Hoping for a White Christmas

More than a few years ago I started my own holiday tradition for when I wrap my Christmas gifts.

I set out all the items I need and watch a mini marathon of Christmas movies. It started with White Christmas starring Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney. I love classic movies and this one has not only a sweet holiday sentiment but also some funny moments courtesy of Danny Kaye. I really enjoy both performances of the song “Sisters”  seen in the film. Growing up in Canada I have been lucky enough to almost always have a white Christmas, maybe not quite as white as the rest of the world thinks but there always seems to be enough snow on Christmas to make it delightful.

Trhttp//www.tcm.com/mediaroom/video/147806/White-Christmas-Original-Trailer-.html

Another favourite to watch is Little Women starring June Allyson, Elizabeth Taylor, Margaret O’Brien and Peter Lawford. The opening scenes are about Christmas and the girls very generously giving up not only their Christmas gifts but also their Christmas breakfast so that others might have a happy Christmas. I love the sets and costumes, the joys and hardships in dealing with family members and the romance of this film!

http://www.tcm.com/mediaroom/video/411046/Little-Women-Movie-Clip-We-ll-Storm-The-Citadel-.html

The last film I  watch while wrapping presents is Meet Me in St. Louis. Again their is only one small part of the movie which is related to Christmas but it is a doozy of a moment.  This is another movie where the sets and costumes play almost as big a role as the actors do. Another film that reminds me to appreciate family, friends and all the everyday things life has to offer.

http://http://www.tcm.com/mediaroom/video/202454/Meet-Me-in-St-Louis-Movie-Clip-Corsets.html

This week I had Monday off. My first full day off from my two jobs since November and I thought what a perfect day to watch these movies and wrap presents. I did watch these movies as well as the old Bass/Rankin shows I loved as a child (and still love today) but I didn’t get any wrapping done. Instead I tried to pick up some ideas on  how to get Mother Nature to negotiate  a White Christmas from Snow Miser for us this year.

http://I don’t know who gave Heat Miser control over Nova Scotia but someone’s got to give it back to Snow Miser, at least for Christmas.

Oh well, the lack of finished wrapping just gives me an excuse to watch the three Disney/Tim Allen Santa Clause movies!

When a Great Book Just Won’t Let Go

This picture was posted recently on facebook by Mary Balogh one of my favourite Historical Romance authors and I just had to share it.

Anybody who calls themselves a reader knows this feeling. When you’ve read a story and it touches something inside you, so much so that you can’t stop thinking about it.

This happened to me in March when I read the Chaos Walking Trilogy which as anyone who knows me can tell you they are thoroughly sick of hearing about at this point. I went into it with a ‘this is something to read mindset” and it completely blew me away. It’s a difficult thing trying to explain what it is that struck me so forcefully. I find it really well written because it not only  flows so very smoothly but the descriptive phrasing puts you in the thick of things.

It was also unlike anything I had read before, sci-fi without the sci-fi. It has all the elements that make a great story into a phenomenon. A read that both sexes can enjoy, an epic quest adventure leading to the ultimate showdown between good and evil. A romance without all the “I hope he likes me, why doesn’t she see me, kissy kissy” stuff.  And of course a lesson, a morality tale if you will about how we treat each other and the world around us. How one person no matter their age or size can make a difference if they believe in themselves.

After thinking about it I realized that most of the books I’ve read that leave me feeling, as the pictures seems to state, wrapped up in them have all had those elements. Whether it be a classic like Anne of Green Gables or Little Women, Danielle Steele’s Palomino (which I read as a teen), Harry Potter or Meridian (both of which are books aimed at the teen market yet I read them as an adult) or The Poky Little Puppy and Bread and Jam for Frances ( books I loved as a child), they all have those same attributes that made me feel as though I had been immersed in the story, made friends with the characters and had managed to stop something bad from happening in order to save the world or at least a small part of it.

What more can you ask for?

What stories have stayed with you long after you’ve read them?