Anyhow, enough of that drivel. We all get sick but I loathe getting sick. HATE IT. Am a terrible patient. Abhorant! If I were a nurse and had me as a patient, I would definitely ‘accidently’ put me out of my misery and fast. So there you have it – I have given a nurse down the road permission to ‘do so’ if deemed appropriate.
But back to Christmas. It’s all about giving. It is. And some of the best gifts are never store bought – ever. They are amazing little gifts that come to you when you least expect it. They open your eyes and your heart and make you think. Some stop you in your tracks. Some will bring tears to your eyes. But those are the best gifts because they then stick in your head somewhere and you never forget them and hopefully, they will shape and change you as you head down this path called ‘life.’ So for this year, these are the gifts that I absolutely LOVE…
My niece and my nephew, Madeline and Ben, are the best gifts in the world. And this year, Kevin and I were lucky enough to have them here in Pickett the 19th thru the 23rd. We played in the snow and sledded and took walks and snow shoed and watched Christmas shows and made chocolate covered pretzels and played in the snow more and went to a surprise 40th birthday party and had a GBP party and had Christmas here in Pickett (obviously the way it was supposed to be since I got so flippin ill) and went out to dinner and saw the Christmas light show in Lakeside Park in FDL and shopped and well, just packed in as much as humanly possible.
As you know, I love to laugh. And I think these two beauties below will also make you laugh. They are the Santa pictures of Madeline and Ben from last year and this year. Ok, last year’s I just took with my iphone (that will be a new blog in and of itself in 2010); this year’s is a digital photo. If you need a laugh, you just refer back to this here blog because you will laugh…trust me!
Ok, we'll cut Ben some slack as he is only 1 1/2 in this photo. hahaha!
I don't care, this is equally as funny. I think we have a new series of 'Ben' photos that will be appearing on this blog. More dirt. Sweet!This is the third year now that Madeline and I have rung bells for the Salvation Army. We always do it at WalMart in FDL because the kettles there are outside. So no matter what the conditions, we ring bells – we just do (and as some of you know, I LOVE ringing bells and have been doing it since like the late 90s – it is so much fun!!). This year was no different – didn’t matter that I thought I was seeing that ‘white light’ you hear about it because I felt like I got hit by a truck – no, we had work to do. So Tuesday, we hit the skids and took our sleigh bells to WalMart to bring in the cash. This year, Madeline decided to ‘sing’ – I didn’t ask her – she just wanted to. She basically sang for our entire two hour shift. From ‘Frosty the Snowman’ to ‘Jingle Bell Rock’ to, my favorite, ‘Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer’ – she sang those suckers over and over. And I gotta tell you, NO ONE can say no to a 6 year old in reindeer horns singing Christmas carols. It was an absolute riot! And Madeline is not quiet at all. So when she was singing, she was singing LOUD. And freestyling to boot – at the end of “Rudolph,” she added to this line…’you’ll go down in history…like New York’ (guess that’s the new thing they teach in school.) I told her that I didn’t like that ending – come up with a new one. So, two songs later, here was her ending…’you’ll go down in history…like Lambeau Field.’ THAT’S MY GIRL!!! Needless to say, a hit with the crowd anyway you slice it. We had so many people listen to whole songs and the smiles and laughter that I saw in that two hour span – that’s what Christmas is all about!! It is. We had a woman stop to tell me how impressed she was that Madeline was ringing bells – made one woman get all teary-eyed (and that, in turn, makes me get all melancholy) – had people telling Madeline ‘you are workin it, girl.’ We got at least one $20; lots of $5 and lots of $1 – people were certainly in the giving spirit and that always makes me happy. The Salvation Army does a lot of good and who can’t spare their change or a buck here or there? Seriously? Did you put money in the bucket? If not, write out a check and send it – doesn’t matter it if is $5. Just do it! Bell ringing is always a FUN gift!!
Anyhow, we sang and danced and rang and had a great time! Like we always do. Here is the songbird below…
I bet if we look back in history, Aretha Franklin probably had her start this way. I would bet money. Madeline, you go, girl!
