Planning for the Holidays

If you’ve been to any store lately you’ve seen that the holiday decorations have hit the stores. It’s the time of year that puts everyone in a good mood until the time that the family arrives on your doorstep. Then of course, the rush is on to get it all done in time. If you’re anything like me and my family, there are always last minute trips to the store to get everything that is needed for the dinner and the delivery of presents.

Now is the time to plan out your whole event. You should know now whether you are traveling to a relatives’ for the holiday or even just for dinner. It’s a good time to start planning your menu’s and your presents for the people on your list.

Here are a few things to make your holidays run a bit smoother:

1. Write a list of each person who is to receive a present. If you need to draw names, make it happen via email this week.  Then select a budget for each person and draw the cash out and put it in envelopes. Make a vow to stay within the budget you’ve set.

2. Start by perusing the catalogs. It’s an easier way to shop. There are so many catalogs on line now so shopping on line will help you stay away from that crazy holiday rush.

3. Shopping in one place certainly saves time, and places like TJ MAX and Marshalls are old favorites and do carry affordable items for the whole family.

4. Once you’ve gotten the shopping done, it’s time to start the decorating.  I usually purchase a few magazines specifically for the holidays and do one art project that will last. It’s been fun to see  my projects through the years that took a day to make, but have been in our family for years. If you’re “crafty” enough, then these items make excellent gifts for your friends and neighbors. Presents like pinecone wreaths or candle covers are easy, fun to make and last for years.

Kids Christmas Activities And Games

5. Next, comes the cooking! This is the one that seems like it should wait, but in realty it’s a great time to start right now! We still have a few weekends before Thanksgiving and those early Saturday mornings are a great time to bake up and decorate holiday cookies and bars. In addition, homemade jellies and jams make excellent holiday gifts to share. My personal favorite is Hot Jezabel. I make it with pineapple and apricot jelly, horseradish, dry mustard and black pepper. It is delicious on top of cream cheese with crackers. Put in a cute jar, with a box of crackers, the recipe in a basket makes an affordable and delicious gift.

6. Get your kids dressed and head to the nearest hotel lobby for a beautiful holiday picture!  Sure, you can go to a studio and spend upwards of $100, or you can get dressed and go to a nice hotel where you can take a picture that is classy and will impress your friends!  Get them printed at Walmart and you’re good to go for your holiday newsletter and card!

7. Last but not least, understand that the holidays are some of the most stressful times of the year. If you have a family and are traveling or entertaining, you need to schedule some time for relaxing without doing anything. Book your manicure ahead of time or a fun cookie exchange evening out with the gals in advance.

Then kick back and enjoy the time this year. If you plan ahead this year, like you SAID you would last year, you’ll be able to relax and enjoy the holidays creating memories, instead of stress!

Organizing For The Holidays

Take some of the stress out of the holidays by getting organized now. The key to holiday organizing is to start early, take baby steps, and make lists (i.e. gifts, budget, meals, cards, etc.). Now is also the time to go through clothes, toys, and other household items to make room for the presents soon to come.

Greeting cards can almost cause as much stress as shopping. Plan to complete your cards over a week or two. Gather all your letter-writing materials before you start, and keep them in one place until you finish. If you like to send a general update along with a personalized note, write that first. Then add a personal touch to a couple cards a day, and you will be finished in no time.

Becoming A Professional Organizer.

Before you ever step foot in a store, have everyone make gift lists (including stores). This way you can give to others what they want instead of something that will become clutter to them. Plus, you have one less decision to make. Make shopping easier by setting a deadline so you can enjoy the holiday season. The earlier you start and finish your shopping, the shorter the lines and better the selection. When you can, shop odd hours for a less hectic experience; avoid malls and post offices on the weekends if possible. Shop online when applicable. If you do not know what to get someone for a holiday present, think consumable; a consumable gift will probably not go to waste or add to the clutter. You can even have everyone contribute to a group meal or activity, or you can set up a Secret Santa exchange. When it comes time for wrapping, create a separate space with all necessary supplies so you can wrap easily and quickly, if necessary. For extra-large gifts, use a paper, holiday tablecloth for wrapping paper.

