A Christmas Season Saturday

This is what a very happy girl looks like. Why was I so happy? Well, many reasons, not the least of which I was eating dinner next to The Jolly Old Elf himself.



Okay, it was only a likeness of him. But it's a vintage Christmas decoration and that's more than cool enough for me. Look at those rosy cheeks, that droll little mouth and his twinkling eyes.



This was the cap to our Christmasy evening. Greg and I went to the luminaria display in Hyde Park earlier in the evening.



This neighborhood, with many beautiful old homes, does this every year the Saturday before Christmas. I love it when it falls like this, with some days between that Saturday and Christmas.



Many people also do lots of other decorating, which is great.



A couple of my favorite displays were on roofs and balconies.





It was a great Christmasy evening. We had cider and cookies, visited with the real Santa, ran into friends, listened to live music, and then capped it off with a great dinner. Wonderful Saturday evening!

Thanks to Greg for most of the photos. He appropriated my camera almost immediately so other than a couple of brief times, it was not in my possession. But, of course, he takes better photos than I do anyway. And, he's willing to get out in the cold more often than I am. Probably for the best that he had the camera. You might check out www.thelope.com for more of his great photos.

Toy Trains Today

I love this photo I shot this morning on my phone of the set up for today's event at the Cosmosphere. The Wichita Toy Train Club is at the Cosmosphere from noon to 6 today with an elaborate model train setup stretching over nine tables. I was taking some photos of the setup and love that in this one the train is a blur because it's in motion. Very cool.

The Wichita Sedgwick County Historical Museum Victorian Christmas

The Wichita Sedgwick County Historical Museum hosted a presentation on Victorian Christmas last weekend. Joyce Suellentrop led us through the Wichita Cottage that was decorated for Christmas.



I was enchanted with the tree decorations.



Don't you love this tree topper?



Suellentrop first pointed out that the Victorian era is an English and American event. We don't think of an "Italian Victorian Era" for example. I had never thought of it that way, but of course she's correct.



The creation of our "American Christmas" extends from the 1800s to the first World War she said. That's when we were forming traditions and adopting those of other nations. Prior to that time, July 4th was the most important holiday in America.



Christmas was a religious observance, celebrated by the family. The feast aspect of it came into being after Isabelle Beeton's "The Book of Household Management." The tree became the number one symbol of the holiday and was decorated generally on Christmas Eve, as their Christmas season would begin on Christmas Day and extend for the 12 Days of Christmas. The number two symbol of the holidays would have been the plum pudding.



"A Christmas Carol" and "The Night Before Christmas" were important in forming our ideas about the holiday.

Suellentrop mentioned a reference to a "Subscription Dance" in Wichita in 1870, where everyone brought a present and then left with one at the end of the night. The gift was the "subscription." The announcement said it would go on until the candles burned down or the sun came up.



Other milestones she mentioned:
1880 Woolworth was selling tinsel (Jami said the tinsel on the tree is very heavy)
1860-70 Christmas card from Prang
1850 articles about the stress of the holidays
1840 were suggestions to feed the homeless at the holidays



The feasts at Christmas generally involved oysters of some sort. In 1880, an older gentleman was asked about the first Christmas in Wichita, which was 1868/69. He didn't remember that, but remembered the Christmas of 1870 and said it was the first time oysters had been in Wichita and they were $1 a can.

The one thing you won't find are older recipes for cookies, because most of them needed sugar. They depended on molasses or honey for sweetener.



Ladies Home Journal in 1887 gave a sample menu for the holiday. It listed 14-20 dishes including peas served in turnip cups, ginger syrup, plum pudding and hard sauce, oysters on the half shell and turkey with chestnut stuffing.

There was a letter to Santa Claus, which referred to Montgomery Ward as "Monkey Ward" but went on to say that the father didn't approve of them using slang.



It was a very Christmasy afternoon and I highly recommend a visit to the Wichita-Sedgwick County Historical Museum. They have another display of miniature trees up for the holiday season.

Events vs. Processes

I've been thinking today about events vs. processes.

Events are pretty easy. There's a beginning, middle and end. You can often plan for them. They happen, and they're over, and you move on. That's not to say you're not changed by them, because you certainly can be. But, they're distinct, not ongoing.

