What are YOUR favorite Christmas Traditions? Are you trying something new this year? Let me know. That might become my new favorite tradition!
Speaking of traditions: did you get new pajamas at Christmas when you were a child? Think back! When I was growing up, my sister and I always had Christmas pajamas. Usually flannel. My children had matching Christmas pajamas when they were small.
As you can see, for the last 4 years, we've revived that matching pajama tradition with our extended family! This year, based on input from my husband that he has enough pajama pants, I'll be deviating just a little from "pajamas." Rest assured we will still all be matching, though! What I'm doing a surprise, so I will share photos of my "tweaks" after Christmas!
Also, PLEASE like my new Tradition Place Facebook page! I have set up the page in anticipation of the launch of my Tradition Place website within the next few months. (It will be a resource for finding and sharing traditions!) You may sign up to be notified of the launch of www.TraditionPlace.com by clicking on the web address.
Remember to share your favorite traditions and the recipes you absolutely MUST make for your family at Christmas, below, or on the Tradition Place Facebook Page. Feel free to post links to favorite recipes and traditions from your blog or Pinterest Boards. Hope you have a Happy December and Blessed Christmas!
I am now a featured blogger on the Peach State Moms Blog, writing as a "seasoned mother." Here is a link to my Blog Post about our family's Thanksgiving and Christmas Traditions. We always cut our own tree during Thanksgiving Break at Minter's Farm south of Fayetteville, GA. 8-9 foot trees like this Leyland Cyprus are the same price as last year: $35-40! Virginia pines start at $8!
Hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving!
Thanksgiving 2010
UPDATE: I am in the process of launching a new website that will be a resource for finding and sharing family traditions. Please sign up to be notified when it launches! Thank you! www.traditionplace.com
NOTE: I am in the process of launching a new website that will be a resource for finding and sharing traditions. Please sign up to be notified when it launches!
General Review of Jill Entrekin's Book and Writing Process--No Book Spoilers!
Fifteen Sisterchicks, and one visitor, had the honor of meeting Jill Entrekin, author of this month's book: Star of Flint. Jill grew up in neighboring Thomaston, GA, and is fairly recently retired from teaching English for 30 years in Clayton and Fayette Counties.
Jill attended West Georgia College, where she met Dana, the love of her life. Dana is Jill's "technical advisor" on guy things, like football and popping the clutch to start old Studebakers. One of Jill's favorite parts of editing is when Dana offers suggestions on each finished chapter, which she reads aloud to him, while sipping wine on their back porch.
Jill's book has been a true family affair, with both of her daughters helping edit and market Star of Flint. This story from Fayette Woman magazine, gives excellent background and more details about Jill and the book.
Taking inspiration from her background, and training from her newspaper editor/publisher father, Jill's presentation gave us her "who, what, when, where, and why" history of Star of Flint. Jill's responses to the Sisterchick's questions added more insight about the story and her writing process.
Mowing the lawn, and walking her boxers along Peachtree City's 90+ miles of golf cart paths help stimulate Jill's creativity. Jill writes in her head, then, afterward, goes to her computer and inputs her stories with a vengeance. When she is writing, Jill loses herself in the story. If she needs to go anywhere, she has to set a timer. She said she was almost late to book club tonight, because she didn't want to stop writing! When Jill comes to a standstill, she said she prays for guidance, and it always comes.
Jill said that she writes a chapter, then hones it for a day or two, then moves on. She doesn't have a real "plan" for writing, she just does what works for her, and occasionally will go back and revisit and re-edit several chapters at a time. Editing Star of Flint down from 160,000 words to 112,000 was akin to cutting body parts off of her baby. Jill said she wrote the foreword and epilogue after the story, but she knew the ending of the story from the beginning.
The Sisterchicks enjoyed Jill's use of nostalgic products, foods, and activities in her book. Clove gum, Heaven Sent and Brut colognes, and Dippity Do are a few of the featured products that come to mind. Star of Flint is an easy and engaging read that evokes fond memories of life from the 50's to the 70's, with the story culminating close to the present.
