Virtual Advent Tour - 2010 - My 1000th Post!!

Welcome to this year's edition of the Virtual Advent Tour. The tour has been running for five years now, and this is my third year participating.

As a lifelong Christmas devotee, I was in an odd place during the Christmas of 2007, when I first came across this blog event. My dad had passed away nine months earlier, my grandmother had just passed away at the beginning of that December, and my father-in-law was in the last month of his life.

I was a little numb. A part of me reached out for Christmas, while another part of me could only watch Christmas stumble past. When I found this blog tour of other Christmas enthusiasts, writing about all the things that made this season special for them - it was a lifeline to sanity. It helped me to celebrate even in the midst of my sorrow.














So now I'd like to invite you to the most special night of the year for my family - Christmas Eve.

My family and my cousin's family grew up together, more as one group of eight rather than two groups of four. We were constantly at one another's homes, so the evening of Christmas Eve needed to be super special.

We began dressing up in our most formal wear for this biggest night on our social calendar. When we were kids, we settled in to watch the Christmas TV specials that were on, like Rudolph, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, The Grinch and A Charlie Brown Christmas.

That's me above, waiting for my second wind, with my cousin Julianne looking on, and our Gram. We're pictured in Auntie's living room, where the adults gathered for drinks and to chat while the kids played around the house and chatted our little-kid chats. We always knew we had progressed into a new era of our lives when we gravitated toward sitting with the adults rather than hanging out in the TV room with the kid hors d'oeuvres of cheesies and pop.


















As we got older, we stopped eating the kids' meal of hotdogs and french fries, and we discovered the wonders of my aunt's seafood bisque, a dish I dream about all year long.














She's usually busy stirring it as we arrive, because it can't be left unattended even for a second.
































Spouses were folded into the mix, and new little cousins as they appeared.





















My musical family began having a musical Christmas Eve. It's an East Coast tradition to have impromptu musical parties erupting in homes all over this region. But we do rehearse just a tad. We try to keep our performance pieces as secret from each other as we can so there will be a bit of a surprise for everyone.
























There's always the possibilty that we try to dress up on this special night as a way of keeping the silliness factor under control.

But as you can see, it only ever meets with mixed success.



































This year we'll be in Toronto to celebrate with my husband's family.

*insert excited squeal*

But the East Coast Christmas Eve will carry on while we're enjoying the love and hugs from our Big City family and friends.

From our celebration to yours, may you have the Merriest of Christmases.

Thank you to Kailana @ The Written World and Marg @ Adventures of an Intrepid Reader for hosting this beautiful event. ((hugs)) to you!

Welcome! Welcome, to Julia's Astounding and Astonishing Awards Extravaganza

Ho! Ho! Ho! Tis the season for awards, it seems. Gather round, come in! Come in! Come out of the snow, the heat or whatever ails you. Here in Halifax it's chilly, Christmasey and hustley-bustley. Let the staff take your coats. Gather up your sparkly clutch bags. Let's walk into the auditorium for the awards ceremony.




The lights dim. The curtains open. Heather strides onstage.





She's handing out the Christmas Spirit Award.









"I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round, as a good time;
a kind, forgiving, charitable time;
the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year,
when men and women seem by one consent
to open their shut-up hearts freely,
and to think of people below them
as if they really were fellow passengers to the grave,
and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys."

- Charles Dickens

"Here are the rules for the Christmas Spirit Award," Heather says:

"You must be a true Christmas lover to receive this award.
The person to whom you give the award must also be in love with Christmas.
Link back to the person who gave you the award.
List 5 things that you love about Christmas. If you can't limit it to 5 things, then keep going till you run out of space!
Pass the award along to as many people as you like. That can be 1 or 50. It's up to you! But keep the Christmas cheer going!
Let your recipients know that you have tagged them by leaving them a comment. Also, link back to the person who gave you the award."

Oh, thank you, Heather! ((hug)) I'm very honored to receive this. I'll list my five things at the end of the ceremony, when I pass the awards along.

Right now I'd like to share a little piece of what lives in my heart all year round when anyone says the word 'Christmas':




Let's welcome Thomma Lyn now, who's presenting the Brillante Weblog Premio 2008 Award.








"Time you enjoy wasting, was not wasted."

