Monday, December 24, 2018

Memories Topped with a Bow


As the years go by and our family changes, we lose some, we add some, around the Christmas tree. We have decided one of the best gifts we can give each other is the gift of more memories and less pressure. Grandma’s house is a generation younger. Sister makes Ma’s sausage ball recipe, but we eat them off paper plates. This year they were zip locked to-go and enjoyed in Branson as the clan did Christmas with the hundreds of other families in Branson, Missouri. 

We stayed together where we could wear our pj pants and play games. We dragged all our favorite snack foods like rice krispy treats and seasoned oyster crackers to another state and ate non-stop. We laughed with and at each other over a crazy new game that Santa brought. We pictured those we were missing and blurted out lines we knew they would be saying if they were there.

We do the mom and dad thing by paying for meals and listening for things we can do to make our children’s visit home more enjoyable. Even though our kids tower over us and are plenty big to fix their own plate, we rush to the kitchen to do it. We try to fill in the conversation gaps of the entire year without repeating ourselves too much because that’s what old people do. The tree blinks back in the corner and I blink back tears knowing time goes by too fast.

Son Caleb is in his fruit basket years. I remember mine well. I’m talking about that stretch of my life that most of my friends were married and had tots in tow. Pictures were made of these little families, but I just held a fruit basket. I got into the mom scene kinda late compared to my cohorts so I have several fruit basket pictures. It’s a real holiday game changer when the play station Santa brings has a Fisher Price brand. And the GAP jeans have “Baby” in front of the GAP. There is more Carter’s labels than Carhart. The fruit basket has been upset and Christmas will never be the same.

I loved looking at all the new little families at Silver Dollar City. Mommies and Daddies with little babes bundled up in strollers and wagons. Small faces grin and point mittens to the glittering Christmas lights. Dad’s heads are topped with Santa hats and mom’s have on shirts that promote everything from reindeer to naps. I was in line behind a little guy at breakfast and he asked me if I could guess how old he was. (I always guess high, it’s the only time in life you like that.) “twelve?” “Nope,” he bragged, “Nine and a half, I’m tall for my age.” 

I asked if he was going to Silver Dollar City, and he got wide-eyed and said, “How did you know?!” and we chatted about roller coasters and throwing up and riding with sisters until it was time to get our biscuits.

We fly through the holidays like Santa’s sleigh, from fruit baskets to roller coasters, to babies in blankets, and it all goes by in the blink of an eye....that usually has a tear attached. Enjoy the moment, and treasure the gift of the memory.

Monday, December 17, 2018

Take a Trip


The countdown is here. Lists are written and wadded up in pockets. The television, radio and print advertising seem to shout “Hurry up! Don’t miss out!” Even an organized person that gets things done early can be swept up in the last chance hysteria that makes us want to throw ourselves into the giant crazy mix and see what we are missing. Some of us are dragging out luggage to make trips for family and fun. But I hope today to remind you about a great travel tip you can enjoy right now.

Make time to travel down memory lane.”

For me, this happens every year when I decorate our Christmas tree. My decorations are like my travel souvenirs, I like to “earn” them. I like buying something in a place that we’ve visited and then remembering that experience when I look at it. Travel decor is very popular right now, and Hobby Lobby is loaded with cool stuff, but I’d rather have something kinda ugly that has a story than something that matches from Pier 1. That’s how our Christmas decorations look... a mishmash of all colors and styles, and all have a story to tell. I make my cup of tea, open up the boxes and dig through the recycled tissue paper and have my very own personalized Hallmark Movie as I go down memory lane. 

For my first tree in my own place, my sweet friend Michelle made ceramic ornaments for a gift knowing that I didn’t own any. Those starter years... the tree was so small and scrawny, a few baubles was all that was needed.

There’s the mousetrap that my family always looks for clipped to a branch. My first season performing at The Kountry Kuzins Jamboree Show, I couldn’t bear to see all the popcorn that was thrown away. I started taking it home and stringing it, great idea, right? I had strands hanging on curtain rods for months, waiting to get the tree up. I’d go in to admire my work and… who knew that popcorn shrinks? There would be long bare threads, so I’d shove the popcorn down and make a new knot. Nephew, Justin, a little guy at the time, was looking at my tree and asked, “Aunt Patti, why is there a mouse in your Christmas tree?” Huh? Sure enough, there was a mouse working his way down that popcorn string like a PacMan video game, gobble, gobble, gobble. So, I set a trap in the tree, and caught not one but two mice that year. Let me tell you, a dead mouse hanging off a limb, lit by blinking bulbs says “Merry Christmas” like no other! Needless to say, it was my first and last year for popcorn, but the trap goes up along with the dozen or so mouse ornaments that my family thought I needed. What a memory.

Hopefully, many of us have those homemade ornaments our kids have glittered and crafted. Bent pipe cleaners, and Popsicle sticks and tiny photos make Christmas’s past in the present. And that, my friends, is a gift.

I have ornaments from trips that bring recollections of adventures and experiences. I’m always glad when I’ve written the date on it because most of the time I’m surprised how many years have gone by. Friends and family show up on our tree, as if knocking on the door. You think I’m kidding, but who needs Hallmark when unwrapping Christmas trinkets creates the same sentimental feelings?
It’s not too late to take that stroll down memory lane.