Jill Entrekin with a decorated can for a Christmas Gift, which Jill made for her Daddy.
An essay about the gift was the impetus for Star of Flint.
Jill assured us that Star of Flint's characters are not real people, but are compilations of real people, even though someone in her hometown has assembled a list of exactly who she says the characters really are! Jill shared memories and stories about some of the townspeople and family members whose history and quirks are captured in her book.
According to Jill, when you're writing fiction, you're free to choose what bits of history you want to use, and what you want the outcome to be. Although she shares some details about her characters, Jill won't disclose exactly which part's of her book are based on fact. Jill prefers to leave it to her readers' to decide.
Jill handled the delicate subjects of race relations and homosexuality with tenderness, sensitivity, and finesse. Other delicate issues were also realistically handled.
Jill said that writing the book was like having a baby. The observation was made that must mean it was like her being pregnant for two-and-a-half years, and she said, "Exactly!" Publishing the book, which she said was even harder, took another two-and-a-half years. Jill ended up using local publisher David Anders. who was her physician, turned publisher!
Jill was wearing a star necklace with matching earrings, which were a gift from her husband. Be sure to look for all the ways Jill weaves stars throughout her story. Our group missed some of that symbolism!
"Roses are red, Daisies are Yellow, In years I'll be wed, Until then you're my Fellow"
Valentine Jill made for her Daddy, which inspired a scene in Star of Flint.
Jill was delightfully entertaining. Her personality and Southern accent were charming. She was so cute telling us about her surprise upon realizing that her book was being published digitally in "every language there is."
Jill Entrekin, center front in pink sweater, with a number of the Sisterchicks!
Video of Jill Entrekin sharing with the book club about showing her mother an article in their hometown newspaper featuring Star of Flint.
Jill signed books and chatted with members after our meeting. The Sisterchicks will be looking forward to Jill's new book, Buck's Junction, due out in 2013! She promised to come back to another book club meeting when it's published!
Feel free to join online readers in the Vicarious Virtual Book Club, on my blog. Read the same selections as my "real life" book club. You may read as many, or as few, of the books as you wish. Enjoy the commentary, make comments, and start discussions! No commitments required!
V.V.B.C. Online Book Club Selections for July-December 2012
NOTE: I am in the process of launching a new website that will be a resource for finding and sharing traditions. Please sign up to be notified when it launches! Thank you! www.traditionplace.com
Feel free to join online readers in the Vicarious Virtual Book Club, as they read the same selections as my "real life" book club. You may read as many, or as few, of the books as you wish. Feel free to enjoy the commentary, make comments, and start discussions! No commitments required! We never discuss a book until after the dates below. Hope you'll decide to join the fun! Participating in a book club, albeit a virtual club, is a great way to read and discuss books that you might not otherwise select! Plus, you can wear your pajamas to the "meetings," if you want! Below are the Sisterchicks' selections for the last half of 2012, along with my Amazon affiliate links, to make it easy for you to check them out. If you prefer to listen to books, there are links to Audible on the right of this website. (DISCLOSURE: If you buy using these links, I may make a few cents!) July 16--- "Star of Flint" by Jill Smith Entrekin (a local author)
August 20---"Hellfire Conspiracy" by Will Thomas
September 17---"Swamplandia" by Karen Russell
October 15---"Moloka'i" by Alan Brennert
November 19---"Caleb's Crossing" by Geraldine Brooks
NOTE: I am in the process of launching a new website that will be a resource for finding and sharing traditions. Please sign up to be notified when it launches! Thank you! www.traditionplace.com
The Old Courthouse Art Show again attracted an eclectic and elite group of artists for their juried fine art show. The weather was perfect for enjoying the artists, vendors and visiting with friends and neighbors.
This piece, by Kyle Brooks, called my name: "Love--We should love one another A Lot"
Heading home with their treasures!
