Christmas 2011.

We celebrated the holiday on Christmas Eve this year. Instead of the traditional dinner of turkey or ham, I made a large, hearty breakfast for my guests that included my son Hippie Guy,  DIL Flower Child, twin grandsons Fuzzy and Wuzzy, Grandpa DingDon and Grandma M.

My daughter Cinderella celebrated with her family in the town in which they live. I heard Santa brought a new bike for Butterfly, my granddaughter and and activity desk for D. D., grandson. And somebody got a new Kindle. Lucky! I was able to talk to Sgt. Honda, stationed so far away in Okinawa. Unfortunately, he was feeling under the weather but we still had a nice conversation. This is not the first Christmas he was far away and I am sure it is not the last.

After breakfast, we opened gifts with the kids. I received a wonderful photo calendar from Cinderella and a framed photo collage of the twins. The boys opened presents of books and toys while shrieking and laughing. I tried to get photos but 21/2 year olds hardly stand still.

Lucie my big, red dog was a good girl even while having her tailed pulled slightly. She ran in the yard with the kids and umm Fuzzy happened to step in her, ok I will say it. Poo. Just one of the hazards when you have a dog.

Here is Wuzzy. Shrieking.

Fuzzy. Running, jumping, shrieking…

Here is Lucie and her Christmas present. A brand new comfy bed. As you can see, she is thoroughly enjoying her new gift.

On Christmas Day I went to see the movie War Horse. It was and inspiring and heartwarming. When I was a child I wanted a horse so badly. I even went to show-and-tell at one point in the first grade and said I had a horse. Somehow I think the teacher knew I was stretching the truth. Ok, I flat out lied. She played along with the story and did not expose me. Hey, I was only 6.

My only comment upon walking out of the movie was, “Now I really want a horse!”

Check out the trailer below.

Disclaimer: I was not compensated for my comments on War Horse. I just enjoyed the film.

Guess Who I Saw?

On the way to my grandson, D.D.’s birthday party we stopped for a bite to eat at the burger place, famous for the golden arches and red-haired clown. We walked in and placed our order and as we turned to find a seat this is what we saw.

We gently approached him and who I am sure was Mrs. Claus and asked to take a photo. The jolly old fellow obliged with a wink and a nod. He even let me take a photo with him.

 We thanked him and left him to finish his meal. I guess Santa needs an occasional cheeseburger. After all, he needs the calories for driving the sleigh and sliding up and down all those chimneys.

Music That Moves Me – The First Noel.

‘Tis the Season. Christmas is just around the corner. The First Noel has always been one of my favorite Christmas songs.

Jackie Evancho is a little dynamite singer that is sure to go many places. The 11-year-old has appeared on America’s Got Talent where she finished in second place. She’s worked with Barbra Streisand and Susan Boyle.

Merry Christmas.

Where Have I Been?

Buried under a mountain of writing work that is where. Don’t get me wrong, I am happy to have it but it is really keeping me busy. I have been writing about neighborhoods in the city I live in and I think it is safe to say I know just about everything there is to know.

I know about some places I want to visit here now. One is a botanical gardens that sounds really interesting. There is also quite a few restaurants that I want to try too.

I received and email last week from the company I work for asking me to take some neighborhoods in other cities. So, me not thinking agreed on five or six other cities. Well, I had know idea a bunch would be due at the same time. Right know I’m signed up to write thirty titles in two weeks. And Christmas is coming and I have not done a thing yet. Yea.

In other news, we had our Christmas Party at work today. It was nice and all and I actually won something this year. A $25 Safeway gift card. Cool beans. This is the first time in ten years that I won something at the party.

Now I don’t believe I am going to write about this, but here goes. I wore a skirt to work today. I don’t wear them much because we have a casual office. Anyway the resturant was next door so we walked over there. One they way I started feeling something funny with my panty hose. THEY WERE FALLING DOWN! I barely got there and dashed into the restroom to pull them back up. I then sit down and win my prize, have my lunch and then after that get up to go back to work.

The reason I have to go back to work was because I was an hour and a half late the other morning. Don’t worry, I have a flexible schedule. Thanks to Lucie, my big red dog for barking and waking me up.

Anyway, I got up and started walking and the damn panty hose WHERE FALLING DOWN AGAIN! This time I could tell they were going to be around my knees before I got in the building. So as I am walking I am literely trying to hold them up while walking past the FedEx guy and some other delivery men. Nice.

Said panty hose now have a new home. The trash can. Heh.