Processes require a different kind of work. The landscape is continually shifting, requiring you to adjust as you go along. You can't plan much in a process, and what you do plan is likely to be little more than an amusing joke for the gods.

Meeting someone is an event, but having a relationship is a process. Being hired for a new job is an event, but learning the work place is a process. Getting a new gadget is an event, but using it is a process.

The last few months of my life have involved a great deal of process. I think I need a better balance of events and processes. The trick is to not confuse the two.

Obviously, there's much here for me to think about.

Quote of the Day

Our hearts grow tender with childhood memories and love of kindred, and we are better throughout the year for having, in spirit, become a child again at Christmas-time.
--- Laura Ingalls Wilder

I hope you find some of that childhood wonder of Christmas this year. It's what I love about the holidays - we all have a chance to weave magic into our lives for a short time. Take advantage of the opportunity. It comes but once a year as the famous say words say.

Being Engaged

For 2010 I am choosing a word to frame the year. I'm choosing "engaged," to remind me to be totally engaged in whatever I'm doing.

I've been thinking about this concept of "being engaged" for awhile. When we're fully engaged in anything it's much more likely to be meaningful. Maybe it's with another person, or maybe it's with an event. Regardless, to get the most out of anything, we need to put ourselves into it completely. We must be totally engaged.

So, for the next year I'm going to try to remember to be engaged in whatever I'm doing. I think it may be difficult to do at times. But, my guess is that it will make it easier to say "no" to some things that are on the periphery of my life.

I think being engaged will change the way I view the world and my place in it.

Long Day

It has been a long day. I was very tired today and had to work at pushing through the day, but I made it. It's hard to believe Christmas is next week. I'm used to being nearly two months into my Christmas season by now so it seems like it has been very short to me.

Tonight was Creative Sisterhood and it was very nice to see folks.

Tomorrow is a full day at work so I'd best get soms sleep. I've got on two layers of clothes and the heat up but I'm still cold. I hope I can sleep.

Jami and Victorian Christmas and Vintage Paper and Presents and a Christmasy Day

This is Jami. I really, really like Jami.

We had lunch today in Wichita, and it was great to have time to visit with her. I went over to attend a presentation on Victorian Christmas at the Wichita Sedgwick County Historical Society, which was fabulous.

There was information on the Victorian era. And information on Christmas in the Victorian era, complete with Christmas ornaments.

Can you imagine how happy I was?



Jami brought me some wonderful presents - delicious tea and a tea strainer with a holly leaf decoration. Is that not perfect?

To top it off, she had wrapped it in vintage Christmas paper, and included a vintage card. Oh my goodness, I love it oh so much. I couldn't wait to share it with you.



I opened the presents very carefully so as to save the paper. I think I may frame one of these pieces and hang it on the wall. Would that not make a cool piece of art?

The extra benefit of this, that Jami may not even realize, is that she has provided me with the last piece of permission I needed to keep buying wrapping paper myself. I love wrapping paper and although I have a theme every year, seem to buy enough paper for 2-4 themes each year. But, now I realize that if I keep it long enough, it will be vintage, too.

At the end of the day, before coming home, I went to Botanica to see their Christmas display. It was very cool. I didn't walk all the paths because some were on uneven ground and I'm being extra, extra careful to not jar myself in any way. But I walked the paved areas. I'm still moving slowly but I am moving.



Overall a very Christmasy day.

Cards

I generally send about 300 Christmas cards. This year I'm sending considerably fewer - not because I'm feeling less festive, but because I'm not doing my usual entertaining. I'm always sending them early because they include party invitations. This year since I'm not doing that I was very laid back about getting any cards out. And, it seems less important to send them to folks I see regularly anyway.

I just mailed the first bunch of cards today. I have some others to do, but I'm glad to have at least gotten started. I seem to be moving slower with everything this season.

Of course, because I'm not using my regular system I suspect I'll be still sending them into the new year as I think of other people I want to send them to. Maybe I'll ust have to cross out "Merry Christmas" and put in "Happy New Year."

Tickets

We got tickets to go see Billy Joel and Elton John in Wichita in March. We were on multiple computers and couldn't even get into the system, much less actually buy tickets.

So, Greg suggested I just go to Dillons, that's a select a seat outlet. He said, "So, are you dressed." I answered, "yes," and I was - in the sense that I was wearing clothes. But, again, I was out in public in my flannel pajamas. I'm not proud, but there's the truth.

