Monday, December 12, 2016

It's That Time of Year



Is everyone ready for Christmas? This goes beyond buying presents and sending out cards. Because I’m stubborn and… Well, let’s just say I’m stubborn. When I go to the store, I make a point of telling everyone “Merry Christmas.” You know what? Most people say it back. The heck with the political correctness of saying, “Happy Holidays.”

Anyway, there are other things to get out of the way. This morning I dyed my hair. Yes, I’ll probably be a blonde until the day I die, and my roots won’t show when I celebrate Christmas this year. I was born blonde and I’m staying that way. When I dye my hair, I wrap some of the faded ends with foil. That way my hair isn’t all the same color which would make it look dyed. So I came down stairs with foil sticking out and dye on the rest of my hair. My daughter did a double take, so I told her I was waiting for the Mother Ship. Oh well… Gotta find humor somewhere.

 
We put up some Christmas decorations, but we won’t have a tree this year. The dogs would rip it to shreds. They understand boundaries, but only if it has to do with something they don’t really want anyway. I have a few tattered books (a sin, to be sure) that Murphy has enjoyed gnawing on. Sugar would think anything sparkly is made that way just to get her attention. Our little one, Clementine, is a Chiwienie (half Chihuahua and half Dachshund). She’ll chew up anything she’s tall enough to reach or that she can pull out of the doggie toy box. Yes, we live in our own version of a zoo.

One of these days Clem will become a character in a book. I have a feeling she’ll have a crush on Bubba in the Sandi Webster series, just like the real Clem has a crush on Murphy.

Christmas baking should be coming up soon; however, I’ve found that the older I get, the less I enjoy cooking and baking. Oh, well, the guy next door came over and used his leaf blower on my yard and driveway without being asked. His kids deserve some Christmas treats. I guess we do, too. Hate the work but love the result.

We put some decorations on the front porch, but I haven’t plugged them in over the past couple of days because it was just too cold to go out and unplug them later in the evening. We’ve had snow twice during the last week. Not a lot, but enough to cause the schools to close. I lived in Northern Nevada for about twenty-five years and I’m used to driving in the snow. Unfortunately, nature’s little gift isn’t a common occurrence here, so many people have no idea how to drive in it. This makes for an interesting ride.

When my husband retired, we moved to Arizona. Now I live in Washington state. Moving from Arizona to Washington has turned out to be quite an experience. I’d forgotten what it’s like to live in a state where it rains often, snows occasionally (where I live), and becomes cold.

I mentioned Murphy and his propensity to chew up books earlier. He also loves tissues. I dropped a box of tissues on the floor the other night and he swooped in like an eagle, grabbing the box and running. We had a little tussle over that one before I got the box back. Unfortunately for me, he weighs as much as I do. I won’t divulge the exact figure. Let’s just say he’s over a hundred pounds. This leads me to mention that the decorations we’ve put out are set in high places, where he can’t reach them.

Well, those are Christmas preparations at our house. It’s been interesting.

Do you have any special preparations that are out of the ordinary at your house? Or are there limitations about what you can display?

Leave a comment to win a copy of "Having a Great Crime - Wish You Were Here - A Sandi Webster Mystery." A random name will be picked. Merry Christmas!

Until next time, I hope you find some great sales in the stores and that you finish shopping early so you can sit back and relax. Uh huh, like we’re all going to relax.

CLICK HERE to visit Marja McGraw’s website
CLICK HERE for a quick trip to Amazon.com

Just a reminder: Books make great Christmas gifts.


15 comments:

  1. Well, I got my tree up the weekend after Thanksgiving and put out my music boxes and other decorations. Yesterday, I wrote out all of my Christmas cards. I have one more gift to buy and I'll be done. Yay!

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    1. "Done" is such a beautiful word, Pat. You have more energy than I do at the moment. Thank you for commenting!

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  2. Unlike Pat, I have more than one gift still to buy, but I hope to get several of them out of the way today. And I, too, dye my hair and have to do it before Christmas so I don't look like a two-tone elf in the Christmas photos. We've put out fewer decorations this year and I'm finding that I don't miss the ones that got left in the attic. I have to work on my Christmas cards. Maybe I'll start those today. Thanks for a great post and enjoy the Christmas season!!

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    1. Thank you, Amy, and thank you for making me laugh over the elf comment. I hope you get things done and have a few minutes to relax. Thank you for commenting!

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  3. It is slim pickings in our house this Christmas. We have had to purchase a different car and also a stove in the last two months so the banker has been tapped out. Since we believe that Christmas is about Jesus's birth our family is just thankful for what have been blessed with already. Enjoy your holiday and blessing for you and your family.

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    1. Blessings to you and yours, too, Robin. Next week I'll post about my feelings for this most precious holiday. Thank you for commenting!

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  4. All my decorating is done, all my cards addressed, and the few presents that aren't checks have been purchased online. I accomplished all this in the 6 days I didn't have access to a computer. Which just goes to show how much time you can spend on the computer. Merry Christmas to all from Dorothy and Kinder.

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    1. Good job, Dorothy! I wish I was as organized as you are. : ) Thank you for commenting!

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  5. Like Robin, a car was a required purchase this year and it would be hard to fit under a tree. However I did get one of those car reindeer kits for it - antlers and a red nose. Having had animals in the house for the last few decades, real trees have become a thing of the past. I still try to add some real greenery each year, but the present feline residents are true climbers. We're even going to battery operated lights. Christmas for me means watching more movies and playing holiday tunes.

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    1. Love the idea of the reindeer kit, Laura! And it's nice to have someone understand the pitfalls of pets and trees. I'm still zipping in and out to plug in and unplug the porch decorations in the cold. Thank you so much for commenting!

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  6. Love the photos of your dogs. We have only one black lab mix, but my daughter always brings her two black labs over for Christmas, so we put everything that's breakable well above waist level. However, the last time they were here, one of her dogs jumped up and grabbed a raw chicken leg off the kitchen counter. He ate it so fast, we couldn't get it away from him. Dogs are such fun to have around. I just love them, even though they tend to be food thieves.

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    1. LOL Good story, Evelyn! Labs have a reputation for eating whatever they can reach. I love dogs. Cats? I'm allergic to them, but they're cute. Thank you for commenting!

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  7. Wow--I'm late in responding. Finally yesterday I mailed my Christmas gifts to my son and 5 grown grandkids. So glad that is over. As for decorations, I have a tiny tree decorated with earrings that have lost a partner--some are even Christmas earrings--and placed it on a shelf outside my door. And I tape the cards I get on my door. I no longer send cards. My life changed a lot since I moved here almost 4 years ago. But I will always love the Christmas season.

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    1. You have some unique ideas, Pat, and I like them. Our Christmases have quieted from what they used to be, which can be a good or boring thing, depending on the point of view. Thank you for commenting!

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  8. Thank you for great photos and insight.

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