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

Family Reunion - Labor Day 2011

This is me (in my pajamas) after four days camping in San Diego. I'm sunburned and blonder than I've been in years. My 2-year-old, the brunette one, also looks almost blond. Fortunately, nobody got sunburned quite as much as this, but the littlest guy did get red-nosed. We're both slathering on the aloe now that we're home, and healing very fast. 

These little changes in our appearance are just a reminder of all the outdoor fun we had over Labor Day weekend. We set up tents, cooked food in foil and on roasting sticks, played at Mission Bay Park at a mini-beach, visited the Festival of Sail, toured a submarine and a couple tall "pirate" ships (I told my 4-year-old they were pirate ships),

played with animals at a petting zoo, sang songs around a campfire (took requests from the people camped next door, who just happened to be Mormon, too, so they requested hymns by the hymn number), went to Balboa Park, rode the trolley, saw the Botanical Gardens, visited the International Cottages, watched a lame street magician, walked through Old Town California, listened to awesome wood instruments playing Mexican music while our toddlers and preschoolers danced, drank exotic slushies, saw the Mormon Battalion visitor's center (very cool if you're into California/Mexican/American/Mormon history, or even if you're not), panned for gold, and had our own talent show by the fireside. By the way, my brother's amateur magic show was way better than that street magician in Balboa Park. :) All in all, it was a fantastic time. We were never bored, and we were frequently outside, which is an awesome place to be when you're in sunny California. 

The flowers! Oh, the flowers. And the trees... It's just an amazing, beautiful place.

If you ever have a chance to visit San Diego in all its artsy, historic, natural glory, I definitely recommend it. Our camping reunion was made a little more glamorous because of it. 

What did you do over Labor Day weekend? Did you get sunburned?

Patriotic

I love the Fourth of July, aka Independence Day. It's got to be my favorite holiday, save Christmas only. What's not to love?

Fireworks

Sunshine and Outdoors

Bright colors

Parades

Concerts in the Park

BBQ's and Great Food

Family, if you're lucky

Flag

Of course, I've been partial to July 4th since childhood for the simple fact that my birthday is five days later on the 9th. :) I'm sure that's affected my love of Independence Day somewhat.

But really it's the feeling I get on July 4th, so much like the feelings Christmas brings: love, gratitude, pride in my culture, and plain old cheerful celebration. Every year it seems to get harder to find a professional fireworks ceremony, probably in part because we moved to California a few years back and the laws are stricter. But even on the years when my babies are too small to be up at 10pm listening to the pop-pop-pop of fireworks, I feel that same Independence Day spirit. It's love of country, yeah. But it's more than that. It's love of her people, as diverse and devoted and wonderful as they are. "The flag still stands for freedom and they can't take that away." Happy Independence Day! Cheers to a country always trying to be better than its old self.

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).