MERRY CHRISTMAS

McNeil High School Choir

from Round Rock, Texas

What a treat the residents and their families had recently at the assisted living center my friend Jane's mother lives in here in Burnet. A wonderful buffet dinner was served to 150 of us, and we were pleasantly surprised by such a professional presentation of Christmas carols given by these talented high school students. I was taken by surprise, but quickly put my camera on video and got a couple of short versions of their performance that you can go to YouTube and view if you wish:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UlT_d9YqQ8

My grandson Cameron, who is an opera student at LSU, came through Burnet the following Tuesday on his way home to Dallas for Christmas. He had picked up his girlfriend Sarah from school in San Marcos, and delighted this grandmother by stopping by for dinner and a visit. He had seen the videos on YouTube, and informed me that two of his biggest baritone rivals for singing roles at college were formerly from the McNeil High School Choir! He said they must have a very good choir program there.

Back to the Christmas party. Santa traded in his sleigh for a wheelchair to get around in when he dropped by for a visit. The seniors enjoyed his visit as much as their grandchildren and great-grandchildren did! My friend Jane and her husband Joe, her sister Sharon, and niece Gail helped to make a happy celebration for Jane's mother Evelyn, who turned 96 earlier this month.


She and Jane were really enjoying the cupcakes, and the memory lingered on for Jane! Her tongue and teeth were green the rest of the day! This was an especially happy occasion, as Evelyn had been ill the week before, and thanks to Jane's wonderful nursing care at her home, the doctor gave a thumbs up on her health. Jane even learned to give injections so she could give them to her mother twice a day. We all should be blessed with such loving care by one of our children in our "old age".

I cannot leave the image of Jane with a green tongue without letting everyone see what a normal looking, very pretty woman she is! She and her hubby Joe have blessed my life so much this year -- and I am grateful. At right is her mother and sister Sharon.

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If you have noticed the new slideshow at the left of the blog, you can see photos of the glorious event we attended the following night. Main Street Bethlehem is "a Christmas gift from the members and friends of First Baptist Church of Burnet. Begun in 1993, it is an annual event" the first two weekends in December. There is no charge because of the generosity of visitors and others of the community who donate time and money.

The line of people waiting to go through this recreation of a street in Bethlehem at the time of the birth of Jesus stretched for blocks, and it was crowded inside as well. It was the last night of the production, and the weather was great. It was well worth the wait.

This was like stepping back in time. The actors were not only in period costumes, but they stayed "in character" if one tried to talk to them. We mingled with Roman soldiers, shepherds, merchants, shopkeepers and the like, witnessing people being brought before the tax collector, and some even being thrown into "jail"! The innkeeper informed us quickly that there were "no rooms in the inn", but pointed out the strange bright star in the sky and the area on which it shone. We followed the "star", and a hush came over the crowd as we approached a "cave" with the manger scene of Mary, Joseph, and the babe, Jesus. I cannot explain what an experience it was... If you are ever in the hill country at this time of year, you must make an effort to walk the Main Street of Bethlehem.

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This happy, friendly face is another one of my dear, long-term friends who lives in Denton. Her name is Pam Livingston, known by her grandchildren as "GoMo" (God Only Made One). She truly is one of a kind, and an inspiration to so many. I met Pam in the early nineties when she began going to the Unity Church of Denton. Newly divorced, Pam was determined to improve her life. She was on an exercise regimen the military would be proud of! A mother of three beautiful daughters, one still at home at that time, she returned to college and worked nights as a manager of a large hotel. During this time, Pam took up drumming. She not only became a regular around Denton at various drumming circles, but she eventually played the conga drums in a band called "Baloney Moon" (I never did find out where the name came from!) at venues in the Denton and Dallas areas. She also began to play drums at church in the late nineties.

Pam got her degree and went to work for the Denton Small Business Center, where she has remained for over ten years, helping women and men start businesses of their own. Pam is such a positive, supportive personality, she must really be admired by those she assists.

