Day 14: Christmas Memories

Tonight's memory ornaments date back to 1970...our first tree. That year we didn't have many ornaments at all (compared to our tree today!). We found this set of these ornaments...unpainted...I'm pretty sure we bought them at Sears...I'm guessing we ordered them from their mailorder catalog...or we might have found them when we went to an actual Sears store in Nashville...that part of the memory is hazy! But the fact that we painted these is not hazy. Melany was a baby and when we got her to bed at night, Woody and I sat at the table and painted these ornaments...18 of them. They have held up well over the years and still look pretty on the tree. Tonight we have additional decorations in our living room! See next photo!

Isaac and Joseph have joined us for the evening. Their parents and the older kids are out and about doing one thing or another...Christmas things. Two...well, really three have a Christmas party at the grocery store where they work. One, Esther, had another event that she needed to attend and will go to the other party if she is finished with her first obligation before the other is over! Busy lives. The reason that Esther is supposed to be two places at once is that she needs to go to a dinner honoring the volunteer of the year at one of her volunteer jobs, Horseplaly, horse therapy for special needs children. And...the volunteer of the year is...Esther! Proud of her. She is a hard worker and loves doing this. She also volunteers at a Vets office here in town...busy girl...along with school and chores and various interests!! I have had a busy day today...best job done was to get the Christmas decoration boxes back into the Christmas closet. Then the boys helped me put some things back on the top shelf in one of our closets. I climbed the stepladder and they handed me the things that I needed to put away...nice not to have to climb up and down the stepladder! I ran an errand before picking Woody up this morning and then ran a couple after I got him home...'tis the season. Plus today I needed to go to the Credit Union to find out if a call I had received was real or not...telling me that someone had tried to use my card to purchase something. We're still not sure if it was actually the Credit Union...it was their phone number that showed up on my phone, as I copied it down and took it with me. Or it might have been a phishing scam. But I think that the person I talked to thinks that perhaps I was talking with a newer employee who didn't know exactly how to handle such a call. I became concerned when she asked me for one of our "codes" to sign into our account and also the fact that she didn't block my card and tell me to go to the Credit Union to reactivate a card. Anyway, nothing untoward is going on with our account and I am keeping an eye on it...but not the type call that I wanted this morning! I have been cleaning up crafting items so I can make the next mess...wrapping presents! 'Tis the season! Woody has been a busy Santa's helper today...he is addressing our Christmas cards...that has been his "job" for years. Last year he did it, too, but his handwriting was rather shaky since he was so sick that some cards never made it to their destination nor did they find their way back here! So far I think that his handwriting is a little better this year! He has always had such nice handwriting that it is hard to see it a bit shaky. To be continued! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious! 'Tis the season! Isaac and