Thanksgiving is Thursday, and the day after starts my favorite four weeks of the entire year. No, not the shopping season. I hate shopping. But I love Christmas!
I'll wait until the turkey is digested, but I'm already starting to mentally reconfigure my living room to find the best place to put my Christmas tree. I adore decorating for Christmas. I make a big deal of it, too. I turn some Christmas music on, light an apple cinnamon scented candle and threaten death and dismemberment if anyone dares touch the TV remote. By the time I'm finished, I will be so glad to be done and that evening after I've sent the kids to bed, I'll turn off all the lights in the house except the Christmas tree. I'll probably fix a cup of decaf or hot tea, and I'll sit in the dark and stare at that tree and think of how blessed I am. And I'll probably remember Christmases past.
It's on my mind now anyway. WBBQ is already playing nonstop Christmas music, ads are everywhere and it's almost Thanksgiving. Plus, Catie left my photo albums out and I smiled when I saw the Christmas ones.
I thought I'd share a few. Now I want to raid my mom's photo albums, too!
This one sums up all the Christmases of my youth. Or all Christmases until 2001, when my Nanny died. This picture would have been taken midmorning-Christmas, maybe 2000. I'm thinking this may have been our last Christmas at Nanny's. That's me under all that hair, smiling down at Christopher's little overalled self. Maybe he was dancing? Joey's on my right, and my cousin Amy is beside him. Uncle Lester is on my left. But look at all the presents! This was Christmas at Nanny's and it was my favorite part of the holiday. Me and Rhonda, my parents, my aunts and uncle and my cousins would all converge on Nanny's house about 10 a.m. Christmas morning, after we all had a chance to do our own Santa Clause Christmas thing. Dinner would be kept warm in the kitchen and spread out on the dining room table, and we'd spend about two hours around the tree opening presents.
Uncle Roy was meticulous about being Santa, and he took his job very seriously. Each person got only one present at a time, and you didn't get another one until everyone else had a chance to open one. Not only that, but each present had to be opened and appropriately oohed and ahhhed over before the next present could be opened. He was also careful about not making the kids wait too long between presents, so they didn't get bored.
That's Uncle Roy in the Santa hat.
And that's Nanny holding Catie.
Here's a couple from the next year at our house. I'm adding them here because they are cute!
Christopher
Catie and Grandma Pat
Catie. Is she bobbing for presents?? Rhonda's keeping her from diving off.
Wish the kids Happy Thanksgiving
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