Morning Folks 11 27 05

It is good to be back with you again, although I would love to have stayed in FL for a few more days. It warmed up on Thanksgiving and we left the next day. I hope everyone did damage to a turkey or a pie or both. I had a really nice visit in FL with Ed's family. We went to Animal Kingdom and Cirque De Sole and enjoyed a wonderful meal prepared by Kathy. Earlier in the week Ed gave me a Thanksgiving gift of driving us over to Naples on Monday to see Dad and Inez. They were gracious hosts, as usual. We had a nice lunch at the Cheesecake Factory (yum) and went back to their home and looked at old family movies, probably boring poor Inez and Ed to tears. But it was really fun reminiscing and seeing folks that aren't with us any longer or who just look a whole lot different now than they did 50 years ago! Cousins, Aunts, Uncles, Grands and Greats were all there, as well as some dear friends and immediate family, of course.

Now that Thanksgiving is in the past, on to the Christmas and Hannukkah Season. What a whirlwind these last 30 odd days of the year always are. As you get yourselves ready for battle at the malls, etc. try to have some fun along the way. I hope these pictures I found help put a smile on your face today and throughout the season.





















PARTIES
Eagerly awaited invitations to holiday parties and gatherings start to come in and so begins the fretting about fitting everyone in to the schedule. I have a couple of invitations already and I can't wait to see everyone. Of course there are always those guests who seem oblivious to the fact that they are just not totally appropriate. But after all, it is the season so you put up with them, too. Sometimes they make things interesting, don't you think?





TREE DECORATING
Putting up a tree has been put aside these past few years, what with the balancing act between shopping and baking and visiting and, of course, work. It was more fun when the kids were little and at home to help out. Big clumps of tinsel and disagreements about who's ornament gets displayed most prominently were just a couple of examples of how they helped. And there was the annual argument about multi-colored versus all white lights, but I loved it when they did help and it was always so beautiful when it was finished...tinsel clumps and all.

Now I get my 18-inch-comes-in-a-box-already-decorated-with-ornaments-and-lights-from-CVS tree up by the 25th, put a Christmas CD on the stereo and I am transformed and in the spirit like magic. A little tree and lots of Christmas Music is just fine with me. No fuss, no muss and no one has to remember to water it!















THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN DRESSING UP DOGS AND CATS FOR CHRISTMAS

"This is fun. What else do you want me to wear? Boots? A Belt? Just let me know."

"Over my dead body!"


















FOR OUR JEWISH FRIENDS AND FAMILY

















New Christmas Traditions

This might be my last Christmas while I live in New England. I wonder how I will like a Tennessee Christmas? Hmmm...



Of course New Zealand Christmases can be fun as well.



















WRAPPING PRESENTS
I hope you get everything wrapped in time this year.











If not, do what I always do and just throw 'em in a bag.















Have a good week and I hope you and I get this holiday season off to a great start. I hope we don't stress about it, but enjoy it; that we can be in it and be a part of it without wanting to get away from it; that we can give what we can and help those who need help; and that we can celebrate with comfortable familiar traditions, but also do something new this year to change the view a little.


Most of all I hope we can remember at the height of the frenzy that the things that we manage to get done are always more than enough and come Christmas Eve, we will have time to sit back and reflect on the reason for it all.



Love,
Suz