MONDAY

The Christmas season always affects my moods, part good, part bad. The bad is that it was December 29th when our house burned; my mother died 13 days later with complications from her injuries. And I think this year receiving those letters made me miss her even more. 1961 was the last Christmas that we had together, yet I miss her as much this year as I ever have.

It isn't that I'm moping around exactly. But some things in my routine change. For one, I can't tolerate the TV programs that I usually watch: those courtroom, crime scene mysteries, murder investigation things. Instead, I drown in Hallmark movies, Christmas specials, etc. Fortunately, my husband is okay with my season of chick flicks. He joins me for an hour or so each evening. He says it doesn't matter what we're watching, he just enjoys being with me. (Awwww! I know. He's sweet like that.)

And I have days that I'm absolutely useless. I can't get anything done, am not really sure where the day goes. Today was NOT one of those days. Today I cleaned and organized with a frenzy. I looked around the house last week and was reminded of Aunt Lois in her later years. There were piles of things everywhere....okay, not everywhere, but way too much clutter lying around. Main areas were clean, but too many corners piled with stuff to be sorted, organized and put away. So....today I tackled it. And...I'm almost done with my bedroom, the living room, and the TV room. Now sometime this vacation, I have to spiffy up my office. Hoping for no more useless days.

I do enjoy the snow and cold, the decorations, the food, aah, the food in spite of that tinge of sadness that seems to sit on my shoulders starting in late November. And I love the music and ambiance of the season.

Speaking of which, our Christmas program was awesome!! We're a small group, but it was very good. The youth did a wonderful job of choreography to the opening number. It was really great.

And I believe Santa is bringing me a camera for Christmas. I may just open the package early to get a few pictures now that my decorations are done and the house is clean. I've been trying to use an old Canon E-1, the kind of camera that uses real film, and I have to focus the frame myself AND wind after every shot. But...I've had a problem with trying to take one too many pictures and the film pulls out of the cartridge. Duh! So we'll see if I can find a closet dark enough to take the film out of the camera to get it to be developed. Too bad I don't know anyone with a dark room.

So with three days til Christmas, that's two days until our celebration. We get together on Christmas Eve. That way the kids can spend Christmas day with their spouses' families. But I'm nearly ready. Just a few more presents to wrap, some batteries to buy for Little M's toy, some press-on nails for M's make-up collection, and I think that's it. Hope there's nothing else. There are groceries to buy tomorrow and I'm going to go get my nails done and a pedicure! And that's my next two days!!!

Gotta run. It's Hallmark time!