Jesus and Ebay

Now don't freak out. So, I was talking to A-man the other day. We were talking about Christmas. I asked him why we celebrate Christmas. He was very sweet and serious and gave me very typical three-year old answers like "presents", "gifts", "Santa", and "ornaments". As most of you know, his parents are not what one might call religious. Still, they have a tiny nativity, and A-man has some idea that there is a Baby Jesus that has something to do with Christmas. I explained to him that Christmas is a celebration of Jesus being born. He looked at me quizzically, and I went on to explain that Jesus was a very nice man that tried to teach people to be good and to be nice to each other. I started thinking about how political (and I don't mean Repubs and Demos) Christmas has become. I have decided that it doesn't really matter if you are spiritual, religious, or none of the above, it is not a bad thing to think about Jesus at Christmas. I have found myself irritable and grumpy quite a bit lately. I have also found many people I run into to be the same, along with weary, negative, etc. The moments when I find myself feeling the best these days are when I am hearing about people reaching out a helping hand, or I am doing so myself. If thinking about Jesus at Christmas time would help ALL people be more loving, tolerant, generous, and respectful of other people, then I am all for it.

Now onto the other part of Christmas. I have always loved it. It was magical, especially the tree. There were always at least two trees in my life, and sometimes a third. The one at home had big lights, hodge-podge ornaments that we had made, or were things Mammy purchased after leaving home (post-'67), and tinsel garlands. Sometimes my Granma had a little tree with a few very precious ornaments she had brought from England. Many glass and some dating from the 30's. She had a little multi-colored glass bead garland. She also had some funky 60's and 70's household decorations. The best trees were at my god-parent's house. They were usually very dense, fresh cut cedar. They had a whole mix of big bulbs from twinkle lights to Ice ball lights. The had a few real birds' nests that they would put a little fake bird in. Somewhere hidden in the branches was a little box that made bird call noises. They had plastic glow-in-the-dark icicles. They also had the stringy "icicle" tinsel. It was awesome. I'm going through a huge fit of nostalgia for it all this year, and have been scouring E-bay for vintage lights, etc. Unfortunately, so is everyone else and prices are sky high. What's a girl to do?!?

Here's to being nice, taking care of each other, and GE "Lighted Ice" light bulbs!
Merry Christmas!