- John Lennon

((Hug)) Thomma Lyn! Thank you so much. Your Tennessee Text Wrestling is a place for soothing reflection, as you invite all your readers to hike up the mountain with you, to look around and marvel at the glory of nature. And the poetry from the masters you share with us is a balm for my creative soul. So I'm very humbled by your award *blushing*

In honor of the spirit of this Brillante Premio Award, enjoy this art piece by Bob Miller, exploring the colors and waves of light through prisms and mirrors. Take a moment to enjoy the brilliance that lives inside each one of us.
















Great Attitude and/or Gratitude

"To be interested in the changing seasons is a happier state of mind than to be hopelessly in love with spring."
- George Santayana

Thomma Lyn invites Wylie Kinson and Ann from Fractured Fiction to join her at the podium.

"Blogs which show Great Attitude and/or Gratitude," Thomma Lyn says. "Wylie, you're a perfect example. Your pop culture pulse crackles with attitude - it's where Julia gets a lot of her late-breaking entertainment news. And your gratitude for the important things in life, like your own family hikes through the woods, or philosophical talks on a long car trip - these shine out in your blog like heavy curtains thrust aside to let in the sun."

"Thomma Lyn," Wylie says, giving her a playful nudge. "You know Ann's contagious enthusiasm for books dwarfs my passion for all things cutting edge and fabulous. Ann shares splashy book covers and makes everyone add to the TBR Mountain Range. And she posts hilarious captioned pictures from Icanhascheezburger that make Julia spew her morning coffee through her nose. What better attitude is there than that?"

"Stop it," Ann says, shoving Wylie into Thomma Lyn. "Julia - get up here already and wheel this lemonade cart outta here!"

((hugging Thomma Lyn, Wylie and Ann)) Thank you so much! Come on - let's go get a glass of this stuff and watch Mikhail Baryshnikov show Attitude and Gratitude at getting the chance to perform in A Chorus Line:














"Wherever you go, go with all your heart."

- Confucius

Joanna D'Angelo from missmakeamovie takes the stage. "I'm here to present the I Heart Your Blog Award. I invited Julia to join our group blog this year and we've enjoyed many heartfelt comments-conversations over all things filmic, political and especially about the heart it takes to be an artist. Come on up, Julia." She passes me the award - here's another ((hug)) for Joanna.

I've enjoyed blogging with the missmakeamovie women so much, Joanna. Everyone knows how passionate I am about ballet, and my passion for film runs neck and neck with dance. My need for non-mainstream film/TV and books is fed daily at our blog. I got my first peek at the Flight of the Conchords from a missmakeamovie post. I'm extremely honored to accept this award from you, who manages to continue your own filmmaking career while tirelessly promoting Romance on Facebook and scheduling our blog posting schedules. Thank you so much.

Let's watch


this clip















from I Heart Huckabees featuring Jason Schwartzman and Mark Wahlberg. It's another peek into the heart of me.

Kailana takes the stage next. She's handing out the You Make My Day Award.








"If you don't have a smile, I'll give you one of mine."

- Author Unknown

Kailana is a busy, busy fellow Maritimer with an enormous appetite for books. Not only does she read, she spurs herself through themed reading challenges that boggle my mind at the scope of them. She started her own after her dog Sandy passed away, so I signed up for my first reading challenge - her Four-legged Friends Challenge. Because I had to find books that featured an animal as a main character, I got a refreshing detour from my usual reads. And I discovered an author I now love - Mercedes Lackey.

"Yeah, yeah - enough, already," Kailana says, ducking into the wings to drag me back onstage. "Take the darn award, would ya?"

((hug)) for you, Kailana. Thank you for this - I've mentioned to everyone how much your Blog Advent Tour meant to me last year when my heart was aching with the loss of my gram and soon after, my father-in-law. You made my day every time I clicked another link in the tour, to another post about Christmas. So I'm very touched that you're passing this along to me.

Here's a bit of fun that makes my day:








"Wimps lift weights, cheerleaders lift people."

- Author Unknown

*applause* as Toni and Karina walk up to the podium.

"My little ole blog serves up life's daily journeys," says Toni.

"And mine dishes up the skinny on a Boston city gal's dramas and dreams," says Karina.

"My fabulous life is filled to the rim with trips to Christmas tree farms fraught with edge-of-your-seat plot twists," says Toni, gesturing me to join them once more at the podium.

"And mine is overflowing with tales of romance, office intrigue, spiritual awakening and sexy boots," says Karina, handing me a martini glass beckoning with a Blue Monday.

