It's funny the things your brain comes up with at 7:30 in the morning, when you're sitting on your couch, saying your prayers and staring at the darkened Christmas Tree.
My brain went: That Christmas Tree is just like so many people in the world, who refuse to let their light shine.
Then my brain went: We are all Christmas Trees, of one sort or another. Some of us might be average trees. Some might be spindly little twiggy things.
Some might be Douglas firs, absolutely gorgeous and so marvelously bedecked people sigh in envy.
Some might even be those trees made out of wire and light you see in
city centers, or even a tree like the one that's put up in the
Rockefeller Center in New York.
But we are all trees. And we all wear ornaments and tinsel and random decorations. Some might be better dressed than others. Some might have huge gaudy decorations. Some might be all in pink. Some might be camouflage. It really depends on you .
But we are all of us rather ugly without our lights. A Christmas Tree without its lights on is really not very pretty at all. No matter how gaily we are decked out in garland and red or green bulbs... no matter how big the star at our tip... no matter the size and shape of our branches, or the artistic drape of our garland, or the amount of ornaments hanging on our branches... without lights, you can't see the shine of the tinsel. You can't see the reflected light in the bulbs. You can't see how the shadow cast by a lighted Christmas Tree is more like a cast of light and not shadow at all. You can't actually see how pretty a Christmas Tree is until you've turned on the lights.
Then! How it shines!
So many people are concerned with outward appearance; how "well dressed" they are, how much makeup it takes to conceal deformities, how "pretty" they look. But if you're ugly inside - if you don't let your light take over, then you're really not pretty at all. You're just a grim little tree wearing tinsel.
So this Christmas, don't just be a tree. Be bright. Be illuminated. Shine. Let your soul kindle with God's grace. Let Him work His changes within you, so you become brilliant.
Be a Christmas Tree.
(Sorry if this got a bit cheesy. It was really random. I said so.)
So, those who know me, know that I'm really into Christmas. Like, I count down from St. Stephen's Day, I'm that pathetic.
But guys... It's only a month til Christmas! HOOT HOOT! Isn't that exciting? We actually got a little bit of snow for Thanksgiving Weekend, which was really good for the tourists. And in about a week and a half, it'll be St. Nicholas' Day. That's when you get chocolates and little gifts in your shoes, and drink Bishop's Wine later. :)
Also, a little bit on Front Sight.
The first day we had to get there so early - like, the gates opened at 6:30 a.m., and that's when you had to be there, to do a weapons check and all that jazz. Then once we got all our weapons and ammo approved, we went to our range and we got a whole day of "info-dumping, while we tested out the techniques on a "cold" range - meaning, we didn't ever holster a loaded weapon. The next day (when the gates opened at 7:15 am, and we would get there in time to do some dry fire drills before the actual lessons started) was a lot of the same, but we started firing more ammo, and by the middle of that day we finally got to put loaded guns into our holsters! That was really cool. (We couldn't leave the range with our weapons loaded, but while we were on the range, our guns were loaded. Sweet Lord of the Rings.)
The third day, we transferred to a larger range, and we did a lot of the same, practicing controlled pairs to the thorax with head shots when the instructors called them, and worked on clearing malfunctions. Then we were shuttled to a place they called Monsters Inc., because it is literally a space of doors. Like, five doors lined side by side about 10 lanes deep. We had had a lecture on tactical entry the night before, so we all got these "red" guns (heavy plastic guns usually made of red or orange polymer) and practiced entry through the doors. Then we were shuttled BACK to the range, did some more shooting, and were shuttled off to a shoot house, where we got to make entry through a house that had targets and hostages set up. We got to clear the house, practicing controlled pairs to the bad guys and head shots to those who had hostages, and that was intense and scary and fun.
Then we went back to the range and started working on the skills test, which is basically a "final" to see how much you've improved since day one.
The next day, we did the skills test first thing in the morning, after doing some dry practice, and I did really well - all my shots were in the thoracic cavity and the head box. Yay! But then, then, then!
WE HAD FUN!!!!!
The instructors put up targets that looked like actual thugs - like bad juju thugs - and we got to shoot at those, and since some of the thugs were angled differently, you had to judge where would be best to shoot them. Then the instructors marked the thugs off in groups of four, and we stepped up in relays and on the go we did a single shot to two thugs in our line, then to three, then to four, and then we had to take head shots as the instructor called them. It was tons of fun! (My accuracy improved when the targets were thugs and not simple grey targets - which is either really good, or really disturbing.) At the end of the day, we had a "Steel Competition" where we went up in pairs and had to shoot at hostage takers (metal targets) and whoever did it fastest and in the right order, moved on to the next round. That was the best!
