'Tis The Season

'Tis the Season to Hit the Road. . .

and buy those presents!

Photo Credit

My family knows what they’re going to receive from me each Christmas. The only surprise for them is what book is hidden inside the glittery wrapping. And each season I search for both the classics and something new. I thought that since some of you might be on the hunt for book gifts I’d share what I’m considering putting under the tree. Family: DO NOT PEEK!

The Classics for young readers’ libraries

The Night Before Christmas by Clement Clarke Moore

The Twelve Days of Christmas by Accord Publishing

The Elf on the Shelf by Carol Aebersold

Night Before the Night Before Christmas by Natasha Wing

The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg

The Little Match Girl by Hans Christian Andersen

Olive, the Other Reindeer by J. Otto Seibold

How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss

Dream Snow by Eric Carle

A Wish to be a Christmas Tree by Colleen Monroe

The Christmas Quiet Book by Deborah Underwood

The Nutcracker by Alison Jay

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

Reindeer Christmas by Mark Kimball Moulton

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer by Random House

Christmas Activity Books for the really young ones

My Very Merry Christmas Coloring and Activity Book 

Christmas Carol Activity Book, Book 2

A Very Krabby Christmas

The Berenstein Bears' Christmas Coloring and Activity Book

Christmas Is Coming

The 12 Days of Christmas: The Story behind a Favorite Christmas Song

Christmas Jigsaw Book

Some not so Christmasy ones, but great gifts for mature readers in the family

The Art of Racing in the Rain

The Book Thief

Women of the Silk and The Language of Threads (Series)

Bel Canto

The Suspect

Boy Toy

Marcelo in the Real World
The Kite Runner

Photo Credit

Merry Christmas! 

Writing Through the Holidaze

Even the Cat Can Go Bonkers with Holidaze Stress

Nothing's busier than a person who writes, unless it's a person who writes during the Thanksgiving holiday. I prefer to call it "holidaze" for the obvious reason. The only way I get through this time and still remain sane is to have a schedule. I schedule everything during November, even when to take out the garbage. If I didn't, the garbage just might be ignored and that would be very bad indeed.

One DAY of my THANKSGIVING HOLIDAZE SCHEDULE:


AM

• 4:00 open eyes, create mental list for the day
• 4:30 find coffee maker in dark--don't risk waking family with bright lights
• 4:40 boot computer, sip coffee, wait for computer to wake up, sip more coffee, nudge computer, cuss
• 5:00 answer emails
• 5:40 check blogs and respond to all comments, visit at least 15 blogs before break
• 6:15 BREAK, coffee maker now clearly visible in dawn light, so make another cup, listen for footsteps upstairs
• 6:20 fb, twitter, LinkedIn, Google+
• 7:00 greet first family member with smile, but silence. They are very cranky in the morning.
• 7:30 find food, eat, talk about the day's plan, do dishes
• 8:15 return to computer, more emails and blogs
• 9:00 shut down social media, pull up WIP, cry, then rewrite
• 10:00 check garden, clean up after raccoons, cuss
• 11:00 eat lunch, take a walk down to the creek

PM

• 12:00 call friends and family re: Thanksgiving plans to firm up menu and make sure they're bringing stuff
• 1:00 Take out garbage (See, I was serious.)
• 1:15 Make Turkey Stuffing, boil Sweet Potatoes, look for wine.
• 3:00 Set table for T'day
• 4:00 Call in and order Pizza for pick up.
• 4:45 Drive to town, pick up Pizza, return home (MY ROAD TRIP FOR THE DAY)
• 5:15 Drink wine, make salad
• 5:30 Eat Pizza, drink more wine--use counter because table's set
• 6:30 Stack dishes in sink and call Elves
• 6:40 Find happy 30 minute sit-com on Netflix
• 7:15 Shower (if we have water--drought year)
• 8:00 Open Kindle and read
• 9:00 Face in pillow

Repeat with adjustments for after the T'day celebration. Happy Thanksgiving to all!

#atozchallenge -- Let the Challenge inspire you!

 
The Blogging from A to Z April Challenge is more than just a bunch of letters.

It's a community.

Not just for writers, but for any number of creative people all around the world. 

Doing this Challenge brings bloggers together that might never have found each other.

It unites like-minded bloggers and yet it also introduces us to brand new ideas, categories, and people.

The Challenge gives us all something to look forward to and something to strive for.

Meeting our own expectations, and cheering on our fellow bloggers, is not only exciting, but also inspiring!

Heather