Top smiles of 2010

The end of a year begs for lists, so despite sharing a list with you yesterday, I'm here with another today. This time it's ... 

My top 9 smile-inducers of 2010

Bubby. Always. In all ways!

Jim's support, with comments such as, "You really shouldn't try to get a job. Keep writing. I have a feeling things are going to take off for you this year."

Brianna moving into her own first home ... which was the first home Jim and I owned ... which was a weensy bit weird ... yet wonderful.

Signing with an agent. A real NYC agent. (Stay tuned for the miles o' smiles when she gets my work accepted for publication!)

My splendiferous end-of-summer adventure with Bubby.

Andrea getting an awesome new position that makes the most of her people skills and winning ways.

 Megan and Preston announcing that baby No. 2 -- grandson No. 2! -- is on his way. Hip-hip-hooray!

Celebrating Thanksgiving with my entire immediate family for the first time in several years.

Grandma's Briefs readers. Grandma's Briefs Facebook friends. Grandma's Briefs Twitter followers. That's you ... and you ... and YOU!

I can't wait to see what calls forth all the sure-to-come smiles in 2011. Whatever they may be, I look forward to sharing them with you.

Happy New Year! Best wishes for peace, prosperity, love -- and lots of smiles -- for all in 2011!

Today's question:

What brought you smiles in 2010?

9 things I will NOT do in 2011

While lots of folks are making lists of all the things they plan to do in the new year, I'm taking the other tack and offering up 9 things I will not do in 2011:

1. I will not give up coffee. You can't make me, you can't make me, you can't make me.

2. I will not join a gym. At least not until I'm in better shape.

3. I will not become an alcoholic, a position covered quite well by plenty of people around me. As Mattie Ross said in the original True Grit, "I won't put a thief in my mouth to steal my brain." (That doesn't mean, of course, that I won't let a thief borrow my brain now and then; lending it out on occasion can be quite enjoyable when in the right company.)

4. In the same vein, I will not be an enabler for those around me who allowed their brains to be stolen. And I will not be an enabler of the enablers who are enabling those with missing brains to death. Literally.

5. I will not get too serious on this blog. Or too revealing. Or too personal. Most of the time.

6. I will not snigger or snort at whatever name Megan and Preston choose for my second grandson. Unless it's BillyBobJoeDon. Or Ashton. Or SkippyJon Jones (thanks, Mrs. Mayhem).

7. I will not get frustrated while trying to improve my photo-editing skills. And photo-taking skills. Okay ... I will not lie, either, so disregard what I just said about photos.

8. I will not give up -- on my books, my blog, my bank account. Or my dreams of the lives my girls should be leading. Or my dream of winning PCH ... or the lotto.

9. I will not make resolutions. At least not those that I'm darn-shooting sure from the get-go that I won't come within spitting distance of accomplishing.

Photo: Petr Kratochvil

Today's question:

What will you NOT do in 2011?

Moving to the limbo beat

I hope everyone's Christmas was wonderful in ways above and beyond what was expected. Mine was beautiful ... and easier than usual, for some reason. I'm not sure if I'm fretting less the older I get or maybe I've just made peace with our leaner lifestyle -- in terms of money, not weight, unfortunately -- but it was a lovely holiday all around. Despite family drama. Despite fewer pennies to rub together. Despite Megan, Preston and Bubby celebrating on their own 819 miles away.

Yes, all was merry and bright for Christmas 2010. Now it's on to limbo time, aka the week between Christmas and New Years Day. The seven days between "holiday mode" and "regular programming."

After the hustle and bustle of Christmas, it always feels a tad unnerving to just STOP the madness and float along in the dead space of the last week of the year with nothing on the agenda. At least my agenda. I have no real work for now. No decorations to take down yet. No returns or exchanges to make. No plans to shop for deals on gifts or decor for next Christmas.

I also have no plans to finish any of my multitude of half-finished things, whether that's half-finished in my mind, on my desk, or around the house. One week isn't enough to wrap up all I meant to accomplish in the year yet didn't.

I'm not talking just half-finished things, either, for there's plenty I never even began. But there's certainly no sense beginning something new this week when the first of the year serves as the ideal starting point for plans, project, resolutions ... even if they're plans, projects, and resolutions that were originally meant to be done this past year. Or last year. Or the year before.

So this is my free week. My limbo week. My week to do absolutely nothing.

Well, as nothing as an uptight-unable-to-relax-without-feeling-guilty-as-cuss grandma can do.

Or not do.

Photo credit: mcgilljp

Question of the day:

How about you? Do you consider this final week of the year a limbo week or your last chance to meet all your goals for the year?

Merry Christmas!

Bells will be ringin'

Guess who had his first Christmas program ever?

Why, Bubby, of course.

As part of a preschool class of two-year-olds, Bubby didn't have to memorize lines or sing songs for last week's Christmas program. His part -- and the part of all the two-year-olds -- was to play bell accompaniment to the older students who had the singing parts.

And shake his bells, he did, Megan reported. Considering the attention span of toddlers, it was no surprise most of the kids shook a jingle or two then spent the remainder of the gig gazing at the sights and sounds around them. Not little Mr. Focus, aka Bubby, who, Megan says, shook and shook straight through to the end, all the while wearing a look of determination in doing the job right and to completion.

