On the FIFTH Day of Christmas, Monday, December 15, 2014

I am going to warn you that MANY of my Christmas memories involve candy canes.  It was an inexpensive decoration and could be used in SO many ways and My FAMILY is a Peppermint eating family!  Oh dear, I have a friend that we MIGHT have to keep an eye on because she REALLY loves Candy Canes!!

I had the BEST time on Thursday when I went to the Post Office.  I know, most of you just made the most HORRILE grunting sound EVER!  I LOVE our Post Office workers.  YES, they have bad days because they, just like me, get tired, worried, frustrated and do NOT want to get up and go to a job to be complained to about things THEY had nothing to do with!  

I decided a few years ago that I was coming home complaining about the nasty, unfriendly cashiers that I encountered and Mother would listen and not say a thing.  ONE DAY, it dawned on me that I was the COMMON denominator in EVERY single one of those situations…I have always considered myself friendly and funny (WELL, I AM, dadgummit!!), but I could no longer deny that SOMEHOW I must take the blame for part of this.  I decided to change ME.  I made an EFFTORT not to wait to see if the cashier would smile at me, or say HELLO or THANK YOU, but I was going to step up and I was going to say HELLO and ask HOW they were doing!  You know what, SELDOM do I ever come home utterly frustrated anymore…AMAZING how simple it was to change!

We don’t know the pain that some people have in their lives and it is almost impossible to leave them at the door when we walk into work…FEW people know the pain that is in our own lives…A smile can hide a multitude of pain…Tread gently, HEARTS are being worn on shoulders.  ALSO, the physical pain that many workers endure to put food on the table is real.  They stand in one place for hours, with aching legs, backs, shoulders, heads, hands, and arms…BE KIND one to ANOTHER…

Back to the Post Office…I walked into an EMPTY area and asked if they had a FIRE DRILL to empty out the place and the lady laughed and said, SSSSSSSHHHH you will jinx it!! It had been a mad-house all day!  I filled out my customs forms and then my other two favorite workers appeared and we just instantly started talking and laughing…I pulled out my bag of Ghiradelli Peppermint Bark to give them as a treat…I plan to take them a bag EACH trip because it is their favorite~~funny what you learn about strangers in short insignificant-seeming conversations!  On top of that, because of what I was mailing, we didn’t even need the custom forms and so the mailing was about 1/3 of what I had anticipated!!  Could it be the MAGIC of CHRISTMAS at work??

I left with the most AWESOME feeling and a heart full of Joy…I hope they felt the same.  I then decided to run into my favorite antique mall that was on the same street and I came home with the most AWESOME handmade toolbox that I will paint Terrye French’s FEATHER TREE ANGEL on for ME!! 

Mother was allergic to chocolate, so I was forever searching for treats that didn’t involve chocolate and this was one of our most FAVORITE things to make at Christmas…We would make it each Christmas for at least the last 25 years and we were making it LONG before ALL of the candy companies were making it.  

You need two items—White Chocolate (or White Almond Bark) and Peppermint.

Put the peppermint into a plastic zip-lock bag and bang the heck out of it!  Didn’t that feel GREAT!!

Melt the White Chocolate Chips.

Combine them and pour onto a piece of wax paper, parchment paper or freezer paper…Place in the Fridge or FREEZER if you are impatient, like me (WHO….ME??? Well, I NEVER…ok, maybe ONCE or TWICE)…

Break into small pieces and of course, by ALL MEANS, taste it cause you can’t give something to people without QUALITY CONTROL!!!

Wrap into “pretty packages tied up with bows” and let the Magic continue…Sweets to my Sweets from a Sweet…teeheee…Blessings to YOU~charlotte♥