Jesus Stables and Christmas Parties

Welcome to the very first Anecdote of Ashworth. These are small stories of four girls who live together in a home. Three of these girls are young university students that have left their homes to pursue their education. The fourth girl in these stories is the woman who owns the house and rents out her rooms to the three girls. Each Anecdote is filled with glimpses into each girl's life and the way they all live together at 47 Ashworth Drive. I'm hoping you will enjoy reading these little stories as much as I enjoy writing them.

The days recently just got much shorter with it growing dark at 5pm. I must say, it is slightly depressing in one sense but then in another, it is exciting when you think it is 8pm and then you look at the clock to discover that, in a split second, you pretty much have gained three hours.

The sun was pouring its last rays of lights through the big window facing Ashworth Drive as two young girls sat discussing their day at the kitchen table. Ella Kennsley sighed and let out a strange sighing sound that very few humans can make as she talked to her redheaded friend about the looming term paper that was due the next morning. "Ten pages! That's not much right?"

Anna Grantford looked up from her computer and with a sneaky smile clicked "play". Christmas music came streaming out of her speakers and filled the whole room. Ella laughed at Anna's pure giddiness over the thought of Christmas.

It is six weeks away and that lovely Christmas-ey feeling had found its way into 47 Ashworth shortly after the Remembrance Day weekend. Anna started singing along joyously to the music and making up the words if they escaped her memory.

Suddenly, as if a lightbulb turned on in Anna's head, she cried out: "We should have a Christmas party! You know, as a replacement for our failed Halloween party." The month prior, the girls had tried to host a Halloween party but it fell through when papers overcame their lives.

Papers would not overcome them this time, not even Ella who had a paper due in less that 24 hours. "Yes!" She said excitedly, "Ooh, ooh! One year I went to a Christmas party and made gingerbread houses. We've got lots of graham crackers here and we can have everyone bring candy as decorations, and we can melt sugar on the stove. It serves as excellent glue."

Anna, still bopping in her seat to Jingle Bell Rock, agreed wholeheartedly. "Definitely," she said, "And we can have a cookie decorating station, and music playing, and finger foods. We can push the table to the side to make more room. We'll need mistletoe and decorations for the room. I wonder if we can find a miniature tree for a centerpiece on the table." Clearly, Anna was thinking aloud.

And Ella even more clearly was as well.

"Anna! We should make Jesus stables!" She yelled out in sheer glee.

Anna burst out laughing, "You mean like nativity scenes?"

Ella rolled her eyes dramatically at Anna for teasing her. "Yeah, but just the stable. Without the figurines."

Anna, not sure why Ella for some reason just wanted the stable, directed the conversation away from "Jesus stables". They started talking about themes, guest lists, times, and dates. Oh, dates. It is so hard for students to find a day near the end of a semester that works well for such an event as a Christmas party. They finally decided on December 10th, the last day of classes before exams would start. It would be perfect, it could be an open house style with people coming and going. The excitement was seeping out of them as the Christmas music continued to dance around their heads.

At that moment when the date had finally been settled, the back door opened and the cool November air came into the warm kitchen. "Miss Swan!" Ella exclaimed at the arrival of the lovely woman who rented rooms out to the young girls during the school year.

"Hello, ladies. How are you both doing?" Leah Swan proceeded to take her white knitted hat off her head and ran her hand through her windblown chestnut brown curls. She cocked her head slightly to the side at the sound of the Christmas music as she made her way to the closet to hang up her cranberry red coat. She smiled, "Finally broke out the Christmas music I see?"

"Mmhmm." Anna grinned. "Leah, we were thinking of hosting a Christmas party here on December 10th. What do you think?"

Miss Swan shut the closet door and came back to the kitchen table. She leaned on the back of a chair and nodded, "I think that would be lovely."

"If you need time to think about it, that's fine." Ella said thoughtfully.

"No, I don't think I need time to think. However, my sister and I are going to see the Nutcracker at the theatre that same night. I remember you saying that you wanted to go, Ella."

"Oh!" Ella sighed with remembrance of that at the same moment that Anna gasped with realization that the Nutcracker ballet was in the city.

Thus, it was decided that the occupants of 47 Ashworth would go to the Nutcracker one night and host a lovely Christmas party the very next night. Miss Swan sang along with the music as she bustled around her kitchen, Ella sat with her chin in her hands as she hummed with the Christmas tune, and Anna twirled around at the foot of the stairs.

The anticipation of Christmas was in the air and it was infectious. I'm sure that if anyone walked into the room at that moment, they too would feel the excitement and long to run out into the streets and yell: "Six weeks until Christmas!! Woooo!"

If you get the urge to do so after reading this Anecdote of Ashworth - please, do look both ways first.