Resolutions

It's that time of year again when we start thinking of the things we need to improve upon.  This time of year it is always on my mind for days, until I settle on 2 or 3 things that I can and want to commit to.   It has made me realize that I am extremely satisfied with my life.  I am healthy and able to participate in the physical activities that I enjoy.  I have a good job that I think was truly meant for me.  I have a great relationship with my son - who is the light of my life. I have a perfect (for me) marriage to the love of my life (somewhat recent re-discovery).  I have the gospel - which only enhances all of these things.  I am very blessed.  So. . . my choices of resolutions are based on the fact that I need to work more on being worthy of so many blessings.  With that in mind, I will resolve to:

1.  Study more regularly and more deeply the gospel (ie: scriptures, Ensign etc.)

2.  Step up the temple attendance.

3.  Try and help fix the rift between Kathy and Mom once and for all.

The first two should be fairly simple (mainly discipline) - the 3rd will be more difficult and will probably require a small miracle and any extra blessings HE will hand out.

10 Things I Love About Christmas

1. The Commonality - everyone (seemingly everyone) is celebrating something during this month of the year, which creates an anticipation in the air. I think because of these meaningful holidays people are generally nicer and more outgoing.

2. Decorations - the lights and pretty colors of Christmas can improve almost any surrounding. For those people who put in the extra effort on their houses and yards - I really appreciate it!

3. Greetings - I love to hear people say "Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Happy Hanukkah or Happy Kwanzaa" or whatever. I just love that at this time of the year people say something! I love the acknowledgement that we give others at this time of year, because for some reason we don't for the other 11 months.

4. Christmas specific treats - this applies to things like Egg Nog, Christmas Cookies, Fudge, Dreams (some of you South Weber people know what I'm talking about), Pumpkin Roll etc. . . It seems like we go to a little extra effort to prepare these items because it's Christmas.

5. Cheesy apparel - at this time of the year you see some awesome sweaters, ties, socks and shirts, not to mention the accessories like earrings, necklaces or pins. I get a kick out of all of it!

6. Christmas Music! - I love that we are all listening to the Christmas station in our cars and at the stores they pipe in the holiday tunes for us. We all get to break out our Christmas CD's and everyone is humming some kind of Christmas favorite. It just adds to the feeling of togetherness.

7. Memories - I love that each of us have our own Christmas memories. Sometimes we want to share them, sometimes we don't, but we each have them to cherish. Sometimes we want to try and recreate them for our kids, or to remind our parents of this one, or to tease our siblings about that one, or maybe to honor someone we love that we have lost. It seems like a time of year for reminiscing.

8. Car Decorations - I wish I had some. I think these are the folks that have gone the extra mile. Car decorations are proof that they like Christmas more than the average person.

9. Christmas Movies - I love "It's a Wonderful Life" and "A Christmas Story" and "A Christmas Carol" as well as "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" and the rest of the holiday cartoons that were so prevalent in my youth. They make the season more complete and they all share a common message - that Christmas has a deeper meaning than the commercial.

10. Time Off - I love that things shut down for Christmas. Most people get time off to spend with family. Everything family is acceptable and encouraged at this time of year.

A disappointing Christmas

When I was 10 and in 4th grade I had a friend named Shawn Neal. I used to go over to her house occasionally. On one of those occasions pretty close to Christmas I learned a big lesson. When we got to Shawn's house I marvelled at her family's pretty Christmas tree and the many presents under it. She asked me if I wanted to see what she was getting for Christmas. Of course, I said I was. She then proceeded to open each and every gift addressed to her. She was very careful, if not expert in her peeling back of the tape - careful not to tear the wrapping paper. She slid the box carefully out of the paper, opened it and looked inside. Then, after having looked the gift over thoroughly, gingerly slid it back into the paper (the two other tapes still fastened) and proceeded to fold and re-tape the end. No one would even be able to tell she had done anything. We looked at each item she would receive that upcoming Christmas morning. It felt sneaky and undeniably exciting.

