Daily Dose | Tis the Month Before Christmas

'Tis the month before Christmas, and all through the 'Net

Every creature is stirring, including our Vets;

Virtual shopping and wish lists are begun with care

In hopes that packages will soon be shipped there;

The children want everything they see,

While parents wrestle with decorations, stockings and tree;

And I in my pajamas, with mocha for a treat

Settle in for a long winter’s Tweet,

When out in the living room there arose such a clatter,

I sprang from the computer to see what was the matter.

Away to the front room, I flew like a flash,

Banging my toes and cursing balderdash.

The kids bouncing on the sofa like our dog the collie

Pointing to the television and the commercial ads and folly,

Santa Claus and his elves hard at work in their shop,

Creating toys and wonders from previous years at the top,

With video drivers, transformers and Barbie too

I knew in a moment just what to do

Sliding on the iPhone I sent text messages too

My husband, he laughed and called me a name

It was funny and jolly and little bit beyond tame

I waved to the kids and back to the computer I went

To share the experience in a tweet and vent

Moms and dad the world round

Nodded their heads at what I had found

For Christmas is coming in shops, commercials and decorated websites

And my credit cards are groaning … now what did I do with the lights!?

---

A lifelong writer turned author, Heather Long's first book Remembering Ashby is available for purchase at Sapphire Blue Publishing. Coming soon is the urban fantasy: Prime Evil. The Daily Dose explores books, television, writing and more -- all topics that Heather enjoys.

Lisa Plumley | Christmas Confessions

To me, the holidays have always meant family and friends, togetherness and good cheer, peppermint mochas and gingerbread cookies. But increasingly, the Christmas season can also mean traffic and crowded stores, stress and anxiety, heartburn and credit-card bills. Now more than ever, we're feeling the pinch. Our wallets are lighter. Our worries are many. But our hearts are still full.

And that gives me hope.

At the risk of sounding like a character from a Hallmark Channel TV movie, I believe it's possible to have a fantastic time at Christmas...even without miles of blinking LED lights, candy canes, and a huge pile of gifts under the tree. Because those things are all extras. They're just accessories. They're optional. You don't really need decorations or gifts or goodies at all.

A freaky idea? Not really. Because what matters right now is being with the people you care about--and all the extraneous Christmas stuff can actually be a distraction from that.

Think about it. Have you ever plowed through the mall, searching for exactly the right gift for someone special, only to come home exhausted...and snap at that special someone? (Oops.) Have you ever gotten so obsessed with pulling off a Martha Stewart-worthy tree-trimming that you sneaked one of your less show-worthy (but sentimental) ornaments to a hidden location in the back? (Guilty.)

Have you ever dragged yourself to a "Black Friday" sale at 4 AM, stayed up past midnight to assemble a new bicycle or pretend you were Santa, slaved over a fancy holiday feast with all the trimmings...then fallen asleep with your face in a basket of dinner rolls because you were too tired to keep going? (Umm...yes, mm-hmmm, and whoops.)

I've done a few of those things and more. Believe me, I'm not proud of it. But, like the heroine of my new book, Home for the Holidays, I've learned my lessons and I've moved on. I've discovered that there's a way out of the Christmas insanity! For me, it starts with lowering my expectations. It continues with making myself do less instead of more. It ends with me doing my best to stay, Zenlike, in the moment as it happens. Because while we're busy creating the picture-perfect holiday, sometimes the real substance of Christmas slips right by us. And nobody feels jolly about that.

So this year I'm scaling back, ramping down, and taking a few deep breaths. I'm planning to savor this Christmas--even the chipped, flawed, and otherwise imperfect parts of it. (Hey, that's how you snag the broken cookies. Bonus!) I hope you'll join me! Please tell me how you deal with Christmas craziness--how you find the joy in the everyday moments, even when you're trying to track down the last quart of eggnog within fifty miles for your holiday party and being blasted with "Last Christmas" by Wham! for the 2,497th time. Let's share!

Lisa Plumley
http://www.lisaplumley.com/
lisaplumley.wordpress.com

Susan Wiggs | Shopping

So I splurged a little on a dress for to wear to the tea. Never mind that I'll only be there "virtually." Sometimes the perfect dress is called for, even in cyberspace.

And okay, I splurged on the shoes, too. And, um, the bag. As a working writer, 90% of my clothes are the kind of thing you wear to clean out the garage. The other 10% of my wardrobe looks more like this. And how did I earn this hot little number?

See for yourself. This is a shot of me at a booksigning–yes, a booksigning–at a military base in Florida. The day was organized around an air show, and there were tables and booths set up in the hangars along the air strip. I found myself sharing a table with an army ranger and his pet, Roxanne the Snake. The ranger wanted me to hold his snake. I said no. I hid behind my tower of unsold books. He insisted, so I told him I would only hold his snake if I sold all these books. (I never sell out at a signing.) But people kept buying books, and I was down to 3, so the ranger bought them all and I had to make good on my promise to hold his snake.

The snake seemed to like me. The ranger did not, because I told him his snake felt like a purse.

Anyway. Here I am with Roxanne, smiling through my inner silent screams of horror, earning any damn dress I want. For life. So there:

Note that this shot is slightly blurry. Why? Because Mr. Manly-Man Husband of Mine was standing about Note that this shot is slightly blurry. Why? Because Mr. Manly-Man Husband of Mine was standing about fifty yards away, too afraid to come closer, so this is with the zoom lens. And, I admit, I was not exactly holding still.

Diane von Furstenberg has to get her inspiration somewhere, right?

So...where are your favorite places to shop on the Internet? My bookmarks point me to http://www.net-a-porter.com/, http://www.anthropologie.com/, http://www.smartbargains.com/, and http://www.endless.com/. Shop on!

Visit me on the Web! You can find me here: http://www.susanwiggs.com/, my blog is here: http://www.susanwiggs.wordpress.com/ and my photo show at http://www.susanwiggs.shutterfly.com/.

Susan Wiggs

The Charm School - May 1, 2008


Special bonus material–I spotted this on Story Broads:
I want a red dress.
I want it flimsy and cheap,
I want it too tight, I want to wear it
until someone tears it off me.
I want it sleeveless and backless,
this dress, so no one has to guess
what’s underneath. I want to walk down
the street past Thrifty’s and the hardware store
with all those keys glittering in the window,
past Mr. and Mrs. Wong selling day-old
donuts in their café, past the Guerra brothers
slinging pigs from the truck and onto the dolly,
hoisting the slick snouts over their shoulders.
I want to walk like I’m the only
woman on earth and I can have my pick.
I want that red dress bad.
I want it to confirm
your worst fears about me,
to show you how little I care about you
or anything except what
I want. When I find it, I’ll pull that garment
from its hanger like I’m choosing a body
to carry me into this world, through
the birth-cries and the love-cries too,
and I’ll wear it like bones, like skin,
it’ll be the damned
dress they bury me in.
–Kim Addonizio