Christmas Music

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I love, Love, LOVE Christmas music.  I probably  have 15 or 20 Christmas CDs.  Very eclectic combinations of things, some might even say, strange.  For some reason, nothing says Christmas to me, like Christmas music.  When my sisters and I were little girls, our mom and dad would put us to bed at night with a stack of records on our record player. Yes, I know, I’m dating myself, but it’s the truth. We would go to sleep with Bible stories, a whole bunch of kids records and even some southern gospel music.  But, when it got close to Christmas, out came my favorites – The Chipmunks and Gene Autry’s Christmas album. I can still see the cover of the Gene Autry record – he’s in his boots and hat with a tiny little sleigh and reindeer. I’m still not sure why they are so tiny.  That just makes Christmas for me! 

Now, my tastes have changed a little.  I have some Mannheim Steamroller, the Beach Boys, the Carpenters and my new favorite, Chris Tomlin’s Christmas CD that just came out last year.  I have 2 Steven Curtis Chapman CDs with Christmas songs, several Jim Brickman (including one I know I have that I can’t find –HMMMMM) and a Harry Connick Jr, which I also can’t find. I even have several compilation albums, including a WOW! Christmas Album, and even  a Rosie O'Donnell Christmas one. My favorite songs on that one are “Nuttin’ for Christmas” by Smash Mouth and “Silver Bells” by Sugar Ray. I have a great one I got at the gas station and one from Hallmark called “Music to Trim the Tree By.” 

I also have  a Barry Manilow one – if you know me at all, you know how much I love him! Phillips, Craig and Dean, Avalon, 4Him, the list just goes on and on!!

I have several versions of Handel’s Messiah – but those are bittersweet. I have the Mormon Tabernacle Choir’s version and one called “A Soulful Celebration.” I have the “Young Messiah” which was actually a tour several years ago -  Sandi Patty’s “And the Glory Of The Lord” just blows my socks off and 4Him’s version of “The Trumpet Shall Sound” gets me every time.   But every Messiah ends with the Hallelujah Chorus – and that’s the bittersweet part. My mother absolutely, positively LOVED that song – so much that for years she made us promise we would play it at her funeral at the end.   When we were driving back from Marathon, after she went to heaven, my sister Robyn said to me “you know what we have to play, don’t you?”   And of course I knew exactly what she meant. We all did.   So I had to get out one of my Christmas albums in May – on Memorial Day.   For that, we used the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.  

So as much as I love Christmas music, whenever I hear the Hallelujah Chorus, it makes me happy and sad – all at the same time.  Sad, because I still miss my momma so much. But happy because I know that she celebrates  Christmas  every day, in a way that we can’t yet.  Oh, but one day. . . One day.

Smells and sounds of the season

So, this is one of my favorite times of  the year.  From about the middle of October (my birthday!) on, I just love it.  There is just a different feeling when it cools a little.  I love the way October smells.  It used to be in Auburndale, that during October the plants would be cooking oranges or whatever they did with them and that was a fabulous smell.  I don’t get that smell anymore.  When we lived in Clewiston, the smell was the sugar mill and that is a smell I definitely do NOT miss. That is one of the most foul smells in the world, it’s sort of a sickly, overly sweet smell that is just indescribably gross. Someone once told me that to them it smelled like money, but it is horrible.  However, that is still a smell I associate with this time of year.

I like the smell of fall scented candles.  I have one  that is an autumn smell – I can’t even describe it.  It’s such a good smell.  I have a cinnamon bun candle and a farmhouse apple candle, all burning at the same time. 

I like the smell of turkey, dressing and most of all, pumpkin bread baking in the oven.  My mom made the best pumpkin bread ever. When she died, we had a hard time finding the right recipe. My oldest sister tried five or six different recipes, trying to get it just right and it took a while.  Finally, she found an old cookbook that my aunt got for my mom the first year she was married and there it was, all spattered and stained!  There is something about that smell that is just fabulous. Mrs. Sharon at my church makes a pumpkin muffin recipe that reminds me a lot of my mom’s recipe. 

My new favorite sound for this season is the sound of the squirrel that lives in our tree playing with acorns on the porch!  Last night I was up late and the wind was blowing a little, and I could hear the acorns falling off the tree and hitting the roof of our front porch. Today while I was home, I could hear the squirrel running around, jumping from the tree to the porch.  It’s funny. 

