Christmas Musings #1

For several reasons, my December was very busy. I got distracted from Christmas by some other things. So . . . Santa was a last minute shopper this year. Yes, I had bought some things early as I saw them, but I was out on December 23rd and 24th doing last minute shopping. Sometimes it is easy to procrastinate Christmas shopping, because you imagine that you will have time to shop to find just that "right" perfect gift. But for many of us the reality is that we're going to go in, know roughly what we want to get, and can really finish our Christmas shopping in somewhere between a few hours and a day. I've learned this lesson before . . . one could do this day of shopping in November just as easily . . . and be finished before the holiday rush. And there have been a few years that I have done just that.

For me in an ideal world, I would find gifts as we travel through the year. I would do my "last minute" shopping in November, leaving one less set of things to do in the busy month of December.

Will I do this any better next year???? Hard to tell . . .

The Search for a Dress

While there are many special occasions in life, a wedding is one of the most important. It is a day where a woman truly wants to look her very best. It is also a day where most women do look their most beautiful. Finding that special dress can be elusive.

In Debra's young years, she loved dressing up. There were days we went through three or more changes of clothes. We had all sorts of creative dress up outfits. And, of course, we had sentimental clothing stored in the attic. When we discovered the Renaissance Festival (along with the Science Fiction Conventions), costumes became an important part of our lives. I even have Renaissance outfits.

When Debra was in high school, finding a prom dress for her senior prom was a challenge. We searched all the shops in the Austin area with no success. We had travel opportunities to Dallas and Los Angeles where we went looking. We looked on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills and some other posh stores. Why do they think that only women with size 9 figures want to look pretty? It was frustrating. Fortunately, Debra finally discovered a store in Austin and the "perfect" prom dress became reality.

So when it came time to shop for wedding dresses, I knew that finding the right dress might be another challenge. During the fall we went through a very intensive dress shopping effort. All the bridal stores in Austin became familiar places as we haunted them trying to find "the dress." We made a jaunt down to the Renaissance Festival to see if it was to be found there. No such luck. And then Debra got sick . . . . . . the search for the dress got put on hold.

The search for "the dress" began anew this week . . . . . . and I can report "the dress" is found! She will look beautiful on her wedding day!

Thank you, God!