Honestly, by the time we headed home, we were all having Front Sight withdrawal. I absolutely love my Glock-19. I like the way it fits in my hand, the weight of it, and the fact I now know how to clear its little issues.
I LOVE MY GLOCK!
So that's my Front Sight story. I want to look for a smaller semi-automatic, for concealed carry, and if I can find a small Glock, I think I'd like that. (I'm willing to look at others, but I totes love Glock.)
Last, guys.
Anime...
I started mildly with Avatar, The Last Airbender.
Then I did Voltron.
Then I watched Fullmetal Alchemist.
I'm almost done with Pandora Hearts.
I'm into season 2 of Noragami.
I'm going to start D.Gray-man.
WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME???
Like, I want to get the manga for the anime that isn't finished - like, Pandora Hearts. When did I become this weird?
Christmas Eve, for me, is my most favourite day in the world. Everything feels very magical, like anything can happen. When it snows on Christmas Eve, I get so excited.
I have two mindsets on snow.
Before and during Christmas: "Christmas snow is magic, as everybody knows! You'll never see a frowning face on Christmas when it snows!"
After Christmas: "And there's one more thing that I have discovered, And I would now like you to know, The reason for Christmas I now realize is an excuse to tolerate snow! Snow. I don't even like the SOUND of it!"
But anyway, today it is snowing and I'm so happy.
Merry Christmas!
There is one funny thing I want to tell you. Every year in Tahoe, our fire station decorates a fire truck and it goes around the town, different areas each night, blasting Christmas music and shining with lights and visiting the neighbourhoods, and then the people driving the truck hand out candy canes to the townsfolk. Well, this year, they were apparently not coming to our neighbourhood. Sadness! My whole family looks forward to it every year. It somehow doesn't *quite* feel like Christmas without the fire truck.
Yesterday, I had a couple sisters over for dinner - there was me (Kat), Amanda, Teresa and Maria - and we were going to eat chicken enchiladas and watch Disney's Christmas Carol, followed by Mickey's Christmas Carol. So, we had finished our enchiladas, and were about at Marley's Ghost in the movie, and we paused it to put down coffee, when my sister Amanda suddenly opened the door and stuck her head outside.
"What are you doing?" I asked.
"I thought I heard the fire truck," she said. Remember, it blares Christmas music loud. Real loud. Just as she said that, she pointed and said, "There it is! I see it!" It was heading up Ski Run Boulevard toward Heavenly, the mountain where the skiers go. "Do you want to chase it?"
So we all flung on coats and shoes and ran outside, but it had vanished. We ran past a couple streets, but we couldn't even hear the music anymore. "That's sad," Amanda said.
"Do you want to get in the car and see if we can find it?" Teresa asked.
So we ran back to the house, piled into Amanda and Teresa's Landy, and drove up Ski Run, following the fire truck. We craned our necks down each street we passed, trying to catch a glimpse of the lights. We came to the intersection of Ski Run where it connects to Pioneer Trail, and decided to turn right. So we come up to the light, and there is a fire station at this intersection, also to the right. Lo and Behold! There was the Christmas Fire Truck! We screamed so loud, we couldn't decide if we should pull into the station and jump out to holler Merry Christmas, or if we should pull to the side or the road and do the same. As we turned right onto Pioneer, trying to make up our minds, the fire truck started moving, like it was going to leave again. (Perhaps it was refueling its stock of candy canes?) Anyway, so we drove past, hollering like maniacs, and looking behind us to see if it was going to turn right as well and come along behind us, or if it was going to turn left and go back down Ski Run Boulevard.
It turned left.
So we made a frantic U-turn and came roaring up behind it, and idled at the red light. Then, unbelievably, THE FIRE TRUCK RAN THE RED LIGHT, MAKING A LEFT HAND TURN ON A RED LIGHT AND TURNING BACK ONTO SKI RUN BOULEVARD, GOING DOWN TOWARD LAKE TAHOE BOULEVARD!!!
We screamed. "COOOOOOME BAAAACK! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" It was torture, watching it creep down Ski Run and unable to follow.
That was the longest red light ever, you guys. But our light finally went green and we zoomed through and got back behind the fire truck. By this time, we were all starting to feel a bit stalkery and giggling at how weird we were. But you don't understand, this is the Christmas Fire Truck. We look forward to it EVERY YEAR!!!
So we followed the truck, even when it turned right onto Lake Tahoe Boulevard. However, it did make another right turn into a small shopping mall that has a Red Hut, a ski rental place, a salon, et cetera. We prudently let it turn, and passed by and turned right down a different driveway, and then made a few right hand turns until we could get into the shopping mall via a different entrance. And the fire truck had stopped, and was idling in the parking lot and giving out candy canes!
