Saturday, November 28, 2009,  Nashville, TN, 10:20 a.m., C.S.T.~

Dear Journal~

Hiii!  It's me, Sunshine Lee Sandusky!  Hope this finds y'all well; me, I'm doing great!!

Today (actually tonight), our city's throwing their annual citywide Christmas Celebration.  There'll be a parade, special (Christmas/holiday) entertainment, and the coupe de grace of the evening, the lighting of the Christmas tree downtown.  On top of that, there will be fireworks once the tree is lit!!  It's going to be great!!

The Christmas season got into full swing yesterday.  We went to the main mall, and I got a good chunk of my Christmas shopping done.  I did get myself something after I was done shopping for the day:  Susan Boyle's new CD.  It's awesome; already listened to it twice!  She is such a phenominal singer!!  I just love her!!

I will probably finish my Christmas shopping with next week's allowance.  :)

I enjoyed getting out in the crowds; lots of happy (and unhappy) shoppers.  Now, a lot of people dread "Black Friday" (as the day after Thanksgiving has come to be called), but me, I love it.  There's just something about the crowds, the bargains, the Christmas decorations, and especially the music, that gets me into the holiday spirit.

I heard this one song, "Sleep Well, Little Children", that I fell in love with.  Some little kid sings it; not sure who it is, but I think it's a little boy.  Whoever he is, he has a very good voice for being so young; he doesn't sound much older than the age of six. 

Now I have it stuck inside my head; can't get rid of it, no matter how hard I try!  LOL

Tonight, I will be singing along with members of my family, but Ronee' will be doing several solos ("O, Holy Night", "Silent Night", and "Christmas Time's A Comin'"; on that one, she will be accompanying herself on her Cajun accordion).  Johnathon will be doing sign language and ringing the bells; he loves doing that!  I just wish he could sing; he had such a beautiful voice; now since he's on a respirator to help him breathe, his singing days are over.

BAH the humbug on that, is all I have to say!!  :(

Santa Claus will definitely be there; he'll be landing his sleigh near the Christmas tree.  I know the little kids will go bonkers when they see the familiar elderly gentleman with the long, flowing white locks, long, thick beard, and ever-present red-and-white suit accented with black shiny boots, matching belt with the gold belt buckle, and red-and-white hat!  He will be the highlight of the evening.

I miss those days where I believed in Santa Claus:  being a young child was so innocent; no worries, no drama.  Now that  I am a teenager, my life is fraught with worries about the future, about whether I have the right clothes to wear, or if I will fit in with the crowd.  Being a teenager is an awful headache!!

I have already given my mama my Christmas list.  (Sans Susan Boyle's CD, of course, since I already have it now!  LOL)  I had clothes, underwear, socks, shoes, paper, pens, some books, and of course, money; money's always nice!  LOL)  Nothing fancy; just basic, necessary stuff or stuff I'd enjoy. 

Hope I get what I want; even if I don't, I'll be happy with what I do get.  Beggars can't be choosey, as they say!  :)

We had a very nice Thanksgiving.  We watched the parade on NBC, then went out to the Golden Corral, where they fed us.  We had turkey and all the trimmin's; it was fantastic!  After we stuffed ourselves silly, we came back home, where we watched the Dallas Cowboys make turkeys out of the San Diego Chargers, and then let our bellies flop around, until we hit the sack by eight thirty/nine o'clock.  We were then up bright and early the next morning (3:00 to be exact!!), and we were done shopping by 11.  We then went to Black Eyed Pea's for lunch; it was yummylicious!!

The little kids got to visit with Santa, so that's good.  Only one snafu, and that was when Ian pulled off Santa's beard.  The guy who was playing him was no older than daddy; everyone was rather surprised when this happened (probably none more than Santa himself)!  We all had a very big laugh about it later.

It's good to have most of my brothers and sisters back home.  We are only sorry that Lightning couldn't come home; her and her husband are having some marital problems that they are trying to work out.  I pray they do; I'd hate to lose Darnell as a brother-in-law; he's cool!

We even got to see a good chunk of our cousins again; they're all getting so big!!  Seems like only yesterday when they were teeny-tiny like us!!

Well, gotta run; gotta bathe, get ready, then head downtown, where we will be for a good chunk of the day.  Until later, this is Sunshine Lee Sandusky saying so long!  May you have a very merry Christmas season, and remember the REAL Reason for the Season:  the birth of a Saviour!  THAT'S why we REALLY celebrate a holiday like Christmas!

(((HUGS))) and much love, your friend in Tennessee, Sunshine Lee.  :)