The Stockings Are Hung

Any of you who follow this blog regularly will already know that I'd rather celebrate Thanksgiving than Christmas. Because we never had much growing up, my memories of Christmas are pretty bleak. So, during the last couple of years, when I didn't put up a tree or send greeting cards, it didn't bother me, even though it offended my friends for whom Christmas is the day they look forward to all year.

Which is why this year is such a marked contrast. Already, with weeks to go before THE day, I've got my gifts in the mail and the cards have all been addressed and sent. I purchased a little tree with fiber-optic lights and hung my special White House ornament collection on it. There's just enough room for these beautiful and unique ornaments, each of which have a special significance to the former occupants in the White House.

Why am I so ahead of the game this year? I asked myself that question as I sat last night watching my tree go through its light rotation. I came up with only one reason: My routine is back to normal.

I am a list-maker, as are so many of us. Each week, I prepare my list of what needs done in the next seven days and love being able to mark things off the list. I include things that are relevant to my work, and hold myself accountable for both my creative work and my side hustle job. But there are also things on the list like meeting up with a friend for lunch, going to my exercise class, and other mundane chores like swiffering the floors and taking my trash to the dump. If it needs doing during the next seven days, it goes on my list.

It's been hard this past year for me to adhere to my list, since life got in the way of my routine. But I'm happy that I was able to complete a manuscript that got picked up by a publisher, and I will have a new book coming out next year. And I'm happy that I've found a new and fascinating era from our past that I can delve into. The Revolutionary War affected every person, great or small, rebel or resistor, gun-toting farmer or Quaker pacifist. My work with this period of our past makes what's now going on in Congress especially memorable, and I marvel every day at the forward-thinking of the framers of our Constitution.

So, routine has been reestablished, the tree is up, the stockings are hung, and my little dog Mary and I are set to enjoy the milder climate of a North Carolina December. Wherever you choose to celebrate the season, stay warm and be happy.

Taking Time to Give Thanks

In a combination of Thanksgiving blessings and Christmas gift giving, I decided to part with a piece of property I had in Virginia. I'd held it for over ten years and finally decided I wasn't going to ever build a house on it, so it was time to get rid of it. I contacted a realtor and she agreed to represent me, but told me it might take as much as eighteen months to sell. Much to the surprise of both of us, it was under contract within two weeks.

So, what did I do with the profit? I bought myself a Christmas gift. If I could find one of those big red bows you see in commercials, I'd have it tied to the top of this car. My new to me Jeep!

My old Jeep had been purchased as a used vehicle, and I drove it for thirteen years. I owned my car longer than I held onto any of my assorted houses. The Ohio winters had been very hard on the old boy, and the parts underneath had begun to rust together. It was past time to upgrade. On the final day of having the car in my possession, I took it through the car wash, had a final meal in the car, and got misty when I thanked it for a final time. We'd been through a lot together.

So now, I'll learn what all the buttons are for in the new vehicle, and become as familiar with it as I was with the old one. As long as it's a Jeep, I'm comfortable. My brother was the one to remind me that, when I was contemplating my first car way back when, I told my mother I wanted a Jeep and she persuaded me to buy something else, saying that Jeeps were for boys. So now I have purchased two of those "boy" cars. My brother is proud of me for finally realizing my dream. My mother would probably shake her head at my folly and tell me that's one of the reasons I never could find anyone to marry. I do miss my mother but maybe it was because of her I learned how to be a strong, independent woman, much like my heroines. 

What about you? Are you planning to buy something nice for yourself this Christmas season?

If you need a gift idea, here's one. My novella, An Unconventional Courtship is free right now. Grab a copy for you and your loved ones. https://claims.prolificworks.com/free/wPvUwkuJ

And check out the Chase Family Book Club here: https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=cfrg%20book%20club&epa=SEARCH_BOX

All I Want For Christmas--Day 6

Teaser Time!

This excerpt is brought to you by Larynn Ford, who wrote another one of the short stories from SMP’s Chrismas anthology this year.  It’s titled CHRISTMAS BLESSINGS.
The hook: ~ Killed the night before their wedding, a ghostly groom finds a way to return from the dead to be with his true love … ~

The excerpt:
Lila scanned the faces of her tour group for any indication someone else heard the voice. She read disbelief, anticipation, but no hint of surprise on a single face. Not one inkling anyone else caught the whispers of a name—her name—floating on the air.
Did I imagine someone calling to me?
“Li-la.”
Not her imagination. She worried her bottom lip between
her teeth as she searched each face again. Nothing. No one else seems to hear this.
The lights in the historic library had been switched off during the ghost tour to hopefully entice some resident spirits to reveal themselves. Fragrant cedar boughs cascaded from the staircase railing, filling the air with holiday scents. The colorful glow of festive lights strung along the streets spilled in through the windows and reflected off the gold and silver ornaments dotting the evergreens.
Chrissie, her best friend, had chosen this ghost tour on their weekend getaway. Even on a friendly face she read no surprise, nothing out of the ordinary. Yet, the voice calling to her was real.
Familiar. So familiar.
But he had been taken from her a year ago. The night before their wedding.

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