Regularly Leaping Out of The Box

My buddy, Mary, sent me this Open Letter From Jesus About Christmas and I loved its out-of-the-box-ness.

Practically my whole life I've jumped out of the boxes others cram themselves into. You know, the same ol' crowd mentality way of thinking. Even as a teenager I rebelled against the normal, everybody-thinks-this-way of things, which meant I spent lots of time being sent to my room.

Although, being an introvert, I found my room a refreshing, un-normal place and was happy to go there. :)

Anyway, I hope you'll make your way over to that unique Open Letter. Lots of terrific, out-of-the-rut ideas there.


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Netflix added many old-fashioned tv programs to its instant view line-up. Here are a few:

Bob Hope: The Comedy Hour

The Jack Benny Show

Spike Jones: The Legend

Abbot and Costello: The Colgate Comedy Hour

Red Skelton: America's Funniest Man

The Life of Riley/ Our Miss Brooks


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Tom and I discovered another travel show at Netflix which delights us--it's called: Billy Connolly's Route 66. We enjoy any sort of travel program concerning Route 66 and Billy is quite the character/host. He reminds me of an uncle of mine, emotional, and able to insert a controversial subject faster than the speed of light, but in such a quiet way that it takes you by surprise and disables you from quite knowing how to voice your counter opinion.

Watch these episodes and you may see what I mean.  (But still, we think Billy is a hoot, he quickly grew on us and his Scottish accent truly is like music as someone on Route 66 told him.)

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Speaking of out-of-the-box, some of you will love this article: 15 Creative Home Conversions. Wow. Amazing photos and inspiring ideas which illustrate that probably most of us have scrawny imaginations.

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Most likely, this post is too late. Alas. But I thought I'd go ahead with it anyway.

Now, I'm the type of person who, two days after Christmas, is sorely tempted to yank down and stash away all her Christmas decorations in the attic. Usually by December 27th, I'm, well, rather sick of Christmas baubles. 

That's just me.

But I've found it interesting in various blogs lately to see how many of you love your Christmas decor yet feel you must put it away by this week (or so). To which I must ask, "Why? Why do you have to take it all down now? Why not leave it up a few more weeks if you love the ambiance it adds to your home?"

Oh, of course I don't mean leave your Christmas tree up forever. After all, who wants all those needles in your carpet and a major fire hazard? Heh. But who says you must put away all your dearly loved other Christmas decor? Why not be funky, cool and different and leave it up till February or even March? Or at least portions of it?

I mean, many Christmas decorations can pass for simple winter decor--snowmen, snowy wreaths or even tiny trees and certain old-timey toys. Oh, and strings of tiny white lights! Now, that's something I do leave up all year. Love those white lights and the glow they cast upon my rooms, my hutches and white dishes.

I guess all I'm trying to say is why do we find it so very hard to hop outside of the boxes the rest of our world seems to live inside? Why can't we have any sort of decor we love--even Christmas decorations on the 4th of July--if that's what warms our hearts?

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Oh, if you have time, do pop over to Clarice's blog to read one of the sweetest posts in all of Blogland.


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Really, I have the sweetest husband. I watch him walk outside to our car and he sometimes pauses, turns toward our trees with the feeders, and then he'll talk to the birds. You know, in that voice you use for cats or dogs or babies. And I stand there in our big bay window and smile, heart all warm.

Well, he wanted to give small Christmas gifts to our two neighbors who've helped us--the new, clueless kids--with our yard work, first with tractors, then snow blowers. He kept saying , "We should get them something," and I kept saying, "I am getting everybody else on our list something, so you take care of it since it's on your heart. Personally, I think a simple card would suffice."

So, after pondering and procrastinating and making things wildly complicated, Tom drove to our little Rite Aid here (the only place in our town to shop, not counting True Value.... I'm so not kidding), and bought a box of Christmas cards, two tins of cookies and two glass jar candles, different scents.

He spent an hour wrapping the candles and composing messages on the cards and then on Christmas Eve, in the rain and in the dark, we got in the car and drove to each neighbor's house where I got out and went up to the door, handed out the gifts, chatted a bit and wished all a merry Christmas. Each time I got back into the car and reported to Tom what was said and we smiled and laughed and drove down to the center of our one-traffic-light town then out to the country roads to look at peoples' light-decorated houses. We both felt pretty happy.

And then it happened (no, we didn't get into a wreck...heh...). No, what happened was this: while I gazed through splattered windows at the lights in yards, I realized I was humming my favorite Christmas carol, the one which sneaks up on me while Christmas shopping amongst the crowds and brings me remembered joy. Except this year I'd not yet hummed it, not even once, and here it was already Christmas Eve--

"Angels we have heard on high, sweetly singing o'er the plain...."

...But there it was upon my breath, that dear old hymn which always brings Christmas to me. It found me, finally, that night because my sweet husband cared that our neighbors realize we appreciate them, their help, so very much... and in the darkened car out on country roads the joy of simple giving caught up with me only hours before Christmas Day.

