Flatware Wind Chime & Simplicity

Some people seem to live for Christmas and could have Christmas year round.  I, unfortunately, have always been an "every other year" kind of gal.  I love it every other year.  You know...all the planning, the decorating, the entertaining, the shopping, the cleaning, the hoping no one is disappointed type stuff.  It would be better if it occurred ever 24 months...not every 12.

After all these years, I've finally recognized a pattern.  Yep...I get excited every OTHER year. 

This wasn't the year. 

I have to admit it.  I'm glad the holidays are almost over and life can get back to normal.

Don't get me wrong...I love Christmas for what it ought to be...a celebration of Christ's birth and God's gift to us.  It's all the other hype that goes with it that I could do without - every other year.

I can hear you gasping as we speak.  I know I'm not supposed to feel that way but I do.  Sorry.

So...now we are moving on to January.  (Of course, 10 years ago I had to go and have a baby on January 2nd so, of course, we were still celebrating a birthday as of yesterday. (I can't believe my baby is 10, by the way)).

But here we are on January the 3rd and I'm ready to SIMPLIFY.  Again.

Yep...SIMPLIFY is my word of the month. 

So, I took a little time to simplify and be creative.  I haven't had time for creativity in quite some time (as you can tell by my blog). 

I'd been wanting to make more wind chimes for a while...

When my yard-saling buddy gave me these beautiful crystal prism's as a Christmas gift because she knew I loved to create things, I could hardly wait for a spare moment to get busy.

I just love the way the sun makes the prism's sparkle when it hits at the perfect angle.

She also gave me a few vintage, silver-plated forks which she knows I'm always scouting for.

I wish you could hear the chimes.  These big silver-plated spoons make such a lovely sound.

When the sun hits the prism's, they sparkle and look like little sparks of fire.

OK.  I'll confess at this point. 

I made this set for the friend that gave me the prisms.  BUT  I'm keeping it.  I just love it.

No...I'll probaly give it to her.  I have enough silverware to make another set.  So, maybe I'll keep that set.  Although, I have another friend with a birthday...

Well, one day I'll make a set for myself.  Until, then I enjoy giving them to friends when they least expect a gift. 

Truth is...I'd rather give gifts when I don't have to.  Not at Christmas when people expect gifts.  I never seem to be able to buy for people under pressure.

I do so much better when I just see something that reminds me of someone and I just give it to them. 

I know I sound like a grinch and perhaps I was a little of that over the holidays.  I wish I was "normal".  Next year will be different!  It will be my "on" year, I'm sure.

So...am I the only one that thinks we should do the hype every OTHER year?

Happy New Year everyone.

Linkin' up to
French Country Cottage
Three Mango Seeds
www.cupcakesandcrinoline.com
www.itsoverycheri.com
www.settingforfour.com

Repost - Grandma Can't Wait For Christmas

I've been out of blogging commission for a while.  Google decided about a month ago that I was out of space.  Odd, since it said I was only 42% full but none the less, it wouldn't let me load any more photos.  So...being rather busy at the time, I couldn't worry about it right then and I just let it go.

But last night, I tried again and low and behold, it let me load photos. 

Here we are the day before Christmas and I have nothing ready to post.  But as I finish up my last little bit of baking...I can't help but reflect on Christmas's past.  So, I decided to repost one of my favorite Christmas stories of all.  Wishing you all miracles this Christmas...

GRANDMA CAN'T WAIT FOR CHRISTMAS...

My grandmother, Thelma, was always as giddy as a child when it came to opening Christmas presents. She could hardly wait once all her gifts were wrapped and under the tree. All of my extended family would gather at her house and as soon as the last family member arrived, the paper began flying off the gifts as fast as Grandma could hand them out. Sometimes, she wouldn’t even wait until Christmas day…she was just too excited about seeing the smiles on our faces.

In 2006, as I sat in the chapel at Baptist Hospital in Pensacola, Florida just two days before Christmas, I couldn’t help but think about Grandma who passed away in 1998. She had been a nurse in this very hospital for twenty years . After my grandfather died in 1962, she went back to school and got her nursing degree. As a child, I was always so proud of my grandmother in her stark white uniform with the smart nursing cap on her beautiful  hair. Later, her independence and self-sufficiency was an inspiration to me as I went off to college and later began my career.

I couldn’t help but wonder, however, what my grandmother might be feeling if she were with us at the hospital that day. My mother, Grandma’s oldest daughter, was having surgery to remove a very large, cancerous tumor that had developed in her abdomen. The doctor had assured us before the surgery that it would be a long, drawn out surgery as he was quite sure that the cancer would be wrapped up among my mother’s organs and that radiology and chemotherapy were quite likely a must. We were prepared for the worst but we prayed for complete healing. We also prayed for strength to handle whatever the outcome might be.

In the waiting room, there were at least 40 people who had come to show their love and support of my parents and to pray as my mother had surgery. My Grandmother would have found comfort in that support as I did but I can only imagine the anticipation and anxiety she would have felt just having to wait for the doctor to return. It would have been far worse than waiting for Christmas! We were all quite surprised when after only an hour and a half, the doctor was out and asked to speak with my father, brother and me. The doctor himself said he was quite surprised when they found that the tumor was not touching any organs at all. They were certain they removed it all and no radiation or chemo would be needed. It was, he said, a miracle!

We all knew that it was just that and we were all giddy with excitement! I know that Grandma never would have doubted that our God was able to save her daughter. And I bet she was in heaven asking God to give us our Christmas gift early… while all the family was together! Christmas was extra special that year as we celebrated two miracles: Jesus’s birth and my mother’s healing.

Wishing you PEACE and JOY during this season of miracles.

Merry Christmas!