Note to self: never give yourself a book deadline of Dec 31 again! I’m working on the third book in my Courtesans trilogy, Mine Until Morning, which will be out in Dec 2010. And doing edits for my February Loose-Id release, Take Your Pleasure. And with the holidays here, well, you can imagine. But hey, I have my dream life, writing all day. And I love writing. So it’s all good, just a little busy.
Here’s how my holiday season works. My two brothers live in Atlanta, so my mom alternates years between Atlanta and San Francisco, meaning, one year my sister and I get Thanksgiving with her, and the next year we get Christmas. This year we were down at her retirement community for a wonderful Thanksgiving feast. And I do give thanks that my mom is still in my life, healthy and active. She’s going to be 84 on Dec 15. Next year, for her 85th, the family is taking her to Tahoe for a week! We’ve rented a house for all of us to stay in (that’s 4 siblings, wives and husbands, children, grandchildren and great grandchildren!). It’s a big surprise! She doesn’t have the Internet, would have no clue how to get to this blog, so lest you think I’m giving away the surprise, I’m not! But don’t tell anyone in case it gets back to her. Anyway, I digress. Since we had Mom for Thanksgiving, we don’t get her for Christmas. So we’re doing that celebration a week early. My sister is getting a turducken. Heh. I’d never heard of it, but my husband, he said John Madden (sports announcer) loves it. It’s a roll made of turkey, duck, and chicken with stuffing wrapped in the middle. So we’ll see! I love the way we do gift exchanges now, too. There’s a limit of $20 (because seriously, at our age, we don’t need anything), and the trick is to see how many little gifts you can stretch out of that $20. The dollar store, buy one, get one free, it’s an art. And it’s loads of fun.
How do you celebrate the holidays, whatever your holiday may be, Christmas, Hanukkah, etc.
Post a comment (please leave your e-mail so I can contact you) and I’ll enter you in a drawing for an autographed copy book Show and Tell. And as a teaser, here’s the cover of Laced with Desire, my February corset anthology, once again with those three wonderful ladies, Jaci, Joey, and Denise. Oh, almost forgot, if you pop by my blog today or tomorrow, I'm doing a drawing for a complete set of the Nocturne Raintree trilogy with Linda Howard, Linda Windstead Jones, and Beverly Barton. It's a wonderful series.
Happy Holidays!!
Jasmine, Jennifer and JB!
http://www.skullybuzz.com
Newsletter: skullybuzz-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Blog: http://jasminehaynes.blogspot.com/
Here’s how my holiday season works. My two brothers live in Atlanta, so my mom alternates years between Atlanta and San Francisco, meaning, one year my sister and I get Thanksgiving with her, and the next year we get Christmas. This year we were down at her retirement community for a wonderful Thanksgiving feast. And I do give thanks that my mom is still in my life, healthy and active. She’s going to be 84 on Dec 15. Next year, for her 85th, the family is taking her to Tahoe for a week! We’ve rented a house for all of us to stay in (that’s 4 siblings, wives and husbands, children, grandchildren and great grandchildren!). It’s a big surprise! She doesn’t have the Internet, would have no clue how to get to this blog, so lest you think I’m giving away the surprise, I’m not! But don’t tell anyone in case it gets back to her. Anyway, I digress. Since we had Mom for Thanksgiving, we don’t get her for Christmas. So we’re doing that celebration a week early. My sister is getting a turducken. Heh. I’d never heard of it, but my husband, he said John Madden (sports announcer) loves it. It’s a roll made of turkey, duck, and chicken with stuffing wrapped in the middle. So we’ll see! I love the way we do gift exchanges now, too. There’s a limit of $20 (because seriously, at our age, we don’t need anything), and the trick is to see how many little gifts you can stretch out of that $20. The dollar store, buy one, get one free, it’s an art. And it’s loads of fun.
How do you celebrate the holidays, whatever your holiday may be, Christmas, Hanukkah, etc.
Post a comment (please leave your e-mail so I can contact you) and I’ll enter you in a drawing for an autographed copy book Show and Tell. And as a teaser, here’s the cover of Laced with Desire, my February corset anthology, once again with those three wonderful ladies, Jaci, Joey, and Denise. Oh, almost forgot, if you pop by my blog today or tomorrow, I'm doing a drawing for a complete set of the Nocturne Raintree trilogy with Linda Howard, Linda Windstead Jones, and Beverly Barton. It's a wonderful series.
