Christmas Visions

It seems to me that the Christmas season, more than any other, gives one a chance to develop ambitious anticipations. I worked hard to get the business of Christmas done early. But then an idea entered my mind that I just had to develop. We always act out the nativity on Christmas Eve. But last year the grandkids kinda fooled around with it. So I decided to make a video of the Nativity, with the kids in it. So early on I dressed and posed them. Then I put them into Nativity pictures I already had and wrote up a narration to go with it. I especially wanted to create my granddaughter Carmen as Mary. You may remember that we lost her to cancer in 2009. Her last Christmas with us she asked me if she could be Mary in our Nativity play. But I had already promised it to Jacqueline. Not knowing it would Carmen's last chance to be Mary, I told her she could play that role the next year. She was gone from us the following February. So I determined that, this time, she would be Mary. You can see one of my efforts in the picture of Mary at the right. So, with this is a promise kept, in a small way.

My vision with these Nativity pictures was to make it into a video/slideshow with music and narration that could be duplicated and given to each family. But it took longer than I anticipated to put it together (doesn't it always?!). So I made a slide show, played Christmas carols at random and had Layne and granddaughter Rayne narrate it live. I was so hoping that the grandkids would love seeing themselves and would get into the story. They DID get a kick out of finding themselves in the pictures, but didn't feel the spirit of the story as I'd hoped they would. It was not worth all the time I put into it. Maybe if I actually polish and finish it, it will be better and more effective, for next year.

Still, Christmas Eve and day went fairly well. We had our usual celebration with all our local kids. It was chaotic and great in general. I'm so grateful at this time for a family to celebrate with and one that I enjoy. Sometimes I lose track of how good life is. I feel surrounded by benevolence and comfort. It is a great time to be alive.

I was thinking, this Christmas, of how amazing the life of Christ was. He gave His whole mortality for the benefit of other people. There was no space for His own wants and needs. How miraculous that there is someone in the universe that is that benevolent and that He would direct His gifts to us. I'm grateful.

Just below is Lexy, Vincent and Jacqueline dressed in their Christmas Eve pajamas. Bottom picture is grandson Timothy playing a piece on the piano at our family talent night on Christmas.

Nutcracker

Our good friend Rachel Tan has a dance studio. She trains her dancers in the Royal Academy of Dance method and is very precise in her training and thinks big. As a result, her yearly dance recitals are close to professional in quality. For several years Rachel has had a vision of doing Nutcracker with her dancers. She loved the ballet as a girl and dreamed of presenting it as a community service while at the same time giving her dancers a fabulous experience. So she approached the committee that plans the Oakland Temple Hill Christmas activities and presented her idea last year. They went for it. And so Rachel and her instructors have been practicing Nutcracker routines with the students all of this year.

She asked us to be the grandparents in the party scene at the beginning of the ballet. Well, she really asked me and I said yes for both of us! Dancing is my passion, you know, and Rachel is my friend. So how could I say no? It was our idea that we would simply wander through the first party scene and be finished with our part. And that's what I told Layne. But we were wrong. We were to participate in two group dances and Layne had a solo part! Well, you may imagine how Layne, my non-dancing boy, responded to that. But he didn't back out. So when rehearsals began in October, we didn't miss attending them. And just about every day since rehearsals began, Layne asked me do dance with him. I must say that I loved that. He NEVER asks me to dance with him. Not until now. But he is a stickler for being prepared so we practiced both of our dances until we knew them in our sleep. I loved it!

The time arrived for the performance this past weekend. And so, for the first time, Temple Hill offered the Nutcracker. For free. Tickets were dispersed for crowd control and disappeared within the first few days of being available. We anticipated a full house both nights. We were not disappointed. There were people everywhere!

The picture at the top is of our costumed selves onstage in front of the living room scene. Pretty good scenery, don't you think?

Imagine little girls from a dance studio attempting Nutcracker. What would you expect? You would have been amazed and surprised, for our little girls did a good job of rivaling any professional dance company. From very small girls to grown-up ones, the dancing was flawless. Added to that were beautiful costumes and sets that were amazing. It was beautiful! I've never been that into Nutcracker before, but I absolutely loved it. I think even Layne did. We got to see most of it from the audience since we were finished after the first act. We bonded with our director and the other adults dancing with us until we became a very cohesive, friendly group. Layne's solo was so cute. The audience loved seeing him dance and then bend over with a "hurt back" from the effort. It was euphoric. I'd do it again. I wonder if Layne would?

And so, one of our Christmas "pressures" is done and this week we can enjoy preparing for family events. Sunday was one of them. We had a "Bethlehem Dinner" downstairs, in the kids' domain. We all wore headdresses and ate "Bethlehem" food with our fingers. It was quite good. But I WAS hungry. Here you see Mom in her headdress. There's more fun to come. I'm excited.

To Stress or Not

Once Thanksgiving was over I determined that I would be prepared for Christmas early. So as to enjoy the season, you see. My shopping was done by Thanksgiving, leaving very little to worry about. Or so I thought in my pollyanna mind. I decorated and wrapped early. But I've discovered that open time just invites more activity and that leads to pressure to do what could be done. Not that I actually had any open time; just the anticipation of it. Are you following me here? Christmas is a week away and I'm still not ready. How did that happen? Why must I feel such pressure to do all that is in my mind as a possibility? And so I'm stressed.

My sister, Maryanne, visited us this past week. You can see her here with me in front of our Christmas tree. It was fun to have her with us for a little while and my mom loved it. Mom is slowing down a little. She mostly wants to lie in our lazy-boy. I've decided not to bug her about being more active as I have been doing. She moves as I ask her to but isn't interested in doing anything on her own. Maryanne came to us with a broken foot and various other ailments. I suppose I must own up to growing older and accepting the limitations that eventually brings. But I don't want to.

My non-dancing husband now asks me to dance with him each day. It is a dancing woman's dream. You see we have agreed to be the "old folks" in a Nutcracker production on Temple Hill. That seemed like an easy thing. But we are doing two dances and Layne has a brief solo part in the first act! We have had rehearsals each Saturday for what seems like a long time. Layne wants to do our part to perfection, so we practice on our own regularly. I like it! We perform this weekend. It has been nothing but fun. I don't even feel much concern about performing. But, after this weekend, my dancing invitations from Layne will end. Or maybe he'll be hooked on dancing with me and be anxious to continue. What do you think the chances of that happening are?

Picture to the right is our youngest granddaughter, Abigail, with the baby Jesus. She loves him!