on YouTube, they're a fantastic group).  Side note: I first learned about them about 5 years ago, on our firm's intranet site, as one of the founders used to work in our New York office, and I sent a link to my brother because I thought they were really good.   12 months later, John sends ME a link of this group that "he" "discovered" on YouTube.  Great, thanks little brother, nice to know you pay attention to the emails I send...  When I got home at about 11:00 I pulled the cookie dough out of the freezer and tossed it in the fridge.  Now, mind you, I was at a conference for work last week, and had the opportunity to go on the Harry Potter ride that was FREAKING AWESOME.  It was one of these "visual" rides, though, and I think I should have skipped the second time on the ride, as I'm pretty sure that was the cause of the headache that I had on Thursday, and Friday (which was actually the worst - full blown migraine), and part of Saturday.  Needless to say, Friday wasn't a day for baking.

Saturday morning I started to roll out the dough and cut out angels, stars, snowflakes, snowmen, gloves, mittens, candy canes, bells and Christmas trees.  I think I made about 7 dozen sugar cookie cutouts before we headed out to Christmas Carol with our church's intergenerational group.  While a part of me would have preferred to stay home, I had a great time.  We went to the local Assisted Living facility and the local apartment complex where my kindergarten Sunday School teacher lives, as well as caroling by some of our congregation members.  We've done this for a few years now, but this year one of our members, who graciously stepped in to coordinate the event - because I was stretched a bit thin - was able to get a trailer.  She and her awesome fiance even decorated it with lights, borrowed hay bales and had blankest on the trailer.  We traveled through town in style, and I know we helped to brighten the holidays for some.  When we were done, we returned to church and had chili (special thanks to my dad and also my former 4-H leader for staying behind to make sure the chili was warm when we got back).

When I got back home, I cut out and baked about 3 dozen gingerbread men and houses, sealed up all of the cookies in airtight bags, and I was finished for another weekend. 

Sunday was a busy day at church (new member joining, choir singing and announcements that appeared to go on forever), and we got out late.  I rushed home to get ready for the Christmas party for my dad's side of the family, finished the deviled eggs for my dish to pass, grabbed lunch by Mom and Dad and headed on out to the local town fire hall.  I'll blog more about our gathering in the future, but our group has grown from the 7 boys my grandparents raised, and the tag along known as my dad who joined them in his teen years.  This year, there were 71 of us at the hall...and that's not the full group!!!

When I got home last night, it was time to pick up a little (and by that, I mean a little bit - I owe my cleaning lady BIG time for this week) pack the suitcase, and head of to bed before another busy work week.

This coming weekend I still need to: Decorate the cookies I've already made and finish up the rest (pistachio drop cookies, peanut butter kisses, chocolate covered pretzels and chocolate peanut clusters).  Saturday night is the neighborhood round robin, so I think Sunday is going to be when I start my Christmas shopping (see last year's blog - at least I'm not waiting until the 23rd this year). 

Yes, it's crazy, but I wouldn't have it any other way.  I love Christmas, and no matter how busy I am, I will find time to decorate, time to bake and time to wrap gifts (OK, time to watch my mom wrap the gifts I bought for everyone but her), time to go Christmas caroling, time to spend with family and friends.  Life's too short to not enjoy these things.  That is all part of being "home" for Christmas...

In case I don't get a chance to blog again before the holidays arrive, I wish each of you a Merry Christmas and a blessed 2013!

In the Garden





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I come to the garden alone,
While the dew is still on the roses;
And the voice I hear, falling on my ear,
The Son of God discloses

-C. Austin Miles

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When Grandma H, my dad's foster mom, was in the nursing home, our minister would stop in to visit her whenever he was visiting members of our church who were residents of the same facility.  Each time, just before he left, they'd sing the hymn "In the Garden" together, and it was one of the songs that we sang at her funeral.  I've always liked that song, but after that it had even more meaning to me personally.  Each time I sing it, I feel a little closer to her.

Grandma K, Mom's mom, went home to God and Jesus on February 10, 2006, less than 24 hours after I finalized the purchase of my condo.  It was a bittersweet day, Grandma was no longer suffering, but I had hoped that she would have been able to see my place, and that we could have built some special memories there.  Unfortunately, that wasn't to be.

