December 2, 2011
FW: A New Approach with Christmas Tree Lights!
Who ever thought you could incorporate your Christmas tree lights with your Twitter account???
Archive for the ‘Christmas’ Category.
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November 23, 2011
FW: Thanksgiving Santa
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January 25, 2011
FW: A Month After Christmas
‘Twas the month after Christmas,
and all through the house
Nothing would fit me, not even a blouse.
The cookies I’d nibbled,
the eggnog I’d taste at the holiday parties
had gone to my waist.
When I got on the scales
there arose such a number!
When I walked to the store
(less a walk than a lumber).
I’d remember the marvelous meals I’d prepared;
The gravies and sauces and beef nicely rared,
The wine and the rum balls, the bread and the cheese
And the way I’d never said, “No thank you, please.”
As I dressed myself in my husband’s old shirt
And prepared once again to do battle with dirt—
I said to myself, as only I can
“You can’t spend a winter disguised as a man!”
So–away with the last of the sour cream dip,
Get rid of the fruit cake, every cracker and chips
Every last bit of food that I like must be banished
“Till all the additional ounces have vanished.
I won’t have a cookie–not even a lick.
I’ll want to chew only on a long celery stick.
I won’t have hot biscuits, or corn bread, or pie,
I’ll munch on a carrot and quietly cry.
I’m hungry, I’m lonesome, and life is a bore—
But isn’t that what January is for?
Unable to giggle, no longer a riot.
Happy New Year to all and to all a good diet!”
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December 26, 2010
FW: Happy Boxing Day
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December 25, 2010
FW: MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!
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December 24, 2010
FW: One Last Christmas
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December 23, 2010
FW: 50 Unknown Christmas Facts
- In 1836, Alabama became the first state in the United States to declare Christmas a legal holiday. In 1907, Oklahoma became the last state to declare Christmas a legal holiday.
- The abbreviation of Xmas for Christmas is not irreligious. The first letter of the word Christ in Greek is chi, which is identical to our X. Xmas was originally an ecclesiastical abbreviation that was used in tables and charts. In the early days of printing, when font sizes were limited and type was set by hand, abbreviations and ditto marks were used liberally. Xmas came into general use from the church.
- Candy canes began as straight white sticks of sugar candy used to decorate the Christmas trees. A choirmaster at Cologne Cathedral decided to have the ends bent to depict a shepherd’s crook and he would pass them out to the children to keep them quiet during the services. It wasn’t until about the 20th century that candy canes acquired their red stripes.
- Oliver Cromwell, in England banned Christmas carols between 1649 and 1660. Cromwell thought that Christmas should be a very solemn day so he banned carols and parties. The only celebration was by a sermon and a prayer service.
- On Christmas morning since medieval times, church bells have been rung to announce to the world the coming of the Savior. It was customary from the 18th century to wear clothes and carry a small bell to signify the birth of Christ. The ringing of the bells was to signify the importance of the His Birth.
- Some priests in Australia advise you to say “Happy Christmas,” not “Merry Christmas,” because Merry has connotations of getting drunk—which brings its own problems. One should say “Happy” instead.
- The largest functional Christmas cracker was 150 feet long and 10 feet in diameter. It was made by Australian international rugby player Ray Price in Markson Sparks of New South Wales, Australia and was pulled into the parking lot of the Westfield Shopping Town in Chatswood, Sydney, Australia on November 9, 1991.
- The actual gift givers are different in various countries. England it is Father Christmas. France it is Pere Noel (Father Christmas). Germany it is Christkind (angelic messenger from Jesus), she is a beautiful fair-haired girl with a shining crown of candles. Holland it is St. Nicholas. In some parts of Russia it is a Babouschka (a grandmotherly figure), other parts it is Grandfather Frost. Scandinavia it is a variety of Christmas gnomes (one is called Julenisse). Spain and South America it is the Three Kings. Italy it is La Befana (a kindly old witch).
- A wreath with holly, red berries, and other decorations began from at least the 17th century. Holly, with its sharply pointed leaves, symbolized the thorns in Christ’s crown-of-thorns. Red berries symbolized the drops of Christ’s blood. A wreath at Christmas signified a home that celebrated the birth of Christ.
