Terre Pruitt's Blog

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Archive for December, 2015

Good-bye 2015

Posted by terrepruitt on December 31, 2015

Tuesday I was too busy celebrating Christmas with my girlfriends.  We get together during Christmastime and visit.  We have done it every year for almost thirty years.  I didn’t get around to writing a post that day.  Then today/tonight I am busy celebrating the end of 2015 and the New Year.  I am just stopping to write this quick (super quick) post.   Here is our New Year’s Eve.

We were lucky to have our niece come visit.  No pictures because we spent the day relaxing and don’t want to post pictures of us in our jammies!

We had cheese fondue for dinner.  I will say it was very good.  John has marinated the meat and he did an excellent job.  Then we read our Good Things Jar.  There were a lot of “cat” notes in there.  A lot of “the cats are so sweet”.  They really are.  Now we are waiting for 2016.

Come dance with me at one of my Nia classes next year.  It would be great!

I hope you had a nice 2015 and
I hope you have a very WONDERFUL 2016!

 

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia in the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex classes, YMCA, Zumba, PiYo, Nia Technique, SJ City Fit

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Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia in the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex classes, YMCA, Zumba, PiYo, Nia Technique, SJ City Fit

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia in the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex classes, YMCA, Zumba, PiYo, Nia Technique, SJ City Fit

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2015 Christmas – May It Be Merry

Posted by terrepruitt on December 24, 2015

So it is Christmas Eve.  I spent the evening with family.  We had a nice time.  The Host and Hostess always have a very beautiful home and serve a wonderful meal.  I don’t know how John’s brother-in-law and sister do it.  But even though I didn’t have anyone over I still have a lot of things to do.  So I will wish all of you a very Merry Christmas.  I hope your celebrations were joyful and bright.

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia in the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex classes, YMCA, Zumba, PiYo, Nia Technique, SJ City Fit

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia in the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex classes, YMCA, Zumba, PiYo, Nia Technique, SJ City Fit

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia in the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex classes, YMCA, Zumba, PiYo, Nia Technique, SJ City Fit

 

 

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2015 Goodie Jar – Almost Time

Posted by terrepruitt on December 22, 2015

It is almost time to read the contents of the Goodie Jar.  Oh yes, the Goodie Jar.  We are still doing it.  We actually have three containers going on.  One was the original one that is the Princess House Pitcher.  That one looked pretty festive (and it was full) so I put it in the China cabinet hoping it could be passed off as a Christmas decoration.  Then the other one is a container that sits on the peninsula and has to be put away to make room for the Christmas decorations that are all over the peninsula.  So I have a note in the present Goodie Jar dish that reminds me to go into the closet to get the planter that we were using to put good things in.  So it is almost time.  I really like this tradition.  I think this is the third year that we have done it.  I am not sure, but I think we will do it again next year.

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia in the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex classes, YMCA, Zumba, PiYo, Nia Technique, SJ City FitI have not read any of the notes in the containers, but I am pretty confident that there will be a few about our cats.  They are such good girls and the certainly make me smile when I think about them.  So I am sure both of us have documented that!  There are always moments that I write down about my students making me smile.  The latest one is my socks.  LOOK!  Aren’t they cool.  They have cats on them AND they can be worn with my flip flops.  I was explaining to my students one day that since I have to rush over to class I didn’t want to put on my socks and shoes and my feet were really cold.  Ya see, in the morning on the way to my first class I wear socks and shoes.  But there is not a lot of time for me to get to my Tuesday morning yoga class after Nia so sometimes I just put on my flip flops after class and my feet get cold.  So one of them picked up on that. Super sweet.  The socks are super cute.  They have cats!!!  She is a cat lover herself!

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia in the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex classes, YMCA, Zumba, PiYo, Nia Technique, SJ City FitLately we have gotten some rain.  And by lately I mean this week.  Rain — for me — always goes in the Good Things Jar because it is really a good thing.

