A great reminder... what to do instead of shopping

From Keri Smith's Blog what do do instead of shopping. Great reminder two days before Christmas.

Peace to you all!

Kristy

Lost Innocence

Day6a
Originally uploaded by Farflungcraft.

In the Journal your Christmas class, we were asked to do a journal entry about Christmas past. And then to think of both a good and a bad memory.

For me, it was looking through some old pictures that the good memories came flooding back. I looked at the pictures of three matching dresses, the huge tree... with the homemade popcorn garland. The smiles on our faces... the anticipation of not just the presents under the tree, but the dinner, the goodies, the snacks. Often the day would be spent with cousins, grandparents. Family. The day was joy. pure and simple.

My memory of a bad Christmas memory was probably one where I wanted a Breyer horse (you can see part of the page over on my Flickr account). Anyway, as I grew older, I started to snoop. I wanted to know what I was getting. I still to this day have little patience, but I can at least control myself now. So, I snooped. I found the horse I had asked for. I was so happy. But then Christmas came, and the horse didn't. I pouted, I moped... after a while mom or dad asked me what was wrong and I said I had not gotten the one gift I really really wanted. Well, a few minutes later, it came out... I am not sure if the gift was forgotten, if it was purchased to be a birthday present... but I do recall that while I did get what I wanted in the end, it felt sort of hollow. I knew that Santa didn't exist (I was probably in 6th/7th grade) but...really the magic of Christmas was gone. Gone based on my selfishness, my desires, my impatience.

I hope my kids don't face that. I hope that we can create a Christmas that is not just about material things. A Christmas that is about love-and joy-and family. A Christmas that puts "presents" lower on the list than joy. Very hard to do in a material society. But my goal nonetheless.

Simply,

K

Starting a new tradition

This year I have been participating in an online class called "journaling your christmas" It is lead by Shimelle Laine a papercraft artist living in England.

The journal is for the month of December, plus the first 6 days of January.

It is a nice way for me to spend a few minutes thinking about what we do every year for the holidays and then being creative and putting it on paper in an artistic way.


SO far we have had a prompt on advent calendars, weather, Christmas cards... great stuff!

I have the 5th and 6th of December to still get on paper, but the days are in my head....

Here is a link to my Flickr account that shows these pages.

Simply,

K

Holiday Countdown

How to live purposefully and simply during the holidays is a struggle. No matter where you live. In the consumer capital of SE Asia, it is even harder. I am going to spend the next few days compiling a list of quotes, ideas and thoughts on how our family is going to celebrate as "non-commercial" as possible.

And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled 'till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store. What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more. ~Dr. Seuss

Have we met?

From Celine Navarro's blog.. I am posting this on both of my blogs to see what people say...

have we met?


1. Have we met?
2. If so, where and when? If not, where and when would you like to?
3. What's the first thing you remember about me?
4. Do we stay in touch? Would you like it if we saw more of each other (or got the chance to meet)?
5. Would you consider me an internet acquaintance, internet friend, buddy, friend, close friend, best friend, family, lover or not a friend at all?

Now post them in your journal so I can tell you :)