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

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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

You didn’t really think that November had cornered the market on weird holidays, did you? Yes, Virginia, there are weird holidays in December, too:

December 1^st – Eat A Red Apple Day – I suppose you turn into an elf if you eat a green one?

December 2^nd – National Fritters Day –Don’t fritter this day away without eating a fritter.

December 3^rd – National Roof Over Your Head Day – Glad my roof isn’t under my head?

December 4^th – Wear Brown Shoes Day – Let’s just hope everyone wears socks with those brown shoes.

December 5^th – Bathtub Party Day – This sounds like a holiday invented by weary parents, if you ask me.

December 6^th – Put On Your Own Shoes Day – Whoa. I’m not supposed to wear other peoples’ shoes?

December 8^th – National Brownie Day – I’m in. How about you?

December 8^th – Take It in the Ear Day – Just don’t put brownies in your ear.

December 9^th – Christmas Card Day – Let me guess…Hallmark instituted this one.

December 11^th – National Noodle Ring Day – Either this is a Spaghetti-O’s Day or I quite obviously missed the opportunity for noodle jewelry.

December 12^th – National Ding-a-ling Day –A salute to the person who started Noodle Ring Day?

December 13^th – National Ice Cream Day – Nothing like frozen treats on a cold December day…Hmmm…

December 14^th – National Bouillabaisse Day – Ummm….think I’ll stick with Ice Cream Day.

December 15^th – National Lemon Cupcake Day – Make mine a double.

December 16^th – National Chocolate Covered Anything Day – Cover my lemon cupcake with brownies?

December 17^th – National Maple Syrup Day – Guess it’ll be “hop-pin’” at IHOP this day, right? *groan*

December 18^th – Bake Cookies Day – Yes, I always forget to bake cookies in December.

December 19^th – Look for an Evergreen Day – This is in case you don’t like the Charlie Brown tree look.

December 20^th – Go Caroling Day – These last 3 days are for people who lose their December to-do lists?

December 21^st – Humbug Day – This must be the day we check our bank balances?

December 22^nd – National Date Nut Bread Day – One can never have enough desserts in December.

December 23^rd – Roots Day – Does this mean I need to visit my hairdresser or join Ancestry.com?

December 24^th – National Chocolate Day –Chocolate Covered Anything Day wasn’t enough?

December 25^th – National Pumpkin Pie Day – This bodes well for the Fitness Industry in January.

December 27^th – National Fruitcake Day – I suppose this is when we throw out the fruitcake?

December 30^th – National Bicarbonate of Soda Day – Pass the Tums, please.

December 31^st – Make Up Your Mind Day – That’s assuming you haven’t lost yours by now.

But here are a few, lesser-known holidays we may want to remember and honor in our households this month:

December 6^th – St. Nicholas’ Day – When I traveled to the Netherlands one December, I watched this holiday in action. Every citizen there writes an original poem to those they love for St. Nicholas’ Day and the family gets together to hear these poems.

December 6^th – Mitten Tree Day – This might be a wonderful day to donate mittens to a local shelter or charity organization

December 7^th – Letter Writing Day –Write a letter to a person who will be alone for the holidays?

December 12^th – National Poinsettia Day – Take a pretty poinsettia to a lonely nursing home resident?

December 28^th – Card Playing Day – Get together with friends, family, etc. to play a card game.

December is also Write a Friend Month. For 41 years I have been blessed to call a wonderful woman in Indiana my best friend. We sure didn’t know we were celebrating Write a Friend Month way back in 7^th grade, but we always celebrate our friendship each December by writing each other about what is so special to us about our friendship.  Having lost a few of my friends in recent years, I can tell you that it’s important to treasure such friendships and acknowledge them with a letter every now and then, despite the many miles that may be between you now.

Enjoy this holiday season, no matter what your traditions are!

Monday’s Post: Do you know any hawkshaws?

You might also like: The Odd Days of November, Things I’m Not Thankful For, Part I, Things I’m Not Thankful For, Part 2, and Things I’m Not Thankful For, Part 3

Ever since the health adventures in June and reading The Hole in the Gospel, I now view acquiring more stuff very differently. When there are 800 million people on the planet who don’t even have safe drinking water, it’s a little difficult for me to construct a wish list full of stuff I simply want and don’t actually need. If you don’t have enough to eat, you can survive for a while. But, if you don’t have enough to drink, you die within 48 hours. In addition many of the world’s diseases are greatly reduced when people have safe food and water sources.

