What Santa So Generously Deposited under the Christmas Tree

Santa made an appearance early this year at my house. Around the first of December he showed up with a very big present. He said that he was making deliveries early this year and while I could enjoy my new present for the whole month of December, I had to keep my mouth shut about the gift until after Christmas. 

I know how to keep my lips zipped when necessary. 

You would too, if you liked your present as much as I like mine. And I really, really, really like what he gave me. 

This is a couch that I was generously given after my grandmother passed away. I feel lucky to have a piece and part of her life in my home. It is a gorgeous camelback sofa that sat in her living room for nearly twenty years and was the center of every conversation, visit, and excitement that transpired there. 

It has detailed wooden trim and ornately scrolled arms and curved legs. 

And at six feet long you can pack several people on it for a visit or stretch out and take a nap rather comfortably on a quiet afternoon. I slept on this couch for several days after I moved into my tiny apartment as I unpacked all the boxes stored in my bedroom and finished painting the place. 

Well, after twenty years of service the fabric on the couch was fraying on the cushions from years of love and use. In several places the fabric was getting worn to a nub. So, if I wanted this couch to have twenty more years serving as the centerpiece for every visit from friends and family, I would need to inject it with a TLC. And Santa knew that is just what I wanted. 

Here it is refurbished and updated and ready for service. 

The fabric is soft and textured and a muted green. 

The woodwork was stained a bit darker to a rich mahogany. 

And it sits beautifully in my living room ready for afternoon visits, sleepovers with the nieces and nephews and even a Sunday afternoon nap. 

Santa made one little girl very, very happy this year. 

My Christmas Tradition

I read someone's post yesterday about not feeling ready for Christmas--and it had already come and gone. That's exactly how I was feeling on Christmas Eve--not ready. Wondering if I would feel ready. Wishing I had more time. The wishing I had more time seems to be a consistent theme in my life, if you haven't guessed by now. I think it is the latent perfectionist in me. I'm always wanting things to work out just so and feeling all the pressure of making that happen. The funny thing is though NOTHING ever works out perfectly. But it always works out. It may turn out better or worse than I expected but it always works out. So, I'm trying to give up the notion that somehow it has to work out in a magically perfect way. 

I come by this perception honestly though. Christmas Eve after the troops had left from our annual Christmas Eve night (you know, reading the Christmas story, performances of song or dance, etc.), I was sitting at the kitchen island talking to my mom as she prepared breakfast for the next day. Hmmm, breakfast Christmas morning: sticky buns, scrambled eggs, sausage, hash browns and juice. Good stuff. Anyway, I was chatting with her about what I had left to do for Christmas morning and she was telling me what she had left to do as well. She said in nearly 40 years of being married, she had yet to have everything done on Christmas Eve. She always had a stack of presents to wrap that night and it seemed no matter what she did or who's help she conscripted, she always had that stack of presents and lots of food to cook for the next day. Which kept her up late on Christmas Eve and made her very tired for our annual wake up time of 5:00AM. 

All I could say was thank you, Mom. I really am your daughter after all. And then I proceeded to stay up for the rest of the night just to get everything done on my list. 

And Christmas worked out just fine. It really was a beautiful day. 

We gathered around the Christmas tree early. 

Cassie was very excited about her new camera. 

Mom and Dad watching us open presents. 

This is the stack of presents left over that was for the nieces and nephews and siblings to come over and open. 

We had a beautiful white Christmas and quite a storm that morning so Dad got out with his super-duper new snowblower (he bought it the day before because his old one just wasn't powerful enough for the huge snow dumps we've been getting this year.)

If you can see there's Dad with his snowblower and two of our neighbors out with their snowblowers too. I think the whole neighborhood was operating them about the same time. 

  

Some of the girls opening their presents from Nana and Papa. 

