It's the Holiday Blog Hop!!

Hosted by Megan Dolan-from This Post Will Self Destruct 

and Jenny Morris from Jenny's Imaginary World

Goal: Write a 250-word story about your favorite holiday. 

I picked Christmas because a) it's the best holiday ever and b) it's so filled with mythology, nobody will mind the addition of one more mythological Christmas creature.

Christmas Star

The strange thing about this Christmas morning isn't my bare feet in the snow.

It's the extra moon lingering in a pale gray sky.

The tiny crescent shape hangs below the actual moon, like a child's crib mobile. I even think I see it dangle a bit in the wind. But that can't be. There's no wind in space. My feet go numb as I stare. I should start moving again, finish my trek from the woodpile before breakfast. But I can't.

The crescent shape turns, its shape changing. Where the second moon once hung, a blob-shaped figure with a pointed head floats, staring back. The alien thing has noticed me noticing it. I stand still, reminded of my run-in with a bobcat last winter. On instinct, I let out a low, guttural growl.

The shape grows, zooms downward. I drop my firewood just as its translucent silver body halts five feet away. This is no bobcat. Its five points tremble: arms, legs, and a head where its face grins, dimpled like a baby.

It whistles. Logs fly through the air, zip through the open front door of my house. I watch in wonder, my feet burning in the snow.

I look back. The chubby star is gone from my porch, from the sky. The sun claws its way over the frozen mountains, and the moon fades away.

I look to the empty spot where my alien friend once floated. A smile breaks my chapped lips.

"Farewell, Christmas Star." 

Check out other 250-word stories about holidays, and get into the spirit:

1.	E.R. King	2.	Untroubled Kingdom
3.	Annalise Green	4.	Abby Fowers
5.	Angie Cothran	6.	Jolene Perry
7.	Jennifer Young	8.	Readin, Writing, and Lovin' It!
9.	An Author's Ramblings	10.	The Ubiquitous Perspective
11.	Deana Barnhart	12.	A Book, A Girl, A Journey
13.	Katrina Lantz -Author

Christmas links, the You'd Better Not Pout edition

Squee! Three days to Christmas!!!

My second-born's first encounter with Santa.
He gets that bottom lip from his dad.

Here are a few must-see posts for your Wednesday enjoyment:

Top Ten Blogs for Writers is up, after much voting. Check it out.

Be Creative. Make Mistakes. Lindsay is on Operation Awesome today comparing writing to art and the process of making mistakes that sometimes turn out unexpectedly beautiful.

Christmas is like writing, another of Lindsay's famous writing metaphors, definitely worth a read.

Authoress Anon has a major announcement, if you haven't heard yet. It's so squee-worthy!

The Be Jolly By Golly Blogfest turned out phenomenal! If you missed it, there's lots of Christmas merriment to go around and plenty of sugarful recipes if you're looking for those! (link goes to my post, but you can see the master list if you click the Linky List in blue)

New Year's Revisions Blog Party is slowly gaining ground. Help us out by blogging, tweeting, or facebooking about it. The more, of course, the merrier. January seems to be the official blogfest month! Kick it off with this one and make your 2011 writing goals known.


Most of all, enjoy these excitement-filled days before Christmas. In no time at all, you'll be putting the decorations away and taking the tree down. Savor every moment. Merry Christmas!

Christmas Blogfest!!

Yep, I'm a sucker for fun, spirited, holiday-themed blogfests! I found this one (hosted by Melissa and Jen) on Jen Daiker's lovely blog.

The only problem is I'm supposed to be listing my... well, I'll just paste the rules for you:

1.Blog Post to be posted on December 20th (whatever time you desire)

2.Show pictures of your decorations, holiday lights & Christmas tree!

3.Share your favorite treat (Recipe included, chance for others to steal the yumminess!)

4.Share your favorite drink (Recipe included, chance for others to steal the alcohol – or non)

5.Last but not least… visit others!!! Take part in their holiday cheer!
(Linky list)

Guess what! No Christmas tree!! I know, the horror! But I can explain. We live in an apartment without a yard and I have two boys under 4 years old. This means that if I put anything breakable down low, it will be broken. As such, we've been putting off the Christmas tree ceremony. We were going to do it last night, but postponed it again till tonight. Anyway, enough of the craziness that is raising boys in a two-bedroom cubicle of an apartment. I'll show you what we have done for Christmas:

Decorations: 

Gingerbread HOUSE!

Isn't this the most adorable gingerbread house and tree you've ever seen? And hey, I think that tree counts as our Christmas tree, right? Right? For now. I love the look on the 3yo's face. Good thing he has that handy toothbrush!

Favorite Treat (plus recipe):

Chocolaty Goodness is a great gift for the families you carol to on Christmas Eve. 

I'm gonna have to go with Chocolaty Goodness, a recipe my dad made up that is straight up raw cocoa powder, butter, honey, and wheat, with a few spices thrown in for good measure. 

I can't in good conscience post the recipe without linking to his marvelous health blog. Check out Coach G at Garner Healthy Living. And now for the recipe!

Chocolaty Goodness

2 c. cocoa powder

1 c. coconut oil (or ½ c. butter)

1 c. honey

2 c. wheat flour

A pinch of Redman’s salt*

A pinch of cinnamon

A pinch of cayenne or chili powder

*Redman's Real Salt is just a special salt that still includes all the minerals. It can be hard to find, so don't worry about it if you're only going to make this recipe once.

Mix it all together and spread out in a pan or on a plate. Chill in refrigerator. Because of the butter or coconut oil, the mixture will harden, so if you want to cut it into squares, do it while it's still soft but not sticky.

Another note: if you're sensitive to whole wheat, take this in small doses, especially at first. I've been snacking on wheat berries since I was a kid (yay, food storage!) so it doesn't phase me. Chocolaty goodness is my guilty pleasure every Christmas.

Favorite Drink (plus recipe):


There's really no competition for this one: EGGNOG!!

Some people make their own, but we drink it so fast, buying it is really the only option. But here's a recipe from allrecipes.com.

And now I am off to visit others!

Don't forget to sign up for the New Year's Revisions Blog Party! Resolutions never looked so good (to agents).