I've been neglecting my writing lately - the kind with pen and paper. I've been doing tons of writing at the keyboard, but that is a very different kind of writing.

I moved my writing desk to the east side of my sun porch to make room for the Christmas tree in there to be visible from the street. I also put out these new additions Greg got me for Christmas from Victorian Trading Company. I love that place and I've wanted these for ages. When we were there in October I was looking at them and Greg just got them for me for Christmas.
In addition to the tree in front of the window, I also put my favorite reading chair beside it, positioned so I can see the main Christmas tree in the living room when I'm sitting there. The white tree with the teapot ornaments I showed a few days ago is on the other side of this chair. I can sit there and see all but two of the Christmas trees in the house.



Maybe I should try writing from the chair. It would be different and maybe it would give me a new perspective. I know I need to spend some time with pen and paper. There's a magic you only get with that brain to hand to pen to paper connection.

There was a study I read about a year or so ago that showed that when people do creative writing at the keyboard it activates different parts of the brain than when people do creative writing with pen and paper. I generally do the most creative thinking with pen and paper and then do that actual writing at the keyboard.

It's with pen and paper that I do all of my soul searching. I could have told researchers it involves your brain differently. But, I guess they wanted something a bit more scientific than some woman in Hutchinson Kansas telling them... that whole proof and brain scans and such.
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Time Going Quickly

The Christmas season is zipping by much faster than I want it to. It's only two weeks until Christmas now. It always happens this way. No matter how early I start, I'm still decorating up until the last possible moment before I start entertaining and then it seems I just don't have enough time to enjoy everything.

There's something magic to me about everyone else also being in the holiday mood. That increases my own joy. I have considered starting to entertain in November, but I don't think others would be in the mood for that.

Last night was Creative Sisterhood and Julie and Teresa stayed for awhile afterwards and just enjoyed all the trees. Teresa mentioned she thinks my main tree is more sculpture than Christmas Tree. Truth be told, the tree really isn't visible - it's encrusted with ornaments. She said surely there would be museums or shopping malls that would pay me to come and create a tree for them. That would be a cool job. I wouldn't want to do but a couple each year, because they take many hours, but it would be fun to see people enjoy them.

I love to share the decorations with people so it was fun that they stayed around to enjoy them. It's really the only time I've had people over in the evening this season since I've had everything done. Generally I do a lot of gatherings but I just haven't had the energy this year. I am really looking forward to my open house Saturday, and the kid's event next week, but I don't have anything else planned.



So far this season I've been pretty solitary, and it has suited me up until now, but I am looking really forward to having friends over Saturday night. Parts of my life feel very out of control right now, and I'm spending part of every day putting myself back together after the world tries to tear me apart. But every moment I don't have to interact with the world I can be devoted to pure Christmas joy.

We only get so many Christmases in a lifetime and I want to enjoy every one of them. I've been steeling myself since Jim's death in January, knowing that this year that would be hard in some ways. But, I know Jim would have appreciated that my holiday excessiveness makes me happy. He would have thought I was a little off my rocker, but if it made me happy to go for it. Our mother and Jim were very alike in that regard. I guess Jackie and I have a lot of that in us too - the "if it makes you happy and doesn't hurt anyone, go for it" approach to life. It's not a bad way to live.

I'm realizing I have very few evenings left in which to go look at Christmas lights around town. I haven't done that at all since things got full force underway. I was waiting to do it with Greg and I realized today that I'm not going to have much opportunity to do it next week so I think I'll not get much of that done this year. But, I have my own decorations to enjoy and they make me very happy.

Last night I pulled the couch out into the middle of the living room, got a Christmas pillow and a quilt, and went to sleep looking at the Christmas tree. I always wake up a bunch of times during the night, and when I woke up a couple of hours later I turned it off and went upstairs to sleep the rest of the night. But, it was a really nice way to go to sleep. I'm thinking I may do the same tonight.



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Beautiful Foolishness

"Meanwhile, let us have a sip of tea. The afternoon glow is brightening the bamboos, the fountains are bubbling with delight, the soughing of the pines is heard in our kettle. Let us dream of evanescence, and linger in the beautiful foolishness of things."
                                             The Book of Tea by Kakuzo Okakura



This weekend I was taking photos of some of the Christmas trees around the house, including this one. I realize these things are "beautiful foolishness" but they make me happy, as do most things that would fall into the "beautiful foolishness" category.

