And this: it's not always a bad thing.
Soccer started again. Starting next week on Tuesday nights, come out and see the ladies recreation league (and Wednesdays, witness my hobbling and limping).
GTMO Christmas, take 2
The same: lobster dinner, all-day with family, long distance phone conversations to loved ones we miss terribly.
New: worst mail delay ever---at least 7 packages of presents didn't make it, and several were ordered before Thanksgiving. Also, people in the States didn't get packages we sent in early December. Maybe Christmas went to Europe or the Middle East? Maybe we need to order in October next year?
More new: Christmas day at the beach. Windmill Beach was packed with picnickers, sun worshippers, scuba divers, and swimmers and it was a fun afternoon, soaking in the sun, breaking for a brief rain storm, and swimming in the warm water.
More new: Christmas day at the beach. Windmill Beach was packed with picnickers, sun worshippers, scuba divers, and swimmers and it was a fun afternoon, soaking in the sun, breaking for a brief rain storm, and swimming in the warm water.
Goodbyes at Ferry Landing
Too many goodbyes to count already, and our youngest said goodbye to one of his first friends here, a classmate and neighbor. He managed to take a flying leap off the pier and swim out as the ferry pulled out. It's a fun tradition, and I get very emotional every time it happens. You think after years in the military and then criss-crossing the country we would get used to saying goodbye, but I still cry a little bit every time.
And this Christmas, for the first time in GTMO, we put up a tree.
Today I put away the Christmas ornaments and managed to whittle our EIGHT large plastic containers of Christmas ornaments and decorations down to four. How does a family of only four people manage to collect so much stuff that is generally only displayed for one month? Probably because I suffer from sentimentality and sometimes have a hard time getting rid of stuff. Some of my strongest memories come from tchotchkes and ornaments and all other things Christmas.
When I was 22, I ran out of money and options and instead of finishing my Master's degree---I only had a thesis to write, and I was completely clueless on a topic---I basically took the first teaching job I was offered, in the town of Meridian, MS. (As an aside---NEVER take the first job you are offered, unless you are desperate). I made $17,000 with no health benefits. I have a nasty scar on my leg from burning myself on the tailpipe of my car (which was hit and ---you guessed it---I only had liability insurance so I never did get it fixed) and I didn't have the money to go to a doctor. My principal was awful---he called me "baby girl," referred to a student as the N word in front of him (I was mortified, and later gave the kid a big hug), and when I told him I didn't think we should be saying a prayer ("in Jesus' name we pray") over the loud speaker of a public school every single morning, especially when he told me that no, the Jewish kid in my homeroom HAD to sit and listen to the prayer and couldn't stand in the hallway, he told me he would pray for me.
I won't tell you what I said back, but let's just say it wasn't nice and I got the shortest reference letter known to man when I finally quit so I could finish my thesis and get married. Oh, and he asked if I were pregnant when I told him I was getting married. Classy!!!
In all this madness, I met an amazing group of beginning teachers, and we dealt with our shared poverty (and shock at the craziness of the school system) by eating communal meals and hanging out every weekend. I have managed to stay in touch with one (our first children, both boys, even had the same due date!) and we still laugh over that year we survived together.
I also managed to strike up a beautiful friendship with the 70-something year-old grandmother of my boyfriend, who was living far away in Dallas but made sure I connected with his grandma as soon as I moved there. We immediately got along---she had been a life-long teacher and totally empathized with many of my first year travails, and she was a wonderful support person for that year of insanity. She was a pistol, full of mischief and good humor, creative and resourceful, and whip-smart. Like most Southern ladies, she was an outstanding cook and could make you forget all manners and ask for third or fourth helpings at the dinner table.
About now you are thinking, "Um, what's the point?" Hold on. I promise it's coming.
In addition to black bottom pie and coffee at Weidmann's and looking at fancy dolls at a store across the street (yes, we both collect dolls), she found out that I liked glass Christmas ornaments, and that was that.
This lady LOVED Christmas more than anyone I've ever known.
She bought me BOXES of glass ornaments. Enough for a tree, actually. Then once I married her grandson, she made us a tree skirt, helped me make stockings, and made some beautiful crocheted ornaments. She also gave us several nutcracker ornaments, which we've added to over the years.
My own grandmother also loves Christmas. Over the years, she's made us ornaments, and she and my beloved grandfather sent me the most beautiful wooden box of fancy glass ornaments I've ever seen. I'm so afraid of breaking them, this was only the third Christmas I've put them on the tree.
I also picked up one of her habits of buying a Christmas ornament any time I visit somewhere special to me. I have a nice crèche scene from Sante Fe; beautiful painted ornaments from Playa del Carmen, Mexico; several ornaments from our one visit and my parents' multiple visits to the Hawaiian islands; and nice quality German ornaments---those Germans really know how to do Christmas!
We also have a large number of ornaments from the 70s that belonged to my husband's family. Add to those 15 years of ornaments collected from raising two boys---lots of homemade elementary school projects---and you get the general idea of our ornament collection.
All in all, we could decorate a small forest of trees. And I don't think I can get rid of any of them.
Christmas brings back wonderful memories of family, some gone from this earth, and I love to think of the places we've seen and how much our boys have grown when I look at the tree.
And every time I pack the ornaments away, I am brought back to that first year of teaching, single and broke, and hanging out with my new 70-something year old friend who would become my grandmother-in-law. I'm sure I would have grown to love her regardless, but the fact that she provided much-needed diversion and support during a crazy year made it happen that much faster. I miss her terribly---she passed away when our oldest son was only a toddler---but every Christmas, I love the rush of happy memories when I put something she made or gave us on the tree. It is her eternal Christmas present to us---the wonderful memories that come with unwrapping every ornament we carefully store in tissue the year before, and knowing the joy she got at Christmas and how tickled she would be to know her ornaments are still the primary decorations on our tree.
