Hello to all,
Hope your Christmas Holiday is filled with much love and many blessings this year.
It's been a rough few months for me but when I get over this latest episode of stomach contents aspiration in my lungs and sinus cavities, I'll be OK once more.
I am looking forward to Christmas with anticipation this year unlike last year after the death of family members. Five family members and a friend within two years was a little hard on me last year. OK enough of that and on to something else.
I've made gifts as I usually do for my children and grandchildren. But this year it's taken a different direction for some of them. I have been such a lucky person to find jewelry items on eBay to bid then win for .99 cents with free shipping. Awaiting the arrival of the ladies and girls pieces is hard as I am anxious to see if I did the right thing by buying them.
Being under the weather so to speak has dampened my decorating the outside of my apartment for the contest this year. The judging will be on the 20th so I still have some time. After winning first place the first year and second place last year, I'm not sure if I will win any place this year. I'm not the kind of person to want it all and would like to see someone else win. But I'd like to see them put forth the effort to do so. I think we all know it takes a lot of planning and hard work to decorate the outside of our homes for the holidays. I'm hoping I can get a family member to take pictures this year for me. They are all so busy with their own families that it's hard to plan a right time to photograph the results of stringing lights and decorating. If I do I'll share the results with you all.
I sincerely hope we all take time to reflect on the reason we celebrate this time of year. May we ever be mindful of all the blessings we've been given in this country that others in far lands are unable to have. Pray for our military persons serving and away from their families this holiday. The sacrifice they make for our country and keeping us a free nation deserves much more than they're given in return.
Now for a little back then reflection.
When I was growing up on the farm we didn't have Christmas because we were a large family. There was no finances to support having one as my father farmed to make a living and it barely supported us. The first time I saw what Christmas was all about was beyond my young minds comprehension. A man named Santa Claus brought good boys and girls toys and stockings filled to the brim with goodies. Homes were decorated with trees and lights and such things I'd never seen. This all happened when I went to school at 6 years old. There was no kindergarten back then. Riding the bus to school, I saw yard after yard full of the most beautiful sights I'd ever seen. We got on the bus early and it was still dark enough for the lights to stand out and people awoke early back in those days, turned them on and went about their morning routines then turned them off before leaving for work. I thought it was the most beautiful sight I'd ever seen but didn't understand why we didn't have the same in our yard. It was explained as we aren't made of money and all that does is make the light bill go up. Like I'd understand that concept at 5 years old. I was learning abc's, numbers, and words, not finances. Well it was a big disappointment that we never had the experience of all that Christmas represents in a worldly sense. But I sure had an education about the real reason for having Christmas. We would sit around the fireplace shelling pecans or peanuts and would hear all about it. There was no story of The Night Before Christmas read to us. We had the Bible version of Christmas.
Now I realize that my parents were doing the best they could with having 7 children and living in a 1 bedroom house built by my father. Having 4 children of my own and ending up as a single mother was an eye opener for me about struggling to make ends meet with no outside help. Yet I made it through those years with 2 of my children graduating with honors and the other 2 graduating. Even though statistics were against my parents and myself for raising a family, we all turned out to be some pretty good people if I must say myself. So with an understanding of what it takes to raise a family, I began to understand how difficult and heartbreaking it must have been for my parents to not have the means to give us Christmas as everyone else around us had. And I came out well in spite of never having Christmas while growing up/
I am in a skype group that crafts while skyping. We were talking about Christmas and I was reluctant to join the conversation because of my lack of Christmas as a child. When the subject of stockings came up and everyone was talking about what they got in theirs, I simply said I didn't get a stocking at Christmas. No one said anything nut.. when my swap package came from one of the ladies, I pulled out a very big stocking and tears came to my eyes. I didn't want to burst out sobbing so I played it up as such a big stocking it went to my armpit as I put my hand in it. I knew what the box full of goodies was all about and the items to craft with also. I tried so hard to remain composed during the taping of my video but when I finished it and turned the camera off. I broke down and sobbed my heart out for all those years as a small child without Christmas and a sweet generous lady who cared enough sent me Christmas in a box along with our swap assignments.
I am so fortunate to have these women in my life and as my friends. I am blessed to know them all and be able to talk with them as scattered all over the world that we are. We make videos of things to share with others on You Tube and if you'd like a glimpse into that part of me, I am thegmaw on You Tune and have a few videos of stuff I've done. I still have to make a video of the rest of our swap and I'm waiting on one last package to do that one. So have a look at them if you would like and until next time I leave you with just this....Alice
Hope your Christmas Holiday is filled with much love and many blessings this year.
