Clearing the brain so it keeps working
Posts tagged Christmas
Ish a show, now get outa my way.
Dec 2nd
A Miracle on 34th Street opens this Friday and we definitely have a show to come and see. This was not always apparent by the number of people we had drop out and then had multiple recasting of the actors involved. My first entrance in the show was to be as the Drunken Santa who gets fired from the parade. While I still play that role, I have another part in the opening scene.
We have a great cast, wonderful crew and excellent director. I get to be on stage with a few of my favorite people to work with. We have new faces and quite a few young faces. Be sure to get your reservations early. I’ve heard them talk about it on the local station and I only listen to about 20 minutes in the morning.
I get the evening off tonight, so I get to get some of the things done that have been waiting for just such a moment. Short post, but I will be busy soon.
Come see a show….
And now in time for the Holidays…
Oct 8th
PRICE WARS!!!
It appears that major toy resellers are trying very hard to get your holiday dollars. With hard economic times, we all need a break or two, so this could be a benefit to those out shopping for children they know.
According to the article Toys-R-Us is going to open mini shops just in time for Christmas. These may or may not have good deals, but they will give some out of work people short term jobs for the holidays.
Wal-Mart has a $10 toy sale, so that again may or may not be a good deal. It all depends on the toy.
I heard that Target was having some Christmas event with the Toy department too, but I have not found any news story online to back it up.
Or you could do what I plan on doing… Dig a hole in your backyard and hide until the Christmas shopping season is over… 
Oops, I can’t do that, I’m in a play. Oh yeah, that is like hiding until something is over. I won’t have time for anything else.
All this and something more
Dec 31st
Did you every have a day you thought would have turned out differently? Did you ever expect one thing, and have something else happen? To answer those questions, yes, I did. Yesterday was one of those days.
It was decided earlier that my daughters and I would go to the Zoo to see the Christmas Light display before it closed for the season. As a family we’ve always enjoyed visiting the light display. As a family we were members since 1984. The Lights before Christmas started in 1986 and has been our family tradition since that date. We took our small children in strollers, pushed grandfathers (due to health or injury) on wheelchairs. We took relatives from warmer climates on very cold evenings. We even went on cold rainy nights. It was a winter escape. As a family we enjoyed the evenings together.
Since 2003, we have not been able to attend as a complete family. My wife was too ill to take the cold weather in her final month, and I stayed with her. She hasn’t been there since that year of course. The years following one daughter or another has not been there as we toured the lights. This year my daughter in Florida was not in Ohio to attend. I am very sorry she missed it again.
So three of my daughters, my son-in-law, some friends when to the lights, on the 5th anniversary of my dear wife’s death. I thought a melancholy day was in order. I forgot who much I enjoy the company of my family and friends. I also forgot the magic of seeing hundreds of colorful lights. A day of memories and togetherness. Not really a sad memory last night at all.
After the evening of lights, we went to my eldest daughter’s house and shared a glass of wine and bit of dinner. A toast to her memory and more conversation. A wonderful night. I needed that. It was another healing effect on my life. Family is wonderful.
So what did you get for Christmas?
Dec 30th
Sometimes it isn’t the gift, it is the thought behind it. Sometimes it is the gift. Sometimes it is both. Over the years I’ve had plenty of wonderful gifts. Sometimes they are things I specifically ask for. For the gift giver, it is very easy to get me exactly the gift I wanted. Sometimes the gift I want is very extravagant, and should be out of the range of anyone getting me gifts. Sometimes this is where have four daughters really pays some benefits to me. While I only get 1 gift from them, it is something I really want, and would never buy for myself.
Take two years ago, all for girls went in on an “official” Indiana Jones Fedora. I would have made to with any nice looking brown fedora, but they got me a very well made replica. I realize I should have put in in a case just to look at but I wear it almost every day. Fedoras are not made for heavy winds. They will fly off heads. That is why some hats have strings on them.
This year they did it again. Something I wanted, and probably would never have spent the money on. Years ago,first on Showtime and then on PBS, there was a wonderful show called Shelley Duvall’s Faerie Tale Theatre. It was a wonderful show, and as soon as I had a VCR, I started taping the shows. When I could no longer get them we had the girl’s grandmother tape them. Fast forward to now, and the tapes we had of these shows wore out, were misplaced or just got re-used. I never did own the complete series. The girls knew I liked the shows, so they went together and bought the DVDs of this series. So now I have hours of faerie tale enjoyment ahead of me. If asked nicely, I would even be willing to share.
From the very first faerie tale “The Frog Prince” with Robin Williams and Terri Garr, to the very last show “The Dancing Princesses” with Leslie Ann Warren, these shows had big name stars from the 80’s. The shows were made so that parents could watch them with their children. I’m not sure about any other family watching these, but after some of the shows, we would dig out the original faerie tale to read to our children. A wonderful family time and now memory.
So what did I get for Christmas this year? About the same as every year. I was given much love, wonderful memories all wrapped up with paper and bows. This was hidden in a gift given from the heart. Or in this case four very loving hearts.
Home and kind of in the dark…
Dec 26th
I was scheduled to go to my sister’s for a family Christmas dinner/gift exchange. Unfortunately, I am unable to go. I had the unfortunate luck to hit a deer on my way to work. I’m very sorry for the deer I hit, and my poor truck. While it is still drivable, there are some problems.
The inspection by the Highway patrol went fine, the insurance was no problem at all. This was the good part of the day
The passenger side head lights are out. The driver side seems to come and go. So no driving at night. So now I am sitting at home, and not going out.
There was also a game night scheduled at some good friends. After getting home, even with good lights, I found our back county roads very, very dangerous. I was slipping and sliding at 20 miles per hour and less. The rain that fell during the day made the road worse than they were this morning.
So her I am, sitting at home and blogging away…
Sigh….
