Christmas is almost here........

Thou shouldst eat to live; not live to eat.
Marcus Tullius Cicero

I'm having so much fun for the holidays. I really like to entertain. I like to cook.
This year our famiy has decided to do something diferent. We are only exchanging home-made gifts. What a relief!!!!!!!!!! Bought gifts are such a stressor. We must remember that we are celebrating the Gift of Jesus so as to open the gates of heaven to us. I have been baking incessantly goodies for gifts. I've especially been concentrating on recipies of my grandmothers. They were handed-down for a reason- they are delicious.
I really like to decorate the table. Homemade center piece, hand-made placemats(snowflakes), linen napkin folding, place cards, silver, hostess gifts, etc.
Our menu wil be Shrimp and Okra Gumbo, rice, potato salad, french bread and for dessert, my grandmother's lemon cake (it's to die for). I know we should eat to live, but this is the only acceptable exception.
Our Christmas Eve will be filed celebation of family and thanksgiving for the birth of our Lord, Jesus Christ.

South of I-10

Then come the wild weather, come sleet or come snow, we will stand by each other, however it blow.
Simon Dach
Well, today was something of a holiday here. It snowed last night. I suppose it's been about 15-20 years since it snowed last because we live so far South.
When my husband woke up he said that there was snow outside. I didn't believe him because, he is a jokster of the first order.
However, my fellow teacher made an early morning phone call to me and said, "We're not having school today because of the snow!"
I jumped out of bed to look out of the window and, sure enough, white blanketed the ground and trees. It was beautiful. What a wonderful day to stay indoors and prepare for the holidays.
It was baking day. I baked 12 mini-cakes. They have to cure fore two weeks. Tommorow, I will bake about 100 cookies. This year, we are doing homemade gifts. It really makes it special. You cannot buy the time that is put into a homemade gift.
Great day!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"I was the guest of honor and they didn't remember to send me an invitation."

I know that this is not a direct quote from Our Lord, Jesus Christ but, if you think about it, it's certainly true. Too many of us have forgotten the reason that we celebrate Christmas. Today, it seems as though too many people are caught-up in the hustle and bustle of shopping, waiting in long lines to make purchases that perhaps are really not needed. A worker in a store was killed on the day after Thanksgiving as a mob of shoppers ran over him. He died and no one stopped to help him. This is a tragic situation, to be sure, and the opposite of Christ-like.
My family has all agreed that we will no longer be giving gifts to one another. Materialism is becomming entirely too important to too many people. It is the opposite of the meaning of Christ' life on Earth which was to open the Gates of Heaven to us who he loved so purely and completely.
"The happiest person is not the person with the most but the person who needs the least."
Anonymus