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More Thoughts On Christmas…

I wrote yesterday that we don’t buy gifts for each other, but I wanted to expand on that thought. I am his third wife, he, my fourth husband. We didn’t meet until I was 39 and he was 42. We had both been down some pretty rocky roads, and had more than our share of sorrow and pain. That we have made it 18 years together is a wonderful gift in and of itself. That he can make me happy, and I him, another.

The gifts I want and need the most are not tangible. One hour with my mother without criticism. A visit with my brother without sarcasm. Acceptance for who I am, forgiveness for what I am not and can never be. A gathering of family at any time without pettiness and jealousy, without bigotry, without prejudice. So to all who pray and wish for world peace, try starting with your own small world. Give a truce with that Wii; a hug and a held tongue with that chocolate Santa; a smile and a genuine heart with that Christmas ham. Make a step towards making Christmas mean something more than “it costs less at XXX-XXXX.”

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It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like…

Karen · 9 Comments

Christmas. Ah, that time of year when we all go out and buy things we can’t afford for people we don’t see the rest of the year. And when we are bombarded by crass commercials on TV and radio. Now before you all start thinking that I am anti-Christmas, let me tell you that I certainly am not. I am for the true meaning and reason for this season. What I am “anti” is about how commercial it has gotten, to the point where stores are putting up Christmas decorations before Labor Day. How did we ever get to that place?

I guess I am just so fed up with it this year because a popular store’s ad campaign actually says “Christmas costs less at XXX-XXXX.” Does anyone besides me find that offensive? Does anyone else think that is so far off from the idea of Christmas as to make you want to vomit?

I don’t decorate my house, because I don’t feel the need to do so. I used to do it when my children were younger, and even after they grew up I did it while I still had a house. Now that I live in my RV, I just don’t, because I have no desire to do so. And that doesn’t make me a scrooge, it just makes me a person who doesn’t want to.

FabGrandpa and I don’t buy gifts for each other, either, because we don’t feel like we need to. We have everything we want, and if we do want something, we go buy it. But that is NOT limited to just Christmas. We don’t buy birthday or valentines, or Easter gifts for each other, either. We never have. And that doesn’t mean we don’t love each other. It just means we don’t buy gifts.

And while I am on the subject of gifts, let just say that when you buy a gift for someone that is what you can afford, then find out later that the gift was ridiculed when you were not around, how would that make you feel about giving that particular person another gift? And if you made something, and found out the person you made it for didn’t appreciate the gift because it was “home-made”, how would that make you feel? Either way, the gift was from the heart, and was rejected.

What ever happened to “it’s the thought that counts?” As in, “I thought of you and wanted to give you something, but this is all I could afford to do, so you should feel honored that I didn’t buy that chicken for my dinner next week and got you this small gift instead.” So, instead of thinking “that’s a crappy, cheap gift” you should be thinking, “gee, she was willing to do without dinner to do this for me.”

Luckily for me, we are past that poverty stage of life, but I have never forgotten how it feels to be that poor. One of the reasons I DON’T spend a lot of money at Christmas time is so that the people I love who ARE still in their lean years won’t feel so bad when they can not reciprocate. What I truly want for Christmas is for my family to love each other and enjoy each other’s company, without the pressure of feeling like they have to do without dinner for the next week. It’s not about the gifts and glitter, it’s about the hugs and kisses.

If people around the world treated everyone with love and kindness year-round, with a “Christmas” kind of attitude, I wouldn’t mind having Christmas all year. And if the gifts I gave were accepted in the spirit in which they were given, I would give them year round. But it seems to me like we only get “Christmas” for one day out of each year, and that makes me sad. I want people to love each other and be happy and loving every day.

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Pet Peeve Of The Week

Karen · 12 Comments

I have had this wire shelf for almost 10 years. We bought it in August of 2000, when we moved into our first RV. It is just the right size to hold a box of quart sized zip lock bags, a box of gallon sized zip lock bags, a roll of plastic wrap, and a roll of aluminum foil. Well, at least it was until the last time I bought a box of the quart sized bags.

I usually leave the empty box in the shelf as a space holder so the rest of boxes don’t fall over, until I can get a new box of whatever I am out of. So, when I brought home the last new box of quart sized bags, it wouldn’t fit. The manufacturer had changed the size of the box. I had to take the new bags out and put them in the old box that I just happened to have kept, because it is my habit to do so.

I am so pissed that they did that. Why do manufacturers think they have to keep changing things?

So, what is your pet peeve this week?

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Wichita Falls, Texas to Shreveport

Karen · 1 Comment

We left Wichita Falls headed for Shreveport, still going south on 287, looking into this gorgeous east Texas sunrise that seemed to go on forever. It is a monotonous road, with mile after mile of nothing but Texas to see out the window.

The highlight of the day was going through Paris. Paris, Texas, that is. It is a quaint little town, with a cute town square, but not much else is there.

We finally wound up on I-20 late in the afternoon at Marshall, Texas, and then it was only about 40 more miles to Shreveport.