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This print was a gift from Naomi yesterday. Tom and I have always loved this one and others like it and it looks perfect in this corner (much better in-person, since our camera loves to ruin all my indoor photos--darn the ol' automatic flash anyway!) :)

Merry Christmas to all my special Readers (and you are, each of you, special)! Have a wonderful day...

Christmas Gifts For My Readers

Since I like to keep Christmas as simple as possible, I am offering, again, the Christmas gifts I've given you, my readers, the last four years. I enjoy giving them early in case you would like to share some of the gifts with your own friends and family. There's a variety here for both men and women, well, I hope you'll agree. :)

Wishing you all an early Merry Christmas... I appreciate your readership and friendship way more than you know!

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Free bookmarks for you or a child:

Printable Bookmarks

To watch free movies and tv series online go here:

Free Movies

To listen, free, to old radio shows from the 1930's and 40's, go here:

Radio Lovers

To walk in and visit a beautiful cottage home (I love this place), go here:

Becky's Cottage

For free printable Christmas gift tags and enclosures, go here:

Christmas Gift Tags

To have fun trying on clothes online (forget those depressing dressing rooms! This is more like the days of paper dolls--and you are the doll.)--go here:

Lands End (Click on My Virtual Model to get started.)

To receive a free issue of Good Old Days Magazine (no credit card required), go here:

Good Old Days Magazine (Scroll down to 'Send No Money Now' when subscribing.)

If you enjoy Victorian photography, go here:

Victorian and Edwardian Photography

To download free charts and lists to help keep you and your family organized, go here:

Digital Women

For lots of cool old black and white photos from life in the 1930's, go here:

The 1930's

For free dollhouse accessory printables, go here:

Dollhouse Printables

To find amazing pictures to copy and paste into your blog or in emails for friends, go here:

All Posters

If you are into the fairy scene, go here:

Wee Folk Studio
Cecily Mary Barker

If you would someday like to visit Andy Griffith's 'Mayberry', go here:

Mt. Airy, NC

If you were a big fan of 'The Waltons,' go here:

The Waltons

To read hundreds of classic books free online, go here:

Page By Page Books

If you like vintage paper dolls, go here:

Betsy McCall
Dress the Digital Dolls (there's more than one page, click on the white-lettered names)

To receive a free issue of Reminisce Magazine (no credit card required), go here:

Reminisce Magazine (click on Bill Me Later when subscribing)

If you'd like to visit the gorgeous Christmas windows in New York City, go here:

New York City Christmas Windows

Roger Ebert's List of 100 Best Films:

Best Films

To read inspiring stories:

Capper's Magazine

All about homemaking creatively and on a budget (terrific site, considering today's economy!):

Heart for Home

To make your own kitchen mixes:

Homemade Mixes

To visit an imaginative tea room:

Prudence's Tea Room (Click on photos to enlarge.)
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If you'd like to do something kind for fellow bloggers, leave comments at the blogs of those who almost never receive comments.

Add blogs to your blogroll...it's a compliment when you do so.

If a blogger's writing has meant something to you this year, let him/her know.

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And again, Merry Christmas to you!

So yesterday good ol' Debra got into the Christmas decorating mood. Finally.

It began when I drooled all over my computer keyboard while clicking through Myrna's house here. Gracious. The woman is a decorating artiste! Please do pop over there after reading this, ok? You'll love it.

Then afterward, Tom and I drove to the Big City, well, the Town of Niagara, and there at Dollar Tree, of all places, I actually felt tingles of creative Christmas merriment. (I know. At Dollar Tree?) But it was there that I found these lovely Christmas balls:

Aren't they nifty? Just five for a dollar. And I also bought the two tiny wreaths here in this photo and the door hanger in the top photo. Tom loved the things I found and when my Christmas-loving friend, Laura, comes by on Thursday (and Naomi and Carl on Christmas Day) at least our house won't appear so Hum-Bug-like. At least they'll know I tried.

Oh! And these amazing deer followed me home from there, too:

I think I'll keep them out all year long.

Of course, I gravitated toward all things autumnal in color. I noticed that. And here, before we moved to this farmhouse, I'd meticulously planned to veer away from autumn-colored walls and decor-- my dream was blue walls and white decor in nearly every room. I mean, for 14 years we'd lived in our "Autumn Cottage" and I was ready for something different. I wanted the glorious pastels I was craving online--all those adorable cottage-type homes in light blues and pinks.

But now I'm not so sure. Slowly, autumn creeps back into my home, as though I cannot help it. I mean, hey. You don't know this, but I've been searching for just the right shade of autumn-gold for the walls of our living room--and not having much luck because it's a bold color, yet those bright color paint chips downright frighten me. "Dare I go so bold?," I ask myself. 

Well, if you're still even reading this, what am I trying to say? Maybe this: Often in this Life, we must step out to find out. We must paint whole rooms before we discover that, wow! That's not me at all. Or we may need to become brave-beyond-belief and take some steps which scare us no end. But only after we jump out of boats or tip-toe down new roads or live in different houses or states do we finally know.

