Ringing in the New!

"I am beginning to realise that every point in one's life at which one loses everything is far more a beginning than an end, for one has lost merely the past, and one has yet to gain the future, and eternity itself."
- Gresham, Lenten Lands

A new man in my life!

Wow. Wow. I didn't think I'd be saying this today, but I have the cutest puppy ever! I met him and fell in love AT FIRST SIGHT! Let me tell you, I've met many a puppy and I've been able to walk away. Not this time - I mean, look at his face! I've named him Zaccheus because he's a wee little dog. He's filled the puppy shaped void that was haunting my soul. (:

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby,
who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

Luke 2:16-20

Santa Claus Comes to Town!

When we were kids, long before Tim was ever a thought and Sharpstown mall became shady, Aser was asking my dad to please, Please, PLEASE!!! take us to see Santa! My dad didn't want to. So Aser did what kids do best - Ask, and it shall be given you. I chimed in, too. We probably worked his nerves so bad that he said, "You will see that Santa will come to the house."
Aser and I were both like - YEAH SANTA's COMING!!! Little did we know that Dad was wondering what in the world he had gotten himself into. He asked my grandfather, who was an excellent tailor, to make him a Santa suit and a huge red sack.
So, Christmas Eve comes around and we're celebrating Christmas and there is a knock at the door. Aser was asked to open the door (because it was his request to visit Santa) - Lo and behold it was SANTA!!! Aser was in awe and I took one look and spoiled it: "That's not Santa - THAT'S MY DAD!"

I never heard the sleigh bells. Aser DID!

My dad makes a better Santa now! ;o) He got the chance to brighten some faces. Here's a picture.

Traditions

Confession: After Thanksgiving, I was freaking out about our family not following through with tradition. With everyone growing up and going different ways, I felt as though we let that win. A Thanksgiving tradition for our family is to sing the song "Por estos favores," eat like crazy, go around and share one thing that we're thankful for, and play hard. We had every intention of doing it all, but scheduling was not on our side. All we did was sing the song and eat like crazy. I left feeling incomplete.

Then I started thinking, what are our Christmas traditions? Thinking of our "OK" Thanksgiving, I kind of started "freaking out" (for lack of better terms) because I couldn't think of any and how in the world would we keep the traditions alive if we don't even know what they are?

WELL - NOT TO WORRY.

I have figured out that traditions aren't necessarily intentional. You don't sit there and MAKE THEM (I mean, you can, but I find that I get too intense if I do that). THEY just happen. And I was trying to hard to make something so meaningful when it was there all along. I let it GO! :o)

Our traditions:

1. Christmas play at my parents church! There are always super funny stories to go along once it's all said and done.
2. TAMALES! My grandmother and some of her daughters (including my mom) get together and make the best tamales in the entire world! I'm afraid of this one because I've tried helping and I haven't been successful yet.
3. Christmas Light Tours! My family does this EVERY year. And since my grampa's been gone, I make it a point to bring my gramma. We go around to different neighborhoods and check out their decked out houses. Last night I took my fam to the Heights. My dad treated us to dinner at Tim's favorite place - Chicago's.
4. Christmas Talent show!When we're together on the 24th we all take turns showing off our talent. It all gets recorded!! AH! :)
5. Dressing Up! We make it a point to look super fly on Christmas Eve and go crazy with picture taking.

A Wednesday Word: making wednesday worthwhile

From J-Good's quotation stash:

A synonym is a word you use when you can't spell the word you first thought of.
Burt Bacharach (1928 - )

I do the above. Reading that made me laugh because it's TRUE! Don't lie!! And thank goodness for God's invention of a brain that never stops soaking new vocabulary. I love words. Have I ever mentioned that?

**********

Today's word is in honor of three great girls - well, really FOUR great girls! We all used to work together and still make it a point to get together and celebrate birthdays, friendship and, OF COURSE, CHRISTMAS!

soi·ree [swah-rey] : -noun, an
evening party or social gathering, esp. one held for a particular purpose.
Also, soi·rée.

Here's my favorite picture of us - old, but good!

Check Patricia's blog for recent pictures!

Checkity Check

It's always around this time of year that I am amazed at how fast time flies.

Tomorrow is SATURDAY!

A quick overview (of last weekend) -

• Friday night: Went to see Gabi's Orchestra Concert. I was really impressed that they learned such a difficult piece in two weeks. I'm also extremely proud that she is SECOND chair! I could never make it to second chair. :o(
• Saturday: Read for a while in the morning, cleaned the kitchen, went to gramma's for lunch and ended up taking the longest nap ever in my life. I must be tired or something because I'm not a napper. I went to see my cousin Mikey go from cub scouts to boy scouts. It was funny to see how "serious" he gets when he's in formation. My Tia Mimi worked hard on the "arrow of light." I need to get an example of that because it's serious work. Then, I met up with some friends at the Lights in the Heights. That was Christmas fun and festive. We went back to their house and had some soups - not that it was wintery cold outside.
• Sunday: Went to LA IGLESIA and then had birthday lunch with Amy and Rosy (cousins), who turned 24!! And then went to watch Shane & Shane and Bethany Dillon. These people sound so much better live!! Something about recording in a studio that kills the edge of live music.

Wednesday Word: I've neglected it. But have not fear, it will be here (next week?). I have to get Jennifer to send me the quotation that is perfect to go along with the Wednesday Word. And guys: Check this out. Learn new words while feeding the hungry! Great way of combining charity with education! And speaking of words: Patricia posted this cool link about important 3 words. It's amazing!

And just for the heck of looking at a cute growing girl go check out Susanne's blog. Her daughter Lindsey is SUPER DUPER CUTE!

Merry Christmas!

HARK!

It's December! Christmas is around the corner. Oh the pressure! :o)
I can't wait for the annual Christmas talent show at gramma's.

Question: What is a good gift for men? With our Christmas drawing I got one of my uncles and I'm stumped. I'm tempted to buy this.