It's a White Christmas, Indeed!


The snow that's plagued much of the country finally descended on us yesterday. Firstborn was stranded in town overnight, the Captain slept in his office and my awesome neighbour came this morning and scraped our driveway for us. Here's a shot of what the kids have to look forward to when we get them a new sled (the old one's buried under there someplace):

In other news, thirty years ago this month, I received my first Sindy doll! For those of you not familiar, Sindy is the (more realistically proportioned, fashion-forward, and probably smarter) British version of Barbie.

I always assumed that one day I'd be buying my own daughter her first Barbie doll. Then I found myself in the middle of nowhere, animals running all over the place, and surrounded by stinky boys. Talk about a shock to the system! But last weekend I discovered the solution to this (very minor) problem.

Our local Zellers store has teamed up with Children's Services and put up a tree with tags at the front of the store. Shoppers can pick a tag with an age and gender on it, buy an appropriate gift and drop it off at customer service for a less fortunate child in our area. To make a long story short, there's a 5 year-old girl out there somewhere who'll be getting a Barbie doll with some seriously kicky outfits this Christmas! It's a piddly thing in terms of giving (I hope one day to be able to do what Jude did this year. Go have a look--it'll bring tears to your eyes!), but so far, this has been the best part of my holiday season!

I know times are tough economically, but I really encourage giving for the sake of giving where you can. There's no other feeling quite like it.

And on the topic of giving, I'm working on getting together the biggest gift basket I can make for the mom of Firstborn's best friend who is a single mom, works all day, goes to school at night and yesterday took in 4 extra kids who lived outside of town and couldn't get home. Not only did she take them in and keep them all safe and fed until the roads were cleared enough this morning for them to be rescued, she gave them all a bath, washed their clothes while they were sleeping so they'd have something clean to wear, and made them all lunches in case school was open today (it wasn't). Above and beyond the call of duty, no? The girl deserves some wine!

Comments

Judy@judyfriendphotography.com said…
Wow on the snow. Your caption could have been "Baby it's cold outside".

Thank you for your kind words and mentioning me in your blog. This is the first year we have done this and I hope to continue it. As I had mentioned we stopped the crazy present giving many years ago. I do get my daughter items, usually it's taking her shopping for clothes. The only holiday item I buy is a dated Hallmark Ornament. I've been collecting them since 1976. It's not just a date stamp on the bottom it's the actually year "2010" etc. somewhere visible on the ornament.

Thank you for doing your part. I'm sure this child will be truly grateful knowing that someone really cares for her. Have a great day and stay warm.
December 16, 2010 at 9:29 AM
Debra She Who Seeks said…
We had a blizzard here yesterday too. Getting home from work was "Mr. Toad's Wild Ride"! Good for you for spreading Christmas cheer!
December 16, 2010 at 10:45 AM
Suburban Princess said…
Our local giving tree sold out! Yay!
December 16, 2010 at 12:08 PM
Glenda said…
Goodness at the snow! We had ice here this morning! About 1/4 to 1/2 inch on everything including the snow that was already here! I was sure I was living in the South. Yep, that was me .... bragging about we never get much snow or ice here in the Tennessee Valley....I take it back....all the way back!
December 16, 2010 at 1:03 PM
Glenda said…
One more thought....By Christmas Day, we will be 65-70 degrees and trees will be trying to bud out. If you don't like the weather around here, just stick around....It will change!
December 16, 2010 at 1:04 PM
Janine said…
Hi Wendy!! Thank you for the Christmas card!! So sweet of you!
Looks like we finally got rid of the streamer that has been hanging over us for the past two weeks.
I hate snow!!
Have a great weekend!!
December 16, 2010 at 2:00 PM
Frostbite and Sunburn said…
Woah - that's a real dump of the white stuff.

Hats off to Jude too - thanks for pointing me her direction a very special family indeed.

Sindy! I loved Sindy - she was WAY cooler than Barbie - did you also have those little 7" Pippa Dolls?!
December 17, 2010 at 12:31 PM
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