Christmas in Heaven

My thoughts and emotions are all over the place this year. I am holding up ok, but quite honestly, I am just not in a joyus mood. I miss Lolly Pop Kid and my deployed son, LCpl Honda. I wish they were here. That makes Christmas a little tough to deal with. It is also hard to believe Lolly has been gone for six months as of yesterday.

I started thinking that Christmas in Heaven must be spectacular. It has to be so much more than just lights, presents and decorated trees. This thought gives me great comfort. Lolly is lucky to be part of something bigger than any of us can imagine. He really is getting the best gift of all. He is encompassed in God’s love and my family was given the gift of having him in our lives. For that I am extremely grateful

So even though I wish he was still here, I know that he is ok and that I will see him again. So this Christmas I will spend time with my family. They all understand. We will be grateful for the gift of our Lolly Pop Kid.

Merry Christmas Lolly. Sleep in heavenly peace.

I am Da Bomb!

I managed to figure out how to get my images here and how to redirect my original juliannahbydesign blog to my new blog here. Yea for me! The only thing I have not figured out yet is how to get my tags from blogger over here to wordpress. I have not given up yet because Google is my friend and I am sure there is a way. Trust me I will find it if there is a way to make it happen. Three cheers for WordPress plugins!

Merry Christmas to all!

What is a Turducken?

That was my question last year. I first heard about it on the radio so naturally I had to find out all about it. It seems that a Turducken is a chicken stuffed into a duck that is then stuffed into a turkey. I really wonder who ever came up with this. Apparently, there are many people enjoying this dish for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

The first Turducken is traced back to Paul Prudhomme, a creole chef. It is said he created the dish for the Duvell Festival in Washington . There is a company called Herbert’s Specialty Meats in Maurice Louisiana that prepares around 5,000 Turducken orders a week during Thanksgiving. I guess there are quite a few people out there that like Turducken!

I am not so sure this would be something I would like. I am not especially fond of duck. Although a chicken in a turkey might not be so bad. Hmm. Turchicken anyone?

Tips for Keeping Your Kids Busy Before Christmas

When my children were young, they typically would become excited over the prospect of the coming holiday. With that came a renewed sense of energy that I needed to find a way to deal with, otherwise I would quickly find myself wanting to pull my hair out. After giving it some thought I decided to use the holiday as a new learning experience and a chance to embark on new projects. Here are my tips for engaging the kids with new and exciting things to do on those days leading up to the holidays.

Making cookies is pretty standard and straightforward holiday activity. That being said, kids usually love makeing and decorating cookies. In addition, the types of cookies to make are endless. The cookies can be made from scratch or buy a cookie log and simply cut the cookies or roll out and use cookie cutters. This was a personal favorite with my kids. After baking, I would let the kids decorate with frosting and all kinds of sprinkles and afterward we had quite an assortment of cookies. You can take it a step further and package the cookies in colorful tins for gift giving.

One year I decided to make ornaments. Some of the best ornaments I own are either handmade by my kids and me or received from my kids as school projects. I looked forward each year to see what ornaments they would bring home from school. One year after collecting pine cones from a mountain trip, we spray painted the cones and tied on ribbons. The ribbons served as hangers. They were simple, but quite beautiful. They still hang on my tree every year!

Try making a video. Kids naturally like to perform and with a little coaching and some practice, you can make a great video of your family singing songs or telling stories or even a small play. We made a video one year and the kids gave it to their grandparents as a gift. The kids had a great time and the grandparents loved it.

Find a small tree and let the kids make all the decorations such as paper ring garland, popsicle stick ornaments, pretzel wreaths or pipe cleaner ornaments. When I was a child, I loved having my “own” tree in my room. Let the kids come up with there own ideas for decorations. You will be surprised how creative they really are.

The possibilities are endless. These are just a few of the activities my kids and I did together. Please feel free to leave a comment about what you and you kids do or have done. I would love to hear them!

Oh, my daughter continues the cookie tradition. Sometimes we still get together and make cookies or if it is not possible, she makes them with her daughter. I am quite sure my granddaughter will continue someday with her own children.

How do You Survive Deployment?

A Christmas Tree for my Son

I am preparing LCpl Honda’s Christmas care package. Since he will not be here for the holidays I wanted to bring a little holiday spirit to him. I have been agonizing over what to send to him. He just keeps telling me he does not need anything. I know he is not deprived of anything since he is deployed on a Navy ship, but still I want to send him something!

Today I stopped at Walgreens and I this tree. I love it! The clerk loved it! Especially when she found out it was going to a deployed service member. Now my care package think tank is in full gear. Watch LCpl Honda, Christmas is coming!