Christmas - past

I've been reading a lot of blogs today and several of them have set my mind to wandering back to when I was a little girl.

A childhood memory - Dad bringing home the tallest and fattest tree he could find. He always had to cut some of the bottom off for it to fit in whatever room we decided to put it - either living room or dining room. And mom decorated it. She took lots of time because she wanted it to look beautiful. (and it did) Remember icicles? She would take one at a time and place each one so that the tree truly looked like icicles hanging on it.

Another memory - A black and white puppy with a big red bow sliding across the dining room floor in his haste to get to us. He was a Springer Spaniel we named Skippy.

Another memory - my aunts, uncles, cousins and us would draw names and each family would take turns hosting all of us on Christmas Eve after the children's Christmas program at church. The one gift that I remember well was from my Aunt Beth. It was 5 books - Little Women, Little Men, Eight Cousins and 2 others (can't remember the names) Even though Aunt Beth didn't have children of her own she really had a knack of buying just the right gift for her nieces and nephews.

Christmas letter

Merry Christmas,
We have had several dustings of snow but with the sunshine and warmer temps it has all disappeared. It would nice to have some snow for Christmas.

I continue to accompany the Park Rapids Classic Chorale – our Christmas concert was this past week end. In the summer I’m the rehearsal accompanist for the Northern Light Opera Company – we performed “The Music Man” last summer and next summer we will be performing “The Sound of Music”. I love being part of an ensemble - it’s exciting to see the end result of a lot of work by a lot of people. I think the most satisfying music for me is playing the organ and piano for church – especially the piano arrangements of worship music.

This has been quite a year for me. I had cataract surgery last winter and then last August I had a total knee replacement. And I will have to have the other knee replaced this spring. The knee surgery went well but it took a while for the rest of my body to recuperate – a bit of depression. But with the help of my family and a low dose of Paxil I am now back to my “normal” self. Thank goodness. Do I sound like an old person or what?

My kids are all doing well and it would take several pages to tell you about all of them so I’ll not do that – except to say that two grand kids entered high school (9th) this last fall and in the spring two grandkids will graduate from high school. Two granddaughters are married and one grandson is engaged to be married.

I’m very blessed to be able to live in the home Lowell and I shared for 40 some years and that I have children and grandchildren that are happy and healthy.
I hope your Christmas is a blessed one and the year 2012 will be a successful and happy year for you and your family.
Jane