Dom Perignon

According to "The Little Blue Book" (www.littlebooks.org) Pierre Perignon was born in France in 1639. He took the vows of a Benedictine monk at an abbey that produced a variety of wines.

Pierre soon became an expert on wine. Maybe because he was blind he used his extraordinary sense of smell and taste to tell which grapes came from which vineyards. He worked with mixing wines so that the qualities of each added to the qualities of the others. In particular, he studied the grapes from a region of Champagne. When he was 60 years old, he succeeded in producing what we now call "champagne".

Years after Pierre died, the wine company that bought the monastery vineyards gave the name "Dom Perignon" to its finest vintage. On New Year's Eve, many will without realizing it, celebrate the memory of this monk and wine expert.

*"Dom" was a title sometimes given to monks and other religious leaders.

How About A Year-Long Project?

An interesting concept. Pick a project that takes you all year to complete. Wouldn't you feel a great sense of accomplishment come the end of December? For some great ideas go to:
http://balzerdesigns.typepad.com/
I haven't decided what I'm going to do yet--I have a day or two--but I'd like to see if I could stick to a project that long! Let us know if you are going to try it and what project you're going to try...

2008 A Year To Remember


Looking back at 2008, it was really a year to remember. From natural disasters, elections, the economy, war-- to the Olympics, a lot happened! Check out this website to get the year to remember in pictures...

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2008/12/the_year_2008_in_photographs_p.html

A Christmas Prayer

Now that Christmas is officially over I have to reflect on just how blessed I am. My whole family was together--my children and grandchildren and my son's girlfriend. We had our traditional Christmas dinner and opened gifts together on Sunday. Then on Christmas Eve my siblings, nieces, nephews and parents were together. On Christmas Day my husband's family was all together. We are all in good health, have jobs and homes. Life is exceptionally good.

Unfortunately it is not that way for everyone. My prayers go out to all who are experiencing heartache and hopelessness this year. Here's a musical video "A Christmas Prayer". It's my wish too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FibFdAWrgUQ

A Week of Worthy Advent Activities

As we count down the days left to Christmas it's good to stop and reflect on what we have really done to get ready. (Besides the shopping, the wrapping, the baking,etc.) Woman's Day magazine (womansday.com) has a list of things we can do to make our final days to Christmas really count.

Sunday--Give something away.

We all have some things we are using that someone else could. I have a winter coat hanging in a closet that I know could keep someone else warm.

Monday--Shop consciously.

I know Walmart has great prices but can we buy US not China-made? Buy fair-trade coffee and chocolate. Think green and help our planet.

Tuesday--Read for inspiration.

Find an e-newsletter for an organization whose mission you admire. (Have you got one you could share with us?)

Wednesday--Click for good.

Do your online shopping at charity malls such as igive.com and buyforcharity.com. I must admit I was not aware of these...

Thursday--Spread the word.

Your children can check out Kind News Online(kindnews.org) which teaches kids about animal welfare. Tell your hairstylist about Cut It Out (cutitout.org), a program that helps salon staff identify domestic abuse victims or check out some happy news we all could use (happynews.com)

Friday--Be a silent Samaritan

Shovel the snow for a neighbor while they are gone. Leave treats or Gathered From the Garden products (anonymously) for a friend, do a kind act for someone without getting credit for it.

Saturday--Support local programs.

Put some money in the red kettles, donate to Toys for Tots, buy a little something at the grocery store for the food shelf.

It's easy this time of year to get a little stressed (if you ask my husband he would probably say a "little"? when he describes me...). I think doing something good each day will help me stay focused on what Christmas should really be about. Are you in?

Creating Family Rituals
For years, stockings have hung by our fireplace. First we had stockings for our children. As they grew up and some started families of their own we added stockings for our grandchildren. This year I decided that the mantel was just too small for so many stockings. I sent an email telling everyone I planned to only put up the stockings for the grandchildren.

Two of my three children laughed it off and pretended to be upset. The youngest (who is nearing 30) made a comment about getting rid of the stockings for the other two but keeping hers. I heard in that comment a little undercurrant of sadness that a family ritual was about to end.
Delicious Living Magazine (deliciouslivingmag.com) has an article about creating your own family rituals. They can be symbolic activities or just everyday routines shared by family or friends. According to research done by the American Psychological Asso., rituals and routines are linked with marital satisfaction,health,academic achievement and stronger family relationships.

The article also lists tips for creating your own rituals.
*Rituals don't have to be time consuming to be meaningful.
*The ritual shouldn't overshadow the spirit of the event.
*Include kids in the planning. (No matter how old!)
*Consult older family members about their childhood traditions and see if you can recreate them
*Adopt new holiday customs.

For more ideas check out Jennifer Trainer Thompson's book, The Joy of Family Traditions (Celestial Arts,2008) She offers more than 400 ideas for creating family rituals. Or check out joyoffamilytraditions.com

So our stocking tradition will continue --only in a smaller sense. My daughter will have to start her own traditions as she gets married and has her own family. Until then, I've decided to surprise her and keep her stocking up one more year. We'll ease her into giving up that one tradition! (We have other rituals that our family will continue.)