12 Days of Christmas

If you add all the gifts of the carol "The 12 Days of Christmas" together, you end up with 364 gifts! I find that completely ironic...or is it? Is not every single day of the year, a gift to us? Add Christmas day to the total and you won't go without one day during the year without a gift of love.

I am looking forward to hearing all the other Christmas stories still to come this year! Alfred Shaddick Burt  wrote Christmas Carols instead of  Christmas cards - Check out his story! He gave those 'songs' to his family each year. Like his songs, these 12 blogs are happy reflections of Christmas for my family. I love and appreciate living in San Diego all year long and especially at Christmastime. Please have a magical 2009 Holiday Season and enjoy of my most favorite poems:

Christmas in Beautiful San Diego County
as read By 'Captain' Mike Ambrose (RIP 9/2008) KGTV each Christmas Eve

‘Twas the night before Christmas and all through our town,
No noses were frozen, no snow fluttered down.
No children in flannels were tucked into bed,
They all wore their shorty pajamas instead.
To find wreaths of holly was not very hard,
For holly trees sprouted right in the back yard
In front of the houses were daddys and moms,
Admiring the bushes and beautiful palms.
The slumbering kiddies were dreaming in glee,
And hoped they’d find water skis under the tree.
They all knew that Santa was well on his way
In a Mercedes-Benz: instead of a sleigh.

And soon he arrived and started to work;
He hadn’t a second to linger or shirk.
He whizzed o’er the highways and zoomed up the road
In a shiny new sports car delivering his load.
The tropical moon gave the city a glow
And lighted the way for Santa below.

As he jumped in the auto he gave a wee chuckle;
He was dressed in Bermudas with an Ivy League buckle.
There weren’t many chimneys - but that caused no gloom,
For Santa came in through the patio room.
He stopped at each house, staying only a minute,
And lightened his sack of the gifts that were in it.

Before he parted he treated himself
To a glass of orange juice left on the shelf
Then he turned with a jerk and bounced back to the car,
Remembering he still had to go very far.
He stepped on the gas and put it in gear
And drove throughout town singing with cheer.

And I heard him exclaim as he went on his way.
“Merry Christmas San Diego County, I wish I could Stay!”

Fruitcake!

When I was in High School we sang a Christmas song called FRUITCAKE! Yes, we were dressed in the outfits above and 'acted out' parts of the song. My part was 'Cinnamon'. There were the flour guys (Basses) and then the nuts and so on...It was so much fun! Speaking of Fruitcake - I am so lucky because I have a hand-written recipe for Mary Farmer's Fruitcake. I was cooking recently, and noticed that I have used the same recipe cards over and over for so many years. I got most of them at my wedding shower. When I cook the recipe, I look at that handwriting- my grandmother's, my mom's, my sisters...and really enjoy the 'home made' component of a hand-written recipe. Anyway, in this day and age everything is on the computer - and a good thing too! I lose stuff. Once it is here, hopefully, I'll never lose it again....


Fruitcake:
1 lb of light raisins
1/2 lb pitted dates
1/2 lb walnut meats
1 lb unsalted pecans (on my paper it says unshelled? Hahahah)
1 tub of cherries and pineapple (candied and glazed)
1/4 c molasses
1/4 cup sherry wine
1 cup shortening, (Mom's note: use margarine)
1 1/4 cup brown sugar
4 large eggs
2 cups flour
1/4 t soda
1/4 t salt
1 t cinnamon
1/2 t ground cloves
1/2 t nutmeg
Mix fruits, nuts, wine and molasses. Cream butter (shortening/margarine) add sugar, beat in eggs, one at a time. (Mom's note: dice up the dates with a bit of flour to keep from sticking together.)
Transfer to a large mixing bowl and add fruit mixture and sift the dry ingredients in. (Mom's note: Mix the whole thing with your hands--it's too hard to use a spoon!) Transfer into 2 meatloaf pans. Bake at 275 degrees for 2 and 1/2 hours with a pan of water on the bottom rack in the oven. Prop open oven door when baking is completed with a wooden spoon and let cool. Once completely cooled, sprinkle with a bit more sherry and wrap in foil. Repeat sherry sprinkle 3 more times once a week. Mom's note: Save some red and green candied cherries to decorate the top of the loaf with!

