1. Our weekend work event went really well. We got a lot of great data that will allow us to better help a lot of people in the future and benefited by being allowed to hear people’s stories. And I think the people who participated learned a lot and felt like they were able to help those who come after them, in addition to getting paid in a year when money is stretched thin for so many.
2. I had accepted that Saint Nicholas would not be visiting this year, but despite everything, he still managed to surprise me.
3. Despite it being a challenging period for self-care, I got up early over the weekend, treated myself to nice breakfasts, and got outside — one day for a bike ride and the other to read in the park — before my workdays began.
How about you? What’s been beautiful in your world lately?
Category: three beautiful things. There is/are Comments Off on success, surprise, and self-kindness.
Welcome back to the Virtual Advent Tour! I am today’s host, and in keeping with the mini theme we’ve been going on, I wanted to give you a few Christmas songs to listen to.
As I have written before, my dad and I have a long tradition of making annual Christmas mixes. Dad’s dates back to the tape era, and, while I made a couple custom Christmas tapes as gifts, mine is firmly anchored in the cd and digital realm. In fact, I shared my process for one of my very first Virtual Advent Tours, and I have shared songs off my mixes on occasion over the years.
This year, I’ve been auditioning music intermittently since mid-October and am still working on finalizing the track list. While I may share some of the new songs I’m considering later in the tour, today I thought I’d give you three songs that made it onto the 2019 cd.
“Every Little Light” by the Slambovian Circus of Dreams was the first song on last year’s mix, and inspired the cd’s title, Every Little Christmas Light. It feels even more appropriate this year than it did last year.
Finally, I’ve got Andrew Bird’s take on the carol “Oh Holy Night.” Andrew is a professional whistler and violinist, and I think his version is particularly moving.
Season’s greetings to you and yours! Welcome to Day 9 of the Virtual Advent Tour!
Christmas in the Burrow is starting to take shape. There’s a tree in my living room (albeit, still without lights or ornaments, although they are out). Fairy lights surround the perimeter of the room, casting a pink glow on everything, and more are in jars that start turning on just as the sun is going down. There are bags of gifts that need sorting, wrapping, and shipping (I predict this is where my downfall will come.), and cards and stationery supplies are in piles on and near the coffee table. I have extra bags of sugar and flour and two dozen eggs in the fridge, and I bought some new containers of Christmas sprinkles. Now I just need to track down the hardest thing to find at Christmas — time.
Welcome back to week two of the Virtual Advent Tour. I hope you are feeling … well, “good” definitely isn’t the right word for 2020, so maybe … at peace with changes this holiday season require. I admit that I’m struggling with finding balance this season, so peace remains elusive. But I get up each morning with the intention of figuring out a way to make it work well enough. That way, even if I fail, I’m closer than I would have been without trying, right?
But one thing I have not had to battle with this year is the Virtual Advent Tour. Thank you to everyone who wrote a post in week one, to those who have claimed dates coming up, and who have offered to write additional posts if I need them. I feel like this is one area this year where we’ve mostly found good balance.
And with that, I’m sending you off to Rudi’s Random Duck blog for a post for the 8th of December. He’s got some Fab Christmas tunes to help get your day off to a rocking start.
Today’s Top Ten Tuesday topic from That Artsy Reader Girl is a seasonal freebie, so I’ve decided to plumb my Goodreads to-read list and give you ten holiday titles that appear on my list. (In case you were wondering, I have more than 60 books that fall into that category I’ve yet to read.)
Mr. Dickens and His Carol by Samantha Silva
Murder for Christmas by Francis Duncan
Don’t Call Me Christina Kringle by Chris Grabenstein
The Santa Claus Man: The Rise and Fall of a Jazz Age Con Man and the Invention of Christmas in New York by Alex Palmer
The Great Christmas Knit Off by Alexandra Brown
On Strike for Christmas by Sheila Roberts
A Killer’s Christmas in Wales by Elizabeth J. Duncan
Sing We Now of Christmas, compiled by Michael Young
A Stubborn Sweetness and Other Stories for the Christmas Season by Katherine Paterson
An Idiot Girl’s Christmas: True Tales from the Top of the Naughty List by Laurie Notaro
How about you? Are there seasonal titles you’re hoping to read?
If you’re stopping by from the Top Ten Tuesday list, please make sure you check out our Virtual Advent Tour!
Welcome back! St. Nicholas did, in fact, visit me overnight, leaving bags of M&M’s in the shoes outside my apartment door. I was so surprised!
I have a tree, but it’s still trussed up in the hallway, since I discovered I had to tackle a few extra tasks before I could bring it into the apartment. By now those should be done, and I’ll bring the tree in before I start work. Nothing like a little exercise to start the workweek!
Today, we’re wrapping up (with a festive bow, of course) week 1 of the Virtual Advent Tour with a post from Kat at As Kat Knits. Head over to find out what surprises it holds!