Happy Holidays!!
Jasmine, Jennifer and JB!
http://www.skullybuzz.com
Newsletter: skullybuzz-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Blog: http://jasminehaynes.blogspot.com/
28 comments:
Happy Holidays!
Christmas Day is spent rushing from relative to relative. Mum, dad, the Gran, then the grand son. Then back home to cook the Christmas dinner. After that I crash! Have a great Christmas. Take care. Caroline x
(storercaroline45@yahoo.co.uk)
Ahhh - turducken's are wonderful! They're a regular holiday staple down here.
I'm looking forward to Christmas especially this year as my 3-year-old is aware of who Santa is (and not scared of him) and that she'll be getting presents. That's always a fun age.
pspinney AT cox DOT net
I feel for you, Caroline! It's a very busy day, but loads of fun, too!
Ah, Patti, so glad you give a thumbs up for the turducken! And I bet Christmas will be so fun now that your 3-year-old doesn't think the christmas wrapping is the toy!
Merry Christmas to you both!
What a wonderful post. Your family and traditions sound great. Enjoy this precious time with your mother, siblings and all. Especially next year when you are all together in the lovely Tahoe house. We have a family feast with latkes, fish and bruchetta and goodies. saubleb(at)gmail(dot)com
My Mum & I spend time together cooking or baking a dish that we've never made before...we'll catch up on movies we missed out during the year and of course take a tour of the neighbourhood to see all the Christmas decorations.
Happy Reading
Anna Shah Hoque
s7anna@yahoo.ca
We have everyone over at my house the day before christmas and I fix dinner. My mom usually brings homemade pumpkin bread and I amke everythign else. We usually open all our presents christmas eve, so we can sleep in and have the next day to ourselves.
We started opening the presents on christmas eve when my daughter was little because up until she was 7 years old because she would wake us up at 4 am and say santa came and she wanted to open her presents. The next year when she was 8 one of her friends told her that there was no santa and she said she figured since she saw mommy and daddy hiding the presents in the closet. lol
I am NOT a morning person, so christmas eve the presents are opened.
Oops forgot to leave me email address...lol
miztik_rose AT yahoo DOT com
I'm so glad you enjoyed my post, Traveler! It is wonderful to spend time with family and your family feast sounds marvelous!
And what a wonderful tradition, Anna, to spend time with your mom making something new! Love looking at all the decorations, too! In my mom's neighborhood, there's a special street called Candy Cane Lane where everyone decorates.
Oh Mary, your story brings back memories! I remember waking up at 4 in the morning as a kid to see all the presents at the end of the bed! We drove our parents crazy.
Thanks for sharing everyone!
Hi Jasmine!
My mom's birthday is Christmas Eve, so we usually have a Christmas/Birthday party. IT's always fun, their's always cake (which is very very GOOD!) and plenty of presents. I've always associated Christmas with my Mom and I think I always will.
Oh! AND we always celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve so on Christmas day we sit around and watch movies in our Pj's. Love it!
rachie2004 @ yahoo (d0t) com
Hi Jasmine, the Holidays are always the busiest around our house. A few years ago my DH and I talked about the upcoming Christmas dinner, as we drunkenly gazed over the carcass remains of the Turkey dinner on the table, that we would start a new tradtion. Yup, Christmas Meatloaf. I think he took pity on me after cooking for half a day, only to devour Thanksgiving dinner in 25 minutes!!
I love this new tradition. I don't spend so much time in the kitchen and I can play with the rest of the family.
Happy Holidays to you and family. Looking forward to reading LACED WITH DESIRE. And, what a lovely cover. The Cover Gods have been good to you.
armiefox at yahoo dot com
Hi Jasmine,
We have a big family celebration the Saturday before Christmas, then a quiet Christmas Eve with just the kids, and then on Christmas Day we drive up to Tahoe for a couple of days (hopefully) of snow.
caity_mack(at)yahoo(dot)com
We have at least two or three must
attend gatherings each year: one
with sibs and their families, one
hosted by a choir friend & attended
by church friends, and one with our children and grandchildren.