Not satisfied with her many accomplishments, Pam has now branched out into writing children's books! She has started a series of books about a wonderful little character named "Frendoval". Like his creator, Frendoval is truly a friend of all, and the first book published is about his travels around the world and how he discovers all the ways we as humans are "all alike". This is such a beautiful little upbeat book for children of all ages, but especially the little ones. Pam says another one is ready to be published, and I think she told me she has three more in the works.


She tells me a Frendoval website is also in the works.

Circumstances in my life led me and my little dog Fancy to share Pam's home with her and her daughter Chrissy for about six months in 2000-2001. We had such a good time. Every evening we would take turns choosing a CD to do our exercises to. We danced all over her living room and dining room... each making up our steps as we did. I wish I was in that good a shape now! While I was there, we had a wonderful New Year's Eve party for our Unity friends. Memories I will carry with me always. Thank you again, my dear friend, Pam. (GoMo!)

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I am looking forward to sharing an early Christmas celebration this Wednesday with my son Matthew, his wife Amy, and Travis and Kelly. We are sending up prayers for little Kelly, as she began coughing and running fever yesterday. We are surrounding her with light, and know that she will be well in time to perform in her church Christmas pageant on Christmas Eve.

I haven't heard from daughter Carajean and family since they left for their adventure in Mexico. I hope they have someplace (besides the top of a volcano) to spend some quiet time on Christmas Day. And Ashlyn -- Happy Birthday!

Son Craig is in his element with his son Cameron home for the holidays. To have him and Hannah both home for Christmas is one of the best gifts possible.

Dear loved ones.... family and friends, may your Christmas be blessed with more love, peace, and good food than ever! And may your New Year be filled with abundance in all things. I'm signing off for now. I have some gingerbread men to make!

Peace and love to y'all,
Marilyn

'TIS THE SEASON

By now you all probably have done a little decorating for Christmas and the holidays, and maybe even shopped for those special someones. I thought I did well doing some of my shopping as well as decorating the weekend after Thanksgiving. Then, the weather decided to throw a kink in my plans for getting things done early this year.

I looked forward to moving to the Hill Country, as I thought the climate was so much more temperate than the DFW area or Ballinger. Two days after I moved here, we had a horrendous storm that did a lot of damage to the area. My friends lost many trees on their property... some old oaks that had been there 200 years were severely damaged. I even had a lot of tree limbs scattered in my yard.

That was the last rainfall we had for most of the summer. The drought in this part of Texas, and the lower lake levels were record-breaking, as were the 60+ days of 100+ degree temperatures. Now, we have had more record-breaking temperatures! This time for colder temperatures, earlier than usual. I'm asking myself, "What happened to fall this year?" Houston even had snow last week. That had only happened 34 times in the recorded history of their weather.

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My daughter Carajean, her husband Branch, and their three children are going to join with one of his sisters, her husband, and their four children on a wilderness adventure in Oaxaca, Mexico for 10 days before Christmas. The way I understand it, they will be hiking to the top of a volcano in the area, bicycling down the mountain, and finishing their adventure by kayaking. I don't know the exact timing on all of this, but I was so scared as CJ was telling me about this, all I could do was ask how wide the road was and how high the mountain was from which they would descend!

The adventure tour company is the same one who booked their trip to a rainforest in Costa Rica a few years back. They "flew" on cables through the tops of the trees, and also did some white-water rafting on that trip. This is my adventuresome daughter that ended upside down in a ditch when their SUV skidded on ice while returning from a skiing trip in Colorado winter before last! They narrowly missed a dropoff that would have been even more disastrous. (Audrey, Tanner & Ashlyn at right.)

Carajean has always been one to seek out extraordinary thrills! She did not get that attribute from her mother. She frequently suffered the consequences of her forays such as the time she fell out of a tree and broke her arm. She petted a squirrel on the side of our house when she was 6-years old, and got a nasty bite for her curiosity! When she left home and was on her own, one of her girl friends and she took lessons to learn how to sky dive. I was a nervous wreck when it came time for her first (and only) jump. Thank goodness, she came through her jump with "flying" colors, but her friend broke her leg. I know why I get so nervous when she tells me of the next event they are going to experience.

