The Visitor

I'll be home for Christmas, you can count on me. Please have snow and mistletoe and presents on the tree....

Some of you may remember that last year, right about this time, we came very close to losing our daughter, Shilo.   After she healed up, she decided it was time to make a change in her life, so she packed her bags and moved to Texas.  She choose Texas because our oldest son, Sam, is stationed down there so she would not be completely on her own.  Her plans were to try and become a flight attendant.  Not long after she got to Texas, she was diagnosed with Lupus, so the flight attendant goals have had to be set aside.  Shilo is still in Texas, has a wonderful new boyfriend (at least that's what she tells us.  We haven't met him yet, but his Mom is really nice!), is working at a restaraunt and finally facing her illness instead of having it on ignore.  She does get very homesick from time to time, so decided to make a trip home for her birthday, which was at the beginning of December.  She's really not going to be home for Christmas, which the song lyrics suggest. 

It was really fun to have her home for a few days.  We went to the beach, she frolicked with Gus, visited family and friends and had a small birthday party at home. 

Happy Birthday to you!

We miss her and worry about her not taking care of herself like she needs to, but I finally had to tell her Daddy to stop reminding her that she can move home.  Yes, she knows that daddy, but she's a big girl now. 

"You all can go to hell - I'm going to Texas." 

~ Daniel Boone 

Old-fashioned Christmas

Mr. Fezziwig's Ball
Originally uploaded by jholbo

Last night I was watching A Christmas Carol and the scene came on where Mr. Fezziwig was having a Christmas party and dance for his employee's. It reminded me of a certain Christmas party from when I was a girl.

My dad belonged to a Muzzleloaders Club for a time. The Shoot's were held every so often and it was so much fun to go. Many of the men and women would be dressed in mountain men and period attire, tents and teepees set-up amid lots of laughter and gunsmoke. It was always an exciting day.

One year, an old-fashioned Christmas party and dance were held. Generally we just went to the shoots in our normal clothes, but for this dance, Mom made us what I thought of as our "Laura Ingalls dresses", complete with old-fashioned aprons. I don't remember a lot about the actual party, just a misty image of boots stomping, skirts swirling amid much talk and laughter. A very fun childhood memory to have.

I wish you all on old-fashioned, country Christmas.

Frosty the Snowman

...was a jolly, happy soul with a corncob pipe and a button nose and two eyes made out of coal.

Still needing a cute holiday gift for a friend or two?  Or maybe a little something to decorate your entryway table?   This sweet snowman light is fast and easy to make and you even get to enjoy a Starbucks bottled Frappacinno before hand!  My friend Alli from Chicken Scratch Creations showed me how to make these little guys.  Pop over to her blog here for a quick tutorial.  (Hey, and don't forget to let her know that you stopped by.  She'll be happy to see you!)

I also painted up a couple of plain small pickle jars that are super cute with a tea-light or a votive candle dropped in.  These would make fun little hostess gifts and would be easy to do with your little one's as well.

Happy painting!

Frosty the Snowman was a fairy tale they say.  He was made of snow but the children know how he came to life that day...

Turn the Page...Tuesday

'On the morning my husband left me, hours before I knew he would, I looked at the bruised March sky and recognized tornado green.'

When Cami Anderson was eight, a tornado touched down on her families farm.  Cami knew by the wind and the sky that something was about to happen and she did not want to miss it.  Ignoring the calls from her mom, she ran outside and tried to touch that tornado.  The rush she felt was what compelled her to do all the reckless things she could find from there on out, trying to recreate that feeling.  That is until she met her future husband, Bobby, who was a reckless tornado himself. 

For the next 18 years, Cami hangs onto that tornado, loving Bobby and forgiving all his volatile moods until the day he tells her he just doesn't want to be married anymore.  Bobby walks out the door, leaving Cami devestated and with the very hard task of explaining this all to their heartbroken 17 year old daughter.  Cami's world seems to be falling apart, while all around her, her family and closest friends are dealing with milestones in their own relationships.

Cami is a veterinarian who participates on animal rescue missions.  Some of those animals have found a full-time home with Cami and still others have come for a short stay as shelter animals.    Always loving her furry companions, Cami  finds the most comfort and understanding when she's in the barn spending time with the angry shelter horse who has come to stay.  Together, the two create a special bond and once again learn to trust. 

A friend gave me this book and I enjoyed it completely, finding it hard to put down.  I will certainly look for more of Katrina Kittle's works. 

Cherry Ames - Senior Nurse by Helen Wells

Last month, I told you about some wonderful books that I recieved from a neighbor as she was moving - The Dana Girl Mysteries by Carolyn Keene.  This same delightful neighbor also gave me the first six books in the Cherry Ames Nurse series.  The first one was published in 1943 and about one a year after that.  I think there is close to twenty books in this series.  This month I read the second one in the series, Senior Nurse.

This book opens with Cherry's first day of her senior year as a nursing student in a teaching hospital.  Her first assignment for the year is on the Children's Ward where she meets a maid who has smuggled a rabbit into the ward to help put a smile on the young patients faces.  The rabbit gets away, dashing around the ward, but with the help of Cherry and a handsome young doctor, catastophe is avoided, but something special has possibly started to brew between Cherry and the young intern.  We follow Cherry through the different wards of her senior year until the most difficult - the Surgery Ward.  Will Cherry make it through this final task and earn her graduate's cap?  During this hard time of war, so many nurses were needed both on the home front and the war front.  Where will Cherry decide is the best place for her?

These books, written in the 1940's are so full of fun and innocence.  So refreshing - I need to carry on and finish the six that I have.

I love old books and the classics and have quite a few on my shelves that I have yet to read, so I've decided that for the coming year I'm going to try to read one a month, at least.  I will also try to tell you all about it.  On my nightstand right now, for December, is Charles Dickens Christmas Stories - A Christmas Carol, The Cricket on the Hearth, and The Chimes.  What is on your nightstand?

Pop over to Adrienne's blog, Some of a Kind, for more Turn the Page Tuesday reads.