Christmas!

Okay, so I am finally posting some pictures. I hope you all enjoy, and I hope you had a very merry Christmas!

A few Cole "Scrooges" clowning around;)



Here are some pics from the Bellflower Christmas play as promised. The leads, my dad and sister, and the angels;)


The Musicians---Janessa on violin, Jane on cello, me on flute, and Joanna on violin.


The angels...again



Here are some pictures of a friend's two adorable little girls. She was once my ballet teacher...Last time I saw them, the oldest girl was just a tiny baby. Now, there are two! They are soooo cute;)

At home on the prairie

Yup, I'm home on the Illinois prairie for Christmas this year. I left Virginia early last Saturday morning, and drove all day...alone with nothing but my car and music to keep me company..sniff. Okay, so it really wasn't that bad. No bad roads like last year, and I managed to get here in 10 and a half hours. (It would have been 10 if I hadn't decided to stop at the very busy Champaign walmart.) I know, I have a bit of a bad lead foot going on.

It's been fun and busy here. The Sunday after I arrived we were gone all day with various services and the like. Monday, and Tuesday I don't remember...oh yes I do sort of. Monday night I took all of "my girls" to see Pride and Prejudice. It was fun. My poor brother decided to go with us. He did have the option to go see Narnia, but I think he wanted to humor me. Funny, he laughed louder than anyone in the theater.

Wednesday I was given my flute parts for the songs we were doing that night at a rehersal for the Bellflower community service. I think the flute parts came out okay. I fudged and slurred my way through some of the difficult passages.
I'm hoping to take some pictures of the program and post here to give you all a taste of it. The Bellflower Community Christmas service is really a taste of the grandness of small town life. This program has been going on for 80 some years I think. Every year on Christmas Eve the town puts on a play about Christmas. It's been so fun to go each year and see the kids I once knew as kids, starting families, school, etc. My family always goes, and then we come home and eat sweets, and watch It's a Wonderful Life. Gotta love traditions.
This year we are doing just about all of the music for the program. Two sisters on Violin, one on Cello, mom on piano and me on flute. It's really pretty even if I do say so myself.

Oh, and my lands is it ever cold!! Last night when we got back it was 9 degrees!

Today, I have cooked and cooked some more. Actually it's been a lot of baking, too. It's been a fun, busy day to say the least.

Anyhow, there's an update on my life.

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas.

Tata.

You know you're in VA "blizzard" when

1. City drivers who normally cruise through town at 50mph or so, slow to a crawl when the first flakes begin to fall. (No accumulation on the roads whatsoever folks.)

2. The grocery store is swarming with panicked people who seem drawn to the bread, milk, and eggs.

3. The conversations in the grocery store consist of comments like:
"Wow, it sure is going to be a bad one." "Be careful out there." (Forcast was 3 to 5 inches of snow.)

4. Walking into my gym with some flakes on my coat causes the employees there to pump their fists in delight with the news that snow was falling.

5. Observing neighbors "dig out" their cars will bring amusing memories to me for quite a long time.

6. Teachers at a school are planning not to come in the day after this "blizzard".

7. Those same teachers are surprised the next day when school is not canceled, or even delayed.

8. It is so warm the day after the "blizzard" that one can sled without a coat, hat or gloves.

9. My chiropractor even admits that she is afraid to drive. Not because of the snow mind you, but because of the inability of city folks to drive well in it.

Sorry to poke fun, but I have just been so amused to observe the people here after the two "blizzards" we've had this last week. I just can't bring myself to call them real blizzards. To me, 3 to 5 inches is just a spit of snow. Try piles so high you can walk on top of the fence posts in the pasture at my home in Illinois.

Okay, snow aside, I've had a great week. It's been extremely busy, but fun. Today I spent the afternoon baking. I even managed to catch and partially burn and ruin one of Jeantte's towels. I was using it to cover some bread that was rising on the stove, and it got into the flame one of the burners. I tried blowing on it to try to get it out, but that only made it worse. So, then I started panicking because the fire kept growing, and I couldn't get it out. I finally realized that the sink was right behind me, and doused it. Needless to say the towel is now in the trash with a big black hole in it. I don't think I've ever burned a towel before;) Oh well.

I went to the HSLDA Christmas banquet last night with my friend who needed a "date" because her husband is on his way to Iraq. Anyhow, I bought this new top to wear. It was a sparkly little guy. So sparkly in fact that it's now in the trash. Yeah, so the glitter that they used on the shirt was not attached well. It was so bad that everytime I stood up I was raining the offending stuff. I came home and my entire black skirt was covered. I got out a bag at midnight last night and started shaking the loose glitter into it. I swear I will be sparkling for years now.
The event was fun. I did have to warn people not to hug me 'cause I would have left them all sparkly too. Ahhh, life is so funny sometimes.

I'm driving home a week from today. I can't wait! Just pray it doesn't snow like last year. My brother and I drove home last year, and I really thought that day might end with us singing with the angels in glory.:) That's another story for another entry though.

Have a great weekend!