Do not overwhelm yourself by cleaning the house from top to bottom; concentrate on the public areas. Guests will appreciate your hard work and still be able to enjoy your company. If you tend to decorate similarly from year to year, take a picture of your decorations to speed the process next year. Prepare for unexpected guests; keep an inventory of quick food items such as cheese and crackers, tea and coffee, frozen cookies, etc. For your planned gatherings, allow enough time for cleaning, cooking, and decorating by counting back from the time of your party. Keep meals simple or ask guests to bring a dish to reduce your preparation time and stress. Delegate or ask for help with some of these activities; it will take a little of the stress off you and may even turn several of the chores in to fun.

Once all the festivities have passed, the idea of cleaning up and taking down the decorations may invite some of that stress back into your life. Stop it in its tracks – have an informal “undecorating” party. Most chores take less time and are more fun when you have friendly company and a couple extra hands. When it comes to Christmas decorations and supplies, use appropriately sized storage containers that are sturdy and label, label, label! A couple extra minutes at the end of this season could save hours when it is time to decorate next year. This is also a good time to update your card list while everything is fresh in your memory. If it turns out you forgot someone this year, you can always send a New Year’s card.

Just remember, the holidays are about friends, family, and fun. Take the stress out of holiday preparations and enjoy the good times by preparing early, asking for help, and keeping it simple.

Holiday Blues Are Just Around The Bend

Holidays, such as Thanksgiving and Christmas, are usually the most awaited events of the year. It is a time when families gather for a reunion with relatives and friends. While it is a time for gift-giving and merry-making, it can also be a source of stress and depression. During these times, when the whole world is in a spirit of celebration, there are some people who can only wish there were loved ones nearby to share the season with. Think about the senior citizens in welfare homes, those convicts in jail houses, the doctors and nurses who are on duty and cannot come home to be with their loved ones. There are those whose loved ones are long gone or have recently departed and coping with their loss can be unbearable during this season. Even the loss of job during this time can cause depression. Being hard-pressed to buy presents for loved ones can lead to stress and anxiety.
Keeping humor up and having realistic expectations help a great deal in being in tune with the holiday spirit. The National Mental Health Association recommends that you take care of yourself first and foremost. Setting realistic goals for the holidays and keeping your expectations simple for yourself and everyone else is the key to avoid stress and anxiety brought about by the occasion. Do not make the mistake of spending more than you can afford to avoid facing a huge credit card debt after the holidays that can certainly lead you to more troubles and worries. Since the holidays last for more than one day, pace yourself and spread your activities throughout the season.

Creative Youth Ideas Christmas Collection

Don't spend the holidays confronting relatives about past conflicts, but instead, extend grace and show kindness to forgive and forget. Holidays are not a good time to tell your parents your hurts for their neglect. If you want to resolve issues, wait till after the holidays to bring them up again. That doesn't mean you should bottle up all your feelings. Seeking out a sympathetic family member or friend can go a long way in keeping your sanity.
 While overindulging on sweets and carbohydrates may feel comforting at the time, the after effects can make you moody later. Same with drinking alcohol to excess. Try to continue your fitness regimen to burn off the calories from the holiday dinner.  If you don't have time to go to the gym, take a long walk with a friend to alleviate some stress.

 For those who don't have close friends or relatives nearby with whom to share the holidays, reaching out to others may make you feel more in tune with the holiday spirit. Try to volunteer help to someone who can't get out to shop, serving food in a soup kitchen, or inviting over other friends who are far away from family may make you feel less lonely.
Be wary of family members who are using more than normal amounts of alcohol, pain medications, or sleeping pills. Be vigilant when someone is acting confused, can't concentrate, seems lost in the midst of family affairs, or can't seem to stop crying.

