National Thank You Note Day

 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!

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 clothes, 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

Hershey Kiss Pretzels

Looking for a fun, easy treat to make today?  

Grab some pretzels, a bag of Hershey Kisses and some M & M's and let's go!

Hershey Kiss Pretzels

what you need: 

Pretzels

Hershey Kisses

M & M's *

parchment paper (or silicone baking mat)

directions:

Oven 200F.

Place your parchment paper (or baking mat) onto a cookie sheet.  

Place pretzels on the baking sheet.

Unwrap Hershey Kisses and place one on each pretzel.

Put in oven for 3-5 minutes (or until Hershey Kiss is soft).  Place M & M on top of Kiss and press down into pretzel.  

Let cool completely.

Store in airtight container or in the refrigerator.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

*Feel free to use mini twist pretzels, mini snap pretzels, or the circle pretzels (usually found during the holiday season)

*You can use any type of Hershey's Kiss (Hugs or candy cane kisses) You can also use Rolo candy.

*These can be made year round.  Just buy the holiday package of M & M's

Enjoy!

Night Before Night

 Every year we get to reenact a little play that the youngest child made up when she was little.  This little play starts out with all of us pretending to sleep by the Christmas tree in the living room.  One of us wakes up and proceeds to wake everyone else.   We all then make our way to the family room.  We stand by the fireplace, look at the stockings and realize that Santa visited while we were sleeping.  We then run back to the Christmas tree and jump and shout, Santa!

It's fun to see how excited children are the days before Christmas.  This story was created last week when the child was in kindergarten and is something we try to do every year.

This year, we are making sure to enjoy every minute playing our parts, remembering all the little details.  Seeing as this might be our last Christmas in our house, we want to remember everything.  

Do you have any fun Christmas traditions that you do with your family?

Monopoly

 That long boring game you loved playing as a kid.  The game that could last for hours, sometimes days.  RT refers to the game as, "monotonous."

When Monopoly first came out, there were no tokens in the box.  You were encouraged to use buttons, pins, etc. from your home.   In 1935, Parker Brothers took over distribution and added tokens.  The original tokens were the battleship, boot, canon, thimble, top hat and iron.  Within the year they added the racecar, purse and rocking horse.  The original pieces were made of a mixture of lead and tin. During the war, they needed these metals so wooden pieces (like pawns in chess) were added to the game.  These pieces were painted different colors.  Some of the pieces were made of sawdust and paper.  Those didn't hold up very well (but they are a collector item).   After the war, pewter was used for the tokens.  They also added the wheelbarrow, horse and rider and the Scottish terrier.  The car remained and the canon was replaced with a howitzer.  Oh, and an airplane was introduced to the game.  Of course, by 1950, some of these pieces changed.  The current tokens available in the newer editions of Monopoly are the penguin, rubber ducky, dog, cat, battleship, top hat, racecar and thimble.

Whether you played the game as a kid or still play the game now you probably had a favorite token that you used when playing.  Was it the:

top hat

shoe/boot

iron

dog (Scottie)

racecar

rubber ducky

thimble

horse and rider

wheelbarrow

rocking horse

t-rex

hazel cat

money bag

My "go to" tokens were the shoe, iron, thimble and the dog.

What are your favorite Monopoly tokens?

Retail Problems - The Christmas Song Nightmare

 I was told that by playing Christmas music, customers are a lot happier and enjoy their shopping experience.  They are also more likely to spend more money during their shopping visit.  

Meanwhile, us retail employees find ourselves in Dante's Inferno in one of the nine levels of Hell, listening to the same nine Christmas songs over and over for eight hours.

My Weird Dog - Yard Work

 I had a little yardwork to do out front before winter digs it's heels in and decides to stay for a while.  I thought it would be fun to bring my weird dog Pippen outside with me.  

I hook Pippen up on a chain and he "helps."  Actually, he walks around and sniffs everything.  He wants to be where I am and forgets he is on a chain and gets tangled.  He tries to trip me gets excited and runs circles around me when I make my way to the garage.  Of course, he is always on the lookout for intruders (other dogs) so he can protect me.  If nothing is happening, he walks towards the garage and stares me down.  That just means that he's tired from all of that work and needs to go inside and take a nap.