I know that around the country, there is way too much snow. I know that there are those who are not able to leave their homes. I know that driving is very dangerous in weather like this. AND, to our great surprise, the weather man on our local station said we had a great chance of getting snow Wednesday night and Thursday.

In this area of the country…the very deep South, it hardly ever snows. We live just 90 miles from the coast of Florida. The temperature has actually been in the teens early in the morning. I have lived here all my life and I can recall it snowing and sticking twice. We manage to have some flurries all along, but it comes and goes quickly. The best chance we have had in many years comes this week. So, we’ll see. The children are all praying it comes…it would most certainly mean a day off from school! Because, the whole city will shut down. Schools will close, churches will cancel services, other services will be delayed. We are just not equipped to drive in sleet, snow, or ice… and that is the biggest danger. As happy as the children will be to play in it, they won’t be as happy when they have to miss a day of their spring break to make up the day! ‘Cause around these parts…it very likely could be warm enough to swim by then!

Following are some pictures I have collected over the years that show some beautiful snow scenes. Obviously…I did not make these! And, they are not taken around here, either! Beautiful, nonetheless!

Here it is! I know you’ve been waiting with baited breath! Finally, we can rest easy…Pantone has finally announced the COLOR OF THE YEAR…2010! It’s TURQUOISE!

Now, frankly, I do not know why we need an official color. Should we all go out and paint our houses? Should we all go buy a dress in this hue? Should we buy our new car in this color? I don’t think so. But, “they” say that this is the color that fashion, home ware manufacturers, car companies, building materials, etc. will all use as a starting point for their new lines.

I thought it quite interesting; and wondered what the colors for the past years, since 2000, would be. Here, then, are the colors that have been a part of your life…and you may not have even known it!

2010….TURQUOISE

2009…MIMOSA

2008…BLUE IRIS

2007…CHILI PEPPER

2006…SAND DOLLAR

2005…BLUE TURQUOISE

2004…TIGERLILY

2003…AQUA SKY

2002…TRUE RED

2001…FUCHSIA ROSE

2000…CERULEAN BLUE…also chosen as COLOR OF THE MILLENNIUM

It’s interesting that the dance seems to be around the blues and reds. What does that say about the other colors? Are they just not good enough? Or just not popular at this time? I wonder…

So, when you are out and about, doing your shopping for this, that or the other… and you see it offered to you in TURQUOISE…you’ll know why. Just remember…don’t buy it in YELLOW…it’s so ‘last year’!!!

Yesterday I began taking down my Christmas trees, and decor throughout the house.

I do not like doing this. Not because of the work…I actually enjoy packing my treasures up, making them nice and cozy in tissue paper for their long nap. I enjoy organizing, and labelling and stacking just so on the shelves.

I just do not like the season being over. We wait so long for it to arrive…we look forward, and plan and prepare. We decorate, and cook, and shop, and hide, and wrap. We place the gifts under the tree just so. Stacking them so as to show off the ribbons and bows. The ribbons and bows that you took so much time to tie. The ribbons and bows that you used your best ribbon for. The ribbon that is wired on the edges so the loops will stand out just so. Quick! Make a picture. When the first gift is removed, the perfect scene will be gone…it will quickly become just a pile of presents once more.

I remove the sweet, little nativity set that has been under our tree since the boys were small. A few of the pieces need gluing before I put it away. Surprised that it has lasted this long. And the slab of wood that the characters stand on. Holes pounded in it from little boys with hammers. And, they practiced writing their names there as well…in that little boy scrawl…some letters big, some small, some even backwards. But, their name, just the same.

All the beautiful garland that I so painstakingly fluffed in early December, will be crushed flat again to fit it into the clear plastic bin. It flattens down to almost one thin line of green. Oh, how much better it looks fluffed out! With pretty red berries placed between its branches. And, the new garland that I bought this year…I do not even want to fold it up to put it away! It had a heavy twig vine with beautiful variegated holly leaves…and full of plump red berries! If it is folded up and pushed flat…will it ever be as pretty again? HMMMMM….where can I possible hide it in its present state until next Christmas?

The special ornaments will be wrapped carefully in tissue…and cradled gently in a box. The 3 special angels…the Krinkles…the beautiful birds. All the sweet ornaments that hold beautiful memories. And, the glorious pink glass rose. The one I found wrapped carefully in a drawer in Mom’s dresser. The glorious pink glass rose that I gave her 2 Christmases ago. It has been added to my box of extra special trinkets!

