Footle and Grok

Messing about with empathy

A week of completion

Posted on by Jennifer Vandenberg

There is a week left in 2019.

How did your goals and resolutions go this year? Are they all completed? If not, can you finish them in the next week? If you can, do so.

Obviously, if you gained ten pounds from Halloween to Christmas, you aren’t going to meet your weight goals in a week. However, you could turn your diet around and get in the habit of drinking water instead of spiked egg nog. A week of healthy eating will improve how you feel on January 1st.

Perhaps you planned to declutter your house. A great way to do this is with your Christmas decorations. Instead of just stuffing them all in bins, look at each one wherever it is in your house and decide if you really like it. It might help if you take a picture of the item so you can study it carefully. If you display it out of habit, consider if you want to have it in your house next Christmas. When you are done, you should only have decorations that you love (and hopefully fewer boxes to store.)

You can do a lot in a week. If the kids are home, enlist their help. Make the resolution a family project, and it will probably go faster.

We’ll set new goals in 2020, so clear the 2019 table. (And write your thank you cards.)

Merry Christmas!!!

Posted on by Jennifer Vandenberg

I hope you have the best Christmas ever.

I listened to a different Christmas CD every day of December. Some I already owned and some I got from the library. Most years, I get my Christmas music from the radio or listen to the same two or three Christmas CDs over and over again. I wanted to broaden my listening experience, so I gave myself this challenge.

What I learned is when it comes to Christmas albums, there is good, bad, and really bad. I thought I would share my favorites. Perhaps you can check them out from the library and see if you like them too.

Six Christmas Albums Worth Listening to:

Let’s Sing a Song of Christmas* by Spike Jones. I’ve been listening to this album since I was a kid. It has great traditional carols and all the fun ones too. It’s hard to find the CD nowadays, but you can download it for only five dollars, so that’s a better deal.

Christmas Party by The Monkees. This was a CD I checked out of the library. I don’t mind music by the Monkees, but this album really surprised me. It’s great. The songs are familiar, yet have that Monkees vibe. It was a happy CD to listen to, and it’s my new favorite.

Any Bing Crosby Christmas CD. Bing Crosby’s rendition of “Silver Bells” is my favorite, and let’s not forget “White Christmas” (both the song and the movie.) If you are looking for traditional songs sung without any modifications, any Bing Crosby Christmas CD would be perfect. (I included a link for the one I own, but there are many to chose from.)

Christmas with the Rat Pack. I’m not a huge Frank Sinatra fan, but I do like Dean Martin. However, this Christmas album is fun. It has songs that aren’t found on a lot of albums, and they’re outstanding. “Christmas Time All Over the World” by Sammy Davis Jr. is my favorite.

Christmas SPEC-TAC-YULE-AR by 3 Redneck Tenors. I saw these guys perform in Branson, Missouri, several years ago. They were hilarious, and their music was fantastic. These three tenors are Julliard-trained and spread great music through humor. Their Christmas album is awesome.

Next year, try some new Christmas music. You might discover your new favorite song. Merry Christmas!

*The links are Amazon affiliate links.

 

And to all a good night

Posted on by Jennifer Vandenberg

Day 24 – On Christmas Day, ring bells to celebrate the birth of Christ. Such a glorious day calls for a glorious noise so ring all the bells you have loud and long.

While I think this is a good idea, I don’t know why I didn’t suggest something for today instead of tomorrow. Even though I always like to go bed early on Christmas Eve so Christmas Day can arrive sooner, there are a lot of things to do on the night before Christmas. (Check out these three websites if you want even more ideas.)

Christmas Eve Activities

  • Track Santa’s journey with the help of NORAD
  • Set up a craft table to keep the kids occupied
  • Set out cookies and milk for Santa
  • Exchange one small gift
  • Play Christmas music and sing along
  • Bring cookies to a neighbor
  • Read Luke, Chapter 2 about the birth of Jesus
  • Wear matching pajamas
  • Watch a Christmas movie
  • Go to a Christmas Eve service
  • Volunteer at a soup kitchen
  • Set up a hot cocoa bar
  • Do a random act of kindness
  • Take a picture of the family in front of the tree
  • Go to bed so Santa can arrive

Start a literary tradition

Posted on by Jennifer Vandenberg

Day 23 – Tonight, read a Christmas story. “The Gift of the Magi” by O. Henry is one choice, but there are many others. Perhaps you could pick a children’s story from the library and read it out loud to your loved ones.

In Iceland, everyone reads books on Christmas Eve. I think that is a lovely tradition, but we have our own, so why not read books today instead. Reading a Christmas story out loud to the family can build anticipation.

