Thanks for reading my blog this year! I hope you enjoyed my comments as well as my choices of music and videos!
I’m taking some time off before Tuesday, January 3, to enjoy the holidays, and I hope you will, too! It’s the season to enjoy the company of others and accomplish some things I need to get done!
So, here are some of my favorite seasonal songs to immerse yourself in until early 2012!
First up is a big favorite of mine, “Breath Of Heaven” by Amy Grant:
The remaining December holidays are fast approaching, so it’s time to enjoy more seasonal music!
First up is Celine Dion singing “The Magic Of Christmas Day:”
Talk about your holiday Scrooge!
Check out the story from the website for the Sacramento CBS station:
>>SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — A family who lives in the Land Park neighborhood of Sacramento has a message for the people vandalized their Christmas decorations, and it’s written right on their front lawn.
“You can steal our decorations, but not our holiday spirit.”
It was a cold dose of reality for Kenneth Cook-McKnight’s 4-year-old son after a real-life Grinch destroyed their Christmas display.
“He said to me that ‘robbers came and took our Santa,’” Cook-McKnight said. “That’s a tough lesson to learn at 4 years old.”
Okay, Christmas has come and gone–I had a good one, thank you! We have less than a week left of 2010 and before New Year’s Day ushering in 2011. So, what is this time of year called?
I like to refer to it as “Tween” Week, the time “between” Christmas and New Year’s. Of course, I still play holiday music and enjoy Christmas information and other activities.
Because it was a “Christmas Weekend” here in the DC area, a lot of the radio stations that switched to holiday music played it through Sunday as well as Saturday, Christmas day. I really appreciated that. For me, I won’t stop thinking about Christmas until we’re firmly into January. In fact, my Mom used to leave the tree up until Presidents’ Day in February, so I’m used to a long holiday season.
The holiday is fast approaching, and I notice some interesting thoughts bouncing around inside my mind.
We never traded presents on Christmas. Maybe that’s one reason why I remain so passionate about the holiday.
Oh, that’s not to say that we didn’t give each other useful gifts like a pair of gloves, a calendar for the next year or a small gift certificate occasionally.
But that’s not what the holiday was about to our family.
As one who used to travel extensively around the holidays a lot (when my Mom was still alive), I can vouch for the fact that folks drive particularly crazily this time of year. We’re in a big hurry and have little time to get things done, so we speed way up. Don’t give in to that temptation! Why? Check out this article form the National Post:
>>Christmas: The Deadliest Day Of The Year: Study
A new U.S. analysis of mortality rates during different times of year found that people are more likely to die during the holidays — notably on Christmas and New Year’s Day — and researchers cannot explain the yearly spike.
After analyzing all official United States death certificates over the 25-year period between 1979 and 2004, a trio of sociologists identified an excess of 42,325 natural deaths — that is, above and beyond the normal seasonal winter increase — in the two weeks starting with Christmas. View full article »
One of my favorite parts of the Christmas story deals with Joseph, who became Mary’s husband.
Joseph plays a very unique role. Apparently, he’s an older man who is supposed to wed Mary, a much younger wife.
When he discovers that Mary is pregnant before he marries her, he decides to cancel the wedding quietly. But God in a dream tells Joseph just what He’s doing, and Joseph continues with his plans to marry his spouse-to-be.
Joseph provides for Mary and her Child during the birth and afterwards as Jesus matures. Eventually, quietly, he passes from the scene, most likely dying due to old age.
What fascinates me about Joseph was that he played a vital role in Jesus’ life, and yet he never appeared in the spotlight, as it were. He was content to do what was needed in order to accomplish what God and Jesus wanted.
Next weekend will include Christmas Day! Where did this year go?
Continuing with my holiday weekend tradition, here are some videos of my other favorite seasonal songs:
I’m enjoying something of a rarity in my life–a day when I don’t have to run somewhere! How great is that?
I thought I’d continue my holiday tradition of playing videos of holiday songs I really enjoy, so here goes:
She’s got a new holiday CD this year, but this melancholy song remains one of my favorites from Mariah Carey:
