Friday, December 19, 2008

Party, Party, Party... 6 more sleeps....

I love Christmas and I think it's because my Mom and Dad seemed to have put a lot into it... we didn't have a lot of money and we didn't get a lot of gifts but there always seemed to be that one special large gift that somehow always found its way under the tree... leading up to Christmas my Mom always seemed to have a little more spirit and although she worked every day with my Dad at the Service (gas) Station she always found that extra time through the holidays to be around home once we were off from school... we would always head "West" to chop down our tree and back then we had a couple of strings of lights and a lot of icicles. If one bulbs blew out it could take you 15 minutes to fix the string as you would have to carefully unplug each one until you discovered the burnt one... and this job always fell to me. I can't remember if our station closed earlier in the evenings then or if we were just allowed to stay up longer but I can remember Dad being home a lot more and spending time teasing us on what Santa would bring...there even seemed to be less drinking. Family and friends dropped by and they always had baked goods as chips, chocolates and bars were only around on Christmas Day. My sister Gail spent the entire week before Christmas looking around the house for her gifts and if she happened across one you could be sure she would sneak a peek... something she still does today. Everyday I'd be watching for the postman as there would be a card with either a $5 or $10 U.S bill from my rich "Great Uncle Jim" from Boston. He always sent his nieces and nephews a card with money in it and a big basket of fruit and candies to my Mom and Dad (and I suspect some money). On Christmas day we'd be up before dawn tearing away at our socks and then it would be off to Church before heading "West" to my grandparents for a few days to see all our cousins.... My uncle Cody and Earle would be around telling family stories that made everyone laugh... and card games like crib, 45's and Auction would rule the house with Uncle Irving bidding "60 for 120".... they were great times and my Mom milked them right through to January 6th "Little Christmas" as her family was Irish... Nowadays we hear a lot of people talk about Christmas being just a little too commercialized but I think that is only what you make of it.... and I try and make a lot of it... around the first cold day in late November I will throw my annual Christmas hat on and start showing up at the local business parties and I'm sure a lot of local folks think what's the Nutcracker doing with the hat on... but again it's what you make of it and for me it's a time to say hello, see some old friends and find some ways to thank the many people who help keep us going... it's really busy around the office making sure that everyone of our employees, suppliers and customers are being looked after for Christmas and I can get a little stressed out with some of the demands I put on myself. Yesterday afternoon I had to attended the Chamber function in Summerside, then back to Charlottetown to Rodd's annual due, and then over to Papa Joe's before heading to the "Canada Rocks Christmas" and That's Where It Happened... I seemed to catch the Christmas spirit....there always seems to be a time just a few days before the big event that the stress turns into that feeling I had when I was growing up and I'm pretty sure that happened last night, with my Princess and our boys, watching a great production of Islanders singing and dancing up a Christmas storm. Today the office elves starting wrapping the gifts and over the next few days if you see me (I’ve got a few extra party pounds) running around with an “extra little step” you’ll know I’m out scouring the Town for those special gifts so don’t forget to say hello ho ho ho!!! and if I don't see you I wish you all a Merry Merry Christmas...

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Merry Christmas Tim and a great story. As I look out past the Christmas tree in front of the bay window this morning on 30cm of freshly fallen snow (with another 30cm expected tomorrow) it brings up similar memories and hopes for more to come. Its also nice to hear someone who knows that the 12 days of Christmas start on Christmas Day (and not 12 shopping days leading up to it).

Anonymous said...

Sorry, but 'That's Where It Happened' ?

That's where WHAT happened? A flood of childhood memories?

Or something else.

Hit me with the stupid stick (again) or cut me off from the egg nog, I don't get it.