Now that the turkey leftovers are being ignored in the fridge and the Christmas shopping has begun, it’s more important than ever to stop and take a moment to relax. I’m one of those obnoxious people who has her Christmas shopping done before Black Friday — but I still have wrapping to do — the worst part, in my opinion. I know it’s important to take time to keep the balance in my life that I strive for all year long. That is even more important this year when we have been going through,and still have more to go, of the house renovations. Fingers crossed that I’ll be able to help my son cook Christmas dinner.

So I’ll take time out to watch the holiday specials and to read and to send out gifts and notes.

I had planned on having a big get-together this weekend for the release of Thomas Kinkade’s Home for Christmas movie from Lionsgate, but the movie has been postponed until Christmas 2008. However, the book is out, and I’m proud to say I wrote the novelization of the screenplay (with my Jo Ann Brown pseudonym). If you want a reminder of many of the reasons this season is important, pick up a copy of the book. It’s a heart-warming story and the perfect complement to a cup of hot chocolate and some holiday cookies.

Enjoy!

I am finally getting the last of my pictures from our trip to England, Germany, and Switzerland labeled and into the computer. It’s official. I took about 13,000. Can you tell how much I like photography? For me it’s a creative outlet, just as writing is. I am endlessly amazed at what I see when I have a camera in my hand. I call it my “photography eyes”. When I went to DisneyWorld a couple of years ago, I took my camera for the first time since the kids were little on our first visit there. I saw things in the architecture and the layouts of the parks that I’d never noticed in previous trips. Now I try to take my camera with me whenever I travel.

One of our goals on this trip to England was to visit my “grandfather’s stone.” Actually my however many times great-grandfather on my mother’s father’s side. He died in the 17th century, and he has a memorial stone in Norwich Cathedral. Joseph Loveland is his name, and he was part of the generation that was turning its eyes toward settling America. My relatives have done family trees for my mother’s father’s family (Loveland) and my father’s mother’s family (Corey, including a several times great aunt and uncle who were murdered at the Salem Witch Trials).

The memorial stone is actually at the opposite end of the cathedral from where Joseph Loveland was buried…or so we’ve been told. During one of the renovations, stones were moved, but the bodies weren’t. Shades of Poltergeist! Set between the columns that separate the center of the cathedral from the aisle, the stone was well-hidden beneath chairs. I don’t think he minded <g>

Here is a photo of the cathedral. It is from a previous trip when the sky was blue instead of the gray skies we met this time on our visit.