Jingle All the Way to the Weekend!

It's Friday, the weather is beautiful and Pandora is playing... Christmas music, hmm?!?

Normally this annoys me like no other.  C'mon Pandora!  If you are brilliant enough to figure out my favorite songs how do you not know it is currently summertime?  

Today seems different though.  Today Christmas songs are actually putting me in an extra good mood.  I'm not ready for Santa to visit, and I'm definitely not ready to get out the winter clothes.  (Heck, my summer clothes barely fit!  Imagine me trying to squeeze into turtleneck sweaters right now... Hello Jaws of Life!)

But today Christmas music makes me really excited for what our holidays will entail this year!!  A cute little girl all dressed up in adorable red and green dresses with matching tights (thanks Auntie Melissa for her outfit)... a new stocking on the mantle... lots of toys under the tree.  Beanette probably won't know or care much about the holidays but it is still really fun to think about all the new meaning the holidays will have with a cute baby girl in our lives. 

This will be the ninth Christmas Denny and I will spend together and I'm pretty sure it will be one of the best yet.  Now if only we could figure out her name so Santa can be sure to add her to the Nice List!

Happy Friday to all,

and to all a good weekend!!



Easter -- Past, Present & Future

PAST
As kids, Melissa and I always had great holidays!  It wasn't about all the presents for us, instead, we were spoiled with all the activities leading up to the holiday.

Easter was no exception.  Our Grandma & Grandpa Quilty spoiled us like crazy for this holiday!  We were incredibly fortunate to grow up just about 2 miles from their house and we usually spent about 3 days a week after school with them.  To this day I'm still convinced that Grandpa was the Smartest Man Ever (he always knew the answer, whether it was a 3rd grade science question of the final round of Jeopardy).  Grandma was as sweet as Grandpa was smart.  By the time we were kids she had a lot of health issues, which kept her somewhat immobile, but she was still so fun!  She always had something new for us to do; some days she taught us how to make Barbie doll bridesmaids dresses on her sewing machine, some days we rode the "Magic Carpet" to Disney or Alaska, and other days we sat around and watched Great Country Inns.

When Easter rolled around, we always knew what we would be doing... dying Easter eggs, and lots of them!!  Grandma always ordered Grandpa to go to the local grocery store and buy dozens of eggs for Melissa and I to decorate.  We only needed a dozen or so, but Grandma insisted that Grandpa buy at least 4-5 dozen each year, and then the magic began...  We did solid color eggs, striped eggs, speckled eggs, polka-dotted eggs and every other imaginable pattern to those little white shells.  Year after year we would spend hours in the little kitchen on Sullivan Street coloring eggs to our hearts content.  Then we would assign every member of the family a specific egg.  It was grand holiday every year (despite all the egg salad lunches we had the following weeks)!

In junior high we lost Grandma after a long battle of being sick.  It was heartbreaking to have to say Good-bye but the calling hours were on Easter Sunday, which seemed was an unfair irony because it was our favorite holiday with her.  For many years after that I didn't really like Easter because it made me sad to think of not having Grandma on the holiday that she was so good at making special. 

PRESENT
Years have passed and the sadness has been replaced with new memories of Easter.  This year we had an Easter egg hunt with our two nephews, Deegan and Connor, in Pa.  It was so cute watching them run around to find all the eggs.  My in-laws dog continues to play the Easter egg hunt game and found an egg one long after the boys finished the hunt and their candy. 

I was also able to see Ryan this weekend for a few hours, and it is fun to think of all the fun he will have growing up dying eggs and searching for his basket from the Bunny. 

FUTURE
We still can't believe we will have a little one next year at this time, we are pretty excited for all the special meaning holidays will take on with our own little family!  My wish for our kids is that they love holidays as much as we did as kids!  Even if we don't spoil them with gifts, I hope to spoil them with great memories and fun experiences... and maybe if they are lucky, they will get to eat lots of egg salad following every Easter just like we did.