Maranatha

I remember a story when I was young. I have searched for it through the years. It was about 2 poor children - brother and sister. Barely able to feed themselves, and even more rare, to have a morsel for a journey of several miles, still, the children were loving and humble. Their momma gave them a small loaf of bread to eat on their way to Midnight Mass. They were eager to go because their church had a great legend: The bells had stopped ringing years before and it was said that one Christmas they would ring again when a great gift was made at the nativity in honor of the child Jesus. The children knew a very wealthy king had come to town to attend the services there and they were anxious to see all of the majesty of his troupe. Dressed in rags and only sandals they made their way through the snow to the small village church. Once the procession began, the tradition of laying gifts at the manger would begin. Merchants would lay their finest wares on the straw, fine linens from the tailors, fine leather shoes from the cobbler and mighty weapons from the blacksmith. Each time a gift was presented everyone would pause and tip their head to listen to see if their gift might be the one. Finally at the end of the entrance procession was the royal king. As he approached his velvet robes rustled the floor. Even the organist and choir had gone silent. Surely his gift would be magnificent enough to break the silence of the bells. At the end of the aisle, the king knelt and bowed his head in prayer. After a long moment, he took from his head his very own crown. It was beautifully crafted; encrusted with dazzling gems and designed with an intricate crest of lions. The crown! It was ancient and priceless - Surely it would bring the music back to the chapel. The whole congregation held their breath and waited.

Silence came and nothing more.

Finally the pastor urged the king to take his place in the church and allow the service to proceed. It was a rather ordinary Christmas Mass with all the usual prayers, greetings and wishes. As it concluded everyone in the town was headed out the heavy wooden doors on their way back home when someone shouted - STOP! LISTEN! All the chatter died down and all the red nosed and rosy cheek towns people began to hear a beautiful sound...ding - ding--ding---Ding-Dong-Ding-DONG- DIN,DIN,DON,DON,DON and before long the whole valley was filled with a clamor and sweet chiming sound of those bells high up in the tower. Everyone was memorized for a few seconds listening when the pastor said "What sort of gift could have brought the bells to ring?" He could barely get inside of the warm church for all of the others pushing behind him including the king and all his servants. As they approached the nativity, their eyes wandered over all of the gifts, the shoes, the swords, linens, crown....but no one understood. Just then, the pastor saw and picked up a small loaf of bread and said, "Could this small gift of food, be the greatest of all the sacrifices made tonight?"
---

Well, that's sorta how I remember it! I hope you liked the story. I have many wonderful Christmas books filled with stories like this one. One of my favorite is "The Gift of the Magi" by O Henry

There are great legends associated with the 3 Wise Men, and with many others, like Good King Wenceslas and The Nutcracker. (I have collected nutcrakers each Christmas since 2004.)

This weekend is the first Sunday of Advent. Our church has entered into the season of waiting - filled with wonderful traditions. Simbang Gabi is a big one in our community as well as Posada Navidenas. I will be experiencing my first 'posada' this year in Mexico.

Maranatha is made of two Aramaic/Syrian words, maran'atah, meaning, "our Lord comes," or (treating the -a(h) ending as if for speed) "Lord, come quickly". ... December is almost here, and my 12 blog entries are almost finished - I hope you have enjoyed them!

Traditions

In this photo, G'ma Linda is talking to Ben on Christmas Eve about the nativity. She likes to place it under the tree. We have lots of special family traditions. For many years, each Christmas Eve, we always read T'was the Night Before Christmas as the last thing before bed for the kids. Mostly G'pa read, but sometimes Greg would read it, and always, we enjoyed the 'settling down for the night' part of that tradition. Another tradition I learned about was Christmas Stockings with the Murray family. WOW! Christmas socks where always filled with really great things from perfume to jewelry and candy and could be opened before everyone else awoke! Trying to remember Christ in Christmas, each year, I hang a 'Happy Birthday' banner on my tree on Christmas morning....it makes people who see it stop and ask..."whose Birthday is it?" and I get to tell them about the tradition. One of our family's best traditions...Breakfast Casserole! I grew up with that one and now it's second generation strong. YUM! You make it the night before and pop it in the oven on Christmas morning and by the time it is ready, the whole house has a wonderful aroma! Here's the recipe  - courtesy of my MOM:

1 pound of link sausage, cooked and cut in 3rds, 6 slices of white bread, cubed. 1 cup of grated cheddar cheese, 4 eggs, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/2 t dry mustard and 2 cups milk.  Layer, sausage, bread and cheese (end with a layer of cheese on top) in deep casserole. Mix wet ingredients and pour over top of the dry layers. Let stand overnight. Bake at 325 for 45 minutes.

