Weekend Coffee Share 12/23/17

December 23, 2017December 23, 2017 | Sandra Pavloff Conner

If we were having coffee today — and we were at my house — we’d be using Christmas mugs because I love them, and I have LOTS of them. I’d also probably say I couldn’t visit more than a few minutes because I have more things on my schedule than I have hours to give to them. But I can honestly say I’m not feeling too stressed about it.

There was a time in my life when I would have been very stressed, but these days (I’m sure it’s by the grace of God) I seem to be able to take more things in stride and not beat up on myself if I don’t accomplish every single thing on my agenda. And I concern myself a lot less with other people’s opinions of me as well. My goodness, it’s a freeing experience. I think that comes partly with age. I guess I feel I’m old enough to have earned the rest from social pressure.

I would also tell you that I’m trying to figure out how someone who absolutely loves Christmas and has been counting down the days since October can be on the threshold of Christmas Eve and still not have the Christmas towels on the towel racks and no goodies baked. Yep, I’m describing myself. That’s me this year.

Well, actually, I do know part of the answer to that question. It’s because of the remodel I just went through on my house. (I’ve been able to blame a lot of stuff on the upheaval caused by that remodel. But before long that excuse is going to run out of fuel). But — no kidding — spending two months with a house full of men and equipment — who kept turning off my power and moving me out of my office and away from my computers — caused me to get way behind in my work. And since I’ve had so much work to catch up with, I’ve had to put several of my Christmas plans on a back burner. But I’m gradually getting it all done.

And one thing in my favor is that I celebrate the 12 Days of Christmas — not with the song by that name — but in the traditional Christian celebration of the Lord’s birth from December 25 to January 6 (Epiphany). So that means I can wait until Christmas Day to really get started and still have almost two weeks to enjoy it all.

One more thing I’d likely do if we were having coffee is present you with a really cute coffee mug. In fact, I did just that with a friend I had coffee with this morning. We hadn’t been able to meet and visit for months, so we stole some time out of this morning to do that. She loves coffee, as I do. This week I came across a brand new coffee mug in a store that I frequent. On both sides of the cup were these words: “But first … coffee.” It fit my friend perfectly. It fits me as well. And if you and I were having coffee, that would mean you love coffee too, so I think you’d enjoy receiving a cup like that. I know I would. Hey … maybe I’ll go buy myself one too. 🙂

Hope you all have a very merry and healthy Christmas!

Visit “Weekend Coffee Share” to participate and share you thoughts.

~~~

Weekend Coffee Share – Christmas Decorating

December 4, 2017February 26, 2018 | Sandra Pavloff Conner

COFFEE BEING POURED W. SPOON - PDPics -- PX — photo courtesy of PDpics @ pixabay.com

Well, I’m cutting things pretty close for this “Weekend Coffee Share,” but I’ve never participated in the past and suddenly decided it was time I did. So here goes.

To begin, I can tell you that I LOVE coffee. In fact, a couple months ago, I did a whole series called “Daily Grind Coffee Quotes,” where I shared some amazing pictures of coffee and a personal quote that fit each picture. If you think you’d enjoy them, feel free to check them out. I’ll include a link here to the page that has only the “Daily Grind” posts.

Now, if we were sitting and sharing a cup of coffee today, I’d probably talk about Christmas. I LOVE Christmas. My sister and I both do, and we enjoy keeping as many of our family traditions going as possible. However, I had a lot of renovation done to my house this fall, and there’s still a tiny bit to finish up. So I’ve been getting to my Christmas decorating a little slowly.

No problem, though. It’s still lots of fun. I do have a brand new electrical outlet on my front porch and on the back of my house — which makes doing my outside lights much easier than it was in previous years. I have lots of white lights on my front porch and a cross of white lights on my front door. I have multi-colored lights along the back of my house.

I’m a little sad that my huge, beautiful Blue Spruce ( Big Blue by name) won’t get lights though. I used to decorate him, but now he’s so very tall and big around that it would take at least 3,000 lights to do him any justice at all. Unfortunately the normal outdoor Christmas lights warn against linking that many strings together, and the LED’s are just too expensive to purchase that many when I want other decorations as well. Besides, I’d also have to hire someone with a crane and bucket to string those 3,000 lights. Oh, well, I still enjoy my tree. And when it snows and covers the branches with soft piles of snow, it’s a truly enchanting sight.

I’ve almost got all the inside decorations up. My tree will go up tonight, along with a large Christmas Teddy Bear who gets to sit in his own little red rocking chair. It’s actually MY little red rocking chair. I’ve had it since I was 2 years old. Considering the fact that I’m now 69, I think it’s quite an accomplishment to still have it in great condition in my living room.

One of my favorite decorations is a huge adult pop-up story book that was a gift from my very best friend about 5 years ago. Since I’m a minister as well as a writer, he knew I’d enjoy some kind of book that was connected with the Scriptures, and he found a pop-up book that covers the first five books of the Bible. Each book has an enormous and very detailed scene that come up when you turn to that page. One of the scenes — ‘The Tower of Babel’ — stands 13 inches high when it pops up.

Wow, I didn’t intend to get so carried away about decorating, but — as I mentioned — I do love Christmas. I even have a separate website devoted to nothing but that wonderful holiday. I hope all of you are looking forward to the celebration of our Lord’s birth as well. And I hope you have as much fun getting ready for it as I do.

Well, my coffee needs a warm-up, so I’ll sign off now and go take care of that. Thanks for visiting with me and sharing my favorite beverage today.

~~~