Saturday, February 12, 2011
WYSIWYG
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Roselyne Thomas
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12:50 PM
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Friday, December 31, 2010
the two Kiras and Grandmommy: a Christmas story
I really enjoyed having both Kiras visit me in South Carolina the week after Christmas. Flat Kira was overjoyed when she looked down from her favorite eucalyptus wreath perch one morning to see Kira Rose eating a bowl of the Cookie Crisp cereal she had helped me buy at the grocery store!
Flat Kira really liked Kira Rose's Christmas presents too. But Kira Rose needed a crimper, more beads, pendants, and earring wires to go with the collection of beads Aunt Michelle had given her. And how would she fill her sketch pad with drawings if she didn't have graphite and water color pencils and something to sharpen them with? So Flat Kira and Kira Rose went shopping with me for even more craft supplies on New Year's Eve.
Flat Kira is safely in the hands of Kira Rose's mother now, all set for their trip home to Pennsylvania on New Year's Day. This is the last chapter in a story that I've so enjoyed writing! Kira Rose, may you always remember, with the help of Flat Kira's saga, the Christmas when you were eight . . .
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Roselyne Thomas
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10:45 PM
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Labels: children, Christmas, crafting, grandbabies
Flat Kira's Christmas morning
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| at the castle at last! |
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| I'm sittin' in "the castle's" tree! |
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| Santa left some goodies for me! |
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| I FINALLY got to meet Michael! |
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Roselyne Thomas
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10:27 AM
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Labels: children, Christmas, dolls, grandbabies
'nuff said!
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Roselyne Thomas
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10:06 AM
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Labels: cards, children, Christmas, grandbabies
Friday, December 24, 2010
Flat Kira checks out Tiffany's
Dear Kira Rose,
Sorry I missed writing to you yesterday. Grandmommy and I have been working hard getting her house ready for your visit.
Yesterday, after shopping again--this time at a real mall--we wrapped even more presents (Kelsey's going to love the one that showed up in the mailbox yesterday!) and then reorganized the closet where all the giftwrap goes. With all the presents coming in, we had a bunch of big boxes to take apart too. Grandmommy says we'll be going to the dump before you get here so you won't think her back porch is a dump!
get rid of the styrofoam bits from yet more boxes that we opened! Aunt Michelle and Uncle Rick stopped by to install some new ceiling lights for Grandmommy. She says they are Tiffany (-style) lights. I thought Tiffany's was just the name of a fancy store but I guess not! Anyway, Grandmommy says she loves her new lights so much that she may never, ever turn them off!
The yards and driveway are still drifted with leaves (Grandmommy says that I'm learning to be a writer!!!) but we don't care. It"s Christmas Eve and all is well with the world!
Can't wait to see you guys!!!!
Love you bunches!
Flat Kira
P. S. Be sure to tell Grandma that those pears she sent us are heavenly!!!!!! Aunt Michelle took four of them home with her this afternoon for her family :-)
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Roselyne Thomas
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6:35 PM
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Labels: children, Christmas, grandbabies, lamps, wordplay, writing
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Flat Kira goes shopping
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| We started our day with Miss Terri, who washed the gray out of Nonny's hair and made her look pretty for Christmas. That's Nonny in the mirror, hiding behind her camera! |
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| Then we wrapped and wrapped and wrapped some more! These are Kira Rose's presents from Grandmommy! I promise not to open them before she gets here . . . but Kira Rose better HURRY UP!!!!!!!!!! |
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Roselyne Thomas
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9:38 PM
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Labels: Christmas, grandbabies
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Flat Kira: hanging out with the cousins
I had such a fun day today!!! Your cousins Mason and Campbell are really cool kids! They didn't even mind me tagging along or posing for pictures with me so that I could send them to you.
We had lunch at Rush's. Their hot dogs and hot chocolate were perfect for this cold and drizzly day! Then off to see Harry Potter and the Deadly Hallows, Part 1. We all cried at a sad part near the end (I don't think you've read this book yet so Nonny says I shouldn't spoil it for you). We loved the movie though. Campbell and Mason made Nonny promise she would take them to see part 2 when it comes out! Maybe I can go with you and your friends?
Nonny let me check out their living room--and, of course, their Christmas tree, when we dropped them off at home. And then Nonny took me grocery shopping. I got to sit in the cart. ![]() |
| Nonny says this is one of your favorite cereals. She now has two boxes of it waiting for you to have breakfast here! |
Flat Kira
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Roselyne Thomas
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5:37 PM
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Labels: Christmas, grandbabies
Monday, December 20, 2010
Flat Kira:chillin' at Grandmommy's
Dear Kira Rose,
I was hoping to have some big stories to tell you, but Nonny says even the small things in life are worth writing about . . . So here are a few small things from our last two days together.
