Time to share some random thoughts about my holiday season this year. I need to try and write more in this blog, perhaps it will be one of my New Year's resolutions.
The days preceding Christmas 2003 included a lot of Erin and me singing along to Christmas carols in the car courtesy of two local FM stations that played nothing but Christmas tunes all month. I had many opportunities to drive around with Erin besides the daily trip to school and we usually had the Christmas stations on while we travelled. We had some favorites and then there were some that we both disliked, it was fun just being together, I'm so lucky to have a teenaged daughter that I get along with and who seems to like being with me too. Anyway, back to the music...one of the oddest songs we heard was Jewel and Her Mom’s version of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer which included very interesting harmonies and an occasional lapse into unknown tongues; one that Erin and I were often amused by was a song, sung by Andy Williams (he recorded it in 1953) which was heavily influenced (or possibly warped?) by some kind of homage to “hep” style...note the lyrics: “So whoop de do and dickery dock, don’t forget to hang up your sock, ‘cause just exactly at twelve o’clock, he’ll be comin’ down the chimney, down.” While I don’t think it is the worst example of bad Christmas lyrics, it certainly wasn’t Andy’s finest hour…nonetheless, I was disappointed when they went back to ‘lite rock’ on the 26th.
Speaking of Christmas singing Erin’s choir concert was perfectly wonderful…too bad I had to listen to all those other people's kids, but her a capella girl's choir was beautiful. I hope for her the same joys of song I’ve had throughout the years…and someday I might even try to take it all up again, it would be fun to sing with her. I often imagine that in an alternate reality where her father didn’t turn out to be a slimeball we’d have been in the same choirs for several years now singing in the Christmas concerts together…maybe even doing duets. oh well.
Although there's more to write about, for this entry I'll just finish up with a bit about the shopping. I did some via the internet and managed to get everything I ordered but one in time for wrapping and putting under the tree. The last package may have arrived on time but since I didn't get the notice from the FedEx guy it sat in the manager's office until this weekend and Erin got her string of "leg lamp" lights late. Yes, the famous "Leg Lamp" ("fra geee lay, must be Italian!" and "A Major Award!") from The Christmas Story has been immortalized as a string of miniture legs to hang on the tree...or in Erin's case up on her wall. It's pretty funny. I'd gotten most of Matt's gift certificates on a shopping trip with Erin the previous weekend, but I hadn't gotten all of her gifts yet and nothing for Glenn or the rest of my family (except Dad) so I was down to the wire and not looking forward to fighting the last minute shopper crush at the mall.
On a side note, most years the family get together for Christmas happens after the 25th but this year because my brother was taking my sister in law on a cruise that departed on the 26th we had to celebrate on Christmas day. Being able to shop the after Christmas sale in Bakersfield the morning before we head to my Mom and Dad's is one of my favorite ways to finish the shopping, but no such luck this year.
So, I got up early on that last Saturday before Christmas and got to the area’s busiest mall for last minute shopping before 8 am, and grabbed an enviable parking spot, every time I went out to put packages in the trunk people glared at me for not pulling out, it was a truly primo spot, right beside the entrance on the rooftop parking. Saturday has been a day for Glenn and me to go out to breakfast together then he checks his P.O. box and we go to Fry’s Electronics to see if there are any new techie gizmos we just can’t live another week without. Since I had to do this last minute shopping we had to forgo our ritual and I also wanted to go alone to be able to buy something for Glenn.
I’m about two hours into my morning and have arrived at Sharper Image where I find something for Glenn that he’s actually mentioned wanting. I’m standing in the check out line and hands clasp my shoulders as a voice says in my ear “Guess who?” Having Glenn sneak up on me as I’m buying his present came as quite a surprise! It’s a huge mall full of shoppers so I’m amazed he found me.
He tags along for a while, grabs a bite to eat (I’m not hungry having had a bagel and a Jamba Juice just before he found me) but I eventually send him off, I can’t really concentrate on the shopping with him there. I did take the time to point out a ring I've been admiring, making sure he understood that I didn't show him the ring because I wanted it for Christmas...but later that day at home there's this small box under the tree...what a sweetie.
My shopping trip took about 6 hours that day. I was exhausted and still not finished! But, more on that some other time, this entry is long enough.
Posted by Dawno at December 29, 2003 10:20 PM