this year, no Christmas cards. (you’re welcome.)

One of the hovering stresses of the Holiday season is, no matter what, dealing with the Christmas card scenario. This year, 7 billion cards will go out and I’m happy to say I canned the whole thing. Instead of feeling guilty, I decided to put the money into something more meaningful and mention the donation in an e-card. Booom. Done. The result? 20 children in India’s Himalayan villages will receive support for a full year and everyone I know won’t have my kids’ faces stuck to the fridge all yr!

If you’d like to see (and pitch in!) this project or find your own, visit Global Giving.

got sniffles? read this favorite poem…

With the sniffles going around, I thought I’d post a family favorite. We read this poem and laugh every time. If you haven’t heard it in awhile – or ever- enjoy! Then, share it with someone who might be feeling under the weather…or at least faking it. lol

Sick
by Shel Silverstein
"I cannot go to school today," Said little Peggy Ann McKay. "I have the measles and the mumps, A gash, a rash and purple bumps. My mouth is wet, my throat is dry, I'm going blind in my right eye. My tonsils are as big as rocks, I've counted sixteen chicken pox And there's one more--that's seventeen, And don't you think my face looks green? My leg is cut--my eyes are blue-- It might be instamatic flu. I cough and sneeze and gasp and choke, I'm sure that my left leg is broke-- My hip hurts when I move my chin, My belly button's caving in, My back is wrenched, my ankle's sprained, My 'pendix pains each time it rains. My nose is cold, my toes are numb. I have a sliver in my thumb. My neck is stiff, my voice is weak, I hardly whisper when I speak. My tongue is filling up my mouth, I think my hair is falling out. My elbow's bent, my spine ain't straight, My temperature is one-o-eight. My brain is shrunk, I cannot hear, There is a hole inside my ear. I have a hangnail, and my heart is--what? What's that? What's that you say? You say today is. . .Saturday? G'bye, I'm going out to play!" From Shel Silverstein: Poems and Drawings; originally appeared in Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein.