Twas the night before Christmas...

...and time to wish all my friends a very Merry Christmas!!!  I hope you get everything you want from Santa and that the holidays are good to you.  May you get ample time to spend with loved ones and if you are traveling, I hope you do so safely! I treasure all of you and want you back for more in the New Year!!!

Driving home today, the sun was out and with all of the ice on the trees, I was reminded why Michigan is the "Winter Wonderland"!!  I know the ice has been a bit of a pain lately but it certainly was beautiful.

Merry Christmas to everyone and may the peace of the Lord's coming be with you all year long and bless you with dreams realized!!!!

Christmas Time Is Here!!!!

Call me a sap but I love Christmas.  I love everything about it.  First there's the movies; the classics, the comedies, the tear jerkers and even the cartoon versions.  They are all good and all help to reinforce the Christmas spirit in me.

Then there are the songs of Christmas.  I have a playlist on my MacBook Air that goes on for hours.  At this time of year I come home from work, turn on iTunes and the house is magically filled with Christmas carols for the rest of the evening.  I have found over the years that Christmas carols go best with a nice California Cabernet!

Santa with his laptop

Movies, Christmas carols and Christmas decorations!  My goodness there are so many options when it comes to decorating a house for Christmas.  I have mentioned in a previous blog that I even have a collection of Christmas Geese that decorate our living room.  Unlike the geese out back by the lake, the Christmas Geese are actually pleasant to be around and Maggie doesn't chase them.

Have I mentioned the smells of Christmas?  Baking around this time of year takes on a whole new meaning.  I don't care where you go, people are baking stuff, all kinds of goodies for the holidays.  I am sure that from Thanksgiving through the New Year, I could easily gain 20 pounds.  The food, the drink and the slowing of my metabolism from inactivity all contribute to additional holiday tonnage.  I even threatened to start baking myself this weekend in spite of the fact the I don't eat sugar or most of the other ingredients of holiday baking.  I just love the smell that permeates the house.  It is the next best thing after the smell of bacon for breakfast on a Sunday morning!!!!  I wonder if there is a cookie recipe that includes BACON!!!

Spending time with friends is also a great pastime of the holiday season.  Holiday parties, maybe a quick holiday drink after work or an evening session with friends just reminiscing and pouring down hot toddies, these are part of the holiday festivities.

Of course no Christmas season would be complete without looking back at past holidays spent with family and friends who are no longer with us.  There was my Aunt Clara who thought she was paralyzed because she couldn't get out the car one Christmas holiday until I reached over and unbuckled her seat belt for her!!!  Then there was my Grandmother who had the strangest diet.  She wouldn't eat processed foods and was really into fresh fruits and vegetables.  Nothing for her that was going to poison her body.  Uh oh, that is beginning to sound like me and my food mentor!!!  OMG!!! I have become my Grandmother.  Just shoot me!!!

Well, I think this is just scratching the surface of what Christmas is for me.  It is truly a magical time of the year.  It is a time of renewal and hope and looking forward to the future given that we are celebrating the birth of our Savior!

I hope you enjoy this holiday season and are able to spend it with people who make your life magical.  I know I will.  To them I say thank you and Merry Christmas!!!!!

The Christmas Transformation

Every year on the weekend following Thanksgiving, our home goes through a complete transformation.  Christmas comes to the Fosters.  I can get pretty into the Christmas spirit and I do love a good holiday movie along with the songs of the season.  However, Sue is the one that truly takes everything to the next level.

We spread out in the staging area!!!

There aren't too many spaces in the house the don't have a Christmas ornament, figurine or character filling them.  Our tree, which is artificial for the first time in 24 years, is full of lights and ornaments that we have collected over the past 30 years.  I find it amazing that the tree doesn't crumble under the weight of all the ornaments.  And we still collect more when we travel to new locations.

Christmas Geese

I have a special penchant for Christmas Geese so we have several varieties adorning the living room, tree and patio.  Sue, as many of you know, collects cat/kitten ornaments.  So we do have a few of those hanging on the tree.  Actually we have so many that they also take up most of the curio cabinet as well.

Thomas Kincaid Church

We have a whole neighborhood of Thomas Kincaid buildings, most of which were gifts from a dear friend.  For years she sent us a floral arrangement at Christmas that centered around one of the Thomas Kincaid collectables.  We are debating this year whether or not to continue the collection.  We will have to put an addition on our mantle if we choose to do so.

Along with the many changes that take place during this transformation, one of critical importance is the addition of an ornament hospital in one section of the kitchen.  Every now and then, an ornament takes the plunge from the tree or the counter onto the floor and ooooops.  It may be an ear, or a leg or a head but whatever it is, the ornament takes a trip to the hospital where it is repaired and sent back to active duty.  As I have been typing this, 2 have been admitted.

So the condo is now a mini North Pole.  From now until the end of the year the house will be full or lights, Christmas music and 24 hour Christmas movies.  Well except for the MSU/OSU Big Ten Championship Game.  We do have our priorities you know!!!!

Many years back I bought Sue one of Santa's sleigh bells from the movie Polar Express.  If you're wondering, to this day, we can both still hear it ring!!!!!

Christmas Boxes

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