FAVORITE CHRISTMAS MEMORIE(S)

Let me see, my favorite Christmas memory...Immanuel Lutheran Church children's Christmas Eve
Service...The Children's Choir annual radio broadcast on WTMJ...walking home from Audrey's
house late Christmas Eve in the snow...driving down to Lake Drive to see all the decorations...
Christmas carolling at Muirdale Sanitarium...Wayne and my first Christmas tree...the year we had
our first, second, third and fourth child and the wonder of Christmas in their eyes...the years we
really had to struggle to put gifts under the tree...the year Eileen wrapped up presents from her
dresser drawers in my towels that were in the clothes hamper.. Maybe it was the year I had the
black eye for Christmas...or having everyone over for dinner...maybe it was the year Ginny put
a diaper on the turkey before we put it in the oven (she didn't like seeing the bare naked bird sitting
on the counter, waiting to be stuffed) going to my sister's for Christmas...decorating the whole house
even the bathroom (Dad always said I competed with the department stores...going to the Christmas
parade in Hollywood (Wayne said we could leave after he saw Jayne Mansfield--I said no, the kids
want to wait to see Santa Claus...the night Eileen spied Santa and his sleigh flying high in the sky
over our hills(really a helicopter patrolling the freeway) sending Wayne and the kids to the store
Christmas Eve for the milk or soda I had "forgotten" so I could let Santa in while they were gone
to place the gifts under the tree. The kids growing up and moving out...having kids of their own
and trees of their own...brand new eyes lighting up with Christmas joy...changes all the time. The
first Christmas without my dad,then my Mom and then my husband...then the great grandbabies
started to come...more little eyes reflecting the Christmas lights and sitting on Santa's lap crying.
None of these things are my favorite memories, all of them are my favorite memories.

Christmas is my favorite time of the year--nothing else even comes close. The stores are decorated
as well as the parking lots, Christmas music fills the air, everyone (well, almost everyone) feels
the warmth and the fuzziness of the season. I LOVE CHRISTMAS I hate it that on the 26th, the
music stops, Christmas trees are discarded on the curb, the hustle and bustle is gone and so is the
warm fuzzy feeling. My wish for all of us is to maintain that feeling throughout the year.

Sorry, Melanie, I can't pick a "favorite" but if you bear with me, I will expand on some of the things
I mentioned before. I will start with Christmas when I was a little girl.

Of course, we lived in Milwaukee and it seems as if everyone there celebrated with gift opening on
Christmas Eve. Christmas day was reserved for visiting friends and families and they visiting us.
Of course, no artificial trees, no one (except the very wealthy) had them. It was Santa's job to
decorate the tree when he brought Christmas gifts. Of course, sometimes dads helped out a bit,
like putting the tree in the stand. The houses in those days were not the wide open living spaces
we see today. Most of the time you could close off the "parlor" (I think it was to conserve heat)
so about a week before Christmas the doors were shut and may mysterious comings and goings
of parents were observed. Nothing we could talk about you understand. Every night on the radio
we would listen to Billie the Brownie from Schusters and also Gimbie and Ellie the Christmas
elephants from Gimbels and they would be in contact with Santa Claus and would read letters on
the radio from boys and girls who had written to Santa. Then on Christmas Eve they would track
down Santa as he flew down from the North Pole. There was the Christmas Parade that travelled
across Milwaukee (decorated Street Cars) which was sponsored by Schusters and was routed past
the 3 Schuster dept. stores. The last car was Santa and his live reindeer. Of course this was just
Snta's Helper, because the "real" Santa was hard at work at the North Pole. The department stores
all went out of their way with their window displays. Animated scenes enough to make your eyes
pop out. At least one evening before Christmas we would go downtown and walk from one end
of Wisconsin Ave downtown section and go from window to window.

Christmas eve would see us all go to church and while we were there Santa would visit our home.
I went to the school at the church and the christmas eve service was the school children's program
We would sing the Christmas cantata which was the Christmas story we are all so familiar with, almost
word for word, with breaks inbetween for the children to get up infront of the Church to say their
"pieces" The higher up in the grades you were, the more of the Cantata you were a part of. my mom
always told about my kindergarten year when I had a "piece" to say. I was first with 11 classmates
following me. I said my "piece" then I said theirs and then we all sat down. Oh well, I guess I was
always a show-off.

Then home to open presents. Of course we always left milk and cookies an d "sugar for the reindeer"
My dad always said he KNEW Santa preferred beer and cookies, but my mom said no, after all he
had a lot of houses to stop at. This was before Rudolph was born.

I think this is enough reminiscing for now. I will share more Christmas feelings in a couple of days.
AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT

'TWAS THE WEEK.............

before Christmas...the weather was cold..."gives you the holiday feeling"...people were told...that was
on Monday...when snowflakes first fell...on the north end of the city...not here where I dwell...
Tuesday dawned...so bright and so pretty...a bit chilly, it's true...that's life in this city...On Wednesday
they said...expect a lot more...I don't think we knew...what was really in store!...It started around
noon...just a swirl here and there...so I went to the church...to spend the afternoon there...
darker and darker...it soon was a storm...so I hurried on home...to be safe and warm...I made footprintw
in the snow...from my car to my door...an hour later...you could see them no more...it snowed thru
the night...a sight to behold...but to my surprise...I was still very cold...my furnace decided...to gop
out on strike...so I crawled under the covers...for the rest of the night...a "snow day" was called
NO SCHOOL the kids cried, we'll play in the snow...it's really cool outside...the end of my story...i"m
happy to say...this is the desert...I like it this way. HAPPY SNOW DAY, HENDERSON STYLE
Accumulation at Railroad Pass 8 inches.

thanksgiving, 2008

Whew! What a week. I decided to spend Thanksgiving 2008 in sunny So. Calif this year. Not really liking
traveling on holidays, I planned to leave Nevada on Tues morning and then return home on Saturday. hoping
to avoid the worst of the traffic. I was a little nervous too as Beth has moved to Corona, and I wasn't too
sure of the way to her house.

