I love this Paul McCartney ode to the Christmas spirit–and maybe love it all the more because it sounds like space aliens are adding their hoopy frood grooves to it. It’s like Charlie Brown and Ford Prefect were in charge of the music.
Any version of the Carol of the Bells works for me, but I really do like the Trans-Siberian Orchestra’s. And this one by the Celtic Women. Although, I could do without the earnest staging.
Annie Lennox can do no wrong, and her version of The Holly and the Ivy is goosebump gorgeous. So is she. That woman is stunning.
Of the serious carols, O Come, O Come, Emmanuel is my deepest favorite.
And of the not-so-serious, I prefer to put on yarmulke and celebrate Hanukkah. With Bowser from Sha-na-na and Arthur Fonzarelli.
The Christmas song that makes me the happiest, and always inspire me to squeal up to my highest vocal heights? Oh, my Mimi! All I Want for Christmas is You! (Chair dancing and humming along as I type this. Happy!)
I spent most of the past weekend in the hospital with my mother, whose personal twelve days of Christmas included three MRIs a’scanning, two mini-strokes a’having, and a long night in the ER [she’s okay, thankfully!] Thus and so, I did not make the time to prepare a holiday gift guide for today–Frankly, I am exhausted. Instead, I’d just like to tell you that I am thankful for good doctors, kind MRI techs, family and friends, and even relative strangers who care, and access to healthcare. And the internet, through which I was able to contact and be contacted by all those family, friends, and caring relative strangers.
B and I have been catching up on that deliciously soapy series, The Tudors, and once I got over my personal chafing about the vagaries of history brought about by good storytelling (Gabrielle Anwar…so miscast. Not a vagary of history, I’m just saying.) I started to really enjoy it. But, like every show I watch, I find it making me wonder how I would feel in certain cases. The Tudors reminds me of how fortunate I am to live in an age where communication is nothing more than a few clicks of a button, and healthcare is more than [not the] leeches [again!!!]
Some of my friends are having their first holiday seasons without members of their families. Some of my friends are having their first divorced holiday seasons and are sharing custody of their children back and forth. Some of my friends are sitting bedside of sick loved ones this season. Several of my friends are still adjusting after several years of the same. I want you to know I’m thinking of you and caring about you.
To make you smile, because it make me giggle like a fool this morning, I give you Celine Dion singing Feliz Navidad. Oh, friends, she is REALLY serious about your Navidad being very, very Feliz. Enjoy!
Now and then I do something that I am proud of without reservation. Today, I taught Thor how to work multiplication and was able to explain the concept so that he could understand, and so that he has been creating and working problems all day since I showed him how.
I showed him that in a sample equation of 3×2, three was a number of boxes, and two was the number of things inside each box. I showed him that if he counted how many things were in the boxes total, he had multiplied.
Like that.
We spent a happy half hour drawing boxes and counting things, or writing equations and drawing the concept of them, and then I taught him tricks for multiplying by two, five, and ten.
Now, that might not mean anything to those of you who are good at math, but for me, it’s like… I’ll tell you what it is like. It is exactly like Whoa.
Mainly, I’m proud of my kid, who grasped the concept and ran with it, and I’m proud to have a kiddo who begs (and I mean begs) to work math. He’s going to be so sad to find out that I can’t do fractions.
ALL PROCEEDS [from the sales of the pendant featured above] BENEFIT SAVE THE CHILDREN’S HUNGER CRISIS FUND Spread the true spirit of the holidays this season by giving in two very meaningful ways with a limited-edition pendant designed by jeweler Jodi Zuletta.
Crafted from hammered Argentinian silver, the pendant features a glittering drop with iridescent crystal and tiny freshwater pearl accents. The fund provides relief to children facing starvation in the drought-ravaged countries of Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia.
More than 29,000 children under the age of six have already perished with another quarter million more expected before the drought ends. One-hundred percent of the monies from every sale will be donated directly to the Children’s Hunger Crisis Fund to provide children in need with food, water, and medicine.
Complete your holiday shopping and save children at the same time – one gift will put a smile on two faces!
Julie Anne is a tireless crusader against hunger, and this is one of her ways of giving her audience an opportunity to share what they have with others.
For solutions closer to home, Feeding America is accepting donations to help put food on the tables of hungry Americans. At their website, you can find and donate to a group in your geographic location.
In Texas, I choose to donate to the North Texas Food Bank, a charity we have supported for six years.
Wherever you are, and whatever you are able to do, I urge you to donate. If you can spare a single dollar as donation to charity, especially this time of year, please do. Drop a handful of dimes in the Salvation Army bucket. Give online to the charity of your choice. Give directly to people you know who are in need. Every penny helps.
There are literally thousands of ways to help people, whether you are the 1%, the 53%, or the 99% remember that we are all the 100% and if nothing else, this season has come to mean celebrating the story of a truly wonderful gift. I’m sure there are babies out there today who could use a little modern myrrh, if you get my meaning.
P.S., I dare you not to sing along!
I also dare you not to look at all that 80s hair without laughing. That Boy George…that man’s voice is amazing. I’m going to go dig out my Culture Club albums now.
The Outside Lane 