Where did this day go?

I started writing this post HOURS ago, but LIFE has intervened keeping me busier than I like to be. At the moment, I find myself ready to turn off the computer, fix dinner, and cuddle with Molly a while. Of course, I need to finish this post and publish it before logging off. I promise to do better tomorrow, but for tonight ... I'm taking the "easy" route by suggesting that if you've not checked out the post I left this morning at Sacred Ruminations, you might find it fun to do so now :)

FYI - I've updated both my sites to Blogger's Draft Mode so hopefully everyone will be able to leave "links" to their URLs again. If you use a platform other than Blogger, click to the right of the Blogger/Google sign-in area to reveal a list of platforms. Choose one then enter your information, including your URL.

The last couple of days have been frustrating at best because we received no email notifications of posts, but this morning things seemed back to normal. Today emails have arrived the way they used to and it's been a challenge to keep up.

CONGRATULATIONS to John
for being the 3rd person
to answer the Christmas Carol Quiz correctly!

Reminder: You've got 8 more days to figure out the Christmas Carol Quiz answers and email them to me. Peajay & Joy were the first two Bloggers to get all 10 correct and have the Small Reflections Christmas Carol Quiz Award to post on their Blogs. Who's going to be next?

Happy 4th night of Hannukah
to all those who celebrate
this holiday.

Thursday Thirteen #1



Thirteen Things about ...
Authors and Books worth Sharing with Young Children.
1. Anything by Eric Carle ... but start with THE VERY HUNGRY CATERPILLAR and proceed from there.
2. Everything by Robert Munsch ... but don't miss THE PAPERBAG PRINCESS and I'LL LOVE YOU FOREVER. I found his website here: http://robertmunsch.com/booklist.cfm
3. STELLA LUNA (methinks by Richard Scarry who's written many others also)--Uh oh ... Mea Culpa! This one is by Janell Cannon, and I'm grateful to Alida for setting me straight. Guess I could have "Googled" these, but (alas) I relied on my memory. Sigh
4. CLOUDY WITH a CHANCE of MEATBALLS by Judi Barrett
5. WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE by Maurice Sendak
6. HAROLD AND THE PURPLE CRAYON by Crockett Johnson
7. ASK MR BEAR by Marjorie Flack
8. GOODNIGHT MOON and RUNAWAY BUNNY by Margaret Wise Brown
9. GOODNIGHT GORILLA by Peggy Rathman
10. IF YOU GIVE A MOUSE A COOKIE (and all the spinoffs) by Laura Joffe Numeroff
11. THE PINKISH BLUISH PURPLISH EGG by Steven Kellogg who also has many others if memory serves
12. BROWN BEAR BROWN BEAR WHAT DO YOU HEAR and CHICKA CHICKA BOOM BOOM by Bill Martin
13. anything by Judith Viorst, Bill Peet, & Dr. Seuss ... and of course I loved THE POLAR EXPRESS at this time of year. I confess I read it aloud every Christmas, even to my 8th graders when teaching Middle School, and was always surprised to find a few kids who had never heard the story.

A few additional comments for the parents of young children who want to give their kids a good start in school. As a kindergarten teacher, my sister ...
--highly recommends including all the nursery rhymes (3 pigs,
3 bears, gingerbread boy, etc) because knowing them gives kids a running start at school.
--says to skip the "cartoon strip books" based on TV shows that kids seem drawn to because of television exposure. She says they're mundane & boring and not worth the time or expense.
--suggests walking into a public library and/or a good book store and asking whoever works in the children’s department what’s new and wonderful because that’s what she did as a young mom to find all these treasures.

Links to other Thursday Thirteens!




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CONGRATULATIONS to Joy
for being the 2nd person
to answer the Christmas Carol Quiz correctly!

Reminder: You've got 9 more days to figure out the Christmas Carol Quiz answers and email them to me. Peajay was the first to get all 10 correct and has the Small Reflections Christmas Carol Quiz Award posted on her Blog. Who's going to be next?

Happy 3rd night of Hannukah
to all those who celebrate
this holiday.

Holidailies -- Introduction (just a little late)

Whilst perusing the "virtual world" this morning, I came perchance upon a site with THIS:

I thought to myself ... do I need some time off from Blogging for other things?

It's true December is a busier than normal month ... with holiday parties ... shopping ... gift wrapping ... Christmas cards (Ohmygosh - Reminder to self: I need to get crackin' on making those!) ... decorating ... baking ... (you get the idea), but I'm on a roll with NaBloPoMo and don't want to lose momentum. Participating in the 30 posts in 30 days activity led me to meet even more interesting folk and brought visitors to both my Blogs. Even now, I'm following up on those "leads" and may eventually find it overwhelming to keep up, but so far ... so good.

Fortunately, I discovered these as well:
You'll notice
I have added one
here at Small Reflections
and the other
at Sacred Ruminations
because

I've decided to

continue posting daily on both Blogs.

As some of you know, I began Blogging here on October 22nd of this year and at Sacred Ruminations on October 23rd. My "story" is in my Sidebar ... and additional info in my Profile ... so I won't repeat myself here. I will add that I wish I'd listened to friends and family sooner. They knew what I didn't ... that this is my element! It helps that I'm "happily retired" and have more time than most to "play" in this "virtual" universe. Often, I feel as if I've died and gone to heaven.

I've wandered through the "Blogosphere" visiting other Bloggers, reading & leaving comments, looking to see what's possible, returned to experiment and teach myself what I need to know to be creative here. I've posted something just about every day on each site, and had fun doing so ... figuring things out as I go. I appreciate those of you who have followed me back (who knew that would happen?) and left comments in return. Knowing there's an "audience" out there keeps me honest :)

So ... it's a good thing I continued to post daily because I'm not behind ... yet. Hopefully I won't let myself fall behind. I fully intend to meet the goal of 31 posts in 31 days from December 1st through January 1st! In addition, I plan to venture out and read what other Hollidailies bloggers are writing. I've added links in the Sidebar of both sites to relevant pages so that any of you who wish to enjoy these posts can do so with ease.

Now ... for my regular public service announcements :)
--If you need a laugh this evening, check out the video clip at Karyn's blog. (You know how important laughter is to me).
--Reminder: You've got 11 more days to figure out the Christmas Carol Quiz answers and email them to me. Peajay is the first to get all 10 correct and has the Small Reflections Christmas Carol Quiz Award posted on her Blog. Who's going to be next?

Happy 1st night of Hannukah
to all those who celebrate
this holiday.

Visual Scribblings #4

Here's a 4th visual piece I created with my MultiMate and Palm V years ago. Once again, I have no clue what it says. I created each of these as experiments while learning how this device worked, and found them in my picture files recently. Some of the previous word doodles became readable when enlarged once published. I'm giving this one a try today, just because.

In case you missed the earlier ones, they can be found here, here, and here. Finally, you can find a Visual Piece I created years ago by hand. It does become readable when enlarged.

Reminder:
You have until December 15th
to email me your answers to the
Christmas Carol Quiz

Congratulations
to Peajay for being the first
one to figure out all ten correctly
and send me email.
Who's next?