The Holliday-Dorsey-Fife House Museum rotating exhibit is currently featuring hats throughout the years, including mourning garb, from Fayette County. Quilts were also on display, with local quilters doing demonstrations. Docents dressed in period costumes gave tours of the house. Among other things, the museum has an impressive Civil War Collection, Gone With The Wind memorabilia, local history collections, local authors' room, and more. This museum is one of the hidden jewels of South Metro-Atlanta!
On the Holliday-Dorsey-Fife grounds, Civil War re-enactors, a blacksmith, a woodcarver, and others were doing "living history" demonstrations. The loud "POWS" from black powder pistols and rifles made people jump all day long--even when you were expecting the noise!
At 11:30 on Saturday, there was a ceremony at The Gazebo at the corner of Georgia highway 85 (Glynn Street) and Stonewall, in front of the County Complex. The Gazebo was named in memory of Lane Brown, who died in November from complications of cancer.
Brown was a commercial real estate developer in the Atlanta area for over 40 years. He was instrumental in the redevelopment of Downtown Fayetteville while serving over the last fifteen years on Fayetteville's Main Street Board and Fayetteville Downtown Development Authority. Brown was serving as Chairman of the Main Street Board at the time of his death.
Lane Brown's wife, Sheila, with the temporary gazebo sign.
Here is a video of Fayetteville City Councilman, Larry Dell's, tribute to Lane Brown:
After leaving the Square, we drove a block south on Highway 54 to the annual "Masonic Chicken Q." We picked up smoked chicken, with all the trimmings, for supper.
Our last stop of the afternoon was at J. Sam Burch's Barber Shop. Sam, a long-time property appraiser in Fayetteville, decided to become a Master Barber. This will be a retirement "hobby" that generates income. Sam's Fayetteville Barber Shop, and his second location, in downtown LaFayette, Alabama, bring to mind neighborhood barber shops, that were gathering places, in a bygone era. Sam's service includes hot towels, and a neck shave with a straight razor! The stories about Sam's historic barber chairs, furniture, and accessories, and the Fayetteville shop's location in an historic family home, make for an entertaining visit. To contact Sam, call 678-457-7237.
Husband, Ed, with Sam Burch at Sam's Fayetteville Barber Shop Location
If you haven't been to Fayetteville lately, you need to! Our Courthouse square and downtown area is vibrant with businesses, both old and new, including art, consignment stores, fine jewelry, collectibles, and restaurants! For more Fayetteville photos, click HERE.
Banana Pineapple Chocolate Chip Pancakes! NOTE: I am in the process of launching a new website that will be a resource for finding and sharing traditions. Please sign up to be notified when it launches! Thank you! www.traditionplace.com Most families have favorite recipes. Many are foods they enjoy eating often. Some are traditionally reserved for specific events. There are usually "traditional foods" for various holidays, as well as foods that are "expected," and "always served," at events like birthdays, tailgate parties, or other family gatherings. I know people who continue to serve foods they don't really like for holidays, just because their families have always served them, and they are continuing the tradition! Our family has a number of recipes that have evolved into "traditions." One is my Banana Pineapple Chocolate Chip Pancakes. I created the recipe about twenty years ago, to try to replicate the taste of my family's favorite muffins. I have served these pancakes to my family, my kids’ friends, and for breakfast and brunch gatherings. I often get requests to make them.The pancakes are good with or without syrup. They also freeze well, if there are any left!