However, I was glad I didn't wait because I was not exactly the first person in line by the time I got there. But, we got tickets.

Meeting Barbara

A couple of days ago I had a wonderful surprise - meeting Barbara. I was out shopping for some things for work and was in the checkout line at Goodwill when someone said, "Excuse me, are you Patsy Terrell?" This happens every once in a while because people will recognize me from Kansas Country Living, or from a board or event, or sometimes they'll even remember my voice from my radio days.

In this instance it was none of those things - it was a blog reader! It was so fun to meet Barbara. She said a friend sent her something from the blog, and she subscribed and started reading along.

I can't tell you how flattered I am by that - on both levels - that someone forwarded something and that Barbara started reading regularly.

We had a nice chat and then she even helped me out with my purchases because I was going to have to make two trips since I can't lift very much at a time. It was lovely to meet Barbara and I asked who forwarded her something. It was Mary Lou, who I met through a different Barbara, that I met when doing a presentation on blogging at the library, where I also met Kristine. Whew! Life is a circle sometimes, huh? But isn't that fun?

Regardless of how it all happened, I'm delighted to have all these folks in my life - in whatever way works.

I thanked Barbara for coming over and introducing herself. Sometimes people will email me later and say, "I think I saw you at Dillon Nature Center today... was that you?" Of course, the problem with that is that I didn't get to meet them. So far no one has emailed asking if it was me when it wasn't. I love to connect with folks, so it's always fun for me. The moral of this story is, please don't hesitate to say hello if you see me out and about.

Barbara - it was lovely to meet you! And thank you for introducing yourself. Mary Lou, thank you for making it possible for me to meet Barbara.

Snow!

We had our first real snowfall last night and this morning. I'm fortunate to live next door to Bob and Ruth, whose front yard offers plenty of photo opportunities.



This feathery plant in my own front yard was holding onto the snow.



Today is the first day I've really missed having a window in my office. I couldn't look out and see the snow today and that was sad, because I do love snow. It was nasty enough I didn't go out for lunch so it was a long day. When I left about 5:30 I had another couple of inches of snow on my car.

But, of all the scenes I saw this morning, one of the most beautiful was this...



Sharon and Greg arrived just as I was about to leave for work to shovel my sidewalk and driveway. Is that not the nicest thing?

Sharon came over at 5 and did it again. I'm not sure what I did to deserve such kindness, but I'm very grateful.

A Surprise from Deb

I got a lovely surprise today that I want to share with you. It even came with beautiful green tissue paper.

Last week I got a slip in the mailbox that I had a package. I didn't get a chance to get it until today at lunch. When I picked up the box it was light, and I thought, "oh... I bet it's a Christmas ornament."

I recognized the name on the return address as a blog reader - Deb from Topeka. We have met a couple of times at events and she's wonderful in person. She has done other fun, surprising things for me, so I knew the package would be delightful, but I was not at all expecting what I found.



Inside was this ornament Deb had made and a lovely, lovely note. She had been behind on blog reading due to computer issues and when she recently had a chance to catch up was surprised to read about the recent surgery. She said it occurred to her that not being able to put up my usual tree might result in some "holiday dreariness" for me so she was inspired to make me "a surprise that might hold some delight and share back some of the joy your tree has given to me these years."

Is that not the nicest thing?

She decked out the tree, added some stars and packages (two of my favorite things!), and painted the inside to mimic the glow of lights the tree gives off. She even added a fabric scrap underneath it that picks up the idea of wood floors.

I am so touched by Deb's thoughtfulness and her nice note. I took it into the restaurant today with lunch for Greg, and he loved it.

I love things people make. It's so special when someone gives of themselves that way. Deb put so much work into the detail on this. I'm so incredibly flattered by Deb's gift. It already has a place of honor on the tree. Thank you, Deb.

