Charlie Brown Christmas

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKk9rv2hUfA



I don't know about you, but this video was a "must see" favorite of my family as I was growing up. As a child this is what started my Christmas season. I knew it was but a few days until the tree would go up, and presents would start appearing!

Almost every year there was a Christmas play of some sort that at least one of us kids was involved in! Sometimes we would drive around and look at lights, we would attend church for all the Christmas specials. At school there was excitement about the time away, but also the fun things we were making to take home as our own gifts to put under the tree! The big brown UPS truck would be watched for daily, as packages would come from others that couldn't be with us at Christmas time.

Ahhh, the worry free days of childhood. The biggest stress I had was hoping that what I had made for mom for Christmas would get a big smile and a hug. I had no need for money, I had no where to be, no time schedule.

I remember watching as some grown ups would sit there with no presents. I remember asking my grandpa once why he wasn't sad he didn't have anything. Smiling, he told me that he already had his gift, and that was the time with us. We would play board games, and if there was a new toy, Grandma and Grandpa were the first ones to show us how they worked.

I remember thinking that I didn't want to grow up because Christmas without presents would really stink! But you know, as an adult, I've discovered that the best Christmas gift is that time with friends and loved ones. There are many that will not be with us this year, and for that I'm sad, but it will make the time with those still here all the more precious.

The time with our families. Sitting in the floor playing dominoes with the boys, or dressing and redressing a Barbie doll with a niece, making a dish with grandma.. listening to the men folk talk and share stories. This is what I want for Christmas this year!

Puppy Love

Our family was blessed enough to have some time together this weekend just us. We went to see the new Madagascar movie. While waiting for it to start we settled into our theater seats to watch the previews.  Seems there are a lot of puppy/dog movies coming out.  Let’s see there are Bolt, an animated film, Marley and Me, and some movie about kids rescuing strays and hiding them in an abandoned building.  Everyone likes a good dog movie/show/cartoon. With 101 Dalmatians, Lady and the Tramp, Marmaduke, Odie, Scooby Doo, Rin Tin Tin, Lassie, Shaggy D.A., Benji, Beethoven, and Old Yeller to watch growing up it seemed that having a dog was just what a family did.

We were parents of the year when little Sasha came home. Dogs are pretty great to have around once you potty train them, get past the first big vet bills, and they recognize the house rules. Ha! Sasha loves to play fetch, and she is great about bringing it back. She has the energy to take a walk or two, run around the house and back yard with the kids, yet she also loves to climb up into a warm lap in the evenings.

She is such an excitable little thing. For instance, when any of us gets home at the end of the day, you are greeted like you have been gone forever. She wiggles in a half moon arch all around your legs, until you thrill her with a good scratching behind the ears, or better yet, pick her up! Since she is all of 5 pounds on a heavy day, she is toted around quite a bit!

Which leads me to my point…wouldn’t it be great if we all treated one another with that same adoration?

Brrr....

It's cold outside. Brrr. The leaves are falling, and the crisp, crunchy sound they make as we walk across the yard means it's time to start thinking of the holidays! The HOLIDAYS? (Cue the sound of a record being scratched to a sudden stop)
It's hard to believe that next week is Thanksgiving! Ya know, most of the time I love Thanksgiving more than Christmas! At Thanksgiving we all get together, those of us that can, and some odds and ends of us too.. and we all bring a dish to a wonderful feast. There are no big decorations for this event. No major lines to stand in to purchase our turkey for .10 cents a pound if we are the first ten in line at the grocery store.
Its a time to catch up on the latest family news; a time to be thankful. A day to just overall, relax.
Usually I spend part of the Thanksgiving day perfecting my strategy for Black Friday. I must admit in the past, it was a ritual. Friends/family and I would get together and plot and plan. Who was going to stand where and what treasure was the goal?
I'm wondering what it will be like this year. The news spills nothing but doom and gloom for our economy. However, the soldiers are back with heavy wallets. I think here in Clarksville, it will be a good day for local retailers.
I'm not sure if I will go out early this year. Right now, the idea of staying home in the warmth of my pj's with family around me sounds really good.
Maybe we will all be able to focus more on the relationships we have formed, are forming, and continue to nurture this year. After all, what matters most is the time we spend together. Those priceless memories that can conjure up a smile on the dreariest of days - that is what I want to work on this holiday season.