Before I get too mushy about the holidays, there's this: our GTMO house is almost half the size of our last house. The dining room, kitchen, bathroom, laundry room/panty, bathroom, and den could fit in the dining room/living room of my last house, which is where we had all our Christmas decorations spread out. I love Christmas, but sentimentality aside, it's a relief to have that little bit of space back.
Onward to 2014. Here's to collecting more memories (and hopefully, less stuff!) for the new year.
And this Christmas, for the first time in GTMO, we put up a tree.
Today I put away the Christmas ornaments and managed to whittle our EIGHT large plastic containers of Christmas ornaments and decorations down to four. How does a family of only four people manage to collect so much stuff that is generally only displayed for one month? Probably because I suffer from sentimentality and sometimes have a hard time getting rid of stuff. Some of my strongest memories come from tchotchkes and ornaments and all other things Christmas.
When I was 22, I ran out of money and options and instead of finishing my Master's degree---I only had a thesis to write, and I was completely clueless on a topic---I basically took the first teaching job I was offered, in the town of Meridian, MS. (As an aside---NEVER take the first job you are offered, unless you are desperate). I made $17,000 with no health benefits. I have a nasty scar on my leg from burning myself on the tailpipe of my car (which was hit and ---you guessed it---I only had liability insurance so I never did get it fixed) and I didn't have the money to go to a doctor. My principal was awful---he called me "baby girl," referred to a student as the N word in front of him (I was mortified, and later gave the kid a big hug), and when I told him I didn't think we should be saying a prayer ("in Jesus' name we pray") over the loud speaker of a public school every single morning, especially when he told me that no, the Jewish kid in my homeroom HAD to sit and listen to the prayer and couldn't stand in the hallway, he told me he would pray for me.
I won't tell you what I said back, but let's just say it wasn't nice and I got the shortest reference letter known to man when I finally quit so I could finish my thesis and get married. Oh, and he asked if I were pregnant when I told him I was getting married. Classy!!!
In all this madness, I met an amazing group of beginning teachers, and we dealt with our shared poverty (and shock at the craziness of the school system) by eating communal meals and hanging out every weekend. I have managed to stay in touch with one (our first children, both boys, even had the same due date!) and we still laugh over that year we survived together.
I also managed to strike up a beautiful friendship with the 70-something year-old grandmother of my boyfriend, who was living far away in Dallas but made sure I connected with his grandma as soon as I moved there. We immediately got along---she had been a life-long teacher and totally empathized with many of my first year travails, and she was a wonderful support person for that year of insanity. She was a pistol, full of mischief and good humor, creative and resourceful, and whip-smart. Like most Southern ladies, she was an outstanding cook and could make you forget all manners and ask for third or fourth helpings at the dinner table.
About now you are thinking, "Um, what's the point?" Hold on. I promise it's coming.
In addition to black bottom pie and coffee at Weidmann's and looking at fancy dolls at a store across the street (yes, we both collect dolls), she found out that I liked glass Christmas ornaments, and that was that.
This lady LOVED Christmas more than anyone I've ever known.
She bought me BOXES of glass ornaments. Enough for a tree, actually. Then once I married her grandson, she made us a tree skirt, helped me make stockings, and made some beautiful crocheted ornaments. She also gave us several nutcracker ornaments, which we've added to over the years.
My own grandmother also loves Christmas. Over the years, she's made us ornaments, and she and my beloved grandfather sent me the most beautiful wooden box of fancy glass ornaments I've ever seen. I'm so afraid of breaking them, this was only the third Christmas I've put them on the tree.
I also picked up one of her habits of buying a Christmas ornament any time I visit somewhere special to me. I have a nice crèche scene from Sante Fe; beautiful painted ornaments from Playa del Carmen, Mexico; several ornaments from our one visit and my parents' multiple visits to the Hawaiian islands; and nice quality German ornaments---those Germans really know how to do Christmas!
We also have a large number of ornaments from the 70s that belonged to my husband's family. Add to those 15 years of ornaments collected from raising two boys---lots of homemade elementary school projects---and you get the general idea of our ornament collection.
All in all, we could decorate a small forest of trees. And I don't think I can get rid of any of them.
Christmas brings back wonderful memories of family, some gone from this earth, and I love to think of the places we've seen and how much our boys have grown when I look at the tree.
And every time I pack the ornaments away, I am brought back to that first year of teaching, single and broke, and hanging out with my new 70-something year old friend who would become my grandmother-in-law. I'm sure I would have grown to love her regardless, but the fact that she provided much-needed diversion and support during a crazy year made it happen that much faster. I miss her terribly---she passed away when our oldest son was only a toddler---but every Christmas, I love the rush of happy memories when I put something she made or gave us on the tree. It is her eternal Christmas present to us---the wonderful memories that come with unwrapping every ornament we carefully store in tissue the year before, and knowing the joy she got at Christmas and how tickled she would be to know her ornaments are still the primary decorations on our tree.
Before I get too mushy about the holidays, there's this: our GTMO house is almost half the size of our last house. The dining room, kitchen, bathroom, laundry room/panty, bathroom, and den could fit in the dining room/living room of my last house, which is where we had all our Christmas decorations spread out. I love Christmas, but sentimentality aside, it's a relief to have that little bit of space back.
Onward to 2014. Here's to collecting more memories (and hopefully, less stuff!) for the new year.
Thank you for the wonderful tribute to my Mother. I miss her too.
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