On the NINTH Day of Christmas...Friday, December 19, 2014

Today is a cautionary tale for those to ALWAYS open a present BEFORE commenting!

My middle Brother went to the University of Tennessee as a member of the Football Team’s Student Managers.  Brian is a BRILLIANT man who has never had to struggle to learn.  He was reading DADDY the comics at a very young age.  He is also extremely personable and is able to make people feel welcomed and important.  Because of his knowledge, he was placed in Advance classes when he attended college for his freshman year.  NORMALLY, that would have been NO PROBLEM, but being on the training staff, he spent most every minute of his spare time in the training room.  He was blessed to be able to experience things like running through the T at the beginning of the game, which is quite impressive, BUT it did little for his academic career.

My oldest Brother, Bob, graduated from UT with a BS in Milk Production.  He was so active in the AG Department and made lifetime friends with many of the staff.  He went with Brian to UT to speak with the Dean of Agriculture and they chatted about Brian’s future and they decided that it would be best for Brian to attend a Junior College to bring up his grades, although the Dean would allow Brian to stay at UT if he so wished.

Brian came back and enrolled in Vol State, the local Junior College and IMMEDIATELY jumped into the sports world, again…SEVERAL of the students from our town were at that school, so one of his friends and some other baseball prayers decided to get an apartment together.  This was BRIAN’s first experience at being in the REAL WORLD.

Up until this time, I am certain that Brian never got a PRACTICAL gift at Christmas that was specifically for setting up a house.  I can still remember the THRILL of getting a microwave for Christmas when I had my first apartment…I’m pretty sure that feeling is different for most men than it is for women…

At my house, I would hand out the Christmas presents since I was the baby of the family and that tradition continued until I no longer had family to celebrate with.  We opened our gifts as we got them, unlike some families that go around and take turns opening gifts so everyone can see them…ICK!  Let me rip into my gifts, BABY!!  LOL  Even though we opened our gifts at the same time, we were all able to see what others got because we would be sitting in a circle in our BIG Living room, which oddly enough was NOT the room we lived in…

This particular Christmas, My Sister-in-law gave my brother a gift that INSTANTLY got our attention.  We were all unwrapping our gifts when we heard Brian say, rather loudly, JUST WHAT I ALWAYS WANTED…We looked at him and wondered what he had, so the room grew quiet as he continued: AN AVOCADO GREEN Chip and DIP Set!!  We just laughed and watched as he opened his gift to find: AN AVOCADO GREEN Chip and Dip Set!  He turned so many shades of red as we all laughed hysterically…There was NO PEACE for Brian THAT Christmas…

We would go through the day and ask, So, have you got any CHIPS…do you know how to make DIP…and on and on…He was so embarrassed, but we LOVED that moment…He kept apologizing, but there was no need, because WE saw the humor!

The next year, Brian received another funny gift.  My sister-in-law had cross-stitched him a lovely wall plaque and had it matted and framed…guess what it said:  JUST WHAT I ALWAYS WANTED!!  That chip and dip set lasted longer than my sister-in-law lasted in the family (ooops….ROFL)!!

Funny...I became a pianist...AND I've had the pleasure to do quite a bit of traveling!!

SO, BE WARNED…NEVER comment UNTIL you open your gift because it MIGHT REALLY BE WHAT IT SAYS it IS!  Oh what a great memory from years gone by!!

My favorite food memory is a Peppermint Candy Cake.  Mother would make a white cake and spread 7 minute frosting (OH YUM) on it and then sprinkle crushed Peppermint Candy on top of the icing.  As it would set, the candy would melt into the icing and become so YUMMY!  IF a LOT of candy was placed on top, it would become ROCK hard, but we would FIGHT over that piece of ooey, gooey candy!!  

The other day, I wondered what would happen IF I bought a pound cake and some icing and put some crushed candy canes on top…would it be good…you know what…YES…the pound cake I got was a lemon pound cake, and I bought the WHIPPED WHITE Icing…crushed those candy canes and sprinkled it on top…and it took me back to being a 4 year old who would sit with BIG EYES and watch Mother pour that hot syrup into the beaten egg whites to make the icing and then BANG on that 3 inch across stick of peppermint to sprinkle it over the icing…I could NOT wait until the Sanford family gathering to get a piece of that CAKE…AND, as was tradition, they would always have a plate of homemade sweet pickles on the dessert table to eat with the cakes…strange, huh!!  LOL (btw...Charcoal APPROVED of the cake, too!  He gave it 2 paws up and SEVERAL licks)

AND served with Peppermint Ice CREAM...oh MAN...

I HOPE that you have some wonderful and funny memories and food memories…this year, sit around your table and ask each member to SHARE their favorite memory…You will be crying and laughing in no time at all…CHERISH it and why not record it also for the next generation!!  I wish BLESSINGS to YOU today…MORE than you can count!...~charlotte♥