- In America, the weeks leading up to Christmas are the biggest shopping weeks of the year. Many retailers make up to 70% of their annual revenue in the month preceding Christmas.
- Although many believe that the Friday after Thanksgiving is the busiest shopping day of the year, it is not. It is the fifth to tenth busiest day. The Friday and Saturday before Christmas are the two busiest shopping days of the year.
- An artificial spider and web are often included in the decorations on Ukrainian Christmas trees. A spider web found on Christmas morning is believed to bring good luck.
- December 26th was traditionally known as St. Stephen’s Day, but is more commonly known as Boxing Day. This expression came about because money was collected in alms-boxes placed in churches during the festive season. This money was then distributed to the poor and needy after Christmas.
- The tradition of gifts seems to have started with the gifts that the wise men brought to Jesus. The exchanging of gifts between people started in about the 1800’s.
- According to legend, holly berries were once thought to be white. Offered humbly by a child to the Christ Child who pricked His finger, the white berries blushed red in grief and shame.
- The first American Christmas carol was written in 1649 by a minister named John de Brebeur and is called “Jesus is Born.”
- Decorating with holly was an important practice for the Druids, a pagan tribe in northern Europe. Because holly leaves were always green, the Druids believed that the sun never deserted the plant, and it was therefore sacred. Maidens in old England thought that if they attached holly to their beds it would keep the devil from turning them into witches.
- Early Christmas trees were decorated with fruits, flowers and candles, which were heavy on the tree branches. In the 1800′s German glass blowers began producing glass balls to replace the heavy decorations and called them bulbs.
- Kissing under the mistletoe possibly began in old England. One theory is that the Druids started it all. They believed the mistletoe was sacred and therefore a charm against evil. They used golden sickles to harvest it and, to keep it from touching the ground, caught it in the folds of their priestly garments. Another theory is that the custom was started by the Scandinavians, who considered mistletoe to be a symbol of peace. When enemies chanced to meet under it, so the story goes, they would be required to declare a truce for the day and seal it with a kiss of peace.
- For many centuries reindeer have been domesticated in their original habitat, which ranges from Norway into northern Asia. They have been trained to wear harnesses because of their strength, speed, and endurance in pulling sleds over snow.
- The origin of hanging Christmas stockings comes to us from southern Europe. One legend says that an old man was in despair because he had no money for his daughter’s dowries. St. Nicholas dropped a bag of gold down the chimney, which happened to fall into a stocking hung up to dry.
- Gingerbread has been a holiday tradition for thousands of years. It was originally eaten during Winter Solstice Festivals, but the tradition of the house made of Gingerbread originated in Germany.
- Taffy making on Christmas Eve was one of the most important festive traditions of the Welsh. Taffy is a special kind of chewy toffee made from brown sugar and butter. It is boiled and then pulled until it becomes lovely and glossy.
- It was once believed that any woman who went under a mistletoe and was not kissed would not marry the coming year.
- The world’s biggest Christmas tree (249 feet high) was put up in America in 1950.
- In India, they decorate banana trees at Christmas time.
- Real Christmas trees are an all-American product, grown in all 50 states, including Alaska and Hawaii.
- The biggest selling Christmas single of all time is Bing Crosby’s White Christmas.
- Most artificial trees are manufactured in Korea, Taiwan, or Hong Kong.
- “Silent night” was written for a choir when the church organ broke down.
- In North America, children put stockings out at Christmas time. Their Dutch counterparts, however, use shoes. Dutch children set out shoes to receive gifts any time between mid-November and December 5th, St. Nicholas’ birthday.
- The word “Christmas” comes from Cristes mæsse, an old English phrase that means “Mass of Christ.”
- French peasants believed that babies who come into the world on Christmas are born with the gift of prophecy.
- More than 1,000,000 acres of land have been planted with Christmas trees.
- Hallmark introduced its first Christmas cards in 1915, five years after the founding of the company.
- More diamonds are purchased at Christmas time (31%) than during any other holiday or occasion during the year.
- More than three billion Christmas cards are sent annually in the United States.
- It is estimated that 400,000 people become sick each year from eating tainted Christmas leftovers.
- Most people will walk on average five miles between the parking lot and stores during the Christmas season.