There is just always something that is a good thing that makes me smile.  So many of my friends, family, and students are noted in that jar.

If you have not done a good things jar, I would like to strongly suggested it.  It is such a great way to remember the good things in life.  And it is really fun because you get to get TWO, maybe even THREE, smiles out of them.  One is when the thing occurs, two is when you write it down, and three is when you read it.  And sometimes it is really funny when you read it because it might take you a minute to remember what you were talking about.  Then, if your family and friends (or whomever you are reading them with) are into it, you get to tell them the story.  Often times things that make you smile make for a good story.

Ooooo!  I am getting really excited thinking about it.  Can’t wait!!!

So are you still doing a good jar?  Might you do one next year?

Posted in Good Things in the Goodie Jar, Misc | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Mindfulness

Posted by terrepruitt on December 17, 2015

Oh.  Recently someone posted a link to a video on Facebook.  So I watched this little video about “Mindfulness”.  It was a cartoon where these animals were talking about being mindful.  The example used was one of the animals was driving in traffic and something made him angry.  Now I can’t find the video to verify, but I thought that the animal, I think it was a cow was advised to not get mad or to not act upon his anger or to just let it go.  So basically what I got from the video was that “mindfulness” was not acting out on your emotions or your “bad” emotions.  Just observe them then let them pass.  I then looked up a few definitions of mindfulness and a few of them said the same thing.  Funny . . . to me, I always thought of mindfulness as being AWARE of things.  Being in the moment and paying attention to what you are doing.

I guess the videos definition and example can be that if that means you just let the moment go and don’t focus on it and stay angry, but still I felt it was a totally different definition and idea than what I think of as mindfulness.  To me the situation he was talking about was just letting things go.  I guess some people could call letting things go mindfulness.

I really think of mindfulness as being present and being aware.  Ya know, not brushing your teeth while doing other things (my prime example because that is what I often do).  Or not walking down the street with your head bent down to see your phone.  Or not texting while driving.  Or one I know many of us do — because I see many people go back — walk away from our cars not certain if we locked it and have to go back to check.  To me mindfulness is giving your full mind, your attention to your teeth brushing, walking, driving, and getting out of the car and locking it.  To me it is focusing on what you are doing.  Kind of like what we have in Nia, called Dancing Through Life.  Paying attention to what we are doing.  Making it a dance.  Noticing our movements.

I guess, mindfulness can have different meanings.  I mean, obviously, because that video said one thing and I’ve heard it defined other ways.

What about you?  What is your definition of mindful?  Or what would you use as an example of mindful?

Posted in Misc | Tagged: , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Sleep Helpers

Posted by terrepruitt on December 15, 2015

I’ve been thinking about writing a post like this for a long time.  But I am no expert on the matter, so I hesitate, then today I was talking to one of my students about it and I thought, “I wanna share.”  It is about sleep.  I love sleep, I am sure I have said that in a post or two.  Sleep is very important to me.  I do not function well at all without enough sleep.  And really it is also about GOOD sleep.  Uninterrupted sleep.  I was just starting to get really good sleep and then we got cats.  Some of you might know how animals interrupt your sleep.  Just this morning, I was awoken, by a small vibrating earthquake, but no, it was one of the cats scratching.  I fell back to sleep only to be awoke by another tremor . . . not the earth, a cat violently shaking her head.  UGH!  Anyway . . . many people have trouble falling asleep.  As the conversation went today with my student, she was saying she can’t stop thinking.  She has a busy mind.  Some call it the monkey mind.  What I find annoying is that sometimes even if you aren’t prone to a super busy mind, trying to go to sleep makes it happen.  I have a few things I do and a few ideas that might help with that busy bed brain.

