Merry Christmas!

So, no news yet on those proof copies of The Angel's Name, but I wanted to wish everyone a merry Christmas.  The picture above was actually taken at a Halloween party back in 2008, but I thought it'd be fun to post it anyway--it's not likely that I'll be able to talk my husband into putting on a Santa suit a second time, so I'd better make the most of the first time, right? Actually, we were just buddies back then, and my sister was the first choice for Santa but ended up going to a different party instead. Obviously I was Mrs. Claus. I've smudged out everyone else's faces because I haven't asked their permission to post their picture, though I suppose if I get permission later I can always repost. I'm rather proud of my costume organization that year--I happened to have bought a Santa suit on sale for five dollars after Christmas the year before, and when I needed a costume for a Halloween party I decided to make it the base for a whole group of costumes. I bought a can of white hairspray to turn myself into Mrs. Claus, and that was the most expensive thing I bought after the Santa suit (at about three dollars). The two elves on the right provided their own hats, but the two elves on the left are each wearing a cheap piece of felt rolled and glued into a cone with a tiny jingle bell stitched on top of it. Rudolph's nose is made of pipe cleaners, and so was the holly berries decoration in my hair. There was a matching holly berries thing on my apron (made out of an unused sheet), which unfortunately doesn't show in the picture. Rudolph's antlers were pipe cleaners with a pencil stuck in each one as a base and some jingle bells. The rest of it was just a matter of hunting through our closets for red and green clothes--I think my Mrs. Claus dress might have actually been meant for Minnie Mouse, but I got it at a second-hand store a long time before, so I can't be sure. Anyway, it's a fun memory, even though it isn't really a Christmas one.

And here are a couple of real Christmas memories, because I just couldn't end the post on Santa and Halloween. First, there's the time we were Mary and Joseph for a church program; this was actually the day before we were engaged (the baby is a doll).

And there's also the time that I was Joseph. The live Nativity was missing Joseph, so I volunteered, since I was already dressed up to be a shepherd and I was the only shepherd with a beard. I took this picture of myself by using the mirror in the church bathroom; I'm not that talented at self-photography otherwise.  I didn't make the beard, but I know that the people who did make it used cotton balls and coffee.... I just nabbed it from a swap table after someone else used it in a skit, then resurrected it several months later as part of this costume.  It also helped keep my face warm.

Merry Christmas, everybody!