When I worked at Borders, I loved creating displays of Christmas books. I worked in the kids’ section, and there were a ton of books to chose from. Below I’ve made a list of some of my favorites.*

Picture books are not just for kids. They are fun stories that can be enjoyed by everyone. The pictures allow readers and non-readers to follow the story, so don’t skip them thinking they are just “kid’s books.” Plus, they can be read in one sitting, which fits perfectly in our busy lives.

If you have a favorite Christmas or Hanukkah book, let me know. I’d love to expand my collection.

Great books to read for Christmas (and one Hanukkah book)

  1. The Night before the Night before Christmas by Natasha Wing. I read this book every year. It is a fun take on the traditional poem.
  2. The Night Before Christmas by Clement Moore. This is the book that started our modern Christmas traditions and is fun to read in its entirety.
  3. Mortimer’s Christmas Manger by Karma Wilson. This is a sweet story with lovely illustrations.
  4. The Mitten by Jan Brett. She has a lot of Christmas books, but this is my favorite. It’s a sweet story with marvelous illustrations. There is a treasury of her Christmas books that I think should be on everyone’s bookshelf.
  5. Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins by Eric Kimmel. This is a great story no matter what you celebrate, but if Hanukkah is your holiday, this book shouldn’t be missed.

As I made this list, I kept finding books that I try to avoid. It grew so large that I had to share it. If you like these books, let me know in the comments. There are books for everyone.  Just, please don’t read these to me.

Books that I can’t recommend:

  1. “The gift of the Magi” by O. Henry. If you like this story, go ahead and read it. I prefer happier books.
  2. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. This is a case of the movie being better than the book (at least a lot of them.) There are scenes in the book that are not in most movie versions, and that’s okay. The message comes through loud and clear without reading the darker passages. (If you still want to read it, the link leads to a free (for now) Kindle edition.)
  3. The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg. This is a Christmas tradition for a lot of families, and that’s cool. Personally, this book makes me cry, so I skip it.
  4. How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss. I’m not a Grinch fan. I know that puts me in the minority, so enjoy this book if you want.
  5. The Nightmare Before Christmas by Tim Burton. In my world, this is a Halloween story, but again I know I’m in the minority. There is a lovely picture book, but I’ll just watch the movie in October.

I hope you find a special book to read to your family. I recommended this at the end of the month, but next year you could start earlier and read several stories, or one longer one that takes several nights to finish.

* The book links are to my Amazon affiliate account. This is an experiment. I’m trying to monetize my blog. I don’t want to annoy you with ads, so I’ll see if this works. I’d love for you to get these books from the library (please support your library,) but if you do want to buy them, clicking on the links helps me with no cost to you.

Animals were there first

Posted on by Jennifer Vandenberg

Day 22 – Today, do something kind for an animal: put some birdseed out, walk a pet a little longer, give some money to your favorite animal charity, etc.

Every nativity scene I’ve ever seen has animals in it. This makes sense since it takes place in a stable where the animals live. Plus, there are all those sheep that the shepherds wouldn’t have left behind.

I have two nativities. My smaller one that was a gift from my husband has only seven pieces. They left out the shepherd but included a sheep. That is how important animals are.

If you think about it, Jesus was already born when the shepherds arrived. Therefore, the first ones to see the baby, after Mary and Joseph, would have been the animals that lived in the stable (and probably ate from the manger where Jesus was sleeping) and the donkey that brought them to Bethlehem.

If you like to cry, watch “The Small One,” a Disney featurette about the donkey that carried Mary to Bethlehem. I only saw this movie once and remember bawling uncontrollably, so I’ll skip it, but it’s sweet to watch a familiar story from a different point of view. Remarkably, you can see this on Amazon Prime but not Disney+.

Rather than watching a sob story, you can do something nice for the animals in your life. Buy them a new toy. Give an outdoor cat a warm bed. Buy your fur babies a special treat. Christmastime can be stressful for pets so make sure you take good care of them.

By the way, I never see dogs and cats in nativity scenes, but I assume they were there. Shepherds use herding dogs and cats hunt mice in areas where there is hay, so I think they should be represented too.

A gift for everyone

Posted on by Jennifer Vandenberg

Day 21 – Today, show more patience than normal. God has a lot of patience with us, so work on showing a little to those who need it most.

It’s the Saturday before Christmas, and I imagine a lot of people are going to shop today. Dealing with crowded parking lots, harried retail employees, and long lines can fray anyone’s patience.

Instead of feeling justified in letting out your frustration, remember that everyone is in the same situation, and they all want to be doing something different. Long lines don’t have to be frustrating if you smile at people around you and remember that it will eventually be your turn. Cashiers will still be harried, but they will be nicer to you if you acknowledge their efforts. Everyone responds well to a complement.

