Through the Years...

Nostalgia sets in for me around Christmas time. As I helped my Mom take down our Christmas tree last night, I was reminded of so many specific times in my life. Each ornament had a past and a story to tell. Since I wasn't home when the tree was being decorated, my time to reflect came as it was coming down.

There were a few ornaments that represented my first dog who passed away two years ago this April. There were the horrible handmade ornaments I made in pre-school that my Mom still feels the need to hang on the tree (and in all honesty, I'd miss if they weren't there). My Grandmother had started a series of ornaments for us years ago, and as much as I've complained about finding the right box for each of them over the years, I'd give anything for her to be here continuing that series. But as quickly as they went up, they are now coming down to live another year in storage.

This Christmas was wonderful. I love spending time with my family. I love visiting my Meme and Papa in Charlotte. I wish I could bottle the feeling I have on Christmas day and save it for the times throughout the year when I need a pick me up.

However, for the first time every, I realized my Meme and Papa have gotten old. This may sound strange, but the mind plays tricks on you, and in my 24 years, I've always seen them the same way I did when I was young - energetic, lively, etc. Now don't get me wrong, they are still that way. For their age, their doing well above average, I'm just not ready for that to change. My Meme hair is almost completely white, but she's still beautiful. My Papa, however, is who I'm most worried about. His memory is going and it scares me. The doctors say "oh it's just old age" but when you have to remind someone to put on their shoes, it's not old age. He is also becoming increasingly negative - to the point that people don't want to be around him, and it breaks my heart. He has to be told the same thing over and over again, and if he doesn't write it down or do it right then, he'll forget again. I can't even make myself discuss what the problem might be - I just can't. My Meme doesn't know what to do and breaks down in tears just talking about it, and she doesn't cry very easily. They have been married for 53 years and have the kind of love that I hope to find one day, so watching her deteriorate with him is even harder to watch.

Now that the tree is down and the decorations are put away, it's time to focus on the new semester and the New Year. I'm ready for it all. I'm ready to start something new and get back in the swing of things back home. The strange thing is the longer I'm away from Alabama, the more I want to get back there....my how things change.

Let it be Christmas!

I can't believe it's only 3 days til Christmas!

We're leaving tomorrow for North Carolina to spend the holidays with my Mom's parents and family - my Meme and Papa. I love going there! Since each side of my family lives so far away from each other, we alternate years. For instance, this year we went to Thanksgiving with to my Grandfather in Alabama and next year we'll go there for Christmas, and go to NC for Thanksgiving - make sense? Point being, I won't be blogging again until after Sunday, so MERRY CHRISTMAS a few days early!

I just love Christmas! I am truly one of those people who would rather give than receive. Now don't get me wrong I'm a big fan of getting gifts, but there is just something about seeing the expression of a gift recipient that makes Christmas special for me.

Going along with that, I don't make out a Christmas list - much to the dismay of my family - because I would rather get something that that person saw, thought of me and wanted me to have. I usually cave and rattle off about 3 things that I would enjoy but I'd much rather be surprised. Yes, this leads to some "out there" gifts, but it's fun. This year I'm particularly excited because I got my Dad tickets to see the Eagles. He's been a fan since he was a little boy but has never seen them live - something I've been told you have to do in your life. He has no idea, so I'm most excited about that gift this Christmas! Mom is a different story. She's not your typical woman - doesn't really care about jewelry, doesn't think she needs anything, etc. - so she's hard to shop for. She's more than happy just having me home for the holidays. However, this year I got her a hand painted picture frame and had it personalized with our last name and the year. With that I also got her a package for us to go get a family portrait made, since the last one we had made was when I was 8! I've changed a little since then, so it's time to update! I think she's going to be excited! These are their main gifts, i.e the non-asked for gifts and I can't wait!!!

Didn't mean to bore you with my Christmas shopping - I'm just so ready for Christmas I'm getting ready to bust and I had to tell someone!!! But back to the main purpose of this post:

Merry Christmas Blogging Friends!!

Jingle Bell, What!?

It's not even Halloween and yet walking into the mall you would think we were in the countdown to Christmas! Imagine my surprise when walking around in PetSmart last week I heard, Here Comes Santa Clause, Here Comes Santa Clause...over the loud speaker! Can we not get past Halloween first?

Don't get me wrong, I love the Holiday season! I mean who doesn't like a time of year when you get great food, presents, time with family and friends, and parades, I'm just not sure I want to start dancing around the Christmas just yet.


Now, that being said, one of my missions in life is to go to New York during the Christmas season and see all the decorations and look around in Macy's! I have a Macy's here, but it's not the same - great clothes, but not the same, I would imagine as the real one in NYC.

I digress! I'm not going to get hooked into Christmas mania just yet! I'm going to wait until at least November!