Next the mercury glass. Oh, how I love the beauty of this pitted and spotted glass. Part shiny and new/ part old and worn. I love the character of these orbs of Christmas glass.

I have collected them for several years…and finally had enough this year to fill a 9 ft. tree. Oh, how pretty it was. I loved the twinkling white lights reflecting off of the colored glass. So festive. I don’t want to take it down. But, I will. I think it may not speak too highly of my decorating skill if it was up in July! Besides, I need Don to move the tree while he is off for New Years.

Empty, undressed Christmas trees are very sad looking things.

So away it will all go. Packed off to a closet and the storage room. Covered carefully to keep out dust and little varmits. Stacked, and stored, and placed just so.

And, the funniest thing will happen. Over the months that the Christmas treasures sleep…I will forget some of the things I have collected. I will forget some of the things that make me smile the most. And, then when November comes round again…and I begin to pull down and unstack and open up the boxes…I will be surprised and delighted as I see my old friends. And, I will carefully put them in their place of honor once again.

I like what my friend Kat said in her post today…it’s the

END OF A SEASON…
END OF A MONTH…
END OF A YEAR…
END OF A DECADE…

and, so it is. How would you characterize your ‘days of auld lang syne’? (‘times gone by’).
Was it good, was it bad? Was it constructive? Destructive? Did it make you proud or make you sad? Would you want to live it again?

I remember the start of this decade with all the talk of Y2K. I didn’t buy into all that…much. But, I did stock up on batteries…and fill up several containers of water. Just in case!

We’ve added 4 new members to our family…Suzanne, Will, Ben (by marriage)…and John Thomas (by birth). We’ve lost two members, my Mom in 2009…and Don’s Mom in 2004. And, how wonderful it is for us to know that they are both residing in their mansions in Heaven!

Tonja and Don, Tara and Will, Lori and Ben, Suzanne and Adam, Alex, Ian all moved into new places to live.

Adam, Will, Ian, Suzanne, Tara, Lori,Ben, and Tommy started new jobs. I retired from 20 years of teaching. Lori and Ian both graduated from college with Masters Degrees.

We learned hard lessons, we eased over bumps in the road, we kept going when we didn’t think we could. We fell in love, had babies, and celebrated anniversaries!
We learned life lessons, learned more about the way other people act, and learned more about why we do the things we do. And, we laughed, we wept, we smiled, we sobbed, we wanted to live the moment forever, we wanted to die. But, through it all…we survived.

We took it in, and rolled it around in our brains, put it in its proper place, took what we needed, and let the rest fall away. Yes, we survived…and we grew…and we became older and wiser. We came to know that some of those things we thought were SOOOO important…really aren’t. We learned that it really IS the little things that matter…we learned that it really IS the ‘moments’ we remember, we realized that every day really IS a gift!

Oh, how much wiser we are! And, oh, how much we still need to learn!
Here’s to the new month, the new year, the new decade! BRING IT ON !!!!

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FYI….ONCE IN A BLUE MOON

Rare New Year’s Eve ‘blue moon’ to ring in 2010
By The Associated Press
December 30, 2009, 4:00AM
According to popular definition, a blue moon is the second full moon in a month. Once in a blue moon there is one on New Year’s Eve.

Revelers ringing in 2010 will be treated to a so-called blue moon. According to popular definition, a blue moon is the second full moon in a month. But don’t expect it to be blue ?

We made it through Christmas, even though it was sad without Mom. We all felt her absence. Each of her grandchildren received a gift from her that Joy and I picked out from among her things. Hopefully these gifts will be a reminder of the love she felt for them. I missed her way of doing things, her delicious dishes, her beautiful smile. I missed her just ‘being’ there.

I wrote this little poem on Christmas night…after everyone had gone home. Don took care of cleaning up the kitchen, along with the Alex and Ian. I found myself on the daybed, with my feet propped up…laptop in my lap…looking at the pictures I had made during the day.

My home was filled with ‘happy’ all day. People laughing, smiling, singing, praying, eating. We played games, we opened gifts, we repeated, from memory, the verses from the Bible that tell the Christmas Story…Luke 2:1-20. We were blessed to have a beautiful baby in our midst to ooh and aah over! Beautiful, sweet John Thomas was a delight to have with us. I thought of the words of the song…”O, come let us adore him…” We all adored this sweet baby. And, how much more did the angels and heavenly hosts adore sweet Baby Jesus when He was born!

All is well. All is well in my home…in my family…in my heart…