A Scary Journey Inside My Life: December 2022

As I always say (and write), people love getting handwritten letters and notes in the mail. It's always the first thing someone reads when they bring in the mail. I would rather read a letter from a friend or family member before diving into a pile of bills.

Sure, it's easy to send off an email or a quick text to thank Aunt Sally for the ~~ugly~~ Christmas sweater. Aunt Sally would much rather receive a nice handwritten Thank You note in the mail from you.

Today is National Thank You Note Day!

I'm unable to find out how or why this day was started. Some say it was created because of all the presents people received on Christmas Day. I, on the other hand, believe it was started by my mother, The Queen of Thank You Note writing.

I remember being called down to the kitchen a couple days after Christmas. On the table there were three place settings. At each spot there was a sheet of paper with list of names and gifts that they gave us, and a pen. In the center of the table there was a stack of Thank You note cards, stamps and an address book. You had to find your spot at the table. The rules? Write a Thank You note to everyone on the list, address and stamp the envelope. Oh, and you can't leave the table until you are finished.

My Mom never taught us how to write a Thank You note. My brothers would hurry up and scribble some stuff and leave the table. I would be stuck there for hours asking my relatives how their pet is doing and trying to figure out how to nicely thank someone for the gift they gave me (how do you thank someone for money?).

If you do participate today, and I hope you will, you can use #NationalThankYouNoteDay on social media.

If you need any tips on Thank You Note writing, I'd love to help, especially if you want to know how the family dog is getting along.

Don't worry, Mom, I already wrote my Thank You notes this year!

Sunday, December 25, 2022

Twelve Days of Christmas

This year I'm celebrating fun National weeks throughout the year. Here we are, the last national week for the year, the Twelve Days of Christmas.

This holiday is not the song about giving a bunch of birds to a loved one. This holiday starts with the birth of Jesus and ends when the three Magi arrived in Bethlehem. Each day celebrates the feast day of a saint. The following is

25th the birth of Christ

26th St. Stephen, the first Christian martyr

27th St. John the Apostle

28th the Feast of the Holy Innocents - the baby boys that King Harrod killed when trying to find Jesus

29th St. Thomas Beckett - archbishop of Canterbury. Killed when challenged the King's authority over the church

30th St. Egwin of Worcester - a Benedictine monk

31st Pope Sylvester I, one of the first Popes

1st Mary, the Mother of Jesus

2nd St. Basil the Great

3rd Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus - Celebrates naming Jesus in the Jewish Temple

4th St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, first American Saint

5th St. John Neumann the first Bishop in America

You know I can't continue without first adding what the twelve days are in the Greek Orthodox Church. So, here we go:

Dec 25 Jesus birth

26 Synaxis of the Virgin - praise to Mary for giving birth to our Lord

27 St. Stephen, a martyr who was stoned to death

28 Martyrs of Nicomedia - in 302 AD Emperor Maximian Hercules, while visiting Nicomedia heard of a large number of Christians living there and wanted to kill them. While they were all in church, his soldiers surrounded the church and they were asked to deny Christ and be free to go or burn. They chose to burn.

29 Feast of Holy Innocents - children that died because of King Herod

30 Deacon Timon

31 Martyr Zoticus, Protector of the Poor and Holy Mother Melanie of Rome

1 St. Basil the Great

2 St. Sylvester, Bishop of Rome

3 Prophet Malachi

4 Synaxis of the 70 Apostles - the men that followed the 12 apostles

5 Hieromartyr Theopemptos, Bishop of Nicomedia and also Martyr Theonas

The 6th is the Holy observance of Jesus' baptism.

Ways to celebrate the week:

Open one present every day (instead of all at once)

Volunteer at a soup kitchen or help someone in need

Read through the Gospel of Luke, which gives an entire account of Jesus birth

Thanks for celebrating the weird, fun, interesting national weeks with me!

Merry Christmas!

"Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger."

And suddenly, there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: "Glory to God in the highest, And on earth, Peace, goodwill toward men!" Luke 2:8-14

Saturday, December 17, 2022

Saturnalia

This year I'm celebrating interesting week celebrations throughout the year. The year is almost over but I still have a couple more holidays for us to celebrate.