Christmas Candy

About 2 years ago, I learned about the history of the Candy Cane. Did you know it was supposed to represent the shepherd's hook? When I was young, I remember my mom made the cooolest candy wreath! It was a plastic frame and it held 4 rows of christmas taffy. I think we ate the candy after the fourth year we had decorated with it. I wonder where that candy wreath 'frame' went? My mom used to put out the weirdest candy. I loved the peanut shaped hard candy with the peanut butter inside. Also in the dish were those layered licorice candy squares! Yum. It's so tough to watch calories at Christmas...eggnog is the best! My mother-in-law gave me the best recipe for the EASIEST Christmas bars. She calls them "Hello Dollies" Here it is:
In the bottom of a 9 x 13 glass dish melt 1/2 cup of butter (1 stick) and once melted, shaked over it 2 cups of graham cracker crumbs combined with 1/2 cup sugar and press it to the bottom of the dish. Then in layers, 1 bag of chocolate chips, and 1 bag of butterscotch chips and 1 bag of coconut flakes. Pour 1 14 ounce can of sweetened condensed milk over the whole thing and bake for 20-30 min on 325 degrees. Let rest and cut into 1 inch squares. I swear it is the easiest, richest, bar you will ever make! Try it!

Politically Incorrect

I had a friend that celebrates 'Hannimas'. It was a made up holiday just for thier family. They didn't believe in Christmas but they loved the gifts and gatherings, so they decided to marry Hannukah with Christmas and celebrate the 12 days between Hannukah and Christmas by giving Hannimas presents to each other. Now, I liked the idea and I didn't. One 'Hannimas' I said (we were at my house) "We are celebrating Jesus' Birthday"!. I didn't know about thier Hannimas and I had just heard about the whole Birthday thing and I thought that was a fun way to look at our gatherings as more of a Birthday Party than a Holiday Party.

Well, I guess I offended them. She told me later. Hmmm. That reminds me of the time I was working in a restaurant and it was December something and I said to my clients, "So, how is your Christmas going?" They looked up at me and said, "We don't celebrate Christmas". Wow. I was stupid to think everyone was Christian and was in the same world that I was in. I was also so inexperienced and young to ask them, do you celebrate Hannukah or Kwannza...? Live and Learn. This year, Hannukah begins on December 12 and ends on December 19th (according to Dr. Barry Winn.) Each year at my work, we gather at 'the holidays' to share time and fun with each other, but NEVER, EVER do we call it a Christmas Party. It is always a 'Holiday Party'. We can't be politically incorrect or insensitive or anything! There is one girlfriend that I have that always lays it on the table by announcing she is Christian and Christmas is for Christ at work. While I respect her bravery and want to be more like her, I think this season when I declare my celebration purposes, I will also ask my colleagues to tell me what is in thier hearts and allow them to feel and share with me in the same excitement I always feel. I am not discounting my religion, but want to welcome all to see there's more to this whole 'Holiday Season' than just presents or religion....

(The image above was taken in Washington DC, and can be found at http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/enlarge/washington-menorah_pod_image.html )

Happy Birthday Brother

It's my brother's Birthday tomorrow! I want to tell him Happy Birthday and I love you.

Steve has always been like Albert Einstein to me. He is smart! I know that he loves knowledge and loves family. I have so much respect for him. Here are some fun memories I have of Steve:

1. I once found a journal of Steve's in his room that read:"Yum! Yum! Chocolate Milk, I love Chocolate Milk!" (I wonder if he still loves chocolate milk so much?) [Yes, Of course I read it!]

2. I remember Steve taking apart his "See and Say" Film toy to see what was inside.

3. I remember sneaking into his room and "borrowing" his 'Peanuts' Cartoon books.

4. I remember Steve squishing our dogs face into his food and saying "EEEEAAAT IT"!

5. I remember playing football with Steve and asking him what I was supposed to do and he would say "Just get the guy with the ball".

