Monday, December 31, 2007
Absolutes
It is absolutely guaranteed that my husband will love his Christmas presents if they are power tools. It is absolutely guaranteed that my sons will love their Christmas presents if they are electronic. It is absolutely guaranteed that I will love my Christmas presents if they are books.
Pickle Party
When my teenagers were starting grade school, my niece started having a pickle party for the children the Saturday before Christmas, which also coincided with her birthday and my birthday. Plenty of reasons for a party, eh?
What's a pickle party? She hides a pickle-shaped glass ornament on her tree and the children try to find it. The one who finds it gets the Grand Prize but she always has prizes for all the children. Here are my great nephew and niece searching for that elusive pickle.
And here are the original children, now teenagers, still pickle pondering.
And Ricky celebrating finally finding the pickle after a ten plus year domination by his cousins.
I love that my family will pop the Christmas crackers and wear the crowns. No hesitation. No shame. 
Notice the gingerbread houses decorated that evening behind Jennifer (the gracious hostess). That's her mother in red, my sister.
I found Jennifer's not yet two-year old daughter behind the chair in this pose, pondering the unthinkable. "You mean one day I'll have boobs?" I love her pink cowboy boots. They would go well with my dress.
What's a pickle party? She hides a pickle-shaped glass ornament on her tree and the children try to find it. The one who finds it gets the Grand Prize but she always has prizes for all the children. Here are my great nephew and niece searching for that elusive pickle.
And here are the original children, now teenagers, still pickle pondering.
And Ricky celebrating finally finding the pickle after a ten plus year domination by his cousins.
I love that my family will pop the Christmas crackers and wear the crowns. No hesitation. No shame. 
Notice the gingerbread houses decorated that evening behind Jennifer (the gracious hostess). That's her mother in red, my sister.
I found Jennifer's not yet two-year old daughter behind the chair in this pose, pondering the unthinkable. "You mean one day I'll have boobs?" I love her pink cowboy boots. They would go well with my dress.
Food Trip
I asked my mother-in-law what she would like to do while she was still feeling well. After considering a trip to Nashville (Brown County, Indiana), she decided that she wanted to go to Shipshewanna shopping. So we took off for a day trip during the week after Thanksgiving.
Our first stop was Yoder's General store. The fabrics!! I have been reading A Dress A Day and getting the itch to sew something with pockets and my mother's vintage buttons. Since I haven't sewn for 30+ years, I may start with an apron using my grandmother's hand-drawn pattern. So one reason for a return trip.
Our last stop was E & S Foods. The food!! The entry I linked (the store has no web site) calls it the Amish Trader Joes. I stocked up for Christmas baking and have another reason for a return trip.
In between the fabric and foods, I bought myself a fringe cowgirl dress with pockets for $5. It gives me great joy. I tried it on for my husband the other night and was prancing around asking, "What do you think?" He was so intensely quiet, I had to laugh to see the effort he was making to formulate the right answer. It was obvious to him that I loved it and it was obvious to me that he didn't. Perhaps it is telling that I couldn't find anything in a Google search for "fringe cowgirl dress" other than for little girls or Halloween! Another clue that my husband may be in the majority was the large rack of these dresses with numerous mark-downs.
Our first stop was Yoder's General store. The fabrics!! I have been reading A Dress A Day and getting the itch to sew something with pockets and my mother's vintage buttons. Since I haven't sewn for 30+ years, I may start with an apron using my grandmother's hand-drawn pattern. So one reason for a return trip.
Our last stop was E & S Foods. The food!! The entry I linked (the store has no web site) calls it the Amish Trader Joes. I stocked up for Christmas baking and have another reason for a return trip.
In between the fabric and foods, I bought myself a fringe cowgirl dress with pockets for $5. It gives me great joy. I tried it on for my husband the other night and was prancing around asking, "What do you think?" He was so intensely quiet, I had to laugh to see the effort he was making to formulate the right answer. It was obvious to him that I loved it and it was obvious to me that he didn't. Perhaps it is telling that I couldn't find anything in a Google search for "fringe cowgirl dress" other than for little girls or Halloween! Another clue that my husband may be in the majority was the large rack of these dresses with numerous mark-downs.
I'm not ready for this...
It's the night for merry-making and resolutions. My merry-making will be burning the brush piles in a snowstorm. Strange but delightful because I'm doing it with my husband. My resolution is to post at least once in December.
There has been lots of blog fodder, but mid-November we learned that my mother-in-law has lung cancer. Fast-growing and non-treatable. At first she was given 4 to 6 months. She decided to take chemo which will not cure it but may give her another 4 to 6 months. So I haven't posted because I wasn't ready to post this news and all other content paled in comparison.
I've seen a lot of "outtakes" of Christmas pictures, but usually it was the little ones goofing around that "spoiled" the picture. My husband's family decided (after we got there) to take a picture on Thanksgiving but it wasn't the little ones causing the problem. I thought the composition would be improved if I sat on my husband's lap, which ended up with us rolling on the floor. Of course, they snapped the picture then.
There has been lots of blog fodder, but mid-November we learned that my mother-in-law has lung cancer. Fast-growing and non-treatable. At first she was given 4 to 6 months. She decided to take chemo which will not cure it but may give her another 4 to 6 months. So I haven't posted because I wasn't ready to post this news and all other content paled in comparison.
I've seen a lot of "outtakes" of Christmas pictures, but usually it was the little ones goofing around that "spoiled" the picture. My husband's family decided (after we got there) to take a picture on Thanksgiving but it wasn't the little ones causing the problem. I thought the composition would be improved if I sat on my husband's lap, which ended up with us rolling on the floor. Of course, they snapped the picture then.
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