A Rae of Sunshine

   It has been over a week since, the "epic" flood. My readers have enjoyed, some of the great times, I have had this summer. Nothing can prepare a person for the great strength water can bring to the table.

  People that my husband and I say "Hi" to, or greet in the grocery store week after week, now have NOTHING. Businesses, homes lost down the Whetstone Brook. A young man that was supposed to be in my son's class in High School, Marble Arvidson has been missing since Saturday, August 27th. Gone, just like my garden, gone under the mud. My neighborhood is and has been mud lately.

    I or rather "we" were not prepared to handle the raw emotion a tragedy can bring. My mother kept telling me "Don't cry Paige", you need to keep it together for your boys. My husband "Be strong, don't let them pick up on your fear". I literally wandered around the morning of August 29th with a jug of water that my sister in Christ Stephanie Kendall gave me. I was numb, and stunned.

    When we arrived at our home, our yard or what was once our yard, was similar to a creek bed drying up in a drought. The mud or silt just painted a picture of being under water for a long time. The remnants of my herb garden, were the tops of my cherry tomatoes, buried under heavy mud.  My garden was gone. My spruces and goat willow missing.

    The west side of my trailer had so much debris, that it took my husband and I, a week to get it right. On Tuesday August 30th, I raked some much debris out from under our home, some of which was children's toys and blankets, that I actually questioned "Why"?

    We were more fortunate than our neighbors. My neighbor Sandy fell into a sink hole and broke her ankle in 3 places, within just a blink of an eye. I am not going to glass this over, the folks in Melrose Terrace, Glen Park and on Brookwood Street were and will qualify as devastation.

    I felt sick and terrible all at the same time. There was nothing that I could do, but to lean on the shoulders of my church. What I heard from a "very cool source"  there was a convoy or a "semi" heading it's way from Tennessee to Brattleboro, Vermont to help. This was my chance!!!

    I embraced my opportunity to help my neighborhood, whether you needed it or not. The sentiment was there. This was important to me. It distracted me to the turmoil that both my sons displayed. My youngest Kerry age 9, displayed it on August 29th, crying and trying to gather his Mom walking around with a water jug. My oldest Casey, it came out at the end of the week, in very heart wrenching sobs, that just picked open my tentative healing wounds. Nothing can prepare you for this.

     My church seven vehicles strong delivered supplies to those that were abandoned, left behind. I was so happy and strong. The best thing that came out of the storm,  was that I could be a Godmother to an amazing young woman. I pale in comparison to her resolve. I will take care of her to my dying day, as God as my witness, Kalie Rae I will honor my part.

You don't choose your family.  They are God's gift to you, as you are to them.  ~Desmond Tutu

GOODNIGHT IRENE

     Well as usual per my rain cloud somewhere out there,that hangs at the ready to ruin my pre planned plans. We are having not just a little rain incident, but for crying out loud, we are  going to experience in the next 36 hours an event that has not happened on the east coast since 1944. Wow, that is very comforting.

    What is worse is I live in a trailer park, OMG she said it, she lives in a trailer park. Yes I do, and again who cares, I am not throwing money away to a landlord. Wait? that is an idea..perhaps I should be a landlord it is a win win. But seriously our drainage is not the best and now I have to worry about my kitty, home, garden and my newly planted weeping goat willow. Yep figures!  The moment I get a hunger for gardening and actually plant a tree, a major hurricane hits the East Coast in like 100 years, figures.

     My family and I were supposed to travel to Maine and visit my parents this weekend, and between the time that I went to Walmart at 4:30 and the time that I arrived home at 5:30, it was clear that I was going nowhere.  At 9pm Thursday August 25th, they were evacuating nursing homes in New York City. That is a wee bit more than disturbing.

     So here we are in the process of buttoning down our trailer?, however we are a spits throw from the Whetstone Brook, that is even less than comforting. In years past we were evacuated at 2 plus inches of rain, this time around we are facing a minimum of 6 inches.

     This paragraph is the aftermath of the mini hell that I have been through the last 5 days. I am the blessed one.  There are those that are spit's throw from me, that have lost their homes, businesses, and everything in between, due to the awesome force of water.

