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Merry Christmas and Happy Blogging Anniversary To Me

Hope Santa Paws was good to you and yours! Merry Christmas everyone!

It was six years ago today that I first started this blog. I had no idea what I was doing, and thankfully they didn’t have these blasted blocks for me to deal with. I also was in a dark place and needed an outlet for my pain. In the past I’ve reposted that first post on this anniversary day, but since I’ve come so far since then I’m going to forego that tradition.

Blogging is a funny thing, and my blog has gone through several transformations (none of them deliberate) to become what it is today. Four years ago, I was posting two or three times a week. I had a bi-weekly feature, Classic for a Reason, where I featured movies from the golden age of Hollywood. That feature became its own blog and I’m still posting there today (classicforareason.com).  Check it out if you’re a fan of classic, I mean really classic, films.

Today I have much less time to dedicate to blogging, but it gives me a great deal of pleasure to see that many of my old posts are still viewed. Of course that doesn’t compare with the pleasure of getting to know my many blogging buddies.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Image credit: ©Anton – stock.adobe.com

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Santa and the Pandammit

Just for fun, here’s a short short story I wrote for my writing group. We each wrote a one-page, double-spaced story (making it really short) for our final meeting of the year. Merry Christmas!

They couldn’t visit Santa Claus because of the pandammit. Mommy said lots of people were getting sick and Santa had to stay well for Christmas. Keri understood. Sort of. Wasn’t Santa magic? How else did he visit everyone in one night? Couldn’t he make himself better if he got sick?

Keri helped Mommy and Daddy decorate the Christmas tree. Daddy said he had a big surprise for her. “Keri, since we can’t go to Santa, I thought we could bring Santa to you. Here’s a Santa ornament. You can tell Santa what you want for Christmas this way.”

Mommy smiled really big. “Go on, honey. Tell Santa what you want.”

Keri looked silently at the ornament. The real Santa sat at the mall. “Should I hang it up, Daddy?”

“Of course, kitten. How about there?” He pointed to one of the branches closer to the bottom. “You don’t have to talk to Santa right now. He’ll be right here when you’re ready.”

Keri nodded and picked up another ornament. Mommy sighed, but Keri couldn’t help it. She wanted the real Santa Claus.

Later that night, a long time after she fell asleep, something woke her up. She didn’t know what it could be, but she did know she felt hungry. Mommy had baked some cookies right after they decorated the tree, and Keri knew where to find them.

She tiptoed through the living room on her way to the kitchen, looking over at the tree as she passed by. Wait. Something twinkled. Like a star. Keri walked over to the tree to see what it could be. The Santa ornament! But wait again. Santa looked different. Did he just wink at her?

“You didn’t believe I could really be Santa, Keri.” The ornament talked to her! “But I am. Tell me what you want for Christmas.”

Keri smiled. Daddy had brought Santa to her.

Image credit: ©ezstudiophoto – stock.adobe.com

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Oh my. It’s Snowing…

Oh my. It’s snowing, and they’re predicting a total of more than six inches. In my home state of Minnesota, this would be nothing. In my adopted state it’s a problem. Given the limited number of plows in my county (and none in the city), it makes driving dangerous. I don’t want to go to work tomorrow, but I’m out of days off. So I’ll be driving slowly, like a little old lady.

It’s supposed to be sunny tomorrow so the snow will melt, at least enough to make driving okay by the time I leave work. At least, that’s what I’m counting on.

It is pretty though, so I might as well enjoy the beauty today, when I don’t have to drive.

I would prefer a white Christmas. Since Christmas lands on a Friday, we’d have a weekend for the roads to clear. Maybe we’ll get that, too.

Oh my. It’s snowing.

(oh my…when I posted this, I got a notification that this is post number 500. That’s a lot of writing, most of which I did a few years ago. Thanks to all my loyal followers and those of you who drop in from time to time as well. It means a lot to me.)

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It’s Caturday!!

How can I think of cleaning out the spare room when my two  babies have made themselves so comfortable here?

Walter Kitty
Mimi

Image Credit: Cesar Cat copyright Belinda Ostrowski, Paws in Heart copyright Bigstock.

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Happy Creative Holidays

We’re all being forced to be a little more creative these days. As the pandemic rages on, most of us must find new ways to be close to friends and even family for the holidays. I urge you to follow the recommendations of the CDC as well as find new traditions that will remind us in years to come how we survived the frustrations of 2020.

Creative holidays in the past, for many of us at least, meant making our own Christmas decorations. Now it means finding ways to be close to each other without threatening the health and lives of those around us. For some businesses it means finding ways to stay afloat while restrictions limit the normal flow of things.

I recently wrote a short story about a family who replaces the mall Santa with a Santa ornament and urges their five-year-old daughter to whisper her Christmas wishes to the ornament. (Perhaps later I’ll share that story here; for now it’s being saved for my writing group.)

Happy Creative Holidays, everyone.

Image credit: ©Maridav – stock.adobe.com