Merry Christmas…
Posted in Christmas, Holidays & Celebrations, tagged Christmas greeting, cute little girl on December 25, 2007 | 1 Comment »
Archive for December, 2007
Making Do at Christmas
Posted in Christmas, Holidays & Celebrations, Looking Back, tagged altered gifts, Christmas memories, crafts, dressing table, little girl gifts, robe and slipper on December 24, 2007 | No Comments »
There was a year, maybe when I was nine (i.e. around 1963), when there wasn’t a lot of money for Christmas. We children hardly noticed, because my mother was so creative at taking a little and making it into a lot. Ironically, I remember my gifts from that year more vividly than many I received in [...]
A Hippopotamus for Christmas
Posted in Christmas, Hippos and Dooney, Holidays & Celebrations, The Hooligan Chronicles, tagged Build-a-Bear, Christmas shopping, Gayla Peevey, I want a hippopotamus for Christmas, obnoxious songs, stuffed animals on December 22, 2007 | 3 Comments »
Call me a Scrooge or whatever Christmas sourpuss you can think of, but I simply can’t stand the song, “I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas.” Twittered by Munchkin-voiced Gayla Peevey, the hippo song gives me a twitch every time I hear it. In fact, the first time I heard it just a few years ago, [...]
The Devil and Good St. Nick
Posted in Austria, Christmas, Holidays & Celebrations, The Hooligan Chronicles, Travels Here & There, tagged antique postcards, Austria, Christkindlmarkt, Christmas market, devil, krampus, krampus attack, Salzburg, St. Nicholas, St. Nick on December 14, 2007 | No Comments »
When I was a child, I never associated St. Nicholas with demons or scary beings of any kind. Sure, St. Nick might leave coal and switches for a naughty child, just as Santa Claus was rumored to do. However, I wasn’t naughty enough to worry about that kind of treatment.
Some stories described a little black [...]
The Holiday Season at Mount St. Joseph
Posted in Christmas, Holidays & Celebrations, Looking Back, tagged Christmas traditions, College of Mount St. Joseph, college traditions, dorm decorating, Mount St. Joe, putting out shoes, St. Nicholas, the Mount on December 8, 2007 | No Comments »
I was in college (in 1972) only a semester before I dropped out. Even with financial assistance, the burden on my family was heavy. I just didn’t feel right about it, especially since I wasn’t studying for any specific kind of job. I was an English major, but I had no plans to be a [...]
What St. Nicholas Brought
Posted in Christmas, Holidays & Celebrations, Looking Back, tagged hanging stockings, holy medal, holy medals, knick-knacks, knickknacks, old dimestores, Saint Nicholas, St. Nicholas, St. Nick, toy magents, Woolworth's on December 6, 2007 | No Comments »
I loved the interesting little gifts I got for St. Nick. The magnet set I referred to in this post might have been a repeat gift when I was young; it was a classic dimestore toy, with a horseshoe-shaped magnet and various tiny metal bars and lithographed tin circus shapes that the magnet picked up. When I [...]
This Thursday (December 6) is St. Nicholas Day!
Posted in Christmas, Holidays & Celebrations, Needlework, Sheep, embroidery, rug hooking, tagged fake mantels, fake mantles, hanging stockings, holiday traditions, rug hooking, Saint Nicholas, St. Nicholas, St. Nick on December 4, 2007 | 1 Comment »
I was surprised when I found out that everyone doesn’t celebrate The Feast of St. Nicholas. It was common in our neighborhood, with the Catholic kids especially. My mother didn’t know about St. Nicholas until later in childhood when a neighbor introduced her to the holiday (she’s got a great post about that here). I’m [...]
The Meme Game
Posted in Just Rattling On, tagged 8 random things, Cincinnati, clogging, clown college, eight random things, genealogy, meme, Ringling Brothers, St. Rose School on December 3, 2007 | No Comments »
Dang if my mother hasn’t tagged me for a meme — “eight random things about me.” Here are the rules for this meme, as I understand them:
when tagged, you must link to the person who tagged you [done]
post the rules before your list [done]
list eight random things about yourself [see below]
provide links at the end of [...]
It’s over AND I DID IT!
Posted in My (Mis)Adventures as a Writer, NaNoWriMo posts, tagged achievement in writing, creative writing, NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month winner on December 1, 2007 | 1 Comment »
Yes, I finished the 50,000 word marathon and became a “winner” for the 2007 National Novel Writing Month. As I said in my first NaNoWriMo post, I cheated a bit by not actually writing a novel. This tempers my joy and pride a little — I simply can’t compare my accomplishment to those who actually [...]
