December 22, 2016- More Christmas Memories- Part 1

Mike asked me to watch It’s A Wonderful Life with him as does every year during Christmas time.  I think that by now he knows my answer but just wants to joke around with me. I saw that movie a lot when we were kids and it isn’t one that I feel nostalgic about any more like he does. Mom has that film’s 50^th anniversary ornament and also a Raisinetes tin.

   I was thinking about how I used to love decorating for this holiday. We have so many decorations but I only put up a small amount of them. We don’t really have the space for much more. I could put up some of the wall ones but the fun tack messes up the walls and the back of the decorations. I am not that crazy about the tape option either. What else could I even use?

   I liked making my own decorations and drawings when I was a kid. I feel stupid for screwing up the spelling on a couple of them. I put Santa Clause on one and Sielent Night on another. We had to make an Advent calendar for an eight grade art project. I got an A on this. We made garland out of popcorn and cranberries in the late 70s too. That might have been a Girl Scout thing.

   I sort of wish that I had the motivation to put up the tree. We have a smaller one that goes on the end table. Just imagining doing so is overwhelming though. We could decorate several trees with all the ornaments that we have. I would do one with all of the handmade ones.

   I should tell Mike that he could try selling my Scooby, Muppets, and some Disney ornaments on eBay. I just wouldn’t be able to handle doing so myself. I wish that I had been collecting the Rudolph ones all along.  I looked them up online but forget how far back they go. I have from 2013-present, I think.

 

 

 

                                                   

 

 

 

 

 Note- popcorn garland photo is from the internet

 

 

December 24, 2015- Christmas

 

 

I was thinking about how we used to get a lot of cards in the 70s and 80s. Mom had green garland and would form it into a tree on the wall and we’d put them inside of this. Did we do that just when we had the white paneling? We had a blue couch and red carpeting too – how patriotic.

   We usually put the small Christmas tree on the end table but we haven’t done so in at least 7 years. We did use the ceramic one that Mom made in the 1970s for a couple of years sometime afterwards.

   Sharon sent me pictures of her tree; there are 4 or 5 Simpsons’ ornaments on it. I sent her a few Christmas time photos too- Buffy, Mookie, and one of Mom and me outside of the church by the nativity scene in 1980. It’s not a very good shot though; I am wearing one of my favorite coats ever- dark green with white flowers and trim.

   Mom said that a camel was part of the nativity a couple of times. I sort of remember this. I do recall that they have had llamas. Mike remembers there being a goat. Sheep are usually included.  Three or four years ago the only animal that they had was sheep. I am glad that they included a Donkey with them after that. I always look forward to seeing these adorable animals each year.

 

 

                                                                           1968

1972

 

                                                                             1980

 

 

December 1, 2015- Christmas Memories-Part 3

    Mom let us decorate the tree after she put the lights and garland on it. We had a star for the top of it up until about 1983 then got an angel. In the 70s, Dad would put his Lionel train set under the tree. It made noises and I think that steam came out of it too. Mike wants to inherit this from him so badly.

    I would put my Fisher price and other little people and animals on this train. I would also have them visit the baby Jesus at the manger. I’m glad that we still have that nativity set; it’s a really nice one.

   I wish that we had every decoration from my childhood.  Sharon feels the same way; I told her that if I had magical powers I’d bring all of ours back. She liked that fantasy.

Mike got a DVD with several of the holiday specials on it last year or the one before this; we still haven’t watched it. “Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol” is on it. I haven’t seen that and others in many years. We still need to buy the Peanuts one.

   I have the video tape of” Emmet Otter’s Jugband Christmas” which is also still unwatched. I loved that and 2 other Muppet ones- A Christmas Carol and their special with John Denver.

    He likes” Frosty the Snowman” and” How the Grinch Stole Christmas” but I’m not overly fond of them. They and” Santa Claus is Coming to Town” are okay, I suppose. Mom loves “The Little Drummer Boy” as do I. I never liked” Rudolph’s Shiny New Year”.