At left is Tanner, straight A student and future tennis pro, as he played a cello solo of La Cinquintain this fall. His mom informed me that he also sings in the honors choir. His choir teacher recently had him do a cello solo, and even sing a solo at a performance they held at a nursing home. This is the young man who was painfully shy and retiring when he was younger. He now loves to perform. His mom did the right thing "making" him practice all those times, even though he protested furiously!

The photo at right is of Tanner and his cousin Race as they dressed for the Cotillion Sock Hop recently. Instead of being "cool" and dressing like The Fonz, they went as "nerds", and each won a gift card for their efforts.

Craig's daughter Hannah made straight As on her report cards this semester at the TAG (Talented and Gifted) school she attends in Dallas. She was not too keen on leaving her old school, and says that this one is "hard". Can't be too hard for this bright little girl or she wouldn't be making all As! She really enjoyed spending time with big brother Cameron when he was home for Thanksgiving.

Speaking of Cameron, he leaves tomorrow to go home for the Christmas holidays. He wrote me the following:

"I got the part of Paris in Gounod's Romeo et' Juliette (he's the jerk that they want Juliet to marry). (A spring production at LSU) ..it's the French operatic version of the play and the music is beautiful. While it's not a huge part, I still have a bit of solo singing I'll get to do and I'm flattered to even get a part considering it's mainly grad students who will be alongside me." (Cameron is a sophomore this year.)

I asked about his grades this semester:

"As far as grades go, it's been a rough semester overall but I had a really strong finish. Because music stuff was over, I actually had time to study for my finals and managed to get As on all of them so I should be finishing with a 3.8 for this semester (I think it's good enough to get me on the Dean's list again)."

Needless to say, this has Cameron's parents and grandparents popping their buttons, we're so proud! His cousin Audrey, who is attending SMU hasn't checked in with me yet and given me a report on her grades.

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Ashlyn (at right) made 7th chair violin in the Regional Orchestra this year. (Yay, Ash!) She loves athletics, and plays both volleyball and basketball, as well as making straight As! It's hard to believe this young lady will be 14 years old in a few days! The beautiful gown she's wearing was for her role as a bridesmaid at a recent wedding. She may not be a tomboy much longer from the looks of this photo!

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Yesterday, I attended a fun Christmas dinner and party at the assisted living center in which my friend Jane's mother lives. Delicious food (and desserts) and great music by McNeil High School Choir from Round Rock, Texas. These teenagers were dressed in custom made period costumes, complete with hoop skirts, top hats and tails, and really knew how to entertain a crowd. I will post photos from this party in my next blog.

Tonight, Jane and Joe and I went to see "Main Street Bethlehem" on the grounds of the First Baptist Church. I will upload the pictures I took at that event and post them closer to Christmas. This was an amazing recreation of the town of Bethlehem at the time of Jesus's birth.

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Recently my grandson, Travis, made an excursion of a lifetime (to me) with his Cub Scout troop to spend the night on the U.S.S. Lexington, docked at Corpus Christi. His dad, Matthew, went along. He said there were 500 Cub Scouts on board that night. A large portion of the ship is now a museum, but most of it is kept as it was when still in use. It originally had 5,000 sailors on board! Matthew said they pretty much had the run of the ship, and he and Travis were down in one of the engine rooms late at night, after most of the scouts had gone to sleep -- in the original bunks with the same 40-year-old mattresses! It's a good thing they all brought sleeping bags to place on top of the mattresses. Matt said there was only about 18 inches between bunks, and the bunks were stacked three deep! I'm too claustrophobic to have enjoyed even a couple of hours in one of those. I can't imagine being at sea for sometimes 6 months at a time, and having to endure those conditions!

The last time Travis was here for a visit, he read a book to me. The book said "Level 3", and he informed me he could read a "Level 20".. Hmmm. He never missed a word, though. I was very impressed with his skill, and I told him so.

While Travis and his dad were in Corpus, his mommy and little sister Kelly were having a good time at a Christmas party in Houston with grandparents.

Here's Miss Kelly in her pretty new Christmas dress!

More updates in my next blog post. I've fallen behind due to some minor physical problems with my hands. In the meantime, a lot of things happened in my family. Let me hear what's been happening in yours!

Get ready for Christmas.... Santa Claus is coming to town!

Peace and love to all,

Marilyn