Day 353: Christmas When I Was A Kid In Texas

I can remember running straight to the living room the moment my eyes popped open on Christmas morning. I don't know how I managed to sleep through the night when I was a kid with all of the excitement abuzz but I must have finally fallen asleep because there I was, wiping the sleep out of my eyes as I stumbled out of bed and made a b-line to my Christmas stocking. Checking out my Santa gifts was first on my mind and once those had been adequately adored and appraised, I moved on to check out the contents of my stocking. My stocking stuffers were often my favorite things and one had to look through them carefully so as to not miss any small, delicious jewels.

Santa was always so good to us. The last Christmas I vividly remember as a kid was the time I got a taper recorder. You know, one of those cassette tape recorders that had a microphone that you plugged in? I still have some of the tapes that I made that Christmas and they are so absolutely wonderful. They are filled with phrases such as, "When you do things, can you do them good?" .... and "If you can tell me what ten times one hundred is, I'll give you a dollar." Apparently I was rich. I don't think those are exact quotes but they are pretty darn close. In part of this particular tape I even described all of the gifts I got for Christmas, which included a volleyball from Mamaw, a Quiz Kid from my aunt and uncle, a blue handkerchief from my Mom and Dad, some Mardi Gras beads from my cousin and I'm sure other things that I can't recall just now.

Those tapes are more valuable to me than the gifts I received and I will treasure them for many years to come. Unfortunately (and fortunately) they are safely stored at my parents house so I can't pull one out to verify my stories for you but even if I am not one hundred percent correct on the details, I can guarantee that it is very close. The best part of the tapes however is my Texas accent. It was so strong, true, and authentic. I lost the bulk of it when I moved to California in my early twenties and even though I moved back to Texas and lived there for seven years, that lovely southern drawl never truly came back, except for saying "y'all". I still say y'all to this day. Even here in Sweden.

Remembering Christmases past is fun. What are some of your favorite Christmas moments?

My family celebrating Christmas at my aunt and uncle's house in Houston.

Those are tap shoes on my feet. Apparently I was a dancing elf :-)