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Happy Christmas to everyone on my friend's list. To those of the Jewish persuasion, Happy Hannukah. For those pagans on my list, Happy Yule.
It is a cold and wet Christmas, to say the least. Despite the fact that it's not much colder now than when I went to bed, it feels a lot colder. Must be the wind chill, eh? I had to go outside and look at what the weather did, though, simply because you never know when a white Christmas will occur. :) (It's supposed to start snowing tonight, but no one knows what the weather can do, but the big guy upstairs, and I don't think he's gonna clue us in early.)
The fact that it's a wet, cold, and rainy day reminded me of a similar Christmas years and years ago. I guess I was about 8 years old then, give or take a year. My little brother, Aron, and I stayed the night at my grandmother's, because that's where my family was going to have its Christmas thing (in that the presents we got from Santa, our extended family, AND our folks were going to be under that one tree).
The tree was set up in the den, and I don't remember specific ornaments on it, but I remember the play of yellow, blue, green, red, and orange lights on the walls in the dark room. The memory of that comforts me, even now. My brother and I were put to bed in the living room, and I remember I had a hard time going to sleep. To be honest, I kept getting up to look at the tree, and see if anything showed up. (For some reason, I *never* considered the possibility that Santa might not show up until I was truly asleep.)
I finally dozed off sometime during the night, and woke up later. I can't remember what time it was now, but I know it was early enough that the house was still dark and still. I walked out to look at the tree in the den again, and turned and got my brother. I was stunned, because under the tree, along with all of the wrapped gifts (and boy, were there a lot!), was a bicycle and a big wheel. The big wheel was designed like one of those 3-wheel motorcycles you see every so often, and looked cool. What had my full attention, though, was that the tag on the bicycle said
I'd always had a bicycle, ever since I learned to ride one by watching E.T. (True story!) However, my bikes were always hand-me-downs. The one I learned to ride on actually didn't have tires that inflated. They were solid rubber. You really feel the road on one like that, let me tell you.
My brother and I started checking to see what packages belonged to who. Fortunately, our aunt finally got up, and soon enough, everyone was up, and in the den. My mother and father came over with my baby brother, Adam (who would have been just turning 3-4), and we dove into the presents. I remember that my stocking was packed to overflowing with candy and goodies, and I think that was the year I got several -- to the tune of 5-8 -- of the metal Star Wars figurine playsets that Kenner released back then. (Way cooler than the plastic miniatures that WotC does now, and very sturdy. I recently (last 2-3 years) found the Wampa that came with one of the Hoth playsets, and it's almost like new).
The big deal for me, though, was my bike. Which brings up around to why I remembered this Christmas on this morning. It was raining and cold that day, too, so I didn't even get to test out the bike for a couple of days. But oh, how much I loved that bike. I even took to riding it to school on days it didn't rain. I don't remember what became of it, though. But, it was a good bike.
Now, to log into World of Warcraft and get the presents that are in Orgrimmar under the tree. (And you thought WoW was "just another online game"! I got to trick or treat on Halloween, and now I get presents. This is fun, even if you're not a level 60!) :)
Take care, all.
It is a cold and wet Christmas, to say the least. Despite the fact that it's not much colder now than when I went to bed, it feels a lot colder. Must be the wind chill, eh? I had to go outside and look at what the weather did, though, simply because you never know when a white Christmas will occur. :) (It's supposed to start snowing tonight, but no one knows what the weather can do, but the big guy upstairs, and I don't think he's gonna clue us in early.)
The fact that it's a wet, cold, and rainy day reminded me of a similar Christmas years and years ago. I guess I was about 8 years old then, give or take a year. My little brother, Aron, and I stayed the night at my grandmother's, because that's where my family was going to have its Christmas thing (in that the presents we got from Santa, our extended family, AND our folks were going to be under that one tree).
The tree was set up in the den, and I don't remember specific ornaments on it, but I remember the play of yellow, blue, green, red, and orange lights on the walls in the dark room. The memory of that comforts me, even now. My brother and I were put to bed in the living room, and I remember I had a hard time going to sleep. To be honest, I kept getting up to look at the tree, and see if anything showed up. (For some reason, I *never* considered the possibility that Santa might not show up until I was truly asleep.)
I finally dozed off sometime during the night, and woke up later. I can't remember what time it was now, but I know it was early enough that the house was still dark and still. I walked out to look at the tree in the den again, and turned and got my brother. I was stunned, because under the tree, along with all of the wrapped gifts (and boy, were there a lot!), was a bicycle and a big wheel. The big wheel was designed like one of those 3-wheel motorcycles you see every so often, and looked cool. What had my full attention, though, was that the tag on the bicycle said
"To: Anthony From: Santa"
I'd always had a bicycle, ever since I learned to ride one by watching E.T. (True story!) However, my bikes were always hand-me-downs. The one I learned to ride on actually didn't have tires that inflated. They were solid rubber. You really feel the road on one like that, let me tell you.
My brother and I started checking to see what packages belonged to who. Fortunately, our aunt finally got up, and soon enough, everyone was up, and in the den. My mother and father came over with my baby brother, Adam (who would have been just turning 3-4), and we dove into the presents. I remember that my stocking was packed to overflowing with candy and goodies, and I think that was the year I got several -- to the tune of 5-8 -- of the metal Star Wars figurine playsets that Kenner released back then. (Way cooler than the plastic miniatures that WotC does now, and very sturdy. I recently (last 2-3 years) found the Wampa that came with one of the Hoth playsets, and it's almost like new).
The big deal for me, though, was my bike. Which brings up around to why I remembered this Christmas on this morning. It was raining and cold that day, too, so I didn't even get to test out the bike for a couple of days. But oh, how much I loved that bike. I even took to riding it to school on days it didn't rain. I don't remember what became of it, though. But, it was a good bike.
Now, to log into World of Warcraft and get the presents that are in Orgrimmar under the tree. (And you thought WoW was "just another online game"! I got to trick or treat on Halloween, and now I get presents. This is fun, even if you're not a level 60!) :)
Take care, all.