I've practically stopped watching the news, which is filled with one story after another about the horrible economy. I think it would be so much better to focus on what's right with the economy. Wouldn't it be better if we could all focus on "beautiful foolishness" for awhile?
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Lunch with Jade at Country Rose Gifts and Tea Room

This is Jade, who I met this spring. We've gotten to know each other a bit over the past year and I've really enjoyed it. She is a hard worker, a wonderful volunteer, and a terrific person. She just started a new job at the chamber recently and they were so smart to hire her. She will do amazing things there.

Jade just returned from England, where she was part of a Rotary exchange program. I was so thrilled she got to go. Going abroad is always life-changing, and it certainly was for her.

She arrived at lunch today with a package. Well, we both did. I had bought a little ornament for her some weeks ago. I love to give people Christmas ornaments. She handed me her package and said, "this is just a little something." I said, "well, so is this - a very little something."

But, Jade was not telling the truth! What was in the package was a treasure. A beautiful, incredible treasure - not just a little something. It was this...



...  a Wedgewood teacup and saucer she bought when the group toured the factory in England. Isn't it stunning?!?!?! I'm so in love with it that I haven't even begun to consider drinking tea out of it. So far I've only photographed it. I had to rush to do that when I still had daylight so it would be shown off as beautifully as possible.

It was all the more perfect that we were having lunch at Hutchinson's new tea room, The Country Rose Gifts and Tea Room. It is perfectly charming. The food was good, the decor great and the service pleasant.



It's at 519 North Main, and well worth a visit.



The owner has done a great job with making it cozy and attending to the details.









They had a tree decorated that I just loved, with real tea cups. I have a tree with tea ornaments, but it just never occurred to me to create one with real tea cups. How could I possibly have never thought of this? Theirs was just beautiful.







They have a brewed tea ready each day, or you can choose the tea bag of your choice and they'll bring you your own pot of hot water, with a warmer underneath. I went with that since I can't have caffeine.



Tea always tastes better in a pretty cup. I can't wait to see how it tastes in the Wedgewood cup Jade brought me from England.
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Friends Lovely Friends

Saturday Susan and Cynthia surprised me with a visit. Considering they live more than a three-hour drive away, I was touched.

They also came bearing gifts. Very special gifts. Cynthia took this photo of me excitedly opening one of the gifts she brought, and wearing the other one. The pin I have on was a gift from her. I have a deep love of old costume jewelry pins, and I love star shapes, so it was perfect.

Another thing I have a tremendous love of is what was in this box.



Yes, hand-embroidered antique linens, with hand-crocheted lace. Wonderful. But, Cynthia had made them extra special because they were lavender scented. How beautiful is that?

Susan also had a surprise for me... something she had made herself...



An ornament she had paper pieced. It's another perfect gift... I love ornies... I love ornies people make. I labeled it with her name on the back so now I can add it to the tree.

I'm always so impressed with people who are great gift-givers. I try to be. Sometimes I'm more successful than others, but I guess we all are. But, I'm always charmed by people who can come up with the perfect thing.

Susan used to live in Hutchinson before moving to Valley Falls to her husband's family farm. Cynthia, who lives about an hour away from her, I have known for years from journaling lists online. After Susan moved to that part of the state I knew they should get to know each other. So we've all been to tea together and had some other outings. They were both able to come to the Ramona get away in April.

It was great to visit with them a bit and to also give them their Christmas presents. When Greg and I were in Kansas City in October for the Obama rally we made a stop at Victorian Trading Company, which I just love. I found these adorable tea pot ornaments and immediately snapped three of them up - one for each of us. I love having ornaments on the tree when I know other people have the same ones. There's something about that shared experience that really appeals to me.

Well, I hadn't even wrapped their gifts yet. They were still in the cushioning they had wrapped them in at the store. But, I didn't want to miss the chance to give them to them in person.

It was so nice to see them and I was so touched by their remembrances. They are things I will cherish.
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Sundays, Holidays and Friends

I've spent the day knocking around the house, taking pictures of Christmas things, getting more presents ready, doing some journaling, and just enjoying the season. This is my very favorite time of year and I don't want to waste a moment of it.