To me, counting sheep or anything is counter productive.  This is how is goes for me:  “One, two, three, four, five . . . . twenty-one, oh, I forgot about dinner tomorrow . . . twenty-what?  Where was I?  Let’s see, I think I was at least at fifteen, but wait, I think that I have been in bed way longer than it would take to get to fifteen . . . ”  See how that would not work for me?  Once I lose track of the number I am on, then I start thinking again.  What does help me, is to just say one word over and over.  That way I won’t lose track.  I like to say, “Sleep.”  I actually just concentrate and repeat it over and over.  As other thoughts come up, I say, “Hmmm.  Sleep.  Sleep.  Sleep.”  I recognize the thought that tried to interrupt, but then I push it out with my word.

Also, sometimes there is a darkness that I can concentrate on.  It is as if I am seeing things when I close my eyes, but as I get sleepy it starts to fade and turn to darkness.  When a thought comes in, the pictures or light colors come back, but sometimes I can concentrate on that darkness and — boom, I’m a sleep.

Sometimes it is a sound.  It is like that ringing in the ears.  I can concentrate on the sound and it pulls me into sleep.

One thing to do during the day that might help when it comes time to sleep, is, not drink caffeine.  I know it is a cycle . . . don’t get enough sleep, drink coffee (caffeine), then be up because there is a stimulant in your system.  If you are one of those people that thinks they are not affected by caffeine keeping you awake, I would still suggest drinking less.  Just SEE what that does to your quality of sleep.

Also, what I was suggesting to my student who said she had a busy mind, was dance.  If you like to dance, turn on some of your favorite music and dance to it.  Turn on a song you cannot help but move to.  Then concentrate on your movements and your body.  Basically it is Nia Free Dancing.  What this does is it helps you focus.  It allows your brain to concentrate so that you can quiet some of the chatter in your head.  If you have a monkey mind, it takes PRACTICE to quiet it.  So doing this as often as you can will help.  Practicing focusing and quieting the brain while you are awake will allow you to quiet it when you want to go to sleep.

When you go to bed make sure you are comfortable.  Recently I realized that my feet were often cold.  I like the room to be cool so I can breath, but my feet were so cold it was keeping me awake.  So sometimes I put socks on when I get in bed.  Usually JUST as I am about to fall asleep, I pull them off.  Well, this is in the winter, in the summer you know I sleep with ice!

Also, use as many pillows and props as you need to be comfortable.  I have posted about how I sleep with foam rollers.  So use pillows or things to put your body in the most comfortable sleeping position possible.  Then even if your mind is still going let your body relax and become heavy.  Perhaps imagine all the tension, stress, or busy energy draining out of your body.  The times that I have been thinking too much to fall asleep, I have realized that I am tense.  Then once I let my body relax, my mind can sometimes follow.

Legs up the wall is a great pose to do before bed.  If you do that for as long as you can (but at least 10 – 15 minutes) then go DIRECTLY to bed, you might just sleep GREAT!

I’ve also gotten out of bed to write down the things I am thinking I need to do.  That helped a little bit.  I think I posted about that.

There are so many things to do that might help.  What do you do to help yourself get to sleep when you have a lot on you mind?

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Practice Makes It Possible

Posted by terrepruitt on December 10, 2015

I’ve been thinking lately about when a student once asked me what exercises to do so that s/he would be able to do yoga.  My reply was to just do the poses.  I explained that doing the pose in the way that s/he could at that moment is the way to “do yoga”.  I got the feeling that this answer was not satisfactory, because the look on her/his face.  Then the following week after class, the student had a little booklet.  This person said that her/his spouse was given the booklet by their doctor and was told to do the exercises.  The question being asked was what exercise could the student do that would enable her/him to do yoga.  I softly sighed and took the booklet and flipped through the pages.  I pointed to the exercise that were pretty much like some of the poses we had just done.  I suggested s/he try them.  I’ve been thinking about this because of two things:  One, yoga is not about DOING a specific pose.  This is very difficult for people to accept.  And, two, I think I will start suggesting one pose that will help with all poses when asked this type of question.