     Currently, we have a young man missing since Saturday, August 27th, walking up Route 9,  the worst road to repair just in Brattleboro. The last 5 days have been intermittent tears and gratitude. But, at the end of the day it still does not erase those that have lost EVERYTHING. I have a hard time sleeping with power, that is how close the heartbreak touches. There will be no recipe here, because my world has been shaken, and I had a family during it, my husband that has broken his back the last four days to fix what has been broken , my two sons 9 and 15 who have absorbed the tragedy in their own ways. No one should have to endure the emotion that my two boys have had to shoulder. This is why I cry.  No one expected it to hit Vermont, but it did and the people that I care about Virginia, Bob, Antoinette, Beverly, Shirley, the list is endless are left behind to absorb the tragedy and move on? This is what is wrong with our community, we assume that everyone is OK, when inside ourselves we are not OK. Please help the Red Cross in Vermont with the recovery in Vermont.  There is strength in numbers.

What saves a man is to take a step.  Then another step.  It is always the same step, but you have to take it.  ~Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Wind, Sand and Stars, 1939, translated from French by Lewis Galantière

Nothing is Worth Doing, Unless you Overdo It

     Whenever you heard the statement the "winds of change", did you ever knowingly apply it to your life? Maybe secretly, but never outwardly, so that there were others that could vouch for your transformation. I went through that, the last 3 years. What a uphill climb it has been. In February of 2008, a non-healing sore under my nose, started to wear on my mind. I come from a family of basal cell carcinomas. All of us, father, mother, sister and I. I went to the doctor, and in fact, it confirmed what I already knew. But, what I was not prepared for was, what the plastic surgeon told me, (with unfortunately my husband present, as a witness) "Paige, NO Smoking 2 weeks before and 4 weeks after". Holy Cow, that is 6 weeks, we are going to need an exorcism. That my readers, was the beginning of the transformation.

     I prided myself as a smoker, just ask anyone! What, I was not prepared for, was a doctor with a super fat microscope on the top of his head and needle equally as big. He did what you all are so scared to admit, he stuck my face with a needle no less than six times, around the right ala of the nose. Which means the lateral surface or the part the flares the nose out. This in lay men's terms is a really bad thing. But let's remember, I am still burying my head in the sand. This doctor preformed a Mohs procedure. That means that they shave the surface of your skin to cut out the cancer. Let me remind you, that basal cell is benign, but if left unchecked it can turn ugly. Either way it was done, cancer free and ready to start anew.

        Well, during this transformation, I gained fifty pounds, that I put on over a year and half, caused by a sluggish thyroid(which BTW girls, that are smoking because it keeps you slim, smoking can effect your thyroid). I was done with, staying inside and feeling sorry for myself, and it was time to do something different. Flower bed, OK I can handle that, a few potted plants, a couple hanging plants, OK still manageable. Herb garden~Let's see how out of control it can get.

     Here is the herb garden, somewhat virgin like, just ready to be tamed.

My husband and I, took this all on when it is about 95 degrees out, and we have to wait until dark, even to go outside and work on it. It is humid as heck, the mosquitoes have taken up shop right next to us, inviting the biting gnats, that come out only when we touch the soil to weed the rocks out. So a project that normally would take 1 day, has taken three because someone forgot to rename Brattleboro~ Death Valley.  Here are the herbs, just screaming to be planted. However, thunderstorms and not your average run-of-the-mill thunderstorms, have decided otherwise.

     Long story short, last night Jeff (my husband) and I, furiously planted the herb garden, all the while watching an approaching storm. We literally dug the last plant, and the sky opened up. That is not even the funniest part. After the rain, I was very excited to show my cat Giggle, the Catnip that I so lovingly planted for him. What a bad, bad plan. I had to go get the flashlight, to even see him, because he is black. When I came back, he was rolling on my chocolate mint, and Greek oregano, and had the catnip in a choke hold. I grabbed for him to get him out, and he hissed. Very effective on a dark, stormy night.Then, I tried to pick him up and he bit the snot out of my hand.  Oh what to do, what to do!! I go inside, grab dry the food and then shake it right next to his ear. Ten second delay and he realizes "Oh wow, food for my trip". The Einstein that I am, I shake it on the ground to get him out of the garden. Snake him up, drop ship him to the house, and then realize whoa..I just have provided food for the neighborhood cats, and a gratuitous romp in my garden. Back out to the back yard, to pick up the cat food, and another chance to get bit and hissed at. Wow, what a bad, bad plan.

Upper right hand corner "the catnip".

     Today, all I thought about was a brothel of neighborhood cats, having a pool party in my well-thought out herb garden, and Giggle serving up seconds on the other end of the garden, where I planted another plant. I went straight to Wal-Mart and bought two cherry tomato plants, walked straight out to the garden, up came the catnip and in went the tomatoes. Here is what is left of the one catnip plant, that we did not plant in the woods.