Yesterday we did a lot of shopping together--on the computer! She won't tell me what she's getting for you for Christmas, but I did get to see what she ordered for Kelsey :-) No, I'm not telling! I also saw what she ordered for some of the grown-ups. Why would somebody want a l---?. . . oops, better not say because she'll probably read this letter when she posts it on her blog!
a table again.Hope I don't fall into that shredder!!!
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| She did text me a picture though so that I could share it with you. |
P.S. Please tell Grandma that Grandmommy really appreciates the box of fruit from her, sent just in time for Christmas!!!
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Roselyne Thomas
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5:27 PM
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Labels: Christmas, grandbabies
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Flat Kira and the wrestler
Dear Kira Rose,
When I get home to Oakdale, I'll tell you the true story of how I escaped going to middle school yesterday. It was kind of nice having Grandmommy's house--messy enough to make exploring loads of fun--all to myself. I played Christmas music all day on her new CD changer. (Glad she figured out that wiring-speakers-to-a-receiver puzzle Thursday night!)
I really had meant to sneak back into my envelope when Grandmommy came home to eat, get school stuff out of the car, and presents (to go under Michael and Cassie's tree) in the car. She was in such a rush that she never noticed I'd fallen asleep on the couch in the study, exhausted from all the mischief I'd been into while she was at work.
I finally got to meet some of your Southern family today--Campbell (not pictured),
| Aunt Michelle and Uncle Rick, and |
| Mason, the wrestler!!! |
Anyway, I spent hours and hours today in a high school gym (I wonder if she plans to take me to a college next!)! Mason was doing this stuff called wrestling. It looked like fighting to me--the playing around kind of fighting--but kids were getting medals for it! Mason just missed getting a medal this time but, from all the clapping and cheering everyone was doing, he must have fought pretty well. He was smiling--not so much in our picture but later in the day.
Did you know that Mason and Campbell call Grandmommy Nonny? You didn't tell me she has two different names! I heard Grandmommy, aka Nonny, telling Mason and Campbell that she'd be taking them to the movies Tuesday--something about seeing someone named Harry Potter?--and then maybe Christmas shopping. Wonder if I'll get to go to the movies and shopping with them . . .
She's got that Christmas music going again. I'm thinking a nap sounds like a good idea!
I'll write more later . . .
Love you bunches!
Flat Kira
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Roselyne Thomas
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4:02 PM
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Labels: Christmas, grandbabies, music, sports
Flat Kira"s "lost" day
I was all set to introduce Flat Kira to her "round" cousins, Michael and Cassie, last night when I discovered, to my dismay that she was not safely tucked away in her envelope in the comfort of her handmade Christmas card and directions for handling . . .
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Roselyne Thomas
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3:39 PM
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Labels: Christmas, grandbabies
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Flat Kira: Days 3 and 4
Dear Kira Rose,
Grandmommy says we only have one more day of this middle school stuff before we can be truly home (at her home anyway) for the holidays. YEAH!!!
Anyway, I must have fallen asleep on the couch the second the movie was over. I don't even remember Grandmommy carrying me upstairs and tucking me into bed. And I didn't get to write to you like I'd hoped . . . Did you miss me?
Today was more of that reading and writing exam stuff , though we did get to see the beginning of A Christmas Carol in her last class. We were just to the good part--the part where Scrooge sees the ghost who's all tied up in clunky chains--when the bell rang for school to be over! Some of her second block class students brought Grandmommy Christmas presents. She wouldn't unwrap them but they look like chocolate to me!!!! YUM!!!
I also got to sit on Grandmommy's lap(top) while she worked on school stuff during lunch (we had granola bars and bananas), something she was writing for the school newsletter about the history of the Christmas card. Did you know that stamps and Christmas cards were invented at about the same time . . . and actually just a few years after A Christmas Carol (the book, not the movie) was published? I feel almost like I've been teleported back to the 1840's the last 24 hours!!!
I think that, after dinner, we may be doing something in the living room with this box she received from FEDEX last night . . . I'll let you know how that goes!
Love you bunches and miss you even more!
Flat Kira
P. S. Do you know what a "receiver" is?
P. P. S. It's a little bit warmer outside, but now it's raining! Yuck!!! Did you get snow today???
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Roselyne Thomas
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5:22 PM
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Labels: Christmas, dolls, faraway places, grandbabies, home improvement
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Flat Kira-Day 2: middle school immersion . . .
Dear Kira,
You forgot to mention that your grandmommy would make me go to school during my stay at her house! Not even elementary school, like good old McKee (miss you guys already!). Middle school!
Her students are BIG . . . and a little crazy too this week before Christmas break. A couple of them are hoping I'll be able to help them take her language arts exam tomorrow . . . as if I understand all that stuff about "extended metaphors" and "annotated bibliographies", whatever they are!
