Asha Anujeeva

Our neigbors invited us to go to their church’s candlelight service last night for their 7:00 Christmas Eve celebration.  We accepted the invitation.  Seems that when we went to the church, however, the service had been cancelled.  The parking lot was too blocked with snow for any vehicles to get in!  Well, that was a disappointment for sure!

Our family decided that this year instead of buying large gifts for each other that we would draw names and only buy stocking stuffers for the name that we drew.  No item for the stocking can cost more than $10.  What a challenge!  It should be fun to see everyone open their stockings later this morning when everyone gets up!

With the snow coming down so hard today I decided that this would be a good day to just stay home and get some quality “me” time.  I haven’t really decorated the house very much for the Holidays; it isn’t really anything my parents did so it sorta rubbed off on me.  So I decided to light up the fireplace and drink a nice hot buttered rum while watching a little television.  I’m finding trouble finding anything good to watch!

My brother sent me an email a few days ago telling me that he just recently switched to Direct TV and how much he loves it.  He says with Direct Satellite TV I can get a lot more movies and shows that I am interested in than with the cable service I have now.  To be honest I really haven’t been all that impressed with the selection of shows on weekends lately.  Especially weekend nights!  I know that I could sign up for Direct TV in New York with very little effort.  Looking at the selection of shows that I could be watching instead of the junk I’m seeing now makes me think that maybe I SHOULD be switching over!  Sounds like a good New Year’s gift to myself, don’t you think?

We have had an unusual amount of snowfall so far this winter!  Seems like we are getting snow almost every day!  And temperatures are lower than normal, and winds are higher too!  It makes me wonder about global warming!  Thankfully we have a good snow-blower that has electric start!  Our next door neighbor came knocking on our door yesterday asking if he could pay us to blow out his sidewalk for him – it seems his snow-blower has broken down and he had to take it in for repairs!

This is no time for snowblowers to be breaking down!  This snow is heavy, and there is a lot of it!  I’d hate to have to shovel this all by hand!  We are keeping our fingers crossed that our snow-blower keeps running through the winter!

Mom has always liked seiko diamond watches.  In addition to being practical, she feels that watches are an important fashion accessory.  I can remember the first time she gave me a watch for a gift; it was my thirteenth birthday.  She made a big deal about how I was turning into a young lady and that it was time that I had the honor and responsibility of owning my own watch.  She said that it was part of learning how to manage my own time – part of growing up.  I can remember how special that made me feel!  I think that was a perfect gift!

Mom was very upset over the fact that people have been claiming to come over and deliver packages and that no one was home at the time so the packages were returned.  She has been complaining to Dad for over a year that the doorbell is too quiet and there have been several times that people have rung the bell and no one heard it.  So we think that is the case with the package deliveries.  Dad finally agreed to look at the bell, telling Mom that it probably just needed new batteries.  Mom told him she was sure it was hardwired and no batteries were needed.  So Dad finally got the step-ladder and took the cover off.  He was going to prove his point that it just needed new batteries.  Well, Mom got to say “I told you so” because there were no batteries.

Going on the assumption that maybe it just needs a good cleaning, Dad has been vacuuming the dust out and is playing around with it to see if he can adjust the volume or change the chime to one that is easier to hear.  I hope it works!  This is not the time of year to have a doorbell that no one can hear!

I was thinking that maybe I should give my cousin a prepaid credit card for Christmas this year.  He has been telling everyone that he wants some really expensive gifts that very few people want to buy.  I don’t understand why so many people get so greedy during the Christmas Season and ask for so much!  If I wanted something for a gift that was outrageously expensive I think I would ask people to contribute some money towards the gift, and not expect them to purchase the entire thing on their own!  It will be super easy to wrap, too!

I was watching the news and was interested in the story about the strange lights in the night sky last night over Norway.  The lights were spiral in shape – it reminded me of an old necklace I was given by an aunt many years ago.  That was inexpensive costume jewelry that she said she wore back in the 60′s and 70′s – the Hippie days.  Anyway, apparently the Russians are saying that the light show was caused by a missile misfire.  I wonder if the missile was supposed to have been fired for some kind of secret test and if it fired wrong, or exactly what happened.  Scary thoughts cross my mind when I hear about missile tests!

Have you ever given someone a nice watch for a gift?  Not a cheap little throwaway watch that you can get for under ten dollars, I’m talking about a really nice watch – something along the lines of a citizen diamond watch.  Something that the recipient would hold onto forever.  I think that a really nice watch as a gift says something really nice about the relationship between the two people involved.  You see, time is valuable.  Very valuable.  And giving someone a really nice watch says that you value that person in many ways.

For one way the gift of a nice watch says that you value your time spent with that person.  How much sweeter can that be?  Enclosing a note with the watch that says something like “I love every second I spend with you” or “Count the seconds we are apart” (assuming that the watch has a second hand) would be incredibly romantic!

The nice watch also says that you feel that the person is a “keeper.”  Someone worth spending some “real” money on, not just a couple of dollars on inexpensive glitz and shine that will fade quickly.  No, a gift of a nice watch says that the relationship will withstand the test of time.  And that, my friend, is a very nice sentiment.

Lately I keep hearing people talking about a turducken.  The say it is a turkey stuffed with a duck that’s been stuffed with a chicken.  I guess maybe the chicken is a cornish hen?  I just can’t imagine that.  I mean, what is the point?  It’s not like you can just slice all the way through – there are way too many bones!  So other than the novelty of playing with the poor dead birds like they are russian nesting dolls, what really is the point here?  I”ve heard that they are really expensive, too.  Seems to me that there are better ways to spend money than to waste it on something that silly.