Monday, December 15, 2008

[Christmas+spirit+award.jpg]

This is a very special award dedicated to having wonderful Christmas spirit!
It was passed on to me by my friend Debbie at http://confessionsofaplateaddict.blogspot.com/ Please visit her blog to get to know this sweet and very special person. Her posts are funny, lively and her travel tales and pictures are wonderful! Thank you Debbie, from the bottom of my heart!

Here are the rules for the Christmas award:
You must be a true Christmas lover to receive this award. The person to whom you give the award must also be in love with Christmas. You must link back to the person who gave you the award. You must list 5 things that you love about Christmas. If you can't limit it to 5 things, then keep going till you run out of space! Pass the award along to as many people as you like. That can be 1 or 50. It's up to you! But, you must pass it on to at least one person in order to keep the Christmas cheer going! Let your recipients know that you have tagged them by leaving them a comment.

Here are my favorite things about Christmas

1. The lighting of the Square. On the Friday after Thanksgiving our town celebrates the start of the season by lighting up our courthouse square. The stores stay open late and everyone gathers to sing carols and wait for Santa to flip the switch. Although our little town has grown tremendously over the past 20 years, this evening is really about community and sharing the Christmas spirit with friends old and new. The look on the children's faces are priceless.

2. Children. The other night I was doing one of my most detested chores, grocery shopping. It had not been a great day and I was really in no mood to shop. As I turned the corner of one aisle, there were two little girls waiting by their mom's shopping cart. They were singing Jingle Bells loudly and with absolute abandon and good cheer. They were in their own little world, just filled with the fun and magic of Christmas. Needless to say, I left with a very different attitude than I came in with. God bless kids!

3. Decorating our tree. Nothing brings home the spirit of Christmas to me more than seeing all of the decorations we have accumulated over the past 28 years together. Every year when we bring them out, we spend hours going over the stories behind almost everything on the tree. Now that our daughter is older, she has taken over the tree duty at our house. It is such a wonderful time to reminisce and give her some of her family history.

4. Christmas cards. I love getting Christmas cards from far-flung family and friends that we do not get to see nearly as often as we would like. I still get cards from people that I went to high school with (back in the dark ages) who I haven't seen in over 20 years!

5. Watching A Christmas Story (over and over again) The department store scenes bring back so many memories for me - not that I ever ran into a Santa quite that rude!

Now to pay this forward, so to speak. I have met so many wonderful people in blogland, and everyone has been incredibly sweet and supportive. I would like to pass this on to Barb at Grits and Glamour. She epitomizes the Christmas spirit for me. She was recently hospitalized and her main concern was that her tree be decorated for her adorable grandson. So please Barb, accept this with my best wishes for a Very Merry Christmas and prayers for your family who are overseas. If you haven't visited Barb's blog, you really should. She has wonderfully creative ideas and a wicked good sense of humor! Visit her at http://gritsglamour.blogspot.com/

15 comments:

Confessions of a Plate Addict said...

Oh Kathy...What a wonderful post! You definitely deserve this award!I loved reading about you and the little girls at the grocery store. It takes a very special person to take away so much pleasure from such a small thing! I wish I could see your tree in real life. I would love to look at each ornament. Now that I have met Ssuan and Max, I would like to meet you and Sax! Jeanette says we all need to meet in Missouri...wouldn't that be nice? Have a great week!...hugs...Debbie

Kathysue said...

Hi Kat, I loved reading about your favorite things.I agree about the children.When I saw the babies on the train rides faces when they saw Santa coming down the aisle,well,lets just say I will never forget that.I also have to agree about the tree full of memories,oh such sweet memories.It is nice to get to know more about you. The more I learn the more I like,hugs Kathysue

Barb @ The Everyday Home said...

Hi Kathy - its been a busy day and I have finally sat down to check my emails. How delighted was I to see your award! Not only is it special because its from you, but its also my first one. It could not be a better award because I do so love Christmas. I accept it with an honored heart and can't wait to pass it along. Hugs, Barb

nikkicrumpet said...

You are just like my hubby...he watches that movie EVERY time he sees it on...sometimes 4 or 5 times in a single season. ARRGH!

Bo said...

Good morning...Congratulations on this special award...and I loved reading about your Christmas spirit! ;-) Bo

Belle (from Life of a...) said...

Just came across your blog and the name caught my eye. We're empty nesters this year ourselves. It's different but it's surely not bad!

Lynne (lynnesgiftsfromtheheart) said...

Kathy what a beautiful post. You so deserve this wonderful award. How sweet of our Debbie to send it your way. I agree with Debbie lets all meet in Missouri..:-) Thanks so much for swinging by the Snowflake tablescape..I hope to see you again soon..hugs ~lynne~

Happy To Be/ Gl♥ria said...

Great post Kathy...and girl I love the Christmas story the flag pole is what I laugh at and Ralphie brother wearin so many clothes he can't walk..I just watched Miracle on 34th street again..can't wait for Its a wonderful life to come on..I just found a Christmas song channel on my cable that just great and have been baking making candies and justa singing to all these old Christmas tunes..Len thinks I am like a kid at Christmas time because of my love of it...have a great night dear friend...hugs and smiles Gloria

Lynne (lynnesgiftsfromtheheart) said...

Good morning Kathy, I loved reading all of this again..it's these kinds of things that make memories aren't they? I hope you're having a terrific day..
hugs ~lynne~

Lynette said...

Congrats on your award!! Great things to list as your Christmas Spirit!! To me, it's all about tradition, family and children!!
Enjoy your season ~

Happy To Be/ Gl♥ria said...

Kathy thanks you so much for coming by and seeing me girl..and no Baby as of yet ..poor mama is really going throught alo..maybe by morning..hugs and smiles Gloria

Tardevil said...

Congrats - kids have a way of making you feel better in all this Christmas stress.

Lynne (lynnesgiftsfromtheheart) said...

Good morning Kathy, I'm so glad you enjoyed the tablescape. It was so much fun to put together. The finishing touch would be having all my great blogger friends sitting around and getting to know each other better. I'm off to do some "last" minute shopping...
from our home to yours,
Merry Christmas!! hugs ~lynne~

nikkicrumpet said...

Hmmmm Bondo....maybe your hubby is on to something!!!!!

lvroftiques said...

Girlfriend you live in the most idyllic town! Children singing Christmas songs, people gathering! I sure wish I lived there! Lol!If y'all gather for a get together I wanna come!! I don't care that I'm on the other side of the country! Vanna