A White Christmas

It seems I've written ad nauseum about the climate here in Texas. Truthfully, I'm running out of ways to say "hot" even in the months of the year that aren't supposed to be hot.

But yesterday, for the first time in 37 years in Texas on Christmas (and for only the third time since records have been kept), it did this

And so it is, most decidedly, not hot this week in Dallas. In fact, the weather folks are predicting temperatures in the 40s (and perhaps in the 50s) this whole week.  Hooray!  

And, in the end,  it looked liked this

Merry Christmas from Our House to Yours

2012 Christmas Card

Dear Friends and Family,

We hope that each of you had a great 2012 and are looking forward to 2013.  Our second Christmas (and first full year) in Texas has brought more of a sense of routine.  While it still does not feel like "home,” we at least know that Southlake is north and that there is no lake in Westlake.  We have come to love Texans more than we love Texas, but isn't that the way it is supposed to be? 

The pictures on the attached card chronicle much of our year, which began with the death of our sweet dog, Libby.  She lived a long and loved life.  A rescue dog with no documentation, we don’t have any way of knowing her real age, but she spent her last 10 years with us and was loved every minute. She is still greatly missed. Five-year-old Brownie, the Maltese poodle mix, continues to entertain.

Tate is in the 10th grade and doing well.  He is on the school's swim team, sings in the school choir, works as a lifeguard on the weekends, plays chess regularly, and is active at church. He and Robbie attended the Byron Nelson Golf Championship in May and had the good fortune to eat lunch with Byron’s delightful widow, Peggy Nelson. (Robbie’s cellphone inadequacy made evident in the Christmas card photo.) Tate has made a wonderful adjustment to Texas.  We appreciate his resiliency, adventurous spirit, and sense of humor.

After deciding that she is more of an East Coast girl, McKenzie transferred colleges this year.  She had a fun summer traveling to Europe with Julie’s sister, working at like a small, locally and family owned REI-type business and taking summer school classes.  She volunteers a few times a week at a local elementary school and was recently initiated into a sorority. In late September, Robbie traveled to Parents’ Weekend and they enjoyed attending the football game. We appreciate McKenzie's strong sense of justice, her excellence in her schoolwork, and her continued love of all things Disney (see her pictured this spring break with Tate and a statue of Walt at Disneyland).

We took a spring break trip in March to Southern California: Los Angeles, the Reagan and Nixon Presidential Libraries, and San Diego, and a July vacation to Northern California - San Francisco and then 4 days in spectacular Santa Barbara. Anything to escape the crazy Texas heat! 

For Robbie and Julie, life is much the same.  We were disappointed in the election results in November and are currently taking a break from watching the news.  We recommend the "news fast" and have been surprised at the entertainment value of Law & Order and Seinfeld reruns.  It's funny that we can go a week without watching the news but when we turn it back on, we haven't missed a thing (it's like missing a month of The Guiding Light).

Though for us the physically demanding parts of being a parent are coming to an end, what remain are the emotionally demanding parts.  We understand that this demand will exist for the rest of our lives. Some days we long to change a diaper and put a child down for a nap, comforted by the knowledge that everyone is safe and secure - knowledge seldom achieved with teenagers.

So, as we end one year and begin another, our prayer for our family and yours is this:  that God may bless you in 2013, that He will comfort those who are suffering and support and sustain those that are providing comfort, that He will bless our country and its leaders and give them the wisdom and courage to do the right thing, that He will safeguard those that are serving our country to protect our freedoms and way of life, and that we will have the insight to appreciate our blessings.

We wish you a Merry Christmas and a wonderful 2013.  We’d love to see you in the year ahead.

Love,

Julie & Robbie

Christmas Cardinals

Last year I wrote about gift wrapping and while there's not much more I can say about the silly pleasure I derive from selecting Christmas paper and bows, I thought I'd show you what I chose for this year: 

The cardinal is the state bird of my home state, Virginia (turns out that's true of 6 other states, as well), but I've always loved it.  

Merry Christmas from Big Tex

Big Tex’s original head lives on, 

thanks to University Park man

By ERIC AASEN

Staff Writer

eaasen@dallasnews.com

This article published: 31 October 2012 10:43 PM in the Dallas Morning News

Big Tex might have burned down, but he lives on in our hearts and minds — and in Wayne Smith’s driveway. There Tex was on Halloween, sitting on a trailer bed, his 6-foot head grinning, his friendly eyes sparkling.

All that was missing was his folksy voice saying, “Howdy, folks!” Oh, and the rest of his body.

It’s a head that will turn heads considering that the charismatic cowpoke caught on fire last month at the State Fair of Texas.

Smith has Big Tex’s original noggin.

The head was on Big Tex in 1952, when the 52-foot-tall cowboy made his debut at the State Fair. But the head, made of papier-mâché and chicken wire, wasn’t sturdy enough. And fair officials thought his visage looked a tad evil.

So it was off with his head. Fair officials traded in his pate for a more youthful, spiffier model with a friendlier, and stronger, face.

The old head sat in storage at the State Fair for decades. In 1993, Smith bought it at an auction.

