Church events, Christmas prep

The year is rapidly drawing to a close. I still maintain that the coming calendar change is not so much a new beginning but the continuation of this brief life under a new budget. There are many things that I wanted to get done in 2013 that will have to wait until 2014 or later. Obviously none of them were life-altering projects but all of them were on a now faded to-do list that Mama and I had put together. I am sure we will generate another list for the coming year and I hope it is an ambitious list because I would rather the year end with tasks still in the works than to end with little or nothing to do.

The little ones had their Christmas program last night. It was one of the better programs I have seen. The three and four year olds acted out, in costume, the story of Mary and Joseph and the baby as the older ones read the Christmas story. It was beyond cute to see a three year old Mary and a four year old Joseph stand at a manger with a tiny baby doll.

They did the shepherds coming in from the fields but they did not have enough actors to do the wise men. They did add the story of Anna and Simeon to their little production – which was a nice touch. The young man who stood to represent Simeon while the story was read obviously did not like the fake beard he had to wear. He kept worming his mouth around to keep it from tickling his nose; which only added to the tickling effect.

One little girl, I think she is nine or ten, sang Silent Night with such a strong southern accent that I got out my phone and recorded it after she had begun. Her dad was sitting right in front of us and I remarked that we can tell she is from the south. He proudly admitted that, “she gets that from me.” That is true.

We exchanged gifts with those who had brought gifts and the church handed out goodie bags with fruit and candy to all in attendance. There were some who brought gifts to be delivered by the teens of the church and Mama and I each got a gift from friends in the church. Mama felt badly that she did not know that was being done because there are some who she would have liked to give small gifts to also. We will be prepared next year.

Our Christmas tree is still undecorated but it is making the mobile home smell nice. I think Mama is planning on getting things like that done today as we also prepare to move our bedroom into the apartment. I am ready for the move and I think Mama is getting there, but I am not sure how the dog situation is going to work out since she plans on having Rosie with her and leaving the other two dogs with Victoria. I guess she will be dog sitting through the day.

She and I talked as we traveled to and from Decatur last night about what remains to be done for our Christmas needs and plans. Last week she was a little put out that I had limited the amount of cash I gave her for gift shopping, but I explained that we also needed cash for food and extra travel while the kids are in visiting over the holidays.

As she laid out what we still needed to do and to buy and how much cash she had left of what I allotted her, she realized why I had limited the initial outlay. We will still fall within the budgeted amount overall, but she was a little taken aback by how much it would cost when everything is included.

Good thing one of us keeps a budget.