Leftovers - Just as good reheated?

How appropriate, after Thanksgiving, to be thinking of re-heating leftovers. (Is that redundant?) So much is happening right now and the best I can do on most days is keep my head above the fray. I am going to focus on adding my old AOL posts to this journal starting back in August so I hope you will enjoy the re-heated entries. Check for “new” August posts.

I enjoyed a nice weekend with my parents and my aunt and uncle in East Texas. My kids had other family members they needed to be with but everyone is coming together at Christmas so we will all be celebrating together then.

I am preparing to move out of my son's house into my own home in just a few short days so decorating for Christmas is a bit hit and miss this year. Christmas is always my most favorite time of year and I have enough decorations to fill a house and three full-size trees. I do not like to over do it so I carefully pick and choose what I set out each year and rotate items to keep from becoming too cluttered. It has been three years since I set up my Christmas Village but it isn't going to see the light of day in 2005 either. And, since I will not be entertaining this year, that means the Christmas dishes, platters, bowls, chip N dip snowmen, etc. will stay packed away. Of course, the outside lights can stay packed as well.

So, what does that leave? Well, for one thing, there is my Santa collection including almost 200 miniature Santas. I promise to post a picture of the little guys as soon as I set them out. I am so silly about my Santas. To be part of my collection they must be full-bodied. Just a Santa head will not do. They cannot be over four inches tall. And, I am partial to the Santas that are unique. I have one little guy who is riding a dolphin, given to me by a friend at work in North Carolina. Another one is Santa taking a bubble bath in a lion claw tub. I must assume he is full-bodied but cannot prove it. LOL Then there is the Santa that is 1/4" tall, the one that is from Russia, and the marzipan Santa. Each one holds a special memory and it just makes me feel good to get them out each year.

Quite by accident I realized one year that I had a large assortment of angel ornaments. I gathered them all together and have enough to decorate a full-size tree. My mother just added two to that collection over the weekend.

I have one large Rubbermaid tub filled with what I have labeled Christmas Critters. In addition to several full-sized Christmas bears, I have a collection of small critters that I perch on each rung of a little ladder leaning on the tree. There is Rodney and Rhonda Reindeer, a polar bear, a fluffy, fat lamb, a donkey, and a teddy bear, just to name a few. They look like they are invading the tree and then a few sit on the branches. Rodney has a half chewed ear from the year of the puppy but he doesn’t mind!

Among my other Christmas goodies are throws, decorative pillows, chair covers, books, pillowcases, games, puzzles, wreaths, CDs, sleighs, baskets, flower arrangements, hat boxes, candles, wall hangings, pictures, Smores, table runners, snow globes, music boxes, frames, a Christmas lamp, stationary, tote bags and the kids’ childhood crafts. The memories!!

Oh, yes. There is also a tree and a few hundred lights and ornaments. It will be interesting to see what gets done this year