He rolled it to death, and there it lies.

The garden is the poor man's apothecary. ~German Proverb

Peeling Away the Layers

     It has been a long time since I posted. Many things have happened since then. I got over Sickness Crud 2011, and came out basically unscathed with a minor sinus infection that was easily ousted by Senor Zithromax, compliments of the dear Dr. B.

     My husband made a 10 hour round trip journey to Rumford, Maine, to pick up my sister's old furniture to deck out our little nest. This thus, created a cleaning frenzy and a intense desire a perfect opportunity to shed ourselves of non-functional decor..a.k.a clutter.  When our children were young, we saved every stitch of artwork that they brought home, and it went on the wall with tacks, tape and whatever else we could find.
There it remained collecting dust, dirt and age. To be perfectly honest, it was OK in the beginning, but as time wore on it drove me bananas.

     Once the furniture was in place, it just magnified the need to paint the walls. Years of tobacco smoke had yellowed the walls, and dusting up there was never really high on my list of things to do. As I sat on the nice furniture surveying my chaotic walls, I made the decision to stencil.

     I was under the impression that stenciling was a rather simple task. Tape it up there, paint it and then take it down. So I had this brilliant idea that I would stencil "Live, Laugh, Love" on the beams. Ya right!!! I went to YouTube, for my online instructions to just about anything, watched the videos on stenciling, and the very next day, returned the letter stencil and the tiny jar of "stencil" paint, and exchanged it for a repeating pattern or rather a beginner's stencil and a bigger jar of paint.

     When we started we were under the impression that this would be a fairly easy job, nope!!, it took us four days to do two beams. You just can't blindly go stenciling. But it looked fantastic, and then inspired us to paint the walls. That is partly why, I haven't been around, because for the first time, in a really long time I am enjoying a clean living room.

     The weather is getting better here in Vermont, in fact I can see the ground and the annoying spring birds have returned to tweet noisily outside my window, far earlier than I would like. My son just turned 15 and now is eligible for a driver's permit. I am actually going to let my husband field that entire experience. I still look at my teenager and see that precious chubby cheeked toddler, and I am having a hard time grasping him operating a huge metal box with wheels. Perhaps I should sedate myself through the whole process.

     The youngest has his first small fry game tonight~so the being over scheduled season is upon us. Amazing, in the winter you can't wait for the warm weather, so you can rush out and overbook yourself for every activity there is, only to complain that you miss the quiet solitude of having nothing to do but watch the snow accumulate. I must admit at times I enjoy nothing to do, and at the same time enjoy the freedom of the nice weather and longer days.

     With Mother's Day on the horizon, I thought this would be a perfect time to remind my boys that it is merely one week away, and I do enjoy sparkly jewelry and  perfume step out of my Blogging hibernation, and come back to share more of my adventures in chefdom, motherhood and life.

Incidentally, this is my new super fantastically clean living room, devoid of any remaining hoarding type paraphernalia that I so lovingly threw out. :)

Early Childhood Education

Baby Sign Language


A baby's first word is not traditionally expected to be silent. However, after learning how beneficial it can be for your child to learn Sign Language at a young age, the idea may not seem so radical. A recent trend shows sign language is being used by much younger babies as a way to communicate with their parents, but the skill they are learning can and will help them with so much more.

Time to Bond

The benefits of early childhood education in signing are endless. In addition to giving kids a way to communicate, it also provides them with an opportunity to form a bond with their parent(s). The hope is that eventually it will become know as one of the "firsts" that no parent wants to miss, such as the first time they walked or their first tooth. Signing is likely to allow communication much earlier than verbally.

First Words

Ages 2 to five –are an ample time to educate children in different modes of communication and language because of their brain development course. This goes beyond the spoken word (though it is an optimal time for children to learn a second language); many young children have an aptitude for signing as well.

American Indian nations have used sign language for centuries to facilitate communication with other tribes with whom they do not share a language. Some paleontologists and anthropologists theorize that Neanderthals – who apparently lacked the vocal mechanism to produce many spoken words – depended a great deal upon hand gestures to communicate. Therefore it is not as strange as one would think.

