Category Archives: Holidaze

Dec 27 2011

A Christmas Memory

Well, Christmas has come and gone once again.  It still lingers in a plate of leftovers or in a new favorite toy.  It’s recorded in a photo shared on Facebook, no doubt taken with the new iPhone you asked for and received.  And in a few days it will be time to usher out the “old” and say hello to the “new,” whether that be just by changing the calendar or celebrating traditions over the comings and goings of Father Time.

For the first time last year at Christmas, I read Truman Capote’s short story “A Christmas Memory.”  I decided I would make it a tradition of my own to read it each year.  Earlier this year, I found an illustrated version of it in a used bookstore and snatched it up, saving it for Christmas this year.  I enjoyed reading it as soon as I woke up Christmas morning. It’s beautiful watercolor illustrations by Beth Peck were an added bonus.

The story itself is a sad one when it comes to the ending, but very warm and heartfelt.  Many reviewers over time have shunned Capote’s short stories because they are often odd or sad.  But it is these handicaps or eccentricities that evoke the very feeling Capote wanted his readers to take away from his writing.  Southern Lit at it’s very best, if I must say!

“A Christmas Memory” is the story of a seven year old boy nicknamed Buddy and his elder cousin in her sixties carrying out the tradition of making fruitcakes one Christmas.  The magic of the story is the love and attention the two share while accompanied by a rat terrier named Queenie.  To quote the story, “We are cousins, very distant ones, and we have lived together – well, as long as I can remember. Other people inhabit the house, relatives; and though they have power over us, and frequently make us cry, we are not, on the whole, too much aware of them. We are each other’s best friend.”

Though time and distance are only responsible for the changes made to my Christmas memories of today, I still recall with great joy the holidays of my childhood. The farther away I grow from them, the more important they become.  And the harder they become to remember.

What is your favorite Christmas memory or tradition?

Dec 23 2011

‘Cause Giving Feels Good – Part 2

I returned to the local Parish yesterday to drop off 8 bags of macaroni noodles I had promised them.  My father gets commodities each month and doesn’t use the noodles, so he gives them to me.  We had stacked up ten bags – more noodles than we’d use in a year – so I was glad to give up 8 bags to the parish for the families that will visit this weekend to pick up food for the holidays.

While there, I asked if they had candy for the kids.  They didn’t.  So, I made another trip to Big Lots and picked up six boxes.  Three boxes were 24 count Peppermint canes at just $2.00 a box.  Three boxes were fruit flavored candy canes, 1 doz. per box, and just $1.25 each.  9 dozen candy canes for just $9.75!

They had restocked the canned hams that we almost cleared out the night before, so I picked up another 4 hams at $2.90 each.

I spent $22.52 total with tax.

Then, I made a rush home after seeing they were collecting clothes as well. I cleared about a dozen long sleeved tops from the rack in the basement, things I haven’t worn in probably two years or more.  And also grabbed an old coat I haven’t worn in years either.

Not counting the cost of the clothes, we’ve given $101.52 in food to the parish this week. What about you?  What are you giving?

Come aboard and accept my $5 challenge for 2012 (see yesterday’s post) if you can and tell me about it!  There’s even still time to give this year!  Do it!

Dec 22 2011

‘Cause Giving Feels Good

This week J decided he wanted to spend some gift cards he’d won at work on food for a local Parish’s food bank here in St. Ann.  I contacted them Wednesday to see what they needed right now in time for the holidays and made a list.  After he got off work, we made a trip to our local Big Lots to shop for canned goods and non-perishable food products.  We finished in time to drop it all off at the Parish.

It was definitely a feel good moment for us and we’ve decided to start doing it year round.  Sure, we’ve always been a bit charitable in the past and have done nice things for others or given money when the opportunity arose.  My work has a charity committee that gives money or goods each month to a different charity, and I have participated several times over the years.

Our challenge for ourselves in 2012 will be to make a monthly donation to this food bank.  After Coupon STL, a local coupon clipping/money saving blog that I follow, began setting aside just $5 each shopping trip for food bank items, I was motivated to do the same. Five bucks can go a long way, especially when canned goods and other items are on sale or you have coupons for such.

You may wonder why we chose to shop at Big Lots of all places?  Well, that’s the main reason for this post.  We spent just $79 at Big Lots with no coupons at all, and here’s what we purchased:

9 Canned Hams at $2.75 each

4 Skillet Pasta Meals at $1.00 each

4 Chicken Salads w/ Crackers at $1.00 each

4 Tuna Salads w/ Crackers at $1.00 each

4 Boxes of Mac N Cheese at .50 cents each

6 Boxes of Chicken Rice a Roni at .90 cents each

3 Cans of Sweet Peas at .60 cents each

3 Cans of Chicken Noodle Soup at .95 cents each

4 Cans of Vienna Sausages at .45 cents each

3 cans of Hunts Whole Tomatoes at .80 cents each

3 Cans of Whole Kernel Corn at .80 cents each

3 Cans of White Chicken Meat at $1.65 each

4 Jars of Pasta Sauce at $1.50 each

3 Cans of Baked Beans at $1.00 each

1 Can of Peaches at .80 each

1 Can of Fruit Cocktail at $1.00 each

1 Can of Cherries at $1.00 each

Our total was $74.90 and tax was just $4.10.  Our main decision for Big Lots was for the Canned Hams.  We’d seen them there before and the Parish had specifically requested them.  We decided some one stop shopping would do since Big Lots had a ton of boxed and canned food items.  Sure, a lot of the grocery stores are running soups and veggies right now for 10 for $10, some are 10 for $7 at some of the ads I checked this week.  But Mac N Cheese and Pasta Sauce were a bit more.  So, looking at the big picture, I think we did great considering we had no coupons and all of the food went to a good cause.  That was the main purpose here no matter how much we paid.

So, looks like I have another challenge (or New Years resolution?) on my hands for 2012.  I’m going to dedicate $5 to $10 per paycheck to food items for charity.  Since I get paid every other week (26 times a year), that’s a total of $130 to $260 dollars for the year.  To put that into perspective, at $260 I could have bought three times what we purchased above.  Or at $260, that’s 94 canned hams!  How many mouths will that feed?

So now I challenge you to do the same!  Can’t afford $5.00 per paycheck?  Do $3.00.  Heck, do $1.00!  We can all afford a buck, can’t we? One dollar would buy two cans of sausages or two boxes of the Mac N Cheese! I often see 4 for $1.00 specials at the grocery store.  Step up to the challenge next year and be charitable.  How many mouths will you feed?