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January 1, 2012

          It has become a tradition in our family for Hubby, daughter Katie-Beth and husband, Jude, and son, Joshua to play music with their dad for the Christmas children’s pageant at mass on Christmas Eve. They normally provide vocals as well. This year there was a change. A local teacher gathered a few volunteers from the church community and formed a children’s choir.

          After a few practices, Hubby had them overcoming their shyness and they were singing like angels; never more so than for the actual performance on Christmas Eve. As children go, well – we all know the unpredictable will be happen, and did. The mikes were hot so the children’s voices would fill the church, along with a hiccup that came out instead of words. Sitting up close and seeing my daughter burst out laughing (never missing a keystroke on the keyboard) and then Hubby start laughing (while keeping up on guitar), then son-in-law, Jude (still keeping beat on drums), I thought that the hiccup had come from Katie-Beth. Once the song ended and everyone had dried the tears in their eyes, Katie-Beth made motions that it had been one of the children.

          There were a few other mishaps, fortunately none of them serious. Son in law Jude, being the talented musician that he is (yeah – Manhattan School of Music), relied on one drumstick and his fingertips to get him through the Christmas pageant. No one was the wiser until after mass when he made the remark – “Note to self – next year bring sticks.”

          During the meditation after communion, it has become a tradition (started by Hubby) to sing Silent Night in the different languages of our church congregation. This year Silent Night was sung in English, Pilipino, Vietnamese, French, and Spanish. It is truly amazing to sit and listen to this one song sung in so many different languages, the world becoming a smaller place for a few minutes each Christmas Eve.

          Last year I recorded it and posted it to my blog. This year, Katie-Beth wanted me to use her Flipcam and quickly explained to me how to work it. Once. Needless to say, we have no recording. I forgot how to use it and thought the battery died. I quickly grabbed my phone and finished recording the performance, but missed Katie-Beth singing in English and Hubby singing in French. I now have my own Flipcam and will definitely know how to use it next year!

          Hubby received a ukulele for Christmas and has yet to put it down. Try being woken up to Mrs. Brown you’ve got a lovely daughter and Ave Marie each morning at six o’clock. At least he is now singing the correct words! I practically injured myself getting to the computer to print out the correct lyrics. Pet peeve – singing the wrong words to a song.

          A few highlights from 2011:

–      I started writing book reviews on my blog, reviewing 32 books since April. I found Bookblogs and Blogaholics quite by accident and began a foray into the book-reviewing world and met many friends along the way.

–      I participated in blog hops.

–      My blog won six incredible awards throughout the year.

–      I did a series of 21 days of compliments to myself. I learned a great deal from that little exercise.

–      I added two new dogs to my family, 3 year old Ryka and six-week-old Calypso. I’ve watched them grow this past year as we approach their one year anniversary with us. They have given me a lot to write about with their adventures.

–      I visited New York City twice this year and added Niagara Falls and Canada the second trip and wrote stories about those adventures.

–      I attended a writer’s conference and got to meet lots of authors.

–      I held my annual Cookie Swap for friends.

          I would like to thank all of my friends and followers for a great year and for all of the comments left on my blog. I am looking forward to visiting all of you this year and hearing about what is new on your agenda.
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