Is Smith crazy in the head to have Big Tex’s head?

“Smart or crazy, I haven’t figured out which,” Smith said. “I tell people and they think I’m crazy. My family thought I was crazy. Maybe I am a little bit.”

Ever since the big guy went up in flames on Oct. 19, just a few days before the State Fair ended, anything related to Big Tex has been hot. Big Tex memorabilia sold out quickly on the fairgrounds. Big Tex mementos have been selling on eBay.

Dallas-Fire Rescue officials say the cause of the fire was an unspecified electrical short in the wiring in a junction box near Big Tex. The fire traveled quickly through one of his boots, then up his body, consuming his hat, head and most of his clothing. All that remained was his charred steel structure, his hands and sleeves.

State Fair officials vow that Big Tex will be rebuilt for next year’s fair and will look similar to how he appeared before he caught on fire. The fair said Wednesday that it will be constructing a new head.

No one quite knows how long the original head was on Big Tex. The head was too big for State Fair offices, so it was auctioned off.

Smith said he paid $1,700 for the head. It was in sorry shape, falling apart and hatless. There was no skull — peer into his head and you can still see the chicken wire, along with the wood and metal pieces supporting it.

Smith restored Big Tex with papier-mâché and plaster. He made a black-and-white striped top hat.

Smith, 50, who once had an antique store called Wayne’s World, likes collecting “cool and unusual stuff” from Dallas’ past.

And Big Tex might be Texas’ most recognizable figure.

“I had always loved the fair, I had always loved Big Tex,” he said. “As a child … I felt like he was taller than any building in downtown Dallas. It was awe-inspiring, just that somebody had the genius and the ability to build something like that.”

He was sad to hear that Big Tex went up in flames but glad that he was the one who saved the original head.

“There’s a little bit of pride in that, a matter of fact, quite a bit of pride,” Smith said. “I’d be lying if I told you there wasn’t. … He really belongs to everybody.”

These days, Big Tex’s crown spends most of his days alone in a barn on a ranch near Sulphur Springs. There’s not enough room for him in Smith’s home.

But his friends know that he has him. So when Big Tex caught on fire, Smith’s phone started ringing. He happened to be on the ranch.

Smith went to the barn to check on his Big Tex, whom he calls “Old Boy.”

He told him: “I hope that they’ll bring you back.”

This week, Smith escorted the head to his University Park home for a photo shoot. On the highway, drivers slowed down to stare at the face. Some whipped out their smartphones to snap pictures.

This winter, Smith hopes to place a Santa hat on Big Tex’s head and place him on top of his house — a tribute to Big Tex’s beginnings as the world’s largest Santa Claus in Kerens before the fair bought him.

But Big Tex didn’t have much to say Wednesday. The auction didn’t include a sound system.

Smith stood in front of Big Tex and lowered his voice, attempting to mimic his folksy greeting.

“Howwwwdy, folks,” Smith bellowed. “This is Big Tex.”

He groaned. It wasn’t anywhere near the way Big Tex sounds at the fair.

“Ahh,” Smith said. “That was sad. If I were still drinking, it would be better.”

He laughed.

Behind him, Big Tex was all smiles, too.

For more on Big Tex, go here.

Sweet 16!

This sweet boy turns 16 today! 

That means, it's his "Golden Birthday". A person's Golden or Grand Birthday, sometimes called their "Lucky Birthday", "Champagne Birthday", or "Star Birthday", occurs when they turn the same age as their birth date.  

When he was little, I use to ask him if he'd "stay little forever, for me?" Can you blame me? Even at the tender age of 4, he'd assure me he could not.  He is still a delight, however, still sweet and sensitive and funny.  

Happy Birthday, Tate.  You are loved!

This Year's Christmas Tree

Based upon the number of needles this "evergreen" is dropping on a daily basis, I'm guessing she'd been patiently waiting at Home Depot (for dupable folks like us) since early November. We rescued her last Saturday (a late tannenbaum acquisition even for us).

But the story gets better. You knew it would, right?  I wrestled for quite some time with countless strands of Christmas lights (darn that Martha Stewart for saying "100 lights for every foot of tree" and on me for being so OCD that I am certain she is correct) and two strands of Christmas lights had some sort of weird electrical short and couldn't be persuaded to stay lit (after they were fully enshrouded in our tree - a rookie mistake, I know). Rather then lose countless hours of sleep for the next 3 weeks (wondering if I'd created a fire hazard), I ended up taking those strings of lights off  the tree (along with a few thousand additional Frazier fir needles) and went with what we had.

Finally, to add insult to injury, we had to forgo the heaviest of our ornaments because the tree didn't seem up to the task of supporting any additional weight.  My apologies to Yoda, my icicle snowman, Tinkerbell, the toy airplane and those countless sentimental ornaments who didn't make their way onto this year's tree.

At the rate we're going, our tree will look like this before December 24th.

