Sunday, December 26, 2010

No Santa...

I remember my first Christmas adventure with Grandma. I was just a kid. I remember tearing across town on my bike to visit her on the day my big sister dropped the bomb: "There is no Santa Claus," she jeered. "Even dummies know that!"


My Grandma was not the gushy kind, never had been. I fled to her that day because I knew she would be straight with me. I knew Grandma always told the truth, and I knew that the truth always went down a whole lot easier when swallowed with one of her world-famous cinnamon buns. I knew they were world-famous, because Grandma said so. It had to be true.

Grandma was home, and the buns were still warm. I told her everything. She was ready for me. "No Santa Claus!" she snorted. "Ridiculous! Don't believe it. T hat rumor has been going around for years, and it makes me mad, plain mad. Now, put on your coat, and let's go."

"Go? Go where, Grandma?" I asked. I hadn't even finished my second world-famous, cinnamon bun. " Where" turned out to be Kerby's General Store, the one store in town that had a little bit of just about everything. As we walked through its doors, Grandma handed me ten dollars. That was a bundle in those days.

"Take this money," she said, "and buy something for someone who needs it. I'll wait for you in the car." Then she turned and walked out of Kerby's.

I was only eight-years-old. I'd often gone shopping with my mother, but never had I shopped for anything all by myself. The store seemed big and crowded, full of people scrambling to finish their Christmas shopping. For a few moments I just stood there, confused, clutching that ten-dollar bill, wondering what to buy, and who on earth to buy it for.

I thought of everybody I knew: my family, my friends, my neighbors, the kids at school, the people who went to my church. I was just about thought out when I suddenly thought of Bobby Decker. He was a kid with bad breath and messy hair, and he sat right behind me in Mrs. Pollock's grade-two class.

Bobby Decker didn't have a coat. I knew that because he never went out for recess during the winter. His mother always wrote a note, telling the teacher that he had a cough, but all we kids knew that Bobby Decker didn't have a cough, and he didn't have a coat.

I fingered the ten-dollar bill with growing excitement. I would buy Bobby Decker a coat!

I settled on a red corduroy one that had a hood to it. It looked real warm, and he would like that.

"Is this a Christmas present for someone?" the lady behind the counter asked kindly, as I laid my ten dollars down. "Yes, I replied shyly. "It's...for Bobby." The nice lady smiled at me. I didn't get any change, but she put the coat in a bag and wished me a Merry Christmas.

That evening, Grandma helped me wrap the coat in Christmas paper and ribbons (a little tag fell out of the coat, and Grandma tucked it in her Bible) and wrote on the package, "To Bobby, From Santa Claus." Grandma said that Santa always insisted on secrecy. Then she drove me over to Bobby Decker's house, explaining as we went that I was now and forever officially one of Santa's helpers.

Grandma parked down the street from Bobby's house, and she and I crept noiselessly and hid in the bushes by his front walk. Then Grandma gave me a nudge. "All right, Santa Claus," she whispered, "get going."

I took a deep breath, dashed for his front door, threw the present down on his step, pounded his doorbell and flew back to the safety of the bushes and Grandma. Together we waited breathlessly in the darkness for the front door to open. Finally it did, and there stood Bobby.

Fifty years haven't dimmed the thrill of those moments spent shivering, beside my Grandma, in Bobby Decker's bushes. That night, I realized that those awful rumors about Santa Claus were just what Grandma said they were: ridiculous. Santa was alive and well, and we were on his team.

I still have the Bible, with the tag tucked inside: $19.95.

I got this in an email and I am sorry if you have already read it, but I love the way a life lesson was taught to one so small and how that can change many lives...through many years...
Grandma's have a way of being so full of wisdom, don't they?


*W*I*N*T*E*R* images for your computer background...

I found these online...
my BF was disappointed that I hadn't blogged since last night...
so here are a few images to lift your spirits...

prayers going up for all the ones that caught the bad end of this storm system that went through...
from floods, tornadoes and massive snow falls...
with all the images that I have seen this evening...
we are so blessed here...
so I am leaving you with the beauty of the winter season...
to replace the devastation that's in the news everywhere...
be safe...
be warm...

What do you do in the middle of the night...when you can't sleep?

I grab my camera and walk around in the dark...
and do what I like to do...
and hope the flash doesn't wake any one up...
I did have a homemade filter on the flash, so it wasn't so bad...
this is our "family" gift this year...
DH is so excited...
he was reading the instructions and recipes yesterday afternoon...
of course relaying all the important information...
he is a mini muffin kind of a guy and I knew he would love this as soon as I saw it!
and I love mini cupcakes...
I hate making the big ones...
just too much to eat at one time...
but little ones, just a couple bites is enough for me...
and he found out he can do more than muffins!
WE can do mini brownie bites...
OOOOHHHH...
AAAAWWWWW...
ok, now the dish washer is still down...
I wonder who will get to clean up the mess...
YEPPER...
DH...
he just doesn't know it yet...
my new candle warmer...
and Doug's vintage rootbeer mugs in the background...
I need to get a jar candle to sit on here...
sugar cookie or just plain old vanilla?
for not having left overs from dinner...
this is sure full...
looks like a job for SUPER mom today...
I found Mr Wiggles napping in DH's recliner...
BF (Rebecca's) birthday present...
it was last week, I had gotten it on eBay and it came in...
and just waiting to be delivered or picked up...
her DH is here in town everyday, almost...
this is my favorite snowman...
he is holding hands with a little boy...
ornament on the tree...
cameo...
snowflake...
pocket watch from 2000...
the time has flown...
it should have come with wings on it...
and DH's blackberry pie...
he thinks he finally got the right amount of corn starch this time...
no runny middle!
and oh my gosh!
I forgot to tell you!
with the mini cupcake maker...
you can make mini pies!
using canned biscuit dough rolled out...
a bottom...
spoon in filling...
put a top on and ta da...
mini pies!