Christmas 2008

Seems a little early to include thoughts of Christmas 2008 in this blog. However it is early in the morning the day after and I'm a bit restless. I am wondering what I will do with the remaining days off I have. I always have goals of things I'd like to do but seldom get them done and end up feeling like I've wasted an opportunity. Regardless, I shall forge ahead today and hope for the best.

My lovely wife is a hard person to read. She has always expressed her feeling about things, sometimes a little too hasty in her comments. I've listened to her over these past 17 years and learned that it is kind of her way, she does love me and you couldn't ask for a more loyal person. One of the things that she always tends to hide is her enjoyment of things. Many times if you give her a gift she'll say things like you shouldn't spend so much. I don't, she and I have a very different impression of what is too much. There are times I get a little exasperated with her moodiness, however I've also learned to be quiet and wait, it will change.

Yesterday, December 25, 2008 was such a day. The day started with her being worried over her father's health, and feeling rushed because in the afternoon the "crew" would be coming for Christmas at our home and she needed to go spend some time with her Dad. When Terry is rushed she gets cranky, so that was the setting when she and I sat down with coffee and gifts to open early Christmas morning. However I tried to help her prepare the "Gumbo" for the afternoon's meal, and we kind of puttered around fixing and cleaning. Finally, when the family began to arrive Terry settled into trying to enjoy the moment. Grandson Sam gets pretty rambunctious and can be a bit of a load, however everyone pretty much takes him in stride. Tracy's kids Tim and Kim have grown so much and Tim is now out of high school. Terry's brother Barry and his wife Karen and their two children Kayla and Seth were here. A couple of fine looking kids and wonderful athletes. Seth earned all-state honors for high school football and is getting some recruiting action from area colleges. Kayla is a terrific volleyball player and is also an all-state athlete. They are also good kids.

So the house filled, presents passed and opened, and dinner served. The "Gumbo" went well, the ham was tasty, the poppers were spicy and the meal enjoyed. Terry got a new camera for Christmas and rewarded me by taking a lot of pictures. She also seemed to really enjoy her camera as she got used to it. She was decked out in a nice white top decorated with cardinals and looked full of the Christmas spirit.


I had made several power point presentations while fiddling around over the past few weeks. One of them was a memorial to Cilla our little dog that passed away on December 16. One presentation was just a little romantic ditty I did based on Ann Murray's song, "Can I Have This Dance for the Rest Of My Life." It is a series of pictures of Terry. Then finally, I put together 72 slides of previous Christmas pictures taken here at this house and had some Christmas music playing behind them. I thought the folks would enjoy the pictures of past Christmases. Well Terry insisted I play all of the shows and ended up in tears with Cilla's. Sometimes she shows me the depth of her feeling, not often, but if you look for it you can be rewarded by how much she cares. Such was the case this night. She wanted everyone to see the effort I had put into to honoring my love for her. It made me feel good that it was so appreciated, not by anyone else, that wasn't my goal, but by her. The night ended well, the dishes cleaned, the mess picked up and in bed by 9 PM. All is well in the Floria household this Christmas of 2008.