Tiger Woods Overload

I'm officially sick of hearing about Tiger Woods. Admittedly, I wasn't eager to hear about him a decade ago, but since his accident I've heard way more than I wanted. Let me clear up the story for you so we can all move on:

1. People don't have accidents and refuse to speak to the police unless they have something to hide. That may include, but is not limited to:
a. being impaired due to alcohol
b. being impaired due to drugs (legal or illegal)
c. being involved in a domestic dispute of some sort that will look very ugly for your image

2. People cheat on their spouses. This is not something unique to celebrities, but they simply have more opportunity for it. I'm about to incur the wrath of some, but many men are likely to cheat when presented with the opportunity to do it and not get caught, and self-respecting women don't give married men the opportunity. This would include but not be limited to:
a. trying to seduce them
b. saying anything other than "no" when they try to seduce you

This should not be construed to mean that I think all men cheat. I do not. And men do not have a corner on that market, either.

3. Tiger isn't very smart. If you're a celebrity, someone is going to brag about bedding you. He isn't alone in this fantasy that such things can remain private, he is just the latest in a long line of those caught with their pants down, as it were. Which, again, begs the question of why it's news. It's an old story - cross out last celebrity's name, write in "Tiger."

So, to recap - stupid move, impaired judgement on multiple levels, scorned wife wielding weapon. What more needs be said?

Christmas Homes Tour in Hutchinson Kansas

Today was the Houston Whiteside Christmas Homes Tour. And, we got a little snow to set the mood. Truthfully, it was more like sleet, but I'm choosing to call it snow because that is much more atmospheric sounding.

One of the houses had live music from a high school group.



My favorite house had a room decorated with old Santas. I chatted with the guy who owned them for awhile, thinking I should know him. Finally, we figured out where we knew each other from. He was not the home owner, but helped them decorate the "Santa Room."

I loved this Gale Santa, sitting on the bed.



And this one that still works.



He plugged it in so I could get a little video of him moving.



There were others from his collection around the room.





In another house they were using their collections on trees - one was spoons and another was old hankies.








I love seeing these beautiful old homes, but I always want more Christmas decorations. Of course, that's always a given for me at any time. This was the best year as far as decorations. The Santa collection really made the day for me.

The Tree is Finished

I finished my tree today. Although it's not my typical kind of tree, it's pretty. I'm glad I did one. Years ago I got the idea in my head that not putting up a Christmas tree was something for "old" people.



Have you ever noticed how older people often say, "I'm not putting up a tree..." or "I won't be here at Christmas..." Well, I've only spent Christmas Day in my own house once in my adult life, but I still want to enjoy the season and a sparkly tree. Anyway, that got stuck in my head - no Christmas tree is an "old" thing.



I know lots of people don't put up trees, and the reasons are varied, but in my mind for anyone who's an adult - not a college student or in transistion of one sort or another - deciding to not put up a tree is an "old" thing. And I'm just too young to be "old" yet.




So, although I couldn't do my usual decorating this year, I'm very happy to have my little six foot tree up.



I've noticed in just the last 2-3 days that I'm feeling significantly better, which is great. I'm not pain free yet, and I still move slowly, but I am just feeling better in general.



Tomorrow is the Houston Whiteside Homes Tour and I had thought I might not go because I'm not climbing stairs yet, but now I'm thinking maybe I'll go and just do the lower floors of houses. It seems a shame to miss out completely. And I love to see the decorations and the older homes.



I had hoped to go to Wichita today to see the lights at Botanica. But, it didn't work out to do that after all. I took advantage of the afternoon to work on a lot of things around the house and to return some things. Then Greg, Sharon and I went to see Planet 51.

I definitely recommend it. It's a cute movie. I think maybe we were the only adults without children in tow, but it was fun, and had a lot of in jokes included.

Christmas at the Hutchinson Zoo in Hutchinson Kansas

We went to the Hutchinson zoo tonight for a Christmas event. They had some trees decorated by various groups, and the train took you for a ride through some lighted areas. We rode the train three times.

It was cold. In case you can't tell from my multiple layers and the blanket they provided. I felt like I was channeling Ralphie.

It's not the most elaborate display I've ever seen, but it's free and happening a few blocks from my house. It's hard to beat that. And I love the train. The train ride does cost $1.50, and it's worth every penny. Times three.

Here you can see the new building from the train.





The trees all had to be decorated with items that could withstand the weather. Some were pretty creative.







If you're local, don't despair - you've not missed your chance. You can go tomorrow night, or next Thursday, Friday or Saturday. It's from 6-8 and you will be able to ride the new train.