 Feelings of despair or apathy that don't go away for two weeks or longer may lead to depression and needs professional help. The typical symptoms of depression include a sense of hopelessness, boredom with or lack of enjoyment in activities that were previously pleasurable, changes in appetite and sleep patterns, thoughts about suicide, and difficulty concentrating.
The National Mental Health Association reminds us about life being full of changes. “Consider what is important in your life and the good about these times.” Experience will tell you that those who've had the holiday blues in the past that they usually subside once you jump back into a regular routine.

Give Me Some of those Holiday Homecoming Blues

With the drop in temperature comes a certain dawning, the formation of a certain mood. Most people tend to associate the Holidays with drops in temperature and colder weather, but this is the general comfortable cold and not the frigid chill of deep winter. It is also during these days that normally sane and stable people can end up going into a bit of a panic, with all the last-minute shopping and the “I can't think of a gift” relatives. For the most part, all this stress and borderline insanity is pretty much worth it once the dust settles. The Holidays, with all the reunions and homecomings that come with them, can be a source of some truly unexpected amounts of stress and anxiety, usually from the same general sources.

Students coming home from their first year in college tend to cause quite a bit of pressure and stress on the parents who are going to receive them. There's quite a bit of getting used to, for one thing. Teenagers coming home from college for the first time have also been away from home for the first time. Having gotten used to living without parental interference, they can often cause a lot of tension when they behave like the independents they perceive themselves to be while the parents would rather still have them under their control. Parents making themselves seem unable to really accept that their child is not the same person that left their home the year before can often end up fighting short bouts of depression, though anger is also a common response. However, defiance of parental authority is not the only aspect of a family relationship that can get stretched during the season.

Christmas Light Business Package & Training Video

Stress and anxiety also come into play in the preceding days, particularly the period where preparations and gift shopping enter the “critical zone.” There are expectations to be fulfilled and images to maintain, which some Eastern peoples might associate with the concept of “face.” The drive to make sure each and every little detail fits a certain image or projects a certain image that the decorator wants it to can become a major source of stress in some communities. This can be compounded further if the decorator is intent on making things perfect for visiting family members, such as kids who have been off to college or close friends who have been working overseas.

All this pressure and over-extending stress is clearly a negative thing. The effects generally pass once the Holidays are over, but certain situations can take time to really sink into the average person. The Holidays are the times when people come home after a prolonged absence and hope to find everything untouched and unchanged from when they left. Yet, they come to realize that they're not the same people as when they left and little things they missed, like the way their room was decorated or where their favorite little trinket from childhood was placed, have changed. The adjustments can take time because both parties don't inform each other of these changes, which may seem insignificant to one side, but can have impact on the emotional health of the other.

Getting Into The Holiday Spirit

What comes to mind when you think about the holidays?

Do you groan, feeling burdened by all you have to do? Do you dread going shopping for gifts or cleaning up after a Christmas or Chanukah celebration?

Or, do you feel a sense of fun, of delight, of joy in the celebrating, giving and receiving?

Which part of you is in charge of the holidays – your judgmental self or your loving self?

 Think for a moment about the little child in you – the child that loved the holidays. What delighted you about Christmas or Chanukah? Most kids are really excited about receiving gifts, but many children also feel equally excited about giving gifts. Did you enjoy decorating your house?

Or, were the holidays a sad time, a time of heartbreak due to not having enough money? Or a time of loneliness due to the loss of a loved one? Were they a time of stress in your family? Was there abuse around the holiday time?

Whatever the situation of the past, you have an opportunity now, as an adult, to give your own inner child the Christmas or Chanukah he or she wants and deserves. You have an opportunity to move into gratitude for what you have rather than anxiety for all you have to do. Instead of choosing to dread or resist the holiday spirit, why not open to it, embrace it, feel the grace of it?

Let the child in you do the shopping for gifts. Let the child in you receive the delight of picking out just the right gift for a friend or loved one. Or let the child in you find some way to give, some way to share your love. Even if you are alone or poor, instead of feeling sorry for yourself, find a way to give your caring to someone who has less than you.

Christmaths: A Creative Problem Solving Math Book

The holiday spirit is about gratitude and giving. Take the opportunity to notice how fulfilling it is to joyously give rather than to resist or be angry about the work involved.
Take this opportunity to discover how full your heart feels when you choose to feel grateful rather than grumpy.

