Advent Calendar of Christmas memories - Christmas Gifts

My father is the best at finding just the right Christmas present. I can only think of a few bombs in the 30-some-odd-years he has been shopping for me. I'm actually very jealous of his skills. One of my most memorable gifts was a Lionel train that was set up under the tree. And one year I received a beautiful set of white furniture with gold accents. It included a canopy bed that made me feel just like a princess, which is odd because I was not very girly. I loved that furniture, and later in life I would use the canopy bars to play stuffed-animal baseball, but that is a story for another time.

Myself, my brother and our dog Sandy. Note the sweet white bed in the background. You can also just see a GI Joe box for my brother.

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - Grab bag - Christmas playlist

Christmas music is one of my favorite genres. In fact, my playlist of Christmas songs is longer than any other on my iPod. But I digress. Here is my list of all time favorite Christmas songs (I stopped at 16, but it could be much, much longer)...

1. White Christmas - Bing Crosby
2. Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) - U2
3. Santa Claus is Coming to Town - Bruce Springsteen
4. Hard Candy Christmas - Dolly Parton
5. Twelve Days of Christmas - John Denver and the Muppets
6. Happy Xmas (War is Over) - John Lennon
7. Christmas Time is Here - Vince Guaraldi Trio
8. The Christmas Song - Nat King Cole
9. Hallelujah Chorus, Handel's Messiah - Morman Tabernacle Choir
10. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas - Judy Garland
11. I'll Be Home For Christmas - Frank Sinatra
12. Jingle Bells - Bing Crosby and The Andrews Sisters
13. Santa Baby - Eartha Kitt and Henri Rene
14. Baby, It's Cold Outside - Dean Martin
15. Oh Holy Night - Perry Como and The Ray Charles Singers
16. Ave Maria - Leontyne Price, Choir of Men and Boys of St. Thomas Episcopal Church

Friday Funny - Scared out of a year's growth

Main street in Hardin, Missouri. NOT taken on the day of mayhem.

The following is a story told in Hardin, Missouri. A Centennial History 1870-1970.

This incident happened about 60 years ago. It just proves that a mule can be stubborn and also dangerous. John Adams, a farmer living 3 miles north of Hardin came to town Monday and drove his team behind Stratton and Chase's and alighted. The team became frightened and ran down the alley. Turning east they ran across the sidewalk just north of Porte Walker's harness shop and broke several boards. They headed north and a stampede among people who happened along the street ensued. Some got away--Lord knows how, and the team made for the Bank of Hardin. They struck the posts which supports the porch in front of the bank and fell. One of the mules rolled over and struck the bank front, breaking the glass in the door, also over the transom and big plate glass. Pandemonium reigned. Several people were in the bank and made for the back door. Will Mayfield was standing in the bank and was badly cut on the hand by flying glass. How others got away we know not, but the first we saw of Vern Wall he was making tracks across Geo. Alcorn's potato patch. An inventory of the wreck showed that a sidewalk had been torn up, a wagon demolished, the bank front looked like a cyclone had struck it, one mule dead, one man badly cut about the hands, a dozen or more scared out of year's growth and still missing. The glass in the door of Marrs and Marrs barber shop, which was next to the bank, was shattered presumably by one of the artists, who was standing in the doorway when the team started his way. The team was on of the largest in the county and would average 1500 lbs. It was one of the costliest runaways that ever took place in Hardin.

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - Christmas Cookies

What is it about the month of December that just makes cookies taste better? I must admit that I prefer savory foods to sweet, but I very much love Christmas cookies. When I was young, holiday baking and cooking were a big part of our Christmas traditions. There were many recipes we had to make every year:

• Divinity
• Caramel fudge (some people call this penuche)
• Marshmallow fudge
• Popcorn balls
• Sugar cookies
• Lemon drop cookies

Yes, we usually made all of the above every year. Clearly we leaned a bit more to the candy side than the cookie. My mother was the sugar cookie fan and she always made some to take to our annual Christmas celebration at my grandmother's house. We didn't get all Martha Stewart fancy in our decorating. Just two to three colors of powdered sugar icing and we were done.

But, by far the cookie that we loved then and still do today was my grandmother Burnett's lemon drop cookies. It is a very simple recipe, but yummy. And without these cookies it just isn't Christmas!

Lemon Drop Cookie recipe in my mother's handwriting. Note all the "love" splotches...a much used recipe mainstay!

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - Santa Claus

Santa was a big piece to our Christmast celebrations. In fact, his arrival was the beginning of our Christmas season. Every Thanksgiving day we watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, sitting in the living room eating Pillsbury cinnamon rolls. Santa is the last float in the parade and at our house, once we saw him on television the Christmast season began!

Santa Claus in the 2008 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Image by tweber1 as found on Wikimedia Commons.

I have always had a love/fear relationship with Santa. I love the idea of Santa and I have always believed in him. But I don't really need to see him in person. Perhaps he is too similar to the clowns that I am deathly afraid of. Perhaps it stems from my childhood shyness. Either way, there are no childhood photographs (that I can find) of me with Santa Claus. I don't even remember visits to Santa Claus when I was little. If there were photos I imagine they were similar to some of my husband's:

1978

There is one photograph of me with Santa...Santa dad!

Me with Santa Dad in 1993 or 1994

I do remember writing letters to Santa Claus. I believe that my Mom or Dad posted them for me. I still write letters to Santa Claus! How else would Santa know what I want?

Ruth Butler Burnett, Lois Burnett Kuhn and Warren Kuhn reading a letter from Santa in 1951.

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - Christmas Cards

Follow Friday - Saving Private Sheridan

The 90th Infantry Division has a long and distinguished history that started in 1917. The unit participated in WWI and WWII and its descendant units have provided Soldiers for all of our most recent wars. I recently came across a great website that delves into the history of the 90th Infantry Division in World War II, through the eyes of the Soldiers descendants. Saving Private Sheridan shares the stories of 7 different serviceman and their experiences through the war. The site includes interesting photos and some history of the 90th Infantry Division. An interesting read for any military enthusiast, especially those with an interest in WWII.