In fact, recent research suggests that sign language is innate. An article published in the Boulder Daily Camera in 2003 presented strong evidence that babies as young as six months old communicate with their hands:

"...by 6 to 7 months, babies can remember a sign. At eight months, children

can begin to imitate gestures and sign single words. By 24 months, children

can sign compound words and full sentences. They say sign language reduces

frustration in young children by giving them a means to express themselves

before they know how to talk." (Glarion, 2003)

The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development are also referred to by the author, demonstrating that young children who are taught sign language at an early age whether at day care or at home, actually develop better verbal skills as they get older. The ability to sign has also helped parents in communicating with autistic children; one parent reports that "using sign language allowed her to communicate with her [autistic] son and minimized his frustration...[he now] has an advanced vocabulary and excels in math, spelling and music" (Glarion, 2003).

The ability to communicate articulately in a variety of ways and languages to the widest possible audience is a great way to stay ahead and ensure a decent standard of living in our suffering economic state. This is not limited to speaking different languages but also non-verbal communication: signing.

However, the shortage of qualified interpreters fluent in American Sign Language that has led to more career opportunities is dwindling– and if current trends continue, it's likely that skilled ASL interpreters will have little problem securing lucrative employment in a society where such a commodity is destined to be in short supply.

Co-written by Emily Patterson and Kathleen Thomas

Emily and Kathleen are Communications Coordinators for the network of Austin day care facilities belonging to the AdvancED® accredited family of Primrose day care schools.  Primrose Schools are located in 16 states throughout the U.S. and are dedicated to delivering progressive, early childhood, Balanced Learning® curriculum throughout their preschoolsAustin day care

Article was provided to me, to pass along to my readers~about the importance of education.

The Sweet and Sour of Life

"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but by the moments that take our breath away"


In Memory of Georgia M. Schultz
and dedicated to my parents, Richard and Marguerite Martin and my mother-in-law Edith Gould



Seasons change, people change and even menus change. It is the side effect of being a human. Change like the constant ebb and flow of the tide, washing away the worn lessons, making room for the new ones yet to be taught. Things happens in life unexpectedly, to comprehend it and thus accept it, comes much later.

Life is not convenient, it is a series of antes and all-ins. When something tragic happens, we retreat, reflect and remember. Reevaluating, re anting and finally beginning the resolve. Sickness pales the once strong, leaving only a memento of what was. Senseless tragedies speak heartbreaking goodbyes, for those that are left behind to pick up the pieces. A betrayal of trust can shake a town's bedrock, demanding answers and explanations. The ebb and flow of life brings in pain and joy. It is part of being in the game.

Truthfully only one line in an obituary deals with the death of an individual, the rest of the story centers around the amazing lives they lead. The accomplishments, the family and above all this the love. Facing a death of someone important in our lives, awakens a spiritual dimension in us, whether we consider ourselves spiritual or not. We question, is there a God?, and what is my new normal?  Pain is complicated, but it is just us that complicates it.

Let go of the mistakes that handicap you, surrender over disappointments that you hold close, it serves no purpose, but to hold you back from the person you were meant to be. It is so easy to get caught up in the things of this world, and feel the real sting of sadness. Life is so short on this earth, and no one knows when their journey will end. Don't wait, avoid the should-haves, be open to the noise and "Be The Glue" whenever possible.

Live each moment like it is your last moment,and give of yourself. Love your family, including the people that show up along your journey. Feel lucky in life and love, and never have any regrets. Wish on shooting stars, look for the pot of gold, at the end of the rainbow, and dance barefoot in the rain. You only have one shot at this life.

Accept each others faults and celebrate the differences. You may not like burned toast, but I do. Life is full of imperfections, learn to take the good with the bad and the ugly. If your friend is sad, you can choose to make them smile. If someone falls, you can choose to help them up. If your neighbor loses a loved one, you can choose to fix them a meal. If someone shuns you, you can choose to say a prayer for them. If I am on the edge, you can choose to grab my collar. If I wade in too far, you can choose to swim to me, if it seems as though I can bear no more, you can choose to bear it with me. Take advantage of your serendipity, before time runs out.

Life is simple, it's just not easy. ~Author Unknown

Wedding Bells

     Lots of planning and thought goes into, pitching who you are and what you do, to prospective brides. This time of year, vendors are getting together, to make the process of planning a wedding go smoother, for all involved. I personally, was married by the justice of the peace, because I know that stress does not suit me well. Watching others plan weddings, with the best intentions, still get out of hand.

     When I worked in a restaurant, there rarely was any construction of cakes done on site. It just wasn't that kind of establishment. Watching "Cake Boss" is not a good representation of your average wedding cake place. Those cakes are beyond expensive, and most couples don't want to fork out that kind of money. They are starting out a life together and that is expensive. I talking about my area (rural country Vermont/New Hampshire).