Unsettle Their Minds

Education is not to reform students or amuse them or to make them expert technicians. It is to unsettle their minds, widen their horizons, inflame their intellects, teach them to think straight, if possible.
--- Robert M. Hutchins

I ran across this quote and the concept of "unsettle their minds" really struck me. I love that idea - unsettle the mind. When you think about it, isn't that really the time we come up with the most creative ideas? When our brains are a little bit off their normal tracks?

I suppose the trick is to find ways we can "unsettle the mind" while still being able to function enough to think straight.

Tonight I was in a situation where we were brainstorming and I realized just how much I enjoy that. It's interesting to put your mind on a particular path and branch out from there. I like the free form nature of brainstorming. I think it's best when the mind is "unsettled."

I will be thinking more about this in coming days. The Unsettled Mind. Sounds like a book title.

The Day

I continue to make progress on the Christmas "chores" at hand. I want to put a few more decorations on the tree, and the ribbon for garland and then it will be done.

I've been working on my Christmas letter. (Yes, I'm one of those people who writes the dreaded/beloved Christmas letter. If you don't want to read it, just throw it away. I'll be none the wiser.) Because I'm not hosting a holiday party this year I'll not mail nearly as many items as usual. And I have no sense of urgency about getting the invites in the mail.

These days I'm still moving rather slowly, so it's taking me awhile to do everything. I wrap a present or two, put a few decorations on, and then I'm ready to rest. At this rate it will be a wonder if I'm done before Christmas.

Tomorrow is going to be a busy, busy day so I must get some rest. Unfortunately, one of my favorite Star Trek The Next Generation shows is play - the Traveller, for those of you who are fans. I have a toy of the Traveller on my desk at work. I used to keep one of Picard and the Traveller on my desk. Picard to remind me of what leadership should look like and the Traveller to remind me things aren't always what they seem.

Regardless of my love of Trek, I must sleep.

A Season for Everything

Life, indeed, has a season for everything.

Sometimes we slip into a season we didn't anticipate or desire. You take stock of yourself one day and realize that you're deeply embedded in a life you weren't expecting. Then comes the moment when you have to decide if you want that life or if it's time to change.

Sometimes we tumble head first into a season of life we seek. We jump off the bridge, dive into the cold water, and hope we can hold our breath long enough. Just long enough. We want to get to the moment when we're comfortable enough that we can tread water, just for awhile, to fully grasp who we are now.

Every life has some seasons of discontent, and hopefully some seasons of pure joy. We all just hope there are more of the latter than the former.

The other day I heard a phrase: "I always grieved for who she might have been." Isn't that a sentiment we can all apply to people in our lives? Sometimes to ourselves? Who she might have been. Who we might have been. Who I might have been. We are all just trying to become the people we are meant to be. We just don't necessarily know who that is.

Robert Frost, that master of seasons, wrote of the road less travelled, although he never used that phrase. He was sorry he couldn't take both the roads because having to choose meant leaving one road untouched. The seasons we choose are like that - choosing one means leaving others behind.

But, of course, we don't always get to choose the seasons of life. Some are thrust upon us while our protestations fall on deaf ears. Some seasons push us to the limit and beyond. Some seasons are all too brief, and some seem to stretch on endlessly.

Regardless of how we get there, by choice or default, I can only believe there's something to be gained from each season. Each season, however we get to it, is part of making us who we are meant to be.

Cyber Monday is not a Bargain Day

Back in the long, long ago days - you know, like five years ago - when lots of people didn't have high speed net access at home, the Monday after Thanksgiving was a big online sale day. Why? Well, because those sneaky employees were using the company access (and perhaps time) to do some Christmas shopping.

I am certainly not opposed to online shopping. I do it often, although I much prefer to do it at home instead of at the office. I've done some Christmas shopping online already this year. But if retailers want to entice me to shop on "cyber Monday" they're going to have to step up their game. A lot.

If it's just a decent sale price then it's nothing to get excited about. Free shipping is great, but, frankly, I pretty much expect that. All the time. And if you won't give it to me on the average Thursday, one of your competitors will. Guess who I will buy from?

One of the great things about the internet is that it has taken competition for the shopper's dollar to a new level. Unfortunately, online retailers have not risen to the occasion as far as I can tell. But, then, I'm a person with my own high speed internet connection, which I was putting to use on Thursday, when the deals were better than they are now.

