Our Christmas adventure of 2009

This Christmas started out looking pretty dismal when, on Christmas Eve, we realized that the snow outside was coming down a little too hard to make it to Norman. We had been in our own cozy world that morning, getting ready to leave, and it never occurred to me that we wouldn't be able to get there. Then Sean's dad called and told me that it was a real BLIZZARD and it wasn't safe to get out. He was right of course; by that time the snow was about five inches deep in our yard and the snow was whipping around like a frenzy. I was very upset because this was going to be my first Christmas Eve with the Sanders family and I was looking forward to sharing some of their traditions with them. And we had no idea if the snow was going to be clear enough to go up to Norman by Christmas morning or even that weekend at all. I thought it was destined to be the worst Christmas ever.
But then!
Sean and I braved the snow for a mile and made it to Ellen Sue and Kelsey's house. THey had nothing planned, because they were waiting to do Christmas next weekend with our family. And there was soup, and card games, and movies and a fireplace waiting for us. Kelsey and I even went out and played in the snow. We spent the night there, and by the next morning, the sun was shining and the snowplows had spent many hours hard at work. THe roads were clear! We drove to Norman slowly, just to make sure. We made it to Sean's sister's house, where most of the presents were waiting, because we had planned to meet here this morning anyway.
Sean's parents live four more miles east of town then Sean's sister. Their road was still closed becuase the bulldozers hadn't made it that far. To compound the problem, their gate was frozen shut and their neighbor had gotten her truck stuck in the snow right in front of their swing gate so they couldn't even get the tractor out to clear the snow.
Sean's dad spent hours that morning shoveling snow out from around the gate while Sean and James slowly tried to find another way to drive to their house. It seemed almost impossible that we would be able to spend Christmas together.
But three pairs of coveralls, two shovels, and about ten plastic trash bags later, Sean and James made it close enough to the house that the Sanderses could drag their presents and food in trash bags to the car and drive safely to Krysten and James' house. By noon, we were starting to make breakfast. By two, we started to open presents. By six, we had almost finished cleaning up the living room and were ready for supper. And by seven, I had concluded that this was an excellent Christmas.

Thought of the day:
and I still have another Christmas to go!

Christmas at Rumpole Mansion

It's starting to be that time of year. For those of us who have lived in Texas and Oklahoma our whole lives and think that this weather is really freaking cold, it smells like Christmas. For me, this means being in the mood to drink hot chocolate, take pictures in the frost while stomping around in bright galoshes, and philosophizing about unimportant matters like snowflakes and reindeer.

Today I heard something really amazing. I was reading at Starbucks waiting for Sean to get out of class, and these two girls next to me were talking about their Christmas plans (after having exhausted their Fall Break plans). One of the girls told a story about how she knew a man whose wife divorced and left him with six children. This girl's family decided that instead of giving each other Christmas presents, they would "give" Christmas to this other family. She said, "Once we did Christmas for somebody else like that, I couldn't imagine doing Christmas for myself."
Here is somebody who really understands what Christmas is. I wish I could be that selfless and give freely to others instead of finding myself wishing to receive things I don't really need.

On a completely unrelated note, I finished Ivanhoe today. I wish we could have read it for Brit Lit sometime. I have a feeling that there is so much in that novel that I don't even notice. Also, I wish I could know if Walter Scott was trying to jab at his own political and social happenings of the day and how his novel related to his life. And what does it really mean that the King of the Norman conquerors tried so desperately to save the life, and even respect the life, of the Saxon who was trying to overthrow his government? And did the characters in the book really think the jester was stupid, or did they just let him pretend to be stupid so they could keep him around for his sage commentary?

Quote of the Day:
Books are not moral or immoral. Books are well written or poorly written. That is all.
--Oscar Wilde

The Passing of Time

Thought of the Day:
Well, since I already about my thoughts about twinhood, I thought today I would comment on the passing of time. It's weird how everybody gets hyped up about a special day. We'll take birthdays for starters since today is mine. People take a certain day and just go, "Ten years ago today such and such happened," but that always bugs me because due to the fact that a year is 365.25 days, is it really exactly ten years ago that particular day? People seem to forget this fact even though it is clearly evident in the fact that it's always going to be on a different day of the week. I don't really know for sure exactly where the earth was around the sun last year, but when can we be certain that it has been a year? And what does that mean, really, other than that the earth has revolved around the sun? What is a day except that the sun has rotated around on its axis? Why are these measurments of time important to us?
And let's talk about holidays. Christmas, Veterans' Day, Presidents' Day, just about every one except Easter, is just an arbitrary day that we have chosen to celebrate something momentous in history. So why does everybody get so set on that certain day (certain family members, I might just be talking about you)? It's just something somebody else has chosen. Days aren't important, it's the actions we take on that day that make them special. I don't wake up in the middle of November and suddenly feel warm and fuzzy inside because Hannukah has started. I'm not going to wake up on February 14th and feel older just because it is the Korean New Year.
To God, each day is like a thousand years, and vice versa. Let's strive to make every day important, and then get together with our families every chance we get and make those occasions special and memorable. I don't care when it is. Let's take our September Saturday, for example. It's rarely in September anymore. Sometimes it's not even on a Saturday. But we still all remember it, and talk about it, and eat a lot, and play games, and wish we never had to leave.
And after saying all this, I'm glad it's my birthday and that people noticed it. I'm sorry I forgot to call my sister at 8:23 am (even though with daylight savings it probably should have been either 7:23 or 9:23) and wish her a good day. I mean, she called me at 9:11, but it just isn't the same. and now I will commemorate this day by washing the dishes and doing laundry. Yay!