When I was walking home from Shawn's house I remember thinking how I couldn't wait to get home and see what I would be getting for Christmas. I did the exact same thing with each and every present addressed to me. I was very careful. No one ever caught me - no one ever suspected a thing. But, on Christmas morning I already knew what was in every box. I had one surprise and that was my gift from Santa, which I don't even remember now. But I do remember what a disappointment that particular Christmas was. I never did that again. The lesson that I learned was that part of the joy of Christmas is the anticipation of it. I learned to savor that anticipation. So, yes I do like to try and guess my presents, shake them, feel them and even to look for hidden packages around the house. But, I really don't want to know what I am getting - I just like building the feeling of anticipation.

SNOW!

It is snowing in Houston today! It was 80 yesterday and today we have snow! No, it isn't sticking (I know all you snow veterans are asking) but that doesn't mean it isn't snowing right now!

Christmas Letters

My husband and I used to make fun of Christmas letters. They just seemed so annoyingly perky and like the person was bragging about their family, accomplishments and how great life is for them. The letters sometimes make it seem as if nothing bad ever happens in these peoples lives.
So, last night I completed our annual Christmas letter. (I know, it seems hypocritical doesn't it?) I think I mentioned we "used to make fun" of them, we don't anymore. Now, we almost always find them enjoyable. We live far away from both of our families and lots of our friends. We don't get to see the people we love all that often and the annual letters (in both directions) help us to feel a part of the lives of the people that we miss. I know that bad things do happen to these people and to us - but is a Christmas letter really the right forum for bad news? As for the bragging - it is just a highlight of the previous year and therefore seems natural that those highlights would be "positive" things (ie: accomplishments). Basically, I am now defending the annual Christmas letter. It is too hard to write to each person we send Christmas cards to telling them what is going on in our lives. Since we have lived in a number of places - we send out a lot of cards. But - it is still important for my Aunt in Idaho or Cory's old work associate in California to know that we think of them and feel it is important enough to let them know how we are faring in Houston, how we spend our time and how our son is growing up. But most of all to let them know that at this special time of year we remember them, love them and wish them the season's best. I know that we enjoy feeling those sentiments from the letters that we receive!

Passwords

Lately I seem to be confused. I have all these passwords for different things. Things on the computer here at home (accounts and such) and things on the computer at work, for my debit card, for my library card and even for this blog. I try to use the same password all the time so that I can remember it. The confusion comes when I have to change my password - like at work periodically. At times like that I do a variation on my normal password. There are also some places where a password is required where you have to meet certain requirements like a number, capitalization or exclamation mark mixed in some how. I swear I have about 20 situations where I need a password and I am getting more and more confused all the time. I can't remember which one goes with which account or which variation I used. Sometimes I find myself sitting at a computer for 30 seconds with a blank look on my face trying to decipher which password I need to recall. And then sometimes I have to try 4 or 5 variations on my "regular" password to get the right one. This gets ugly when you are only allowed 2 or 3 attempts. Does anyone else have this problem - or better yet, a solution?

SAT on Sat

My son takes the SAT this Saturday. I feel a little nervous for him. I don't really think he has any idea about how important it really is. Actually, it is like a ticket. A ticket into college - if he does well he will have a ticket into the college of his choice. If he doesn't do well - Cory tells him there is always Tomball Community College. He has taken the test before - in middle school they invite the advanced students to take the test just to measure where they are. He did very well then, and I'm hoping that he does even better now that he has learned more of the subject matter. This being his first time taking the actual test - we will all know a little bit more about where we stand in our college planning for him. Wish him luck - or say a prayer for him. He will take the ACT the following weekend. Then we will wait anxiously for the results - we will wait to know what opportunities will be open to him.

When to Decorate

There seems to be some question about when it is acceptable to decorate for Christmas, at least in my family. Growing up we always had to wait until after the 20th (my brother's birthday) to decorate. I hated it! I wanted lights and pretty decorations up as soon as Thanksgiving was over. There are tons of December birthdays in my family, and the thought was that they should not be short changed or lumped in with Christmas. They should be able to have a birthday that stands alone. But my mom would then leave the decorations up well into February - ignoring the fact that my birthday was spent amid Christmas decorations (it's in January). Another one of those unfair trivialities from childhood. My mother is still annoyed by the fact that Christmas music is played in stores and decorations are up right after Halloween. I say the longer they are there the better! I love the anticipation of it all. But when Christmas is over - I want all things Christmas down and put away post haste! I say to each his own - enjoy the seasons decorations whenever or wherever you wish. I am putting mine up today!