More Christmas Craftiness- Glitter Everywhere

I hope everyone had a lovely holiday week. I meant to get this part 2 post on Christmas Craftiness up before  Christmas, but punctuality is not my strong point, and I was too busy actually enjoying the holidays with my family to write about them. So, I'm a day late- but better late than never, right? (I tell myself that a lot.)

After the chaos of Christmas, my house is more of a disaster than usual, but the nice thing is, that there is glitter everywhere. It's a good thing that I love sparkles, because for the last couple of weeks, we have been finding stray glitter pieces everywhere- on our cheeks, in our hair- my son found some in his soup the other night. He decided it wasn't toxic, ate it anyway, and told me about it later. At least he didn't come up with any ideas about waiting for it to pass- glittery poop is the kind of thing that kid would find hysterical.

The source of the glitter was Christmas craftiness. We made cards and ornaments for the grandmas...

 I'm also still finding stray bits of wrapping paper and packaging, separating paper from plastic, and  marveling that this time of sharing and love is the one week in the year that our trash can is actually full when we drag it to the curb. Maybe I can use some of the paper for my belated solstice bonfire that never happened, unless the colored wrapping paper is full of lead or some other toxic chemical I don't want to burn. I guess I'll have to google it.

Anyway, I do feel very blessed that we were able to continue the traditions for us that make the holidays special each year. We read our favorite holiday books, and we watched our favorite movies. My mother-in-law has a wonderful tradition at her holiday gatherings that each guest must provide some sort of entertainment. The "talents" vary widely- we've had songs on the piano, poems, magic tricks, dances jokes and more. Of course, some have more actual talent than others, but all are fun, and entertaining, it is. Last year, my little family did a rousing rendition of the Heat Miser song from The Year Without a Santa Clause. For those of you not familiar with 1970's era Christmas specials, here's what I'm talking about...

It was a hit. This year, I opted for "Quirky Science Tricks" as seen below....

I don't have a British accent, and not all my tricks worked perfectly, but it was well received anyway.

Now, on this leisurely morning after the Christmas chaos, while being thankful for all the goodies that came our way this holiday, I am contemplating Boxing Day, and the idea of boxing up some of this excess stuff and passing it on to someone who needs it more than me. My younger child just finished reading our beloved old copy of How the Grinch Stole Christmas aloud to me in bed, and I think I'll close with my favorite line from that Dr. Suess classic...

"And he puzzled three hours till his puzzler was sore.

Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before!

"Maybe Christmas," he thought, "doesn't come from a store.

"Maybe Christmas....perhaps...means a little bit more!"

I hope everyone's holiday was full of blessings and glittery good things!

Goodbye to the King of Pop

You know how sometimes you remember exactly where you were when you learn something big? I was standing in Subway the other day, waiting for the nice lady to make my sandwich, when I hear the news over the radio. Michael Jackson, the King of Pop has died. While I'm digesting the news and thinking he wasn't that old, I have a flashback to my childhood. I remember clearly being a little kid standing in the kitchen of my babysitter Mary. I am waiting for her to make my sandwich, when I hear the news over the radio. Elvis Presley, the King of Rock n' Roll had died. For some reason, this just strikes me as strange to have heard of both of these deaths of these two musical Kings on the radio while waiting for a nice lady to make sandwich. Yes, I realize that is totally random, but I found it odd, and after all, it's my blog, so I'm writing about it.

Thinking back on the life of Michael Jackson, I prefer to remember him before all the plastic surgeries, before the personal, emotional and mental problems became public, back when he was a cute boy with his original nose and a big ole' afro who could sing and dance. His music was the background for so many memories. I remember playing hand clap games to “Rockin Robin” and staying up until midnight to watch the debut of the “Thriller” video back when MTV was new. I remember my 7th grade cheerleading squad choreographing our halftime routine to “Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'” and singing "Bad" thinking we were so darn cool. (In hindsight, we weren't.) I remember getting teary eyed watching “We are the World” and thinking of all the starving kids in Africa (probably while eating a bag of chips.) At some point, it seemed pretty clear that Michael Jackson was a troubled soul. It's a prime example of the fact that being a child star, and having lots of fame and money do not buy happiness or peace. It makes me feel really sad for him. He was an entertainer like no other, and history won't forget him, that's for sure. The other day, someone on NPR said that Michael Jackson's music is the soundtrack for much of our lives. It's true that hearing his songs will always bring back memories- they are playing in the background of my mind as I recall chunks of my growing up. Millions of people around the world have the same experience; different memories, but with the same songs. I sure hope Michael can rest peace now.