Time to start the Christmas CDs. With the arrival of Dec.1, the Christmas season officially begins for me. Sugar plum dreams of decorating, baking, concert and party going, church services, gift buying, wrapping, and celebrating with family flutter through my imagination. I'm excited to see what reality brings this month!! Unfortunately, a nasty sinus infection is interfering with health and energy. 
But I set off to the bank to get 20 $10 bills for grandkid gifts. Then it was off to Fred Meyers for the afternoon to look over the merchandise!! (And to restock groceries after being gone for awhile.) I was amazed it was dark by the time I left the store at 5.At Deb's recommendation I watched the movie Lion in the evening. It is a powerful, true story and a tear jerker for me. I don't cry easily.
"Am I a sugar plum?"
Reflections of Christmas Past.....
One year when I was away at boarding high school in mid-Wisconsin my dad in Indiana sent me a 3lb. blue hexagon shaped box of large sized cashews! Yum!
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Day 2
It's a rainy Saturday here, though there's promise of a sunny, though chilly week coming! With feeling miserable I don't go to water aerobics, but venture out to the doctor to get an antibiotic. Then
Upon returning home I slept 2 and half hours, then watched
United Kingdom. It is a powerful, true political/love story out of England and Africa. The evening wasn't done until a dose of The Grinch.Reflections of Christmas Past.....
When our kids were young, on Christmas Eve we would pack them up and go out in -20C degree weather to go to the local nursing home where I would play piano for the Mass.
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Day 3
I was well enough to go to Sunday church service. I was disappointed driving home since it was raining and the forecast promised sunshine. When I got home I watched United Kingdom again since I had difficulty understanding some of it. Deb and Carole invited me to the Millers for taco dinner with extended family. Over I went, stuffy nose and all. By time to return home, the super moon was showing super sweet! At some places the night was bright enough I wouldn't have needed lights to drive. Only wished I had taken a moonlight walk once I was home. 
Reflections of Christmas Past....
After the Mass Louie would take the kids for a ride around our small town to look for Santa. The local airport gave off a search light beam that closely resembled light from Santa's sleigh. Sure enough, he had come to our house while they were out searching!
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Day 4
Having started an antibiotic I try to relax on Monday while getting well.
I washed the huge stack of dishes that piled up since getting home Wed. night. The dishwasher has been unusable. I bought a new through Black Friday sales but discovered the house lacked the required metal hook ups. For now the appliance sits in the "should be studio" room. But that is for a later post.
Chicken soup is good medicine for a cold. Homemade is the best, they say. Even better if someone makes it for you. But.....if that someone is not around, one must make it for oneself. Fortunately cooking is comforting to me. AHH....to slurp homemade chicken soup and be on the way to recovery while watching the rest of Titanic. 
This is a good time to read a novel. I met the author at a writer's conference last August. Out of regard for her I chose to buy and read it. This story is full of Pacific Northwest mountain adventures!Reflections of Christmas Past...
Because not all Christmas experiences are happy: I recall, at age 9, the first year when I started living with my Aunt Emma and Uncle Jack in northern Wisconsin. We opened presents on Christmas Eve. I received a goodly supply. But then they went out while I was left alone at home. I remember kneeling by the crib scene and crying cause I was so lonely. What good were all the gifts if there was no one to play games with? Maybe that is why God gave me 7 children, 19 grandchildren and the first of many to come great grandchildren!
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Day 5It's day 4 of taking the antibiotic. I am feeling better, but not completely. I resolve to accomplish a few things, even if not Christmasie.
Before steaming with Vick's water I went out to bring in the garbage bin from Monday morning. The day was so beautiful I had to walk the length of our street. I sure wish I could be out totally enjoying this upper 40's, blue sky SUNNY day.
With Christmas CD's playing in the background I finished
If We Make It Home. Ladies will enjoy the challenges and life discoveries that are the heart of this story.
Gram G with the author, Christina Nelson.
Reflections of Christmas Past....
Some Christmas stories probably should not be told, but this is a personal chuckle. When our children were growing up we always had a large meal of ham and scallop potatoes on the Eve. Because Dec 24 is always cold in Wisconsin I would often use our open porch as an extra refrigerator/freezer. One year I put a large pan of left over ham out on the ledge. At some point in the evening I heard a loud thud and muffled paw patters. I went out to catch the neighbor's overly friendly and hungry black lab feasting on our ham. I chased him away. Now what?? I couldn't afford to waste all that chewed on hunk of meat. Unobserved by the rest of the family, busy with their presents, I brought it in, cut off the jagged edges, washed it off a bit and no one noticed anything unusual about their late night ham sandwiches. Some of us bark now and then, but otherwise no harm has been done.
This has been a good 5 Christmas days in the life of Grandma G.
"The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel --which means, 'God with us'." (Matthew 1:23)
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