     All the cakes the bakery  makes, are from scratch, I can vouch for that because it plugs up the ovens. Nothing comes from a box, and all cakes are decorated with real butter cream, the kind with butter and sugar only. We even make marshmallow fondant for cakes. Some brides like a finished look and using fondant achieves that. It is a terrible place for someone on a diet, like myself. There are cake tops laying around and butter cream everywhere. It takes all I can do, to not stick my finger in the frosting.

     In order to convey to the brides what we do, Barb baked a gazillion mini cupcakes and Jasmine frosted a dummy cake. I thought that I would show you what a dummy cake was. The layers are made from Styrofoam and then covered in royal icing. The royal icing hardens like a rock, allowing for easy transportation. This way, besides pictures we have a tangible representation of an actual cake, up close and personal.

These are Jasmine's beautiful photos on her wedding day. It was the first weekend in September, and prime apple picking season. As you can see from the photo, the trees were pregnant with crisp, ripe apples. It was held at Scott Farm, which is a 626 acre property offering 70 varieties of apples and is listed on the National Register of Historical Places, and has been actively growing apples since 1791.

     Even the smallest details can keep a bride on edge. However on the "day" it all comes together and the world breathes a sigh of relief. On the afternoon of September 4th, it was stressful

for Jasmine's family. But a family is a family, and we get through things gracefully, as best we can. Leaning on each other, when your strength is gone, is what life and love is all about, we carry each other when the burden is far too heavy.

     It was the best wedding that we( my boys and I) ever had the privilege to be included in. All details came together, the food was delightful, the company enjoyable, but beyond that, the moment unforgettable. Everyone came away, with love in their hearts and the feeling that dreams do really come true. I still am grateful to have married Jeff Gould on October 20th, 1996 in Maggie Cassidy's living room with only my 9 month old son, Casey to witness. Fifteen years later, we still can find the humor in being human.

The bonds of matrimony are like any other bonds~they mature slowly.~Peter DeVries

Dieter's Guide to New Year's Resolutions.

  

Dieter's Guide to New Year's Resolutions



• All candy, including the stuff that you hid from yourself on Halloween,(hey, I do it, so I know other's do it) must go, even though Snicker's is the most perfect candy bar ever created, it has to go. Reluctantly give them to your skinny friends, they need help in gaining weight and I am an expert in that area.
• Don't be discouraged if you are ignoring the writing on the wall having a hard time with dieting. I understand that! We have indulged ourselves, without a thought of what we were doing. I don't know about you when I am tired, angry or just fed up I tend to give up.
• There is a plethora of information out there on dieting, that wait...changing changes depending upon the magazine you are reading.  Chances are if you are reading the article, you understand the idea of what you are reading. Just because we are fat does not mean we are stupid.
• Diets are not a death sentence. However, if you have had a steady diet of fast food it could put a ripple in your pond. The best defense, is to be informed, read as much as possible about weight loss.
• Water is a huge rule!!!, if you think about it just a little, water gets everything going or lubricated. Just like a plant needs water so does the human body. I get it, that water tastes like nothing and I hate it is hard to drink. I struggle daily. Forget about the taste, forget about what you are doing, just drink it as if your life depended on it(and it does).
• Regarding the water rule, you can buy the powders that are designed for a bottle of water, but I must warn you that those artificial sweeteners still have a tendency to cause weight gain, it alters our metabolism,we anticipate lots of calories when eating something sweet, and cooking something sweet is usually loaded with calories. But if you disrupt this sweet and calorie factor, people tend to eat more, thus resulting in a sluggish metabolism that stores instead of burning.
• Eat a rainbow, for some reason this statement has never left my vocabulary. Well that is a no brainer. Think about it, beige foods hey I just said beige foods can't carry much nutritious weight. Rainbow, let's just ponder that?, spinach, yellow peppers, carrots, red beets, zucchini, eggplant and blueberries, and that was just off the top of my head.
• Be gentle with yourself, if you fall off, get back on. This is the same advice we give our children. If we believe what we tell our children, we are obligated to follow our own medicine advice.
• Losing weight should not be a job, a bet or a resolution. It is a lifestyle change. It is a reworking of what we believed would work. I say this because, many of us including myself, have lost and gained weight. If I had a box to capture the loss and gain, I would be speechless.
• 
  