Plain, buttermilk, chocolate, chocolate chip, pecan, and banana pancakes are all “tried and true” pancake varieties that could become your own family's "Pancake Tradition." Savory pancakes, featuring ingredients such as bacon, ham, and pepperoni, have their own aficionados. I found the pepperoni pancakes below to be pretty good, and thought they’d be popular with teens who often eat pizza for breakfast. Wrong! That wasn’t the case when I tried them out on a group of teen boys, including my son! All but one kid thought they were "weird, because they didn’t taste like breakfast pancakes!" Over ten years later, kids occasionally still laughingly ask, “Remember those terrible pizza pancakes you made?” I always reply, "I thought they were good! Want to give them another try?" No takers, so far! Making memories—even when they aren’t “perfect”--is what binds us together as families, friends, and communities. Let’s face it: grouchy relatives, funny clothes, bad hair, burned or bad holiday dishes, and all manner of other imperfect things, color our memories and weave the tapestry of our history! People who pray and play and work and laugh together are building memories and traditions that will help sustain them during difficult times. Please share your own traditions, traditional recipes, and blog articles about traditions, on my new "JOY on the Journey" facebook page, for possible inclusion on a new website, and upcoming book about family traditions. Recipes for Banana Pineapple chocolate Chip Pancakes, and Pizza Pancakes, are below. BANANA PINEAPPLE CHOCOLATE CHIP PANCAKES 2 cups Baking mix (I use Bisquick) 1 cup milk 2 eggs 1-8 oz. can crushed pineapple with juice 2 very ripe bananas mashed 1/2 cup (or more!) chocolate chips Stir ingredients will blended. Pour 1/8 to scant 1/4 cupfuls onto a hot greased griddle. Cook until edges are dry. Turn over and cook till golden brown. PEPPERONI PIZZA PANCAKES 2 cups baking mix (I use Bisquick) 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning 2 eggs 1 cup milk 1/2 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese 1/2 cup chopped pepperoni (optional:1/2 cup chopped plum tomatoes 1/4 cup chopped green pepper--I omit.) 1 can (8 ounces) pizza sauce, warmed Combine first four ingredients, just until moistened. Fold in rest of the ingredients. Pour 1/8 to scant 1/4 cupfuls onto a hot greased griddle. Cook until bubbles form. Turn over and cook till golden brown. Serve with pizza sauce, and extra cheese if desired. Jamie is a writer, speaker, retreat planner, editor, Bible teacher, and ballroom dancer. She loves to speak to church and secular groups encouraging “Joy on the Journey.” Please check out the rest of her blogwww.dancingonthejourney.blogspot.com; Jamie is in the process of launching a website that will be a resource for finding and sharing traditions. Please sign up to be notified when the blog launches: www.traditionplace.com. Follow Jamie's Pinterest Page: Tradition Place: Making Memories; and Follow Jamie's Tradition Page on Facebook.
NOTE: I am in the process of launching a new website that will be a resource for finding and sharing traditions. Please sign up to be notified when it launches! Thank you! www.traditionplace.com
Table Centerpiece
A sold out crowd of dance enthusiasts enjoyed a gourmet meal, and an evening of entertainment, at last night's inaugural edition of "Dancing Stars of Central Georgia," at the Macon City Auditorium.
Me, with my friend, JoyDawn
Capacity Crowd
Ten "professional" dancers were paired with celebrities to compete in the "Dancing With The Stars" type competition. Local "Stars" included former First Lady of Georgia, Mary Perdue, as well as Karla Redding-Andrews, daughter of the late singer, Otis Redding, famous for his hit song,"Sitting on the Dock of the Bay." For more info: See the Fox 24 Story Here.
Ashley and Daniel win People's Choice Mirror Ball
Four of my long-time ballroom dance friends, from Central Georgia, served as pros and helped raise almost $206,000 for the Alzheimer's Association! Dozens of friends from area USA Dance Chapters, and local dance studios, turned out to cheer on our friends!
Links to my 4 "Pro" friends' YouTube Videos from the competition on my Pinterest Board are below! Hope you'll follow me on Pinterest, follow me on Facebook, and follow my blog!
Warrenton Garden Club's 2012 "Inside-Out and Upside-Down Garden on Main Street"
Blue Ribbon Winner
This past Saturday, the happening place to be in Warren County was The Warrenton Garden Club's "Small Standard" Flower Show. I went to see the show, and help my college friend, Jane, who is President of the Warrenton Garden Club.
There are a lot of rules and regulations that have to be followed in order for a show to be sanctioned by the Garden Clubs of Georgia, and National Garden Clubs. Three teams of accredited judges scored and judged the entries.
The Cultural Center provided an ideal location for showcasing both arrangements and horticulture entries. The committee was delighted to learn that they had more horticulture entries than a much larger show in Augusta the week before!