Christmas Neighbor Gifts

Texans are friendly people, neighborly too. When we moved here, we were delighted and amazed by the number of neighbors who dropped by to greet us and bring us welcome gifts - cookies, bottles of wine, lists of restaurants and favorite businesses. To us it seemed pleasantly old school. Like a throw-back in time, when people knew who lived next door and stopped in the driveway to chat about their goings on. Though we had many great neighbors back in Atlanta, they were friendships built over time and this notion of being introduced before the moving van had left the driveway was new to us.  

At Christmastime, the neighborliness continues, with small gifts (often a homemade treat) and Christmas cards left on doorsteps. Last year, I wasn't quite as prepared for the abundance of neighborliness, though I did make some items and enjoyed every minute.  This year, I've settled on a less labor intensive gift. I've seen it on lots of different blogs in the last few months and it's a variation on a treat I made several Valentines' Days ago.

These Peppermint Pretzels are easy and delicious. 

Preheat your oven to 175 degrees (yes, that's all).  You will need:

Mini pretzels. I used the twists but the squares would work too. 
 Place these on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.

These delicious Kisses.  Trust me, they're not too peppermint,
more like a butter mint.

No explanation required

Once you've gathered your ingredients, place an individual Kiss on top of each pretzel.

Place your cookie sheet in the oven for approximately four and half minutes (don't walk away!).  Once you remove them from the oven.  Allow to sit for about 45 seconds before placing an M & M on top (this helps them melt just a little extra). Place them in the refrigerator and allow to cool for at least 15 minutes.  

These treats are delicious.  I've decided to package them two ways this year. I found these cute food safe bags at Target.

They hold approximately twenty pretzel candies.

But for those in the neighborhood with smaller children, I decided to utilize these little reindeer cupcake toppers, which I bought online last year, to create a special container. 

Last year, I attached them to the top of a cute frame or two.  

This year, with the aid of a Sharpie - Rudolph magically appeared. 

I then used my glue gun to attach Rudolph to white mason jar lids I'd purchased at Walmart. (I got the mason jars there, too). The tulle and tag were the final additions and viola.

One Two One Two One Two

Today is 12-12-12, the last major numerical date using the Gregorian or Christian calendar for almost another century. The next time three numbers will align as they did on 9-9-09, 10-10-10 and 11-11-11 will be on Jan. 1, 2101 (just a mere 88 years from now), or 1-1-1.

Winter Wonderland?

In the 18 months, since we moved to Texas, I must admit the thing that has surprised me the most is, get this, the weather.  We'd been told (Can't remember now by who.Trust me if I could I'd be holding those folks accountable), that the weather in Dallas was remarkably similar to Atlanta's  "just 3 days earlier."  

Despite similar latitudes, Georgia is very humid and can be exceptionally warm and sometimes even hot, but we have found that Texas is arid, windy and hot.  Oh, did I mention, HOT? Yeah, it's HOT.  The weather here is, in fact, ridiculous. In the summer, it is often still over 100 degrees after dark.  

The dash in my car one September evening.

Even in the last few weeks the temperature has reached into the 80's.Thanksgiving was shorts and flip-flop weather. Our class Sunday School party was held, last Saturday night, poolside at our teacher's home (no swimming was involved, however). Yesterday, it was 75 degrees on December 9th. 

Yet, this morning, we woke up to a light dusting of snow.  Hallelujah! I'm guessing the weather will warm back up to the 70's before we say goodbye to 2012.  But for today, we're celebrating.  

Collecting

In rereading a few old blog posts, I've taken note of how often I've asserted that I'm not a collector. But here's where I admit that not only is my Nutcracker ornament collection expanding, my creche collection has a new addition too.  

As a belated high school graduation gift, my sister graciously took our daughter to Europe this summer (who knew being an only niece would have such great perks?).  A stop in Austria yielded this precious gift for me:

Created inside an actual matchbox.  

Just 1 inch x 1.5 inch.  I think it's my miniaturist miniature.  

It's taken it's rightful position alongside my other sweet Nativities.  

Decorating Doubts

This year, Thanksgiving — always on the fourth Thursday in November — was November 22nd.  That’s the earliest possible date the holiday can fall (for the record, November 28th is the latest).  We usually wait until the first full weekend in December to do most of our festooning (don't often get to use that word), but it seems that Christmas decorating has been in full force around town almost since we bid adieu to Halloween. That being said, I didn't waste much time getting our Nutcracker tree  up and decorated two days ago. I wrote about our tree two years ago, here and here, should you doubt my fanaticism.  This year there are some exciting new developments:

The Rat King and his cohorts have taken up residence in the Dining Room.
They've spent the last few years in the upstairs hallway and were ready for some
more attention.

This continues to be my favorite ornament on the tree.

This small Christopher Radko nutcracker ornament was a gift to my daughter
from her 6th grade Latin teacher who had attended her Nutcracker performance.
(Thanks Mrs. Culbertson!)

Oddly, I know, the mouse king is my favorite character.  Consequently, this
is the newest ornament on our tree.

Most of my nutcracker collection loves their new HQ; standing at attention on top of
our dining room china cabinet.

The tree skirt won't be ignored.

Maybe I'll be sick of all this Christmas adornment by the second week of December.  I can say with certainty, it won't be up until the Epiphany, well . . . except perhaps this little tree.