December in our town

           

     December is a time when the twinkling lights of Christmas begin to appear throughout our neighbourhood, reminding us to pull out our own last year's glitter. 

     Merchants remind us — usually just after Thanksgiving — that it's time to get on with our Christmas gift list. Their offers of special sales — while creating the perfect ambience with nostalgic Christmas music playing throughout their stores — is to get us in the mood. 
     We are then faced with the dilemma as to who should be on our gift list, and, how to keep within a decent budget. The needs of those less fortunate loom before us, and we try to remember to be generous.  
     

     Since Christmas is the one time of year it's intended we connect with old friends and distant relatives, another predicament arises: should we send greetings via e-mail, or, keep our postal service in business and buy expensive stamps?

     A story is told of a lady who bought 50 identical Christmas cards, hastily signed and then posted 49 of them. Days later, she looked at the message on the one remaining card. To her horror it read: "This card is just to say... a little gift is on the way."   

     
     Shopping can be a tiring, time-consuming effort, especially battling crowds of Christmas shoppers.

     I heard of a mother who was Christmas shopping with her two children. After several hours of looking at rows of toys and hearing them ask for everything they saw, she was feeling quite overwhelmed. So relieved she was, when she made it to the elevator but, as the doors opened, there was a crowd already inside. With determination, she pushed her way inside, dragging her kids and packages. As the elevator door closed shut, she couldn't take it any longer, and stated, "Whoever started this whole Christmas thing should be found, strung up, and shot." 
     From the back of the elevator a quiet, calm voice responded, "Don't worry, we already crucified Him." 
     The rest of the trip down, the elevator was so quiet, you could have heard a pin drop.     

     "Nothing destroys the Christmas spirit faster, than looking for a place to park."   

Wife to Husband: "Let's give each other more practical gifts this Christmas — like socks and a fur coat."

— beulah