Doesn’t seem important to you because of this year’s recession and the healthcare issues in our own country? Well, consider this. When we take care of people we have not even met around the world, we say a LOT about who we are as a nation. We, in essence, are SHOUTING compassion, generosity and kindness when we donate to causes that help people in developing countries or put a roof over the head of someone who’s been trying to get off government aid for years. It’s detente at the grass roots level.

Still not buying it? That’s okay. This is America and you’re entitled to your opinion. But, keep in mind that you, yes you, even with your meager income and having a dependence on government aid yourself, are still far wealthier and more blessed than the average 3rd world person. Why? Because you can read. Yes, read. Most of the world finds this a luxury.

When my kids were little, they would create their Christmas wish lists around this time of year. They were adorable and got posted on the refrigerator. Many were done in crayon with childish scrawls and pictures for anything they didn’t yet know how to spell. With the relatives living far away, having them on the refrigerator was handy for me, so that I could relay them to their very generous extended family.

When they became teens, they often wanted things that none of us ancient adults could even figure out. We might spend hours looking for something in the toy aisle only to learn we needed to be in the video game and electronics section of the store. Thus, we moved the “Christmas wish list” system to email, with each person pasting links of their hoped-for item. This worked splendidly.

However, even with this system, duplicate purchases often happened or sizes weren’t right. The wrong color was purchased. The link didn’t work, as expected.

Enter amazon.com. Amazon has taken their wedding and birth registries up a notch and now allows you to make a wish list for any gift giving occasion. What’s even cooler? They allow you to ship that item right to the recipient’s door, often free of charge. And the recipient can put in notes about size, color, or reason for wanting that particular item, right beside the item.

What’s that? What you want isn’t available through Amazon? No problem. You can add a browser icon that says, “Add to Wish List.” So, all you have to do is go to the web page containing what you want, click the browser icon and voila: your item is added to your Amazon Wish List.

So, why am I rattling on about Christmas wish lists when I just said I want everyone to contribute to charity around the globe? Because you can use that oh, so handy little icon to have your loved ones and friends contribute to worthy causes around the globe–causes you get to select yourself! For my wish list this year, I have asked for donations to charitywater.org, World Vision and Habitat for Humanity.

Now, don’t worry–I’m still enough of a material girl to put down some other items that are just for me, but if my donation items are the only gifts I receive this year, I will be just fine. Why? Because I don’t have to dust, sweep, or clean a donation to a worthy cause. Because I already have safe water to drink. Because I already have enough to eat (so much so, that I have to exercise it off!). Because I already have a roof over my head and warm clothing on my pudgy, vertically-challenged bod. Because people I don’t even know will have a merrier Christmas just because of one little browser button.

“For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.” –Matthew 25: 35-36

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving and a truly giving Christmas shopping trip! 🙂

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Last week’s WOW (Word of the Week) was: booboisie. For once, one of my guesses was actually close. Wonders never cease, particularly when you thought that guess was pretty far-fetched and silly. Merriam-Webster says that booboisie is defined as: the general public regarded as consisting of boobs. Nooooooooooooo comment.

This week’s WOW is hawkshaw. Let’s see if I can make it two in a row for getting close to the right definition:

hawkshaw: (ˈhȯk-ˌshȯ) 1. a rickshaw powered by hawks 2. the state of being when hawks are embarrassed 3. an Iranian poultry king

What’s your guess for hawkshaw? Comment below.

Wednesday’s Post: Some gifts that change lives…

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

We’ve been reading some pretty serious stuff these past two months and I decided we needed a change of pace for the very busy month of December in three ways: A) The book should not have too many chapters for us to try and digest in one sitting due to other holiday commitments, B) We need a good laugh, and C) It should be something about Christmas.

Having been brought up as probably the only protestant in “Catholic Central,” aka Indiana, I decided that it was time to learn a little bit more about the world of nuns. Yes, nuns. So, how is a book about nuns going to make you laugh? The title should make you smile at the very least and tell you great things are in store in the pages ahead. And it only has 8 chapters, although the chapters may be a little long at times. My advice? Get on your treadmill with this book or take this book with you as the entertainment while you travel to see the relatives.

So, how does a book about nuns meet Criteria C of being about Christmas?  Well, admittedly I’m stretching here, but the author’s name is Jane Christmas. No joke. I hope she realizes her name is politically incorrect. How does one quit using their name if it’s not P.C.??? Hmmm….