Feelings come from thoughts. If you choose to think, “Oh no, the holidays are here already. There is just too much work to do,” you may feel anxious and overwhelmed. If you choose to think, “What a drag to have to go out and buy presents,” you may feel resentful. If you choose to think, “Another holiday season and I am still alone,” you may feel depressed. If you choose to think, “This is just a commercial holiday so business can make money,” you may feel angry.

However, if you choose to think, “How can I make this fun?” you may feel excited. If you choose to think, “How can I give to others this holiday?” you may feel open hearted. If you choose to think, “I get to buy things for the people I love,” you may feel grateful.

So who do you want to be this holiday season? You can choose to be a Grinch, close-hearted and angry about Christmas. You can choose to be tense, anxious, judgmental, depressed, fearful, withdrawn, or resistant.

Or you can choose to be happy, peaceful, excited, grateful, loving, open hearted, and joyous. It is all up to you. How you feel is the result of how you choose to think about the holidays.

Why not try an experiment this holiday?” Refuse to allow negative thoughts. Instead, make a list of positive thoughts and as soon as a negative thought comes up, imagine changing channels on a TV, switching to the positive channel. Then notice how you feel!

All About Santa Claus

It's only fitting that since Santa Claus has the magnificent capability to visit homes around the world in a single night that more than one place would claim to be his home. It's common belief that Santa hails from the wintry North Pole, but folks in Finland will also tell you that Santa calls that country his home. To prove it, the Finns will even invite you to visit Santa in his workshop before Christmas or during the year and talk with Santa Claus as he and his elves busy themselves for their end-of-year Christmas expedition around the globe.

    The popularity in America today of the images and legend of Santa Claus can be traced to the poem, 'Twas the Night Before Christmas,' that was written by Clement Clarke Moore in 1822. In that poem, Moore described St. Nicholas as a jolly fellow who flew from house to house in a sleigh pulled by reindeers and waited for children to go to bed on Christmas Eve before he came down the chimney to deliver Christmas presents for them.

Following the distribution of that poem, the popular magazine Harper's Weekly published cartoons by Thomas Nast between 1863 and 1886 that depicted Santa as a cheerful fellow with a large round belly and long white beard who wore a bright red suit that was trimmed with white fur. In those cartoons, Santa also held a sack, which was filled with toys for boys and girls, over his shoulder. The
cartoons also showed Santa reading letters from good boys and girls, working in his workshop with his elves, checking his list to make sure he had all the required toys and even showed his wife, Mrs. Claus.

The tradition of Santa Claus was brought to America however by Dutch colonists who settled in New York City, which was called New Amsterdam at the time. The real St. Nicholas is said to be a minor saint from the 4th Century with a reputation for generosity and kindness that gave rise to legends of many miracles that he performed for the poor and unhappy. One of the stories about the legend of St. Nicholas is that he saved three poor girls who were sisters from being sold into a life of slavery or prostitution by their father. According to the legend, Santa Claus provided the girls with a dowry so that they could get married.

The legend of St. Nicholas led to hundreds of people being devoted to him and consequently thousands of European churches became dedicated to him. After the Reformation period however, widespread practice and worship of St. Nicholas disappeared in European countries that were Protestant, except in Holland where the legend of St. Nicholas continued. St. Nicholas was known as Sint Nikolaas but that was later corrupted to Sinter Klaas.

Dutch colonists took this tradition of Sinter Klaas to New York City where it was adopted using the Englist name of Santa Claus. Over time, the Dutch legend of the kindly saint was combined with old Nordic folktales about a magician who punished naughty children and rewarded good ones with presents to give rise to the stories that now exist about Santa Claus.

The red and white-trimmed suit of Santa Claus is believed to be the colors that the original St. Nicholas worebecause red and white were the colors of the robes worn by traditional bishops. It is also believed that the Coca Cola Co. played a role in what is regarded as the popular look of Santa Claus today through paintings by artist Haddon Sundblom that were placed in some of the company's
advertisement between 1931 and 1964.

