Oh Come Oh Come Emmanuel

It is almost Christmas!  Once the 20th arrives I really start to feel the anticipation.  It is such a festive time and also such a mysterious time.  I used to love the advent candles in church and how each week brought us closer to Christmas. When I was younger I could barely contain my excitement for the arrival of Christmas.  I loved the idea of getting presents but I also could feel deeper meaning.  The last week of school before break was always full of fun activities such as our school concert (yes, I thought that was fun although I know many people didn't!).  In elementary school one year we did a watered down version of the Nutcracker where the older students got to wear costumes and do little dances on stage while the rest of the school sang in the background.  I was a "Candy Flute"  and I really wish I had a scanned photo of that!  We wore these big cardboard tubes with candy cane stripes and it was pretty silly.  I think everyone's parents just laughed at the whole production.  In high school I was usually a bit more nervous because I was the piano accompanist for at least one song each concert.  The Christmas songs were easy though! 

In addition to the concerts there was usually a "fun day" where the whole school spent an afternoon playing trivia and other games in the gym.  This day was special becaues we could eat candy and drink soda during school!  There was also a boys basketball game with a larger, rowdier crowd than usual because the college students were home visiting.  These activities made the time pass by faster, although my brother and sister and I were not too busy to dig around in the wrapped presents my mom placed under the tree ahead of time and do obnoxious things like count who had more boxes addressed to them. 

I was home this weekend and saw Allan, shopped, wrapped presents and went to a Christmas party.  I forgot my camera so I don't have any new pictures.  I have this one that I took a few weeks ago of our nativity scene.  My mom gave it to me as a shower gift.  I like the bright colors.