Amidst the bustle of prepping for the show -- especially considering Megan's class of students was performing as well -- Megan and Preston inadvertently left the camera at home, so there are no photos of Bubby jinglin' the bells. Luckily fabulous friend and photographer Alison (the fabulous applying to both her friend status and her photo skills) got this shot of Bubby with his bells and classmate Ro-Ro, Bubby's best buddy and Alison's son.

Another first, another milestone.

And another reason I'm so thankful for Megan and technology -- and photographer Alison -- for keeping me up to date on all things Bubby, despite the miles between us.

Holiday question of the day:

If you were to be part of a Christmas program, what song would you like to sing? And would you prefer a solo performance or being part of an ensemble?

Gone to the dogs

The last week or so I've been yearning to watch A Charlie Brown Christmas. I've not seen the holiday special in probably 15 years, maybe even closer to 20, as it's been that long since my little girls would hunker down in front of the television to watch the annual roundup of holiday goodness. Lately I've been missing that and figured it's high time to partake of the holiday goodness myself, even if I have to do it alone.

So over the weekend I popped in my Charlie Brown VHS (yes, VHS ... why upgrade kids' shows to DVD at the empty nest stage?) to watch on the TV in the study as I worked at my desk. And get this: Despite having no children or grandchildren around to watch such things with me, I certainly wasn't alone -- I was joined by my darling dogs, Mickey and Lyla.

Together we watched Charlie Brown lament the commercialism of Christmas, hanging on every note from Vince G., every Snoopy shuffle and every puff from Pig-Pen.

Since we had the time -- and the TV had their attention -- I decided to pop in How The Grinch Stole Christmas, too. It's been just about as many years since I've seen the Grinch special, I think, and I was sure Mickey and Lyla had never been to Whoville at all.

So we went there together. I enjoyed the sweetness of Cindy Lou Who while my canine companions relished the harrowing heroism of Max the Dog.

Thanks to Charlie's Snoopy and Grinch's Max, Mickey and Lyla were as intrigued by the shows as I was.* I'm not so sure they'd have been as amenable to watching holiday fare with me if the featured selection had been dogless dither such as Santa Claus is Coming to Town or Frosty the Snowman.

While visiting Bubby for Thanksgiving, I caught snippets of Santa Buddies with Bubby, and I've been thinking that's a holiday movie Mickey and Lyla would enjoy. So I'm watching for it to go on sale after Christmas. I figure since my one and only grandson lives 819 miles away and I must rely on my dogs to keep me company -- even when it comes to watching holiday shows -- I might as well include a doggy feature especially for them now and then. I understand there's a Santa Buddies sequel available, too, so if they're good, I'll go all out and make it a double feature.

I'll be buying both Santa Buddies movies on DVD, though, so we can watch them on our 54-incher in the family room instead of on the tiny tube in the study. My TV-watching buddies Mickey and Lyla will surely appreciate life-size holiday buddies on the big screen come Christmastime next year!

*Truth be told, the dogs slept through much of both shows. But it still was nice to have them hanging out with me while I watched the ol' holiday favorites.

Holiday question of the day:

Overall, would you say you've been more naughty or more nice this past year? Do your loved ones -- the ones playing Santa -- agree?

Nine Christmas questions

Santa Bubby ... unrelated to the post but too darn cute to pass up.I have this festive little book called The Christmas Conversation Piece: Creative Questions to Illuminate the Holidays. It's what sparks or provides many of the "Holiday Question of the Day" questions I've been posting all month.

I usually post ones that require a little thought, a fair amount of commentary, as I like to hear what's on the minds of my readers, in your words and stories. Today, though, for my post, I'm going to shoot out nine quick questions from the book that require short answers, questions that don't require a whole heckuva lot of thought ... yet still provide a good glimpse into the minds of my readers. And I'm going to provide my answers to each, too, just because I feel like being Christmas-y that way.

So read through the questions and my answers. Then comment with your answers to the questions -- all nine or just a few -- if you feel like being Christmas-y that way, too.

Here goes:

1. What Christmas song drives you nuts? My answer: Paul McCartney's "Wonderful Christmas Time." Hate it!

2. Which of the following four events would you most enjoy attending during the holiday season: a stage production of Dickens's A Christmas Carol, a choral concert of Handel's Messiah, a performance of Tchaikovsky's ballet The Nutcracker ... or (my addition to the actual question) a performance of David Sedaris' Santaland Diaries? My answer: Santaland Diaries!

3. Do you prefer blinking or non-blinking lights on a Christmas tree? My answer: Non-blinking

4. At Christmastime, which do you honestly enjoy more -- giving or receiving? My answer: Giving. Honest.

5. This year, would you rather spend Christmas at a penthouse in the city or at a cottage in the country? My answer: Cottage in the country

6. If snow could fall in any flavor, what flavor would you choose? My answer: Lemon ice (or lemon drop martinis but that wouldn't be good for the kids ... or the alcoholics ... in the crowd so I'll stick with lemon ice).

7. Given the choice, would you rather host people at your place for Christmas or spend the holiday at someone else's home? My answer: My place

8. If someone wanted to give you a $100 gift certificate for Christmas, what store would you want it to be from? My answer: Amazon.com

9. On a scale of one to ten (with one being very relaxing and ten being very stressful), how stressful is THIS holiday season for you? (My emphasis on THIS; the real question is THE.) My answer: Six

Holiday question of the day:

What are your answers to the nine Christmas questions?