 Tradition! Tradition!Posted by Jo Robertson Nov 30 2009, 5:02 am in Jo Robertson, Traditions
Yesterday we attended a triple baptism. Two of our grandchildren and one of their cousins was being baptized and combined their ceremonies. The entire affair got me thinking about traditions and the things we do as families, communities, or friends to bind us together – the ties that bind, so to speak.
This, of course, was a religious ceremony, but our traditions don’t have to revolve around religion. Many traditions are tied to family. I’ve always considered my family my Higher
One little boy tried to stick his hands in the baptismal font. Babies cried throughout, except for our Emma of course, who behaved perfectly. The piano was notoriously louder than the singers. And all the food at the reception was gone by the time the adults got there! Must’ve been the “other families’” grandchildren.
My son-in-law’s family goes bowling every Thanksgiving Day and they use this opportunity to take an annual family picture since Mark’s sister is a professional photographer and they’re all together. Many of my friends hassle the nightmare that is Black Friday.
You’ve noticed that here in the Lair, we’ve begun to have our own traditions. We celebrate our anniversaries quite uproariously with Sven, the Roman boys, and the Golden Rooster all playing prominent parts. We have a Christmas countdown. Even our invitation to guesting authors is a tradition we enjoy
 and hope our readers do too.
In The Fiddler on the Roof, Tevye says “And how do we keep our balance? That I can tell you in one word: TRADITION!” What do you readers do to “keep your balance,” especially during the hectic holidays? Do you have rituals, ceremonies or traditions that keep you centered during the year?Or do you have a favorite holiday recipe you’d like to share with us? Below is one of my favorites for using the left-over turkey and dressing (if you have any!). Thanks to my sis who passed it on to me. Enjoy! TURKEY DRESSING CASSEROLE 3 cups cooked turkey (or chicken) Layer diced turkey in 9×13 pan. Mix soups and sour cream. Spread over turkey. Sprinkle 1 package herb-seasoned stuffing mix over and pour 2 cups chicken broth as needed over dressing. Bake at 350 degrees covered for 30 minutes and 5 minutes more uncovered. Holiday SharingPosted by Susan Sey Nov 29 2009, 5:07 am in Christmas, family, Holidays, Susan Sey, T-shirts, Thanksgiving, travel by Susan Sey So I hosted Thanksgiving this year, although I don’t know if “hosted” is the right word. We didn’t have anybody over but ourselves. My family gathered in Michigan where my parents live, my husband’s family gathered in California where his brother and his family are based. But we stayed home. All by ourselves. I’ll have been married ten years this coming summer, and it’s taken us the full ten to get the hang of this sharing the holidays business. It’s no easy thing. You want to respect each other’s family traditions while making the space to create MAKE ME LAUGHPosted by Suzanne Ferrell Nov 28 2009, 6:19 am in Addison Fox, Jane Graves, Jo Davis, Julie Garwood, laughter, romanitc comedies, Sandy Blair, SEP, T-shirts by suzanne No, I’m not asking for your best Internet forward joke…although I have a great one best told in a bar with an Irish accent. What I want, what I’m craving is a funny book to read. A light-hearted fare or one where there are brilliant moments of comic relief. The first Susan Elizabeth Phillips (SEP) book I ever read was NOBODY‘S BABY, BUT MINE. Now, this wasn’t a slap-stick funny book. But when she removes all the marshmallows from the cereal box to make it more healthy for him and he says, “I’ve married a cereal killer!”, I Wild Heart BootyPosted by Nancy Northcott Nov 28 2009, 4:55 am in Bandit Booty, Lori Brighton, T-shirts by Nancy Today’s guest, Lori Brighton, is giving away three copies of her fabulous debut, Wild Heart! The winners are: MargayGannonLouisa Cornell Congratulations! Please email contact information to Lori via the link on her website. Thanks to everyone who stopped in today. A Peek at a Wild HeartPosted by Nancy Northcott Nov 27 2009, 6:35 am in Call Stories, debut, Lori