Horticulture Entries
Oak Leaf Hydrangea
The flowers were beautiful, and artfully arranged. The table settings were lovely. The decorations and backdrops were first class.
A good time was had by all! Well done, Y'all! Looking forward to your next show, in two years!
Vicarious Virtual Book Club (V.V.B.C.) Killing Lincoln by Bill O'Reilly
UPDATE: I am in the process of launching a new website that will be a resource for finding and sharing family traditions. Please sign up to be notified when it launches! Thank you! www.traditionplace.com
NOTE: For those of you who are new to the Vicarious Virtual Book Club, or V.V.B.C: This is an online "book club" that follows the reading selections of my "real" Sisterchicks book club. This group allows anyone to have a book club experience without actually having to GO to book club! You can enjoy the books, the discussions, and sharing comments, wherever you are--no traveling to meetings! If you want to read the blog while in your pajamas, no worries! No membership requirements! No rules! The V.V.B.C. is simply an opportunity to share your love of books with like-minded individuals. Anyone is welcome to join in. The Sister Chicks will choose our books for the next six months in May. Feel free to post your book suggestions, and I will share them with the group. I never post any discussion about the books for the Virtual Book Club until after my "real" book club has discussed the book on the third Monday of each month.
Even though our group of ten Sisterchicks was smaller than usual, Pam led us in a stimulating discussion about Killing Lincoln. Several people mentioned enjoying the fast pace and short chapters of the book.
We figured that Bill O'Reilly's background as a history major enhanced the book, and made it more interesting. We also felt that for the most part, the book gave a "fair and balanced" view of the events surrounding Lincoln's assassination.
Sandy had Googled about the well-publicized controversy surrounding errors in the book, in anticipation of Pam's question on the subject. Sandy shared her research. The book's co-author apparently did most of the research. Bill O'Reilly maintains that the errors were minor, were corrected in subsequent printings.
National Geographic is making a two hour movie of Killing Lincoln. It should premiere early next year.
The majority of us were not well-versed on Abraham Lincoln's Presidency, and the conspiracy theories put forth in the book. We agreed that the conspiracies, as well as personal perspectives taken from diaries, made the read more engrossing.
We discussed the role of President Lincoln's wife in the book; how she must have felt guilt because her husband was at the theater at her urging. We talked about how difficult Mary Todd Lincoln's life must have been. She lost three children and endured the Civil War, with her husband serving as President. We also discussed the difficulties of her life after her husband died.
The detailed description of the actual assassination, and the young doctors heroic attempts to save Lincoln, intrigued most of us. We have several medical professionals in our group!
We talked about the scope of injury and death in the Civil War--and the illnesses that killed so many. We lamented the conditions in prisoner of war camps, such as Andersonville, and the tragedy of those soldiers whose families never knew what happened to their loved ones.
We thought it was interesting reading about officers who trained together at West Point. The officers knew their opponents strategies, strengths, and weaknesses, since they had fought together in Mexico prior to the Civil War. Ultimately, friends found themselves on opposite sides in the Civil War--or "the Silver War," as Pam's son thought it was called, when he was in 4th grade.
My husband and I listened to the Audible version of Killing LIncoln, read by Bill O'Reilly, while we were traveling. It was very well done. We both enjoyed it, EXCEPT for my extreme annoyance at Bill O'Reilly's continued mispronunciation of "Calvary" when the correct word for mounted troops is "cavalry!" I played a brief audio clip for the book club, so they would understand why I was chagrinned by Bill O'Reilly's use of the wrong word throughout several chapters of battlefield narrative.
I found it almost impossible to believe that someone who promotes a new vocabulary word each broadcast would make such an elementary mistake! I sent Bill O'Reilly a pithy comment about the matter via his website. To date, I have not received a response.
One person had not quite finished the book, but planned to. Someone joked that we wouldn't give the ending away to her in our discussion! In a slightly unusual unanimous vote, everyone at book club enjoyed Killing Lincoln.
I recommend Killing Lincoln for anyone who'd like to learn more about President Lincoln's assassination. The Sisterchicks are looking forward to the release of Bill O'Reilly's next book: Killing Kennedy, since we all remember that assassination.
