The Christmas Miracle

This time of year, I like to reflect on family, friends, and -- most importantly -- the birth of Jesus Christ.

I also like to reflect on another cherished Christmas memory of mine. My most favorite Target purchase ever.

It was the Christmas season of 2005 and I was at my beloved Baytown Target. In the One Spot, to be exact. They had just gotten in a shipment of Christmas CDs. For a buck. I was looking through them and found Handel's "Messiah" in its entirety. I threw it in my little red cart and went on my way.

A year later, I still can't believe I scored this thing for a buck. I'll be driving around my Suburban, lost in the utter brilliance of Handel's masterpiece, and I'll think, "This glorious music cost me ONE DOLLAR." And it's not like it was recorded by some schmuck group of musicians like the Podunk Chamber Orchestra. I think it's the London Symphony Orchestra. It's in the car, or I'd go check.

I'm not strictly a "Messiah" fan when it comes to George Frideric Handel. At our wedding, I walked down the aisle to the overture from "Music for the Royal Fireworks." One thing my mom, a concert cellist, ingrained in me at an early age was a love for classical music. That's why this Church of Christ girl "just said no" to the a capella wedding.

In other Nall news, Julia has experienced a phenomenon in the abyss that is her room. This concerns her vast collection of Polly Pockets. Some Polly Pockets come with pets, and because she received two of the same set in the past year, she has two identical little poodle dogs. Well, yesterday she was going through all of her Polly Pocket stuff and lo and behold, she found THREE of these dogs. She brought them to me and announced "It's a Christmas miracle!"

"Great," I said. "Put them in a box and see if there are five tomorrow." I was being sarcastic as usual, but that sounded like a terrific idea to her and she ran off to find a little box.

She checked it this morning. Still three.

In yet more Nall news, we are leaving Saturday for Houston to spend Christmas with my parents. Then on Wednesday the 27th, we'll be in Baytown to see friends and go to our old church that night. (We were going to go to church in Baytown on Dec. 31, but out plans have changed.) After church on the 27th, my best Baytown girlfriend Lois is having a little shindig at her house for anyone who wants to come hang out with us. So come hang out.

It will be weird being back in Baytown since it's not really home now but it WAS home for such a long time before Aug. 7. So I don't really know how to think of it now. I think driving past our old house will make me sad. So I think I won't do that.