Mystical Gypsy: WhoVille, Oklahoma

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

WhoVille, Oklahoma

The Turkey & Carb Fest, Black Friday, Cyber Monday...yep, they're already past and the Christmas Season is in full swing. It surely comes sooner every year! And I hate to say this, but the older I get, the less I feel like holidaying.

I sure don't want to turn into one of those scroogy old folks who head off to Cancun for Christmas. It doesn't help that I'm dealing with a whopper of a cold right now. But doggone it, I scheduled my extra holiday time off for this week so I could deck the halls and by golly-fa-la-la, I was determined to get it done and over with.

I wearily put the tree together & fluffed it out. Carelessly wound some lights around it. And then -- oh my gosh, as I type this, I'm realizing I had a Grinch Experience! (cue WhoVille song) As I started unpacking ornaments, the memory reel started rolling. My heart grew warmer and redder and bigger and stronger! (maybe it was the fever, but no matter).

Isn't it funny how fragile, cheesy, cheap, gaudy Christmas ornaments carry so much power as to trigger warm fuzzies of Christmas past? For example: below is my all time favorite - a pear shaped glass & guess what's inside? YES, a partridge in a pear tree! Joe bought it for me, I don't remember the year, maybe '76,'77? I don't know what it is about this particular ornament, but I feel that young man's love all over again when I see it.

After the overwhelming success of the Partridge in a Pear Tree, he began a tradition of buying me a special ornament every year. Lately, we've been picking them out together. Last year, it was this cute penguin couple. Awwww!!

Memories....

1975 - our 2nd Christmas, but the first one that we could afford to buy each other presents.

1979 - the Christmas I was pregnant; our last Christmas a deaux. Wow, next Christmas, this ornament will be 30! Is that considered vintage?

I just love this angel sitting so delicately on the moon. I had seen it at Marshal Field's (late 70's) & mentioned to a friend how I wanted to go back & buy it. Our office had an ornament exchange & she made sure I got this one. I always put it on the tree last & always near the top. I've lost touch with that group but this ornament always reminds me of them.

A glass globe, given by a friend who has a great heart for missions, to remind us of why the Babe was born.

Gifts from loved ones and friends, ornaments bought at special Christmases, or as souvenirs from special places. They all represent love in some fashion. And rightfully so. It was Love that started this whole crazy thing!

2 comments:

HighDLife said...: OK, I really enjoyed the walk down memory lane. Thanks.; December 3, 2008 at 3:38 AM
My World said...: Amazing photos, thoughts, which all seemed to plug in the extension cord on my own 8mm movie memories of Christmas. Thanks, Connie.; December 4, 2008 at 6:57 PM

Random Quotes

I'm a follower of Christ. I'm not really much of a "spiritual warrior", but I will darn well beat the literal hell out of the spirit of legalism. I navigated those waters in my 30s & spent my 40s being exhausted from it. Now I have neither the time nor the patience to deal with Pharisee thinking. ~MG
“Whatever you can do or dream, you can do it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.” ~Goethe
"Passion for something is the key to success because passion will not only get you to success, but passion also gets you through failure. ~Paul Stanley (KISS 'Starchild')
Save the planet; it's the only one with chocolate! ~CM
Here's how the conversation went: Me: "Dad, have you ever heard about a big bunker under the Denver airport?" Dad: "Nobody's supposed to know that." Me: "How long have you known?" Dad: "About 20 years. How do you know?" Me: "It's all over the internet." Dad: "That damn internet."
(The Mad Hatter) "Have I gone mad?" (Alice) "I'm afraid so. You're entirely bonkers. But I'll tell you a secret. All the best people are."
"You know nothing, Jon Snow." ~Ygritte (A Song of Ice & Fire)
"You have no idea what you don't know." ~JL
"You can't put chi on a hanger, mom." ~ Jeremy, Zits
"Ya cannot go to warp from a cold start!" ~Scotty
"What dreadful hot weather we have! It keeps me in a continual state of inelegance." ~Jane Austen
"We're all here to do what we're all here to do." ~The Oracle
"We're Americans. We have vowels." ~Brian H.
"War is always the choice - of the chosen - who will not have to fight." ~Bono
"U2: it's like the soundtrack of my life" ~C.L.
"Tomorrow is always partly yesterday. Apparently." ~Anton Corbijn, Linear
"There are only bad options; it's about finding the best one... 'You don't have a better bad idea than this?'..'This is the best bad idea we have, sir." ~Argo
"The only thing better than being alive in reality is being alive fictionally as well." Kit Harington (who plays Jon Snow in Game of Thrones, where most characters get killed off)
"The inner workings of a church should not play out like an episode of 'Game of Thrones'. ~MG
"The Bat Signal is not a beeper." ~Batman (Batman Forever)
"Taxes. They're soooo UN-Rock 'n Roll." ~Rock of Ages
"Sometimes it is a brave gesture to withdraw. And sometimes it is braver to stay." ~Jessica, The Winds of Dune
"Quiet the mind and the soul will speak."
"Perfection can lead to procrastination, which can lead to paralysis."
"The song of your life should reflect the goodness & power of God. It shouldn’t be a blues tune." ~Pastor Orlando
"One does not simply walk into Mordor." ~Boromir, LOTR
"My opinions are free and everybody is entitled to them." ~MG
"My darling girl, when are you going to realize that being normal is not necessarily a virtue? It rather denotes a lack of courage!" ~ movie quote
"Life looks different on the other side of love." ~ wise words from a father to his son
"Life is messy. You need a good degreaser." ~AJ
"Let folks go. Some people come into your life for a lifetime; some come for a season. You got to know which is which. You gonna always mess up when you mix them seasonal people up with lifetime expectations." ~Wisdom from Madea
"Judgement died and grace was born." ~JP
"Irony rocks!" ~C.L.
"In the end, the only thing you own is your story." Drover (Hugh Jackman), Australia
"If you're not living on the edge, you're taking up too much space." ~ WCM
"I've told you a million times: stop exaggerating!" ~unknown
"I'm not paranoid. I just pay attention." ~Bob Dean, UFOlogist
"I'd rather wear black in August than do one sit-up." ~Joy Behar
"I think my biggest achievement is that, after going through a rather difficult time, I consider myself comparatively sane." Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
"I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by." ~Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
"I don't regret anything I've ever done; as long as I enjoyed it at the time." ~Katherine Hepburn
"I don't believe in reincarnation; but if I did, I'm pretty sure this is my first time around." ~Mystical Gypsy
"I do not care what comes after; I have seen the dragons on the winds of morning." ~Ursula K.LeGuin,The Farthest Shore
"I am a bit of a unicorn." ~Sheldon (Big Bang Theory)
"God never changes. But He changes everything." ~MG
"Getting my way in all things has an amazingly therapeutic effect on my mood disorder." ~Jaguarwoman (a 65 yr old self-taught, incredibly talented, graphic artist)
"Game of Thrones...it's like a history test, but with dragons." ~unknown
"Forgive & forget." or "Pretend to forgive, then annihilate." ~ multiple choice quiz
"Fate rarely calls upon us at a moment of our choosing." ~Optimus Prime
"Everything you want is on the other side of fear." ~Jack Canfield
"Every woman is an Empress at heart." ~MG
"Every so often, life offers up a small morsel of sweet, and rather poetic, cosmic justice." ~Emp
"Don't underestimate me...believe everything you've heard." ~ Joanne Herring, Charlie Wilson's War
"Cometh the hour; cometh the man." ~unknown
"By His grace, an American life is an extraordinary life." ~Sarah Palin
“I’ve probably done something that stupid…it’s just not been recently.” ~ Al