Merry Christmas to all of you. I hope you have a safe and happy holiday.
Merry Christmas!
Month: December 2023
My Top Ten Christmas Movies
Hello everyone, I hope all is well with you. I’m back today after a week of work and writing and Christmas shopping. I just bought my last online gift today. Hopefully, my shopping is done, but we shall see. There’s usually one last gift to pick up on Christmas Eve. LOL.
However, in the spirit of Christmas, let’s be kind to the people who’re working in the stores. They’re doing their best to meet our needs, and many stores are understaffed.
But enough about that. Today, I thought I’d do something fun and give you a list of my top Christmas shows. Just in case, you needed something to get in the mood for the holidays. So, here they are with number one being my most favorite.
Love Actually
The Holdovers
Polar Express
Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer
Frosty the Snowman
A Christmas Carol
It’s a Wonderful Life
Trading Places
Die Hard
A Christmas Story
How about you? What are some of your favorite Christmas Movies? Leave a comment! I’d love to hear from you!
What I’ve Been Reading
Hello everyone, I hope all is well with you. I’m back today after a week of work, writing and Christmas shopping. Tis the season. We finally put up our Christmas tree. We’re late this year because I wanted the boys to help with the decorating, so we had to work around their work schedules.
But enough about that. Today I want to talk about what I’ve been reading. A short time ago I finished the novel “Mad Honey” by Jodi Picoult. The cover and blurb are below.
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “Alternatingly heart-pounding and heartbreaking. This collaboration between two best-selling authors seamlessly weaves together Olivia and Lily’s journeys, creating a provocative exploration of the strength that love and acceptance require.”—The Washington Post
GOOD MORNING AMERICA BOOK CLUB PICK • PEOPLE’S BOOK OF THE WEEK • ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: PopSugar
Olivia McAfee knows what it feels like to start over. Her picture-perfect life—living in Boston, married to a brilliant cardiothoracic surgeon, raising their beautiful son, Asher—was upended when her husband revealed a darker side. She never imagined that she would end up back in her sleepy New Hampshire hometown, living in the house she grew up in and taking over her father’s beekeeping business.
Lily Campanello is familiar with do-overs, too. When she and her mom relocate to Adams, New Hampshire, for her final year of high school, they both hope it will be a fresh start.
And for just a short while, these new beginnings are exactly what Olivia and Lily need. Their paths cross when Asher falls for the new girl in school, and Lily can’t help but fall for him, too. With Ash, she feels happy for the first time. Yet she wonders if she can trust him completely. . . .
Then one day, Olivia receives a phone call: Lily is dead, and Asher is being questioned by the police. Olivia is adamant that her son is innocent. But she would be lying if she didn’t acknowledge the flashes of his father’s temper in Ash, and as the case against him unfolds, she realizes he’s hidden more than he’s shared with her.
Mad Honey is a riveting novel of suspense, an unforgettable love story, and a moving and powerful exploration of the secrets we keep and the risks we take in order to become ourselves.
My Thoughts:
This is a provocative story. It makes the reader really think about what it’s like to deal with the issues that young Lily has to deal with. It’s the story of first love and secrets, and the question it raises is how much of our past do we have to share with our potential lovers?
This story takes you by surprise in pure Jody Picoult fashion. A young boy, Asher, is charged with the murder of his girlfriend, Lily. It appears as if he did do it, even though he’s proclaiming his innocence. This story takes us through his trial where all the evidence points to him, but in the end there’s a surprise. I don’t want to ruin it for you, so I’ll stop there.
I will say I read this book in one day. It was that good. It definitely kept my attention. It’s the perfect gift for your reader friends, and if you need to unwind during the holidays. This book is for you.
Thanks for stopping by and reading my post. Are you reading any good books? What are they? Drop the title in the comments! I’d love to hear from you!
Acknowledge the Negative but Focus on the Positive
Hello everyone, I hope all is well with you. My post is late today because it’s the holiday season and life has gotten busier. I’ve been working and writing. I’m taking some advice from a friend on my story, and we’ll see where it takes me.
But enough about that, today I’d like to talk about having a positive mindset. This is important because it’s the difference between feeling horrible inside versus feeling at peace. Now, I’m not talking about toxic positivity, where one doesn’t even acknowledge the negative side of things, but about choosing to deal with the negative side of things in a positive way.
There will always be negativity. You can focus on it if you want to and become depressed or look at the positive in the situation and develop a more contented outlook. A friend of mine constantly complains about her husband. How he never helped her with the household chores, never helped with dinner, and never washed a dish while their kids were growing up. I can see where this would be a constant source of irritation, however, he worked full-time while his wife stayed home and raised their four kids. He worked very hard often long hours especially during tax season. He was a CPA.
The thing she’s forgetting is, it was his hard work that paid for her to get her teaching degree. So, after her fourth child was born and old enough to go to a babysitter, she went back to school. She was a mother during the era when men didn’t help in the home, they were meant to be the provider, the woman was supposed to take care of the kids.
I feel if my friend focused on the fact her husband paid for her education and not the fact he didn’t help around the house as much as she liked, she’d feel happier. Her negativity just brings everyone down. Another positive of the fact her husband didn’t help around the house, is it forced her kids to step up to the plate and learn how to cook and clean, and be self-reliant.
I believe if she changed her mindset and acknowledge it would have been nice if he helped around the house, but I got my education and my kids learned how to take care of themselves, so there were some benefits to his inability to help out.
So, this holiday season when we’re getting together with friends and family, let’s try and acknowledge the negative side of the situation, but focus on the positive. Maybe we won’t have as many negative reactions, and we’ll have a more peaceful holiday. How about you? Do you know someone in your life who’s so focused on the negative that they aren’t acknowledging the positive? How do you help them? Leave a comment! I’d love to hear from you!