6. I remember using clothes pins and rubber bands to shoot at the birds in the sky in Virginia.

7. I remember my brother giving me away at my wedding!

8. I remember him helping me learn about computers and telling me that 'Don't worry about the computer, you can't break it"! (That made a difference for my learning about PCs).

9. I remember Steve being so excited about his photographs and the bathroom was our 'darkroom' at home.

10. I remember taking his hair brushes at home because I could never find my own hair brush.

I love you my dear brother - you inspire me in so many ways!

Happiest Birthday to you...Love you lots!

Bird's Eye Christmas

The Man and the Birds

Now the man to whom I'm going to introduce you was not a scrooge, he was a kind, decent, mostly good man. Generous to his family, upright in his dealings with other men. But he just didn't believe all that incarnation stuff which the churches proclaim at Christmas Time. It just didn't make sense and he was too honest to pretend otherwise. He just couldn't swallow the Jesus Story, about God coming to Earth as a man. "I'm truly sorry to distress you," he told his wife, "but I'm not going with you to church this Christmas Eve." He said he'd feel like a hypocrite. That he'd much rather just stay at home, but that he would wait up for them. And so he stayed and they went to the midnight service.

Shortly after the family drove away in the car, snow began to fall. He went to the window to watch the flurries getting heavier and heavier and then went back to his fireside chair and began to read his newspaper. Minutes later he was startled by a thudding sound. Then another, and then another. Sort of a thump or a thud. At first he thought someone must be throwing snowballs against his living room window. But when he went to the front door to investigate he found a flock of birds huddled miserably in the snow. They'd been caught in the storm and, in a desperate search for shelter, had tried to fly through his large landscape window.

Well, he couldn't let the poor creatures lie there and freeze, so he remembered the barn where his children stabled their pony. That would provide a warm shelter, if he could direct the birds to it. Quickly he put on a coat, galoshes, tramped through the deepening snow to the barn. He opened the doors wide and turned on a light, but the birds did not come in. He figured food would entice them in. So he hurried back to the house, fetched bread crumbs, sprinkled them on the snow, making a trail to the yellow-lighted wide open doorway of the stable. But to his dismay, the birds ignored the bread crumbs, and continued to flap around helplessly in the snow. He tried catching them. He tried shooing them into the barn by walking around them waving his arms. Instead, they scattered in every direction, except into the warm, lighted barn.
And then, he realized, that they were afraid of him. To them, he reasoned, I am a strange and terrifying creature. If only I could think of some way to let them know that they can trust me. That I am not trying to hurt them, but to help them. But how? Because any move he made tended to frighten them, confuse them. They just would not follow. They would not be led or shooed because they feared him. "If only I could be a bird," he thought to himself, "and mingle with them and speak their language. Then I could tell them not to be afraid. Then I could show them the way to safety ... to the safe warm barn. But I would have to be one of them so they could see, and hear and understand."

At that moment the church bells began to ring. The sound reached his ears above the sounds of the wind. And he stood there listening to the bells - Adeste Fidelis - listening to the bells pealing the glad tidings of Christmas. And he sank to his knees in the snow.

-- Author Unknown --(Shared by Paul Harvey on his radio show)
---------
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God .... The Word became flesh and dwelt among us ....” (John 1:1, 14 KJV)

Pat's Personal Note: I sang with Jeff Jenkins' Church Choir (As did James Stanton) this Christmas Story in December of 1984. What a wonderful story I was introduced to. I hope you liked it.