"Just how fabulous are you, Julia?" they ask me in unison.

Kissing them on the cheek, I raise my martini glass in salute to them both, and then to you.

Darlings - if I were any more fabulous I'd be under glass at Tiffany's. Thank you Toni, Karina...and to all of you for making my blog so very much fun! And because I'm so fabulous, I'm going to indulge in a sweet little treat. Care to join me...?



*fanning self*

*sipping my martini*

Now - to pass on the awards. I'll begin by returning to Heather's request for 5 things I love about Christmas:

1 - The National Ballet of Canada's production of The Nutcracker

2 - homes lit up with Christmas lights

3 - Christmas trees

4 - Auntie Noel's lobster bisque which she makes with love for all of us each Christmas Eve

5 - Blackadder's Christmas Carol

Now, because this is a multi-awards presentation, I won't keep to the suggested amounts for passing them along. Most of them request 5 or 7 recipients. The Attitude/Gratitude Award asks for 10. For this event, however, I'll keep all awards to 2 nominations each.

This year's Christmas Spirit Award goes to:

Kailana and
Marg

The Brillante Weblog Premio 2008 (nearly 2009!) Award goes to:

Sans Pantaloons
Shelley Munro

The Great Attitude and/or Gratitude Award goes to:

Mimi Lenox
Sandy Carlson

The I Heart Your Blog Award goes to:

Claudia
Gautami Tripathy

The You Make My Day Award goes to:

Amy Ruttan
Bobbi

And the I'm Fabulous Award goes to:

Jennifer McKenzie
Patty Szymkowicz

Wordless Wednesday - 37 - And Review For The Cat Who Sang for the Birds by Lilian Jackson Braun

Photo by Steve Granitz







******************************************************************************


Book Review


I'm posting a two-in-one today, as I've got my review for the last of my Four-Legged Friends Reading Challenge on the very last day. Just squeaking it in there.

As I've mentioned before, I read mainly on the bus to and from work - and that's it. And I read while waiting for said bus, and of course including the ferry with the public transportation. Actually, I got used to writing my own book during this commute, because that gives me two extra hours of writing per day. But when I decided to take up Kailana's challenge, I had to give some of my writing time over to reading.

And then I was part of Christine's Mid-Winter Kick in the Pants writing challenge, so I was pretty much stuck between a rock and a hard place.


But I breezed through Lilian Jackson Braun's The Cat Who Sang For the Birds. I borrowed it from my sister, who is a big fan of The Cat Who... series. It felt wonderful to settle into a literary world where I know my sister enjoys spending time. She's told me about the two main cats before, Siamese crime solvers Koko and Yum Yum. They're not magical creatures like the Firebird from my last reading challenge book. Nor can the main human character suddenly hear them speak to him in his mind, like magically-gifted Ilya.

These two cats are just cats, with in-depth cat behaviour in a contemporary mystery set in a small town in Moose County, '400 miles north of everywhere.' I had to look Ms. Braun up in Wikipedia to see if she ever states where Moose County is, in any of her other books, but apparently she never does. But it seems she's modelled Moose County after towns in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, since she once wrote for the Detroit Free Press. Being a former resident of Michigan myself, that just makes her all the more appealing.

The main character is Jim Qwilleran, former journalist and current columnist for the local Moose County paper. Generally, I shy away from contemporary novels, but this book follows the quirky-small-town feel of some of my favorite indie films. Like Local Hero, or TV series like Twin Peaks or 90's Scottish series Hamish MacBeth with Robert Carlyle.

Through Qwilleran, who knows a whole host of residents in Moose County, we're introduced to Polly, his lady friend; Celia, his neighbor who always makes extra when she cooks for herself and delivers it to his freezer, while squeezing juicy gossip from townsfolk when he needs clandestine information; Rollo, farmer and fire fighter whose 9-yr-old son out-spells the city in a spelling bee; Beverly, the manager of the new art center; and Phoebe, the young artist who paints butterflies.

I really enjoyed the local uproar in their city of Pickax between the art center and the farmers over the mud tracked onto the art center parking lot. There was a lot of plot that centered around art, and what could be better than that if I'm reading a contemporary?

The cats are wonderful characters. Koko especially has a sixth sense which he uses to let Qwilleran know important details whenever he's trying to get to the bottom of something. Being very in tune with my own dog, who lets me in on secret doggy info, I really relate to their relationship.