I got away from Henderson around 10 am and traffic was moderate, but moving, that is until we got just
past the state line. Then for a long period of time there was construction, stop and go traffice and finally
narrowed down to one lane. I am glad they are working on that section of the road as returning to Nv.
that section is steep and winding downhill, and a tad scary. Once we were past the construction area,
traffic moved along nicely, that is until we got near the agricultural checkpoing. Stop and go for at least
15 minutes and for no reason, they don't check a thing and then wave you on as if you are to blame for
the traffic tie-up. Well, obviously this trip is taking a lot longer than I had planned, but still I had left enough
time so I would get there well before dark. I was listening to a book on tape, so it was a pleasant drive.

I finally got to Corona and took the turn-off Beth told me to take, overshot the dirt road to her house, but
just made a u-turn and all was well, except, Beth did not give me an address or a street name. She
told me it was a blue house (it's gray) and after a few phone calls, I found it. By now it is 2:30 AND I
have to pee. The key was under the mat, and the bathroom was right by the door. Thank you God.
Oops, the water has been shut off. Wiped my hands on my pants and proceeded to unload my car.
I had brought some beer and I was going to put it in the fridge, so six pack in hand I head for the kitchen
and the next thing I knew I was flat down on the floor. Seems there is a 2 inch level difference from the
hall to the kitchen I couldn't see. The beer flew out of my hands, but fortunately didn't break. I knew I
wasn't really hurt but due to a fall many years ago (again in Calif) I had sustained a soft tissue injury
to both knees and have not been able to get down on my knees since, so therefore you know, if you
can't get on your knees you have to yell HELP, I'VE FALLEN AND I CANT GET UP. I called Beth and
asked her if Melanie was on her way and Beth was unable to reach her. She only lives about 10 minutes
away. I tried to pull myself up by the counter, no such luck, scooted on my bottom to the couch and
coffee table again, failure. Oh well, I still had the beer and if I waited long enough help would come or
I wouldn't care. Some guy came and turned the water back on and I called out and asked him to come
in and help me and I guess I scared him off. Pretty soon Melanie arrived and Henry and Cheryl were
visiting her so help had arrived. With Cheryl on one side and Henry on the other I was soon on my
feet, a bit shaken and embarrassed, but okay. I guess I will watch that step from now on.

Spent the rest of the afternoon with Mel and the kids and then when Beth came home, we decided to
go to dinner (mexican food) Beth, Mel, Maggie and me. Then home and to bed. Long, long day.

Wed I went with Melanie and the kids to someplace hundreds of miles away from Corona (or so it seemed)
as Melanie had an appointment with her Orthopedic surgeon, and Luke, Gavin, Mags and I waited in the
car while she saw the doctor. Melanie must have threatened those kids with instant death because they
were so good, I was almost bored. We went back to Melanies and spent the afternoon and then Brian
came home and Beth and Tony came and we ordered dinner from Pizza Hut. the pasta dinners, very good.

Thursday, Thanksgiving, we had gotted dinner already prepared from Albertsons, Beth made extra potatoes
dressing and sweet potatoes and we had a feast fit for a king. Brian, Mel, the kids, Elaine, Beth Tony and
myself for dinner and then Shannon Erick and the girls came over for dessert. The children entertained us
with dances, from heavy metal to the chicken dance. What fun.

Friday, Beth and Mel did the shopping thing at 4:30 am, Not me. I stayed in bed until 7 then got up showered
dressed and they came home about 10:30, got lots of bargains, so then we went to Coco's for lunch.
elaine had stayed the night at Brians and so he too went shopping and she stayed with the kids. We kind
of kicked back the rest of the day, after all it had been a busy week. Mel came over with Maggie, Brian
had taken the boys to see Madagascar. She wanted leftovers. She had to go to Walmart so Maggie
stayed with us. She stood up and walked from the living room to the bedroom (her first long solo journey)
and the next thing we knew she was sitting backwards on Katies Christmas present. She couldn't go
anywhere as half o the toy was in a box. There's no stopping her now that she can walk. The bathroom
is her favorite destination.

Okay,by now I am worn out just watching the kids play and made it an early night. Saturday morning
Beth made breakfast, French toast, scrambled eggs, sausasege and grapes and juice and the Catalano
family joined us. Then it was time to hit the road. I had such a great time and enjoyed getting to spend
as much time as I did with the Catalano family.

the trip back took about 3 and a half hours and I unloaded the car and was thankful that it was a safe trip.
Leaving on Sat the traffic again was moderate but mostly moving except for the 24 miles before Baker.
Stop and go and then smooth sailing the rest of the way. With gas prices down, I spent $26 for gas.
Not bad.

Looking forward to the coming Holiday Season. Love you all!