So, we parked and piled out and waved and shouted Merry Christmas, and got our own candy canes.
Then Teresa asked them if they'd go up to Spruce Avenue, because our family would love to see them, and they said YES!
So we piled back into the car, and the fire truck exited the parking lot, but since there are two Spruces in Tahoe and very near to each other, we followed the truck in a roundabout way to make sure it was going to the right Spruce.
Which it did.
Teresa called the family, making sure they knew the truck was coming and to line up outside and wait for it. And they did. And we took a bunch of pictures and so many people came out to greet it and get candy canes. And we all felt like good spirits of Christmas, bringing the fire truck to our neighbourhood! :-)
And that's my funny story of how we didn't expect the Christmas truck, and then we found it and stalked it, and made it come to our house anyway.
Oh, and here's a little Christmas music from our family to you. Merry Christmas!
Mine was just the best. I feel like my family celebrates the best Christmas. (No, I'm not prejudiced. Not at all! ;-)
We had Midnight Mass at our house, and we (the girls) sang all the Propers of Mass XVI, which is the Iesu Redemptor Mass. It was really quite lovely and I think we did a pretty good job, though ONE sister (I shan't mention any names) sang a part of the Sanctus quite incorrectly and quite in my ear, so there was a faltering moment where the Sanctus was WRONG until we managed to get back on track. Other than that, all went well and we sang some lovely Christmas carols as well, like In The Bleak Midwinter and Angels We Have Heard on High.
Once Mass was over and all the parishioners that had come to it had gone home, we put the wee ones to bed. Then, the grownups - or grownuppish ones - put out all the pressies under the tree and laid out stockings for Santa to fill (which he did AFTER the grownups went to bed!) and left a little plate of cookies and a glass of milk out for him to snack on once he'd finished all his heavy lifting.
We went to bed around 3 a.m.
Around about 5:15 a.m. I was woken by the sounds of wee voices in the living room. I was determined to get more than 2.25 hours of sleep so I shut my eyes, but unfortunately I'm that Christmas kind of person that cannot get back to sleep once waking on Christmas Morning. So after a struggle of fifteen minutes I got up and joined the merry throng on the couches and we watched the Christmas tree flicker with its lights and commented on how many pressies Santa had left!
Once everyone in the house had wakened - about 6 a.m., I think it was - my dad and brother started cooking the Italian sausages, both hot and mild, and warming up sweet buns in the oven. We made coffee and drank bucketloads of coffee while waiting for the first sausages to become available, and made up orange juice so we could have orange juice for the littlies and mimosa for the adults. (I'd bought champagne a few days earlier.) We munched on our sausage rolls, went and lit the Christ Candle and sang Joy to the World and put the Baby in the Manger, then we opened stockings. THAT was fun. But then all the little ones got down and dirty with the pressies, and that was even MORE fun! (We made sure to pull out the ones to save for Epiphany first, before we got TOO crazy with the presents.)
For a couple hours it was mayhem, watching people open boxes, opening your own boxes, throwing out wrapping paper, etc. All was madness and merriment, while we ate sausage rolls and drank mimosa and coffee and ooooohed and aaaaaahhhed over everyone's gifties. It was jolly! Then, of course, we had a nice long day where we could read, catch up on sleep, get pretty, and then we had dinner of gnocchi and ham with a to-die-for meat sauce and all the trimmings of vegetables and salad. (Food is a BIG DEAL in our house!) It was really a lovely, lovely day.
Now, of course, it is New Year's Day. Last night we all stayed up - or at least, the grownuppish ones of us stayed up - and we watched Flashpoint to keep ourselves awake til midnight. At midnight, Amanda and Maria both opened their bottles of whiskey that they had gotten for Christmas and we toasted in the New Year with shots all 'round. (That's how we celebrate. We don't exactly go "hog wild" when we party.)
Now we have the Epiphany to look forward to. That is the official Twelfth Day of Christmas. Most people do it backwards, counting from the 13th of December to Christmas. Actually, the twelve days of Christmas START on Christmas Day and ends on January 6th, the Feast of the Epiphany, the day the Wise Men brought gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh to the Child Jesus. I love that we celebrate the Epiphany in our family. It extends Christmas and makes the entire season that much better.