A few years ago, I decided that I wanted to create a memorial garden, with things that reminded me of the loved ones who had passed through Heaven's Gate and were patiently waiting for us to be together again.  I knew that I wanted to anchor the garden with a sugar maple tree like the one that had been by Grandma and Grandpa K's house in town.  Grandpa had passed away when I was 3, so I most of my memories are from stories told to me and pictures...one of my favorites are of me, "Paca" and their dog Bingo under that tree.  I remember when the leaves would told beautiful shades of yellow and orange each fall, Grandma would remark how remarkable the works of the Lord were.

In addition to the tree, my garden included:

• Peonies that originated at Grandma K's house
• Lillies that were offsprings of the ones my brother had gotten from the milkhouse by Grandma and Grandpa H
• A mum that had been split off of one given to my mom when Uncle R passed away
• A rosebush, because Uncle R loved roses
• Miniture irises that my Uncle D had given me shortly after I moved into my house (and shortly before he passed away)
• Lilacs, because they reminded of my grandparents and Uncle D

A few weeks after the garden was completed, Aunt L went to be with Uncle R.  She loved ladybugs, and the day after when I found a concrete ladybug when I was at a local nursery, I knew I needed to add that to the garden.

This year, when my parents' neighbor, D, went to her Heavenly Home, I knew I wanted to add something to the garden for her.  D and her husband, G, had become family in the 11 years that my parents had lived next door, and when she'd talk to Cuddles she always referred to herself as "Grandma D."  Their granddaughter A and her family now live in the house, and they too have become like family (A's daughter - A2 has quickly become Dad's favorite...sometimes I think she may even outrank this "Daddy's Girl").  Originally, I thought that, when we had a month with an 'R' in it (because Uncle D said you didn't transplant in a month that didn't), I would try to move some of the lillies that came from D and G's flowerbed a few years ago, but this week when A had a garage sale, I found the right fit for the garden - a fountain that D and G had on their back deck.  It fit perfectly with everything that was already there, and when it got dark tonight and the light from the fountain illuminated the tree, I knew that was the perfect way to remember her, because she had an ever-present smile that, even on the worst day, would lighten my spirits.

While they aren't physically with us any more, I know that Grandma and Grandpa K, Grandma and Grandpa H, Uncle D, Uncle R, Aunt L, and D are watching over their family and friends, and that I will see them again when the Lord calls me home.  In the meantime, I carry a piece of them in my heart always, and when I need a moment of reflection and rememberence, my garden is the perfect place to go.

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And He walks with me,

And He talks with me,

And He tells me I am His own,

And the joy we share as we tarry there,

None other, has ever, known!

-C. Austin Miles

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To Do Lists

Those of you who know me know that I tend to lean towards the "techy" side of things. I can control my home thermostat from my smartphone, my home office has a second monitor, and whenever I can, and my laptob bag is FULL of gadgets. When it comes to a "To Do List," however, I prefer old fashioned pen and paper.  I've tried several different electronic formats, but there's just something more satisfying about crossing something off of my list, instead of clicking on a checkbox.

My list lately has been a bit full (part of the reason I haven't written anything in almost nine months), and the heat this summer didn't make it easy to get a lot of things done.  Summer's quickly coming to an end, and there are several things on my list that I really need to get done...before the proverbial snow flies.

Today after church, I took a look at my list and decided to try to tackle at least a few of those items on the list.  First task: Clean the windows and patio and storm doors, all of which were dust laden from our dry summer.  I pulled out the ladder, mixed up some vinegar and water, grabbed some newspapers and I was on my way.  About an hour (and lots of trips up and down the ladder) later, the windows sparkled for a few hours until the rain came...maybe I should have washed the windows earlier this year to bring on the rain when we needed it.  When that was done, as long as I had the ladder out I took down my Fourth of July decorations (yes, I know it's August 19, please keep in mind that, as I mentioned above, I've been a little busy) and moved my wind chimes since the clanger kept hitting my bedroom window whenever we had storms.  This afternoon I took down the summer decorations inside and tonight I started cleaning up the office - shredding old bank statements and duplicate checks, sorting things to be filed, etc. 

I do have other work that I should be doing, but now it's time to unwind a little bit, sit with my feet up and relax my mind with a little blogging and some TV.  There are still plenty of items on my To Do Lists, both home and work, some of which I do need to tackle before bed, and that's okay too...because then I can cross them off of my list.