PDA

View Full Version : A few Ramblings about Christmas at Our House


Radio
12-16-2007, 09:01 PM
Well, I guess Christmas is finally here.

Our tree is up (we tend to procrastinate) and we just got back from the Christmas concert at church, where the music was fabulous. Sweet Wife played flute, piccolo, recorder and penny-whistle. Cool. Other neat instruments included djembe drum (not played by her!) tubular bells and a wide assortment of other percussion toys. So it was cool!

Really had an attitude problem with the Christmas Tree this year. My son and daughter have put the thing up for years, and that was their job. I would make my world famous hot chocolate and we'd have Christmas music going.

The daughter moved out and got married. The son is too busy with finals at GA Tech. Putting the tree up by myself was a bit depressing. So I had to suck it up and revert to the mind set I had when the kids were small..."I'm doing this for the kids"...it's just now they're grown. I guess I'm just a little reluctant to change. Once I got my head right, it became a joy the way it used to be. Someday, having grandkids will make it even more fun!

Sweet Wifes egg nog is right around the corner. We have that when my side of the family gets together. YUMM!

My niece's son (grand-nephew? Gee, that makes one feel old) is getting a MFG 8100 regenerative short wave receiver - I just won the bid on on E-bay. Any luck it will be here by Christmas. Maybe the radio bug will bite, or at least the tecno-science-engineering bug.

This will be our 30th Christmas together. Not sure what to get the wife. We have a house full of stuff, and it's like going into reruns, where I'm getting her something to replace something I already got her once before that's now worn out. Or just MIA.

I've started to give a lot of books to extended family. Last year it was "You - the Owners Manual" and this year it's "More than Enough" by Dave Ramsey.

We have a tradition of really wild looking "Stockings" made of quilted material with a Christmas Print on them. They are huge! Sweet Wife made them, and made the last one 22 years ago when my daughter was born. Now we need one for the new Son-in-law, so that started a frantic search all over town for quilted material in Christmas Print. We found Winnie the Pooh but figured that might be inappropriate for an ex-Marine just back from Iraq. Got lucky and found some, stocked up for making more for the (future) grandkids.

I'm the worlds best stocking stuffer. At our house, we unload them one at a time while everybody watches. In a good year, there might be $200 dollars worth of goodies just in the stockings and I have a blast putting them together. It's my annual impulse-buying binge!

So now I'm off to ponder what to get Sweet Wife. I might post the egg nog recipe and I might post what magic I do with Hershey's Coco.

So that's a rambling report of Christmas thus far at our house. The temperature outside has just dropped past 30 F, which adds to the Christmas mood.

Don't forget the reason for the season - "Unto you a Savior is born" and that means you, and you, and you over there, and all you folks on the Open Roads Radio forum.

Good Night

Radio

Wade Massengill
Administrator
OpenRoadsRadio.net

aintgotnun
12-17-2007, 07:30 AM
nice read Wade

Merry Christmas my friend!!

Clay L
12-17-2007, 08:05 AM
Our Christmas traditions have undergone some major transitions since we started full timing.

We are in Bouse AZ parked next to Bud (K2RQB) and Nancy (can't remember her call) as we have been for the last two Christmases.

Two of our kids and their families are in NH and and the other and her family are in Saudi Arabia (her husband is a petroleum engineer).
With us here and them there they are getting a chance to build their own traditions. There is just too much snow for us to go back to that part of the world in the winter.

We will go to Christmas eve services with Bud and Nancy and then have Nancy's Brandy Alexanders. Their Christmas eve traditions are shrimp cocktail and the Brandy Alexanders. Ours is my Texas Red chili , so we mix em up and do both.

We both fix our family favorite foods on Christmas day and have a big meal together.

Merry Christmas to all of you!!

Clay

jagco
12-17-2007, 05:19 PM
We are really cutting down on our Christmas decorations (and spending). I am on disability and wife is very sore from an auto accident two years ago. Her pain in her collar bone/shoulder area has resurfaced. My sons are all our of the house, except one, and he is going on a Christmas Mission Trip, to an area that is still rebuilding from Katrina. We have our Christmas festivities at my sister's house, so there just isn't much reason to decorate around here. Sounds depressing, I know, but that's not the situation at all. We are all very happy and just remember the reason for the season.

Merry Christmas to everyone here!!

N7OQ
12-17-2007, 09:56 PM
Wade I really enjoyed reading your Ramblings, I sure hope you do post that Eggnog recipe and the Coco sounds good too:) I hope you and the family have a great Holiday and Happy Birthday Jesus!