Heart Book Series

Christmas Season Movie

This is the magic of Christmas …Connect with the Spirit of the season…Dream Big!
A sweet movie reminding us of wishes past: www.ChristmasSeasonMovie.com

As you well know, we are getting closer to my birthday. Every year there is a celebration in my honour and I think that this year the celebration will be repeated. During this time there are many people shopping for gifts, there are many radio announcements, TV commercials, and in every part of the world everyone is talking that my birthday is getting closer and closer. It is really very nice to know, that at least once a year, some people think of me. As you know, the celebration of my birthday began many years ago. At first people seemed to understand and be thankful of all that I did for them, but in these times, no one seems to know the reason for the celebration. Family and friends get together and have a lot of fun, but they do n’t know the meaning of the celebration. I remember that last year there was a great feast in my honour. The dinner table was full of delicious foods, pastries, fruits, assorted nuts and chocolates. The decorations were exquisite and there were many, many beautifully wrapped gifts. But, do you want to know something? I wasn’t invited. I was the guest of honour and they didn’t remember to send me an invitation. The party was for me, but when that great day came, I was left outside, they closed the door in my face .. and I wanted to be with them and share their table. In truth, that didn’t surprise me because in the last few years all close their doors to me. Since I wa sn’t invited, I decided to enter the party without making any noise. I went in and stood in a corner. They were all drinking; there were some who were drunk and telling jokes and laughing at everything. They were having a grand time. To top it all, this big fat man all dressed in red wearing a long white beard entered the room yelling Ho-Ho-Ho! He seemed drunk. He sat on the sofa and all the children ran to him, saying:  "Santa Claus, Santa Claus" as if the party were in his honour! At midnight all the people began to hug each other; I extended my arms waiting for someone to hug me and do you know no-one hugged me. Suddenly they all began to share gifts. They opened them one by one with great expectation. When all had been opened, I looked to see if, maybe, there was one for me. What would you feel if on your birthday everybody shared gifts and you did not get one? I then understood that I was unwanted at that party and quietly left. Every year it gets worse.  People only remember the gifts, the parties, to eat and drink, and nobody remembers me. I would like this Christmas that you allow me to enter into your life. I would like that you recognize the fact that almost two thousand years ago I came to this world to give my life for you, on the cross, to save you. Today, I only want that you believe this with all your heart. I want to share something with you. As many didn’t invite me to their party, I will have my own celebration, a grandiose party that no one has ever imagined, a spectacular party. I’m still making the final arrangements. Today I am sending out many invitations and there is an invitation for you. I want to know if you wish to attend and I will make a reservation for you and write your name with golden letters in my great guest book. Only those on the guest list will be invited to the party. Those who don’t answer the invite, will be left outside. Be prepared because when all is ready you will be part of my great party.
See you soon. I Love you!
Jesus

by Krystyna Mazur
http://krysofeurope.blogtoolkit.com

Christmas is a festive holiday in Poland. Many customs, ceremonies, and beliefs center around Christmas Eve, a special day in Polish homes. An important element contributing to its dignifed atmosphere are Christmas decorations, notably a beautifly adored  Christmas tree.

    Christmas Eve is believed to affect the entire New Year.  For this reason, it had to be spent in harmony and peace with everyone showing kidness to another.

    Today it is still devoted to long preparations for Christmas Eve dinner. All the work has to be done before dusk. Then they whole family sits down to dine together, in the most important event of the day.

    Traditionally, Christmas Eve dinner begins when the first star appears in the sky. First, there is prayer, sometimes with e reading from scripture about Jesus’ birth. Than the family wishes one another all the best for the New Year and, as a sign of reconciliation, love, friendship, and peace, share oplatek, Christmas wafers, that symbolize holy bread.

    The dinner consist only of meatles dishes. Traditionally, there should be twelve courses, reflecting the number of months in the year. After Christmas dinner, many people end the day by attending the midnight mass known as "Pasterka."

    Today Christmas Eve dinner is sumptuous and diversified. Typical  dishes include red barszcz, beetroot soup with mushrooms or uszka (dumplings stuffed with mushrooms), a plain cabbage dish, or pierogi with cabbage and mushrooms, sweet dumplings with puppy seeds, pastries, cakes, fruit; nuts, sweets and compote drink made from stewed prunes, dried pears, and apples.