Although I'm always thinking about Christmas, there's something magical to me about the rest of the world being in the holiday spirit, too. Just a trip out to the grocery is brighter and cheerier. There's Christmas music on the radio all the time. Christmas lights are popping up all over. Cards are arriving every day. And being in touch with friends, old and new, is a real treat.

Terry stopped by this afternoon and we visited for bit. I hadn't had a chance to chat with him for quite awhile so that was nice.

Then later tonight I had a call from Brian, a friend from college. I missed his call - he left a message on the machine and I never answer that phone - but hopefully we'll connect soon. I neglected to include my cell phone number in my Christmas letter this year, and he didn't leave his number, probably assuming I had called ID. He had gotten my card/letter and called to visit. Brian and I shared a lot of really interesting times together. It will be good to catch up.

In the last few days I also heard from another old college friend. He found me on online and sent a note. We haven't talked in more than 20 years and he just popped up out of the blue. It was really, really good to hear from him. We had one of those relationships that covered a lot of ground in the years we knew each other. We didn't part badly at all, we just parted. I moved and we lost touch. It was really good to see his name pop up on the computer screen after all these years.

I thought how different our lives would have been if we'd been as connected technologically then as we are now. These days if you're willing to connect, it's easy to make yourself available with a website or facebook page or whatever. I love to make connection with people. There is no one I can think of that I had a relationship or friendship with in the past that I wouldn't be happy to hear from today. Of course, you both do have to want to connect or it doesn't matter how much technology is at your disposal.

I have barely left my home all weekend. Lunch at Roy's yesterday and a trip to the grocery tonight is it. It's hard to get me out of my home for anything not completely necessary during the holiday season. I love being surrounded by the decorations.

Someone asked me yesterday if I had anything in my Christmas decorations I had paid full price for. I thought for a minute and the only things I could come up with are really cheap little ornaments needed to fill in here and there at times. For example, I bought some ornaments this year that were four for 97 cents to fill in on the white/silver/blue tree. But, all the big stuff was bought on sale I think. There's a reason I'm out every year on December 26. Although, more and more stores give us the opportunity to buy things at half off even before the holiday. There will be some things I want to pick up this year, but nothing major I don't think.

But there are always things I find in Paducah that I haven't seen here. For example, these Santa ornaments. I picked these up a couple of years ago and I hadn't seen them until the day after Christmas. I loved them, although I wasn't sure exactly what I was going to do with them yet. Maybe those decorating shows are on to something when they say you should just buy what you love and it will all work. Of course, that's considerably less risky when it's half off a $7.97 Christmas ornament than when it's a full priced, custom designed, $6,000 sofa.


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Christmas Tree

Merry Christmas

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Quote of the Day

“One has to live a life that creates a writer.”
                                          –Erno Paasilinna
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Lovely Surprises

This is Cynthia (left) and Susan, who gave me a wonderful surprise today. They drove from Horton and Valley Falls to come to the Kansas Country Living open house. I had no idea they were coming and when I opened the door and saw them I was practically speechless. It was so cool to see them.

It was a lovely afternoon, visiting with them as well as other folks who came. One nice couple came from Leavenworth, which is a very long drive. They came for the open house but were making a weekend of it in Hutchinson, which is nice.

All in all it was a nice group - some local folks, including Anne from Roy's, and some folks who came a distance. I'm glad I did it.

Plus, it encouraged me to get things "finished" to a degree, which is nice. Tonight I've been relaxing, which is something I very rarely do. I'm going to head into the sunporch and sit down with a book. I've positioned the chair I reupholstered a few months ago so I can sit in the sun porch and see the main Christmas tree from there. Seems like a good way to wrap up the day.
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Cleaning House

I'm cleaning house. For me it's deep cleaning. For most people it would probably be the average weekly cleaning. Honestly, how do people do this on a regular basis? It's exhausting. And boring. Oh so boring. I could deal with all of that - but - it doesn't stay done. How do people have the fortitude to face this every week? Obviously, the women of the 50s were far  better humans than I am.

