My daughter came home on Friday, and one of the first things she noticed was that I hadn’t yet taken down my autumn leaf stickers that I decorate my computer desk with… She couldn’t believe that I hadn’t put up my wreaths and tree light stickers. I won’t go into detail (again) about how I decorate my computer desk throughout the year… suffice it to say that I do! (I’m pretty sure that it’s a fall-back to the days when I put up bulletin boards, etc.)

Anyway, I finally just got up some of my holiday stickers, but I have decided to forgo putting all of the stickers up since I’m getting such a late start. I don’t know what it is, but I just love to be surrounded by wreaths, stockings, tree lights, and more lights!

I think that because I find myself at my computer so much of the time, I simply want reminders of what is actually going on outside of “my own little world.” It’s easy for me to get wrapped up in my work at the computer, and every once in a while I simply enjoy looking up and being reminded of the time of year.

And, of course, since we don’t really have seasons here in San Antonio, I enjoy being reminded that there are actually trees with orange, red, and gold leaves that fall off of the branches in October and that snow does indeed fall from the sky during the winter.

So, I finally have some of my Christmas stickers up on my computer desk, but in less than a week it will be time to change them out for snowflakes!

Our children are in their early 20s, but we still drive around and look at Christmas light displays every year. We are so lucky that both of them are still able to join us for the holidays, and we take full advantage of their schedules. We love to “oooooh” and “aaaaaah” at the particularly good displays of light. (I know that the economy is hurting a lot of people, but there are still a lot of beautiful displays of Christmas lights all around.)

Most people already know about the Riverwalk Christmas lights. The lights are just one of this city’s beautiful attractions. I believe that the lights are on from Thanksgiving until past the New Year. I truly don’t know how the city is able to get all of those holiday lights into the tall trees that overhang the Riverwalk, but somehow, each year, it is a fête accompli! And, of course, all of the businesses that are on the Riverwalk also have their holiday lights twinkling.

Be sure not to miss the Christmas tree lights on the tree which is located right across from the Alamo’s entrance. I think that they try to change the tree’s decorations each year…

Years ago, when we still got the newspaper in paper form, the Express News had an article about a little subdivision called Windcrest that actually holds holiday light competitions every year. Boy, did we luck out because of Windcrest’s competitions! We have a lot of “oooooh”ing and “aaaaah”ing each year we visit that neighborhood.

University of the Incarnate Word has a dazzling display of white Christmas tree lights. The college’s campus has all of its many trees lit up, making it a truly sparking holiday world.

This year was our first year to go to Shavano Park to see the holiday light displays. A lot of the subdivisions are gated, but we drove through an area which isn’t gated. You can find it between Huebner and De Zavala on Lockhill Selma. The holiday displays of lights were phenomenal on the houses that were decorated. Be forewarned… be careful with the deer! We were able to see a buck and several cows in the yards… so drive safely!

Leaving San Antonio and heading north on I10, there is a little town named Boerne which participates in an event called the Texas Hill Country Regional Christmas Lighting Trail. We drove through Boerne’s main street last year and we had a whole lot of “oooooh”ing and “aaaaah”ing going on in our car!

There are two other areas which I cannot vouch for, since we haven’t driven to either of them. I can say, however, that we are going to be making our way over to both of these areas very soon:

I have found out that there is an area right behind The Forum shopping center that is quite nice to drive through. I have read (on some of the blogs) that you are supposed to go south on a street named Olympia. Olympia turns into Universal City Blvd., and apparently the holiday lights all the way down this stretch are beautiful.

The last place that I have discovered (but not visited yet) is Johnson City. I believe that it is located off of N 281, on W 290… an hour away from San Antonio. It is supposed to have the most beautiful display of Christmas lights found near San Antonio.  Apparently the whole town gets festive, from the Court House to their electric company!

Well, mystery readers, I know that this entry has nothing to do with mystery books, but my husband thought that I might be able to help someone in San Antonio who is searching around to find a new “oooooh” and “aaaaah” place to drive through and enjoy some beautiful holiday lights.

Be sure to take along your favorite Christmas CDs or cassettes!

PS>>> If you have any particularly good holiday light displays in your town, you are more than welcome to tell us about them in a comment to the blog…

I have been busy trying to bring some order to my husband’s audible.com mystery book queue. He cannot seem to keep his list of books in the correct order. When he finishes listening to a Colin Dexter mystery and is ready to listen to his next Reginald Hill mystery, he usually comes to me and complains that he doesn’t know which book is the next in his sequence. 

Don’t get me wrong! He uses my site to see the correct chronological order, he just doesn’t annotate anything…anywhere… there is no method to his madness! It would really drive me crazy to be that (should I say?) unorganized.

If I didn’t keep a written log of the books I listen to, I would probably end up listening to the same books over and over… not catching on until the last half of the mystery book >>> “Hey, that sounds like a very familiar plot!” This would probably happen right as started listening to the fourth hour of an eight hour mystery book. 

So, I am printing lists of his favorite authors’ books so that he won’t be quite so confused when it comes to picking his next book. I know that this method (the same method I use for myself) will work, since I will be the one who will mark off the books as he reads them.

Man, Oh Man! (That should be your clue that this is another “rant & rave” entry…)

A few years ago, we got a brand new local post office for our area of town. It has been a real treat to have! It is absolutely unbelievable how long the waiting lines are on regular, non-holiday times of the year. The main counter has four windows that are supposed to be open for business. I have NEVER seen all four of those windows open!

I think that it’s sort of weird that we have this new state of the art post office right at the same time that the post office is having to cut down on the amount of employees. I guess that the work model the USPS used was the old “if you build more, they will come…” Unfortunately, with Fed Ex and UPS giving the USPS a run for their money by providing a consumer choice thrown into the business of sending things in the mail, it seems like all of these new state of the art buildings aren’t quite what the USPS should have been counting on to increase their revenue. It seems a shame that they have to lay off employees, but at the same time have (recently) built these beautiful facilities!

(Can you tell that I was NOT a business major in college… or an economics whiz, either?!?)

The point of this rather long entry is this: I just finished writing my Christmas letter to send out, and rather than go spend close to (at least!) a half hour in line trying to listen to my audio book, surrounded by people complaining (rather loudly!) about standing in the line, I just purchased my holiday stamps from the USPS website. Yippee for me! I feel like now I can devote my time to… cleaning bathrooms (a task which I look forward to just as eagerly as standing in the post office line!) (I did have to pay an extra dollar for the USPS to ship the 44¢ stamps to me, but I figure my time is worth that…)

Oh, and the reason I know about the long lines at the post office is that I have sent several boxes to my daughter at school. Lucky for me, I choose to use the “Click & Ship” option online… which I absolutely love. Whenever I have a box to send, I  just whip up to the front of the line and place my box in one of the empty three windows. It seems a shame that the USPS can only afford to man one of the four windows at the post office, but it does make it convenient for those of us who use the “Click and Ship” method of  mailing.

And, as an extra bonus for me, I usually get a great feeling of accomplishment when I simply go to “the head of the class,” drop off my pre-paid, pre-labeled box, and continue with my day… (I think it’s called a “simple pleasure” of life…)