What is Christmas?

For too many years we have listened to the Christmas commercial hype telling us we must have this, or must do that to have the perfect Christmas. But Christmas isn't about material things. Putting aside for just a moment the reason behind Christmas, Jesus birth, the holiday is about spending time with loved ones; family and friends who care about you. It's about the imperfections that make us laugh and cling to each other when all we want to do is give up, or cry. Christmas is a celebration of our support groups in life. The acknowledgment of the love we give and get everyday. So what are you doing for Christmas this year? Are you rushing around trying to make everyone else's Christmas special, or are you taking time to be with them and create Christmas memories?

Remember the times when you made Christmas cookies, played with wrapping paper, sang to your children at bedtime, gave and received hugs with relatives and opened your heart to the possibilities in life. Don't give up on the joy behind Christmas just because the wallet has more room than usual. Teach the young to make things, to visit neighbors and family; encourage traditional love. The best thing about Christmas is the feeling of being loved by someone else.

So is Christmas in the wrapping paper, the bows, the gifts? Or is Christmas in the arms that hold those gifts? My favorite memories were the ones when we as a family tried over and over again to get the Christmas picture right; often with lots of wonderful mistakes! I hold on to those memories like gold. To me that is what makes Christmas.

Do You Remember?

Oh those TV shows from when we were younger! Depending on your age many of you can say you saw TV in black and white. I heard a comment made from a young friend of mine who wanted to know if black and white TV was a new feature! I think he thought it had something to do with digital 3D (grin). I was just glad I wasn't drinking a beverage at the time! Do you realize that those graduating from high school this year were born around 1992/93! I was dropping out of college around that time.


Shows I watched as a youngster were mainly in color and were fun and not very creative. Some of my favorites were Gilligan's Island, Alf, Silver Spoons, Doogie Howser MD, Mr. Belvedere, Night Court, Growing Pains and Family Ties. Reruns of 80's shows kept me going through the 90's but now I'm having to find new stuff to watch. I'm really not too impressed. Most of what is out there are cop shows and criminal investigation shows. Nothing to make you laugh, when really in this economic state we could use a lot of laughter to lighten the load. I remember an old movie (not sure what the name was) where a film maker who was adamant about making dramas gets somehow messed up and ends up in jail. There he learns that life's stresses are eased by laughter and that the public craves this release because it bolsters hope in a better future. He leaves jail and starts making comedies. I loved the premise of that movie.

There is a place to everything under the sun, from drama to comedies. The real key is to find a balance in what you watch, read, listen to or create that helps you keep your balance. Something those graduating this year should keep in mind. Congratulations to you, and keep your head in the clouds!

You Better Get You Some Higher Education!

What is Higher Education? Well, that term is easy to define. Getting more education than you currently have achieved. Since this is the case, then we are all working to achieve higher education. If you think about it, there are so many ways to be an educated person in today's society. You can be socially educated, legally educated, naturally educated, or even earn a life education.

Personally I feel like life education is enhanced by fundamental education (school). Although natural education (learning by example) is also a huge part of what makes us educated people.  I don't believe there are uneducated people out there anymore. Every person who is exposed to the world earns an education of some kind. It may not be a good one, but it is knowledge and experience. The true character of a person is defined by how they take and use that education.

The underprivileged individual is only held in check by their ability to use the knowledge they have achieved. That is a direct result of this amazing country in which we live. No one is left in a status or level they can't get out of with some effort. You are only limited by the limits you place on yourself. Look at these self educated people (called autodidactic) who made it in a big way. Abraham Lincoln was a self educated lawyer. Bill Gates was a college drop out. Andrew Carnegie was one of the best known men of industrialization and he never went to school. Famous author Arthur C Clark never went to college. Walter Cronkite, one of America's best beloved journalists and long time CBS anchor dropped out of college. Charles Dickens never got to finish his childhood schooling.

Arguably these individuals took on life education and made it work. What makes it even better is that they had support. People who cared about what happened to them, giving encouragement from time to time. By far my favorite self educated person was Thomas Alva Edison. His teachers thought him unteachable. So his mother taught him at home during his early years. He went on to produce such wonderful inventions as electric light and early recording technologies.

So my point? No one is without opportunity and he/she who has support can conquer the world.

In The Good Ol' Summer Time

It's here again. That dreaded time of year. Adults work hard to rid themselves of a few extra pounds gained over the winter months, and children start daydreaming of school being out for the summer. I look despairingly at the spare pillow I have acquired over the winter months and I too promise to lose a few pounds before swimsuit season arrives.


Life seemed so much simpler when I was a child, water was fun and sunshine felt great. Now all I do is sit by the pool, and burn. Who messed up the childlike system for summer? I blame it all on the clothing industry. Shame on you for designing swimsuits that shrink in water! And what were you thinking with the thong bikini? I don't mean to sound old fashioned. But when did it become a necessity to show everything I have, outlined with dental floss? Let's face it, not everyone has the body of Christy Brinkly. I know I don't have any chance of ever fitting into a suit that reveals a midriff not unless Goodyear goes into designing.

Pardon my outrage at such atrocities, but where are the women with imperfect bodies who love water as much as I do? - Hiding in their backyards with a water hose, that's where. And just where do you think those men with jolly old Saint Nicholas style bellies are? - I'd really like to know, I can't find their hiding place anywhere, and I'm jealous.

Children really do get away with simple summer pleasures. No worries about flabby guts, or thunder thighs. They just laugh and play. Even early teenage years seem to be preoccupied with how they compare to their peers, but at least if they don't think well of themselves, they don't let it spoil their fun.

Perhaps the time has come to start a new trend. Throw out those thong bikini's and burn those designer nightmares, and come put on a T-shirt and shorts like me. We'll play the way we did when we were kids. Grab those inner tubes, bring out those flip flops and silly straw hats, and pack up the kids in the ol' mini van and head for the water. Get wet, and remember what it felt like to splash around like an idiot in the sunshine.