The one sound that you will NEVER hear at my house yet, is the sound of Christmas music. My rule is this – no Christmas music until the day after Thanksgiving.   Last year I cheated a tiny bit and listened to Chris Tomlin’s Christmas album, but that was an exception to the rule. I think we get so caught up in Christmas that we miss the joy of thankfulness.  So, no Christmas sounds for me, yet! Now, Friday – that’s a whole different story. Friday, all the Christmas music comes out – Chris Tomlin, Avalon, Harry Connick , Jr., Third Day, the Carpenters, the Beach Boys and of course, the Chipmunks!  That doesn’t even count my  CD’s with multiple artists!  I have more Christmas music than there will be days until Christmas. 

Ah, peace and quiet!!!

The School Board of Polk County decided several years ago that this whole week of Thanksgiving is a holiday.  I believe this was after the year of the hurricanes, and actually, today and tomorrow are make up days in case we are out of school for a hurricane.  But, since (thankfully) we haven’t had any hurricanes lately, we get this whole week off from school.  Right now, it is 8:57 on a Monday morning. I’m sitting on my couch, in my pajamas, listening to the sounds of quiet.  A wind chime outside is gently chiming, occasionally a car goes by, and a squirrel is running from the roof to the tree to the steps to the electric wire.  My cat is strolling, but now he just laid down and is looking at me as he prepares for the difficult job of yet another catnap. 

I LOVE VACATIONS FROM SCHOOL!  Absolutely, positively, love them – and here’s why!  This is what I’m usually doing at 8:57 on a Monday morning.

I’ve gotten up, ironed something and run madly to the car.  Once I get to work on Mondays, I have to make a copy room run.  One reason I try and leave my house by 7 every morning, even though I don’t have to be at work until 8 is that I need to avoid the copy room rush.  So I run to my classroom, take my laptop out of the closet where it’s been locked safely all weekend, plug it up, and while it’s starting, I run and make copies.  I give my students a homework sheet every Monday and that’s usually what I need to copy. I know, I know, I should make it on Thursday the week before, and sometimes I try. But most of the time, my Thursday planning time is already filled up with other stuff – this week I was cleaning for Portfolio

So I make my copies, then rush back to my room to make sure I have everything ready for my lesson of the day. If I don’t, it’s another trip to the copy room. Then, I go sign in, in the office, which is the opposite direction from both my classroom and the copy room.  I always have to use the restroom which is probably TMI, but it’s part of the routine – that pesky blood pressure pill makes me take advantage of every restroom I see in the mornings.  Then, joy of my day, I have to go to duty.  I have to stand by the end of the boy’s locker room and herd students towards their proper place.  I have NO idea why 6th graders want to go where the 7th and 8th graders are located and why 7th and 8th graders want to hang out with 6th graders and why everybody wants to go somewhere else besides where they are SUPPOSED to be.  There’s always at least one, usually more who decide that I am stupid, don’t know what I’m talking about and want to argue with me, which just starts my day off in a fine manner.  So I spend 22 minutes saying, “tuck in your shirt” or “No, you can’t go see Mr. or Ms._____________”  or “No you can’t go to the office.” Then the bell rings and I’m dragged along on a wave of children to my room.  I’m always amazed how  middle schoolers can have body odor before 9:00 in the morning!!!

Then the day begins.  Our Mondays are 45 minute chaos filled class periods.  It seems like they just come in and calm down and it’s time to go. I pass out homework, we just start something and boom, it’s time to go. And it goes like this all day.  Sometimes, just for fun, we have Focus on Mondays so our 45 minute planning time is taken up by training.  By the end of the day, is it any wonder we are all exhausted???

This year has been a little different – our guidance counselor will NOT schedule parent conferences on Mondays.  We used to have parent conferences in the 20 minutes before we went to duty!  And they do try to have Focus other days of the week, but sometimes it’s still on Mondays.   AND I’m lucky that our school resource deputy teaches my classes on  Mondays!  But when she’s pulled out, it’s just crazy.

So, today I sit here and enjoy the quiet –knowing that next Monday at this time, I’ll be in the chaos and craziness of yet another Monday at school.