This picture was taken last year on our annual trip to cut down our Christmas tree. We have low-key Christmases. We do our shopping, wrapping and shipping early (by early December) and forget about Christmas until a few days before…then we go up to our land and cut down a tree. Christmas Eve we drive around town to look at the lights and up to a lookout point in the mountains to look at the stars. Christmas morning we play carols and open our presents.
Our traditions have changed a bit with time, of course. When Kaitlin was little we used to play Christmas carols and decorate wrapping paper in late October/early November…that stopped when she got older and left home. We also used to play carols when we took our Christmas Eve drive. Now we play livelier and more secular tunes. Our favorite is Percy the Puny Poinsettia:
It’s completely silly and it tickles my funny bone. I find myself dancing around the house singing lines like
If they had just kept him wetta,
He’d be a houseplant today.
Who said Christmas was just for kids?
What are some of your favorite holiday traditions, Christmas or otherwise?
Do you believe some challenges are worth avoiding? I do. On the other hand I was lucky enough to experience depression when I was a kid. I learned first hand that Francis’ approach doesn’t work for me. As a result I’m a strong believer in optimizing stress and the need for challenges in life:
That said, I do try to pick challenges that excite me and avoid the ones that aren’t a good match for my interests and talents…for instance owning a house or working towards a high-status career.
What about you? Do you think we have much choice in our challenges? If so, which ones have you chosen to tackle and which ones have you chosen to avoid?
Unlike Momma in the cartoon I didn’t marry my husband because he makes me laugh, but I wouldn’t have married him if he hadn’t had a sense of humor. I wanted someone who would wear well, which means not taking himself and life too seriously. That doesn’t mean not being responsible, it just means not being grim about it. I need to laugh from time to time and can’t imaging living with someone who couldn’t share those laughs.
How important is laughter to you? Do you have people to laugh with?
Which is more exhausting for you, talking or listening? My gut reaction is “listening” because if someone wants to talk I usually “overoblige”. I’m apt to let them dominate the conversation and indulge in a monologue. This cartoon points out I need to be less passive and take more responsibility for creating a meaningful dialogue.
On the other hand, I too have been guilty of monologues. They’re a lot more fun for me but I need to work on that for the sake of my poor listeners. Communication isn’t always easy.
I saw a New Yorker cartoon the other day where a woman was holding a happy big dog and a little girl asked her, “What’s it like to be the parent of a nonhuman?”
I can’t answer that because I’ve never had a dog of my own. But I can say I love being a a grandparent to my daughter’s two dogs. They’re here right now and we’re having a good time. They’re happy, well-mannered dogs, even after riding in a car for two days to get here.
My daughter warned me years ago that I wouldn’t have grandchildren, just “granddogs and grandcats”. She first mentioned it when she was a healthy, cheeky teenager giving me a hard time. I laughed and said, “Just wait until you’re a parent. Then you’ll know how it feels.” She rolled her eyes and answered, “Give me a break, Mom. I’m never going to have children. There’s no way I’m going to wind up with a bratty kid like me.”
I was surprised that she didn’t change her mind, but I’m perfectly happy with her choice. What about you? Would those of you with children feel deprived if you never had grandchildren? Do you think people are missing something if they never have children? I don’t, even though I’m happy with my own choice.
Have you done enough “stupid things” in your life to have learned to laugh at yourself? I sure have. Years ago whenever I embarrassed myself to death I would inwardly laugh and say, “Well, Jean, Old Gal, you’ve made a complete fool of yourself again. But you’ve done it so often already one more time won’t make any difference.” It was a liberating thought.
Now I mostly don’t even waste energy feeling embarrassed. I figure we’re all a bunch of nuts, why should I be any different?
What about you? Do you think we humans take ourselves too seriously?
If you live in the U.S. how did you spent the extra hour we were given back last Sunday? If you don’t live in the U.S. how would you spend the gift of an extra hour? I cheerfully admit, I spent mine sleeping and lying in bed listening a recorded book. The gift was too precious to waste being productive.
I did go to the gym in the afternoon. When I checked the wall clock to see if they had changed it I remembered a boss I had over twenty years ago. Every Spring and Fall he would go to everyone’s office and change the clocks for them. It was a simple but friendly thing to do. It just goes to show we’ll never know or guess what people will remember about us years later.
Do you have any little memories like that?
Thanks to Rummuser and Cathy for commenting on last week’s post.
Recently the following message was sent to all of the Friends of the Shelter volunteers:
Please read!!!
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If you are an owner of a dog that belongs to a ‘dangerous breed’ category and you also have a child or a visiting small child please take this as a warning.
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Don’t leave your dog with a small child unattended under any circumstances!!!
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Only one little moment was enough for the following to happen.
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See the photo below …..
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Thank you!
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The Dog
If you could take a test that would tell you how long you had to live would you take it? I wouldn’t. My choice would be to keep living fully until I quietly slip away in my sleep. I also don’t believe that a quiz about lifestyle can predict longevity.
According to a recent study people who
avoid smoking,
exercise three and a half hours a week,
maintain a body mass index of less than 30 (i.e, who aren’t obese) and
eat a diet emphasizing fruits, vegetables and whole grains
cut their risk of diabetes, heart attack, stroke or cancer by 78 percent.
I do all of those things but my chances of living to 98 are still pretty slim I think. Two of my grandparents died in their 60s, my parents died in their 70s, one grandfather made it to 81 and only one grandmother made it to 98. And that grandmother was obese, got her exercise moving her fork to her mouth and ate anything that tasted good. Go figure.