   The main treat, though is fish. The Polish cuisine is noted for a variety of fish dishes: soups, herring salads, fish with sauce, cream or jelly, fish in aspic, baked, fried, or boiled fish. A traditional Christmas delicacy is carp or pike in grey sauce with vegetables, almonds, raisins, spices, wine, or beer.

   A popular event during the period after Christmas is the Jaselka, a nativity play staged by amateurs. In the country you can still see caroles who go from house to house with a star or nativity crib. Traditionally, they expect to be tripped for the visit; once the payment was in Christmas delicacies, but today these have been largely replaced by small change.

    The carols are often dressed up and improvise scenes that loosely draw upon biblical motifs. Typically, the characters are King Herod, an angel, a devil, death, and sometimes a gypsy and bear or goat.

  *** My  Inspiration story  you can find in the book Heart of the Holidays created by many other  writers who share their International stories www.HeartBookSeries.com

Want to be better organized for the holidays?

Time is our most precious resource. We all have the same amount and although it can never be replaced, it can be optimized. During this busy holiday season it is especially important that you prioritize your list of tasks at the beginning of each week and also each day.

Mattel Toys – Donating to Needy Children

For charitable giving only– getting toys to donate to needy kids for the holidays.

Mattel runs seven retail toy stores in Southern California, Wisconsin and Texas, as well as two seasonal stores. For store locations and information, please log onto www.matteltoystore.com.

Additionally, for any interested groups who do not live near one of these stores, Mattel has a list available with special charity pricing. Customers can review the list and photos and for a nominal shipping fee, Mattel can mail the toy order to any destination of your choice in the US. This list is not published on Mattel’s website, but staff is happy to provide it should anyone like to see it. Contact Trish Procectto directly.

Trish Procetto, Charity Sales Manager, Mattel Toy Store
333 Continental Boulevard M1-0604
El Segundo, CA 90245
Phone 310.252.4236
Fax 310.252.2174
www.matteltoystore. com

EASY CHRISTMAS LINKS

Aristotle’s Christmas on the Web
www.wassail.com

Carol Garretson’s Christmas Stories
www.geocities.com/Heartland/1510

Christmas Traditions around the world.
www.santas.net/ aroundtheworld.htm

Christmas ’round the World (Wide Web)
http://eclecticesoterica.com/christmas.html

Hundreds of Christmas cookie recipes
www.christmas-cookies.com

WorldView! Christmas.com around the world!
Cultures and Customs

NORAD’s tracking of Santa
www.noradsanta.org

CLAUS.COM is the oldest and most popular Christmas website on the Internet
www.claus.com/village.php

Lots of neat Christmas information from the people at HowStuffWorks.com
www.howstuffworks.com/christmas

Holiday stories, recipes, traditions, games, etc.
www.merry-christmas.com

Reader’s Digest Christmas
www.rdchristmas.com

Games, a letter from Santa, Mrs. Claus and Rudolph, and you can write to Santa
www.northpole.net

Heart of the Holidays: Yuletide Treasures and Traditions, book by Sheryl Roush
Heart of the Holidays book
Heart of the Holidays book with Music CD

www.northpole.net

www.christmas-tree-care.com

Official Kwanzaa Website
www.officialkwanzaawebsite.org

Kwanzaa Recipes
http://members.tripod.com/~Nancy_J/kwanzaa.htm

Information about Kwanzaa, its origins, and activities
www.globalindex.com/kwanzaa

Useful Kwanzaa information
www.tike.com/celeb-kw.htm

Celebrating Kwanzaa and the various symbols and rituals
http://members.dca.net/areid/kwanzaa.htm

A Different Christmas Poem

The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.
Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
Transforming the yard to a winter delight.
The sparkling lights in the tree I believe,
Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.
My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.
In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,
So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.

"Just tell us you love us, and never forget.
To fight for our rights back at home while we’re gone,
To stand your own watch, no matter how long.
For when we come home, either standing or dead,
To know you remember we fought and we bled.
Is payment enough, and with that we will trust,
That we mattered to you as you mattered to us."

