Put A Little Love In Your Heart

It was cloudy and cool when I headed to my tree at around 7:30AM. I'd put Linda and James Young's presents for me out the night before. Linda and James are big fans of books, and that's what I got from them this year. They gave me a PD James mystery, "An Unsutable Job For A Woman," "Penny From Heaven" about a girl from an Italian family growing up in 1953 (I love Linda's stories about growing up in a big Italian family in the 60s), the children's book "The Birdsalls," about four sisters who have s surprising summer, and the American Girl book "Felicity's Cooking Studio," a reprint of Felicity's cookbook from the early 90s with a flower-shaped cookie cutter and helpful tips.

After I unwrapped my presents, I tossed together a Banana-Coconut-Dark Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake from baking leftovers and put on A Charlie Brown Christmas and A Christmas Story. The latter is a Christmas Day staple for many, including me. A kid in 1940 Indiana wants a Red Ryder BB Gun for Christmas and will do anything and beg anyone for it. From tongues on fire poles to Santa's boot in his face, Ralphie Parker spends a classic Christmas in pursuit of what he sees as the ultimate gift.

Went over to Dad and Uncle Ken's after Christmas Story ended. Dad, Jodie, and Jessa were up and moving. Jodie gave me a comfortable brown scarf. Jessa gave me four adorable Disney stuffed animals in Christmas gear, shaped like eggs. There were Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, and Goofy. Dad gave me a lovely card made from Christmas paintings my Pop Pop, Dad and Uncle Ken's father, made before he passed away in 1998. Pop Pop was a wonderful artist. His paintings grace many walls in Uncle Ken's house. My mother admired his work. I brought Felicity to show off her new Riding Habit, and she traveled with me for much of the day.

We were later leaving than we'd planned. Poor Dad lost $110 worth of gift cards! He searched all over the house for them. He finally found them in his file cabinet drawer under the drawer in his computer desk he'd put them in! He found a gap in the back of the top drawer, and the cards must have slipped through them.

We finally headed out to Sam and David's around 11:30-12. (Jessa came later on her own.) The boys had just gotten dressed in new matching sweaters. Sam and David were preparing for their big dinner with Samantha's mother, Jane, and her husband Mario. Faith spent most of the time playing with either her new Leapfrog puppy game or the dollhouse she got for her birthday last month. She barely stopped to look at the Disney Princess Magnetic Paper Dolls I bought her or put on the pretty, fashionable pink dress she got from Dad and Jodie!

The boys were, for once, more polite. They put together the Nerf basketball hoop I gave them right away, thanked me for it nicely, and happily showed off their new Mario Galaxy 2 game.

We left right after Aunt Jane and Mario arrived. When we got home, Uncle Ken, Dolores, and several of her children and grandchildren (including Mercedes and Blake) were there. I got to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and give Uncle Ken his present from me. I usually give him a Rachel Ray cookbook. He loves Rachel Ray. Dolores said he watches her every day. Dad watched AMC's Scrooged marathon and the beginning of the 1951 A Christmas Carol. Jodie made Spaghetti Salad for her dinner with her aunt and her family.

We went to dinner around 4. Jodie's Aunt Colleen is really nice. They live in a lovely house in Mt. Ephram. I got to see Jodie's dad and meet Colleen's husband and her four teenage and college-age sons. Colleen is close to Jodie, and her sons are good friends of Jodie's two college-age boys. Her house was beautifully decorated, with two large trees and lots of ornaments and Christmas figures. I admired the decorations and talked about record collections with Colleen when I noticed she had a Victrola like the one I used to own.

We had a very tasty dinner. There was ham and turkey breast, pasta salad, potato salad, cole slaw, Jodie's spaghetti salad, green bean casserole, home-made sausage stuffing, and stuffed shells. I had everything but the pasta and potato salads.

After dinner, we played a dice game called Left, Right, Center. Everyone starts with three dollars. You roll a dice that has a dot, an L, an R, and a C. If you get a L, you hand the person to your left a dollar. If you get a R, the dollar goes to your right. "C" means the dollar goes in the middle. A dot means you do nothing. We had a good time playing. Jodie's dad eventually won the pot, but it was fun.

The news ran all during the game. We joined the teenagers for a rather startling newscast. Seems some winter weather may be heading our way. There's a big snowstorm making its way across the south right now...and it may be even bigger when it gets to us tomorrow. I agree with Dad (who has been a sailor for 40 years and ought to know) that it'll probably hit coastal areas worse than us. Channel 3 was calling for anything from 4-18 inches of snow, but I suspect the 3-7 inches that the National Weather Service Predicted is more likely.

Dad, Jodie, and I rode home around 6:30. I spent the rest of a quiet evening crocheting, eating a small bowl of Edy's Peppermint Ice Cream, and watching the touching 1972 TV movie The House Without A Christmas Tree. Ironically, like A Christmas Story, this also deals with a memorable Christmas for a child living in the 40s. In this case, smart Addie wants a Christmas tree badly, but her dad says no. Like Ralphie, Addie comes up with some creative ways of getting what she wants, but they just upset her dad more...until a kind gesture of Addie's teaches her dad a bit about the Christmas spirit.