If you read my post from last Wednesday, then you know I’m in the midst of revealing my 12 favorite posts from this past year which most likely will not make it into the Top 10 or Top 12 of what all of my readers viewed most frequently. Why 12? Because I adore the Christmas song, “The Twelve Days of Christmas.” Thus, this is my little tribute to that illusive bird known as the partridge. Seriously, how many of you have actually seen a partridge???

These posts all missed the top 12 in viewership by a “hair.” May I conclude that you still liked them? Just not as much as the Top 10 or 12 (which I will reveal in January)? I hope so.  Here are # 10 and # 9 and why I consider them my favorites.

Number 10:

“Because I Want to Be with You…”

When I started MIP I wasn’t sure I wanted my Christian viewpoint to take “center stage” in what I posted. But, little by little, God worked on my heart and I realized the whole point of my writing is to work on building a closer relationship with Him. While not every post will be evident of this, a great many of them reveal just how blessed I feel to have Him in my life. This post recounts the beginning of the realization that it was okay to be publicly open about my Christianity, despite an increasingly secular world viewpoint. I debated, for a long, long time whether or not to post this story because it makes me sound crazy and because I hope to fictionally include it in my first book. But, finally, I just couldn’t stand not sharing it, much like Jeremiah just couldn’t stop prophesying. Click here to either review that story or to read it for the first time!

Number 9: 

Lessons Learned from a Routine Examination…

This post is probably the total reverse of the tone of # 10! Because of my health adventures, I have to endure a lot of examinations and hospitalizations. The medical community’s major mistake is to actually make a writer wait for such stuff. It gives me entirely too much time to construct my next posts about the embarrassing and silly things doctors and nurses ask one to endure to take care of health issues. Yes, some of this is definitely fictionalized, but it is oh, so based on actual reality. Click here to laugh again or to get your first insight into the nonsense that is my life.

Monday’s Post: Do you fard? (I beg your pardon!)

You might also like: The 12 Days of MIP: 12 & 11; The Odd Days of December; and Don’t Need Any More Stuff This Christmas? How About This?

I have always loved the song, “The Twelve Days of Christmas” and once upon a time, our family used to gather around the kitchen table, draw numbers out of a bowl and sing the appropriate verse of this song as dictated by the number drawn. It was fun to see my tone-deaf hubby belt out, with great relish, “Five golden rings” in a truly disharmonious way and to see the lovely tones of my mother’s voice delayed because she was having too much fun listening to her 3 grandchildren sing their verses and forgot to sing her own verse!

You might have easily guessed that I have an affection for this song simply because that darn partridge often manages to infiltrate my blog posts. I don’t know exactly how that happens, but apparently, that partridge thinks there is bird seed somewhere near my laptop. Either that or a pear tree limb.

Since the end of January will be the 1 year anniversary of “birthing” this web site, I decided to take a look at the posts that seem to hold your attention the most. The results are interesting and not exactly what I thought they would be. Some are there for some really weird reasons, which will be discussed in January.

In the meantime I decided to bring back my 12 most favorite posts of the year that don’t appear in the “Top 12” most viewed posts (I promise to reveal those to you in January.). This gives you an opportunity to catch up on posts you may have missed and to re-read ones you also liked. If you don’t care to re-read them, I will understand–I know most of you are very busy in December. But I promise to tell you why each is a favorite of mine.

I will reveal two per post in reverse order, based on how popular they have been with you, so without further adieu, I present # 12:

A Real Scare…

Honestly, I didn’t know how this one would be received. It was pretty risky to even throw it out there, in my humble opinion, particularly since I had run on and on about Pinktober and contributing to breast cancer ad nauseam practically the entire month of October. It was also risky because many of my family members and close friends didn’t even know this was my reality until after I had the results of my 3rd mammogram in less than 6 months and posted the results in this piece.

Amazingly, two of my friends came “out of the closet” when this post went public and told me they had just been diagnosed with Stage II and they were telling me before they told a lot of people who, honestly, probably should have known before me. I am so proud of them both–they are fighting tooth and nail and I expect both of them to conquer this insidious disease. I am so honored that they chose to share something this personal with little old me. They are teaching me loads of things in the process–things that will probably help others one day should anyone else ever choose to confide in me.

So, if you care to see why this post meant something to them…and to me, click here.

Number 11:

20 Seconds of Courage…Why Not? 

I often miss “the point” of movies. My random mind often goes off in tangents that no one else’s does. When I first watched what could honestly be dubbed a “kids movie,” I thought it was quaint, but nothing special. Then, I saw it again on one of my own movie channels and new “messages” suddenly jumped out at me from this very quaint movie. The result? Putting a few of those messages together in a post that others chose to share with their Facebook friends. Occasionally, I am actually proud of my writing (Trust me–I seldom feel this way!) and this would be one of those rare times. Click here to read the “messages” one kids movie managed to send that random mind of mine.

Friday’s Post: The 12 Days of MIP: 10 & 9…

You may also like: The “Type” Meets “Perfection”, The Odd Days of December, Adages That Have Proven True Now That I’m Decrepit, and The Odd Days of November

Picture picture

Book Club Members: Have you started And Then There Were Nuns? That’s okay…neither have I, but there’s no time like the present (since this is a month apparently honoring presents), to begin reading Chapter 1!

Last week’s WOW (Word of the Week) was hawkshaw. The hubby actually was close on this one (How does he do that?). The Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary says that a hawkshaw is a detective. Apparently, this word originated with a detective who had the name Hawkshaw.

This week’s WOW is fard. Considering that the family just spent the past weekend playing a game named Furt, I can only imagine the comments I’m going to get from the family “peanut gallery” on this one:

fard: (färd) 1. a difficult expulsion of gas from one’s backside 2. the fat that results from consuming too much lard 3. the present tense of the word furt.

So, what’s your guess for fard? I want to hear all about it in the comment box below!

Wednesday’s Post: The 12 Days of MIP???

You might also like: Word of the Week: hawkshaw; Word of the Week: booboisie, Word of the Week: ephebic; Word of the Week: frisson; and Word of the Week: jape