Wednesday, November 21, 2012

I Am Celebrating Christmas Right This Very Minute

I finally finished Will's Harry Potter sweater! Yay! The sleeves are way, way too long, but, oh well.

Every year I think I'm going to spend the week before Christmas reading some sort of wonderful, Christmas-y books, and I never do. You know why? Because the week before Christmas, I am far too insane to read. I pull out A Christmas Carol or Ferrol Sam's wonderful Christmas Gift!, and I try to read, but I can't.

Last night my eye fell upon Little Women, one of my favorite books of all time. It's another one of those books I think it might be nice to read around Christmas and then never do. Of course, I've read it so many times I could probably recite it, but that's neither here nor there. So last night I pulled it off the shelf, started reading, and thought "Merry Christmas!"

Oh, my dears, it was a stroke of genius! Why haven't I thought of this before? To have the Christmas I really want, I need to have it the third week of November. I need to get out my Advent books and Philip Yancey's marvelous The Jesus I Never Knew and start reading them NOW.

And every year I think that the week before Christmas I'm going to give out Christmas cookies and dollar bills to the homeless guys who beg at the intersections of Garrett and 15-501, and of course I never do, because I'm far too insane to be charitable the week before Christmas. So I'm doing it next week, before I go insane. I am brilliant.

Travis and the laundry basket and Will's sweater

Have you read Little Women recently? Oh, it's fabulous! Santa Claus gave it to me in 1974 (I know this because, bless my little heart, I wrote my name and "Christmas of 1974" 0n the flyleaf), when I was in fourth grade. I knew little about the Civil War, and a bunch of stuff made no sense to me whatsoever, but I loved it then as I love it now. Reading it makes me want to re-read Geraldine Brooke's book March, which is Mr. March's story as he's off caring for the sick and wounded while his little women are having adventures back home. Good stuff!

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. We are staying home, because we're all sick. Actually, the boys are better, but the Man and I still feel out of it. We're sad about missing the family gathering, but feeling okay about not having to drive ten hours to Kentucky. More time to lounge about and read and have Christmas in our hearts before it's driven out by the terrible, horrible Holiday Season.

9 comments:

Pom Pom said...

You and I love a lot of the same books: Harriet the Spy (I've read it so many times I can't count) and Little Women.
GREAT idea to start now! It's true! There are around what? Four or five weeks until the DAY?
Why are they selling the boughs and wreaths I want NOW? It's too early and when I want them, they better be there!
I'm so sorry that you have the bug that the boys had. I wish I could bring you turkey dinner so you could lounge around reading Louisa May Alcott to your hearts content!

Leslie said...

What a great idea! I just eyeballed an advent book on my night stand earlier today. It has been there for several months...maybe a year and I have no idea what it is about. Well, other than Advent, obviously. :)

Love that cute sweater. Very impressive. My youngest has super long arms so those would work well for him. Did you know there is a "long arm" disease? Our doc was checking him for it. I don't think it is a bad thing, I don't think, anyways. Just a disporportional thing. (I can't spell that word for anything...I think it is mid-forty affliction...I used to spell so well). It would appear all of us in my home are afflicted with SOMETHING. ha.

Hope you feel better and I wish you many thanksgiving AND christmas blessings! :)

GretchenJoanna said...

Frances, you make me happy with your happiness. Truly and only vicariously, but real. Happy Thanksgiving, dear Friend from Blogland and from God! And even more, Happy Christmas!

Tracy said...

Cool jumper (sorry...."sweater" makes no sense to me!). Great job getting it done.

I'm sorry you've all been unwell - and right around a special celebration day. That's pretty ordinary!

I've never read those classics, but I've enjoyed all the movies. Perhaps one day when I've time I should collect a bunch of them from the library and indulge myself. I am certain the language of those books will be a delight!

I've decided I'm not going to bah-humbug my way through the season. I began by watching 'Nigella Christmas' on DVD while I was sick a few weeks back. I've finished about 1/3 of my gift buying. Not too shabby.

debbie bailey said...

Love the sweater, and Tracy, I don't understand why you Aussies and Brits call them jumpers. Do you jump into them? I guess sweater makes about as much sense! Ha!

Now Frances, DO NOT let THEM, whoever they are, tell you when and how you'll celebrate the birth of Jesus, our Saviour. See Tracy, I spell some words the British way. That's from reading the King James Version of the Bible all my life.

Anyway, I decided long ago that I was just going to do what I wanted during this season as far as how much or little our family celebrated. I quit sending out cards or letters, I put up the tree whenever I want, I start listening to music whenever I want, I decorate how much or little I want each year depending on what's going on in our lives in that year...WE HAVE THE POWER!!!

I will not let the TV or advertising campaigns tell me how to celebrate a season they know nothing about. Let's start a movement---The Christmas On Our Own Terms movement. Want to join in?

Gumbo Lily said...

Oh Frances, you are a gem to knit that Harry Potter sweater for your boy. I hope he writes about it in your obit one day.

I am so glad you've decided to break out Little Women. I want to join you because I've been saying the same thing to myself about reading THAT book during Christmas for far too many Christmases. This is the year and today is the day!

Love your Christmas attitude. Enjoy is "as you like it."

Heather said...

That Harry Potter sweater is brilliant! I once followed someone's advice to not even think about Christmas until December 1st and realized that that was not enough time to fully enjoy the holiday and all its gifts, so now I always start early. By the way, I love Geraldine Brooks and it's nice to hear someone else talk about this lovely author.

M.K. said...

You are so VERY right. I start in on my Christmas spirit sometime in November (although the music starts in September). I need lots of waiting and loving and enjoying to get my fill of Christmas! I popped over here from Gumbo's b/c you're talking about Little Women -- and I find that you got your copy probably about the time I got mine -- for Christmas in 3rd or 4th grade. Mine's a hard cover purple copy, published in 1963. My daughter and I just read it together this fall, for school.

Well! Enjoy your heart's advent. By the week before Christmas, perhaps we'll be perfectly primed to enjoy it with peace :)

Jo said...

I do love Little Women, and its three sequels. The fourth in the series (Jo's Boys) makes me laugh because Jo has become a famous author, and is haunted by fans night and day, mirroring the experience of Louisa Alcott. Little Women was such a smash hit in its day. It was like Harry Potter, and no wonder, because most other contemporary children's novels were absolutely dire moral tales.
Enjoy your Christmas treats Frances!