Brighton, T-shirts, Wild Heart Today Kensington debut author Lori Brighton makes her first visit to the Lair. Lori’s first book, a Victorian paranormal called Wild Heart, is out now. Welcome, Lori! We love Call stories in the Lair. Would you like to share yours? I’d been writing for over 6 years with lots and lots of rejections. As a last resort, I entered Wild Heart in a few writing contests. In one contest the final judge was Hilary Sares, formally at Kensington. She ended up not only giving me first place, but also requesting the full. Almost four months went by and I hadn’t Bandit Booty and Trivia AnswersPosted by Nancy Northcott Nov 27 2009, 4:50 am in Bandita Booty, comic book trivia, Latin, T-shirts A big thank-you to everyone who stopped in and kept me company today. Y’all are the best! First the trivia answers: As Pissenlit noted, the Silver Surfer’s real name is Norrin Radd. His beloved was Shalla Bal. Agricola aquam portat = The farmer carries water. (Agricola = farmer; aquam = object form of water , and I can’t remember the name for that form; portat = he carries). And now, for the booty–I also found a Courtney Milan/Tessa Dare sampler I picked up somewhere and had never unboxed. So the winners are: A sampler of SFF novels goes to Pissenlit, Laeti CongregamurPosted by Nancy Northcott Nov 26 2009, 5:02 am in celebrations, family, friends, T-shirts, Thanksgiving by Nancy No, that’s not gibberish in the title. It’s how the first line of the hymn “We Gather Together,” my Thanksgiving favorite, translates into Latin. My high school Latin teacher provided translations of that hymn along with “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” and “Ruldolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.” I no longer remember the rest of it, but there’s a full Latin translation of the lyrics here. This is all a lead-in, of course, to the fact that it’s Thanksgiving Day in the United States, a time when many Americans “gather together” with family and friends to commemorate the things and Over the River and Through the Wood …Posted by Kate Carlisle Nov 25 2009, 5:29 am in Kate Carlisle, snow, T-shirts, Thanksgiving To Grandmother’s house we go,The horse knows the way To carry the sleigh, Through the white and drifted snow. Oh! Everyone’s singing along, right? Right! We all know this song! But seriously, who in the world goes to their grandmother’s house in a horse-drawn sleigh? When my brothers and I were young and first heard the “Over the River” song, we wondered why the words didn’t mention the part where we drove through that long, dark tunnel under the airport. So we made up our own lyrics. Hop on the freeway And drive through the tunnel To grandmother’s house we Open Season on Authors?Posted by Guest Nov 24 2009, 4:55 am in T-shirts Ahoy, there! Please welcome talented thriller author Michelle Gagnon back to the lair. She’s here today to express her feelings about the topic of literary piracy. Thanks for stopping by to share your thoughts, Michelle! We’re happy to have you as a guest again. I received a Google alert last week for a website called, “Plunder.com.” I clicked on it, and lo and behold, it led to a file sharing site. And there were all three of my books, in their entirety, available for free download. Including THE GATEKEEPER, which was just released two weeks ago. Obviously this is not Welcome Susan Gee Heino to the lair!Posted by Donna MacMeans Nov 23 2009, 7:00 am in debut, house party, Mistress by Mistake, Regency, Susan Heino, T-shirts I have to admit that I’ve been waiting to host my good friend, Susan Gee Heino, and her new Regency historical debut for well over a year. She sent me a more traditional author photo to use for the blog but I prefer this one (he-he). Susan has a quick wit that is so evident in MISTRESS BY MISTAKE which has a release date of December 1st from Berkley Sensation. Treat yourself to an early Christmas present – or, more appropriately, reward yourself for surviving yet another family Thanksgiving celebration. Whatever the justification, discover this new author! Thanks for inviting
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by Jo Robertson
