Category: Book Stuff

Laurel is one of the first bloggers I remember really connecting with back when I first was a rooky blogger.  She was new as well so we bounced ideas off of each other.  Laurel is an author of several books and runs more blogs than anyone I know! She’s great to stop in and visit me in the mornings with her own coffee cup in hand.

Sheila

When we think about home, we are immediately swept away by all kinds of images—emotional ones, to be sure—and they range from nostalgic to other, less positive images.

There are many clichés about home, from “home is where the heart is” to “you can’t go home again.”  We each have a wide range of memories about home, starting with our own childhoods.  Probably the ones that are most familiar are those associated with special events and holidays.

Right now, with Christmas looming, “home for the holiday” themes abound, from the ads we see to the TV movies that strike a nostalgic chord about home.  Those “Norman Rockwell” images used to grace the covers of popular magazines.

My childhood was full of TV families in their homes that came into our own homes, creating an image of home and family— from “Ozzie and Harriet” to less conventional ones, like “The Beverly Hillbillies.”  One such TV family’s existence owed its life to a holiday special about home, which then expanded into a TVseries.  Remember the voices calling out in the evening?  “Good-night, John-Boy!”  Of course, you say, “The Waltons”—they became almost an institution, with those homey scenes.  Those poignant tones calling out at the end of the day conjured up nostalgic images.  Even if you never had “home-like” experiences like those.

Some of you missed out on those particular scenes, growing up after shows like that faded away.  But for us “Baby Boomers,” our younger days were replete with these shows.

In my own life, my homes have been varied.  Growing up in a farmhouse surrounded by fields and country roads, I had a different kind of experience from my own children, who lived in all kinds of houses, including apartments and townhouses, as well as suburban ranch style or English tudor ones.  We even lived for awhile in an A-frame cottage in the foothills.  But in each “home,” their fathers and I brought our own little piece of home into the physical dwellings, and encircled our families with our traditions.

These days, I live alone, but grown children and grandchildren come to my home periodically, so I have created still another version of home for the holidays with these special visitors in mind.  I have collected a few holiday-themed items over the years, but have none of the ornaments from my own childhood or my children’s.  Instead, I have more recent acquisitions that are themed to evoke childhood memories, like my Disney collections.  They were selected with the goal of reminding me of special childhood feelings and memories.

Referring to these collections as part of my “second childhood” series, because of that aspect about them, I can fantasize to my heart’s content and create the ambiance that I seek.

Two days ago, my grandson Noah helped me pull some of my special decorations out of their boxes, and we surrounded ourselves with the “home for the holidays” theme, Disney-style.

Here are a few of my favorites.

This first one says “hearth and home” to me, while the second one says “welcome,” with the miniature tree covered in ornament frames of each of my grandchildren.  Then, instead of hanging my stockings on a mantle, you’ll see them on my folding screen.  One of them belongs to my son who is not going to be home for the holidays, because he lives in Europe.

Then, on my largest bookshelf, I have clustered various Christmasy Disney images, with a family of Christmas bears tucked away underneath, next to the giant Mickey Mouse.  In the final photo, Mr. and Mrs. Santa cozy up to a birdhouse, a birdcage, and some more bears.

So there you have it!  My current version of “home for the holidays.”

Visit Laurel at Creative Memories to see what is going on in her life.

Trisha really cracks me up!  I had the privilege of meeting her at BEA this past spring and knew after I met this fun full of life person that I had to watch her blog!  She writes amazing posts and I had the opportunity to fill in as a guest post for her a few months back and it was a lot of fun!

Sheila

This time of year makes it perfectly clear
That women really run the show.
Their skirts and their tops stay pleasantly hot
Despite the cold and the snow.

They jingle and jangle in beads and in bangles
With nary a wince or a frown.
With red-lipped smiles and feminine wiles,
They inspire men to lay money down.

To charity it goes for food and for clothes
Presents for those who are without.
Spreading good cheer, at this time of year,
Is what the holiday is all about.

So bring on the minis, on the curvy and skinny,
Sweet perfume wafting gently on air.
We’ll give you a peck, if you give us a check
To show the whole world how you care.

Sheila is off to Honduras on a mission trip, and in the spirit of her giving nature, I thought I would provide you guys with some links to charities which would love your support this Christmas:

Toys for Tots: The mission of the U. S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program is to collect new, unwrapped toys during October, November and December each year, and distribute those toys as Christmas gifts to needy children in the community in which the campaign is conducted.

Make a Wish Foundation: The Make a Wish Foundation grants the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy.

Angel Tree: Angel Tree, a program of Prison Fellowship, seeks to reconcile prisoners and their families to God and to each other through the delivery of Christmas gifts and the Gospel message.

Soldiers Angels: To make sure that no soldier goes unappreciated, Soldier’s Angels provides Christmas care packages with blankets, snacks, socks, and holiday cards.

If you know of a great charity to donate to for Christmas, please leave a link in the comments section!

Stop in and visit Trisha at Eclectic Eccentric