This was a week all about Christmas traditions, celebrations and preparations. It was a good week. I got most of the Christmas cards out, but the house is still a mess. Oh well. We got a card from someone in Iowa, complete with photo of their new baby and their Christmas newsletter and we had absolutely NO idea who these people were. Both Kory and I were scratching our heads. I finally got on Facebook and typed their name to see if maybe they were friends of any of our friends or to look for any clue as to why they were sending us a card, and as it turns out, it was the daughter to a good friend of Kory’s but we didn’t recognize her married name, nor did we know she had moved to Iowa. Apparently it was to inform Kory that his friends had now become grandparents. We got a good laugh over that one, but it scared us there for a while thinking our memories are fading rather quickly.
Our week started off with a Christmas party with our home fellowship group, which is always a good time as we love the dynamics of our group and how well we all get along. Friday we did our traditional downtown Seattle Christmas day where we see the gingerbread houses at the Sheraton Hotel (I liked the “Christmas Story” one the best – see photo), get the Santa photo at Macy’s, have lunch at Westlake Center, ride the carousel, see the trains at the Center House, watch it “snow” inside Pacific Place and let Kaleb spend a little quality time at the downtown public library. We didn’t expect 54 degree weather and patches of blue sky, so other than that, it did feel like Christmas will soon be here. Saturday we took our traditional Santa Train ride at Wickersham up in Whatcom County. Our friends joined us, as usual, and the boys each got to sit on Santa’s lap as he grilled them as to whether they’ve been brushing their teeth and putting their toys away before he asked them what was on their list this year. He’s a great Santa. Today we attended a Christmas Open House party in Seattle before going on to Renton to celebrate Christmas with my step-mom and her family. Getting together with people is by far my favorite thing about this time of year.
I had to fight a lot of internal turmoil this week as it became more and more apparent to me how Christmas is slipping away from our society. When I went into Chase bank, there was barely any evidence of the holiday season at all. Small little nutcrackers were stationed at every teller window and a bow was hung up on the rope that starts the lineup of customers. When I got to the teller I said, “Wow, you really outdid yourselves on Christmas decorations this year,” to which she replied, “We weren’t allowed to put up anything with religious significance or to make any of the decorations very noticeable – company policy.” I thought then and there about how much I’ve hated that bank since they devoured Washington Mutual and my New Year’s resolution will now include changing banks – after 20 years with the same account number. I’ll be sure to let them know when I close out our accounts how offended I am they don’t acknowledge the birth of Christ. But it’s not just them. Twenty years ago “Candy Cane Lane” in Seattle was a huge deal, driving in the area of Ravenna the glow from the houses all lit up for the holiday could be seen blocks away. I’d sit in the car for an hour just to get close to the neighborhood as it was a sight to behold with house after house all decked out for Christmas, but this year we drove by and the lights weren’t even there. Just one small little cul-de-sac had a few lights on and I nearly cried. What’s become of Christmas? It’s more than sad.
Every year Kaleb asks for a dog for Christmas, and he gets one, but then has to give it back because we’re just dog sitting it. It’s no different this year. We got a four month old Golden Retriever on Friday night and I think this dog just might be the one to remove all future desires for a puppy. It’s as cute as can be but it’s not potty trained and it chews up everything. Kaleb is already quite annoyed by it and I’m so thankful. He’d much rather just sit and read a book than walk or play with the dog, so his priorities are pretty clear. This week when he was practicing the piano he finished up his lesson 15 minutes early so I told him to go down and just play songs for 15 more minutes because he needs to practice for 35 minutes a day. He went downstairs and belted out a few rounds of “Frosty the Snowman” before I went down– and there he was, sitting at the piano playing that song WHILE READING A BOOK! I couldn’t believe he had that music so burned into his memory that he could play it perfectly while having his mind understand what he was reading. That kid just freaks me out sometimes, and that was downright freaky.
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