We planned to spend the night at a casino in Shreveport, play the slots, eat dinner, and get to bed early. Which we did, except that there was a railroad yard right outside the RV park, which we did not know was there.

So, if you are planning to stay at a campground at a casino in Shreveport, don’t pick Diamond Jack’s. You’ll be jarred away in the wee hours of the dark by trains adding boxcars on that track right over there. We ate dinner at the buffet there, though, and that was pretty good. They had fried catfish breaded with corn meal, and steamed shrimp, and some killer parslied new potatoes. We gave them some money in their slot machines, then went to bed. When we got up the next morning, it was cloudy and humid, 100% humidity but not raining. And it was about 75 degrees, so it was that cloying, smothering, southern humidness that I know so well. Welcome to the south!

And then we got on that bumpy road, and oh mah holy hell, the girls were in trouble all day!

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The Semi-Annual Toss Out and Straighten Up

Karen · 12 Comments

Every six months or so, when we move from one place to another, I do the Toss Out. You know, where you go through every closet, cabinet, drawer, and bin in the place and get rid of things you don’t really need, things you haven’t used in a year, stained and torn clothing, etc.

Just how much can two people accumulate in just six months? Um, about 12 bags full. See:

And then there was a pesky mouse in the pantry, too. So, I had to pull everything out of the cabinet under the sink, and get everything out of the pantry that a mouse could chew into. What a pain in the arse!!

This whole cleaning out of stuff has taken me a whole week to do, and I am not finished yet. I still have one drawer under my seat at the dinette, that has to be sorted through. I have saved that one for last, though, because I know it will be an even bigger pain in the arse–it is my “office” drawer, where I keep all my papers, office supplies, things to be filed, things I need to keep track of.

Like, a big wad of business cards, little pieces of paper with people’s phone numbers, email addresses, and mailing addresses that I have intended to put in a little photo album to be able to keep up with them,…….

Thought I was just kidding, didn’t you?

In the middle of all this, it started to snow, so I had to go out and drive around a bit to take some pictures:

I did get back to the job at hand, and have finished most of it, except of course for that drawer. I will have to wait until I get to a town to be able to buy a little album for those business cards, but it is at the TOP of my list of things to do in the future. Right up there with buying some extra mouse traps to keep on hand.

So, now, the trailer is looking good! See:

A nice clean, neat kitchen counter. I’m gonna bake that pumpkin and make a souffle!

My closet hasn’t been so neat in years!

In two days, we’ll head out to Alabama. The trip is about 1800 miles, and will take us about a week. The trailer is about 200 pounds lighter. Maybe we won’t buy a bunch of stuff over the winter to fill it up again.

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Oh, Deer!

Karen · 5 Comments

In the two years that we have been living and working on the Kaibab Plateau, we have never driven up Hwy 67 from Jacob Lake in the dark, until last week when we came home from the emergency room. The closest we came was when we drove up around dusk one time and counted 105 deer. Those deer were way off in the meadows, close to the trees. Not right on the road.

I was pretty well drugged up that night last week, so I COULD have been hallucinating, but dang! there were HUNDREDS of deer out there, just hanging around. It was very creepy to see them, those animals that look so cute in the daytime. See:

But the other night they were standing in groups, herds, of probably 20 or 30, on both sides of the road, along the 43 mile drive. When our truck lights hit them, they seemed to turn in unison to look at us, the light reflecting from their eyes looking all red and evil. I told FabGrandpa it was like they had called a meeting to discuss taking over the world! It was sort of like that old Alfred Hitchcock movies, “The Birds”, except this was mule deer.

And as if that was not enough creepyness, we saw two cows standing on the side of the road about half way up the road. They were the weirdest looking cows I have ever seen, but of course it could have been the drugs. I only wish I had taken pictures. But it was dark. And I was on drugs. They sort of looked like this:

(This photo from U.S. Ayrshire Breeder’s Association website)

only they seemed to have a larger, shaggier body. And a smaller head. And shorter legs. And they looked really scarey in the dark.

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Scenic Sunday

Karen · 5 Comments

The North Rim of the Grand Canyon behind the lodge at sunset. This was taken on Monday, September 14, 2009. It was a gorgeous sunset.

For more Scenic Sunday photos, click here.

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Remember Whensday

Karen · 13 Comments

In 1992, after FabGrandpa was injured in an auto accident, we were given this puppy. We named her Newt, after Newt Gingrich. (Can you see the resemblance?) She was a just a ball of white fur when she came to live with us, but she kept FabGrandpa entertained and happy during his long recovery. She was smart, and learned lots of tricks. Whenever she heard the sound of a bottle of beer being opened, she would run to get her bowl, and would dance on her hind legs with the bowl in her mouth, begging for a sip of beer.

Her life came to a very tragic end, though, as someone poisoned her. We did not get her to the vet in time to save her life. FabGrandpa buried her in our backyard and mourned her passing for days. Although she was with us for less than a year, she will never be forgotten.

For more Remember Whensday posts, click here.

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