12/23/2009 Fifty seven years ago…..

….my Mom and Dad tied the marital knot. Happy Anniversary!

Four days have passed since I last posted and as I sit here thinking back about what we did its a blur. We’ve been busy, we’ve been doing stuff but no one thing really stands out.

Oh wait, I’m wrong, one thing does stand out. Saturday night Bob and I attended the Christmas dance here in the park. Our good friends Sandy and Carl provided a good time for all with the great music Carl played and the fun time Sandy always gives us. In addition to dancing we played Christmas trivia for prizes. I won one because I knew that Christmas was the 359th day of the year.

I won another prize, a wine bottle cozy, cozee, cozie, a bag for a wine bottle and a bottle stopper. Since we are not “wine people” I gave it to the fella sitting next to me because, well because he was drinking wine. It worked for me.

We are having delightful winter weather here in the desert. Only a light jacket is needed in the evening time and lots of us are still in shorts as the temperature has been in the low to mid 70’s. We’re sure enjoying this compared to our old hometown temps of 20’s and 30’s and the twenty inches of snow on the ground.

Do you ever wonder how holiday traditions start? I mean really, whose idea was it to bring a dying tree into the house (face it, you cut a tree down, its gonna die) and cover it with stringed popcorn and cranberries, remember this was how it all started before twinkling, multi colored LED lights. And the angel on top of the tree, how did that start? Well, folks, wonder no more on that one as I have the answer to that one for you. Read on.

When four of Santa's elves got sick, the trainee elves did not produce toys as fast as the regular ones, and Santa began to feel the Pre-Christmas pressure.

Then Mrs Claus told Santa her Mother was coming to visit, which stressed Santa even more.

When he went to harness the reindeer, he found that three of them were about to give birth and two others had jumped the fence and were out, Heaven knows where.

Then when he began to load the sleigh, one of the floorboards cracked, the toy bag fell to the ground and all the toys were scattered.

Frustrated, Santa went in the house for a cup of apple cider and a shot of rum. When he went to the cupboard, he discovered the elves had drank all the cider and hidden the liquor. In his frustration, he accidentally dropped the cider jug, and it broke into hundreds of little glass pieces all over the kitchen floor. He went to get the broom and found the mice had eaten all the straw off the end of the broom.

Just then the doorbell rang, and irritated Santa marched to the door, yanked it open, and there stood a little angel with a great big Christmas tree. The angel said very cheerfully, 'Merry Christmas, Santa. Isn't this a lovely day? I have a beautiful tree for you. Where would you like me to stick it?'

And so began the tradition of the little angel on top of the Christmas tree.

Monday we had a horrific sand storm here. Just eight miles away in Casa Grande a 20 car pile up occurred on I-10 due to zero visibility. Here in the park we couldn’t see the houses across the street. As if all the damaged cars and trucks weren’t bad enough two local teens, 17 and 14, siblings, were killed. I can’t even imagine……..

Tuesday brought a trip to the local VFW for Bob, you know, gotta keep that wrist exercised and I played Mexican train with the girls in the park.

Tuesday night Bob played pool and I learned how to play Hand and a Foot, a card game.

So that’s what we’ve been up to.

I hope you are all done your shopping, the gifts are wrapped, the baking is done and you have the time to enjoy the coming days. Most of all, let’s not forget the reason for the season. It’s not all about how many toys are under the tree, who sends the prettiest cards or who has the ugliest Christmas sweater. We’re celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ, son of God, the savior of all people. Let’s not forget that.