Deliverance of Good Tidings

Only two days until the big guy comes down the chimney, spreading joy to all the boys and girls of the world. To me that means family, laughter, and great food. Terry and I are driving to Eugene on Wednesday, Christmas Day, to celebrate the holiday with the family. 

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Yesterday, Sunday, December 22, 2024, we had a little celebration of our own. It was my birthday and Terry and Mallory made it very special. Mallory came over of course, and we watched a couple of hours of Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction. I loved the time we all spent talking and watching. 

During a break, Mallory handed me a card from our grandson Hayden. He picked out a beautiful card with sentiments that meant a lot. But my favorite point of that card was that he said, "To Grandma Vicki" on the front of the envelope. In my opinion, this warmed my heart and held the true form of a perfect birthday. As you all know, he is Mallory's son but I genuinely feel as though he is my grandson too. I hate the "step" before stepdaughter or stepson. Or the "Oh, that's Terry's grandson." No. I staked my claim a while back that the two of them were proper members of family. 

Mallory gave me a bag of strawberry Hershey's kisses that were from Hayden too. I could smell the beautiful strawberry scent before I even opened the corner of the bag to try one. Lovely candy!

Next came Mallory's card that almost had me bawling. I did well to keep the tears back, but the card really had meaning. It was filled with lovely sentiments about our relationship and like I said, it was the faucet knob to the waterworks that were about to follow. I held it back however. I was proud of myself. 

The t-shirt came next. I tore off a corner of the wrapping to expose a beautiful hue of blue. Pulling it out and opening up the nicely folded shirt, I was able to read the truthful words, "You can't scare me. I have a daughter." I laughed at that one since I have five daughters now. She informed me she had looked for one that said daughters, but due to the lack of those shirts, she found this one to get the point across. It was fine as I thought of all of my girls when reading the funny printing. 

Terry came forward next with a large rectangular box that had been sitting in the dining room for a few days. I figured it was something he purchased for himself and paid no attention to it while it dwelled in the room. But he opened it up, carried it across the room, and set it in front of me. What could this possibly be?

I opened the card and dang it, the tears began to fall. He gave me a beautiful, sentimental card that finally broke into that dam that had welled up inside. 

After I cleaned my eyes up and blew my nose, we continued with the ceremonial gift-giving loveliness. What was about to follow shook me to the core in the best of ways and lit my eyes up. I opened the large box only to find the rounded edge of something black and soft, plus a bunch of packing peanuts. Oh, this would be fun!

I pulled and pulled. Finally the black-colored item came out of the box. It was shaped like a guitar case, but seemed a little heavier, a little smaller. Terry helped me lift the gift out of the box and we laid it on our laps. 

I felt along the edges, grabbed a zipper, and unzipped this special prize. OMG! As the skin fell back, I saw the most beautiful thing ever (besides peace on earth for everyone and my family). I laid open the case and fell in love. 

My sweet husband gave me a banjo! Yes, a banjo. There is a story, a lifelong tale of why this means so much. Even as a child I always wanted to learn the banjo or the harp, or both. We were having a discussion one night and I shared with him how it was a dream of mine to play these instruments but after asking my father, he said no. Dad didn't think I would continue with the lessons, making the money spent a wasted venture. I took this to heart, as I had been taking lessons on the percussion instruments for several years by this time. 

I'm not sure if the longing to play the banjo was a defiant payback toward my father or if it was truly something I longed to do so strongly that it carried over into my adult years. Whatever the case, the gift made me extremely happy. It's a beautiful thing. Deep down, I know I truly love the idea of being able to play this awesome instrument. 

Terry took that simple, innocent chat we had and made it something very special. I didn't know what or who to hug first! I grabbed my husband, hugged him, kissed him, and told him thank you. It was an amazing gift, and I fell in love with this man all over again. 

There she lies ... my beautiful, shiny, brand new banjo! I can't wait to take some lessons and get to play without busting my family's ear drums. Dueling Banjos from the movie Deliverance anyone? 

Terry purchased some picks too, as banjo players wear three at a time. One on the index finger, one on the middle finger, and a plastic one on the thumb. The other two picks are metal. I was all set! 

Nope. Not according to Terry. He wants me to wait until Christmas Day to open a gift that goes along with the banjo. My beautiful, beautiful banjo. I do need to clean up the silver pieces on it because it has fingerprints and smears on it and that will never do! Yes, I man handled the poor thing. 

I did, however, spend some time watching my first lesson on YouTube and all of it made perfect sense. This was going to be fun to learn how to play!

Terry took us out to dinner following this awesome time. I wanted to go to Round Table for pizza. During dinner and our fun banter, Mallory told me she was sorry she didn't think of getting me a cake. Terry joined her in the feeling of a need for cake and I thought, "Well, why not?" Terry and I are only diabetic, but hey, I kept hearing, "But it's your birthday" all night. For some silly reason it seemed to make it okay. 

We grabbed a cake that had four pieces of different cakes. Terry loves German chocolate cake. Mallory loves chocolate and I love carrot cake. This selection of flavors was the perfect pick!

The three of us stuffed our faces full of the delicious dessert and watched another episode of our show. I could only eat half of the cake due to the bulge my gut had formed from eating pizza, and because of the guilt I always feel when I eat anything sugary. 

We were all so full the moans and groans and grabbing the belly began after shoving lovely cake into our mouths. Mallory had to head home after the show all the while telling us she never wants anything chocolate again. Terry and I went back to our regular nightly events, except Terry hugged and kissed me several more times during the night, making sure he told me how much he loved me and how he hoped I had a wonderful birthday. It was a perfect day, minus the other side of the family not being there. Although we will have that on Christmas. 

I went to sleep last night with a huge smile on my face, dreaming about the beautiful family I have and the banjo I would soon play. I felt like Ralphie in the movie, The Christmas Story when he received his Red Ryder Carbon-action 200-shot Range Model Air Rifle. Snuggled up in a nice, warm bed, dreaming of my family and of playing the banjo. It's the little things that make life so grand. 

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Deliveries came in, but this time it there were floral arrangements galore. I picked up balloons, flowers, and other gorgeous decor for the Christmas dinner gatherings happening around the area. Lovely flowers poured in. 

One delivery filled my car with impossibilities! I say "impossibilities" because I'm in a new car that isn't mine, a bag of food, six balloons floating in my rearview obscuring my view of the world around me, and two complete bouquets, including the water they come with. Yeah, this is happening. I'm sure all of the flowers will arrive without a breaking of the stems or water sloshing on my seats. I did have a bag of food and in the video I mention it's an order of KFC, but that was incorrect. The edibles were from a sushi place, making a lovely odor on top of the floral scent. Ugh. The poor car. 

I stuck one finger inside each flower vase to help hold them. Driving very carefully and peering around the dancing balloons, I made it to each home without much damage to the car or the flowers. Look at me go. Like I said, there were many floral deliveries during the day, making the trips interesting, that's for sure. I got to wish customers happy birthday and Merry Christmas with each delivery. My favorite arrangement was a white and gold one, with lovely ornaments and pine cones. 

Love this arrangement!

Speaking of arrangements, the lilies in my bouquet have opened! I love lilies! They are so fragrant and bring happiness to me each time they're around. 

The tiny reddish flowers that look like mini lilies are wide awake too, giving the bouquet a beautiful form. 

White lilies with the brown stamens along with brown pine cones with white tips reflecting snow is a beautiful mix. 

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Tomorrow we head to Eugene or Springfield actually, to spend the day with family. Until our next post, take care and have a wonderful, love-filled Christmas Eve! Relax and enjoy the day. You deserve it!

Thank you all for reading the blog. 

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