23 days till Christmas

23 days till Christmas
December 2nd
Movie of the day: The Santa Clause (optional marathon 1, 2 and 3)
I grew up with these movies. I was really intrigued by the idea of a modern Santa's workshop.
Hammers don't make video games!
After all the years they have been doing Christmas, one would think they would have made some advances in technology some where along the way.
I like to make some hot cocoa, curl up under a blanket and knit while I marathon all three in a row. It is a great way to kick off the holidays.

Christmas Carol of the day:
Away in a Manger
http://www.christmas-carol-music.org/Lead_Sheets/AwayInAManger_Mueller.html
One of the first Christmas carols we learn as children. Many of us remember being in a Christmas eve play at one point in our childhood. I was lucky to be in the choir so we didn't have to wear funky costumes or sit really still for a long time.

Christmas Trivia
(brought to you by howstuffworks.com)
What is the History of the Christmas Card?
The time-honored tradition of sending Christmas cards began more than 150 years ago in England. Sir Henry Cole, a renaissance man who wrote and published books on art and architecture, was too busy to write holiday greetings to friends and family, so he asked John Callcott Horsley, a well-known painter, to design a card with a single message that could be sent to everyone on his list.
Horsley created a lithographed, hand-colored sketch printed on cardboard. The illustration depicted a classic Victorian Christmas scene of a family merrily eating and drinking. The caption read, "A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to You."
The first Christmas card appeared in the United States in the mid-1800s, when New York engraver Richard Pease designed a card with a small Santa Claus, a sleigh, and reindeer.
In 1875, Louis Prang, who wrote and published architectural books, printed images in color with a series of lithographic zinc plates. The finished product resembled an oil painting. These cards were so in demand that Prang couldn't fulfill all of his orders. At one point Prang was printing five million cards a year. His efforts earned him the moniker, "The Father of the American Christmas Card."
Today, everything from clever verses and holiday scenes to geometric designs and sports figures grace the fronts of cards. An average U.S. household mails out 28 Christmas cards each year and receives the same number in return. More than three billion Christmas cards are sent annually.
http://christmas.howstuffworks.com/games/christmas-trivia1.htm

I try to get cards out every year. I write to friends and family as well as clients of my business. I like to get my cards on sale after the holidays but sometimes if I see a set of cards I really like, I will splurge and pay full price. I hand write my cards, trying to use my best handwriting. It just feels more intimate. I recently went looking for my stash of holiday cards and found at the bottom of a box a stack of at least 8 cards that I wrote last year that never got sent. If you didn't get one last year, fear not, I wrote to you but sadly forgot to mail them. Better luck this year! :D