Take the time to enjoy it for yourself, but make sure your loved ones know the stories, too. The history behind items and Christmas traditions will be part of a yard sale someday if we don’t walk others down the path of appreciation. Enjoy your trip.

Tuesday, December 11, 2018

Christmas Travel Tips

Oh, this magical season of Christmas! Our tree is up and we can’t wait for our little 30-year-old boy to come home and be with family! I’m guessing there are many that are planning holiday travels and I wouldn’t be your Fearless Leader that is Good to Go if I didn’t offer some tips.
 
Does your Christmas travel involve a flight? As if flying wasn’t stressful enough, holiday travel with children and overbooked flights can make anyone a scrooge. Remember you cannot fly with wrapped packages. Use gift bags so the contents can be inspected. Don’t lose good stuff at the security check because you forgot the rule about liquids needing to be three ounces or less in a Ziploc® bag. Check- in online 24 hours prior to your flight. Folks that wait to check in at the airport are likely to be the ones bumped from full flights, especially if they do not have a frequent flyer status with the airline.

Does your Christmas travel involve a long road trip? Maybe this is the year to actually leave earlier and stop at some of those places you pass every year and say “Someday we ought to stop there and check it out.” Here’s a novel idea: get maps for your backseat riders. We all are so dependent on GPS systems our young ones aren’t learning to read and appreciate an old-fashioned map. Add a highlighter and you may just be investing in a future traveler.

Does your Christmas travel involve staying locally and a few trips across town? I’m sure you’ve thought of this, but looking for opportunities to help others is along your way. Have you seen the Blessing Boxes that are around? Picking up some canned goods, or person hygiene items as you are shopping and then placing them in the Blessing Box is a great way to talk about giving and not just getting. There is a list in all the boxes of needs. Police Stations are always a good resource to ask about ways to help others at this time of year.

I can’t claim this idea, but I like it: Homes where Santa Clause will be bringing new toys, give children a bag to put in toys they no longer want. Santa will take these and repair them to give to other kids. This is such a good idea, maybe we all should have a bag to fill for the Christian Mission, Goodwill, Animal Shelter, or other agencies. 

Does your Christmas involve staying at home with no travel plans? How about making someone’s day by picking up the telephone and having a real conversation? Cards and emails are great, but a real voice is the best. That could be a gift in itself.

However and wherever you go this Christmas, pack your sense of wonder, your sense of humor and your sense of adventure. Remember that first Christmas involved travel that had some surprises.

Tuesday, December 4, 2018

I’d Lose My Head if…

Back up your photos.
These and other precious
memories might have been
lost forever...

My cell phone rang and I was surprised to see the caller ID display Kenya. Anyone with a mobile phone has got to be extremely irritated with all the robo-calls that come through. It makes us very suspicious when an unknown number shows up. But I do know a few people in Kenya and we had just been there a couple of weeks prior on our Good to Go with Patti Beth Kenya Wing Safari. So, I answered the phone. The (live) person on the other end introduced himself as Nickson, and said, “I have your phone.”

A little history here… I lost my phone in Africa. I remembered taking a photo, but after that, I couldn’t come up with my I phone. I dumped all my luggage and dug through pockets and couldn’t find it. I literally was ill. I’m sure many of you can relate when I say our brains have taken the shape of those silly phones. We depend on them for everything. They are our address book, our yellow pages, our camera, our photo album, our day planner, our calendar, our encyclopedia, our notepad, and of course, our telephone. We depend on them to hold all our sensitive information and it’s only when we misplace or lose the crazy thing do we realize how dependant we are on a mobile phone. Can you relate?

Luckily, I have a techy husband who spends gobs of time doing techy stuff that I don’t understand and honestly don’t care to understand. As I was blubbering about my phone, he assured me that because he “backs up my cloud on a regular basis” that he could “shut down my phone and wipe it” where ever it was, and “put a command on the phone if found” and “secure the Simcard”. Huh. I have no idea what all that means, it must be part of his magical talents.  I sniffed and said, “Ok”.

We returned to the states and I knew I’d never see that phone again. I cried again when I had to buy a new phone, but the magic guy pulled stuff outta the clouds or whatever, and “Ta Da!” my new phone now had all my old phone stuff! Amazing!

Then I got the call. Nickson had found my phone, and the command said to call my number to report if found. He did. Working through the friends I have in Kenya, he returned my phone and it arrived in the mail a couple of days ago. Wow.

I share this story for a couple of reasons. Just when you think that people can’t be trusted, it is wonderful when something happens that restores one’s faith. The person that found my phone could have discovered it had been “shut down” and just tossed the contraption in a trash can. But he did the right thing. And we will do the right thing by thanking him for his honesty and send a reward.

The other reason I share this story is if you don’t do the techy geeky things to your phone to make your stuff go in the clouds or know how to wipe your info off your device if you lose it, well, you better figure it out. I am blessed to have a wizardy husband when it comes to this type of stuff. Because all was not lost. Not even a little bit. Protect your handheld, square-shaped brain, it’s not fastened on.

Is it Today or Tomorrow?

I read a funny that said “Tomorrow is another day used to sound hopeful. Now it sounds like a threat.” Ain’t it the truth? I’m not going to ...