Category: Christmas

Posted on by Fern Brady - No Comments on Holiday Time!

Holiday Time!

Well, we finally are on holiday. I rather like the school calendar CyFair has more than the one we used in Alief. We let out for the winter break on Thursday but we don’t return to work until Monday, January 8th. It’s nice having those days post New Year’s to get things done rather than extra days during the hectic pre-Christmas time.

I have to say I was very proud of my students this past week. Many classes were acting up and being squirely but not my kids. They were focused on finalizing work and finishing our sports book club. We had a lovely day on Thursday as we completed an art project and did some writing while listening to music and enjoying snacks.

The one bad thing about the calendar is that we don’t get a day of work before the kids arrive. January 8 is the first day back for everyone. So there’s no time to be in our rooms and prepare. The school will be open on Friday January 5th and I will go early and do a morning of cleaning out the old and being ready for the new.

For now, it is time to clear the mind of that part of my life and focus on other things. During the holidays, I will need to reorganize my work study at home. We had the carpets cleaned and so everything is just topsy-turvy in there. It will be good to go through my files and purge and organize again.

Plus, now that I have a better handle on the time I need for school work, I can plan the time allotments for Inklings, Houston Writers Guild, and my own writing time much more realistically. It has been hit or miss with that this semester and it has added stress as I toggle from one thing to another in a disjointed manner. I hope to start 2024 with a more streamlined agenda — you guys remember my post about how I do my time allotments, right?

Right now, as I write this I am enjoying some quiet holiday rest. The house is set for Christmas and it is Christmas Eve. We are hosting at our home. And, starting yesterday, we are on a Terminator Saga binge watch. Seems appropriate to choose that series this year…

This will be our final blog post for the year. Ellen, Rachel and I will be back the first week in January. Hope everyone’s holidays are full of love and laughter. See you in 2024!

Posted on by Fern Brady - No Comments on Holiday Decoration Time

Holiday Decoration Time

Added lights to our outdoor front door area this year.

Christmas is coming around again. Seems like only yesterday we were taking down the decor from the last one. Now, it’s time to deck the halls once more. In my family, we take turns hosting the celebrations. This year, everyone is coming to our house.

In previous years, I set up the tree in the entry vestibule. It’s a cathedral ceiling and open to the living room as well as visible from the double front doors. The perfect spot to showcase the lights from the street as well as enjoy them from within. And it looks super cool with our seven foot tree all decorated and the bannister behind it hosting a nice garland.

Last year’s tree in blue and silver. Went with red this year.

Yet it is not a very comfortable set up for the actual gift giving moment. The area has no seating, so we have to bring over the dinning room chairs. It’s not horrible, but it’s not as comfy. Still, it has worked up to now.

This year, I had an idea. Instead of setting up the big tree in the entry area, I set up a smaller tree in the living room. The big fellow could fit but it would looked very cramped. Instead, this little white tree makes the space look pretty and has plenty of area around it for the presents. Since the living room seating is around it, the passing out of gifts is going to be a comfortable affair.

Our spindly white tree and chimney decor.

I also added a garland and lights to the chimney to make the space extra festive this year. All in all, though not as speldorous, the new set up looks lovely in our cozy home.

As I was commencing the decoration day, I looked for my white spindly tree. I could not find it. It was not in any of the storage boxes we had in the one closet that houses all our Christmas stuff. The only small tree I could find was a solid silver statue tree. There was no way to hang any ornaments on him, but he would have to do.

This year’s staircase garland.

I set about decorating it and soon had it looking pretty nice. Then my mom woke up. I asked her what happened to the white pre-lit spindly tree we had bought way back when. She didn’t remember ever having one. At last, my dad came down and he told us it was stored in the garage. I had never considered looking there because as far as I knew only our out door reindeer were in there. Everything else, or so I thought, was in that one closet.

Upon searching the garage, I found the white tree. So, this year, I decorated two trees. The silver statue tree ended up in my father’s office and is in front of a window so there you go. Now, we have a tree that can be seen from outside like we normally did with the entry area one.

Dad’s office got a tree this year… by accident.

So, that’s the saga of this year’s Christmas decorations. By the time it was all set up, it had taken all day and my body was sore. I’m not as young as I used to be. This kind of thing didn’t cause achy muscles before. Nevertheless, it is a worthwhile endeavor to have the home decked out for the holidays.

Posted on by Melanie Ormand - 3 Comments on A Tale of Two Stockings

A Tale of Two Stockings

Eyeball the stockings: which is your favorite?

This single picture telegraphs the difference between my mother and my mother-in-law.

On the left hangs what Glenna Lea sewed for her youngest daughter 60-plus years ago. Done sewing, she hand scribbled my name across the green top.

To the right is Beverly’s creation for her oldest son. His name lies at a sweet angle, stitched among 100+ sequins atop white felt.

DH and I, for years, have quibbled about who has the better holiday stocking. In the fun spirit of the season, I ask for your vote.

Consider these up-close images of the top of each stocking:

And the bottom:

On my stocking, I adore the bell dangles plus there’s a little “M” on the child’s Christmas box. Melanie or Mother?

On DH’s stocking, fancy gold thread edges his entire piece. His mother’s secret way of reiterating her first born’s special place in her heart?

My eyes stumble across a third big difference:

The seams radiate the personalities of these two women, offering perfect metaphor.

On the left, my mother’s independent spirit marries a lifestyle-driven need for efficiency. Four children and a disabled husband will dictate such a choice. 

To the right, DH’s mother reveals a preference for tradition merged with propriety. A lawyer’s wife, she birthed three boys, daughtered four parents. 

Two women, seven children offer different ways of being in the world.

I chose a third way. My best holiday work involved not homemade stockings — yikes! - but rather cookies, cards, and clever gifting. Only one of those do I still practice, and only rarely. 

But something changed in me this year. Dare I blame, or credit, the times? 

These stockings now serve as Totems, no more need for heated discussion. Each reflects the woman who made them, not the names they bear. Names are only a sorting device.

My mother fire-breathed I‑am-my-own-person-thank-you-very-much.

My mother-in-law committed to I‑must-do-what-a-woman-must-do.

Both echoing change and doing good in their own ways, leaving powerful offerings in their wake.

Never would diversity have been my word for these women. But here it is, shining in the Christmas stockings they made so many years ago. 

2020 Santa comes to your town.

Speaking of diversity and change, notice the masked Santa hanging up above, in the top picture — between the stockings?

The art comes from Fred Carter, a Texas-based, nationally-known woodcarver. He designed this cedarwood piece as his special 2020 offering.

FYI: Mr. Carter is 86 years old, proving again you’re never too old to change, expand, or grow.

(Interested in seeing Mr. Carter’s work? His daughter is my friend; we can connect you!)