All About Rudolph and Santa's Other Reindeers

Maybe it's the undeniable alliterative appeal of Rudolph the Red-Nosed reindeerthat makes him the most known or popular of all Santa's nine flying reindeers. It certainly doesn't seem as easy to come up with a similar catchy descriptionfor the others - Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner and Blitzen - as named in the song.

The story of Rudolph whose glowing red nose made him a standout, first appearedin 1939 when Montgomery Ward department stores distributed about 2.4 millionbooklets with the poem in the form of a story about "Rudolph the Red-NosedReindeer." It was written by Robert L. May, who worked in the store'sadvertisement or marketing department, to be used to attract more people intothe store. When the booklet was reissued in 1939, sales soared to more than 3.5million copies. But it wasn't until a decade later, in 1949, that the storyreally gained immense popularity when Gene Autry sang a musical version of thefable. As a Christmas song, it is second only in popularity to 'WhiteChristmas.'

Rudolph, the ninth reindeer whose lighted nose guides Santa's sleigh through thenight, is now known worldwide as the song has been translated into more than 20different languages and an animated television movie has also been based on thestory. Rudolph and his noticeable nose have also become the subject of jokes and sparked more interest in reindeers which has led to much research into Santa andthe flying reindeers who pull his sleigh through the sky.

Along with the catchy rhythm of the lyrics, Rudolph's story is also appealingbecause of the moral lessons it contains. As the story goes, Rudolph was ostracized by the other reindeers, which laughed and teased him about his shiny red nose. But on a foggy night, when Santa must have been concerned that he maynot be able to deliver his Christmas gifts around the world, Santa spotted himand kindly asked if he would step to the front as the leader to 'guide my sleigh tonight.' His shiny red nose would after all be very useful in lighting the way, Santa thought. From then on 'all of the other reindeers loved him," and rightly predicted that he 'would go down in history.'

Among the moral lessons the story can impart is that an attribute that is perceived as negative or as a liability can be used for a positive purpose, or, become an asset. It also makes the point that an individual should not let the negative behavior of others define him or her and limit expectations of what can be achieved. And it also illustrates how quickly opinions and attitudes about a person can change.

The question still lingers however of where Rudolph came from. He is commonly regarded as the son of Donner (or Donder), one of the original eight reindeers. But the Snopes.com site rejects this however, saying that he dwelled in a reindeer village elsewhere and it was there that he was seen by Santa who had already started on his Christmas Eve journey to deliver gifts. And in a more
modern evolution of the story according to Wikipedia.com, an animation by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) introduced a son, named Robbie, of Rudolph. That son has now become the tenth reindeer.

It's also interesting to note that the idea of Santa's sleigh being pulled by reindeers was originated in the poem, 'Twas The Night Before Christmas.' That poem tells the story of St. Nicholas, who is Santa, calling his eight tiny reindeers by their names, as previously mentioned, just before he came down the
chimney of a house to start filling the stockings from a sack full of toys he carried on his back.

Christmas in African Nations

Christmas celebrations in African nations is characterized by much outdoor activity because the season often occurs during a time when the weather is pleasant. Using palm trees and participating in
processions are also characteristic features of activities related to Christmas in many parts of Africa.

 In South Africa, activities that occur outside during Christmas
include the usual caroling, but also the unusual ones of swimming and
camping. The beach and mountains play an important role during
Christmas in South Africa because the season occurs during the hottest
time of the year - summer.

  Given the pleasant nature of the weather during Christmas, families also take advantage of it by often going sightseeing in the countryside on a relaxing drive in the late evening of Christmas Day. A
rich and sumptuous menu that includes a suckling pig or roast beef, turkey, mince pies, yellow rice, vegetables and puddings usually makes up the traditional South African Christmas dinner.

    To create a festive environment, decorated pine branches and fir, sparkling cotton wool and tinsel are used in homes and businesses as decorations.