I’ve been thinking about how yoga is not about “doing a pose”.  Doing yoga is so much more.  And I am specifically just talking about the asana here.  In regards to do the asana the way to do them is by doing them.  As we do them, they might get to be more than what it was when we started.  An asana is not like running a marathon.  One needs to plan and prepare for a marathon.  One needs to train to run a marathon.  One needs to build up to being able to run 26 miles.  But even the training for a marathon consists of running.  It consists of DOING the thing it is you are going to be doing.

Warming up the body with easier poses or very highly modified poses before doing the most challenging pose is recommended.  But doing other exercises so that you can do yoga is not necessarily the point of the postures.  Part of the beauty of yoga is that you do what you can when you can and you continue to do it until you can do more.  Then you continue to do what you can do, until you can do more.  You keep practicing until you think you have it perfect, then you do more.  “More” could be matching the perfect pranayama to the pose.  It could be concentrating so well that you can sense “every” muscle required to do that pose.  It could be making your mind quite.  It could be moving ever so slightly while in the “perfection” of that pose to see what it is like when you move a little more forward/back/up/down.  There is always “more” to a pose.

I was really trying to convey this to the student, but that was not the answer s/he wanted to hear.  S/he wanted to know what to do so that s/he could get into the poses and do the poses.  I know there are things in my life I am impatient for and I just want the end result without having to do/wait for it.  But with yoga there really is no end.  It is like life it is the journey.

But regardless, when I get this question again, I might just reply with the most challenging of all poses . . . . corpse pose or shavasana.  I might just suggest that the student try practicing shavasana for three to five minutes.  I think that might actually help.  Once the practice of being still (in the body) and being quiet (in the mind) is achieved or at least better understood, then maybe the answer about doing yoga to do yoga will be understood.

I’ve heard many people say there aren’t flexible enough to do yoga, well, you do yoga to GET flexible.

So, what do you think about doing something in order to do it?

Posted in Yoga/PiYo/Pilates | Tagged: , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Busy Time Of Year

Posted by terrepruitt on December 8, 2015

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia in the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex classes, YMCA, Zumba, PiYo, Nia Technique, SJ City FitIT’S CHRISTMASTIME.  I love this time of year.  Yes, I tend to get a bit crazed because I want to have my house sparkly clean, then all decorated, then have the presents all under the tree, the Christmas cards on their way in the first week of December.  And the CRAZED part comes in because unless I start doing some of this in November it just doesn’t happen.  So then I start having to take shortcuts.  I even posted about Letting Go before — I’ve actually written a few posts about letting go, but one specifically about Christmas – it turns out, in 2010, I thought it was last year.  I am nowhere near sparkly and Christmas cards are still on the radar, but I have no idea when.  One of the things that tends to get me a bit crazed it coming up with stuff to write.  I don’t always have ideas.  I want to post stuff that you will read, but sometimes, I just can’t come up with things.  I even posted about that before, too.  I skipped/missed two Saturdays because I was busy and even though I remembered in time, I didn’t remember in enough time to think of something AND write it.  So, tonight, I decided to take the pressure off by just posting what I have been doing that is taking up my time.  I don’t have time to think of stuff and research it and . . . well, life gets busy and sometimes priorities change.  I have been having a good time.

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia in the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex classes, YMCA, Zumba, PiYo, Nia Technique, SJ City FitOver the Thanksgiving weekend I met Rocky.  I like birds so I was trying to make friends with him.  I would visit with him everytime I walked by his cage.  The first time I heard him “meow” I ran into where he was and started recording . . . and all he would do was make that “drip” noise.  This went on for about a day and a half.  The last few hours it crossed my mind that he was not making a DRIP noise, but the noise that my iPhone makes when I turn begin to record.  What do you thing?  I am not convinced that is what it was.  (The other bird noises in the video are his “music” his dad turns on for him.)  He is a very smart and very pretty bird.