I love the idea of the gift limit and all the smaller gifts! I think
I will suggest that for next year's
sibs party!
Pat Cochran
I've always wanted to try the turducken. I don't have to cook so I'm always able to enjoy the big family feast without all the stress of making sure all the food is ready. Decorating the tree is one of the things we like to do as a family.
janie1215 AT excite DOT com
Jasmine: Thank you for your post. It's great to hear about how close to one another your kinfolk are. Nothing dysfunctional about this family!
In response to your question: We don't do Christmas in my religion, but New Year's Day is definitely a holiday. Typically there's a party, restaurant dinner, or potluck at someone's house.
BTW, your mom might not be computer savvy, but there might be a geek or two in her retirement community. They can google her and fill her in on what you and others are saying about her on the Internet!
Keep up the good work!
Mary Anne Landers
maryannelanders@centurytel.net
Our usual Christmas routine is to go to my sisters and open presents and have a big meal. I'm not sure what this Christmas is going to bring. My sister just got out of the hospital today after having a total knee replacement, my stepdad got out of a nursing home right before Thanksgiving but his health is still not good and my granddaughter is sick and may not be able to be around people for the holidays. So it may be a pretty quiet one this year.
seriousreader at live dot com
Rachael, I love that you sit around on Christmas Day and watch movies! It's also great that you make mom's birthday special though it's so close to Christmas.
Oh, Armenia, that's so wonderful your husband thought about YOU, and came up with a new tradition that got you out of the kitchen for so long! And thank you on Laced with Desire. I must agree, the cover Gods have been wonderful to me. Next time out, I'll show you all the cover for Hers to the Evening, coming out in May!
Hey, Cathy, haven't heard from you in a while! And Tahoe at Christmas time will be great. A white Christmas!
Pat, I'm so glad you like the limit idea! It's very fun to see how much you can get out of it. Being very big kids, we get such a kick out of it. I think my sister does the best job, though.
I'll report back on the turducken, Jane! And yes, decorating the tree is such fun for the whole family.
Thank you, Mary Anne, it is nice having close family. New Years Day is a wonderful time to celebrate as well. Oh, and here's a secret, the people in my mom's retirement home don't know my pseudonym! Mom is afraid to tell them because I write naughty stuff!!!! So they can't spill the beans to her!
Oh, Linda, I'm sorry to hear about the illnesses in your family. I hope they're all on the mend soon.
Happy Hoidays and thanks for stopping by and sharing your traditions!
Happy Holidays : ) Since my immediate family is gone, I celebrate with my "second family": my friends and my pets. I have wonderful family memories, and I enjoy spending time with friends both old and new. I still love all the traditional holiday celebrations, and I wouldn't dream of celebrating without fruitcake and eggnog!
gcwhiskas at aol dot com
I celebrate the holidays by having huge family gatheringsa dn dinners and going out with groups of friends.
lilazncutie1215 @ yahoo.com
Your family traditions sound great!
Forgot the email address.
kissinoak at verizon dot net
Fruitcake! My mother makes excellent fruitcake every year, Virginia. I'm sorry your family is gone, but so glad to hear you have friends and furry friends to celebrate with.
Jeanette, celebrating with friends and family is what the season is about!
And thank you, Estella!
Happy get togethers to all no matter what holiday you're celebrating!
We always have our family dinner on Christmas day. Usually chicken with stuffing, mashed potatoes and our traditional family birthday cake,chocolate angel food for Jesus.
We always open our gifts on Christmas morning. Years ago we went to midnight mass but that has fallen by the wayside.
Your book sounds delicious! What a great holiday treat!!
johnslake at usa dot com
Thank you, Laurie, I'm glad you like the cover! And chocolate angel food cake sounds like a wonderful birthday cake.
Thanks for stopping by everyone! I will be back with another email after randomly selecting the winner of Unlaced!
And the winner of an autographed copy of my book Show and Tell is "Traveler." Congratulations. I'll be sending you an email for your snail mail address or you can email me at skully at skullybuzz dot com.
Thanks so much for stopping by and sharing all your traditions! Happy Holidays and here's to another great year!
Congratulations Traveler!
Sorry I got in on the action late. I really enjoyed your post Jasmine! Merry Christmas!
I'm so glad you enjoyed the post, Michele! Happy Holidays!
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