We are going to be having a delicious roast and baked potatoes for dinner today. It's going to be epic! Then we are hopefully going to watch the second Librarian movie tonight. We watched the first one yesterday, and it was a bit cheesy, but quite good. (FYI, it's now a TV show, and the main character in the actual Librarian movies is the main character in the TV show, and Christian Kane [Eliot Spencer from Leverage, for the initiated] is in it as well!! I have not seen the TV show, but I wanna! :-)
So, that's all I have for now. Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Happy Epiphany!! Hope 2015 is an incredible year for all of you. God bless!
Before I actually do the tag, today is Gaudete Sunday, and my little niece Chloe received her
First Holy Communion today.
She was so excited, it was so cute. She was shaking when she went up to receive, she was so jazzed. We were all so proud. :-) (That is an example of how NOT to repeat the word "So" so often.) Anyhoozle, hope your Advent continues well!
Now, for Bella's Tag.
So the RULES to this tag are as follows:
1.) Link back to the person who tagged you.
2.) Answer the Questions (which are not supplied here, but given via Bella's blog.)
3.)Tag five (or more - hahahahaha) people.
Soooooo, I linked. :-)
Here are the questions lifted from Bella's blog:
1.) When does the Christmas season officially 'start' in your house?
Officially?... It starts AFTER Christmas. Right now we're in the Advent season. However, if you're talking about Christmas SPIRIT, it kind of rolls up (on me) on Thanksgiving.
2.) What is your earliest memory of Christmas?
I remember being super little, like three or four, and waking up and smiling into one of my older sisters' face as she woke me and hissed, "It's Christmas!" I remember thinking, "Wow, Christmas. That's so cool!"
3.) What is something that is something that is iconically (if that's even a word) Christmas for you or your family?
Probably the food. Christmas morning is the only day in the world that we have Italian sausage and soft rolls and orange juice for breakfast, and usually the *main* day that we have gnocchi and ham for dinner. We also do the Advent wreath and sing O Come Emmanuel at dinner.
4.) What are some of your Christmas Traditions?
We always listen to O Holy Night (Nat "King" Cole version and Josh Groban version) on Thanksgiving.
We also watch Holiday Inn on Thanksgiving.
We celebrate St. Nicholas Day on December 6 and the Feast of the Immaculate Conception on December 8.
We do the Advent wreath and do Christmas rings, counting down the days to Christmas.
We decorate the house, usually starting around December 6th or 8th.
We bake and make gnocchi the week before Christmas.
We watch Christmas movies. Many, many, many. :-)
5.) What is one of the traditions that you want to carry on even after you're married?
Just one? I want to make gnocchi and ham every Christmas, and I definitely want to keep the tradition of Epiphany.
6.) What if your favorite thing when preparing for Christmas? The baking, decorating or cleaning?
The decorating. Totally, the decorating.
7.) What is a special/unique Christmas memory?
About 23 years ago my Grandpa passed, right around Christmas time, and my mom was not here for Christmas. So all of us kids at home saved one present and left it under the tree, and when she got back in January we celebrated our first Epiphany on January 6th, and we have celebrated it ever since.
8.) What do you like better, giving or receiving gifts?
I LOVE giving gifts. I sit right next to the person and am like, "Open it more... and more... and more... can you guess what it is from the box? Huh, huh, can ya, can ya?"
9.) What are some of your favorite Christmas cartoons?
Mickey's Christmas Carol.
How the Grinch Stole Christmas.
The First White Christmas - The Story of the First Christmas Snow.
10.) What are some of your favorite Christmas movies?
It's A Wonderful Life (My absolute FAVORITE.)
Angel In the House (a recent discovery).
Silent Night.
A Christmas Carol with Reginald Owen.
(These are the four I NEED to watch.)
After that I like to watch:
One Magic Christmas.
While You Were Sleeping.
Doctor Who (Eleven's) Christmas Specials.
A Keaton Christmas Carol.
11.) Do you have a real Christmas tree or an artificial tree?
We have an artificial. I am of two minds between real and artificial. I love the smell and authenticity of real. I don't like how they shed needles or die so soon. However, I don't like how fake smell... odd, but I do like that you can leave them up through the entire season.
12.) Do you have a favorite Christmas book/story? The Crib of Bo'Bossu. Makes me cry. EVERY time.
13.) What is your favorite Christmas song?
O Holy Night (Josh Groban and Nat Cole's version)
Believe (Josh Groban)\
What Child is This (Josh Groban and another version that is a group version that I can't find that I LOVE.)
Little Drummer Boy (Tennessee Ernie Ford and Josh Groban)
In the Bleak Midwinter (Julie Andrews)
The Little Road to Bethlehem (Hayley Westenra)
Peace Shall Come (Hayley Westenra)
And too many others too count. But those are the top seven I could recall one after the other.
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