The Five Randoms: The After-Christmas Edition

1) Sledding is all fun and games until it reminds you you're no longer 10 years old. We went out on Christmas Day to sled down the hill that makes up part of our backyard. The snow was still two-feet deep and crusty, making the sled swoosh down the hill with surprising speed. I, of course, couldn't navigate the sled very well (the downside of being an Arizona baby) and ended up flopping to the side, screwing up my knee and shoulder in the process. Above is an ode to a great sledding scene from the Griswald's family Christmas. I didn't go THAT fast, but it sure felt like it.

2) I'm thinking of keeping our lights up until March 21. Seriously. Since we moved to the East, I've noticed everyone has an electric candle in their windows at Christmas time. (In the West, we put chili lights on the palm trees--no candles in the windows.) Because it gets dark here at 4 p.m. and everyone's warning me about the Winter Blahs, I'm seriously considering keeping those lights up until the first day of spring. It's not like I'm keeping a red-nosed Rudolph on the roof until Labor Day or anything, so stop with the face already.

3) I didn't watch as many Christmas movies as I should have, and I saw WAY too many bad versions of A Christmas Carol. I only saw Elf and about the first 10 minutes of three versions of A Christmas Carol (the George C. Scott version, the Patrick Stewart version, and one Lifetime version that was so bad I only had it on for about 28.2 seconds). I'm very persnickety when it comes to A Christmas Carol, or any book that was turned into a movie for that matter. I hate the Harry Potter films, since none of them give me the same warm fuzzy bubblies as the books. Same with A Christmas Carol--none are dark enough for me.

4) Not only are the lights staying up a bit longer, but so is the Christmas tree. My husband's mom and sister are coming out the first week of January, and we thought it would be festive to keep up the tree and decorations until they leave. So in other words, it's going to be Christmas around here until, oh, Martin Luther King Day.

5) I'm still full from Christmas Dinner. To be fair, Christmas Dinner was served Christmas Eve, and I made sure I had one-and-a-half plates of turkey, stuffing, yams, sweet potatoes, onion casserole, and the like. Then, there were leftovers to be eaten on Christmas Day, along with goodies from the stockings and fattening delicacies the neighbors had brought over--fudge, zucchini bread, peppermint bark. My stomach would like to have a word with my mouth one of these days...

The Five Randoms: The Pre-Christmas Edition

1. I'm thinking happy thoughts about a White Christmas! It snowed on Nov. 20 and on and off for a couple of weeks, and there's still at least five inches on the ground. Hang in there, little flurries, only 13 more days to go!

2. The Food Network is to me what crystal meth is to others. It's addicting. Appetizers, main courses, desserts, tablescapes...you name it, and I'm glued to the idiot box, salivating. I even tried out a recipe that turned out awesomely; you can find it here.

3. My Christmas shopping is D-O-N-E. I even have mailed out my Christmas cards and two boxes of gifts to my brothers. I have three more boxes to go, and probably another $60 in shipping fees. Oy. And the post office thinks it needs to raise the cost of a stamp every couple of years? I'm sure my money is paying for someone's six-week vacation just fine.

4. I'm purposely including holidays in my next book. There's something warm and tingly about reading a scene with three people dressed as a Playboy bunny, a kitty cat, and what looks like a mouse (a la Mean Girls, see above). Plus, I love the delicious discomfort you get as a reader as the girl in the book worries if her guy of two weeks has gotten her a Christmas present.

5. Lastly, a shout out for Desert Dreams. This conference happens in Arizona every other year, and my old writing club is putting it on. You can find out more about it here.