Thursday Thirteen #3

I am WAY late with my 13 today...

Sooooo, I just finished decorating our Christmas tree on Tuesday night (I'm a little "behind" this year...). Our tree has no particular theme or design...I've collected most of the ornaments over the years and I buy new ones from time to time (one of my favorite Christmas stores is in Rochester, NY. I always make a trip to Ridge Road Station when we're up that way visiting friends in the fall). For my Thursday Thirteen, I want to share some photos of thirteen of my favorite ornaments (and these are in no particular order):

1. I love the beach, and this hoochie momma flamingo always reminds me of those summer days...ahhhhhhh...


2. Barbie and I have always had a very special relationship. I had a Barbie doll case just like this one, way back when...this brings back wonderful memories:



3. My dad had season tickets to the Washington Redskins games at RFK stadium when I was growing up. Needless to say, I have always been a diehard fan (ok, don't laugh...). They haven't done too well in the past few years (actually, they haven't done that great since their glory days of the 80's), but I still love 'em and root for them every week, come hell or high water. And it's particularly fun since the Sicilian is a NY Giants fan (at least he doesn't cheer for Dallas - THANK GOD!) My two favorite NFL teams are the Washington Redskins and whoever's playing Dallas...BWAHAHAHA!!!



4. Self explanatory (if you look really close, you can see the year):



5. Thalhimers, a local department store in town (out of business in the early 90's - swallowed up by numerous mergers and acquisitions), brought us the legendary Snow Bear stuffed animal (I have the larger version that lives on the bed in the guest room):



6. Old dawg's little bone ornament made by my niece several years ago:



7. My little Shizt Zu's ornament (trust me, he doesn't look a thing like this but I couldn't find an ornament with a puppy-cut):



8. This one hangs in memory of our Buddy, who went to heaven in September:



9. One of my grandmother's hand painted ornaments from the early 1900's:



10. Every tree needs a Christmas pickle...it's suppposed to bring good luck (or so they say). Per instructions, it is hanging in a secret spot...



11. One of the first ornaments I ever purchased for myself. It hung on my first little tree in my first apartment:



12. An ornament that my mother had when she was a child (circa 1920). It always hung on our tree when I was growing up, and now it's been passed on to me.



13. This ornament, made by a dear friend, expresses the true meaning of Christmas and has a very special place on my tree:




That's it - I did it...another Thirteen under my belt...

Hugs and kisses and Merry Christmas, everyone...ok, back to wrapping...Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!