4 Fabulous Days

My face hurts from smiling. My feet hurt from walking miles and miles of city streets in boots. My heart is warm from treasured moments travelling with 2 of my beautiful daughters.

The sounds of a lonely sax playing Christmas carols from a doorway, the rush of holiday crowds, the ice skaters at Rockefeller Plaza, the amazing window displays at Macy’s and Saks and the love of family have contributed to submerging me in Christmas happiness.

I’ve been asked, “what was the best thing?” I can’t answer that, as it was ALL good. Planes even ran early – is that not a miracle??

My plan is to give you 4 Fabulous Days in 4 installments.… did I say 4 days in a row? no promises. : )

Day 1. Checked in to the Affinia Manhattan at noon. Hop on the subway and head to the southern point of Manhattan to work our way North.

Memorial wreaths placed at Baattery Park in memory of those who died in 9/11 and soldiers who've given thier lives for our country in the war against terrorism.

The fraternity of the Fire Department. We visited New York's finest and got t-shirts for our guys.

Ice Skaters at Bryant Park. We ate at a wonderful spot overlooking the ice rink & wandered through the boutiques.

TIMES SQUARE!
The ads in Times Square are BIG!
I had wanted to see these my first day (windows at Macy's) and we walked right by them on the way back to the hotel. Location was a key in choosing the hotel we did. It worked out well for us. And this was just the first day!! We made every moment count.

Baby, It's Cold Up There

I haven't packed and leave in 2 hours but wanted to say, "See Ya Next Week!" I'm off to New York.
I'll be seeing all the sights that are in the funniest Christmas movie ever made, "Elf".
I'll take lots of pictures!

The Gift of Love

I don't know who authored this, but it brought peace and a smile to me today so I thought I'd share:

First Corinthians 13, The Christmas Version

If I decorate my house perfectly with plaid bows, strands of twinkling lights and shining balls, but do not show love to my family, I'm just another decorator.

If I slave away in the kitchen, baking dozens of Christmas cookies, preparing gourmet meals and arranging a beautifully adorned table at mealtime, but do not show love to my family, I'm just another cook.

If I work at the soup kitchen, carol in the nursing home and give all that I have to charity, but do not show love to my family, it profits me nothing.

If I trim the spruce with shimmering angels and crystal snowflakes, attend a myriad of holiday parties and sing in the choir's cantata but do not focus on Christ, I have missed the point.

Love stops the cooking to hug the child.

Love sets aside the decorating to kiss the husband.

Love is kind, though harried and tired.

Love doesn't envy another's home that has coordinated Christmas china and table linens.

Love doesn't yell at the kids to get out of the way, but is thankful they are there to be in the way.

Love doesn't give only to those who are able to give in return, but rejoices in giving to those who can't.

Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never fails.

Video games will break, pearl necklaces will be lost, golf clubs will rust.

But giving the gift of love will endure.

My note: We can only freely give that which we have received. Have you stopped to absorb the magnificence of His great love for you today? Maybe that's why you stopped by here - for the gentle reminder - God loves YOU!!!!!

Chicken Little Grows Tail Feathers

Back in May, my only knowledge of chickens came from the cartoon that featured Foghorn Leghorn. I don't know much more to date, but I do know I like the eggs that this hen is producing at the rate of one or two a day. We have 14 more hens that are expected to start laying in January, at which point I'll have more eggs than I know what to do with. I may talk to the owner of my favorite vegetable stand and start selling them. Who knew?

This rooster is not my friend. In fact, he's on the Naughty list. Everytime I go out to collect an egg, he comes charging at me like he's guarding the hen house. Why is it that I feel threatened by something that is a fraction of my size? Builderman says he just wants to be fed crackers (he's trained him!). I like the hens just fine but I've politely suggested that her beau may be Sunday dinner if he's not nice.

On another note, I'm putting the "word verification" feature on my comment settings today to try to get rid of the nuisance of spam comments that started in the last week. I'm getting two a day now and want to stop them, so bear with me while I see if this works. Hopefully they'll stop and comments can be faster again in a week or so. I do appreciate you stopping by!!

Her Taste is All in Her Mouth

Our grown children have had a playful battle ever since I can remember over favored ornaments vs. ugly ornaments. They constantly move the ornaments they don’t like to the back of the tree and strategically place their favorites front and center.

To me, there is no such thing as an ugly ornament and my tree bears witness to that. I admire themed trees that glisten with all gold or all silver or Victorian pieces or whatever. But as “eclectic” describes my house, so it describes my tree. A generous mix of old and new, silly and elegant.

I’m attending an ornament exchange party this week and in my quest for a distinctive ornament I visited a local gift shop. I was delighted to find birds and butterflies that I thought were fabulous. I bought extras for additional gifts.

I proudly showed them to my daughters who tried to be polite but burst into laughter. Cupcake’s comment was “those are the ugliest ornaments I’ve ever seen.” In order not to embarrass myself, I exchanged them. I had to keep a butterfly as I still think it’s beautiful. Aren’t ornaments supposed to be sparkly and fanciful?

My mom has always had an expression, “her taste is all in her mouth.” It took me until I was an adult to “get” that. Personal preferences are influenced by an indeterminate number of things and I think when it comes to admiring Christmas decorations, I will always be 5 years old. Growing older is inavoidable, growing up is optional.

I’m not going for a run this morning. I’m going to skip the whole way.

The Blind Side

My annual movie outings are usually during the holidays with my girls. Thanksgiving evening seems to be a consistent time to get out of the house - I’ve usually been cooking for the previous 24 hours like everyone else.

Last Thursday, we saw The Blind Side with Sandra Bullock. It was the best movie I’ve seen in a good while. It made me laugh, it made me cry and it made me think. To top it off, it had a happy ending. It’s based on a true story and brought to mind the family story of one of my favorite bloggers, Lysa TerKeurst .

If you get a chance to see it, I'm thinking you'll enjoy it as much as I did.

Sugarplums in the Big Apple

Once again, parental duty has catapulted me into an exciting place. (Oh the tales I could tell!) Cupcake had set aside money last year when she graduated from high school for a trip to New York City. She’s wanted to go for years and I advised her to do something significant and memorable with her gift money. She has talked about it constantly since then and decided the ideal time to go is during December to see the Christmas displays while experiencing the city. She desperately needed someone to go with her and I got elected! WooHoo!! Daughter-in-love is coming too - we’ve been planning this for months and we’re going next week!

I bought a new coat this week and am making final preparations. We’re going to see Mary Poppins on Broadway and have an itinerary sketched out. We’re discussing the hop on hop off double-decker bus ticket for 2 days, 1 day or not at all. Let me know if you have any thoughts on that or anything else.

Life is a grand adventure!