On last Friday, another person that I remember so vividly from back home passed away. Tim Russert died and I like everyone else was shocked. His show, “Meet the Press” was one of my favorite tv places to check into on Sunday mornings. I would watch that show live or tape it and watch my other favorite Sunday morning shows...it just depended on what I was in the mood for. Those Sunday morning shows are a few things that I miss about not being back home. But I have some new traditions forming now. Anyway, I was so saddened to hear of his passing. He was a great journalist and I didn’t know the man, but he seemed to have integrity about what he was doing. In the last year or so, I have been watching the national news from back home on satellite over here in England. I did it in the beginning just to chase away the homesickness since this was the newscast that I watched when I got home from work when I was back in Georgia. The newscast is on at 11:30pm here, so if I'm sleepy, I will tape it and watch it the next day. Brit Boy got into the habit of watching it with me. With all of the exciting election coverage going on, a couple of nights a week, Tim Russert would come on and give his take on what was happening. Brit Boy and I used to always love his excited delivery of the latest moves in the campaign and he was like an encyclopedia of political history. You could tell that this man just loved seeing the process in action and it made Brit Boy and I excited too. (smile) We both said Friday when we heard the news, that there will be a definite hole in the news of the election now. We have all lost a guy who was a proper journalist who knew his stuff and who loved his life and family.
Incidentally, I mentioned to Brit Boy on Friday night, that the passing of Tim Russert had a personal parallel for me. Friday was the anniversary of my brother Tim passing away. My brother, if he had lived, would have been the same age as Tim Russert. And my brother also died of a heart attack. The similarities in those ways sent a chill down my spine when I realized that. I miss my brother, he has been gone over a decade, and I think about him, my mom, and dad everyday...less and less in sorrow, but more now in remembrance of them and knowing that they are all together now. (smile)
On a lighter note, Santa Claus came to our street this weekend. (smile) Well, not exactly. The lady across the street from us has had landscapers at her house all of last week working on laying her garden and walkway with brick. So they finally finished on Friday and she had a visitor for the weekend. Brit Boy and I don’t know if he is our neighbor’s father or uncle or what, but he looks like Santa Claus or Father Christmas as some say here. He has the fluffy white beard, rosy cheeks, and round belly, but he leaves the red suit elsewhere. (smile) He is a cabbie and he usually comes to visit her in his cab on Easter or Christmas. The first time that we saw him, it was Christmas Eve and he drives up and gets out of his cab and I screamed to Brit Boy rather gleefully, “Santa!!!!” I don’t know what came over me...no I hadn’t been drinking. (laugh) This was the first Christmas after my mom passed away so I guess that I needed to just believe in miracles a bit. Brit Boy and I decided that his cab was a secret disguise for his sleigh. (smile) So whenever we hear his cab coming down the street it brings a smile to our faces.
So this past weekend he showed up, a bit off of his normal schedule. I guess that he came to enjoy his daughter or niece’s new garden. Then late Sunday evening, I heard the familiar rattling sound of the cab driving away. I looked out the window just in time to see his sleigh...I mean his cab, driving away.
This happened during a gift wrapping session ;-)
Next we have “The Christmas Kids”, yet another set of mascots, like Trevor, except they only come out at Christmas. We named them that because we couldn't think of anything else to call them when we bought them a couple of years ago. We have Santa, who is a bit off to the side in this photo, and a reindeer, a happy little penguin, the snowman, and a perky Christmas tree. Fun bunch, huh? :-) The best part is that they sort of dance around…well they sway mostly, but it’s fun when they do it in a line like they’re in a musical or something. Here they are:
The other day, Brit Boy and I were in town and we saw that they had poinsettias. They had big ones and they had tiny single ones. We opted for the tiny one in a tiny gold pot. I love the deep red of it.
And last, but not least, we have our little Christmas tree. It’s an artificial one. It’s kinda sparse in some spots, but it’s still cute and does the trick to set the mood.
So this is just a taste of what our house looks like at Christmas. Merry Christmas from me, Brit Boy, and our various mascots :-) Also I want to wish everyone all the best whether you celebrate Christmas or another holiday during this time :-)