Saturnalia is a mid December holiday (think December 17-23) that honors the Roman god, Saturn, the god of agriculture. Saturnalia was a Roman festival that offered sacrifices (or gifts) to the gods in the winter season. During this holiday, everything shut down. Businesses closed. No school. Homes were decorated and the people put on bright colored togas. Even the servants participated. In fact, the owners served them! The holiday was celebrated by singing, dancing, eating, gambling and of course, gift giving. It was known as "the best of times."

How to celebrate?

Invite friends and family over for a meal. Make sure you throw some music and games in there. Oh and don't forget to post on social media, #Saturnalia

Some important things to remember when celebrating:

Wear green and gold. These are the official colors of the holiday.

Decorate. Covering doorways, walls, staircases with lights and garland

Make some cookies in the shape of stars and moons

Give out small goodies to your friends and family as they leave

Oh, and don't forget to have a great time!

Now this sounds like a fun holiday to celebrate!

Wednesday, December 14, 2022

Halcyon Days

This year I am celebrating the interesting national weeks throughout the year. Today is the start of Halcyon Days.

Halcyon Days is observed for two weeks and coincides with unusually calm seas. I needed a little background on this celebration. This started from Greek mythology. The goddess Halcyone, the goddess of winds, married a mortal who drowned at sea during a bad storm. Halcyone loved her husband so much that she jumped into the sea after him. The other gods and goddesses saw this and turned them both into birds. For two weeks during the winter season (the week before and after the Winter Solstice), the winds are calm on the sea so the birds can build nests on the water and lay eggs peacefully.

How to observe #HalcyonDays or #HalcyonWeek

Halcyon Days describes a time of happiness and success. Other key words used: happy, golden, peaceful, blissful, carefree, joyful, idyllic and contented. The holiday season can become quite hectic. This is a great time to focus on having halcyon days with your family.

It's also a great time to brush up on your Greek Mythology and check out the full story on Halcyon.

Monday, December 12, 2022

My Weird Dog

As I was outside picking up after my weird dog today, I was pondering the strong odor of his "business." Why does it have to smell so bad? What makes it smell ~~nasty~~? Why can't it have a more pleasant smell? Just one of the scary things that go through my mind while doing an everyday chore.

When I am outside performing this clean up, the song, "Wishing Well," by Terence Trent D'arby comes to mind. Yes. You need to listen to the song right now.

"Wish me love a wishing well, to kiss and tell

A wishing well of butterfly tears

Wish me love a wishing well, to kiss and tell

A wishing well of crocodile tears"

Except, back in the day when this song was played on the radio, that last line sounded A LOT different. You see, we didn't have the internet to look up lyrics for songs. We had to try to figure them out on our own. So, that last line sounded like "a wishing well, a crock of dog sh*#." If you watch the video and try to read lips, that is what Terence is singing. Given all of that information, now go back and listen to the song. It's okay. I'll wait.

Now imagine hearing this song on the radio. How did this get past the FCC? Maybe singing about picking up after the dog is acceptable for radio. I mean, someone has to do it. Why not sing about it?

What do you think Terence Trent D'arby is singing?

Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.

Tuesday, December 6, 2022

St. Nicholas Day

There are many stories about the life of St. Nicholas. I found my information here. The following is a quick summary. Click on the link to read more details.

St. Nicholas came from a wealthy family. His parents died when he was very young. He grew up in his faith and strongly believed to give to the poor. He became Bishop and was know for his generosity, love of children and concern for sailors. Under the Roman Empire he was persecuted for his faith. He went to prison. He was released and died on December 6. The anniversary of his death became a celebration known as St. Nicholas Day.

There are many variations of the story of St. Nicholas. He gave money for three poor girls dowries, he helped children, gave to the poor. Do a little research. You will even see how Santa Claus evolved.

My children are older and they still make sure that their shoes are placed by the front door for St. Nicholas visit.

Do you have any special traditions you do with your family during the holidays?

Monday, December 5, 2022

National Handwashing Awareness Week

This year I am celebrating interesting weeks throughout the year. This week is National Handwashing Awareness Week.

I was unable to locate the history behind this week. I'm thinking this was started in 2020 because of the pandemic as a reminder to wash your hands.

This celebration is set during the winter months when colds and flu run rampant and serves as a gentle reminder to always wash your hands.

80% of diseases can be transferred by touch.

Washing your hands a few times per day can reduce diarrhea rates by 40%.

Touching your face can spread sickness, pneumonia, a cold and the flu.

The most important times to wash your hands are before and after making food and after using the bathroom.