  
  Remember it is difficult to shut out advertising, what I mean by this is: sitting at home on a Tuesday night and being bombarded by Taco Bell, Wendy's, McDonald's, Olive Garden, Kentucky Fried Chicken, and Chili's advertisements. Again that was just off the top of my head.
• Do it for the betterment of your life! For me being able to walk around without pain is huge. Did you just read the insanity of that statement? So basic, does not cost any money at all, just time which in this day and age is equivalent to money.
• Adopt the "I hate diet food" mantra, only because it is NEVER GOING AWAY, if your doctor does not mention it, your friends and family will. It is what it is. I have learned to go to a happy place drinking a meal replacement shake. It is ok, not liking what you have to eat, it takes time, be patient grasshopper eventually you will desire nothing less. 
• The end result is, having a life worth living. Not being inhibited by what we need to do, and where we need to go. It is ULTIMATELY, up to the believer. If you believe that you can, you will. "Believe, and they will build it",take baby steps and breathe. Life is worth breathing about!!!
• Last step is having a safety net, I can be your safety net as well as you can be mine. Carpe Diem!!! I am human, I have no more answers than the next guy. I need friends and people that will say "Go!go!go! only 5 more pounds to go! and I am great cheerleader!!! This journey I will not go alone. I go with you. Yikes...I need a pepperoni calzone just kidding, a pillow, because I am tired...sweet dreams :)

A waist is a terrible thing to mind.~ Tom Wilson

Surviving Christmas

      Parents survival guide to Christmas:

• Locate the tape that you bought last year, it will be right next to the tape you bought the previous year, which will be in an area that you felt was a safe place to put it.
• Stop looking for the tape, and start looking for the @#$%@#%&*  car keys, that you left in the bathroom, because you just barely made it.
• Avoid Martha Stewart holiday wrap designer wrapping paper, HUGE waste of money. You won't spend ten dollars on a pound of good coffee, but you will on wrapping paper?, go to the dollar store, it rips the same.

• Stock up on the gamut of batteries. The AAA's, AA's, A's, the B's, C's, and the D's oh, and the 9 volt's. Word to the wise: Be sure to break into delicately open the RC car present and pull out the battery pack and pre-charge. Because we were not smart enough prepared for the sugar induced Christmas melt down.

• Don't involve any thought processes for any child over the age of 6. They are not paying attention, nor will they until like January 2ndish-3rdish or the day that they have to get up for school.
• For mothers of sons: Special rule..Don't hope expect your son to embrace hygiene at all during vacations. They are not interested. Unlike us girls, their upkeep never takes priority. Be patient grasshopper, you will get your day in the sun, the morning of the first day back to school.
• Just accept that on Christmas eve, unless you are some kinda God organized person, you will not get the kinda sleep you could get, like on a Wednesday in the month of March. No sleep, because your hyped up too. Worrying whether the stocking laying to the left will have less effect on your kid's reaction. It happens.

• The morning of Christmas, be sure that you have a direct access to coffee, because that is the only thing that will save your day difference between a good day and a bad day. Remember the battery rule.
• Stock up on the meds that us "older folks" just might need. Have a headache... Excedrin, Motrin, Aleve, Advil, Tylenol, whatever works the best for you. Tummy off...grab Pepto, Tums, Gaviscon, Prilosec, Zantac(my fav), Pepcid, Rolaids, Maalox, Mylanta and that is not all of them I am sure. About to cry ? over all the money that sits nestled under the tree...Kleenex, or my personal favorite Puffs Plus it's softer.
• Charge, and or refer to battery rule in respect to cameras. These images could be used as coercion at a later date.
• Anticipate that the bottom will can fall out of your plans at any time. Be ready to switch gears at any moment. In the case of my family, who is going to get the stomach flu? and where is the bucket? and did we buy ginger ale?
• Sleep late as possible, which leads me into nap whenever necessary. There is no shame in kicking people out to sleep. Because sleeping is fun.
• Valium~ if your not depressed now, you will be when the bills start coming in from your shopping haze. Tis the season to be oblivious, this can lead to above tip.
• Christmas should be fun, best described by the Christmas songs that play on the radio incessantly during the time leading up to the "Day". There is a very good reason why Christmas comes just once a year, otherwise the homicide rate would be a little higher.
• And the best for last, never , never, never, ASSEMBLE TOYS ON CHRISTMAS. This should have been done earlier. You are overtired, stressed, broke and waiting for great aunt Ida to arrive.

For fast-acting relief, try slowing down.~ Lily Tomlin