Saturday, December 24, 2011

Merry Christmas

I hope you and yours have a very Merry Christmas and I'll leave you tonight with a few Christmas quotes - the ones I used for the past four years, which I love. They represent to me the meaning of Christmas.

"Perhaps Christmas doesn't come from a store. Perhaps Christmas means a little bit more." - How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Suess. '

From "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens. The meaning of Christmas as told by Scrooge's nephew Fred:

There are many things from which I might have derived good, by which I have not profited, I dare say,' returned the nephew. 'Christmas among the rest. But I am sure I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round -apart from the veneration due to its sacred name and origin, if anything belonging to it can be apart from that- as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys. And therefore, uncle, though it has never put a scrap of gold or silver in my pocket, I believe that it has done me good, and will do me good; and I say, God bless it!'

And from Dr Suess and the Whos, the lyrics from the song "Welcome, Christmas" from the TV version of "How the Grinch Stole Christmas":

Welcome, Welcome
Fah who rah-moose
Welcome, Welcome
Dah who dah-moose
Christmas day is in our grasp
So long as we have hands to clasp

Fah who for-aze!
Dah who dor-aze!
Welcome Christmas,
Come this way!

Fah who for-aze!
Dah who dor-aze!
Welcome Christmas,
Christmas Day.

Welcome, Welcome
Fah who rah-moose
Welcome, Welcome
Dah who dah-moose
Christmas day is in our grasp
So long as we have hands to clasp

Fah who for-aze!
Dah who dor-aze!
Welcome Christmas
Bring your cheer
Fah who for-aze!
Dah who dor-aze!
Welcome all Who's
Far and near

Welcome Christmas, fah who rah-moose
Welcome Christmas, dah who dah-moose
Christmas day will always be
Just so long as we have we

Fah who for-aze
Dah who dor-aze
Welcome Christmas
Bring your light

Welcome Christmas
Fah who rah-moose!
Welcome Christmas
Dah who dah-moose!
Welcome Christmas
While we stand
Heart to heart
And hand in hand

Fah who for-aze
Dah who dor-aze
Welcome welcome
Christmas
Christmas
Day

So to one and all a Very Merry Christmas and as Tiny Tim observed: "God Bless Us Every One"

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Holiday Tour

Welcome to northern Virginia and the 2011 Holiday House Tour hosted by Jen of Jen on the Edge. The idea is to give the reader an idea of how we decorate for the Holidays.

We decorate pretty basically. We have a tree in the living room.



We did go to LED lights this year as I was getting pretty tired of replacing burned out bulbs and/or strings of lights. I have to say the new lights can be a bit bright. Actually bright may be an under statement. You almost need sunglasses to look at it. We do have a voice activated gizmo that allows us to turn the lights on and off without having to crawl behind the tree to pull out the plus to turn it off and that same gizmo allows us to dim the lights, which actually looks better. That same gizmo also provides hours of fun for Daughter#2 when she visits. She'll lay out on the couch and talk to the tree and turn in on and off and on and off... You get the idea.

We also decorate the family room. Lights on the mantle, stockings hung by the chimney with care...including ones for each of our four dogs. There is also a lighted wreath. The wreath is a fairly new addition.



Finally there are decorations outside to help make the neighborhood festive. We go for all white lights to cover the bushes. We also have two wreaths on the front door.



That's pretty much the extent of our holiday decorating. I can't say that we're very crafty folks so everything comes from the store except a few handmade ornaments on the tree - holdovers from when the kids made them way back in elementary school.

I hope you enjoyed this brief tour of our house. Things have been a bit hectic this December what with Daughter#2 graduating from the University of Florida with a Masters degree and over the same weekend having my Dad pass away. We burying him later this week.

From northern Virginia (or NoVA as we say in these parts), here's hoping you and yours have a very Merry Christmas and wishing you all the best for the coming New Year!