This was originally posted on the Los Angeles Moms Blog last year, but I’ve updated it a little… “Look, there goes Santa Claus,” I said to Spencer (my 9 10-year-old stepson) one recent Saturday afternoon. We were at the front of a store, waiting for my husband to finish a purchase, when we saw the Man in Red walking down the mall with a few of his assistants. “Yeah,” Spencer said. “He’s not the real […]
We’re testing the theory that one can never have too much chocolate today at the Book Bloggers’ Progressive Dinner Party, where we have moved on to the dessert course! I hope you’ve had the chance to devour Devourer of Books‘ delicious fudge. Now, I hope you’ll settle in around my table for one of my family’s favorites – Chocolate Trifle. This recipe came to me from my sister, who received it from our aunt. I […]
I’m unplugging from the blog for the next few days – there will be no new posts here until Sunday! Thanksgiving will be fairly low-key. None of our kids will be around, but my husband and I are hosting my dad and a friend of his for dinner. I’m roasting chicken breasts – yes, chicken, you read that correctly! – and potatoes, with some other veggies and a salad, and baking an apple crisp and […]
Is it beginning to look a lot like Christmas in your neck of the woods? Weekend Assignment #293: Halloween is behind us, Thanksgiving ahead, and Christmas advertising has begun. So how about it? When do the holidays begin for you? Do you avoid thinking about Christmas and Hanukkah until after Thanksgiving, or is any time after Halloween okay? Is it time for Christmas lights in your neighborhood, and do the neighbors agree with you? How […]
Weekend Assignment #288: Columbus Day seems to have become a largely disregarded and maligned holiday in recent years, as the dark side of the explorer’s legacy has made inroads in the public’s perception. Do you think that the voyages of Christopher Columbus still merit a national holiday? Why or why not? And if not, what holiday would you propose to replace it? Extra Credit: Did you even get Columbus Day off from work or school […]
Karen’s assignment for this weekend was appropriately posted on the day after Christmas: Weekend Assignment #248: What was the most interesting or unexpected gift you received this holiday season? Extra Credit: What was the most interesting gift you gave this holiday season? I really didn’t have any “expected” gifts this year. I didn’t even make a list, since I couldn’t think of much to ask for, and none of it was especially big-ticket stuff: some […]
Your Christmas is Modern Your wish for the New Year is more happiness. For you, Christmas is secular holiday. Religion doesn’t play a big part in it. You are patient when it comes to Christmas. You don’t celebrate too early, and you don’t like seeing holiday decorations in October. You like Christmas traditions, but you’re not uptight about them. You do things your way. You like to celebrate Christmas your own way, and you don’t […]
Weekend Assignment #247:“There’s no place like Home for the Holidays” – or so the song claims. Are you heading “home” to family and friends? Are other family members heading “home” to visit you? Are you heading someplace that definitely isn’t home, or perhaps just staying home, with no visitors on your doorstep? In short, what are your holiday-related travel arrangements this year, and is that they way you prefer to spend it? Extra Credit: Tell […]
Weekend Assignment #245: Some holiday traditions continue from generation to generation, some fall by the wayside, and some new ones arise as we strike out on our own, form new families and adapt to changes in culture and technology. How traditional are your holiday traditions, compared to decades past? Extra Credit: What is your most unusual holiday tradition? This year, a 24-year-old tradition is ending; I will not be spending Christmas with my son. Chris […]
My husband and I got into a little debate over this week’s Ten on Tuesday topic, “10 Favorite Holiday Songs.“ HIM: “You know they mean Christmas songs. Who even knows ten songs for Hanukkah?” ME: “Well, there are the popular, secular songs that some people don’t really consider to be about Christmas – they’re about Santa Claus, or winter…and then there are the traditional church songs and carols about Jesus’ birth. They’re two very different […]
I’ve always been one of those people who loves to read in bed. It’s part of my nighttime winding-down routine, a signal to my body that the day is done – which is why if I want to stretch out and read at any other time of day, I try to stay on the couch instead so I don’t doze off. Some nights I don’t get through too many pages before my eyes start to […]
Thanks to the Christmas generosity of my mother-in-law, I am now the very happy owner of a brand-new MacBook – my very first laptop ever! There’s not much reason for this particular post, other than a chance to play with it. It’s Christmas afternoon, and everyone’s hanging out while dinner’s in the oven. Earlier, my son and his girlfriend were both surfing on their own laptops, while Tall Paul was setting up his iPod Touch. […]
