Christmas Season Happenings

Last week, John participated with the Mormon Choir of Washington in the lighting ceremony at the Visitors’ Center at the Washington DC Temple. This kicks off a month of music and lights. The visitors’ center also displays crèches and decorated Christmas trees.

On the second night of the lighting ceremony, choir members are able to bring a guest, so I went with John. It’s amazing to see all the people from different parts of the world, many of them in their traditional dress. Here are some pictures of the choir, one of the trees, and the lights.

                 

Yesterday, John and I drove up to Philly to see my friend Anne and her family. After reading stories and watching the end of Cars, we went to Longwood Gardens. They put up Christmas lights and decorations throughout the garden. In the conservatory, we wandered through the different rooms, with amazing decorations made from the plants in the room. They have a lighted fountain that dances to music. It’s pretty amazing.

At dinner Thatcher shows the girls sugar and salt.        Anne jumps with Hannah, Makennah, & Amelia
            

Me and Amelia                                         Makennah finds butterfly wings in the gift shop

John and Makennah watch the fountain light show.

In the DuPont house. In the building they had amazing baskets of poinsettias hanging from the ceiling.

In the birdhouse, Christmas decorations and bird’s nests in the Christmas tree.
Makennah kept asking to see the birds. I told her they were sleeping.

There were lots of rooms in the conservatory. This is what we saw when we entered. The lilies smelled divine and they decorated the trees with white hydrangeas.


The next room was also quite large, with more paths, grass, and fountains.

                                                              Who knew poinsettias could grow like trees?

This was my favorite: the lights hanging
from the ceiling and the Christmas trees
set up in the water and the tree made of
gingerbread men.

The tree was a frame with potted plants


The hothouse with the roses.



The main Christmas Tree near the entrance decorate with lovely green ornaments.

Ingredient for Happiness

When I was 5 and in kindergarten we had a p.e. class at least once a week. One day, while sitting and receiving instructions, I tied my shoes together with double knots that I couldn't untie. The teacher scolded me and untied my shoes as the rest of the class went out for the activity. I felt a little like that today.

A little while back I was issued new identification at work with a new badge holder with two slots. Perfect I thought for the other card on my lanyard. After a little pushing, the second card slid in, but the fit was so tight neither card could come back out. It didn't matter much until today.

 I needed the id badge to do something but I couldn't get it out. The badge lady told me I was in trouble (she was kidding) but they couldn't do anything about it. My coworkers tried. We used rubber bands, letter openers, erasers, and shear will-power. My manager even tried to help with a pair of pliers. The division head walked in at that moment and decided to join in. With a small screw driver he got one badge out. After a few more minutes of trying, a screw driver, and the pliers the other one came out. Arms, including the division head's, went up in victory.

For a few moments I felt like that little girl standing in the class with the teacher untying her shoes. But instead of embarrassment from another silly thing done, I laughed with the rest of them as they couldn't figure out how I had gotten it in there in the first place and as we came up with new ways to try to get them out. Learning to laugh at one's self seems to be one ingredient to a happy life.

Bow Wreath

Last week I found this bow wreath on Real Simple and wanted to try it out. Here’s how I made it:

 

 

I went to the store to get the things to make it, but found they were all out of foam wreaths. So I bought a wire wreath instead.

 

 

 

 

I got several bags of multi-color bows. I wanted something bright for my living room, so I got bags with bright red, green, blue, teal, and purple. I opened and sorted 3 bags of bows through the process to get the colors and sizes that I wanted. I ended up with about a bag an a half left over.

 

 

 

Instead of gluing the bows to the wreath, I found that the wires were close enough together that I could work the tab through the wires and they stayed put.

 

 

 

 

  I put the bows close together for a full look.

 

 

 

 

 

I hung it with one of those easy release hooks and found some sparkly ribbon to tie to the top. I used some tape to stick the top of the ribbon to the wall.

Do You Know Will?

Last week, I finished reading Shakespeare: The World as Stage by Bill Bryson. I love Bill Bryson. I've read many of his travel books that take me to the Appalachian Trail, across the USA in a car, and travelling through England. Even though several were read many years ago, I still remember details like him leaving his walking stick against a tree, his description of the Cliffs of Dover, and the multitude of neon signs across America. I always laugh out loud and am entertained throughout the book.

His book about Shakespeare is a biography, part of a series on eminent lives written by noteworthy authors. It's brief at 196 pages and full of humor and descriptions and great analysis. He takes a lot of information about what people have said and written about Shakespeare over the years and tells you what can be backed up by evidence and what is speculation. Mostly everything is speculation since there are few know/surviving facts about Shakespeare and his life. 

Bryson does a fantastic job of setting you in the context of Shakespeare's life: who his parents and family were; what Stratford-Upon-Avon and London looked like when he lived there; what the economic, political, and religious issues were; what people ate, how they lived, what laws and taxes citizens had to pay; and what the cultural scene was, especially that of the theater. I felt like I knew more about Shakespeare just by understanding a little bit more about these things.

The last chapter is called "Claimants" and Bryson takes all the conspiracy theories, speculations, and other claims of who authored Shakespeare's work (because how could one man possibly written all these fantastic works by himself) and carefully shows why none of them can be proved and why they are unlikely. The following was one of my favorite paragraphs in the whole book:

"So it needs to be said that nearly all of the anti-Shakespeare sentiment - actually all of it, every bit - involves manipulative scholarship or sweeping misstatements of fact. Shakespeare "never owned a book," a writer for the New York Times gravely informed readers in one doubting article in 2002. The statement cannot actually be refuted, for we know nothing about his incidental possessions. But the writer might just as well have suggested that Shakespeare never owned a pair of shoes or pants. For all the evidence tells us, he spent his life naked from the waist down, as well as bookless, but it is probable that what is lacking is the evidence, not the apparel or the books."

Bryson also points out that no one questioned Shakespeare’s authorship during the first 200 years after his death, even as his plays remained popular during that time.

This book is worth the read; entertaining and educational. It didn’t take long to get through it.

Next up: I’ve started The Hunger Games. I’m only about 3 chapters in, but I was hooked by the beginning of chapter 2. (And seeing the trailer didn’t hurt either.)

Christmas Time!

I know it’s not quite Thanksgiving and I usually have a rule about Christmas decorations not going up until the day after. This year, for the first time ever, I have to work the day after Thanksgiving. I’ve been listening to this CD in my car and just wanted the decorations to come out. So after talking to my sweet husband, we put the decorations out. I was so giddy!

This time of year is one of my favorites. The lights and the decorations and the music and the outpouring of kindness that seems to happen. All this for the birth a little baby that would change the world!

There are many things that contribute to my excitement this year: my sweet husband who is so kind to me, Christmas/holiday plans with LOTS of family (yay!), just enjoying life. 

Here is a sampling of our decorations. I LOVE Christmas trees.

And I’ve been going a little nuts with Snowflakes (I am a Flake, ya know.)
I found the pillow in the picture above and the glasses below at Target.