Of course, in my defense, they weren't bothered with that little problem of making a living, either. Maybe if dust bunnies were the most stressful work issue I faced every week I could make quick work of them too.
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Weekend

I'm so glad it's the weekend. Work is very stressful these days so I welcome the opportunity to not think about it for a couple of days.

I've been decorating more tonight and picking things up around the house. I live... uh... "casual"... shall we say. This translates into there are always piles of stuff lying around my house. Once a year I try to pick them up and make it presentable for company. That's the Christmas season. Now.

Tomorrow is my Kansas Country Living open house and I want things to look nice. "Nice" in Patsy-houskeeping-world means fewer piles. New! Improved! Fewer piles!

I haven't cooked even one thing yet but I don't need to make very much since it will be a small group. So, I'll do that tomorrow. I still have one more tree I want to decorate - just a little four foot one. I never know when to stop. I just keep going until people are knocking at the door. Foolishness, I know. Soon I will be running out of space in which to put decorations, so that will end it.

I really do need to start entertaining in November so I get every last thing done then. Or I need to not decorate at all and do something completely different during the holiday season. That, however, might cause me to lose my nickname of "Miss Christmas."

Teresa and I had lunch again today. We haven't had a chance to do that in forever and now two days in a row. It was great to catch up with her a little bit. She was wearing a necklace she bought from Mia, Greg's girlfriend, who is a beader extraordinaire. I'm not much of a jewelry person, but my friends who are love Mia's things. I have a bracelet she made for me and I always get compliments on it whenever I wear it.

Teresa said today she wanted some of Mia's business cards because people were always asking her where she got the jewelry. It occurred to me that I could just post a link to Mia's etsy store for those interested. So, here it is... http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5518195. She was working on it in Joplin when I was there, putting up more photos. People often ask me about seeing her things, so this seems like the perfect solution. I've now discharged my official duty of connecting people and jewelry.

Well, blogging is not in any way helping reduce the number of piles in my home so I suppose I'd best get up and do more of that. Then I suppose I'll need to sweep up the broken bits of Christmas ornaments and dispose of them properly. This housekeeping thing is exhausting. And never-ending. I'm now remembering why I only do it once a year.
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New Life

I've been decorating more tonight. This is one of my favorite theme trees. I don't have a name for it but it's all copper, brown, beige and gold. Not shiny gold, but a brushed gold. Generally I collect things for a tree for a few years before I gather enough different things to create a new theme.

This one usually goes into my sun porch because I have some of the walls in there painted a coffee brown. But, this year I have a full size tree in there that's green, red, white and gold with a Santa theme so this doesn't work. So, it's in the living room this year, by the bookcase. It's a nice spot for it. I love the golden glow.



I spent all morning in the office today, which is kind of unusual for me. It seems I'm always running errands or doing other things that keep me from actually being at my desk. It's a lovely office to be in. We're so fortunate to have it.

Every spare moment these days I'm working on the house. Saturday is my open house for Kansas Country Living readers and I always seem to keep decorating until the last moment. I've had very few RSVPs, but I know I'll enjoy meeting the folks who are coming.

Otherwise these days my brain is in overdrive, imagining my life in the coming year and what it will look like. I know it will be different. Better. More me. It's just a matter of how that will happen and the specifics. But I feel big, positive things on the horizon. It's exciting.

I'm ready for some travel abroad, without restrictions on my time, and with the money to enjoy the time there. I was looking at a hostel in Madrid tonight. I am feeling drawn to Spain and Morocco has been high on my travel list for a long time.



As I unpack Christmas things I'm reminded of travel because there are bits and pieces here and there from trips. The long crystal the bird is looking at in this photo is from a French antique chandelier. I bought it in Paris at a little boutique I was just passing by. I think I paid about $4 for it. My intention at the time was to use it for Christmas, even though I didn't have this tree theme then. It's those little bits that excite me. Not because of what they are, but the moments they represent.

That day I was wandering the streets of Paris, in an area I'd not been in before, just meandering and looking at the scenery. I wandered into this little shop, figuring everything there was out of my price range, but that it would be fun to look. I carried out three little crystals, wrapped carefully in tissue paper for the long trip home.

