Getting into the holiday spirit!

Hi Everyone!

I didn't realize it has been so long since I wrote in this journal!  The days seem to be flying by!  I've been Christmas shopping for Jimmy, and getting ready for the meal I will cook and bring along on Christmas Day, to the half-way house.  I am cooking a lot , and Joimmy has invited a couple of other guys to eat with us!  I'll be cooking lasagna (one with meat, and one vegetarian, as his friend doesn't eat pork),  Italian sausage and meatballs, freshly grated parmesian cheese, Italian bread, Genoa salami (jimmy loves and request it), provolone cheese, ham, and a nice antipasto salad.  Also, I'll bake Christmas cookies, my famous ghiardelli brownies, and corn muffins (which Jimmy loves)...I also bought a panatone and some Italian chocolates.......also soda, and I almost forgot, I'll make roasted chicken.......Does that sound like enough?!......I hope it all fits in the car!  The friend driving me can always put the top down, as he has a convertible sports car!  The visit is for 4 hours, so we'll have plenty of time to eat!........I will wear my red holiday Christmas top, and a hooded woolen holiday jacket, embroidered with snowmen, etc.....So,. as you can see I'm kind of excited.........I love my husband so, and want to be a good wife to him, although he is in prison.....

This week I mailed 30 Christmas cards to our friends and families...some in New Jersey, and some in Las Vegas....Today, I sent Jimmy a big Santa Claus hat (so he can wear it when he cooks in the kitchen!).......I have sent him 3 Christmas cards, too....................As far as gifts, I bought him 5 long- sleeve shirts, a pair of gloves, and socks.  Today I picked up a cute pewter angel ornament, with the name "GRACE."....Grace was his mother's name, and he calls me Gracie, as a nickname, because I remind him of GRACIE ALLEN...always saying silly things...and the way i say it sounds just like her....Well, I can't help it!   It just comes natural....And when Jimmy talks to me, it sounds like Georghe Burns...the dialogue between us really makes people laugh!....The guys at the half-way house always ask him, "how's Gracie...what did Gracie say today?!".............

  And so, I have Jimmy's presents all wrapped up, and ready to go on Christmas day.  I will also buy him a cassette player, so he can listen to my singing tapes that i have recorded...............

  I have decorated Prince's room (MY DOG).....He likes the front porch as his own room, although he sleeps in our bedroom, too....both rooms are near to each other.  So I have an angel doll that lights up, a santa the moves and plays Christmas music, and the ballerina from the NUTCRACKER SUITE, that dances and plays music....I also have a large standing angel that lights up, looking out the window....On the back patio, I have a life-size santa , sitting in a chair, and a life-size snowman. standing up.........That will be it for this year.....Jimmy and I are big Christmas decorators....we have a beautiful white tree, and visctorian village with trian, people, etc....but it's a little too much for me to do it all alone....Well, tomorow i will take out 1 of our 3 nativity sets, and put it on display.....see what I mean!....We have lots of strands of lights, that Jimmy puts up...........Oh we do enjoy the holidays, that much I must say....The last Cristmas we were together was December 2002....I baked over 400 cookies, and around 6 fruitcakes.....we distributed everything to family and friends.........We had stockings hung up.....I had put our names on them with glitter.....5 stockings hung up, for Jimmy, me, the dog and 2 cats!..............Everynite, we would romantically sit on the couch, under the christmas tree, and Jimmy would read me a chapter from the children's book called, "THE LITTLE PRIncess.".......It is a very old story, which I remember reading when I was around 7 or 8 years old.  And shockingly, Jimmy and I found the book when we were Christmas shopping in the Hallmark Store.........It is a wonderful story, and I recommend it to all adults....Sometimes, we would lie in bed, and I would drift off to sleep, as he read to me........Jimmy is such a wondeful man.............

  And so, that last Christmas together, we went out for dinner with our family on Christmas eve, and then at midnight we went to Midnight Mass..........Yes, Christmas is truely a wonderful time of year.........And now, my favorite song is "ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS YOU!"

  This past week I have also been doing some crafts, and feel peaceful to get involved doing that.....As my Christmas gifts to my sister, aunt, niece, and a the friend who drives me to see Jimmy, i have painted 'sun-catchers."  I enjoy doing that, as they are so colorful, and it means more to give someone something you made yourself.  ..............I plan to start crocheting again , soon, and teach myself to knit (did it many years ago)........

  i SAW jIMMY CARTER on The Larry King show, yesterday, and he really influenced me alot........He has written around 16 books......He gets up early and writes om the computer, and then he loves to do wood-working, and has started painting too, with acrylics.....and he has such a strong marriage with Rosalyn.  When I spoke to my Jimmy tonite, he mentioned hearing the show on radio....he likes Carter very much, too......We are on the same wave-length, even seperated by 120 miles..........

  My story and pix of the cats is now out on the newstand....."TRUE LOVE MAGAZINE,"  JANUARY 2005 ISSUE....in the "pet shop."....misty and Jimbolook really great!......and I even get paid a small sum for that...$50.00!....................This week I sent out 2 more stories, and I have a few more I want to do!....The stories are always in my head and I just can't rest until I type them out!................Jimmy is in the process of contacting publishers for the book I have written...he says it is time now, to do that.............

Well, thank you all for reading my journal.....It is not easy to be a prisoner's wife. We create a special little world around us.....let us stick together..................FRAN