And that's why dreading and resisting change is an awful way to live. When I step out and find out, I learn ways to better maneuver around in this world--and discover what I love (or detest) in this amazing Life which God has given me. 

Heaven help me if I ever stop learning.



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Some of my odd Christmas decor, the stuff from the half-full file box...

Zipping around Blogland, I'm finding many friends who are slogging along in the otherwise fast-paced Christmas Lane this year. They're not even sure why their holiday engines just aren't revving up like they normally do in December.

Well folks, I'm right their crawling along with you.

Of course, the past ten Christmases (or so) I've slowed way down and cut way back and gone all calm and laid-back in progressive degrees. Or tried to, anyway. One year it hit me that I just didn't like doing Christmas the way we (and everybody else) did it. 

Well guess what? We don't even have our pitiful little grapevine tree anymore! It didn't survive Debra's Big Ruthless Decluttering Adventure of 2007, for the whole kit-and-kaboodle, decorations still on the poor thing, was given away.

Want to be further traumatized? Not that we had many Christmas decorations anyway, but I whittled those all down into one white file box before we moved. I got the box out of the attic this week--it's only half-full. Hey, I kept only the decor I liked, and well, that was it. Half a file box.

But you know? I can't help it. I keep hearing God say, "It's okay, Debra. Relax. Just do Christmas the way I tell you to--and everything will be all right."

And Folks, I'm just crazy enough to believe Him. He's got this amazing, incredible track record from the past. And when I allow God to take over? Oh my, He gives me such creative ideas. And healing, too.

Oh the miracles when I get out of the way.

And perhaps that's the reason for our Yule Time sluggishness. Maybe God is trying to hold us still so we'll listen awhile to His ideas... so He can teach us His ways, instead. 

After all, His ways are higher, so much higher, than our own. And they always will be.

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"Be still and know that I am God..."

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"So that the righteous and just requirement of the Law might be fully met in us who live and move not in the ways of the flesh but in the ways of the Spirit [our lives governed not by the standards and according to the dictates of the flesh, but controlled by the Holy Spirit]." Romans 8:4 (Amplified)

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In case you missed it, here's my post about making gift-giving saner by far..

Fun-Time Christmas Shopping

I am going Christmas shopping today. I can't wait! I'll be surrounded by oh-so-quietness, calmness and I'll be stress-free. Not a screaming mother or child for miles.



Huh?


I'll be Christmas shopping online.


Love, love, love it.


I'll be sending out Christmas cards today, too. I bought those online back in January. My Christmas stamps arrived last week--bought those online, also.

Ain't Life grand when you figure out some of the secrets? :)

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Oh, and I even bought a Christmas gift for myself this weekend. It's a set of three Martha Stewart holiday dvd's. Got it for --get this-- $1 on Ebay. (And okay, okay.... you non-Martha fans are snickering, "She paid too much." But did I ask you??) ...heh....


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P.S. Yikes! So there I was doing my Christmas shopping at Ye Olde Amazon.com, when I spied two sets of dvd's I didn't even know existed, but ones I'd desired for eons and eons: The first seasons of My Three Sons and The Donna Reed Show. Hooray! I won't put them on my Christmas list since Tom and I are doing Low-Key-Christmas this year (due to all the $$$ we put into that mega-complex we've got going in our backyard, also known as the barn). But alas! Someday I hope to own these....... happy sigh....

What Are Ya Gonna Do?

So on Election Day, I took my friend, Laura, over to the village of Niagara Falls so she could get her car out of the shop, but first we ate lunch at Honey's before doing a bit of grocery shopping. And while there at the supermarket I heard it coming through the sound system! I was in shock.

Christmas music! On November 4th!

My first reaction (I confess) was, "I can't believe this. It's not even anywhere near Thanksgiving yet, for goodness sake. Every year they do this sort of thing earlier and earlier. Yada.....yada.....yada...." (Use your imagination for the rest.)

But you know? Since that day, I've decided to just go with the way-too-early-Christmas flow. 

I mean, hey.Christmas is a good thing, after all. Look at what/Who started it all. And look at how it affects many people--it nudges them to give a little more to strangers, to smile often, to remember "Christmases of long, long ago..." and all that good stuff.

And okay, okay. None of that is probably on the minds of store managers who blare Christmas tunes through loud speakers on November 4th, or those who display their Christmas goods in August and run wintry toy tv commercials the day after the Election.

I know, I know. But right there lies a perfect decision opportunity. 

I can choose to complain about the earlier-than-ever Christmas commercialism or I can use all mentions of Christmas as reminders of the One who started it all. I can become insanely frustrated that the world isn't running on my approved time schedule, or I can, myself, start earlier than ever this year rejoicing that God sent His Son to rescue us--that He sheds His love abroad in our hearts.

And is it ever too early to have those things on my mind?

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Speaking of Christmas, some of you will love this list of Christmas gifts for the craft-impaired.