It's been a rough few months for me but when I get over this latest episode of stomach contents aspiration in my lungs and sinus cavities, I'll be OK once more.
I am looking forward to Christmas with anticipation this year unlike last year after the death of family members. Five family members and a friend within two years was a little hard on me last year. OK enough of that and on to something else.
I've made gifts as I usually do for my children and grandchildren. But this year it's taken a different direction for some of them. I have been such a lucky person to find jewelry items on eBay to bid then win for .99 cents with free shipping. Awaiting the arrival of the ladies and girls pieces is hard as I am anxious to see if I did the right thing by buying them.
Being under the weather so to speak has dampened my decorating the outside of my apartment for the contest this year. The judging will be on the 20th so I still have some time. After winning first place the first year and second place last year, I'm not sure if I will win any place this year. I'm not the kind of person to want it all and would like to see someone else win. But I'd like to see them put forth the effort to do so. I think we all know it takes a lot of planning and hard work to decorate the outside of our homes for the holidays. I'm hoping I can get a family member to take pictures this year for me. They are all so busy with their own families that it's hard to plan a right time to photograph the results of stringing lights and decorating. If I do I'll share the results with you all.
I sincerely hope we all take time to reflect on the reason we celebrate this time of year. May we ever be mindful of all the blessings we've been given in this country that others in far lands are unable to have. Pray for our military persons serving and away from their families this holiday. The sacrifice they make for our country and keeping us a free nation deserves much more than they're given in return.
Now for a little back then reflection.
When I was growing up on the farm we didn't have Christmas because we were a large family. There was no finances to support having one as my father farmed to make a living and it barely supported us. The first time I saw what Christmas was all about was beyond my young minds comprehension. A man named Santa Claus brought good boys and girls toys and stockings filled to the brim with goodies. Homes were decorated with trees and lights and such things I'd never seen. This all happened when I went to school at 6 years old. There was no kindergarten back then. Riding the bus to school, I saw yard after yard full of the most beautiful sights I'd ever seen. We got on the bus early and it was still dark enough for the lights to stand out and people awoke early back in those days, turned them on and went about their morning routines then turned them off before leaving for work. I thought it was the most beautiful sight I'd ever seen but didn't understand why we didn't have the same in our yard. It was explained as we aren't made of money and all that does is make the light bill go up. Like I'd understand that concept at 5 years old. I was learning abc's, numbers, and words, not finances. Well it was a big disappointment that we never had the experience of all that Christmas represents in a worldly sense. But I sure had an education about the real reason for having Christmas. We would sit around the fireplace shelling pecans or peanuts and would hear all about it. There was no story of The Night Before Christmas read to us. We had the Bible version of Christmas.
Now I realize that my parents were doing the best they could with having 7 children and living in a 1 bedroom house built by my father. Having 4 children of my own and ending up as a single mother was an eye opener for me about struggling to make ends meet with no outside help. Yet I made it through those years with 2 of my children graduating with honors and the other 2 graduating. Even though statistics were against my parents and myself for raising a family, we all turned out to be some pretty good people if I must say myself. So with an understanding of what it takes to raise a family, I began to understand how difficult and heartbreaking it must have been for my parents to not have the means to give us Christmas as everyone else around us had. And I came out well in spite of never having Christmas while growing up/
I am in a skype group that crafts while skyping. We were talking about Christmas and I was reluctant to join the conversation because of my lack of Christmas as a child. When the subject of stockings came up and everyone was talking about what they got in theirs, I simply said I didn't get a stocking at Christmas. No one said anything nut.. when my swap package came from one of the ladies, I pulled out a very big stocking and tears came to my eyes. I didn't want to burst out sobbing so I played it up as such a big stocking it went to my armpit as I put my hand in it. I knew what the box full of goodies was all about and the items to craft with also. I tried so hard to remain composed during the taping of my video but when I finished it and turned the camera off. I broke down and sobbed my heart out for all those years as a small child without Christmas and a sweet generous lady who cared enough sent me Christmas in a box along with our swap assignments.
I am so fortunate to have these women in my life and as my friends. I am blessed to know them all and be able to talk with them as scattered all over the world that we are. We make videos of things to share with others on You Tube and if you'd like a glimpse into that part of me, I am thegmaw on You Tune and have a few videos of stuff I've done. I still have to make a video of the rest of our swap and I'm waiting on one last package to do that one. So have a look at them if you would like and until next time I leave you with just this....Alice
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