Without further adieu, here is the December 2013 MIP Book Club Selection:

And Then There Were Nuns: Adventures in a Cloistered Life by Jane Christmas

Amazon Link: http://www.amazon.com/Then-There-Were-Nuns-Adventures-ebook/dp/B00B6TZGIA/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1385059452&sr=1-1&keywords=and+then+there+were+nuns

Amazon Cost: $ 9.99/Kindle edition; $ 10.47 Paperback

ASIN: BOOB6TZGIA

About Jane Christmas: http://www.janechristmas.ca/bio.html

MIP Reading Plan: 

Monday, December 2nd: Chapter 1

Tuesday, December 3rd through Friday, December 6th – Chapter 2

Saturday, December 7th & Monday, December 9th – Chapter 3

Tuesday, December 10th & Wednesday, December 11th – Chapter 4

Thursday, December 12th & Friday, December 13th – Chapter 5

Saturday, December 14th & Monday, December 16th – Chapter 6

Tuesday, December 17th & Wednesday, December 18th – Chapter 7

Thursday, December 19th  – Chapter 8

Friday, December, 20th – Slow Reader Friday Discussion for And Then There Were Nuns and… January 2014 MIP Book Selection Announcement!

Good morning, Book Club Members! Are you ready to discuss Undaunted by Christine Caine? I know I am. 🙂

I first encountered Christine Caine at the Women of Faith Conference in Dallas back in September. I was wondering how an Aussie found her way to Cowboyland, aka the Big D. But, I didn’t have to wonder too long. As Christine told her story and that of countless numbers of women and children who are enslaved in the human trafficking business around the globe, her story was very compelling. While many speakers at the conference were asking for financial support for their favorite causes, Christine only asked for prayers and now I understand why.

In Undaunted Caine describes how she was largely an unwanted child and then adopted, how she was abused and then loved by one incredibly understanding man, how she was joyously pregnant and then miscarried and yet learned to retain her faith through that long period of grief. She recounts how she was deeply saddened by the horrors of a Nazi concentration camp and asked God to make her open to new opportunities to serve. Waiting too long for luggage turned into a complete upheaval of her life to bring her to a new ministry for which, she admits, she had no earthly idea how to do. She is a living example of good triumphing over evil again and again in Undaunted. 

The most compelling parts of the book were those in which she recounted getting over the hurts and fears of all the miserable experiences in which she found herself, but I did think the “lessons learned” parts of the book began to “drag on,” particularly towards the end. Perhaps that’s because I’ve already heard her speak a few times previously. But, the fact remains that we all should be Undaunted when God asks us to do the “unthinkable.”

Here are my top 3 favorite quotes from the book:

1. “God doesn’t waste one experience of our lives. He uses everything to help someone else…We are all broken in some way. We all have wounds. Some of us use that as an excuse to do nothing, to serve no one, but rather to sit and nurse our misery.”

2. “…disappointments leave something too: a gift, an opportunity, a possibility to create change, to move from the valley of the shadow of death to new horizons, and to bring others with us on that road…the best way to get over your own broken heart or lost dream is to help others get over theirs.”

3. “My eyes, that day, were opened to how, by doing nothing when others suffer, we add to their injury…The oppressed do not see too much difference between those who would keep them down and those who do nothing to help. There is no in-between.”

So, here are the Book Club discussion questions for Undaunted: 

1. On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being “WOW! Loved this book” and 1 being “Really? Why did you even select this book???”, where would you rate this book? (You’re probably going to see this question a lot until I’m comfy with understanding what types of books/writing appeal to you the most–fair warning!)

2. Which one of the stories about Christine Caine’s life made the biggest impression on you? And yes, you can pick more than one, but please tell us why they made a big impression.

3. When Christine Caine spoke about the A21 campaign at Women of Faith, she pointed out that often women are enslaved, drugged, beaten, sexually abused and then when the woman becomes pregnant, her baby is sold into slavery for “use” by pedophiles. Since this is a practice here in the U.S. (as well as globally), how does that thought strike you?

4. Did this book compel you to want to make some changes in your life? How so? Have you begun to implement those changes? What are the obstacles standing in your way?

I cannot wait to hear your comments below!

And if you just cannot contain yourself and you need to know what the December Book Club Selection is, click here.

Monday’s Post: Are you part of the booboisie?

You might also like: Slow Reader Friday: Life Interrupted; Slow Reader Friday: Mere Christianity; Slow Reader Thursday: Heaven; and of course, the Book Club Page!