It was pretty fun getting to explore her classroom though. As you can see, I found
| another tree to climb |
| and many, many more books (not many with pictures) to read. |
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Roselyne Thomas
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6:32 PM
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Labels: books, Christmas, faraway places, grandbabies, learning
Monday, December 13, 2010
(away from) Home for the Holidays?
First she climbed the Christmas tree to check out that ornament Kelsey made for me several years back and to touch (at least one of) the stars (Believe from Heidi of SCRI fame).
Then she scoped out one of the stacks of gifts . . . nothing with her name on it there . . . yet! |
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Roselyne Thomas
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6:23 PM
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Labels: Christmas, faraway places, grandbabies
Sunday, December 12, 2010
epiphany
World English Dictionary, definition 2: epiphany-any moment of great or sudden revelation.
My baby boy--who could not carry a tune until second grade--sang the second solo of his life today . . . and what an epiphany that was for me. Jamie, a singer--and an accomplished one at that! Yes!
His first solo was as a second grade. I was not there . . . but at another school that evening, greeting other parents of children not my own. Creating a void in my lifetime memory collection. A void filled to its brim and beyond today!
Collins English Dictionary definition: Epiphany-a Christian festival held on Jan 6, commemorating, in the Western Church, the manifestation of Christ to the Magi and, in the Eastern Church, the baptism of Christ.
How fitting that Jamie's solo today was in the words and the voice of those three wise men . . .
In my lifetime memory collection are images--in color but blurred with time--of the Christmas pageants I religiously recruited (or compelled, if need be) my three younger siblings to present each year for our parents. We were costumed, of course. I remember especially the colorful (silk or rayon?) robes my grandmother across the wide Atlantic sent one year, colorful like Joseph's coat, worthy of kings from the Orient. I remember the songs we sang. Always opening with "O Little Town of Bethlehem." Did we dare sing Martin Luther's "Away in a Manger"? "Silent Night," I'm sure . . . and maybe "The First Noel," in honor of our mother because we thought it was French (the minister this morning had a very British explanation of the origin of "Noel").
For my mother, I always ended our pageant by singing her favorite" "Hark the Herald Angels Sing." My solo in the days when I could sing. How fitting that this morning's cantata ended with choir and congregation singing the third verse of that hymn, words still engraved on my heart.
And for me, most especially for me, we always sang "We Three Kings"--every verse!
For me, most years since, those wise men had to come to Bethlehem, had to once again experience their epiphany, before the dismantling of Christmas could begin . . .
NOTE TO SELF: the tree stays up, the Nativity scenes in their places of honor, until January 7, 2011!
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Roselyne Thomas
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5:02 PM
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Labels: childhood dreams, children, Christmas, music, things to be happy about
Monday, November 29, 2010
a cotton tale . . .
When I go to my mother's for Thanksgiving--or any other time, for that matter--I love taking the back roads from busy I-95 to my home (?) town. I'm not so much from there, I guess . . . but there's something about picking cotton time that strikes a chord with me. Not sure why . . .
. . . but this year's cotton bales, not to be confused with cotton bolls, certainly got my attention the day before "turkey" day this year. So much so that I promised myself that I would stop on the trip back to what is now home to take a few pictures to capture this modern version of a back-in-time sort of memory.
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Roselyne Thomas
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9:56 PM
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Saturday, November 27, 2010
putting up the tree . . .
I could have written about so many things tonight but, in the spirit of simple pleasures, putting up the Christmas tree bubbled up to the top of the list.
This is no small feat, having the tree up and decorated the Saturday after Thanksgiving. After two consecutive years of two-week-long, if that, wonders (AKA having the tree up and decorated), it's almost a minor miracle! Of course there were reasons for both years' late arrivals and early departures, difficult reasons that demanded that Christmas this year be easier somehow. Putting up the tree is a beginning . . .
As I struggled with where did I pack the stand and the rug and the angel topper?--sensible packing decisions once I retraced my mental steps--I had an idea! Why not photograph this solitary ritual of mine, tell through pictures the story of how this tree came to be?
The first solitary ritual tree--a Norfolk Island pine that long-ago Christmas of 1994--had nine foil paper cranes (one lost her way four Christmases ago . . .), a rocking horse, a ceramic snowflake studded with flowers, a pair of miniature bears (Hallmark's "Friends need a Hug") . . . Only one of this year's ornaments predates that most difficult and loneliest of Christmases . . . The silver ball with the pink rose first hung on a family Christmas tree when I was two . . . May Christmas this year be a time of joy and wonder, a maker of treasured memories . . .
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Roselyne Thomas
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10:11 PM
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Labels: Christmas, collecting, reflection





