(Click on the Audible Links on the right side of the page for discounts on audio books. Click on the link below to order from Amazon.)
Vicarious Virtual Book Club: Cleopatra by Stacy Schiff
UPDATE: I am in the process of launching a new website that will be a resource for finding and sharing family traditions. Please sign up to be notified when it launches! Thank you! www.traditionplace.com
I've been waiting to post my review about Cleopatra, by Stacy Schiff, until I finished the book.I persevered through almost 14 1/2 hours of listening to Cleopatra via Audible.com, and finished today.
Bottom line--I didn't like Cleopatra. It was hard for me to follow when reading it in book form, so I decided to try listening to it, since I knew I had some upcoming trips, and would be in the car. I usually LOVE listening to Audible books. I had to force myself to listen to Cleopatra. It was boring to me! It made me sleepy while driving! Cleopatra was undoubtedly the worst book I've ever listened to. The NARRATOR was good. It was the content I didn't enjoy. The book seemed to me like a high school term paper, for which the author didn't have enough material, so they had to add extraneous filler!
Sister Chick Member, Tracy, struck a chord with her Facebook post: "I've made it through chapter 3 in Cleopatra. I don't know what the manic first 2 chapters were about, and half of chapter 3, but I felt like I was finally understanding something once I got to the description of Alexandria (basically Las Vegas with a good library), and Caesar & Cleopatra's luxury cruise down the Nile. Great descriptions without the buckshot approach to history. Let's see if I sink or swim in chapter 4 now...." And another message from Tracy: "On Amazon.com there's something called "Quicklet On Cleopatra....it's like Cliff Notes for the very book we're reading. A list of the characters (who all have the same names), and summaries of the chapters. You download it to your Kindle for $2.99. I really want to like this book and I hope soon I will. Not meant to discourage you! Maybe it's just me?"
I talked to Gloria after I missed Book Club. I was out of town when the Sister Chicks had the discussion on Cleopatra in March. Gloria is the Sister Chick who recommended the book, and led the discussion. Only four members had actually finished the book before the discussion, while maybe a dozen attended the meeting. She said it was pretty much universally agreed that the book was difficult to read, and the dates and names were confusing.
Gloria said that people enjoyed the background and historical information, descriptions, leaning about the richness of the culture, etc. They felt as I did that the book was more like historical fiction than biographical. According to Gloria, and a couple of other Sister Chicks I spoke to who read at least part of the book, they didn't think it was that great.
It bothered me that the author continually made statements, that could in no way be corroborated. She speculated that Cleopatra studied more poetry than prose. She speculated on how Cleopatra acted, and what she did. Sometimes the author would say that someone during that time period would have probably done thus and so. But, many times, speculative, obviously non-factual information was presented pretty much as FACT. I found that to be annoying and misleading.
Some of the comparisons between different authors was informative and interesting, but it was done so much that it became source and footnote overload. I also thought that the book was at least twice as long as it needed to be.
On the positive side, I didn't realize Cleopatra was such a shrewd and powerful ruler. I didn't have any concept of the complexities of the region covered in the book, of the interaction of the rulers and dynasties, and of the politics of the region, before reading the book. I'm still not CLEAR on these things, but at least now I have a smidgeon more knowledge!
I did not know about Cleopatra's "colorful" lifestyle, and had no idea how she died. As the book mentions in a derogatory way, my impression of Cleopatra, like that of many others, is largely based on Elizabeth Taylor's film portrayal. I'm not convinced that Ms. Schiff's portrayal is very accurate, either. I do not recommend reading--or listening to--Cleopatra.
However, if you do want to read Cleopatra, and present a contrasting view in the comments, there's a link to the book on Amazon below. If you'd like to try listening to Cleopatra, or any other books, see the links for special offers from Audible on the righthand side of my blog. Many V.V.B.C. books--which you can search on this blog--have WONDERFUL Audible versions!
I welcome comments, corrections, and contradictions in the comments
section! What did YOU think?