Here's an excerpt. Enjoy!

"In what remained of the evening, Qwilleran read aloud to the Siamese, one of their favorite pastimes, especially before bedtime. It was Koko's responsibility to make the literary selection. They never read one title from cover to cover but sampled a chapter of this book or that. Qwilleran suspected they all sounded alike to his listeners, and he himself liked dipping into books he had read before. It was like running into an old friend on a streetcorner.

On this occasion Koko sensed new acquisitions from Eddington's bookshop. After serious sniffing of the three World War II titles, he dislodged Fire Over London, and Qwilleran caught it before it landed on the floor. As usual he stretched out in his lounge chair with his feet on the ottoman and Yum Yum on his lap, while Koko sat attentively on the wide arm of the chair. It was a toss-up whether the familiarity of this ritual was more comforting to the cats or the man.

After the reading session the Siamese had their usual nightly snack and then went up the ramp to their room on the third balcony. Their door was left open, since the addition of the bird garden, to accommodate their early-morning bird-watching through the foyer windows. The door to his suite was closed to prevent furry bodies from crawling under his blankets.

It was a clear night. The weather was calm. The stars were bright. Sometime during the small hours Qwilleran was jolted awake by a thumping against his door, followed by unearthly howling. He jumped out of bed and yanked open the door.

'Oh, my God!' he yelled, dashing to the phone.

The large windows on the east side of the barn framed a horrifying sight: a night sky turned brilliant orange! He punched 911."

Lilian Jackson Braun, The Cat Who Sang for the Birds, 1998

Spirit of Christmas Award

Ho! Ho! Ho! (clump clump of my boots, knocking the snow off them.) My Christmas Freak persona is never one to act the demure gentlewoman. I guess it was obvious to Toni at In The Midst of This Season that I basically divide the calendar year into Just After Christmas, Waiting For Christmas and CHRISTMAS.

Toni awarded me the Spirit of Christmas award. According to Santa's Community Blog, where this originated, "this award is for those who talk about and show the spirit of Christmas in their blogs.

What is the Spirit of Christmas you ask?

Quite simply it is those that have a generous and giving nature. Those who care about others. Those who have a kind word to say or a broad shoulder to lean on in the times that others need that. Those who display the 'Spirit of Christmas'."

I'm going to pass this award along to five other bloggers who have been just as freakish about Christmas as me. Is it a strange coincidence that they display kindness, generosity and a loving nature every day as they post on their blogs and leave wonderful comments in the blogosphere?

I really should have brought everyone's attention to Kailana's Advent Blog event before this, but luckily you can follow the links and immerse yourself in fantastic posts about Christmas all over the world. This has really been one of the highlights of my season this year. Big hug to you, Kailana!

Karina posted this lovely example of her overflowing Christmas Spirit. She expressed everything I feel about the holidays, too. Sure, it can be a bit 'stressmas'-y sometimes, but it's like everything else. It's up to you to step off the merrygoround if you're getting too dizzy from all the to-do's. Christmas should be merry, and if it's not, stop. Take a deep breath. Chill. The only thing anyone should be doing at this time of year is reconnecting with the spirit of peace and goodwill toward our fellow travellers through life.

Akelamalu posted her childhood Christmas memories on November 19th. Already in Christmas mode like a true Christmas Freak. Just have a look at her sidebar decorations if you don't believe me. She also held two Christmas Carol Quizzes which I missed because of everything going on with my gram. But being the stop-and-smell-the-roses person, I fret not over it. I just enjoyed seeing the answers and realized I would have been stumped!

Sandee posted 13 wonderfully wise quotes about Christmas for her Thursday Thirteen this week. She approaches life all year round with a wry sense of humor which shows in every blog post. Christmas gave her fantastic material to work with! She pokes fun at life taken too seriously, which gives anyone who visits her blog a chance to relax and have a laugh. Thank you for that, Sandee.

Finally, this post was a guest blog post over at Shelly Munro's month-long guest extravaganza, but it is vintage Christine d'Abo. And it followed my sequence of Christmas preparations exactly! Which made me howl with laughter and recognition.

Merry Christmas to all the Spirit of Christmas nominees with a special hug from me to you.

Merry Christmas to everyone - may you always feel the wonder of childhood every time you gaze at a lit and decorated Christmas tree. Peace to all.