Harder than giving thanks, in my experience.

Part of the holiday season is saying thank you to those around you, and if you are religious then usually also in giving thanks in a more spiritual sense. We generally thank everyone who gives us a present, or a card, or even just good wishes for the Holidays. When I was a child I was even encouraged (read: not allowed to play with my presents until I had done so) to send personalized thank-you notes to all the gift-givers near and far. At this time of year saying thank you is easy, and practically automatic. It’s nearly a routine, just this side of losing all meaning beyond the social convention. However, that’s a post for another day.
continue reading "Accepting Thanks"

No really…

I am absolutely at a loss for what to write today. And even if I had any ideas, I’d be too distracted to write them. Holly is adorable, and I love her to death, but she takes a lot of time and attention. She is halfway to being housebroken already (I’m telling you, my puppy is brilliant) but I still have to watch her closely for signs of needing to go out. When I’m not watching to make sure she doesn’t mess in the house, I have to keep a close eye on what she’s putting in her mouth. Like all babies, everything she encounters goes in her mouth first (including dirt and pebbles *sigh*) and what goes in gets chewed on.

Currently, she’s watching my fingers type, with the most adorable expression on her face while sitting on my feet. Which probably means she’s about to start chewing on something, and the most likely candidate is my fingers. Puppy teeth are so darn painful!

Anyway, I hope everyone had a delightful Christmas, full of family and small fuzzy things and lots of good food and fun. Today’s post may be a bit light on substance, but Wednesday’s will be a bit more interesting, I hope.

Pictures of my little pup.

This Christmas, my husband and I adopted a new member of our family. Holly is a pure bred German Shepherd, and she is just about seven weeks old. She is the most utterly adorable, sweet and calm little puppy I’ve ever known, and completely fearless (though she worries whenever anyone leaves without her). As you can probably tell, I am entirely besotted (and exhausted). Naturally, a new puppy is a lot of work (almost as much as a baby, though not quite) and I’m more than a little distracted. I’m currently only able to concentrate enough to post because she is sound asleep after a big day romping with the in-laws’ big dogs.

So, today is a day of pictures.
continue reading "Holly: 11-4-10"

Sorta chain-letterish, but looks fun anyway.

Elle, author and all-around butt-kicker extraordinaire, tagged me with a blog meme, and I didn’t have anything much planned for today, so I thought I’d give it a whirl. It looked kind of fun. Enjoy!
continue reading "My Four"

Baking in memory of Grandma.

My grandmother was born of German immigrant parents, and even spoke some German at home as a very small child. One of the traditions she passed along to me is a love of Springerle cookies for Christmas. She did something to them to make them different from other Springerle recipes, and a few years ago she passed on both her recipe and the special rolling pin you use to make them. Last Christmas I was away from home and family and couldn’t continue the old tradition, but this year I’m home, so I’ve spent the entire afternoon making cookies of various types (hence the rather late post). Naturally of course, I want to share the tradition with all my lovely Readers.
continue reading "Traditions"

Every writer has one. Every one is different.

I wrote before about my Magic Writing Notebook(tm) but it occurs to me that some people might be interested in a more in-depth description of what is in it. The notebook itself isn’t really anything particularly special. Black, spiral-bound, with an elastic to hold it closed, most writers have something similar that they keep nearby. I chose mine because it felt nice in the hand and had an impression of a quill on the front, which I felt was nice and writerly. When this one is filled up, I will happily move onto a different book, keeping this one purely for reference. After all, the important bits are all the stuff that is inside.
continue reading "Magic Writing Notebook(tm)"