an update and the silver tree

First, for an update on the kitty and the 'situation' with MY throw. She will tolerate being covered with the new throw, but still will not lay down on it. I guess you could call that progress. She slept in our bed last night. I've wondered if this cooler weather has sent her looking for other warm bodies. But thankfully, she didn't sleep on my leg. Yay! She makes me laugh. Her little mind is so funny!

And now, the silver tree. When I was a little girl, we always went to visit my grandparents on Christmas Day. Every year. And the tree was always up and the house smelled like dressing and pie. And fudge. And divinity. She could make anything. But when you're a kid, the first thing you see is the tree. And it was silver. It didn't have the lights and it didn't spin either. It just sat there. But we didn't know any better, so that was ok. They had ornaments that looked old to me at that time. But they all matched. It was a very pretty tree. But it was only up one day. Yes... one day. They put it up early on Christmas Day before everyone arrived and it was taken down later that day by the grandkids 'after it was over'.

It was all so simple back then. The meal was simple. The tree was simple. Our gifts were simple. But we enjoyed ourselves and had a great day. It was sad when my grandparents died 9 months apart while I was in high school. It changed the whole dynamic of Christmas. I don't think it's ever been the same since the silver tree. None of us cared that we didn't have much. Or that my grandparents house was very sparse (by today's standard) and plain. Or that her only kitchen counter was a hoosier. And the only thing hanging on the wall in the entire house was an electric clock in the kitchen. Nobody cared a lick. But everybody cared about each other. You could see it when all of us "young'uns" sat around the kiddie table eating our dressing and cranberry sauce. And you could see it in our smiles.

I know it's almost Thanksgiving and this post is pretty much about Christmas. Just imagine the same scene minus the tree, and you've got a typical Thanksgiving. I miss that. Life has changed a lot since I was a little kid. It's sad. I don't like this time of year. I think that's why I haven't blogged much. I don't think a bunch of posts that say 'I hate this time of year' are very appealing, do you? Anyway... I am thankful for having that when I was a kid. But now that I'm grown, I know that it wasn't perfect. (how many situations are perfect, honestly?) But the grownups still made it special for the kids. I hope to be able to make both holidays special for our daughter as well.