Adam opening his present. Pssst! See the TV screen behind him? That was the present keeping me up so late. We had scanned all the slides of our family photos from the 70s and 80s and I made a DVD of them. Rus did all the heavy lifting of actually scanning over 1000 images though. That was a fun Christmas surprise. And don't you worry. I can't resist so I'll be showing more of those slides later. 

This is what we look like Christmas morning. Everyone shows up whenever they can and they get to open their presents from Nana and Papa when they arrive. We spend most of the morning watching people reactions. And then we eat that yummy breakfast. 

This year we had six of my seven siblings around so it was a big group. Everyone took the kiddies home in the afternoon and rested and relaxed and then they showed back up for dinner and a movie. This is what it looks like when we are all crowded together. 

And you can see that some of them continued their naps far into the evening. 

We just snuggled and chatted and some parent inevitably seemed to be getting up or down every few minutes to help a child get a drink, change a diaper, or get some food. There is kind of a general chaos that simmers continuously  when we are together. 

 And the kiddie winks played with all the Christmas toys that Santa had so generously deposited under the tree that morning. 

And no matter my preparation or lack there of, it always works out. Yes, I got the wrong custard cups for Mom and no, I didn't get much sleep as I wanted, but somehow, some way Christmas turned out. And I was reminded once again that I don't get to manufacture Christmas magic. It was manufactured long ago and far away by a little babe in a manger in Bethlehem. If I just remember to keep my focus there then everything works out. Just the way it should. 

Christmases of Yesteryear

I found a few photos of Christmases past and they cracked me up enough and made me nostalgic enough that I thought I would share a few of them.

I believe this is Christmas 1977. I don't remember that couch but I certainly remember that shopping cart. It carried many a baby doll when I went "shopping" and it trucked lots of treasures around the house for me. 

This is my pink quilt that my Grandmother made for me when I was a little girl. I believe this is around Christmas 1978. I don't remember much of my life before this pink quilt. It has been on every childhood bed that I've slept in and it now sits in the top of my closet and is the first blanket that I pull down on a cold night, or when I'm watching a movie or if someone is sleeping over. And believe it or not, it still is in excellent condition. 

Christmas Eve 1978 and I think we are re-enacting the nativity. Rus is the donkey, Adam is Joseph, I got the part of Mary and I'm really not sure what Ric is doing in the background. Maybe he is the narrator? 

Christmas 1981, I believe. Mom is putting Megan into the high chair at Grandmother's house. That high chair is still in very active use at Mom and Dad's house every Sunday for family dinner. Look at Grandmother's beautiful table. This table and this house hold some of my very first and favorite memories of Christmas. Grandmother always knew how to throw a great party. 

We skip a few years to our last Christmas in Burley in 1985. Every Christmas Eve we gathered at Grandmother and Granddad's house for a Christmas Eve program. Every family had to perform or sing or play an instrument. Rus is on trumpet, Ric on tenor sax and Adam on alto sax. 

Megan and I singing something. Mom used to have all of us sing and perform a lot when we were younger. She's at the piano. I love Meg's open mouth. She was really getting into this song. 

I believe this is Christmas 1986. If I think about the "Burley years" of my life this is about the age I imagine everyone. Megan and Amy Ellen are just little pipsqueaks while Rus and Ric were early teenagers. Grandmother once again outdid herself this year with a beautiful table. I love her red apron too. She always sat on the little loveseat at that end of the table and Granddad sat at that the head of the table. She set the table with her china, crystal goblets and pretty silverware. It was always such a production but so appreciated. I learned early how to enjoy beauty. 

So just a couple of memories this Christmas season. Hope you all have a very Merry Christmas this year full of fond memories and sweet joys. 

Soon

I'm sitting here listening to Christmas music, watching the snow fall outside, and connecting to the world on my home computer. I feel grateful and nostalgic and exactly as I want to feel as Christmas approaches. Never mind that I still have 947 things to complete and won't likely get them all done even if I do forget about sleeping for the next 72 hours. It's Christmas! Time to enjoy friends and family and good health and time together.

I can't wait for Christmas to come.