My mother, who was born in 1914, grew up on a farm in Union County, Tennessee. Raising a family and making a life out of the rocky red dirt was never easy, but both my mother and my grandmother were always proud to declare that they always had enough to eat even though in other parts of the United States, people were standing in lines at soup kitchens or choking on dust or hurling themselves out of windows. My mother reminded me countless times that in those days a dime was a lot of money.

“But what was Christmas like?” I would ask.

“Wow! Look at this!” I tossed it in my shopping cart. Then, I walked further down the aisle. “Another pretty one.” I tossed it in, too.

I can’t help myself. I simply cannot pass by a display full of Christmas wrapping paper without stopping and admiring all of them. To me they are mesmerizing. After all, each one is a unique piece of art that needs to be appreciated.

Mincey’s Musings
Year One, Week Forty-Nine

How many kids do you know who would like to have a file cabinet? You are reading the writing right now of a former child who not only wanted but craved one.

Of course, I wanted a file cabinet to complement my fantasy school teaching life. And when I got it, it was a doozy!

Are you having ham for Christmas dinner? In our house, that feast is too close to Thanksgiving Day to have turkey again. We only like so much. A couple days of second-day turkey dishes and we are over it.

Anyway, turkey is a lot of work to prepare. There are a lot of ham recipes that don't take much time. With so many things to do on Christmas Day, roasting a turkey is not on my agenda. Opening presents is number one on my mind for Christmas morning.

Not really. This is the time of the year when we attend Christmas parties at church, at work and among family and friends. It's party time! After New Years Eve we are all partied out. That's when the bills start rolling in. So while we can, let's look at some recipes to enjoy. I like cheese balls and such. They can be made ahead of time, stored in the fridge and brought out a half hour or so before the first guests arrive.

The Union County Board of Education met in regular session on Thursday, December 13, in the library of Union County High School. Marty Gibbs from district one conducted the meeting. Others present were Danny Wayne Collins (district five), Andrew Reed (district six), and Casey Moore (district three).

A special thank you to Chantay Collins for videoing the December 10th Commission meeting.

1 Peter 3:15 KJV
[15] But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:

“Here you go.” Timmy lays his red and green house shoe down on his bed in front of Tripp.
“This will be a comfortable bed for you.” He pushes down inside it with his finger. “See? It has a thick foam insole.”
Tripp looks up to Timmy and raises an eyebrow. “You want me to sleep in your stinky house shoe?”
“It’s not stinky!” Timmy protests. “My Mamaw gave them to me last year and I only wore them when she was here.”
Tripp pulls glitter out of his pocket and sprinkles it inside the house shoe. “Just in case.”
“Very funny. Now hop in the shoe please.”

Mincey’s Musings
Year One, Week Forty-Eight

It was forty years ago this very month that I received a Christmas gift that I would even now not trade for thousands of dollars.

I’m not even sure how it came about, but somehow my mother began saving S & H green stamps. At some point Hensley’s IGA must have issued them, for I don’t remember my mother ever shopping anywhere else. Perhaps she had my sister Anna Mae, my brother Jerry, or Cousin Lizzie Norton get them for her, as they lived and shopped in Knoxville.