Nothing like a little shopping to put you in the Christmas spirit. I have made my list (in my head) and no since in checking it twice (I might change my mind). I love Christmas - mainly because we take time to do for others and spend time with family.
Christmas was always a big occasion growing up, not about big gifts - but time spent together. My dad was always off from work between Christmas and New Years so we spent a great deal of time together. Our entire family might spend an entire day in the woods cutting firewood. Those were some of my favorite memories, watching my dad, mom, sister and I working together. Me being the youngest, I probably didn't do a lot of work, but I hauled my share of brush to the woods.
We had wood heat growing up and I still love the smell of a wood fire. We always cut dead trees off our land. I can remember watching my dad split logs with sweat dripping off his nose. This often seemed odd since he usually did it when it was below freezing outside. That never made much sense - but I guess if you were going to get hot, might as well do it while it was cold outside.
I am thankful for all the great Christmas memories and look forward to new ones this year.
