Saturday, December 19th, A whole lotta Holiday activities

Candice is in a wedding tomorrow and had the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner tonight. So, Catie and I planned a full day of local activities. Chuck still had some shopping to do, so while we were busy, so was he.
After doing some gift wrapping here at home, Celia picked us up at 2 and we went to the Genesee theater to see "Holiday Inn". It was very corny, but it was such fun for Catie to see this fabulous restored theater. We were a bit shocked by one of the very un-PC numbers.Catie had this lovely cookie and Celia and I munched on popcorn.
Chuck then picked us up and we went out for dinner.
At 7, Catie and I participated in the "Do it Yourself" Messiah at the United Methodist Church in Waukegan. We purchased the score and sang like we actually knew what we were doing. I have wanted to do this for at least 20 years and my dream would be to do it at the Lyric in Chicago. Someday, before I die.....

Wednesday, December 9th, All the tunes, all the time

We have had XM radio for about 6 years. Did I ever share the story of how I crashed the van tuning it and took out two mailboxes on my street? A story for another time.
Anywho, XM has 5 stations strictly dedicated to Holiday music starting right after Thanksgiving. I love it because I have options!! While at home, I listen to our multitudinous collection of Christmas CDs, but while in the car I have the following options:
Holly....tried, really tried to listen to it, but Christmas carols by Lady GaGa, or whoever, doesn't float my boat
Hanukkah.....even though in his younger years, many people thought my dad was Jewish, I really don't have an interest. How many Dreidel songs are there?
Traditions....I like this one, but when they play "The Christmas Song" over and over again, I get a little tired of it, and I love that song!!! I can tell it is coming on by the violin swell at the beginning!
XM Pops...my favorite choice because they play choral numbers and orchestrations of classical Christmas pieces and the one I usually stick with, although I flip over to Traditions when I am needing a boost in my jolly meter
Christmas in the country...Ummmmm, no.....Johnny Cash had a great story, but I have decided that he, Willie Nelson and Dolly Parton must have had great agents, cause they can't sing!!!