- According to tradition, giving a lump of coal in the stockings of naughty children comes from Italy.
- In 1937, the first postage stamp to commemorate Christmas was issued in Austria.
- During the Christmas buying season, the Visa credit card alone is used on an average of 5,340 times every minute in the United States.
- According to a 1995 survey, 7 out of 10 British dogs get Christmas gifts from their owners.
- It has been estimated that at least 56 percent of Americans sing to their pets Christmas carols.
- An average household in America will mail out 28 Christmas cards each year and receive 28 cards in return.
- “Wassail” comes from the Old Norse “ves heill”— to be of good health. This evolved into the tradition of visiting neighbors on Christmas Eve and drinking to their health.
- A traditional Christmas dinner in early England was the head of a pig prepared with mustard.
- The Norwegians once believed that witches and devious spirits were likely to steal their brooms on Christmas Eve.
- There is a special law in Britain that actually makes it mandatory to go to church on Christmas day. The law that is deemed the Holy Days and Fasting Act still exists, however, not so much enforced. Additionally no vehicle of any kind is to be used to get to the Christmas service.
- Most of the Evergreen tree, the traditional Christmas tree, is actually edible. In addition, it is nutrient rich, and is a good source of Vitamin C.
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December 22, 2010
FW: The Christmas Train
Santa Claus On the Train
by Henry C. Walsh
On a Christmas Eve an emigrant train
Sped on through the blackness of night,
And cleft the pitchy dark in twain
With the gleam of its fierce headlight.
In a crowded car, a noisome place,
Sat a mother and her child;
The woman’s face bore want’s wan trace,
But the little one only smiled,
And tugged and pulled at her mother’s dress,
And her voice had a merry ring,
As she lisped, “Now, mamma, come and guess
What Santa Claus’ll bring.”
But sadly the mother shook her head,
As she thought of a happier past;
“He never can catch us here,” she said.
“The train is going too fast.”
“O, mamma, yes, he’ll come, I say,
So swift are his little deer,
They run all over the world today; -
I’ll hang my stocking up here.”
She pinned her stocking to the seat,
And closed her tired eyes;
And soon she saw each longed-for sweet
In dreamland’s paradise.
On a seat behind the little maid
A rough man sat apart,
But a soft light o’er his features played,
And stole into his heart.
As the cars drew up at a busy town
The rough man left the train,
But scarce had from the steps jumped down
Ere he was back again.
And a great big bundle of Christmas joys
Bulged out from his pocket wide;
He filled the stocking with sweets and toys
He laid by the dreamer’s side.
At dawn the little one woke with a shout,
‘Twas sweet to hear her glee;
“I knowed that Santa Claus would find me out;
He caught the train you see.”
Though some from smiling may scarce refrain,
The child was surely right,
The good St. Nicholas caught the train,
And came aboard that night.
For the saint is fond of masquerade
And may fool the old and wise,
And so he came to the little maid
In an emigrant’s disguise.
And he dresses in many ways because
He wishes no one to know him,
For he never says, “I am Santa Claus,”
But his good deeds always show him.
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December 20, 2010
FW: 20 Reasons Why Women Would Love To Be Santa Claus
20. There would be no more early morning decisions about what to wear.
19. There are a plethora of ginger bread men to bite their heads off.
18. You could grow a gut and consider it a job requirement.
17. You would always know if your kids are really naughty or nice.
16. You would never have to color your white hair again.
15. Everyone would be extremely nice to you.
14. You would actually want people to say that your belly jiggled.
13. You would always get to wear sensible footwear.
12. You could greet your ex’s new girlfriend with a hearty ho-ho-ho.
11. You wouldn’t need to buy an expensive purse.
10. No need to shop, you own the North Pole.
09. You would never again have to wear pantyhose.
08. You would have reindeer navigation.
07. You would never grab the wrong coat on your way out the door.
06. Buy one big black belt and you would be accessorized for life.
05. No inlaws for the holidays.
04. Your ex would forever receive a lump of coal for Christmas.
03. No standing in line on black Friday.
02. Exercise means eating more cookies.
01. You have little elves as slaves.
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December 19, 2010
FW: Santa Demotivators
