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First beefstick of the season. Normally I only eat these around the holidays. My grandmother (ever since I was little) in lieu of a Christmas card she'd get you like a 2 foot long beef stick with a bow stuck to it. If you are not a sausage or salami person and you don't appreciate the novelty of not knowing exactly what's in a hot dog, this snack is not for you! I actually got this specimen from target, it's about 4-5 inches long. Normally I head out to the mall and crash the hickory farms stand (or call up my grandmother for any extras!)
I could barely move this morning so I laid on the couch and broke out Abbi's foam Christmas cards. I let her decorate them for stocking stuffers for some of our family members. We're not done yet, but I think she enjoyed herself. I've also broken out the solo piano music in the last week or so, Christmasy or not, normally I only listen to solo piano music during the winter months. I went light on the decorations this year, mainly containing them to the living room, but we have our tree up and our advent calendar is ready to start tomorrow!
Oh, and the Christmas parade is thursday-woot! I just love watching the parade. We're hard core too. We park a car downtown where we want to be that morning, then about an hour before the parade starts we'll swap it with the car we're actually driving in, and move the other one down the road. That way we can sit in our car with the back hatch up if it's a little chilly outside!
What have you done lately to get yourself ready for Christmas?
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It's snowing! There are puddles on the ground so it won't stick (never does!) but Abbi and I were so excited to look out the door and see big ol snowflakes this morning! |
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How do you celebrate Christmas? Even if you are not an avid reader of my blog and I wouldn't know you from Jane Doe down the road, please share your traditions and views on the holidays.
We celebrate the secular aspects of Christmas. We talk about Santa and the North Pole and all that jazz, but we often bring up that he is pretend. I'm sorry if my child spills the beans to yours in the upcoming years-we've told her that Santa being pretend is a big secret! I really was just going to let things fall where they may on the Santa situation until my daughter developed a phobia of the man. You'd think last year he beat her on the side of the road with the reaction she has towards him. It seemed to ease her thoughts a bit when we finally said he was pretend. She's been on the 'pretend' kick for awhile, so she caught on pretty quickly. We don't give gifts 'from Santa' but we still celebrate opening gifts Christmas morning. Last year was the first year without my mother (We usually opened gifts with them on Christmas day morning) and we decided to have a big breakfast at our house at about 9am. Last year we had my dad, step mom, sister and grandad, will's mom, dad, brother, grandmother, grandfather and uncle over and we did our personal exchanges then. Who needs Santa, when you have a big family like ours! We still eat Christmas eve dinners and Christmas lunches with the family along with those personal gift exchanges.
We choose not to celebrate the "Christian" aspect of Christmas. I was not raised in the church and personally don't have a problem with some of the more denominational views, but my husband and his family are so far from that, we just decided it was the best decision not to make a big deal of the whole nativity aspect. I'd also like to point out that contrary to what most Christians believe, the denominational world doesn't teach that Jesus was 'born on Christmas.' I have been a member of many many churches and was never taught that. They set that day aside to remember that particular story on that day, but all that I was involved in, recognized the fallacy in claiming it happened on a particular current calendar day. To me, having the birth of Jesus story preached on a Sunday before Christmas is the same as preaching something about our country on a Sunday surrounding 9/11. We also celebrate all the secular holidays because we don't see much difference in celebrating a nationally observed holiday or a personal birthday party.
Whether you choose to celebrate this holiday religiously or secularly -or both as I did growing up- remember the spirit of the season is giving. I hope to help someone out this holiday season in some way. I don't have the money to just dole out to needing people, but I really hope to be an encouragement otherwise.
My intent is not to start a Christmas debate, but if that's where it goes, and it stays respectful, have at it. I'm just curious as to how other Christians celebrate Christmas now that I've had a few years in a new faith to mull over my personal beliefs. So how do you celebrate Christmas? |
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This is just to pass along some info. She is selling hand made adorable little hair bows to raise some money. She's needing some surgeries done and has some finicky insurance plan that won't cover much of it. Take a look at the bows, they are adorable. |
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Only because I'm tired of scrolling for private comments, and going back weeks for public comments.
Abbi has a stomach bug this week, I was under the impression that they went away more or less after 24 hours. Well it's hour 48 now and still kicking. How can I tell if it's something she ate or just a bug? Or some more serious infection? I don't think it's anything she ate, we all ate the same thing before she got sick and no one else has thrown up (yet). It's a well known rule in this house that I do poop and Will does puke. Boy has he had his hands full lately. If you saw a man standing outside hosing off bed linens at 2 am last night so they could go into the wash, I'll claim him. As soon as abbi's stomach settles and he wakes up and is able to watch her, I'm going to buy a mattress pad and sheets. We only have one set and I never bought more because 'they were just too expensive.' Well last night, I would've gone in debt just to have an extra set. We're on a pallet on the living room floor now.
Will is taking me to Nashville on Friday. Supposedly for our anniversary-2 weeks ago. I guess it should be fun. It's hard for me to just let go and enjoy it when I know how much it costs to do something like that. At least gas went down. I'm still looking for a part time job btw. I don't have childcare for Abbi so anything I look in to she has to come, and be well occupied for the entire duration of whatever I'm doing. I think I've come up with my dream job. Personal shopper. How fun would that be, right? I should move to a big rich city just so I can go Christmas, grocery or clothes shopping for someone who can't or won't do it for themselves. I'm hoping to help shut-ins with their groceries when it's feasible that I do service work. We just can't afford the gas hit right now.
That's about all going on with us, what's been going on with you lately? |
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Well I didn't get to go to a release party as I'd hoped to last night, but I suckered Will into coming with me this morning at about 10:30 to get the book. And here it is 11:00 pm and I've just finished it! I did take a break to cook lunch/dinner and take care of Abbi obviously, but I've spent the majority of my day on the couch with that book.
And boy, was it good! |
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