It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

Okay, it’s not really. We had a little bit of snow on the weekend, but it warmed up again so it’s pretty much gone. *sigh*

But here are some more of my favorite Christmas videos to help with the Christmas Spirit.

Happy Holidays

Blessed is the season which engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love.
— Hamilton Wright Mabie

Christmas is the season when you buy this year’s gifts with next year’s money. Be thankful for what you have; you’ll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never, ever have enough.
— Oprah Winfrey

Santa Claus has the right idea. Visit people once a year.
— Victor Borge

I’m tired. It’s been a whirlwind week of getting the tree up, finishing the shopping, and wrapping presents. This week I need to get my baking done.

We finally got some snow. Not a lot, but it’s mostly white out there. How long it will stay is anyone’s guess. The temperature is supposed to rise today and then it’s up and down the rest of the week. White Christmas? Green Christmas? Who knows. *sigh*

I asked the grandbaby last week which she’d rather have for Christmas dinner, turkey or ham. She wants both. I recall I served both once before when I could only find a small turkey, so both it is. I even found room in the freezer for them both, and there’s actually room to spare.

This pandemic is starting to piss me off. We’re back to being under restrictions as of midnight last night, and I’ve heard rumours that we’re headed for a total lock down on Boxing Day. It’s going to make it dicey to visit relatives in Hamilton on the 27th.

And that’s pretty much it for this post. Like I said, I’m tired and no matter how organized I am, there’s still a lot to do before Christmas.

That being said, I’ll be doing the Christmas videos on Wednesday, but I won’t be posting next week. Check out my other blog on Friday for a holiday themed story.

Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

See you in 2022!

Counting Down

The closer to Christmas we get, the more our temperatures seem to go up. *sigh*

I don’t know about you, but I need some serious Christmas music to get me into the spirt of the season.

Shopping

The odds of going to the store for a loaf of bread and coming out with only a loaf of bread are three billion to one.
‒ Erma Bombeck.

Whoever said money can't buy happiness simply didn't know where to go shopping.
- Gertrude Stein.

If you spend fifteen minutes in a shopping mall, you will pass more people than our ancestors saw during their entire lifetimes.
‒ Rolf Dobelli

How much shopping do you do online?

I’m not opposed to shopping online, but I’m a little cautious. I admit to being burned a few times – products that weren’t as advertised, products that never came at all. But I’ve also found a lot of great stuff.

It’s a learning experience, I guess, and the biggest lesson I’ve learned is: just because it’s advertised on Facebook, doesn’t mean the vendor can be trusted. Like the pre-Christmas present I got the daughter. I saw an ad for a David Bowie advent calendar and couldn’t resist ordering her one. I could just picture her pleasure at all the little bobble head Bowies and other treasures. I even paid an extra $20 for the deluxe edition.

I started getting worried when it took so long to get here, but it did get here, and it looked like it did online. However, the little collectibles within each day’s compartment are not as advertised. It’s very disappointing.

So, when buying online, it pays to stick to vendors you know you can trust, like Indigo for books, or Old Navy for clothes. And another drawback of buying on line is the wait period.

Now with Indigo or Amazon Prime, you usually get your product in a couple of days. But with a lot of vendor it could take a couple of weeks or more. Which is why I didn’t do a lot of online shopping for Christmas – by the time I thought about it, I wasn’t sure I’d get what I ordered on time.

Which is also why I’ve subjected myself to that dreaded seasonal pastime, Christmas Shopping. I absolutely refuse to go shopping on the weekend at this time of year, so the hubby and I have been going during the week. Four trips in all (counting the solo trip I made last night because I had to go to Toys ‘R Us) and we’ll be going again today. Dare I hope we’re able to finish off our lists today?

I remember back in the day I used to love Christmas shopping – the decorations, the music, the energy. Of course, back in the day there was lots of snow by now to make the season bright. Yesterday it was so warm people were wandering around in spring coats.

Also, over the years I’ve started liking being around people less and less, even before the pandemic. Ideally, I’d like to do more Christmas shopping online, but it means having to do it in October because I’m too focused on NaNo in November.

Maybe I should pencil it in on my 2022 calendar.

Happy Wednesday

As you may have noticed, I didn’t manage a spice post last week. What can I say? Time got away from me. December is a busy month for me, and I don’t necessarily mean writing wise. I have a lot on my plate right now so I’m going to suspend the spice posts until after the new year.

But never fear! I have something else in mind to keep you entertained on Wednesdays. Traditionally, this is the time of year I post Christmas music videos. So here you go with the first batch. Hope you enjoy.

You have to be a certain age to remember this one from 1984, Band Aid’s Do They Know It’s Christmas.




Mariah Carey does it with style, with All I Want For Christmas.




Nothing beats the dulcet tones of Bing Crosby. And you can sing along, too.




Best version of Feliz Navidad I’ve seen yet!

More Nostalgia

Nostalgia: A device that removes the ruts and potholes from memory lane.
— Doug Larson.

Nostalgia is a powerful drug. Under its influence, ordinary songs take on dimensions and powers, like emotional superheroes.
— Kate Christensen

It isn't necessary to imagine the world ending in fire or ice. There are two other possibilities: one is paperwork, and the other is nostalgia.
— Frank Zappa

We’ve got a nice routine with the grandbaby on Sundays. She comes over in the afternoon to do crafts with Gramie, and when she gets tired with that spends some time with Grappy in the recording studio where they’re working on a CD of original music.

Doing crafts with the grandbaby always makes me nostalgic. One of my fondest memories of when I was a kid was visiting an aunt who instilled the love of crafts in me. Every time I visited she had a new craft to show me.

I remembered one in particular I thought the grandbaby would enjoy – making a wreath out of a wire coat hanger and garbage bags. First, you bend the coat hanger into a round shape with the hook at the top. Then you cut up garbage bags into short strips and tie them to the hanger. You have to keep pushing them together to make them nice and tight on the hanger, but when you’re done you have a wreath, ready for decorating.

The first problem I ran into was trying to find green garbage bags. Most garbage bags are black now, and while a black wreath might be fine for Halloween, it’s not very Christmassy. However, I did find some white garbage bags and then bought blue decorations (blue is the grandbaby’s favorite color).

The second problem I ran into was the grandbaby having trouble tying the strips to the wire. It was something I’d never considered, but she had a hard time getting the hang of it and was getting a little frustrated. So I pulled out a package of self sticking foam shapes to make decorations out of instead, telling her I’d tie the plastic onto the wire, and she could decorate it the following week.

She loves to draw and paint, so I picked up some wooden, and clay ornaments for us to paint, but we didn’t get around to it this week. We started with decorating the wreath, then a couple more foam decorations, then some snow flakes cut out of coloured paper, and then she did some drawing, which is where she really shines. I ask you, does this look like the work of a six-year-old?

Next week I think we’ll focus on the decorations to be painted so she can embellish them with glitter glue. Glitter glue is a wonderful invention – all the sparkle of glitter with a fraction of the mess.

Trust me, Gramie would never steer you wrong. LOL