Birds are so amazing.  But they are very messy and they require a lot of attention.  They are animals that were created to fly.  When they are kept in cages they want attention.  They want attention like any pet.

 

So, I’ve been cleaning, putting up the tree, decorating the house, and entertaining cats.  In another post I will share some of the other decorations . . . this is it for now.

One of my girls is calling.

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia in the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex classes, YMCA, Zumba, PiYo, Nia Technique, SJ City Fit

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia in the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex classes, YMCA, Zumba, PiYo, Nia Technique, SJ City Fit

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia in the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex classes, YMCA, Zumba, PiYo, Nia Technique, SJ City Fit

How is your Christmas Season going so far?  Are you ready for Christmas?

 

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Persimmon Chicken

Posted by terrepruitt on December 3, 2015

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia in the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex classes, YMCA, Zumba, PiYo, Nia Technique, SJ City FitTis the season for persimmons.  A few weeks ago one of my Nia students came into class with persimmons.  Many of us ooohed and ahhhed at the beautiful fruit, but most people did not take them because we don’t know what to do with them.  The last time I received persimmons in my organic produce box I looked up recipes that use them and most of them call for a puree and then they are baked into something.  One of my students said she had a pudding recipe.  I think she said it was like a bread pudding, so she was happy to take them.  I didn’t know what to do with them, but I took one.  Then the next day the woman who brought them in had more and even less people took them so there was a lot left and she was going out of town so I took a few.  The student with the bread pudding recipe said they wouldn’t be ripe until about Christmas.  So I put them in my fruit bowl and didn’t check them often because I thought they would be ready closer to Christmas.  In the mean time my husband brought home some persimmons.  So I had quite a few persimmons and I didn’t know what to do with them.

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia in the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex classes, YMCA, Zumba, PiYo, Nia Technique, SJ City FitThe ones that my student brought in were from her neighbor’s tree and they were the Hachiya kind.  I had never had those.  The bread pudding student said they were ready to eat when they were soft.  Well, it turns out the ripened a lot faster than I was expecting and unfortunately a couple ended up casualties.  The kind my husband got from his co-worker were the Fuyu.  Those are the ones I had received before.  Those are to be eaten when they are more like an apple.  So one, the Hachiyas, need to be soft, the other, firm, but not hard.

The only thing I knew to do with them was to make my Fancy Toast.  And that is with the Fuyus.  I know there was a time when I was eating that every day it seems, but I just wasn’t that into it this batch of persimmons.  So there they sat.

Then one day I looked at them and realized that I was going to have more casualties if I didn’t use some of them.  So I just decided to throw them on my chicken.  When I met my husband one of the things he liked to cook was apricot chicken.  He would get some apricot preserves and put it on the chicken.  I thought that persimmons wouldn’t be too different.  So I tried it.  I liked it so much I am making it again to use up the remain persimmons.  It was easy and tasty.  Here is what I did.

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Persimmon ChickenDance Exercise, Nia, Nia in the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex classes, YMCA, Zumba, PiYo, Nia Technique, SJ City Fit

2 large chicken breast
2 Hachiya persimmons
2 Fuyu persimmons
cinnamon
nutmeg
salt
(pepper, if you like it)

I would salt both sides of the chicken put the chicken in a baking dish.  I smashed the two Hachiya persimmons and spread them on top of the chicken.  I sliced up the two Fuyu persimmons and put them on top of the chicken and on the sides.  Then I sprinkled a little more salt, nutmeg, and cinnamon on top of everything in the dish.

Bake at 375° F.  Halfway through cooking, I took the dish out of the oven and flipped the chicken.  I arranged the persimmons back on top and around the chicken, sprinkled a little more salt, nutmeg, and cinnamon on top of everything, then baked it until done.**

**This time around I am using a tiny bit of soy sauce.  I put a little on the chicken before baking.  Not soaking in it, just a little on both sides of the chicken.  I should have used salt.  I sprinkled a little tiny bit of cinnamon and nutmeg on it THEN add the persimmons (this time I only have one Hachiya).  Then I sprinkled the salt, the nutmeg, and the cinnamon on top of everything in the dish.