    A similar decorative pattern of using evergreen, palm trees and lighted candles are also seen in countries such as Ghana and Liberia. While these are used in homes and businesses, they are also often carried in processions and during caroling activities.

    While South Africans gather at the beach during Christmas time to enjoy the warm summer waters, people in other African nations often gather outside at in town squares and in the streets to march, sing and enjoy an overall feeling of merriment.

    Despite the seemingly general similarity in activities, however, countries have their own individual style that makes Christmas celebrations unique.

    Of all the celebrations in African nations, Christmas activities in Ethiopia stand out for their difference in when they are celebrated and how it is done. One of the features that make Ethiopian Christmas different is that the main celebratory event occurs    on Jan. 7, around the time known as the Epiphany or Three Kings Day in North and South America.

    Given the general modest economic financial situations of a significant number of the population in many African countries, Christmas celebrations also tend to occur over a shorter period of time, compared to activities in more wealthier countries.

    Another difference in celebrations of Christmas in Ethiopia is the participation of various people who take part in a pilgrimage and converge on the capital city during Christmas Eve. These wanderers fill the night air with a din of praying and chanting and create a multi color spectacle when they gather on Christmas morning to have a religious service.

    But retaining a similarity with other African nations, Ethiopians enjoy a Christmas dinner that includes a meat stew. Stews, rice, root vegetables such as yams, breads and soups often are part of the menu of traditional Christmas day dinners in African nations.

    Christmas dinners are likely enjoyed by families outside, where everyone shares the meal while sitting in a circular pattern outside under the shade of a sprawling tree, instead of sitting in a formal
setting at a table.

    As is the practice in every household during Christmas, Africans also exchange gifts. Popular items that are exchanged as Christmas gifts include cotton cloth, soaps, sweets, pencils and books, all very practical items that can be readily used. Again, this may be related to the modest financial resources of up to half the population in many African countries, as well as to cultural norms. Individuals aren't able to afford extravagant gifts but they still want to surprise

10 Ways Music Can Help You During The Holidays

This might be a time of year where you’re looking for, oh, some different ways to soothe, level, motivate, energize yourself and otherwise get on top of your cascading emotions. The EQ Foundation Course© emphasizes the great arts as an adjunct to Emotional Intelligence, though the not-so-great are helpful too. May we suggest?

1. Need to get solidly centered

Like, as the metaphysicians say, when you vision yourself growing a tail and having it grow like an anchor down to the center of the earth kind of centered?

Try anything with a big solid bass, up loud, but make sure the lyrics don’t interfere. The right-brain will dominate and you’ll hear the music first, but your left-brain will still be getting the lyrics. Therefore avoid, for instance, "Oh Elizabeth" with it's solid beat but sad lyrics.

OUR SUGGESTION: “I Loved ‘Em Everyone,” by T. G. Sheppard

2. Need to deal with something heavy, such as last year your father died on Christmas Eve and here comes the first anniversary

OUR SUGGESTION: Only classical music will work for this and that’s why we call it classical. For such a deep need, to maintain your grip when something’s rocked the foundation of your world, we recommend, Beethoven’s “Eroica”.

"Eroica" means "heroic" and that you will need to be. Beethoven lived through the worst thing that can happen to a person. It’s there, in his music. For you.

3. To get lightly level

OUR SUGGESTION: Nothing will probably ever compare to Pachelbel’s "Canon". After that we give 5 stars to George Winston, particularly “December.” Good masseuses play these tapes. There are no ups and downs and that may be just what you're aiming at. :)

4. To rip the heart out of Christmas, like when you want to just sit down in front of the tree and cry at the beauty and the splendor of it all and get it over with and then eat a pint of Haagen Daz and go to sleep.

OUR SUGGESTION: Pavorotti's Christmas video (www.youtube.com), Panis Angelicus duet with the little boy, especially if you had a little boy who now has whiskers on his cheeks. Or Placido Domingo with the Vienna Boys Choir. Then you can pull out your heart and put it on the table beside you, right there beside the dish of peppermints, and the cinnamon-scented candle, and you'll know you had Christmas.