Do retailers just think we won't notice? We do. Really.

If you really want to compete for my money you've got to do better. Honest. Here I sit with a high speed connection and I'm blogging on it instead of buying on it.

Quote of the Day

"It's not that I'm so smart, it's just that I stay with problems longer."
--- Albert Einstein

Of course, I think most of us would argue that Einstein was very smart, but there is some wisdom in this statement.

I've always been a great "starter" but not always a good "finisher." In the last few years I've made an effort to address that, and I have to say I've been pretty successful in making changes.

Part of the process has been to realize that some things simply take a long time to accomplish. I've been working on this novel off and on for eight years now, although I haven't had any brain power or energy for it in 2009. But, it has been a real learning experience for me. Some things do just take an extended period of time.

Black Friday

I did quite a bit of Christmas shopping today. I wasn't sure I'd feel up to shopping this year, but I found some good stuff in the ads yesterday and got everything I was after this morning.

What I didn't get was much sleep. I will be rectifying that situation shortly. I desperately wanted to come home and nap, but knew that was a very bad idea because then I'd be up half the night. So, I'm trying to stay vertical until a reasonable early time to go to bed.

I also got some goodies for myself today. As always, I end up shopping for myself more than I should.

My big purchase of the day was a new phone. It's a droid - the Samsung Instinct. It's the fastest phone on the market at the moment and so far I like it. I say that even though I don't really know how to use some of the basic functions on it yet. Learning how to answer it is a must before I go to bed tonight. It's embarrassing to have to call people back and tell them I couldn't figure out how to answer the phone when they called. It does, however, provide a tremendous amount of amusement for folks.

One of my stops this morning was the local target where there was no parking in the entire lot, and hundreds of people waiting in line. I think it's the largest crowd I've been in for a black Friday sale. There's some fun involved in the whole experience, although I certainly wouldn't want to make a habit of shopping this way.

I think tomorrow I'll stay home most of the day. Without hundreds of other people around.

Thanksgiving Day

I decided a few days ago that I was going to spend today remaining in a grateful frame of mind. I'm happy to report I was succesful in doing that.

It was disappointing that I couldn't go to Joplin as planned, but I decided to make the most of the day here. Amy invited me to join her group for dinner, and I really appreciated the offer, but just wasn't sure if I would feel good enough to be decent company. So, I bought a take out order of turkey at Roy's on Wednesday and today I whipped up some sides to have a traditional Thanksgiving Day dinner. Well, minus the things I don't like anyway.



Okay, and here's the big confession... I love that jelled cranberry sauce right out of the can. I know, it's not very sophisticated, but I like it. I've made cranberry sauce a few times, and I like different relishes people make, but I also like the stuff out of the can, with the rings imbedded in it. I don't know why, but I do.

I also baked a pumpkin pie for dessert. It was quite tasty, although not as great as it would have been with my own pie crust. But I just didn't feel like doing the pushing and pulling necessary to roll out a crust so I cheated and bought one.

Late this afternoon I went outside to see the Space Shuttle Atlantis and the International Space Station pass through. It was really cool to see both of them at one time. The ISS will be visible again tomorrow night about 6, but it was really neat to see both of them tonight.

Tonight I started decorating the Christmas tree. Greg put up one of my small, 6 foot trees for me the other night. I wasn't going to decorate a tree at all, because I'm certainly not up to my usual tree and decorating extravaganza. But, I decided I wanted a tree of some sort. So, he set up this tree and brought up just three of my boxes of ornaments. So, I'm just going to use whatever is in them, as opposed to dragging out the other boxes too. Of course, every box has some precious things in it.

One of these boxes held this Santa, that I bought in Amsterdam while on a trip with Matthew.



Matthew and his family have been on my mind all day. I'm still not used to the idea that he's not out in the world. It just doesn't seem right to me.

But, today I decided to be thankful for the moments we had together, the great times we shared, the travel experiences we could have only had with each other, instead of lamenting that we won't have more. Matthew is one of the few people I have ever known who understood my desire to cram as much living into every day as possible. We were in sync on that, which is probably one reason we made so many wonderful memories together. I'm so grateful I have those memories and the trinkets like this Santa that bring them flooding back.

I hope you've had a wonderful day filled with gratitude.