PLEASE, send this out to as many people as you can? Christmas will be coming soon and a ton of credit is due to our U.S.service men and women for our being able to celebrate these festivities. Let’s try in this small way to pay a tiny bit of what we owe. Make people stop and think of our heroes, living and dead, who sacrificed themselves for us.

Contributors Autographed Dec. 6 at Borders San Diego/Gaslamp Quarter

UNIQUE MULTI-AUTHOR EVENT!

Sheryl Roush and contributors to the Heart of a Woman, Heart of a Mother and Heart of the Holidays books  autographed copies of the book series on Thursday, December 6 from 7:00-10:00pm at BORDERS bookstore  in the heart of San Diego, on 6th Avenue, downtown in the historical Gaslamp Quarter.

Creating quite a BUZZ in the store, contributors read THEIR original STORIES and POEMS non-stop for 2 1/2 hours to the holiday shoppers, and those enjoying Peppermint Mochas at Seattle’s Best Coffee!

Contributors were: Carolle Jean-Murat, MD, (Holidays), Darlene Fahl-Brittian (Mother, Holidays), Linda Ferber (Mother, Holidays), Shenay Kloss (Mother, Holidays), Adria Manary (Mother), Selena Parker (Mother, Holidays), Deb Simpson (Mother, Woman), James Tucker (Mother, Holidays), and series originator Sheryl Roush (Holidays, Woman, Mother). Deb Simpson, Magic in Words, video podcast the authors reading the contributions which will be available on YouTube.com.

He who has no Christmas in his heart will never find Christmas under a tree.

-Author Unknown

For the Man Who Hated Christmas
by Nancy W. Gavin

Mike’s spirit, like the Christmas spirit will always be with us.
 
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
This story is indeed a true story and inspired four siblings from Atlanta, GA to start The White Envelope Project, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting this tradition and charitable giving. The White Envelope Project founders are regularly in touch with the family in the article and are thrilled to have their support. Sadly, Nancy Gavin (the author) died less than two years after her husband – also of "the dreaded cancer." Her legacy lives on as the Gavin family and now thousands of others continue to celebrate the "white envelope" tradition each year.  For more information about The White Envelope Project or to honor a loved one through a "white envelope" gift this year, please visit their website www.WhiteEnvelopeProject.org

Holiday Do’s in the Workplace

This time of year, the decisions that plague many a manager, leader and employee are filled with "what do I do for Christmas for my peers, boss, and direct reports?" Well, as the whole nation comes to a screeching halt and prepares for end of year numbers, final sales crunches, and multiple weeks of long over due vacation, there are a few tips to keep in mind. Make sure you handle this holiday season in a way that inspires, uplifts, shows gratitude and values who they are as people. Here are a few options…

Holiday Cards
Sometimes just a note will be enough to say Happy Holidays and Thank You for all that you Do! This works best when they are handwritten cards and when they address the specific holiday that the recipient is celebrating. Not everyone in the US celebrates Christmas. Keep in mind that if you have a multicultural work environment that your holiday options may not b merely limited to Christmas, Kwanzaa and Hanukkah. There may be other and for that reason and non-denominational or non-specific Happy Holiday greeting and card picture might be best. If your budget or time frame only allows for a card greeting this year then it will certainly express your thought and even step it up a notch with more than signature –" add a personal note. (*Do be careful what you say in way of performance in your cards, as these can later be used to prove that you thought they were doing a good job if you have to coach them at a later date. I know, I know, but it had to be said.)

Holiday Lunch or Party
A gathering of friends and family is often what makes the holidays so magical. If the team you have the privilege of working with considers each other friends, then take them to lunch all together, or have a party at someone’s house or consider having each person bring in a pot luck dish. Watch out for third shifters or late shifters who may not get to take part in the festivities. You want to uplift, not leave out those that matter. Also, watch the alcohol intake as the party of this year may turn into the grapevine of next year. Consider conducting a white elephant holiday party in which each person brings a gift valued at a small dollar amount ($10-$20) and through a series of number draws each person gets to take a gift or steal one from someone who has already gone. The funnier the gifts, the livelier the party.

