Almost Christmas

It was just a few days ago that I was patting myself on the back for being so prepared for Christmas.  It was early in the season after all.  I looked forward to open time for actually thinking about Christ and reading the collection of Christmas readings that we have accumulated over the years.  But then I got a new idea for a family gift.  Gifts actually.  This is a mental trap that I seem to fall into every Christmas.  Wouldn't you think I'd learn from this?  Not this year.  I decided to make some art gifts.  So I busied myself creating a pastel drawing for each of our children.  Will they like them?  That is always a guess, but, even if they don't like the art, perhaps they will consider theirs a memory of me.  Maybe.

So it is that Christmas Eve will appear tomorrow and I don't quite have all prepared for it.  But almost.  All of life seems to be speeding by for me now.  I see, now that I am more advanced in years, that this joy ride will end in the not too distant future.  And, just like Christmas itself, it will come unexpectedly fast.  And, perhaps, like Christmas, I will think of things at the last minute that need to be done before I can leave.  Hum.  Perhaps I am getting a bit too philosophical.

One of the many blessings of being here for Layne is that he is part of a quartet that has been performing during the Christmas season.  He loves to sing.  His group just finished several concerts on Temple Hill, where each evening of the season is filled with some kind of musical performance.  (Our Nutcracker ballet began the season.)  I was blessed to hear Layne's concert on Wednesday.  I LOVED it!  They sang lively and unusual renditions of Christmas music that filled the room with wonder and warmth.  I think that presenting the familiar in an unusual way can be very powerful.  It calls the mind to open up and notice.  The room was filled for both performances and included friends that we haven't seen for awhile.  That was nice too.

Layne's quartet (L to R): Clayton Gardener, Audrey (the pianist and part-time singer),
Layne, Jennifer Richey, Dianna Fife) 

One of my poinsettia drawings that I did for the kids.

Rain this morning, again.  But a lovely rainbow made its appearance
for a brief period.  

Parties and bonding have filled our holidays.  We've loved it.  The rain has filled our days of late as well.  It feels like we've had as much rain in the past month as we did all last winter.  I love that too.  All is green and lush.  What a lovely Christmas setting.  Today we sing and I teach at Church.  I'm looking forward to it.  Then the rush of concentrated Christmas will descend.  I'm almost ready.

Star

Amidst the flurry of the Christmas season, we traveled to Boise, to look for a new home.  We met up with our online agent, Peggy, and spent 2 1/2 days looking at houses.  What a joy to find that almost all of them were beautiful and affordable.  We took a checklist of what we wanted.  Layne, you know, is a checklist kind of guy.  He had charts made up for the houses we were scheduled to see.  One of the last ones seemed to fit the bulk of our requirements.  All of our living needs could be met on the main floor.  The second floor held multiple guest spaces, which we could ignore in the absence of them.  Then there was a basement which could offer me an art studio with yet more spaces to be used as we should desire. There was also a big garage and a big yard.  Yes, just about perfect.  By Friday night we were firm in our feeling that this was our house.  So we made a contingent offer.  By Saturday morning it was accepted.  So, just like that, we have a new home.  If our buyers here follow through that is.  I think they will.

Saturday night, after our return from Boise, here is Reed, Ben & son Jonathan,
Reed's wife Dorothy, and Layne.

Ben's daughter Abigail, next to our tree.

Reed's son Timothy with Cherry the cat, outside looking in.

The living room in our new home in Star, Idaho.

The house in Star, from the air.  It is an older picture but you can see
the surrounding grass--the lot is an acre.  Layne will have lots of fun with this.

What a pull on my heart it is to feel drawn to Idaho but really hate the idea of leaving here.  Every time we go to Church or gather with family I feel sad at the notion of leaving.  But leave we must.  I think once we are in Idaho I will be fine.  But for now I can't put aside my sorrow at leaving so many people that I love.  As if to remind me of what I will miss, we returned from our Idaho trip Saturday night to a house full of family.  All the locals were here making gingerbread houses.  Such fun times will change very soon, as their presence reminded me.

Our new home is in a Boise suburb called Star.  If things go as planned we will move there in January.

Nutcracker Again

Some weeks are so full I can hardly breathe.  Last week was one of those.  We were either rehearsing for the Nutcracker or performing in it.  Just to refresh; our good friend Rachel Tan is a dance instructor. A very good one.  She is a woman with great expectations.  Her dream was to produce a version of the Nutcracker on Temple Hill in Oakland, using her students.  For free.  Her dream became reality three years ago, when the Temple Hill Committee responded to her offer in the affirmative.  It was impressive from the first.  Rachel does nothing half-way.  Her scenery, props and staging were of professional quality.  Her students, from the littlest to the oldest were amazingly well rehearsed.  She sacrificed a lot of time and money to make her production special.  The results have been amazing.  Each year the house has been packed for all performances.  This year was no exception.  Crowds gathered several hours before the doors opened.  It is an amazing experience to be involved with this production.

Rachel asked Layne and me to be the grandparents in the opening party scene for her first performance, and every one since.  It is hard to turn her down.  Actually, it is nigh to impossible to do so.  So we became the grandparents.  It involved a short solo for Layne.  If you know him at all, you know that dancing is not one of his gifts.  Yet he does a great job of it.  The audience loves him.  Our first two years were nerve-racking as we stained to remember what we were to do.  But this year was actually fun.  I felt happy to be there and felt no fear at all in participating in our two adult dances.

Our friend Howard Bernam, who plays Drosselmeyer, stayed with us for three nights.  He is English and very proper.  It was fun to rub shoulders with him and take in his view of life.  He is a professional actor so it was extra fun to watch him at work on his craft in the show.

Saturday night Layne sang with his quartet at our ward party.  We rushed there from Nutcracker.  Layne sang in his tux.  I have to say that there is something grand about a man in a tux.  He looked smashing and the music the quartet performed was wonderful.

Some of the Nutcracker dancers, Jill (she and husband Josh danced
for the BYU Ballroom Dancers), Laura (she and husband are in our
stake), Layne and me.

Layne ("Grandfather")  and Howard (Drosselmeyer)

It has been a week of performances!

The Turn-around

It's not a good idea to get too settled.  I tell this to myself often and even go to lengths to keep myself adjusting to changes by doing crazy things like reorganizing drawers and such.  Just to make my mind think in some small way, and adjust.  Change.  It is built into mortality.

I mention this because I was just getting used to the idea that we will be here for awhile longer when our potential buyers reconsidered their withdrawal.  Layne came up with an idea to include in the purchase package that they liked.  So our home is now in escrow.  This means that we will have to be out of this place next month!  Now I'm trying to readjust my thinking.  Find a home in Boise.  Buy it.  Move in the winter.  Hum.  I'm hoping it'll all work out as it should.

Other than considering a major change in our lives, our week has been rather mundane.  Except for Nutcracker rehearsals and Layne's almost constant comment that he'll never do this again.  Of course he has said that every year for the last three.  This year he will be right.

Our wild rain storm was beating up our flag.  So Allegra and I
decided to rescue it.

 And then there's the rain.  After a summer of no moisture whatsoever, it catches our attention when it rains.  Especially when it pours.  Our week has been full of storms.  I love it.

Allegra and the soggy flag.

Me by the flag pole, in the midst of the storm.  Loved it.
We wandered all around the yard in the rain.  Such fun!

Our Christmas is up.  Here are our Carmen Trees,
full of angels and little pictures of our Angel Carmen.