Next thing that reminds me about what Christmas is all about is a gift I received the Friday before Christmas. It was from my cousin Kimi. Kimi runs a company that handles estate sales and a few years ago, a sale that she handled was for a woman who died of cancer at a young age. In her years here, though, she collected loads of Green Bay Packer items. The item that Kimi sent to me was a little Christmas tree that this woman had made herself and adorned with lights and gold helmets and gold garland and little cheeseheads and pompons and Packer G pendants and footballs and you name it!! It is the most wonderful Green Bay Packer tree that there is!! It now sits on our window seat here in Pickett and lights up the kitchen area. Kimi is a HUGE Brett fan and has decided it was time to pass the tree onto a die-hard GBP fan so I will be keeping it safe and sound until I can pass it onto Madeline (who has already taken a shine to it). I love the story behind this. I hope somewhere ‘up there’ the woman who made this is smiling and saying ‘Go Pack Go…and please don’t get arrested at Lambeau tomorrow, Katherine.’ A wonderful gift with an amazing story behind it. Beautiful!
Like the protective headwear here? Lastly, the circle of life. A few weeks ago, I did something that 99.9% of you would think is totally crazy. That’s ok – I can take it – I prefer to be in that .01% anyhow. Sadie and Sophie and I were taking a walk and came upon a little bird on the side of the road. I thought he was dead, but he was just sitting there – obviously had been dinged by a car. His little right eye was closed, but otherwise showed no other sign of injury. I talked to him and my two ‘bird dogs’ sniffed him and left him alone. I love Labradors!! I figured he’d snap out of it. Well, three hours later, I drove past him and he was still there and it was going to get dark soon. I could not leave him. So I went back home – got a box and gloves and picked him up and brought him back to Sam Crest Lane. I then called the Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary in Green Bay. They take ANY wild animal that needs help…ANY. They are open 365 days a year – you just need to get the animal to them. This place is wonderful! Absolutely wonderful!!
I told them my story and they said to bring him up the next morning when they opened again. Until then, I put him in our laundry room with some water and bird seed and blanket and a screen over the top – JUST IN CASE. The girls and I would check in on him ever so often and I couldn’t wait to get him up to GB because I knew they’d have the right medicine (as they have done in the past for birds I’ve found). So next morning, ‘little guy’ and I made the trip to GB. It is there that I found out he was a Junko – a little bird that hits these parts in the winter and is a ground feeder. They are charcoal black on top and have cute little white bellies. The man at the Wildlife Sanctuary said that he had indeed been hit by a car, but his wings were not broken nor his legs so if they could get the swelling down in his head, he should be able to get back into the wild or he would be added to the exhibit at the sanctuary should he not fully get back his functions (because that right eye had received some severe trauma.) I petted my new little friend good bye (the bird – not the tech at the sanctuary) and told him he was in the best hands. I would be checking in the next day to see how he was doing.
Ok, you know this isn’t going to end good. As much as I had hope and faith and just a good feeling that this was going to ‘stick,’ it did not. The next morning, I called and they told me that ‘little guy’ did not make it thru the night. Total defeat. Very sad. I took the hit. And then, of course, rethought what I should have done differently. After a few days, I realized that I did the best I could. I didn’t just leave him – I wouldn’t have just left him – I didn’t just leave him. Sadie and Sophie knew the ‘little guy’ needed some help – hello, they are ‘bird dogs’ and had no desire in hurting him. Would I do it again, of course – there is no doubt. I wish it had ended on a much more positive note. But then this afternoon, as I looked out at our front porch through the beautiful ‘little cat feet’ snow that was coming down – there were four little Junko’s. Dining on birdseed and enjoying the Christmas decorations and lights and well, just enjoying life as Junko’s! I’ll call it a sign. A beautiful sign. A gift from ‘little guy.’
So there, gifts that I loved this season. The best gifts. I hope you also enjoyed some amazing gifts that truly touched your heart. For that is the real meaning of Christmas – to open your heart and feel all the love that is out there in whatever way, shape or form it comes to you!
Merry Christmas – don’t let the feeling end already. Keep it going as long as you can!!
Merriest of Christmas's to you and yours from Katherine and Amish Kev
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