THE MERRY MONTH OF DECEMBER

The holiday season has officially arrived.

It’s the merry month of December in the Northern United States with flying reindeer, chimneys large enough to fit fat men down, and coming soon— adorable fluffy white snow swirling around in the minus degree temperatures.

There is nothing quite as exhilarating as elbowing your way through crowds of people at the mall, all vying for those gigantic flat screen televisions now on sale. Or maybe it’s that newest air fryer, sure to hog all the space on your already crowded kitchen counter. Make sure you buy your grandchild that super-duper rocket launcher that hurls projectiles from one room to the next with little care for any fragile bone china on display.

Leaving all jokes aside, I do enjoy the season with its hustle and bustle. Christmas brings with it some of the best holiday foods and drinks, all the assortments of baked goods and special sweets, and the old comforting sing-along, holiday music for our ears. I have portable, blue tooth speakers in three different rooms so I can have holiday music as I move from room to room.

Already, I’ve put a real wreath on the back door inside a closed entrance, so we can smell the pine when we enter or leave. A small fiber optic tree now sits on our fireplace hearth lighting up the family room in a colorful and twinkling display. As always, my favorite stuffed snowmen are guarding the family room and will do so until February arrives.

This year, with the sons and families, in Alaska and South Carolina, my husband and I will be celebrating Christmas together without company. I’m trying to sell Scott on having a Christmas Eve dinner complete with crab legs, shrimp, coleslaw, and maybe some corn bread. I always bake pies and cookies during the entire month, so dessert is optional.  

How are you progressing with your holiday activities, chores, and plans for this upcoming year? Drop me a note in the comment section below.

But before I go, I want you to know—

                         It's Christmas in the heart that puts Christmas in the air!

                                   Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all!

 

 

                                       Featuring my "Musical Christmas Series" in eBooks: 

 

              JUNE~The Pianist       ADELENE~The Violinist      LUCY~The Clarinetist 

 

TEN 2022 NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS

Ten years ago, I wrote these New Year's Resolution for 2012.
They are as relevant today as then.

 

I will strive to. . .

Live each day to the fullest and allow the activities of that day to take me on new, winding journeys I never expected. “Ninety-five percent of the people who died today had expected to live a lot longer.” --Albert M. Wells, Jr.

Be more patient with people, family, processes, my writing, distractions—even slow elevators. We must learn that, like the farmers, we can’t sow and reap the same day.

Exercise more, listen more, laugh more. . . and let the future come one day at a time, as it always does.

Enjoy my home to its fullest, despite the work, dust and menial chores that surround me which often gobble time set aside for writing. After all, home is where you hang your heart.

Dream . . . or rather allow myself the luxury to dream. Dreams are the heart of creativity. “The poorest of all men is not the man without a cent, but a man without a dream.”

Handle criticism graciously.  “If it’s untrue, disregard it. If it’s unfair, keep from irritation. If it’s ignorant, smile. If it's justified, learn from it." --Anonymous

Be grateful for the doors of opportunity. . .and for friends who oil the hinges. As writers, we need our family, our friends, and other writers who understand the trials and toils of the writing process.

Help find and better define truth in the world. We have lost sight of the importance of truth and honesty in our lives. Our media and people today have failed to delineate the difference between fact versus opinion. “Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.”-- Aldous Huxley

Understand  and accept that peace does not mean the same thing (or have the same definition) for all the people who inhabit our world. Therefore, as part of a U.S. military family, I will pray for a peace that will remove all our men and women in foreign lands and bring them home to the safety of American soil. “God blesses those who work for peace, for they shall be called the children of God.”   Matthew 5:9

Reiterate my daily mantra in the New 2022 Year to all who will listen:

  

                                          “Never let anyone steal your  joy.” 

 

                                         The Musical Christmas Series
                                         

TIME Waits for No One!

As the old year ends and a new one begins, I often look back and silently chide myself over the time I might have squandered and should have used more wisely.

 

The New Year is always a great time to say good-bye to all our yesterdays and give a hearty, forward-looking hello to a new start in a new year. It’s a feeling that invades our thinking and whispers, “Your slate is now wiped clean of all the troubles and missteps you’ve experienced. Let’s begin anew.”

So, how will you use this unbiased fellow we call TIME--who credits you every morning with 86,400 seconds in the day? (Or 31,536,000 seconds in the new year?)

Imagine a bank that credits your account with $86,400 each day. It carries no balance over from day to day, and every evening it deletes whatever part of the balance you failed to use. What would you do? I believe everyone would agree we’d be foolish not to draw out every cent.

Each of us has such a bank. It’s called TIME. And every morning we are offered 86,400 seconds. Every night, TIME writes off, as a loss, whatever seconds, minutes or hours you have failed to invest in good purposes. There is no balance. There are no overdrafts. Each day TIME opens a new account. If you fail to use the day’s deposits, the loss is yours.

What am I really saying? I’m telling you the clock is running and you must live in the present of today’s deposits. Invest your time so you get the utmost in health, happiness and success. Make the most of today. Treasure and use wisely each moment in both work and play.

