I remember the first time I started what has now become a silly tradition for me at Christmas time. I was about 13 or 14 and I was spending my extra dollars from babysitting on gifts for my family when I saw it...something with my name on it! Literally, the item had my first name on it! 
Have you been getting crafty this Christmas season? Have you gotten the itch to burn your fingertips on hot glue or smell the heady scent of Modge Podge or cover something with felt or paint?
It's getting closer and closer to Christmas and multicoloured and white lights line the streets and edge the houses; they twinkle and blink and glow, brightening up our winter-dark world. The shiny bright sparkle of ornament-covered trees peek through windows and let the neighbourhood know that Christmas is coming. Batches of cookies shaped like stars, trees, wreaths, and angels line up and wait to be iced and packed for gifts or displayed on platters for post-holiday meal snacking. Christmas is coming. 
Some may not have as much as others and charity and help and support is being sought out more than any other time of the year. Food drives are asking, community dinners are finalizing their plans and charities remind you to give all around you. Christmas is coming.
Do you love how the blanket of snow brightens up the dark winter, almost causing daylight at night as the white is reflected all around?Holiday Eating Tips
1. Avoid carrot sticks. Anyone who puts carrots on a holiday buffet table knows nothing of the Christmas spirit. In fact, if you see carrots, leave immediately. Go next door, where they're serving rum balls.
2. Drink as much eggnog as you can. And quickly. Like fine single-malt scotch, it's rare. In fact, it's even rarer than single-malt scotch. You can't find it any other time of year but now. So drink up! Who cares that it has 10,000 calories in every sip? It's not as if you're going to turn into an eggnog-aholic or something. It's a treat. Enjoy it. Have one for me. Have two. It's later than you think. It's Christmas!
3. If something comes with gravy, use it. That's the whole point of gravy. Gravy does not stand alone. Pour it on. Make a volcano out of your mashed potatoes. Fill it with gravy. Eat the volcano. Repeat.
4. As for mashed potatoes, always ask if they're made with skim milk or whole milk. If it's skim, pass. Why bother? It's like buying a sports car with an automatic transmission.
5. Do not have a snack before going to a party in an effort to control your eating. The whole point of going to a Christmas party is to eat other people's food for free. Lots of it. Hello?
6. Under no circumstances should you exercise between now and New Year's. You can do that in January when you have nothing else to do. This is the time for long naps, which you'll need after circling the buffet table while carrying a 10-pound plate of food and that vat of eggnog.
7. If you come across something really good at a buffet table, like frosted Christmas cookies in the shape and size of Santa, position yourself near them and don't budge. Have as many as you can before becoming the center of attention. They're like a beautiful pair of shoes. If you leave them behind, you're never going to see them again.
8. Same for pies. Apple. Pumpkin. Mincemeat. Have a slice of each. Or, if you don't like mincemeat, have two apples and one pumpkin. Always have three. When else do you get to have more than one dessert? Labor Day?
9. Did someone mention fruitcake? Granted, it's loaded with the mandatory celebratory calories, but avoid it at all cost. I mean, have some standards.
10. One final tip: If you don't feel terrible when you leave the party or get up from the table, you haven't been paying attention.
And always remember this motto to live by:
One aspect of Christmas time that my family always loves to participate in is decorating - the house, the lights, the villages, the tree...oh my.
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All the colours, costumes, sounds, tastes and experiences being part of that crowd were delightful! I couldn't have enjoyed an event more! Watching competitive skating live is so very different from watching it comfortably at home where you have commercials, you can loudly discuss the skaters' tight spandex and where you can put on any type of clothes and be comfy - sweats, pjs etc. Watching it in the area, in a packed crowd where every Ooo and Ahh and Awww is a shared emotion, where the clapping is contagious and the people in your row get to know who has weak bladders, is an extremely positive and wonderful experience! My palms felt raw just after the first of our two-day tickets as the enthusiastic and exuberant lady beside me started up applause for almost every move every skater either accomplished or attempted. She exclaimed an audible Yes! at big jumps and truly disappointed Awwws! at falls or trips. She forced me to up my ante and add just as much (but no more) excitement to my reactions. And, of course, the snacks were yummy! Fries, hot dog and popcorn, oh my! Kudos to the concession staff! The arena seats, though not too uncomfortable, are quite closely packed together but we found our neighbours considerate and non-annoying or smelly. Yay! Skating = fun times!
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