The crystals have a new life now, as ornaments. I guess they were always ornaments, but they're now of a different sort. I'm ready for a new life, too. A life of far less stress and far more income, blessed with even more good health and friends, and spending much more of my time being me.
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Trish is a Sage

It doesn't matter when I start on Christmas preparations, I'm still doing them at the last minute. There's always something more I can do so I just keep going.

Tonight I realized there was a problem with my database when I printed my Christmas card labels. So, I'm trying to sort that all out. To say detail work is not my forte would be a very generous description. So, if you were expecting an invite to my open house and haven't gotten one yet, realize it's not that you have been left out intentionally and please just come. Do email me so I can fix your address in my database so next year it will be smooth. OK, I'm trying, really. I want it to be smooth. Seems I'm trying to do that constantly. Why can I never get it done? Oh yeah, reference the details not my forte comment earlier.

I had lunch with Trish today and we talked, among other things, about holiday gatherings and friendship in general. I told Trish the Christmas card list always makes me think about people in my life who don't engage with me in any meaningful way.

I mentioned a specific friend... well, I guess he's not really a friend... he's, well, he's a former friend, maybe... although I question if we were ever friends... anyway... I never see him unless I just happen to bump into him. When I do he's over-the-top effusive. "Oh, we MUST get together! I've missed you! Lets have dinner soon! It's so good to see you. blah blah blah"

Well, stupidly, I believe this means he wants to see me and we should have dinner soon. Where do I get these ideas? So, I will email and suggest something and he will be positive but we never actually set anything up.

The thing I do not understand is why in the world would you put this much energy into pretending that you like me and want to see me when you obviously do not? You can be polite and say hello and "it's good to see you" without this "we must get together, oh my gosh how have I lived without seeing you" crap. And it is crap. It's not that this person is not social at all. He sees other people in my extended world. In these days of blogs and facebook this knowledge shows up on my computer screen without me looking for it.

Trish suggested that she thinks maybe it's a way people feel like they're being social because they're acting like we're long lost friends. I'm not lost. I live a few miles away. I'm on facebook, myspace, twitter, pownce, plurk, linkedin, entrecard and a host of other sites I can't even recall. If you google for me you find about a dozen pages of references to me, with multiple ways to contact me. You haven't. That's cool. But why oh why do you pretend like it's just been some horrific oversight? Just be polite and move on. I get it. You don't really want to engage with me in any meaningful way - for whatever reason - that's fine - just stop pretending otherwise. It makes you look like a fool.

I decided that the key will be for me to respond differently the next time it happens. The next time I'm approached with this fake BS I'm just going to be polite but very non-committal. There's no point in me wasting any breath/time to respond beyond that, and it's making me look like a fool, too.

Then Trish, as she so often does, made the wise comment of the day. She is a sage, that one.

"It can't be meaningful if our entire relationship depends on chance encounters." --- Trish Rose

That is friendship in a nutshell. Those chance encounters may be that you're showing up at the same workplace or church, or that you bump into each other at a concert, or that you run into each other at the grocery store. It's not that those can't be fun, but if those are the only interactions we have, the relationship is not likely to grow and survive long term. It isn't meaningful and it's not going to be at that rate.

Trish and I also talked about how alcohol is such a driving force for so many people when they're gathering - that it is the big attraction. I do not serve alcohol in my home. I do not want the ethical or legal obligations to make sure people get home safely. And I just don't like to be around drunk people. Of course, not everyone gets drunk just because there is alcohol around, but in a group of 10 there will be one that's obnoxious in no time. I don't want to deal with that person, so, I just avoid the whole issue. Trish suggested that probably keeps some people from attending my open house. I suppose that may be true, but so it goes. I'm just going to proceed as normal and assume there are still some folks in the world who are interested in things other than alcohol.
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Snow in the Forecast

Winter came down to our home one night
Quietly pirouetting in on silvery-toed slippers of snow,
And we, we were children once again.
                       ~Bill Morgan, Jr.

We have snow in the forecast for tomorrow for the first time this season. Of course, I got to see snow in Joplin on Sunday. I love the first snowfall of the season. It signals a shift in the seasons unlike anything else.

Of course, this won't amount to much accumulation, but it's just the idea that it's the time of year for such things. I do hope we get through this winter with the power intact the whole time.