To realize the value of one year, ask a student who failed a grade.

To realize the value of one month, ask a returned soldier how he felt during his last four weeks of deployment 

To realize the value of one hour, ask lovers who are waiting to meet.

To realize the value of one minute, ask the person who just missed his plane flight, train or bus.

To realize the value of one second, ask a person who just avoided an accident.

To realize the value of one millisecond, ask the person who won a silver medal in the Olympics.

Treasure every moment you have. Remember, TIME waits for no one!

 JUDY ANN'S BOOKS - Click Here

 RAFFLECOPTER - Click Here

Happy, Happy New Year!

 To enter to win a Kindle Fire or Echo Dot, click on the list below and perform some or all of the tasks.

A Rafflecopter giveaway

  

         
         Happy, Happy New Year!
         We wish you all the best,
         Great work to reach your fondest goals,
         And when you’re done, sweet rest.
         We hope for your fulfillment,
         Contentment, peace and more,
         A brighter, better new year than
         You’ve ever had before.
                           --Author Unknown     

      Looking back over the year 2018, I have to much to be thankful for. Both my husband and I had health issues that were solved. I finished writing a historical novel...and then spent the last three months rewriting it. 
     In the summer, we were able to visit Anchorage for a month and meet our new six-month-old grandson. 
     My very favorite time of the year in Pennsylvania is its beautiful summers, and this year, despite the rains, was an interesting one. We had backyard visitors--three bears who spent their time trying to destroy my bird feeders. 
     Later, in the fall, we were able to visit Benezette where we saw a herd of 60+ elk. A magnificent sight. 
     Lastly, we were able to travel to sunny Florida and enjoy the warm weather. 
     It was a difficult year in some respects, but a good one! 

TO EVERYONE, I WISH A HEALTHY

AND HAPPY NEW YEAR.

WELCOME 2019!      

       

HAPPY NEW YEAR! - Welcome 2018

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines.  Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." –Mark Twain

As we approach the 2018, many people believe it’s time to look back at the past year, make corrections, and formulate resolutions for the New Year. We humans seem to need a beginning when we want to start something new—be it a skill, task, hobby, or exercise program. Dieting, for instance. How many people have you heard say, “I’m going on a diet next week…or on Monday”? After all, who starts dieting on Saturday night while sitting in a restaurant with a glass of wine and a menu that screams calories for the weak without willpower?

A beginning in our mind is always a mental picture of a first—the first day of the week or of the month, when the kids leave and you have free time, when winter ends and spring begins. The new year provides people with a clean slate and a place to start something new or to try to cast off an old vice. That’s where resolutions come into play.

Are you a resolution maker? I’m not.

I’m thinking the 2018 is a time to set some relaxed, even movable goals and explore some activities I’ve always wanted to do, but have put on the back burner. This year I’m focusing on what Mark Twain so elegantly said. I’m taking 2018 to explore, dream, discover and do new things I’ve sworn I was going to do “someday.” You know which someday I’m talking about, don’t you? The one that is really an enigmatic place in the future, without a day, month, or even year specified.  

 

My someday activities may include writing some short stories, returning to my wood shop, trying my hand at raising some herbs, reading more nonfiction, visiting some new places, watching more sunsets and enjoying nature.

What are your resolutions—or goals and activities—for the coming year? And let me know what “someday” interests you have on the back burner.

Ten 2012 New Year’s Resolutions

I will strive to. . .

Live each day to the fullest and allow the activities of that day to take me on new, winding journeys I never expected. “Ninety-five percent of the people who died today had expected to live a lot longer.” --Albert M. Wells, Jr.

Be more patient with people, family, processes, my writing, distractions—even slow elevators. We must learn that, like the farmers, we can’t sow and reap the same day.

Exercise more, listen more, laugh more. . . and let the future come one day at a time, as it always does.

Enjoy my home to its fullest, despite the work, dust and menial chores that surround me which often gobble time set aside for writing. After all, home is where you hang your heart.

Dream . . . or rather allow myself the luxury to dream. Dreams are the heart of creativity. “The poorest of all men is not the man without a cent, but a man without a dream.”

Handle criticism graciously.  “If it’s untrue, disregard it. If it’s unfair, keep from irritation. If it’s ignorant, smile. If it’s justified, learn from it.” --Anonymous

Be grateful for the doors of opportunity. . .and for friends who oil the hinges. As writers, we need our family, our friends and other writers who understand the trials and toils of the writing process.

Help find and better define truth in the world. We have lost sight of the importance of truth and honesty in our lives. Our media and people today have failed to delineate the difference between fact versus opinion. “Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.”-- Aldous Huxley

Understand  and accept that peace does not mean the same thing (or have the same definition) for all the people who inhabit our world. Therefore, as part of a U.S. military family, I will pray for a peace that will remove all our men and women from combat in foreign lands and bring them home to the safety of American soil. “God blesses those who work for peace, for they shall be called the children of God.”   Matthew 5:9

Reiterate my daily mantra in the New 2012 year to all who will listen:

  

             “Never let anyone steal your  joy.”