Christmas Bonus
This one is a touchy one. If you have paid Christmas bonuses in the past, you want to keep doing that unless you are prepared to give ample warning. (i.e In July!) Money is not a long term motivator, but it will quickly de-motivate folks if you take it away and that may be the last thing your company needs in an effort to cut the budget. Christmas or holiday bonuses are a generous thing and employees may choose this over a trip, but one might be better off asking them what they want. Once it is spent, money is gone and often doesn’t have the same value that you think it does. Think of the last time you gave someone a raise. Did anyone hug your neck for a 3% yearly increase?

– Monica Wofford, Speaker, Author, Trainer, Business Consultant

The first weekday after Christmas, celebrated as a public holiday in parts of the British Commonwealth, when Christmas gifts are traditionally given to service workers, on December 26, the day after Christmas Day, or alternatively on the next weekday after Christmas.

Because the staff had to work on such an important day as Christmas by serving the master of the house and their family, they were given the following day off. As servants were kept away from their own families to work on a traditional religious holiday and were not able to celebrate Christmas Dinner, the customary benefit was to "box" up the leftover food from Christmas Day and send it away with the servants and their families. (Similarly, as the servants had the 26th off, the owners of the manor may have had to serve themselves pre-prepared, boxed food for that one day.) Hence the "boxing" of food became "Boxing Day."

Hanukkah Basics from the Jewish Heritage Online Magazine
www.jhom.com/calendar/kislev/han_basics.html

Judaism 101: Chanukah
www.jewfaq.org/holiday7.htm

Virtual Chanukah
www1.chabad.org/holidays/chanukah/default.asp

Hanukkah Crafts site – from About.com
http://familycrafts.about.com/cs/hanukkahcrafts/a/113000a.htm

Torag.org – Chanukah
www.torah.org/learning/ yomtov/chanukah

Kay Presto, daughter Lee A. Barron (and her daughter) contributing authors to Heart of a Woman, Heart of a Mother, Heart of the Holidays, and Sparkle-Tudes™! books by Sheryl Roush, autographed copies at BORDERS, at the brand new Victoria Gardens shopping center in Rancho Cucamonga, California, on Sunday, December 2, from 2:00-5:00pm.

Kay is also published in Wake Up…Live the Life You Love — Giving Gratitude, which went to No. 6 on Barnes & Noble’s Best-seller List last year. She is also published in Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, and will also be published in the forthcoming Chicken Soup for the Coffeelover’s Soul.

Becky Palmer, Purchasing Coordinator at Creative Touch interiors in Temecula, California writes:, "We decorated a cubicle for the holidays in our office and guess who the star was? Yep, the Heart of the Holidays book."

She did a great job with the space and theme!

The Best Christmas Cubicle award was presented by Dollie Grant, Sales Support Coordinator – Countertops.

Thanks for sharing YOUR Holiday Spirit!

I grew up with practical grandparents who had been frightened by the Great Depression in the 1930’s. A grandmother, God love her, who washed aluminum foil after she cooked in it, then reused it. She was the original recycle queen, before they had a Name for it.. A grandfather who was happier getting old shoes fixed than buying new ones. Their marriage was good, their dreams focused. Their best friends lived barely a wave away. I can see them now, Grandpa in trousers, tee shirt and a hat and Grandma in a house dress, lawn mower in one hand, and dish-towel in the other. It was the time for fixing things: a curtain rod, the kitchen radio, screen door, the oven door, the hem in a dress. Things we keep. It was a way of life, and sometimes it made me crazy. All that repairing, eating, renewing, I wanted just once to be wasteful. Waste meant affluence. Throwing things away meant you knew there’d always be more.

I received this from someone who thinks I am a ‘keeper,’ so I’ve sent it to the people I think of in the same way. Good friends are like stars . . . you don’t always see them, but you know they are always there.
 
-Author Unknown

November 28, Christopher McAuliffe, MCC, President of Accomplishment Coaching based in San Diego, interviewed Sheryl Roush, author of the Heart of the Holidays book, on The Coaching Show, live radio.

Click here to listen or download the MP3 file.

The interview focused on how to savor the significance of the holidays. Of particular interest, the show’s listeners are professional coaches, looking for tips for both themselves and for their coaching clients. Sheryl is a Past President of the San Diego Professional Coaches Alliance, as is Christopher. A returning favorite guest, Sheryl was interviewed on this radio show in May.  The interviews are posted in the radio show archives for download.