Silent Night

Last December I went to visit my Junior High School Choir teacher. He is teaching at a different Middle School, but still working with young people as I remembered all those years back. I listened to him teach a guitar class. If you look very closely in this photo, you will see the chords to "Silent Night" on the whiteboard. Not only did he want them all to be able to play something for thier families during the school break, but he wanted them to know 'about' the song "Silent Night". He told them (us) about how the song was born from necesity--that a small village church in Austria needed a Christmas Hymn for the Mass, but the church organ had broken. In 1859 Joesf Mohr was asked to write a song that could be played on the guitar instead.
I watched as he taught his class the chords. Wonderful! What is even more amazing is that I have maintained my friendship with Jeff Jenkins since 1977. His daughter is fully grown and married now. I remember us singing a Christmas Carol called "Give me the Love of the 'Beth'lehem Child. That was always fun to sing, because we all smiled knowing he had just had a little baby daughter named Bethany. I got to sing my first solo with that group in "The Christmas Waltz".
Music is a big part of my favorite Holiday Memories - just last year we found mp3 recordings of organist Eddie Dunsteter online! Huge Music Memories there with his "Christmas Candy" album.
Top Christmas albums for me:
1. A Charlie Brown Christmas (There is no other than the Vince Guaraldi Trio to top the chart!)
2. Nat King Cole 'The Christmas Song'
3. Eddie Dunsteter 'Christmas Candy'
My absolute favorite Carols of all time are:
1. Ed Ames - The Ballad of the Christmas Donkey
2. Barbra Streisand - Jingle Bells
3. Nat King Cole 'The Christmas Song'
4. Good King Wenceslaus - Narada
5. The Carol of the Bells - instrumental
6. Do You Hear What I hear - Johnny Mathis
7. The Marvelous Toy - (A Carol we sang in Jr. High School - Thanks Mr. Jenkins)
8. Still, Still, Still
9. T'was the Birthday of a King
10. Blue Christmas - Elvis

This Christmas....

About 10 years or so ago, my dear friend Louise gave me a Christmas card with the following words on the front:
This Christmas...Mend a quarrel, Seek out a forgotten friend, Share some treasure, Give a soft answer, Encourage youth, Keep a promise, Find the time,
Listen,
Apologize if you were wrong,
Be gentle, Laugh a little, Laugh a little more,
Express your gratitude, Welcome a stranger,
Gladden the heart of a child,
Take pleasure in the beauty and wonder of the earth,
Speak your love,
Speak it again,
Speak it still once more.
----
I have saved that card all these years. You could tell it wasn't the kind of card you buy in a pack of 25 at the Sav-Ons. It was a Hallmark card she picked just for me. I loved the saying so much that I have copied it and used it in my own greetings. Christmas Cards are fun...and stressful. I remember when I was a newlywed, the tradition of sending Holiday Greeting cards began. Ah, the Christmas Card list!  I would tape the cards up on the wall and look at them as prizes! It was so cool when I could cover a large section of my apartment wall. I haven't hung up Christmas Cards on my wall in a long time. Now-a-days, they just get tossed in a box, then tossed at the end of the season (after checking for address corrections of course). Maybe this year I will read them more carefully and then hang them on the wall again, and enjoy them more than ever!

Hand-Made Ornaments

I remember my Mom's handmade ornaments when I was young. She had those old 'silk' balls. The kind you could press fancy pins with beads into on. They were beautiful...until they unraveled.
How come the sound of a glass ornament breaking or an outdoor Christmas string light bulb popping on the sidewalk as it breaks...are interesting sounds? How come I like to squeeze the corn starch box and imagine it is the snow under my boots as walk in the Virgina snow with my brother? I loved playing in the snow. We made lots of snowmen. I loved the absolute magic of watching snowflakes drift past my second story window and peacefully land on the frozen ground below. I love the silence of a snowfall.

I found this poem at Greg's grandma house after she passed away. She had it tucked away with her Christmas stationary. I think of it as a prayer she might have been saying as she was writing her cards.....

The door is on the latch tonight,

The hearth-fire is aglow
I seem to hear soft passing feet-
The Christchild in the snow.
My heart is open wide tonight For stranger, kith or kin;
I would not bar a single door Where love might enter in.

Little Cindy Lou Whoo

Some of my favorite holiday memories include watching Television specials when I was young. You know, the kind that came on only once a year? Yeah. No VHS or DVD then kids. We had a big 'stirring popcorn' popper with the glass dome that could be turned into a serving bowl. Yes! Popcorn! Yum. I remember once (after I moved out) stringing popcorn for my little rinky-dink apartment Christmas tree. I kept stabbing myself [OUCH] with the needle because of all the oil on my fingers and on the popcorn. Hmmm. Yeah, I figured out later that 'air-popped' and stale popcorn strings A LOT better!