There's something very cozy about being in a warm house while the snow falls outside. I've pulled out my long underwear, which appropriately enough have snowflakes on them; I've stocked milk and marshmallows for hot chocolate; I've fluffed up the warm socks in the dryer; so I'm ready for a cold snap.

No doubt I'll wish I'd spent some of the time I devoted to marshmallows to winterizing my home instead.
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Home

I am tucked into my warm house tonight, thankful to be here. I woke up early this morning to return to Hutchinson for work and was very sick. I had the worst tummy ache I've had since I was about four and ate too much German Chocolate Cake. (Mama let me have some, then Aunt Audrey did, then Cousin Cindy did, etc. etc. etc.) But I hadn't eaten too much German Chocolate Cake this morning - or any, for that matter. In fact I hadn't eaten anything that should have upset my tummy and it was more just pain than upset tummy.

I finally left Joplin early afternoon, with an aching tummy full of a variety of Miss Joy's over the counter medications, figuring I wasn't going to get much better/worse sitting there. It got much worse once I was in the car and I was starting to think I needed to turn around and go back to Joplin. Then, a miracle from above, it disappeared and has not returned. I was, and am, so thankful.

I'm a pain wimp. I've always been very healthy and the least little thing makes me whine like you wouldn't believe. Imagine how I was when I had a kidney stone. It wasn't pretty. My photo may still be at the emergency room with a big red circle and slash over it all these years later.

Today I was going through all sorts of options - appendicitis, gallbladder, kidney stone, etc. - but couldn't come up with anything other than tummy ache. That's the other thing I do, which I hate about myself - I start imagining I have horrible medical problems, including things there's a .0000000001 % chance I could ever contract. I simply cannot read medical books or websites. Next thing I know, I'm imagining I have some sort of rare disease one can only contract in the tropics, when I've been no where near the tropics. I just don't go there.

Tonight I'm so thankful to be feeling normal. I had some delicious dry toast for a midnight snack. There's no point in tempting fate.
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End of the Weekend

It snowed in Joplin today - big, fluffy, wet flakes. It's the first snow I've seen this season. And, as Greg and I were coming back from lunch I spotted this holly bush just a couple of blocks from Greg's mom's house. Yes, what can I say, I have an eagle eye for Christmas things and can spot small red berries many feet away from a car in motion. Greg took this photo, which I just love. It's a Christmas card in the making, don't you think?

Later in the day Greg got out a couple of decorations and put them on his Mom's fireplace, whereupon her cat immediately noticed said decorations.



Shortly after a double-pawed attempt to dislodge the stocking decoration, the cat gave up and posed for another photo.



This, of course, is the "what are you looking at, there's nothing to see here, move along" pose that all cats strike as soon as they realize they might be doing something that could get them in trouble. If scientists want to research nature/nurture, this would be a place to start. I think I've seen the innocent look on every cat I've ever known - farm cats, alley cats, feral cats and house cats. It must be an instinct.

It was a lovely Thanksgiving weekend. I'm so fortunate that Greg's mom includes me in their family celebrations. My family lives so far away it would be impossible for me to go every year. I talked to Mary Ann and Mattie the day before Thanksgiving. My neice, Angie, called Thanksgiving morning, but I was in the kitchen and didn't have the phone with me at the time. I need to call her back and catch up a bit. It was so nice to hear her voicemail message, though. Mark called yesterday but we were with the group in Branson so I didn't get to talk to him either. But, I'm sure we'll connect soon.

I had a great time this weekend. I wish I could have another few days with everyone.

Andy Williams Christmas Show in Branson

Greg, Mia, Miss Joy and I went to Branson today to see the Andy Williams Christmas show. Andy will be 81 on Wednesday and he's still putting on a great show.





There are other acts, but Andy is on stage almost the entire show.



He starts the show in his trademark scarf and does a couple of Christmas numbers, then changes into a more formal outfit.



The stage is simple - mostly Christmas trees and two staircases, but they do a lot with the lighting.





It's not all Christmas music, but a large portion is.



We have talked about going to see him and just never actually got around to buying the tickets and doing it. We're all glad we did.



The theatre is interesting, and there are Christmas scenes everywhere, including this life size Santa.



We ate lunch and dinner at his grill, which is next door to the theatre. We had hoped he would come over after the evening show, but he didn't. We were hoping to get photos with him. We understand he does come over often either before the early show or after the late one but he must have been too tired to do it tonight.

