I am wishing each of you the best with warmth, happiness, and shared familly and friends for the holidays. Christmas means something different to each of us, and even though I am not a religious person, I do love the holiday spirit and the giving of gifts. What I especially like, is that I get some time away from work to spend with my darling wife and dogs and even the kids, to a point. This will be one of the few Christmas that I've gotten to spend at home in a good many years, as I am usually stuck over-seas on a salvage job somewhere. Guests are already starting to arrive and the pit is cooling down for a pork shoulder or two. Turkeys are thawing for the deep-fryer and the wine cellar is full. The skeet thrower is set up and the music room is staged for our Christmas Eve concert. Bug did an outstanding job of decorating the tree with hand-tied lace bows. The weiner-dog has his sleigh and grinch hat on standby and George is already sniffing around the stuffed squirrel inside the box with her name on it. I have been so very fortunate my entire life, to have been surrounded by quality people and given the chance to learn from each of them and as I look around me, I become aware of what a blessing that really is. I extend the invitation to each of you to share in that warmth. Merry Christmas to ya'll all and to all ya'll, a happy New year.
Sounds like you're doin' it up right merry christmas ( happy holidays etal) hope the holidays are safe and enjoyable for every one here. We need pics of the weiner dog dressed up...
This is beautiful. A friend sent it to me yesterday and I wanted to share it with you. > A Christmas Story > > It's just a small, white envelope stuck among the branches of our Christmas tree. No name, no identification, no inscription. It has peeked through the branches of our tree for the past 10 years or so. > It all began because my husband Mike hated Christmas-oh, not the true meaning of Christmas, but the commercial aspects of it > overspending ... the frantic running around at the last minute to get a tie for Uncle Harry and the dusting powder for Grandma-the gifts given desperation because you couldn't think of anything else. > Knowing he felt this way, I decided one year to bypass the usual shirts, sweaters, ties and so forth. I reached for something special just for Mike. The inspiration came in an unusual way. > Our son Kevin, who was 12 that year, was wrestling at the junior level at the school he attended; and shortly before Christmas, there was a non-league match against a team sponsored by an inner-city church, mostly black. These youngsters, dressed in sneakers so ragged that shoestrings seemed to be the only thing holding them together, presented a sharp > contrast to our boys in their spiffy blue and gold uniforms and sparkling new wrestling shoes. As the match began, I was alarmed to see that the other team was wrestling without headgear, a kind of light helmet designed to protect a wrestler's ears. It was a luxury the ragtag team obviously could not afford. > Well, we ended up walloping them. We took every weight class. And as each of their boys got up from the mat, he swaggered around in his tatters with false bravado, a kind of street pride that couldn't acknowledge defeat. > Mike, seated beside me, shook his head sadly, I wish just one of them could have won, he said. They have a lot of potential, but losing like this could take the heart right out of them. Mike loved kids-all kids-and he knew them, having coached little league football, baseball and lacrosse. That's when the idea for his present came. > That afternoon, I went to a local sporting goods store and bought an assortment of wrestling headgear and shoes and sent them anonymously to the inner-city church. On Christmas Eve, I placed the envelope on the tree, the note inside telling Mike what I had done and that this was his gift from me. His smile was the brightest thing about Christmas that year and in succeeding years. > For each Christmas, I followed the tradition---one year sending a group of mentally handicapped youngsters to a hockey game, another year a check to a pair of elderly brothers whose home had burned to the ground the week before Christmas, and on and on. > The envelope became the highlight of our Christmas. It was always the last thing opened on Christmas morning and our children, ignoring their new toys, would stand with wide-eyed anticipation as their dad lifted the envelope from the tree to reveal its contents. > As the children grew, the toys gave way to more practical presents, but the envelope never lost its allure. The story doesn't end there. You see, we lost Mike last year due to dreaded cancer. When Christmas rolled around, I was still so wrapped in grief that I barely got the tree up. But Christmas Eve found me placing an envelope on the tree, and in the morning, it was joined by three more. Each of our children, unbeknownst to the others, had placed an envelope on the tree for their dad. The tradition has grown and someday will expand even further with our grandchildren standing around the tree with wide-eyed anticipation watching as their fathers take down the envelope. > Mike's spirit, like the Christmas spirit, will always be with us. > May we all remember Christ, who is the reason for the season, and the true Christmas spirit this year and always. > > God bless---pass this along to your friends and loved ones. > Don't take life too seriously; no one gets out alive.
Merry Christmas Seacowboys and Family and all of the good people here on SM For you: http://badaboo.free.fr/merryxmas.swf
Never forget the reason for the season. Love and cherish each other. Be kind to others. May you all have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Thank you Sea, for starting this... And TMH? Thank YOU for reminding us of The Golden Rule....It has stead me well....now, and throughout the year... Thank y'all for so very many things....A smile when I visit here...Information I need.....Having the best friend I've never met....An invitation to Christmas dinner in the middle of the chaos of moving....Many phone calls and laughs...A Buffett show in Dallas I was so lucky to share with one of ours....and so many other blessings ...Thank y'all! I'm not doing any Christmas this year, with moving...and for some reason...all the offers of help, and friendship, ..well, it feels more like Christmas than it has in a long time...and I like it... Is there some way we can put the Spirit of Christmas in little jars and open one each month??? ;-) Christmas gift suggestions: To your enemy, forgiveness. To an opponent, tolerance. To a friend, your heart. To a customer, service. To all, charity. To every child, a good example. To yourself, respect. Merry Christmas All Y'all!
