First off, last week my friend and co-worker burst into my office with news that she'd found something (long boring something for all you non-UT peeps) that would make my boss very happy and would I please make a note to tell him? I asked she tell him herself and she did! Guess what? He was very happy! She came back into my office shouting, "Gold Start! Gold Star!!" Later that day, I got edits back from him on something I had written, and all that was on the paper was a line at the top that said "Excellent!" That's Gold Star enough for me!
betsy and i proudly show off our gold star work
As most of you are aware, I like to pride myself on my diverse friend population. I was out for drinks with my dear friend Amanda and when we got up to leave, she made note of our respective brooches we chose to sport that day:
she is kicking a uterus on her lapel pin. me? i go for a season-centric candy cane. i'm so traditional. this should come as no surprise for those of you who saw the very last images from this blog post.
check out the pretty dress i wore. i'm the one without the lights.
A few years ago around the holidays, I got a voicemail message from my father inviting me to join him and Bill Williams (retired local TV anchor) on a train with an old-fashioned steam engine that would run from downtown Knoxville where he and Bill would read stories about Christmas to children, and would I like to come? I called and teasingly told him that sounded like it should be called the Pedophile Express, and I'm afraid the name stuck. I went and had such a fun time that I've joined Daddy annually on this little adventure. Best part? All the hot chocolate and marshmellows you can STOMACH. It's grown over the years - especially with the genesis of train fanatic; nephew Hampton. He was all into it. The Harpers joined us from Asheville for our Christmas celebration and lunch, then off to ride the Christmas train!
Hampton was very excited - on the walk over, he informed two different strangers what our mission for the day was. Teddy told me he'd been counting down the days for two weeks.
hampton gets a bird's eye view of lindy the steam engine as she couples with the passenger cars
when hampton was younger, he would pretend to be a steam engine and run up behind you and "couple" with you (you're the car). his parents insisted he ask permission of the "car" before coupling. i think it's a good rule of thumb...
the harpers and the smiths are excited about the train! lookit, teddy's having to physically hold hampton in place for the photo.
the harpers have their hot chocolate and marshmellow supply; let's ROLL!!!
There are RULES on the train, you should know...
seriously, hampton knew a lot about steam. he was telling me what color it would turn when we took off from the station and dadgumit, he was right. pretty smart for a little man!
ahem, we are with the CELEBRITY reader, ifyouplease...
the book is a real page-turner. i know from experience - can't you tell by my expression?
the children listen in awe. one of the parents about halfway through asked daddy hold the book higher so I GOT TO STAND AND HOLD THE BOOK AND WAS IN CHARGE OF TURNING PAGES. take that, punk kids... (hampton helped)
after storytime, we went outside to enjoy the flat car. this is us going over the holston bridge and lemme tellya - it's kinda eerie going over the trestle. you can't see the tracks! just water below!
here is where i run at ijams nearly every week from across the river
Next, guess what guess what guess what! A visitor from the North! I know from experience that he comes through the train and gives all the good little girls and boys presents!!! I can't wait to get mine!!
i look excitedly and expectantly over my shoulder at santa... i hold out my hands to get my fancy present and.....
Bumpkiss. Santa gives me the cold shoulder. Apparently, I'm on the naughty list.
I am understandably upset. I take my rage out on poor Dipsey.
take that! and that! and that! it didn't help my rage when he said, "hey, that feels good! keep beating on my back!"
THEN, he gloated about his present!!
nanny nanny boo boo! stick your head in doo doo!
It's all right, all ended up well:
i have "nice list" aspirations for next year (that gives me like a week to raise hell, right?)
Daddy takes me for a drink to drown my naughty-list sorrows and to his delight, gets carded!
no fake id's necessary. he's legal.
Growing up, my Gran played the role of villager in the Knoxville Nativity Pageant every year. I wanted to be in it desperately and when I was 10ish (minimum age was 8; there's a waiting list as long as my arm to be in it) I got my wish. I worked my way up from villager, to king's page, to angel of the heavenly host, and one year, ONE YEAR, I got to be an archangel when the regular gal was pregnant and her doctor wouldn't let her climb up on the stable to welcome baby Jesus into the world.
my gran and grandmommy as villagers (grandmommy joined the cast later in the game) and mama as choir member, and ME, a SENIOR in HIGH SCHOOL as an ARCHANGEL in the CITY'S NATIVITY PAGEANT. Whew. Good times.
It was such a huge part of my Christmas and one of the biggest heartbreakers when I left Knoxville was resigning from the Pageant (I cried when I had to call and tell them I couldn't do it anymore). When we decided to move back to Knoxville in October of 2003, the first thing I did (not. kidding.) was contact the Pageant and tell them I wanted to volunteer. I was invited to join the board shortly thereafter, and was stunned when I was asked to be the president of the board a few years later. (Check here for more info - thanks, Jenny!) It's weird being a grown-up sometimes, isn't it? My life has come full circle. Well. In nativity terms, that is...
Anyway, I am off the board now, but it continues to be a part of my Christmas. I went back tonight to do makeup for the cast and felt like a former prom queen during Homecoming I was so welcomed. It's kind of ironic - my job was to put on lipstick and blush... and I own neither.
my new friend, karen, makes up my old friend, rob, into the red king. rob and i grew up in the pageant together!
rachel booter and i tag team poor mr. moody. she does the base coat, i do the finish! he's herod - in real life he's a sweetie though.
here i am putting the finishing touches on a villager... men unused to lipstick are terribly adversed to lipstick, btw...
our long-time cast member buster the donkey kicked the bucket this year. everyone, please say hello and welcome to jenny the donkey! she was super sweet! i petted her head and she's very soft and friendly. and small - didn't see that one coming. here is nativity animal wrangler samulski on the job! in the obligatory blue sweatshirt!
Before anyone gets any ideas, this is NOT my Santa:
he's the dumbest santa in the world. he's a santa, holding a basket, but he's full of weird crap so you can't put anything in it. and his beard is all weird and glittery - i asked our receptionist what she thought made it sparkly and she replied, "spit and magic." to make matters worse, this specific decoration is obviously the bauble of choice, because there are NO LESS THAN A HALF DOZEN OF THEM ON THE FLOOR. seriously. what's up?
Ok, so in keeping with this post's "reason for the season" theme, I thought I would share with you all - not more Santas! - but my other favorite holiday decorations.
Growing up, I was fascinated with our unpainted white ceramic Nativity scene. Even more so when my mother took each piece and painted every character by hand. I would painstakingly set each figure out and meticulously judge where it should go in the scene - so much so, that my brother would take great pleasure in often doing things like putting Baby Jesus on the roof of the stable or making the angel worship the donkey. CLAY CLAY. How dare you.
Anyway, the first year Mr. Smith and I were married, my mother showed up in Sarasota (having carried on, and holding in her lap to ensure its safety through the connections) this:
my nativity. lovingly and painstakingly painted by hand by my mama. my daddy carved joseph's staff too!
the wise men
this is my aunt hattie's shadow candle of the nativity which i always loved as a child
I hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season as much as I am! Merry, merry; happy, happy and joy, joy! Whee!!
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