First Day of Winter

I know.  It isn't really the first day of winter, but it seemed like it for several reasons. The season has started for me. John and I decided that today we would go forth and conquer our Christmas shopping list. We started the day with breakfast out which we only do when we are traveling.  But we needed to fortify ourselves for a long day of shopping.  I am not a good shopper.  I think it may be because I was a shopkeeper for so long.  I get annoyed at poor service, unfriendly clerks, unmarked product, and other "givens' for customer service. Plus, I know when a store is charging more than suggested retail (for some things, anyway).  Maybe John suggested breakfast out to fortify him against my lack of enthusiasm to go shop.  But off we went. list in hand for our families.  

As we sat at our breakfast, we laid out our plan of attack. There was a table of four men next to us in deep and serious discussion which seemed odd since one man had a Santa hat on and a lovely and obviously real white, nicely trimmed beard. Sometimes their low chatter almost sounded musical.  But wait!  Listen, I said to John.  I think they are singing.  All of a sudden, the men started singing louder and then burst into full four part harmony.  They were wonderful.  This old time barbershop quartet sang a couple of carols from their table, finished their song and left amid loud applause from all the other diners.  Things like this only happen in the movies, but here it was happening in our own regular old life. Such a great start to the day.  Life is good.

We stopped by the post office and we carried all the packages in to be mailed.  These were Small Studio packages and since I mentioned what great gift ideas we had, many of you took this to heart and I spent almost all weekend packing orders. Thank you to all who support my little business. The post office was empty.  This seldom, if ever happens,  Lucky us.

We drove over to the shopping center and pulled into a place right in front of the store we were aiming for.  Unheard of. The same luck happened all day.  Every store we hit had exactly what we wanted to buy. There were crowds, but everyone was smiling and polite and friendly including the helpful clerks. Life is good.  

The mail lady brought Christmas cards with long Christmas letters, which I love receiving  and cards with photos of families I love. Do you like Christmas letters?  I know some people think they are tacky, but I really want to see how big the kids have grown and where this year's vacation was and how the job is going, etc. Thank you to my friends and family that continue this practice. Life is so good. 

We had yummy leftovers for dinner.  Easy and quick and then we began wrapping gifts together.  This is hilarious because John wraps in a very unique way.  He likes to use all the bits and oieces...on one package.  

Now here is the "frosting" on our day.  Outside we are having our first snow.  It isn't really sticking, but the flakes coming down are big and soft and lovely.  It seems like the first day of winter.  Life is definitely oh so good.  

Comments

[TACE]

Ahh gee, sounds like the scene from a "feel good" movie but it was a day from your life! How awesome is that? I am jealous of the impromptu Barbershop quartet concert you got to hear. I suppose instead of being jealous that no one ever sings out loud near me in stores, wowing me with their talent, I could always become the singer! And give someone else that experience...only thing missing is the talent. Lots of enthusiasm doesn't hide lack of musical talent... :P
I love days like you're describing where everything slides into place. Yours sounds like it was a lot of fun, thannnnnk-you for sharing!

[Rachel Greig]

That sounds like a great day... especially the barbershop quartet! I write the long family letters and only receive a few from friends and family. I love reading them, I wish everyone did them! I have all of ours archived, it's a great reference for knowing what the kids (and us) did each year.

[peggy mcdevitt]

what a grand day and the Santa's singing was delightful. Glad your enjoyed yourselves together and got some of your shopping completed. Love reading your posts, I can so relate to most of them. enjoy the holidays. Peggy

[luftmensch]

We were finishing supper at the new Five Guys hamburger joint when we noticed someone moving tables and helping an older gentleman set up a drum set. Before we knew what was happening they rolled in a grand piano and in walks Paul McCartney! Paul McCartney!! He sat down and began to play my favorite Beatles song: "Maybe I'm Amazed" - looking over at the drummer we realized that it was the one and only Ringo Starr and our server was Pete Best!

[ginnycartersmallenburg]

What do you mean "older gentleman"????
Gosh, oh gee, luft, you have the best experiences.