Crafty needs

I need to get some Mod Podge. Every time I look at a crafty "how-to" project, it always seems to start with Mod Podge. So I just need to remember to add it to my shopping list the next time I am near a crafty store. Apparently the lack of crafty-ness on my part is due to my lack of having Mod Podge handily available. I knew there was a reason.

Food Adventures

This will come as a shock to most who know me, especially mi padre, but I've recently had a little bit of a yen to eat some crab...as in a bit of a crab feed. I want to spread some newspaper on the dining room table, have bowls of drawn butter, crab and mallets, maybe some rolls and a little coleslaw or corn or other grilled veggies. This might be manifesting because Kevin is addicted to Deadliest Catch right now, and all they seem to do is catch humongous crab in the Bering Sea. My parents have had a crab feed every once in a while, with friends that are like-minded about seafood. The boys and I are not big on seafood, so Mom and Dad are on there own in that culinary delight. But I think sometime, when Kevin and I head north again, maybe we can have a feast with the parents. And I can try some seafood for a one-time random occurrence. We'll have to see how it goes. If nothing else, Kevin will be a happy camper--he is a seafood fanatic.

Merry Christmas to all!

May you have childlike joy and faith this Christmas season, and all the year through. Have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

"DEAR EDITOR: I am 8 years old.
"Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus.
"Papa says, 'If you see it in THE SUN it's so.'
"Please tell me the truth; is there a Santa Claus?

"VIRGINIA O'HANLON.
"115 WEST NINETY-FIFTH STREET."

VIRGINIA, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except [what] they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men's or children's, are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

Yes, VIRGINIA, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no VIRGINIAS. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies! You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that's no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.

You may tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, VIRGINIA, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.

No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

Eight-year-old Virginia O'Hanlon wrote a letter to the editor of New York's Sun, and the quick response was printed as an unsigned editorial Sept. 21, 1897. The work of veteran newsman Francis Pharcellus Church.

Reunion

This past weekend I was able to get together with a bunch of friends from the Long Beach days. We spent a weekend laying around, eating, and just catching up. It was a wonderfully lazy weekend, and totally worth the drive to Indio. It was so good to see everyone. And it was a little amusing that we all still keep up thanks to the blogs. Everyone was totally up-to-date. Plans were made for Julie and Carrie's destination weddings (one in Hawaii, another in a to-be determined place), and for another get-together. There will be something in 2012 in this area since Julie will be stationed in Monterey, at the Language Institute, learning Russian for the Utah National Guard. That is very handy for me, since I will be able to see Julie on a more regular basis, and she will be handy on a trip to Russia--one of my top three places to visit. All in all, it was a great time and must be repeated.

We missed you lots, Patty.

Here We Come a'Caroling...

Kevin and I were invited to go caroling with some other friends for an FHE activity yesterday. We gathered at the church and then started to walk the neighborhoods around the church, stopping to sing at random houses that were lit with Christmas decor. We stood before strangers and sang of the Savior's birth. It was an incredible experience, and I was never so focused on what those hymns actually say. I appreciate the opportunity to go caroling; it was an incredibly good time. I hope we can do this again in the years to come.

Happy Reading!

My new favorite time-wasting website; dearblankpleaseblank.com. Enjoy!

Glee=Grinch

Glee turned into How the Grinch Who Stole Christmas this week. I love it! How the Grinch Stole Christmas is pretty much my all-time favorite Christmas movie. And one of my favorite Dr. Seuss books. It just brings out my inner kid. Love it, love it, love it.

Decking the Halls

It's time for Christmas decorating! We got a tree and put it up yesterday, and then decorated it and the rest of the house. I love holiday arranging. It's always fun to see what you can come up with.

Christmas Traditions

I love traditions. I like when they form naturally and are not "forced." I enjoy the random little things that are unique to each family or person; and sometimes the weirder the better.

When my brother Jeff and I were about three and four years old, we asked Santa for our own box of Cheerios for Christmas; we were tired of sharing the box for breakfast and each wanted the toy that came with it. So that year there were two boxes of Cheerios under the tree. And every year thereafter, we each got our own box of cereal as part of our Christmas loot. When Chris and Ben joined the group, they also got their own box of cereal. As we got older, we started to get sugar cereal (a rare treat). To this day, there is cereal from Santa under the tree. And when Kevin came along, he also got his own box of cereal. My parents almost didn't do it one year, and the boys and I pitched a fit. A Christmas without cereal is breaking the traditional spirit. It is a small thing, and kind of silly to some, but for the boys and I, it is just a part of the holiday. Much like the tree and stockings, we look forward to it every year.

What are your traditions?