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December 24, 2010

IT"S FRIDAY, MY FAVORITE DAY!!

We were in Portland for four days last weekend, getting back home on Tuesday. Dave had back-to-back Blazer broadcasts over the weekend and then another on Monday night.

Being in town gave me an opportunity to see my granddaughters and also to finish up some last minute shopping. We took the girls to see Santa on Saturday morning at a place in Sherwood called Sleigh Bells. They have the neatest Santa ever and it wasn't crowded at all. After the girls gave Santa their Christmas wish list, the jolly old man gathered them up and they sang Christmas carols around the piano. The shop also has a large selection of Christmas ornaments, so I got a chance to check them out too! I decided this year that I was giving each of the granddaughters a Christmas tree ornament and hope to start a tradition by adding a new ornament each year. It was fun being with those three, but I sure do miss the other two. We don't get to see them as much as we'd like and it would be fun to be doing some Christmas planning with them too! Oh well, at least I'll get to see them on Christmas Day!

Dave and I are members of the Oregon Maritime Museum and we were invited to watch the Christmas ship parade on Sunday night. It was on the Willamette River waterfront aboard the museum's steamer "Portland" which is tied up along the downtown seawall. Several dozen boats get all dolled up with extravagant Christmas light displays and parade down the river every year. They always do some extra "parading" when they get to the sternwheeler, so it's quite a show for us! It was really an enjoyable evening and we had a good time eating hot chili and lots and lots of cookies. A couple of our friends were there so at least we knew someone. It was really cold outside, so the guy guarding the deck let us slip through the ropes and go up in the pilot house to watch the parade. We had the best seats on the boat! We even had a sprinkling of snowfall that made it even more festive!

Since Dave was working on Monday and I had nothing else to do, I watched the grandgirls while their parents were at work. It wasn't a very nice day outside and Dave had the car, so we were pretty much "housebound" - quite a challenge with three active girls! We kept busy though, playing board games and working on the computer. I also played "teacher", putting the older girls through some reading practice. It's amazing to me how much they have improved just since the first of the school year. Amazing things, those young minds!

Once I got back to Wheeler, it was time to get serious about getting ready for Christmas. I got some more Christmas decorations down from the attic and I got the presents all wrapped, so that is out of the way. I had to do some shopping for the turkey dinner on Christmas so I got my list and headed into Tillamook to Freddy's yesterday. After I got home, I took gifts to the neighbors up and down our street. It seems most of them had come to our place to drop things off while I was gone. Dave had a bunch of goodies piled up on the kitchen table when I got home. I will clean the house today in preparation for everyone's arrival tomorrow, so I think I am as ready as I am going to get!

We should have about twelve people for dinner on Christmas and this will be the first time since we moved to the coast that everyone is coming here! I can hardly wait! I hope each and every one of you has a wonderful Christmas with friends and family.