Less than 75% of women and less than 50% of men wash their hands after the bathroom.

The ideal amount of time to wash hands is 30 seconds (but 15 seconds ok).

Most bacteria on our hands are underneath our fingernails. Always make sure to clean under them.

Studies show that people who wash their hands use fewer sick days

Are you as grossed out as I am?

By the way, I'm one of the people who wash their hands often. Maybe a little too much.

Ok, let's get through the rest of this, shall we?

How to observe #NationalHandwashingWeek

Make a point to wash your hands several times per day. Yea, after reading those statistics above, I think you will be washing your hands after reading this post.

And posting to social media might be a great idea to remind your friends and family to wash their hands.

Friday, December 2, 2022

Remote Start

A remote starter is a radio-controlled device which is installed to preheat or cool before the owner gets into their vehicle.

I'm not sure if I mentioned this in a previous post but I no longer am the ~~proud~~ owner of the Jetta. Yea, you're right. I was never a proud owner of that car. The car that was in the shop at the dealer at least 4 times a year. I did catch up on what was happening in the world of golf though.

My new car has a feature called 'remote start.' That's where you press a button, while you are nice and toasty indoors, and the car warms up while you ~~run around like a mad person~~ make your way out the door. This is a feature that I was never interested in having on a car. I love the cold and feel it's a great experience being in the car ~~and suffering~~ while it is warming up. Probably something to do with my Midwest upbringing.

There have been a couple of mornings where I was rushing around getting ready for work and decided that I could have the car warm up ~~while I continue to run around like a crazy person~~. I found that I was able to hop in the car and drive off. No sitting around waiting for the car to warm up.

I don't think I will be relying on this new feature, but I do have to say that it has its perks.

Thursday, December 1, 2022

Christmas Crafts and Holiday Gifts

It's that crazy time of year again!

Snow. Holiday Parties. Snow. Crafts. Gifts. Gift wrapping. Snow. Cookie making. Hot Chocolate. Sledding. And more snow!

I thought I would make your life a little easier and put some links up from my blog to some easy Holiday Crafts and Gifts that you can make yourself, with kids or even a Girl Scout Troop.

Here we go:

Christmas
Animal Ornaments
Brazilian Holiday Flower (great children's craft)
Candy Cane Sleigh
Christmas Cards and tags
Felt Heart Ornament
Foam Gingerbread House (children's craft)
Foam Ornament Gift Tag
Jingle Bell Bracelet (children's craft)
Mitten Gift Tags
Mosaic Christmas Tree (children's craft)
Picture Frame
Snowman Ornament
Stocking (out of construction paper) (children's craft)
Winter Scene (children's craft)
Snowman Ornament
Snowman Winter Craft (children and adult craft)
Ugly Christmas Sweater Felt Banner

Gifts
Homemade Bubbles
Bath Bombs
Laundry Detergent (powder)
Homemade Hair Detangler
Homemade Liquid Hand Soap
Homemade Lip Balm
Homemade Lotion

Miscellaneous Crafts/Gifts
Bangle Bracelet (wrapped)
Blank Books
Bubbles (homemade)
Book Mark
Bottle cap necklace
Cork Board using Old Picture Frame
Decorative Wrapping Paper
Dryer Balls
Fun Scrapbooks
Gift Box
Paint Chip Monthly Calendar
Pumpkin Soap Recipe
Twine Napkin Holders
Note cards
Homemade Sidewalk Paint
Sit upon (a cushion to sit on)
Wrapped Bangle Bracelet

Don't forget to make some cookies this season. They go great with hot chocolate! (Well, cookies go great with everything!) Here are some links to cookies that appear on the blog:

Cookies:
Butterscotch Chip Cookies
Avocado Chocolate Cookies
Chocolate Chip Blondies
Chocolate Chip Blondies (vegan)
Chocolate Chip Chokies (Mom's famous recipe)
Chocolate Chip Cookies
Deep Dish Cookie Pie

Icing for Sugar Cookies
M & M Cookies
Nutella Cookies 1
Nutella Cookies 2
Peanut Butter Bars
Peanut Butter Raisin Bran Cookies

Pfeffernusse Cookies
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
Sugar Cookies
Vanilla Pudding Cookies

If you make some sugar cookies, make sure to check this out for an easy Sugar Cookie Icing recipe.

My favorite cookies are the pumpkin cookies, M & M cookies and of course the Pfeffernusse Cookies.