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It's hard to believe that it's December already and Christmas is less than three weeks away. It only seems like yesterday that I was scurrying around Centennial Park and opening the concession stand for baseball games! Now it's glad that I'm inside in the warmth for basketball games and soon to be wrestling matches and gymnastics meets.
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Speaking of Christmas, events start all around the area this weekend with holiday fairs and festivals. In Dodgeville the annual "Breakfast with Santa & Mrs. Claus" kicks things off at 8 a.m. at the Plymouth United Congregational Church of Christ. It goes until 11:30 with an activities area for the youngsters besides a great meal. Then, "Santa's Secret Shop" will be open at Hill's Pub (formerly Thym's) on the next two Saturdays from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. with gifts for the youngsters to buy for family members without them knowing what they're getting. There will be "Elves" on hand to help with the purchases and they will be gift wrapped and labeled. While the youngsters are downstairs shopping, the parents can browse upstairs where there will be a group of vendors showing off their goods. There will also be a bake sale and lunch going on. It is a fun shopping trip for the entire family without any pressure to get done fast!
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Saturday evening, down the main street of Dodgeville, will be the annual "Miracle On Iowa Street" holiday parade that features a lot of local groups and businesses in lighted floats. Santa will make his appearance and youngsters can gather to warm up and meet Santa at the United Methodist Church following the parade.
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This Sunday (and next) I will be taking "Photos with Santa" at the Senior Citizen Center downtown from 1-3 p.m. The Seniors donate their place for this every year and love to have you come so they can see all the youngsters dressed up for a photo with Santa. They will even have some refreshments (coffee, punch and cookies) for you to enjoy. I donate the proceeds from the photos to a local charity! Above is one of my photos from last year.
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Saturday was my birthday. I didn't realize I had as many Facebook friends. I received nearly 30 wishes via that tool and about a dozen via a text on my phone. That probably doesn't sound like a lot to some people, but when you are pretty illiterate on both the computer and the phone - that's not bad. I had messages as far away as California, Georgia and Florida. For breakfast, at Country Kitchen, they served my pancakes with a candle on top and Sandy and Brenda even sang "Happy Birthday" to me (Terry and Bob joined in). Sunday, the day following, I had my brunch bought by neighbors Jack and Dorothy Weirich. I was also served a birthday cake with candle a glowing!
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Thanksgiving found most of brother Pat's family at (my niece) Shelly's house. Everything was great - except for the Packers game - and we did a lot of visiting while the youngsters played all day. Then several of the girls headed off to shop Black Friday". I came back to the office where it was safe!