5. Want something Christmassy but light

OUR SUGGESTION: Harp music is good for this, like for baking cookies to. It doesn’t pull the emotions. It’s close to the lyre, the instrument the Greek god Orpheus played to soothe the savage beasts, and to win a favor from Hades, the god to whom there is no altar (death), the god with whom there is no bargaining.

Completely upbeat, light and fun is "A Reggae Christmas," by Various Artists, and yes, my friend, "sensei" does rhyme with "pear tree." Listen to it on the way in to work. That's girl's laughter will carry you through your day. Go here ( http://tinyurl.com/y6sp ) to hear samples. Listen to it on the way in to work. That's girl's laughter will carry you through your day. (The Ras Family, "We Wish You a Merry Christmas") And June Lodge's "Joy to the World" will bring joy to YOUR world.

6. Need to get some work done, sick of Christmas, got the kids around, underfoot and bored?

GP RECOMMENDATION: (1) "Great Balls of Fire," Jerry Lee Lewis. How could you possibly be “mindful” with that going on? It’s great fun. It will clear the air. (2) "Don't Worry Be Happy," by Marley.

NC-17 RATED VERSION: The Pogues with Kristy MacColl, "Fairytale of New York". "It was Christmas Eve in the drunk tank ... The boys of the NYPD Choir were singing 'Gallway Bay' and the bells were ringing out on Christmas Day," and C.D.'s favorite line, a wry and melancholic Irish lad himself, God rest his soul in peace, "You scum bag, you maggot you cheap lousy ..., Happy Christmas your ass, I thank God it's our last." Ah, the Irish, they would've conquered the world were it not for .... No cards and letters, please. Sometimes ya gotta vent. That's what art is for, catharsis. (P. S. Use your EQ; don't take "it" out on your partner.)

7. The out-laws are coming, I mean the IN-laws, and you, exhausted, crabby and high on sugar as you are, must clean the house and you aren’t exactly in the MOOD for a Christmas Carol, if you know what I mean

OUR G SUGGESTION: If you haven’t cleaned house with your two preschoolers marching along behind you to a John Philip Sousa march, you haven’t lived. Give the little one a paper hat and get out his toy drum. Ok, now quit laughing and taking pictures and get back to work, you!

OUR PG SUGGESTION: Got older kids you need to get working with you? Call it "the main event," and put on the Jock Jams, "Let's Get Ready to Rumble."

OUR X RATED SUGGESTION: You and your partner put "Cotton Eyed Joe" on -- I mean the Texas version – and invent your own lyrics appropos to the, um, challenges of the moment. (This is popular at office holiday parties with adjusted lyrics as well!) And DO the Cotton Eye Joe as you push that vacuum around. Here's how ( http://www.wikihow.com/Do-the-Cotton-Eyed-Joe-Dance ).

8. Need to be inspired and also to get in touch with the spiritual side of Christmas

OUR SUGGESTION: Handel's “Messiah, Hallelujah Chorus,” of course. Just the chorus, unless you're an aficionado and can afford to tire yourself out.

Remember, if you will, that when you hear "The Hallelujah Chorus," you are to stand up. Do this. Right there at home in your living room. It will do something for you.



9. Now, or any time you’re beginning to feel just slightly resentful of all your “blessings”

OUR SUGGESTION: “Lord, What Did I Ever Do,” by the Oak Ridge Boys is great for attitude adjustment.

10. For the peace that passeth understanding

OUR SUGGESTION: Stille Naq, Noite de Paz, Noche de Paz, Sainte Nuit, Cicha Noc, Glade Jul, Stille Nacht, Po La`i E, or, as many of us know it, Silent Night, the lullaby that's been translated into every language on earth, composed by the greatest unsung duo in musical history, Mohr (lyrics) and Gruber (melody).

We also recommend "Ave Maria." Especially the Caccini, arranged by Brinums, sung by Inessa Galante, available here: http://www.dimusic.co.uk/Caccdeb2.ram . For more, see www.susandunn.cc/vivoperlei.htm .

Let them still your heart and bring you peace.