   I can take watching White Christmas with them but I really don’t want to sit through It’s A Wonderful Life again. The last time I did so was 4 years ago.

   I remember there being a” Fat Albert” special too which Mike and I liked a lot. We watched” The Smurfs” one too but I can’t remember much about that.

   I feel sort of bad for thinking that Christmas just feels like any other day. Yikes, I’m starting to sound like my grandma next door. It’s sometimes hard to believe that I used to like it so much.

  My nice holiday memories often don’t feel as if they are real and are more like I’m remembering scenes from a movie or show about some other girl. I wish that I didn’t feel that way about this and many other happy memories.

 

                                             

 

1985

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Decorations that we no longer have

 

                                                                           

                                                             

 

 

                                          

1969-my first Christmas

 

 

December 1, 2015- Christmas Memories- Part 2

   I played a shepherd in the school play either in 2^nd or 3^rd grade; we still have part of that costume that mom made me. Mike, Missy and I sang Christmas songs for our family at Aunt Ann’s house in 1980. Cindy, Jessica, Mike and I did this for our families at our house. Cindy played the guitar. I wish that I hadn’t given up on my guitar lessons after only 7 or 8 of them. The teacher said that I had potential.

Mike, Barbara, her 2 sisters and brother went caroling in their neighborhood one night in the late 70s; that’s the only time I’ve ever done this. I love Christmas carols.  I saw the Radio City Christmas Spectacular with my Girl Scout troop in 1980. I still have the souvenir magazine from that in my scrapbook.

    We made a wreath our of plastic sandwich baggies, a wire coat hanger, red bows and I think pine cones too as a Scout project.  I forget when we threw that out; I think that it’s in the background of one of our holiday photos. We have a nice wreath that mom made in the early 80s – it’s green yarn brushed out somehow on a wire type frame with red ball ornaments and a bow.

    She made a cool, big Santa picture with the Tri-Chem paint back then too. That is definitely in one of our photos.  I wish that we had kept that and my wreath.  She made a set of Santa curtains for the kitchen in the 1970s also.

 When I was a Brownie there was a sleepover in our school gym/auditorium. I’m pretty sure that we put on a holiday play too; I have this vague memory of dressing up as a reindeer. We put our shoe out in the hallway for Santa to put a present in. I couldn’t remember which country’s tradition this is so I looked it up on Wikipedia and it said France. I was thinking maybe it was Holland.

    I was thinking about the Life Savers Sweet Story Books that we would get Dad for his stocking. Old Spice was another standard gift for him and for mom it was Charlie perfume. Cindy gave me Estee Lauder- Beautiful once and from mom it was Forever Krystal perfume when I was in my “Dynasty” loving phase for a few years in the mid-80s.

     I wish that I had kept the cute Avon silver fawn perfume bottle that had Sweet Honesty in it. That present was from Aunt Karen.  She always gave me such nice gifts like Tinkerbell cosmetics, a silver ice skate pendant necklace, a Beatrix Potter book that came with a little hedgehog and a set of 3 Ronald Dahl books; Fantastic Mr. Fox was my favorite.

    I do have the Avon cocker spaniel  perfume bottle that a friend of the family got me from a flea market in the early 2000s; it looks like it’s from the mid-70s- early 80s. I keep meaning to check the box to see if a year is on it. I just remembered another Avon bottle that I had – the giraffe.

    We haven’t used our Advent calendar since the early 90s. Mom got one from Avon in the mid-80s that has a mouse to move from one day to the next. We might still have one of the religious ones which were the only kind that we would get before that. We had a round glass holder for the candles; I’d have to check the holiday totes to see if we kept that and a few other things too, like our snow globe.

   One year Mom bought us a small tree for our basement living room only when we opened up the box there were 4 of them in it which was funny. We were honest and returned the other 3 to the store.

           
                          

 

Tri-Chem Santa

                                                                  Advent Calendar

 

 

                                                             Advent Candles and holder

   

 

 

                                         

 

 

 

Note- perfume photos (except for cocker spaniel) and Lifesavers storybook are from the internet.