English Emma Blooms

“Christmas gift suggestions: To your enemy, forgiveness. To an opponent, tolerance. To a friend, your heart. To a customer, service. To all, charity. To every child, a good example. To yourself, respect.” Oren Arnold  (1900 - 1980)

We actually behaved very respectably  at the concert/performance.  I could not understand a word the kindergartners were saying, but they were certainly enthusiastic!

Joel had his school Christmas program on December 16.  He had to get dressed up in his suit and before he left looking all handsome, we had to get some of the sillies out.

scrapbooking with Carrie, Natalie, Sara and Dawn at Archivers

Here is the list of recommended books so far!  If anyone needs to get a Christmas present in a hurry, here are some ideas. Books recommended by more than one individual are bolded American on Purpose: The Improbable Adventures of an Unlikely Patriot by Craig Ferguson (He is so articulate and entertaining in print!) Any Alistair McCall Smith Book Any Nick Hornby book Anything by by Maud Hart Lovelace Big Stone Gap by Adriana Trigian Bluebird: Women and the New Psychology of Happiness by me - Ariel Gore - book out in January. Promise it rocks." Boysterous Living:  Celebrating your Loud and Rowdy Life with Sons by Jean Blackmer Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer Chasing the Sea: Lost Among the Ghosts of Empire in Central Asia by Tom Bissell Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella Confident Parenting by Jim Burns Corpse Diplomatique by Delano Ames Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese Daughter of Fortune - Isabel Allende Disgrace by Coetzee (very dark) Don’t

This list is not as complete as usual as I stopped keeping track in February 2009, which coincided with Solomon’s death, and so I had to try to remember most of them.  Here is the list.  Some are embarrassing! 26a: A Nove l (P.S.) by Diana Evans A Hopeless Romantic by Harriet Evans A Piano in the Pyrenees, Tony An Offer You Can't Refuse by Jill Mansell Austenland: A Nove l by Shannon Hale Babieville, Jane green Betsy and the Great World/Betsy's Wedding by Maud Hart Lovelace Betsy Was a Junior/Betsy and Joe by Maud Hart Lovelace Bidding for Love by Katie Fforde Bitter is the New Black : Confessions of a Condescending, Egomaniacal, Self-Centered Smartass,Or, Why You Should Never Carry A Prada Bag to the Unem p loyment Office by Jen Lancaster Born on a Blue Day, Daniel Tammet Breadfruit by Celestine Hitiura Vaite Bright Lights, Big Ass: A Self-Indulgent, Surly, Ex-Sorority Girl's Guide to Why it Often Sucks in the City, or Who are These Idiots and Why Do

Joel was determined to have a bad time at the art museum, but didn’t manage it.   The Sacred Spain Exhibit had enough gore to entertain him in between complaints of being Boarwed.  There was a statue of a dead Jesus with “life like” wounds, and Joel was pretty sure he was seeing Jesus’ actual corpse.   So, the art left an impression.

We might still have to get up in the middle of the night to let Toby get the bathroom, but he is so wonderful we (almost) don’t care!   The things he lets us get away with!

This is what he likes to do!  like father, like daughter, Like mother, like son!

SWEET POTATO SOUFFLÉ    1 lg. can sweet potatoes (1 lb. 13 oz.) 1 1/2 c. sugar 2 eggs 3/4 stick butter, softened 1 c. milk 1/4 tsp. nutmeg 1/2 tsp. cinnamon C o mbine all ingredients with electric mixer. Pour into baking dish. Bake 35 to 45 minutes at 300 degrees or until almost firm. Add topping during last 15 minutes of baking time.

Finally I get to meet my superhero!  Here we are together.

here is Joel mailing his Christmas list to Santa. Word has come to us that he has obtained the Bumble bee transformer costume Joel asked for...

TODAY AND TOMORROW IS THE ANNIVERSARY OF KRISTALLNACHT. IT WAS THE START OF THE HOLOCAUST. IN MEMORY-It was a night, goverment sanctioned by the German govt. . Jewish businesses, Jewish professional offices Jewish book stores and synagogues were vandalized and burned. Books were burned in giant bonfires and the holy torahs were unrolled urinated and defecated upon. There were many witnesses to this event. It's called "Krstallnacht" Night of the broken glass, After all these years, people tend to forget..and yes, it can happen again. Just look at Europe and Scandinavia. It is now more than 60 years after the Second World War in Europe ended. Now, more than ever, with Iran, among others, claiming the Holocaust to be "a myth," it is imperative to make sure the world never forgets.