It has been overcast for the most part this past week since my trip to Mexico. I did get in the pool Sunday, Monday and Tuesday but nothing after that. Today was the first beatuimous day we have had, but bummer for me, I had to go to my doctor down here this afternoon to pick up a prescription so no pool. I can feel your sympathy for me now as you may well be reading this up north and would love to change places with me - except for the fact it is Christmas week.
I gotta say, it is really, really, REALLY hard to get in the Christmas spirit down here. It is pretty warm for the most part and palm trees and citrus trees are everywhere. It just seems wrong to see snowmen decorations down here! We did not put up a tree because we had no room so this is our pathetic attempt at Christmas cheer in our 5th wheel!
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| Our stockings are hung above our fireplace. We haven't been very good this year so we put up small, very small, stockings. We didn't want too much coal to haul around. |
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| Lights around the slides inside. |
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| Old children's books across the top with elves. |
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| This is my sad snowmen display. They are lit up so a little blurry - sorry! |
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| Lights over our kitchen slide too. |
We don't know for sure what we are doing for Christmas. They do have a potluck dinner here. The park provides the meat and we all bring the rest. Clark's gout is better, but then, he came down with a horrible cold and is still coughing quite a bit. We won't make a decision about going to the dinner until Wednesday. We don't want to cause anyone down here to get sick. So, guess you'll have to read the blog to see how we spend the holiday.
The one thing I do know is that it is much more difficult to be away from family at Christmas then I expected. I knew it would be hard but I didn't know how hard. I especially would have liked to have been home this year since it will be the first Christmas without my mom. It will probably be easier for me than everyone else since I am away from all things familiar.
My mom LOVED Christmas. She would decorate every available spot in the house it seemed. She was always so happy at Christmas time and was always so careful to be sure everything was even and that she had just the right gift for everyone. In fact, she was usually finishing up on the 24th and wrapping presents until bedtime. I think she actually enjoyed it that way.
She was easy to buy gifts for because she was happy with anything. But, she always said that having everyone there was gift enough. I didn't want Christmas to go by without acknowledging the fact that I think of her often and miss her very much, just like everyone else does. I can only say how thankful I am to know that as we celebrate the birth of Jesus, who came to die for our sins, I know, without a doubt, I will see my mom again because she had a relationship with Jesus as her Lord and Savior, just as I do. Thank you, God, for the free gift of salvation that is ours if only we accept it.
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| My mom at Christmas past. |