___________________________

The chicken still needed a little bit more flavor to me.  It was GREAT as long as I got a piece of persimmon with the meat, but not having salted it before (as I say to do in the recipe) left it kind bland.  Because I did the soy I didn’t salt it, but I will next time.

So . . . there you have it.  If you want to use your persimmons you might want to try this.  If you have a recipe you already use for your persimmons, please let us know.

What do you do with persimmons?

 

Posted in "Recipes", Food | Tagged: , , , , , , , | 6 Comments »

Don’t Forget – For December 2015

Posted by terrepruitt on December 1, 2015

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia in the City of San Jose, Nia at the San Jose Community Centers, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex City of San Jose, San Jose Group Ex classes, YMCA, Zumba, PiYo, Nia TechniqueOoooooo!  It is December!  Wow!  Time sure flies.  I can barely believe it is December.  The last push before Christmas and the New Year.  Whew!  So much to do.  So much going on.  And I am not even really that busy.  It just seems like there is more to do than time.  I thought I would start the blogging month off with some reminders about things from pasts posts you might want to be aware of for December.

The first one I always think about is the easy and yummy salad recipe.  It is usually the item I am asked to bring to dinner with my in-laws.  It is not because it is my specialty or anything, it is more because of – at least I think – that my husband’s family has food traditions and customs that, even after 20 years, I am not that familiar with.  One year I was asked to bring glazed carrots.  I had no idea what that was.  I don’t ever remember seeing them at the family dinners so I didn’t think they were in high demand.  So I brought a very small dish of them.  I am thinking I didn’t bring enough, or they weren’t good, so I was not asked to bring them again.  The Southern dinner table and the Mediterranean dinner table differ greatly when it comes to side dishes.  Anyway . . . my friend brought this Pear and Walnut Green Salad to my bridal shower and I have loved it ever since.  You might have an event you want to bring it to.

Then there is a post regarding Wrapping Tips.  I am still shredding those small scraps of wrapping paper to use in boxes and bags.  To me it is a nice way to add a different look to gifts and it is festive.  I like to have different looking gifts.  I like both gift bags and wrapped gifts – with different wrapping paper to be under the tree.  So using shredded wrapping paper in some bags and tissue paper in others really helps get that menagerie going.

Another post, Greenies Reduce Holiday Waste, has some tips about how to reduce the waste of wrapping paper entirely.  One idea I especially love is to use kids drawings as packing paper or as wrapping paper.  I think that it would be very special to receive a gift wrapped in a drawing.  And I know some kids draw A LOT and parents just don’t know what to do with the stacks and stacks of drawings.  This would be a great way to use them.  I think it would help show that the drawing even though it can’t be displayed in the house is still very special.

And – whowee!  Has it been cold for us here.  Yes, I know it is not comparable to some areas, but for us, in the San Francisco Bay Area, it has been a wee bit cold.  So I in my post, Scarves (isn’t that original?), I shared how to wear a scarf for cold weather as taught to me by an Easterner.  I really was doing it wrong up until she showed me!

There have been many versions of the book tree.  I love this idea.  I first saw it from my friend.  Here is a A Book Tree By Simon.

There there is the post that has videos or links to other people’s ideas, Wrapping, Wreathing, And Blinging Ideas.  An easy way to wrap hard-to-wrap items, an easy and inexpensive wreath, and a homemade, but very expensive looking ornament.

One of my favorite ideas is making a Christmas Tree using your Christmas cards.  I posted about it in my post CeCe’s Creative Christmas Card Display.

Well, I hope this helps you with your Holidays.  Perhaps gives you some ideas.  Or perhaps you have some ideas already and you want to share?  Yeah, go ahead, share!

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