So have patience today with everyone you meet. You’ll find that you feel better and the people around you will feel better too. Patience is a gift to everyone that we should give every day.

“Patience is not simply the ability to wait – it’s how we behave while we’re waiting.”

Joyce Meyer

You can never have too many ornaments

Posted on by Jennifer Vandenberg

Day 20 – Tonight, turn off the TV and everyday lights, and eat by Christmas tree lights. Talk about why this tree is the best tree ever.

Yesterday, I wrote about the history of Christmas tree lights, and on my second podcast episode, I talked about the science of Christmas trees. (Have you heard the Footle and Grok podcast? You can listen and subscribe here. Thanks!) So today, I want to give you instructions to make a fun, easy, and festive Scandinavian Fabric Stars. (Click here for instructions.)

If you’re having a Christmas party, these ornaments would make a lovely party favor. Or you could cut the strips ahead of time and have everyone make their own. They look complicated but are simple and fast. Below are the ones I made with leftover Christmas fabric. You could use any fabric you have in your stash, and it would look great.

If you want to combine this idea with today’s activity, make the ornaments with your family before dinner and then place them on the tree with all the house lights off. As you eat, you can admire your new and old ornaments.

Brighter and cheaper

Posted on by Jennifer Vandenberg

Day 19 – Tonight, take a walk through a neighborhood and admire the Christmas lights. Come back home and have hot chocolate with mini marshmallows in it.

I love putting lights on my house, and I love seeing other decorated homes. It’s such a happy sight. I also love learning cool history, and the history of Christmas lights is both surprising and totally expected.

In a round-about way, we can thank Thomas Edison for Christmas lights. (I found a great article on Smithsonian.com that shared this story.) Edward Hibbert Johnson helped get Edison’s inventions in front of the public. He toured with the phonograph, charging people to hear this modern marvel. In 1880, Johnson invested heavily to form a company with Edison to sell light bulbs because they knew it would be the next big thing.

The Christmas tree came to England thanks to Prince Albert in 1841. The idea soon spread to the United States. President Franklin Pierce had one in the White House in 1856, and by the 1870s, they were common in stores and homes. Ornaments were plentiful, but the lights on the trees were candles, and that was a real fire hazard.

Back to Edward Johnson. In 1882, he set up a Christmas tree in the window over Edison’s shop at 136 East 36th Street in New York City. He strung 80 hand-wired red, white, and blue light bulbs on the tree. To add to the electrical magic, he put the tree on a rotating pedestal. To make sure everyone knew about his lighted spectacle, he invited a reporter to see it.

People gathered at 136th Street to see this remarkable tree. Johnson continued the tradition, adding more bulbs each year. While he put electric lights on his tree above Edison’s shop, electricity was not widely available, and the lights were expensive. (really expensive.)  In 1900, a strand of 16 lights sold for $12 ($350 today.) However, people wanted these lights, and more and more were sold. By 1914, a 16-foot string cost $1.75. As electricity spread, so did Christmas lights.

About 150 million boxes of lights are sold in America each year. These lights decorate about 80 million homes. Take some time to wander around your neighborhood and town and admire a tradition that started with American ingenuity. Don’t forget the hot chocolate.

Make a merry connection

Posted on by Jennifer Vandenberg

Day 18 – Tonight, call someone you haven’t talked to in a while. Wish them a Merry Christmas and tell them to do the same to someone else.

I do not like talking on the phone, so if I was writing this activity today, I would suggest connecting with someone in whatever way works for you. I just had a friend message me on Facebook. I haven’t talked to him for a few months, and now we’ve reconnected. It was lovely of him to reach out.

Because that’s what is important, right? Reaching out. How you do it isn’t important. Write a letter, send an email, use Morse code* (if that works for you and your friend), or if you want, pick up the phone. It’s a great gift that costs nothing but can mean the world to the person you are connecting with.

*I have included a website if you want to learn Morse code. I loved learning it as a kid, although I don’t remember most of it. If you think there is no use for Morse code, think again. Morse code bracelets are a fashionable way to wear your name or endearment.

Just say yes

Posted on by Jennifer Vandenberg

Day 17 – Say yes to a crazy request. Does someone want you to have a snowball fight? Say yes. Enjoy doing things you don’t normally do.

One of the hallmarks of time management is learning to say no to things that are not priorities in your life. I believe this is a good idea. Many of us say yes to every volunteer invitation and every urgent request even if it gets in the way of our own plans. We all need to learn that no is not a bad word.

However, yes can be fun if you let it be. Instead of stressing that the laundry won’t get done if you go to the movies, remember that laundry never ends but Christmastime does.

So, during this time of gift-giving, let the little things go and make someone happy by doing whatever crazy thing they want to do. You can practice saying no in 2020.