by Ellie | Jan 24, 2014 | blog, Uncategorized
A week ago, we returned from Florida—and no, this is not going to be a blow-by-blow account of our trip. I do, however, need to set the scene. A week at a resort near Orlando—paid for by points—served as a much-needed respite from TooBusyToEvenThinkStraight. What we...
by Ellie | Jan 10, 2014 | blog, Uncategorized
It is the dead of night. The old farm lies fast asleep, and everyone inside the house is sleeping, too. Everyone is sleeping. All but one… On small, silent feet the Tomten moves about in the moonlight. He peeps into cowshed and stable, storehouse and toolshed....
by Ellie | Dec 27, 2013 | blog, Uncategorized
In early December, I closely monitor the southward journey of the sun, noting the point of each sunrise on the horizon. Okay, it’s gotten past the birch tree. Now the leaning tree. Ah! It’s caught in the clumpy trees! Then, on December 21—there it is! As...
by Ellie | Dec 13, 2013 | blog, Uncategorized
LAST TIME YOU LEARNED how grinchy we’ve become in celebrating Christmas (see Part 1 below), but here’s what was GOOD about Christmas Past. • My first Notable Christmas featured chicken pox. I remember sitting on my mother’s lap, totally miserable....
by Ellie | Nov 22, 2013 | blog, Uncategorized
I’ve pretty much given up on Christmas. Well, let’s say it has morphed into something quite different from our early Gustafson days. When I was a child, though, my family observed a spartan Christmas-morning ritual. In many families, the kids would tear...