We went to the 3:00 p.m. show and then looked around Branson afterwards. I'd never been before. They have a new attraction, The Titanic. Greg got out to take a photo. I couldn't resist getting pix of Greg in this unnatural environment.



It's made to look like the ship, except it's only about 1/3 of the vessel and it's a corrogated building. I think we may have pinpointed part of the problem. Greg brought up an interesting question - at what point is a disaster something you can make into an attraction?



We also went to see the Trail of Lights at Shepherd of the Hills. I can't recommend it strongly enough. It's very cool. Two and a half miles of neat displays including lots of old automations.

And for your general Christmas extravaganza dollar, I think Andy Williams would be hard to beat.

A Kinder Gentler Shopping Day

Greg and I got everything both of us wanted in the day after shopping frenzy. He had some specific needs. The things I wanted were all small items but we were able to get everything we were after on the sales. He was at Office Max and I was at Office Depot.

I have to say that Office Depot in Joplin was the most organized I've ever seen any store be the day after Thanksgiving or the day after Christmas. They had every hot item tagged with a specific number and were giving out certificates for those specific things as you went in the door. Then you waited in line at the stock room and handed over your certificate and they brought you that specific item. It was very well done.

I also have to say their employees were the most gracious and helpful of any I've seen in awhile. And considering how much stress they must have been under that was all the more amazing. I was very impressed. If every store were run like the Joplin Office Depot we'd all be having many more pleasant shopping experiences.

The only other stop I made was to Kohl's. I wasn't looking for anything major there but no one was up at Miss Joy's when I was done with Office Depot and I had locked the door behind me and didn't want to wake anyone to let me back in. I bought a couple of things at Kohl's and waiting in a line that was stretching to the back of the store on both sides to check out. By the time I was through that line I decided no one had anything I wanted that badly. Greg and I did pop in to Office Depot later in the day to pick up a couple of incidental things - not sale items - and it was desolate. I guess everyone was shopped out. I stopped by Michaels after dinner and it was the same way.

I witnessed many acts of kindness while shoppping. People were very courteous to each other and employees were going the extra mile to help people. When they had someone change their mind on items at Office Depot yesterday morning the employees came through the store, asking if anyone had wanted one of those things and hadn't gotten a chance at a certificate. It was quite nice.

Greg saw people loaning extra coats out of their car to other folks waiting in line and being very generous with their fellow shoppers. I saw no incidents of unpleasantness from shoppers or employees. I can't say that's always been the case. A couple of years ago at Hastings, Greg and I both saw one of the most ridiculous displays I've ever witnessed. An employee snapped at people who were reaching around her into a case for an mp3 player. When I say "snapped," I'm being kind. Of course, it was one of those situations where you could see the fault on all sides. The customers shouldn't have been grabbing and the employee shouldn't have snapped. But, the real fault lies with the company, that shouldn't have had a locked case in the middle of the store with a hot item in it where the crowds could get right up to it. And, of course, the people who were the most aggressive were rewarded because she just handed out the few items they had to those who were crowded around her instead of having a system for giving them to those who had waited the longest. Obviously, if I was close enough to even see/hear it, and I'd been somewhere else when they opened, there was a flaw in the system.

But this Friday seemed to be a much more laid back experience, at least here. I was shocked when I saw the news of a man dying when people broke down a Walmart door in New Jersey. I looked at the Walmart ad again and I cannot imagine what they had that was worth even going there for, much less killing someone for.

CNN is reporting that police officers patrolling overnight at the store had been concerned about the crowd, but had been unable to get it better organized. I'm not sure what the thinking was that if the police couldn't do it they expected temporary employees at a Walmart store to do it after the crowd was larger and more invested in the time they had spent waiting. Police do have the power to disperse crowds. Why didn't they do that if they were concerned? Part of the job description is public safety.

The tricky thing with all of this is that if you're at the front of the crowd, and being pushed by those at the back of the crowd, you are unable to stop if you see someone fall. And those in the back don't know someone has fallen. You may not know until you step on them if you're in the middle. It's an ugly situation and it's doubtful any charges will be filed because of that unability to identify any specific person/event that is the problem.