A classic TV special is “How the Grinch Stole Christmas”. This story is special to me, not just because of the message, but because of a couple of things unique to our family. The little girl whoo that wakes up while the grinch is stealing her tree? Cindy Lou, right? Well my dear sister is like the little Cindy Lou Whoo in so many ways. I always think of her when I see that part of the show, and of course the refrain...Da-hoo Forest, Da-Hoo Doris, Welcome Welcome Christmas Day...I love you MOM! Your famous! Enjoy my favorite part of the show:

…And the Grinch with his Grinch feet ice-cold in the snow, Stood puzzling and puzzling: “How could it be so?”

“It came without ribbons! It came without tags” “It came without packages, boxes or bags!”

And he puzzled for three hours till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before!

“Maybe Christmas,” he thought, doesn't come from a store. “Maybe Christmas. . . perhaps.... means a little bit more!”

Welcome Christmas, bring your cheer. Cheer to All 'Whoos' far and near! Christmas Day is in our Grasp- So long as we have hands to clasp!

Christmas day will always be -
just as long as we have we.

Welcome Christmas while we stand
Heart to Heart and Hand in Hand.

Exerts taken from “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” by Ted Giezel a.ka Dr. Seuss

Kris Kringle

I have a friend at work that told me about their family putting up their Christmas tree this week. What gets me is the reason why...she's very sick and may not make it to Christmas. How awesome that the Christmas season is beautiful that one could dismiss even death from robbing the chance to feel the emotions, smell the smells, hear the sounds and feel the love of the Holiday Season!

The last week I have been cooking. Yes, it’s not too often that I cook full meals, after all, it’s only the three of us at home. One thing I cooked this weekend was some apples. They were good gala apples when I first bought them. Crisp, thin skin, fragrant. Well we ate quite a few of them but they had past their prime. I decided to just cut them up and put them into a sauce pan with lemon juice, sugar and cinnamon. Wow, our house smelled like the holidays! This morning, I cut up some cheep round roast and put it into the crock pot to simmer all day with some broth and tomato paste. When I got home, the whole house smelled like happiness and Greg was right there making a sauce from the drippings! Inspired! I definitely associate, pine, pumpkin and cinnamon with Christmas and I love the way those smells make me feel inside.

I was thinking about Christmas a lot this week. Have you ever heard of 'Kris Kringling'? We learned about it at Marriage Encounter. The idea is that you visit the houses of people you care about and leave them little gifts without telling them it’s from you. You get to become 'Kris Kringle'. Greg, the kids and I loved playing Kris Kringle. We would fill a gift bag with chocolate pretzels and a card with a Christmas Carol or scripture on it and drive by. Then in stealth mode we would send a kid up to the door with the gift. The idea was to ring the bell and run back to the car and drive away. (Most the time the kid wasn't even in the door and we would be driving away...hah haa!) Of course we would circle back and see if the gift had been received. How much heart-pounding fun that was! Even better, than that...we did it to a couple of houses in our neighborhood of people we didn't even know. For me, as a mother, doing that is the ultimate demonstration of unconditional love. I expect nothing in return (they can't return the favor) and I teach that to my kids and I hope their hearts are changed for it. We usually would spend part of our 'Kringling' night driving around a bit and looking at the lights on the houses in our part of town while listening to 'A Charlie Brown Christmas'. These memories are such treasures. I think I need to put on my Kris Kringle hat right now! Join me won't you?

Graditude List

The last 2 afternoons, right at dusk, I have enjoyed listening to the sweetest sound. It is a flock of tweedy birds just singing so beautifully I had to stop, listen and just enjoy the music of the night.

This afternoon there was another beautiful sunset, the sun was in the most gorgeous position as I was driving home;  brilliant orange, a large lazy globe of light casting a lovely glow across the terrain. It made my drive home a bit mystical.

Here's some more things I am thankful for:

• An understanding lab partner who is the 'yin' to my 'yang'.
• Watching "Dancing with the Stars" with my family
• Having a band tournament this weekend that is made possible because a lot of generous volunteers in our community that all love music
• For the day-light savings time change (I'm an early riser)
• For my cell phone
• for rice and raisins "Indian Style"
• For a family that is quick to forgive and forget

Have a wonderful 'dusk' and enjoy the harvest moon!