Definitely Better!

Chilly! My wireless thermometer tells me that it’s about 27° outside. And that number agrees with the internet version of our weather. Scary!

Yes, the cat was quite eager to come in this morning and sit by the fire, despite the known presence of two strangers in her house. I think she knows that Karlee and Kyle are snug in their bed this morning and no threat to her. And she seems to have accepted Karlee’s presence these days and will allow her to pick her up and pet her. That’s progress…

Speaking of grandchildren; we took them into town last night for a ride through the Christmas lights display at the fairgrounds and then for a visit with Santa Claus. While waiting for the line to make some progress, I walked around the hall and looked at all of the trees that had been decorated by various civic groups. I shouldn’t brag… but I will. Our tree looks MUCH better than any that were on display.

We started a few days ago, but the house is now decorated and Christmas memories abound. I always feel good about the process as I go up into the attic and get the 3 tubs that hold the decorations. Why is that? I guess I like the familiarity and the history that each piece brings with it. A few of the pieces are as old as our marriage. And even though Christmas is usually all about memories, we seem to add some new décor each year and these quickly become familiar and loved. I’m thinking that it might be nice to have a new tree, one that has the lights already in place. But it would be painful to toss the old one! I believe that I will put off that decision for awhile.

All of this talk of Christmas decorations brings other memories as well. When we were young; quite young, we would look forward to seeing the department store windows in downtown Los Angeles at Christmas time. Most of the time we only saw them from a car window as we passed by on our way to pick up Nana from her job. But once in awhile, we would park and then walk around the downtown shopping area and marvel at the scenes in the display windows. Amazing! I can’t describe it adequately; these were childhood memories and mere words usually fail.

Let’s see…The Broadway, J.W. Robinson’s, (Where Nana worked) Bullocks and the May Co. All of these stores allowed their window dressers full reign (And full budgets) during the holiday season and the results were spectacular. And probably expensive.

Hmm? “Window Dressers”. I wonder if that’s a job description anymore? Do department stores even have windows to dress?