I've only once been in that sort of a situation and it had nothing to do with shopping. It was at an event and I was in the middle of the crowd when I found myself being moved along through no effort of my own. I had never understood the idea of being "swept along," but that's it. And it would be very easy to fall if you're trying to actually stand where you are. You'll just be bent over. Very difficult to consider.

The police officer involved with this case says it's incumbent on stores to manage it better. I would agree stores need better systems. A line, for example, would be a better system than what it seems they had. I haven't seen the video but the way they describe it it sounds like it was just a crowd, without any lines, which is much more dangerous. But I also think police have to share some responsibility in this case. If they realized there was a potential problem and didn't address it, there's an issue there.

Thanksgiving Day

Our Thanksgiving Day started off watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. We wanted to see Andy Williams, who they kept promo-ing from the start of the parade, and who was the last act before Santa arrived. Greg snapped a photo of the TV screen.





As soon as Santa waved to the crowd and the parade was over, I started asking Greg to start the tape of The Grinch who Stole Christmas, which is one of my favorite holiday shows.



When his heart grows I'm just nearly beside myself. I love to sing along with the show, and recite the lines. "Little Cindy Lou Who, who was no more than two..." Well, you get the picture.

And, in general, it just makes me really happy because it's all about how Christmas is coming. Maybe part of the reason I love it so much is that I think people might believe I wouldn't enjoy Christmas without the trappings, but I know I would. I love sending cards and wrapping presents and decorating the tree, but I'd love the season even if I didn't do those things.

Not everyone loves Christmas as much as I do... Steve would be representing those folks today.



Of course, during those things, there was cat-play. She was quite taken with Greg's bare foot.



I helped a bit with dinner, although not much. Miss Joy did most of it. I did peel potatoes. Greg was taken with his mom's mixer. She got it when she got married, so it has been around his entire life, but somehow until today it had escaped his attention. Isn't it funny how those things happen?



Greg and his mom carved up the turkey.



Mia came over and the five of us had a fabulous dinner. Everything was delicious. It was a lovely way to spend the day.

After dinner Mia went to work and everyone else took a nap except me. Michaels was open tonight from 6-9. There was an art easel I wanted on sale, and there was a 20% off coupon for tonight, so I went out to get it. I was not the only one.



The line was stretched about a block along the side of the building when I arrived a few minutes before they were opening. I was amazed at how orderly everyone was. The line is by the building, to the right. All the people you see in front of the doors here and to the left are folks who, like me, arrived after the line was formed. Everyone - and I mean EVERYone waited for those who were already in line to go into the store before they went in.

I had no trouble getting what I wanted. There was me and one man picking up those. Everyone else was after Christmas trees, which were 50% off, as far as I could tell. There was also a crowd up front and the checker told me people were after cricut cartridges. I'm not even sure what that is, but I think it has to do with scrapbooking. I don't want to want something else so I'd just as soon not know.

Later we drove out to Best Buy and there were people camped out with tents and sleeping bags, to get the bargains. I'm not sure what they have that's all that exciting - nothing I'm even going out for tomorrow.

All I've been hearing for weeks is how retailers are going to be trying to get our business on Friday. They're not trying too hard to get mine because I could ignore everything pretty easily. There are a couple of small things I'm going to try and pick up but not much. It's not that I'm unwilling to spend the money, it's that they're not offering anything I'm interested in owning.

Generally on black Friday there are a number of things I want and I have to choose what to go for. Tomorrow I'm headed out to get something for Greg and will try for a couple of small things myself. But, no one is going to get much money out of me because they're not offering any amazing deals on anything I want. There's no reason for me to get up at the crack of dawn and fight the crowds to buy  something for the same price I can get it generally on sale.

And, I'm not exaggerating. Two of the supposed great Black Friday deals on external hard drives are the exact same price they were a week ago on sale. The same.brand, size, color, everything. That is not a black Friday deal. That's just an average sale. So, if black Friday is a flop, it's because retailers didn't offer us something worth going out for. If you really want the consumers' business, you have to at least give it the old college try. Like Michaels did tonight - opening when they were the only store available, other than Walgreens and Walmart. That's some good marketing.

I hope you've had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day and whatever bargains you hope to get tomorrow are all yours!